Her plan was to utilize this amazing weapon to its fullest. She would deploy attendants around the island as spotters for her target. Then, rather than shoot it out with Spero in his stronghold, she would spook him out. Once out of the building, the attendants could spot for her. It should only take one or two long range shots to kill him.
He would never know what hit him, and he would have no chance to shoot back.
Siobhan opened the shuttle’s modest cargo bay and let the ocean come in. She stabilized herself until the water had flowed in, then swam out. Behind her, twenty insectoid soldier robots unfolded and followed. They would help provide the pressure to drive Spero out of his fortress.
Siobhan headed toward the island with her escort. The soldiers followed her for a while, but soon they split off, ten to each side, to move to other spots on the island. Siobhan wanted it to appear like the compound was surrounded by a small army. She figured that would pressure Spero into running for it.
Siobhan activated her stealth suit and emerged onto a sandy beach. Her attendants noticed a couple of electronic monitors meant to detect trespassers. Siobhan moved slowly by, relying upon her suit. She saw her position on the island in her tactical. Her link showed her an optimum path to one side of the compound.
Siobhan had purposefully selected the end of the compound that looked the most remote. She wanted to pressure Spero, flush him out. If possible, she would avoid as much of the security as she could.
The attack on the outer system should help. He knows something is coming.
Siobhan walked into the vegetation of the island. The surface was rough. A few tree crabs scuttled for cover. She had to climb down into a depression and back up again on her way. The ferns and palms were dense, but it made her feel safer. She watched the soldiers and attendants take their positions with her PV.
Siobhan proceeded an eighth of a kilometer through dense jungle, then stopped. She heard something. Then she saw something metal through the ferns. A large machine moved up ahead.
It had two metal legs lifting it above the foliage of the island floor. Its gray and red metal body looked vaguely humanoid and heavily armored. There could not have been a person inside, as the waist was impossibly thin, composed of only a shiny column that looked like a metallic spine. A sleek, arched chestplate opened for four gray tentacles of carbon or metal. Weapons systems built into arms and head were unmistakable. A pair of baneful red eyes surveyed the jungle from its armored head.
That thing was designed to intimidate.
She checked its interfaces with the subverter.
Custom software. Source unknown.
Then the machine closed off all communications. The subverter had alarmed it.
Fsssssss.
Flame engulfed the area. Siobhan immediately felt it through her suit.
Krumpf.
Sliced fronds, branches, and sand sprayed over her from her right flank.
Can it see me?
Siobhan darted away through the burning foliage. She zigzagged back into cover, dancing around branches and leaves. She drew oxygen from the suit’s supply. As the smoke cleared, she stopped again in a crouch to look back.
The green plants did not burn well. Most of the flames had died down. The machine had cleared a small area of plant matter. The sandy soil exposed was blackened and littered with jungle debris.
Siobhan caught sight of the machine again. It had lifted two meters off the ground, leaving its legs dangling in midair. It did not seem to be looking at her. A laser probe flashed from its head, checking for hidden objects. The machine patrolled about in the air, searching for her.
No hacking this one, Siobhan thought. Run or fight.
Siobhan brought up her weapon and loosed two mech rounds.
Blam! Blam!
Bright flashes popped among the bright green fronds between her and the robot. Something had stopped the rounds. The machine started to scan in her direction. She turned and ran.
So much for Shiny’s fancy gun! Damn it! How could this machine be so powerful? I wonder if the suit’s sound curtain could cover such loud sounds.
The machine came after her. She could see it in the view of a couple of her attendants nearby. She ran as fast as she could through the jungle without regard for direction.
It’s not supposed to be able to see me. Did Shiny betray me?
Siobhan looked back. She had broken some fronds in her hasty passage. Did the machine see that? She looked at the ground. Just out of the range of her stealth suit, she saw one of her footprints deep in the crushed leaves covering the sandy ground.
I’m helping it by leaving footprints behind.
Siobhan jumped onto a rock, took three steps and then scrambled up a tree with thick, soft branches. She slowed. The huge green fronds hid her well, but she did not want to give away her position by moving any of them.
She heard a humming noise as the machine neared her hiding spot.
Siobhan prepared herself for another shot.
Maybe the mech round will work at point blank range.
Siobhan did not move her hand yet to aim. She just froze. She glimpsed its leg through the leaves as it hovered nearby.
The awful machine moved on.
Siobhan regained her wits. She had been nothing but a mouse running from a robotic cat there for a minute. Now, it was time to think again.
Spero had not doubt taken notice by now that something was afoot out in his vast front yard. Unless the guard machine was too dumb to report a battle with something it could not see.
That could be fine. He’s alerted. He does not know how many enemies he has out here. I need to change alerted to alarmed.
Something in surveillance feed caught her eye.
Someone else is out there. They don’t look like they belong.
Siobhan watched the stranger. The feed zoomed in.
Frackjammers!
The stranger looked just like her. It was her. As she watched, the other Siobhan leaped over a huge rock formation and landed on the other side.
Yep. A Trilisk duplicate!
