Descent

by Hamish Spiers

  Vismach made another one of those cheerful Hie’shi clicks. “Nothing so base, Jiang.” He extended his talons, a small card in his grip. “I took this off a security guard I tailed. It’ll get us into the building and judging by the clearance this man has, it should get us to all the sensitive areas we’re most interested in.”

  Jiang frowned. “But if you took it off him, then isn’t he going to realize that? Or did you kill him?”

  “I didn’t kill him. I didn’t do anything to him aside from spiking his drink with a little something.” Vismach made a dismissive gesture when he saw Jiang’s expression. “Nothing dangerous. He’s perfectly fine. And I gave him a replacement card just like this.”

  “I didn’t know you could forge security passes.”

  “Child’s play for me. In fact, I think I probably was a child when I first pulled it off.”

  Jiang’s expression was blank. “Your mother must have been really proud.”

  “Hardly,” Vismach replied. “My mother’s disdain for me exceeds your own.”

  “So what’s the plan then, Vismach? Wait until the cover of darkness and all the usual cloak and dagger business?”

  Vismach gazed at her for a moment. “Why wait until then?”

  In Kerali, thousands of people poured out of their homes, climbing into atmospheric speeders, taking nothing but their families, pets if they had them, and perhaps a handful of their most precious possessions. Some were sad and some were angry that the Phalamkian defense forces had allowed a security breach that warranted such extreme emergency measures.

  Lord Erama couldn’t blame them. These people weren’t just leaving behind empty buildings. They were leaving behind the lives they had led until this moment, and in some cases the only lives they had ever known.

  However, regardless of his own feelings, he knew there wasn’t time to listen to the incoming complaints.

  “Takaer,” he said, speaking to one of his officers over the communicator. “Don’t allow any more of those calls through. Block them entirely.”

  “But, Lord Erama, a lot of people are -”

  “We need all our communication channels open for emergency transmissions, Takaer.”

  “I understand. Takaer out.”

  Lord Erama allowed himself the luxury of taking a moment to compose himself. Then he called the spaceport again. “Mauritz?”

  “We’ve found another bomb.”

  “Like the last one?”

  “Yes,” Mauritz replied. “Three hundred and twenty kilograms of delydrium and two hundred and eighty kilograms of tryithelite.”

  “And that’s the eighteenth one?”

  “Right.”

  Lord Erama looked at his own data.

  Expected delydrium: 48000 kg

  Delydrium found: 5440 kg

  Amount remaining: 42560 kg

  Delydrium per device: 320 kg

  Expected device total: 150

  Devices found: 17

  Devices remaining: 133

  He put in the new information from Mauritz and watched the figures change.

  Expected device total: 150

  Devices found: 18

  Devices remaining: 132

  “Thanks, Mauritz,” he said, making a genuine effort to put some appreciation in his voice. Mauritz and his security sweep teams were working extremely well and it was unlikely they could find and disable the bombs any faster than they were already. However, the staggering number of those remaining ones threatened to extinguish the little optimism he had left.

  “No problem, sir,” Mauritz replied. “Now that we’ve seen a few, we’ve got a good idea where to look for the things and we’re already splitting up into smaller sweep teams to cover the spaceport faster.”

  Lord Erama smiled, feeling some hope returning. “Thank you, Mauritz.”

  He sighed as he switched off the communicator. “Well, at least we’re on the right track now.” He leaned back in his chair for a moment and then almost lunged out of it as a sudden thought hit him. He switched the communicator to a new frequency and made a transmission.

  “This is Rear Admiral Karaeil,” a female Hie’shi said over the speaker. “Hie’shi High Command. Please state your identity for voice recognition.”

  “It’s Lord Erama.”

  “One moment.” There was an almost imperceptible pause. “Thank you, Lord Erama. I apologize for the formalities. You know how it is. Anyway, I am aware of the situation there and I am entirely at your disposal. I’ve already dispatched long range fighters and shuttles to attempt to catch up with Admiral Seirvek’s task force.”