“I’m going to kill somebody for copying me without my permission…”
Siobhan had the awful realization that her copy would be vulnerable to manipulation by the Trilisk. Then she would be facing the Trilisk and herself. A super-fast version of herself.
What if the Trilisk made a copy? Just to screw with me? How could it happen? Did my copy survive way back on the Blackvine habitat?
Chapter 15
Telisa’s robotic carrier approached the huge mass of Skyhold. The carrier looked exactly like supply ships that came into Skyhold regularly. Only two decks and a few isolated cabins on board were pressurized. Telisa waited patiently with her cloaking device activated. With luck, she would be able to sneak on board when it was unloaded. Telisa isolated her link to help stay hidden.
The ship received a broadcast from the habitat. The message came through the public broadcast on the ship, through speakers and the link network.
“Andralede… we see you are with crew. Prepare to be boarded.”
We see you are with crew? I don’t think so. If they do see me, this is going to be a lot harder than I expected.
Telisa stayed put. She had her Veer suit’s vacuum cover ready. If she had to move through vacuum to get inside Skyhold, she would. She had left her beloved double-triggered “lightning gun” behind. It was too heavy and probably not safe to fire on Skyhold anyway. But she missed its heft and reassurance at her back. In its place was a heavy tube filled with Maxsym’s deadly compound.
The carrier attached gently to Skyhold. Telisa saw there were two connections, one on her deck and another one deck below. She moved in that direction, ready to try and slip by. When she neared the lock corridor, she took a peek. Her new eye helped her see all the way down the long corridor and took a snapshot in several wavelengths.
She saw a team moving onto the carrier from the lock corridor. They had laser carbines in their hands.
Telisa was unfamiliar with their armor—it wasn’t Momma Veer.
They do suspect something. Or could they really take this precaution with every ship?
Telisa found a spot to wait for them to pass. It was a rectangular maintenance access port, shoulder-width and twice as tall as a human. She slid inside.
No room to maneuver, but this is the best way to give them the slip.
The group moved by her niche silently. She felt something was wrong with them. She looked at the nearest face. It was hidden behind a smooth reflective oval mask. A green circle was emblazoned on its shoulder, the universal symbol for a robotic construct.
Androids.
As they moved away she took the corridor they had used to arrive. Since her cloaking device provided a special sound curtain as well, she decided to run for it.
I really don’t want to end up having to crawl around outside the station figuring out how to get in.
She made it to the lock. The umbilical corridors remained attached and empty, though two androids stood ramrod straight at the entrance ahead.
More of them? I guess the Trilisks are serious about security. That shouldn’t be surprising.
She looked at them. It was hard to force herself to walk through. She felt like they must see or hear her. The two silent humanoid shapes creeped her out.
Telisa steeled herself and kept coming. She walked right between them and stepped through the lock. She expected to see an amazing space habitat on the other side. A luxurious playground. What she saw instead gave her pause.
A huge hardpoint had been built watching the lock. More androids stood at the wall. Three laser turrets were built into the wall facing the entrance. They looked like armored pillboxes with stubby metal barrels sticking out.
Wow. Paranoid. Today, with good cause. They’re going down.
Skyhold had more security than she had ever seen. Up ahead, two corridors led in and out of the station. Banks of scanners were emplaced on either side.
Telisa slipped to one side to observe. Once again she felt doubt. Was her cloaking device up to this?
The longer I stand here, the bigger the chance it runs out of juice and I’m dead.
Telisa looked at the corridors and tried to decide if she should run or walk through. She stepped on a conveyor platform that would carry her through. The conveyor whisked her past the checkpoint. Telisa caught herself holding her breath.
Crazy.
She willed the alarms to remain silent, then winced when the panel she rode on turned red. Androids started to move ahead and behind her, running along the sides of the checkpoint.
Telisa had a split second decision: freeze or run?
They see me here. The strongpoint has the most sensitive equipment. They wouldn’t be able to see me inside.
She started to run forward.
I wonder what tipped them off… there must be a lot of sensors. Probably my weight on the conveyor. Maybe even the air I’m breathing. They could have chemical sniffers.
Telisa told her Veer suit to seal up. Her emergency pressure mask flipped over her head and sealed. The soft face covering hardened into a clear, optically perfect visor.
I should have done that before. I’ve never had the cloaking device fail though.
A squad of androids appeared at the end of the long runway she was on. They did not see her, though they held their weapons up. They started to run toward her.
Telisa hopped up on the guardrail and kept running ahead.
Nothing here, androids. Just a malfunctioning sensor in your conveyor.
None of the weapons of the androids tracked her as she ran by on the rail. Telisa did fine with her balancing act until she neared the end. Her stride got a bit of side-to-side wobble, almost sending her back onto the conveyor. Telisa accelerated, going for an all or nothing finish. More androids waited motionlessly at the end.
Telisa leaped right over them from the end of the guardrail. Her landing was rough. She faltered and had to roll straight ahead. The stealth sphere covered the noise of her impact and roll. Then she regained her feet and kept running. She soon lost herself in the wide concourses of the interior of Skyhold.
Finally on board. A bit behind schedule. The others must be well underway.