  Lord Erama swallowed, fighting back sudden emotions. “I appreciate that, Admiral. Maia and Zak sent some fast ships too. But actually, I have another request. Even if we can’t raise the task force, would the High Command at least have an idea of their ETA in Imraehi space?”

  “Yes,” Rear Admiral Karaeil said, her tone pensive. “However, it may depend on how you define Imraehi space. The standard radius around their system according to the interstellar regulations we all follow or whatever they’ve granted themselves with their inflated sense of entitlement.”

  Lord Erama frowned. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “Then, Lord Erama, and I say this out of genuine concern for you and your people there, perhaps you should. The Imraehi are not Phalamkians as you know them. They’re imperialist relics trapped five hundred years in the past. If this were a game, if one could use such an analogy at a time like this, then they are not playing by your rules.”

  21. Jiang Takes a Stand

  Jiang zipped up the front of the uniform Vismach had acquired, through means she had decided not to ask about, and stepped outside the room where her accomplice of circumstance was waiting.

  Vismach nodded in approval. “The uniform suits you.”

  Jiang frowned at her companion, dressed from head to toe in the exact same uniform. The boots were one thing. Being one of those Hie’shi who eschewed walking with exposed talons, Vismach always wore boots molded to suit the physicality of his people so they were no doubt his own. But the rest of the uniform fitted him so perfectly, it defied belief.

  “You mugged a Hie’shi who happened to be working for these people?” she asked.

  He clicked and shook his head. “I simply used another one of my many skill sets.”

  “You sew?” Jiang asked in disbelief.

  “I’ve been told I’m quite accomplished at it,” Vismach told her.

  Jiang shook her head. “You know, Vismach, with all those wonderful skill sets of yours, it sounds as though you could have made an honest living in almost any profession out there.”

  “Perhaps,” Vismach conceded. “But where would be the fun in that? Anyway, shall we?”

  Together, they walked down a rather open street that led to nothing but a single complex, supported by pylons, that jutted out from the island and over the sea. With great clumps of coral mere feet under the surface, the building looked every bit the part of a marine research facility, an appearance that was likely deliberate given that there was no signage anywhere on it to indicate its actual function.

  At the end of the street, a small ramp led them to a nondescript door, flat metal flush with the walls on either side. Beside it was a panel, distinguished only by its outline against the wall. Jiang pushed it in and it slid open, revealing a groove for her to swipe the card she’d been given.

  With a shrug, she ran it through and the door slid open. Then, with her companion beside her, she entered the facility.

  The door slid shut behind them moments after they entered, presumably locking automatically as it did. Jiang tried not to think about it. She didn’t fancy their chances if they had to leave in a hurry, although Vismach didn’t seem to mind.

  They were now in a narrow corridor, heightening Jiang’s sense of confinement. Then they rounded a bend in the corridor and came out onto a large walkway, brightly lit and encircling a pit where several Imraehi worked
at terminals and laboratory tables alongside numerous humans and a few representatives from other species.

  Above it, stairs placed at regular intervals around the walkway led to an enclosed room. On the far side of the walkway, Jiang saw more doors leading to rooms or facilities further out over the water. She wondered what was behind them.

  “Where are we going?” she murmured to Vismach. “The pit or -”

  Vismach nodded to the nearest stairs leading up. “There. Come on. And try not to look nervous. This is a military installation.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Jiang told him, stepping ahead to lead the way up the stairs.

  When they reached the top, they found themselves in a massive room with various terminals and tables about the place and some very large pieces of machinery that Jiang’s eyes were instantly drawn to. However, she made an effort to make her interest less obviously overt as there were also three Imraehi in the room.

  The nearest one gave her and Vismach a curious look. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

  Jiang saluted. “Commander Sarra. Special Operations. Temporary assignment.” She nodded to Vismach. “And this is my assistant, Corporal Dreic.” ‘Dreic’ was made up. She didn’t know Vismach’s family name but she derived a little pleasure from the low rank she’d assigned him.

  The Imraehi returned the salute. “Kaminas Leilec. Weapons research.”

  “A pleasure,” Jiang replied. “We may have some questions for you when we’re done here, Mr. Leilec, if that’s all right with you.”

  Leilec frowned. “Um... certainly.” He then turned away to resume his work.

  Jiang and Vismach walked past him towards the machinery in the center of the room that had grabbed their attention. Four giant metallic figures built on rounded lines with pivoted hips and claw-like hands, strange behemoths that were more animalistic than mechanical in appearance, like great beasts with metallic skin.

  “So these are the battleroids,” Jiang murmured when she was out of earshot.

  Vismach didn’t reply. He looked at the nearest one and walked past it to the second. A section had been cut out of that particular one’s metal exoskeleton, exposing a curious cavity with wires that fit what Jiang knew of machinery and empty translucent tubes that didn’t.

  Vismach glanced at the cavity and tapped at the controls of a terminal that happened to be nearby.

  He looked at the screen for a moment and then back at the battleroid. “It seems you were right, Jiang. They dug some creature’s brain out of that thing. For all intents and purposes, these battleroids were bodies. Look at the claw of that one there. You can see a rod-like protrusion from the end of it. That interfaced with the shipboard computers on the derelict these things were found on. There are also more precise instruments in those claws that can be projected when required.”

  Jiang stared at the lifeless remains, for that was how she now saw them. “Who were these people? Why would they want to imprison themselves like that?”

  “An interesting topic for some other time than the present,” Vismach said, looking back at the terminal. “I can tell you that the Imraehi haven’t had much luck with adopting this particular piece of technology for their own use though. They rewired several of the things to allow them to be piloted in a conventional fashion but even for one of those four armed freaks, these ‘battleroids’ were too difficult to manipulate apparently. They put some of their best pilots in them and even after months of training, their response times were inadequate for combat situations. And I suppose there’s also the fact that they’re not battleroid people. I’ve never heard of anyone properly utilizing the concept of a battleroid except for the Federation navy, the Harskans and the odd group here and there. Anyway, it’s common sense. Play to your strengths.”

  He tapped at the terminal again. “So, we can put aside the battleroids for the time-being. Let’s have a look at the stinger nets.” His eye then swiveled in a manner that Jiang found rather unnerving. In that moment, he appeared like some kind of predator, hiding amongst thick foliage and stalking its unsuspecting prey.

  “It seems that Leilec wishes to consult with his companions about us,” he said, without any change in his voice.

  Jiang tensed up. “What are they saying?”

  “Difficult to tell,” Vismach said, turning back to the terminal as he spoke, “as I don’t speak old Phalamkian.”

  “So they only use Corsidan when communicating with other species,” Jiang said.

  “Indeed,” Vismach replied. With one arm, he reached down, unholstered his blaster and picked up another device. “I must apologize, Jiang. I’ve just noticed that Leilec is moving towards an alarm panel.”

  Jiang looked at him with open outrage. “You mean we’ll be trapped?” she muttered.

  Vismach shook her head. “That’s not what I’m apologizing for, Jiang. Now, you may want to take cover.”

  Jiang’s eyes opened wide. “Hey, wait a minute -”

  Vismach had moved a switch on the device he’d picked up and was now bringing his weapon to bear. “Now would be a good time.”

  Jiang crouched down as Vismach opened fire. She heard muffled screams amid the blasts, more screams than there were Imraehi on this level.

  She climbed up as Vismach lowered his weapon and looked at him in horror. “You didn’t?”