Beyond the huge strongpoint, Skyhold was every bit as luxurious as she had expected. The inside was huge, filled with gardens and tennis courts, swimming pools and zero-grav play zones. A few people walked about, though it was mostly empty. She checked the directory.
Shopping malls. How quaint. You get to go pick up the merchandise yourself instead of have it delivered. Fun for a vacation, sure, but it gets tiring fast.
Telisa did a quick Trilisk host check for everyone within range. She got no hits for about twenty people near her.
Negative. Hrm. So much for just opening the gas cannister and being done with it.
Telisa let one of her attendants hack the network around her and authorize itself as a registered courier. Then she let the attendant exit her stealth zone. It flew off to look for Trilisks. She saw a VR lounge nearby and decided to check it out.
Maybe Siobhan was wrong. Maybe the rich and powerful only need these android servants. If there are no young or old ones, I could risk the gas. Depending on how many Trilisks I find.
She looked around at the five people in the VR lounge. They looked disheveled. Unhealthy. A man sat with his arms limp at his sides and a blank look on his face, but Telisa was not sure he was even hooked up to a virtual environment. A woman sat ten meters away who looked like a drug addict. She had hollow cheeks and messy hair.
These are the rich and powerful? They look more like the inhabitants of an ancient mental health hospital.
Telisa went to the next large entertainment center, a combination restaurant and observation lounge looking out over Earth. Most of the public places on Skyhold involved either eating or exercise, since modern core worlders spent a lot of their time in virtual realities. Their real bodies still had needs, though, so the habitat provided pleasant places to feed and stay fit.
The restaurant was largely empty. That did not surprise Telisa. The rich and powerful would not enjoy struggling with crowds. The population density here was low, or at least the station was designed to make it feel that way. She saw a few couples. Her link cache told her one of them was on the list: Theo Soros. The attendants told her none of them were Trilisk. Nor was her remote attendant finding any Trilisks.
I wonder what the others are finding. Could the Trilisks have found ways to hide themselves better? Maybe the attendants just can’t tell. What a disaster.
Telisa decided to take a risk. She ducked into a restroom to flip off her stealth device. She appeared in the mirror.
A bit martial looking. But if I don’t take risks, I’m not going to get to the bottom of this.
She walked out into the restaurant. It felt dangerous to be out in the open, but she hoped she would have some time. She went back to the table with Mr. Soros and the woman he dined with. She sat down at the table uninvited.
“How are you two doing?” Telisa asked. “I’m with the Space Force.”
The couple exchanged looks. Telisa winced internally. How would they react?
“We’re getting by, considering,” Mr. Soros said. Telisa detected no hint of sarcasm.
“Considering what?”
“Considering how sick I am of this place,” he said. He looked at Telisa pointedly.
“Well, if you hate it so much here why don’t you just leave? You must have another house somewhere,” Telisa said.
Everyone here can afford several houses all over Earth.
“Yeah, why don’t you fly my shuttle?” he replied harshly.
Hrm. What’s that about?
“I can fly,” Telisa said idly.
Mr. Soros turned to the woman across from them.
“I guess we’re starting to lose it here, huh? Some of us more than others,” he said sadly, tilting his head toward Telisa.
&n
bsp; “When did they send you here?” asked the woman. She was looking at Telisa.
“Send me here? Who?”
“The Space Force? Hell I don’t know who any more than anyone else,” the woman said testily. “Whoever it is that has us all canned up here. How long ago?”
“I just got here,” Telisa said.
“So you’re here to make fun of the prisoners? Or did you screw up and they sent you here to rot?”
Aha.
“Oh,” Telisa said, looking concerned. “Those androids are your keepers?”
“If you really don’t know, then they’re your keepers now too now, miss,” Mr. Soros said.
Telisa’s roving attendant detected androids on the way. Most likely her presence had been noticed. She wondered if the monitoring was simple or as elaborate as an AI wired into the whole network.
“I’m here to help you,” Telisa said quickly. “Spread the word quietly. Help is here.”
Telisa flipped on her stealth sphere.
The woman gasped. Mr. Soros stood up and looked around.
Three androids arrived as Telisa padded over to the other side of the room. She stood behind a bank of plants, even though she was invisible.
“Citizen Soros, please point out the female you were speaking with,” one android said.
“Uhm… sorry. That was just a hologram,” he stumbled.
“I see, Citizen Soros… please stand by.” The androids stood quietly for a second. “Carry on,” the android said. Then all three began to walk in different directions, scanning the room.
Hrm. I wonder if they called up to an AI. I should leave. Of course, that is what an AI would expect. I could stay.
Telisa decided to be unpredictable. Her attendant still searched around the habitat. It was looking like there were no Trilisks in Skyhold at all. Just prisoners… rich, powerful people who had been herded here and trapped.
So we had it backwards. The Trilisks decided to give themselves free roam of the system and bottled up everyone one else here.
Telisa suddenly realized she was going to have more trouble leaving than she had getting in. Now she was a prisoner too, with Earth’s once-most-powerful.
So the other PIT team members are facing the Trilisks and I’m stuck here.
The Trilisk Revolution (Parker Interstellar Travels) Page 9