  Vismach holstered his weapon and returned her gaze. “You may have construed from that one time I tried to kill you that I don’t like you, Jiang, but you’d be wrong. I have the utmost respect and admiration for you and it isn’t just the admiration of a fellow professional. I believe you’re a good person and, by the very meaning of the words, that’s no bad thing. However, these are not good people. If they could, they would use your virtues against you and they would have no compunction in harming you, killing you or doing these things to everyone you hold dear if it would help them get what they want. One cannot afford to be compassionate with such adversaries, Jiang. To deal with people like them, it is best to be less than noble oneself.”

  “What did you do, Vismach?” Jiang demanded, her voice trembling.

  “The bulk of that pit down there is below sea level,” Vismach explained. “I’d placed explosives along the outer wall before I even stole that card. The sudden flooding and the results of immersing their electrical equipment in the water have bought us some more time.”

  “At what cost?”

  “Forget these people, Jiang,” Vismach said. “And remember the cause.” He walked around the battleroids and came to a set of controls rather different from the other terminals about the place. Then he turned a lever and the now flickering lights went out entirely, replaced a moment later by the fainter glow of emergency lighting.

  He then walked towards the outer edge of the room, Jiang trailing behind him as though she were in a trance and simply following him due to some hypnotic effect.

  There, Vismach came upon Leilec, wounded but alive. There was a blaster burn around his knee and he was clutching at his side. One of his arms was hanging onto the joint by nothing more than strings of tattered sinewy flesh. He was grimacing from the pain.

  “I should inform you, Mr. Leilec,” Vismach said, “that when you went for that alarm panel, you were responsible for the deaths of everyone in this facility. Indirectly responsible but responsible nonetheless. But if you cooperate now, then perhaps you can prevent further deaths.”

  “What do you want?” Leilec demanded, his voice strained and wavering.

  “I want to know what the function of your stinger nets is.”

  “I’m not going to betray my own people by helping an enemy,” Leilec said.

  “You’re betraying them now,” Vismach said, his tone cold. “If I don’t find out what I want to know from you, then I’m going to go after your friends and kill them off one by one until I get my answer.”

  “Then you’ll have to go pretty far,” Leilec grunted, mustering his strength to resist his pitiless adversary. “Because all the st
inger nets were taken into orbit.”

  “Then I’ll get my answers in orbit,” Vismach said, reaching down to grab Leilec’s injured arm.

  “No!” Jiang screamed and, lunging forward, she wrapped her arms around Vismach and tried to pull him back. “Enough!”

  Vismach raised his arms, pushing her off with some effort, despite his natural advantage in strength; Jiang’s desperation had its own strength which went some way to even the disparity.

  Vismach turned to her in surprise. “Why, Jiang, look at you. Standing up to me to the last. It’s admirable. But save your strength. This man doesn’t deserve your pity.”

  “Maybe not,” Jiang said, “but what you’re doing is wrong, Vismach, and I’m not going to let you do it.” Then, keeping her hand steady, she raised her blaster, flicked it to stun, and pointed it at his chest.

  “Please, Jiang,” Vismach said, “put it away. You’re not going to leave me here unconscious with half the Imraehi looking for me.”

  Jiang shrugged. “You’d make it out. You always do.”

  “I think you’re bluffing.”

  Jiang kept her voice steady. “Well, you’re wrong. I’ve let myself go astray here, following you around because I believed we were going to save lives. But you’ve been on some kind of killing spree the entire time. Maybe you’re not in this business of yours out of any passion for violence but I can see you enjoy the work. Far too much.” When Vismach didn’t reply, she kept going. “Oh, not the violence itself. I believe you when you say you get no pleasure out of cruelty. But you do get a kick out of your own efficiency, don’t you? And this is what this has all been about. Your little game. One lone Hie’shi singlehandedly taking down the Imraehi regime. Seeing just how much damage one person can do and thrilled to death with the results. Now, I know you think I won’t stun you but if you take one step closer to that man, I will. And then we’ll see whether or you wake up here or in a holding cell.”

  Vismach regarded her for a moment in silence. “Well, then, I suppose this is the moment of truth.”

  He leaned towards Leilec and Jiang fired, dropping him.