"You show me your proof, and I'll gladly submit," Umi said just as they reached the corridor. He turned with his hands out and leaped to the side. At the same moment Vaughn pushed Rachel around the corner. Vik and Kelly leaped the other way.
The Boben fired. The shotgun roared out a triple burst. He staggered back under the shock. Voices cried out from the vendors, and people scrambled to run.
Umi grabbed the corner post of one of the stalls and waited at the edge of the corridor. Vik rolled on the ground and clutched his leg; blood ran from between his fingers. Vaughn pulled at a section of pipe.
Alarms rang out. Someone yelled down the hallway. It was almost clear now. Vendors had taken cover, and only the cargo haulers kept moving.
The barrel of the shotgun peeked out. Vaughn slammed the pipe down onto it and the gun clattered to the ground.
Umi clenched the post and ran around the corner.
The Boben stood a meter back with a pistol in his hand. The shotgun was a ruse, laid onto a box and pushed ahead.
Clever.
The Boben fired.
Umi charged in. The round hit him on the shoulder, and he was down. The post clattered to the ground. Then he felt a foot on his back, and the next thing he saw was the Boben lying on the ground with Rachel stripping the weapons off of it.
Rachel bound the Boben and then pushed it aside. It babbled incoherently about justice.
Kelly pulled Umi to his feet and applied a dressing.
"Oh shit," was all Umi could say.
Vaughn and Rachel helped Vik while Kelly and Umi hobbled down the corridor. The vendors were already back to hawking their wares. A security patrol came upon them and, after seeing no weapons, let them go.
"That Boben is in for a surprise," Rachel said.
Umi wanted to crack a joke, but he was in shock, just far enough into it to know it. Already he was cold; he needed a proper med kit.
They arrived at the cargo area. The expedition crew was standing at the airlock to the Vek starship. A group of sluggishly moving cargo loaders slowly transferred the luggage across. Koric waited with his eyes half closed next to the airlock.
"Gimme a hand!" Rachel yelled. "Grab a med kit!"
"It's already loaded," a member of the science team yelled back.
"Well, get it then!"
"Not until you pay," Koric said flatly.
Rachel stepped before the Vek and pulled out a slender wafer. She keyed it calmly, handed it over, and the Vek punched in a few values.
Koric's face broke into a plastic-fake smile. "Be our guest."
The airlock hissed and slid open behind him.
Umi wobbled and just went with the flow. The pain wasn't nearly as horrible as he thought it would be. Now it was just the confusion. They were in the cargo area, but no one knew where the med kits where. Then when they found them, they were the wrong ones, so they searched more.
Vik grinned at Umi. He wasn't nearly as pale and didn't look to be in as much pain. One leg was askew, the other elevated. "You look like shit."
Umi tried to talk, but he couldn't. His vision tunneled in. He felt a jab in his arm and was suddenly very cold.
Rachel was at his side, squeezing his good hand. "That's twice you owe me another drink.
The witty reply just wouldn't come. All he could think of was that he'd bleed to death on the dirty floor of an alien starship. After everything he'd survived, to die like this.
They tore off his shirt, applied coagulant, and then worked through the jelly-like layer. He was, luckily, completely and totally numb. Though he wished he'd have passed out so as to not hear the sounds as bone was scraped. Every time they dug back in to snag another fragment, it felt so completely and totally wrong.
Raziz leaned close to him and peered into his eyes. She attached a sticky pad to his neck and sat back on her feet. As she wiped the blood from her hands, she spoke. "He'll need supervision until the matrix is set. He's lost a lot of blood, and he'll lose more if you don't notice the matrix failure. Got it?"
Rachel nodded.
"Once that artery pops, he's done in, like, a minute," Raziz said. She looked at Vaughn and Kelly too. "You got that?"
"Yah."
"What about me? It hurts," Vik said.
"You'll be fine," Raziz said. "Quit being a baby."
"Where do we move him?"
Rachel looked up at the Vek guards at the edge of the cargo area. "We don't. This is it."
***
They passed the days reorganizing the gear and taking turns watching Umi. Vik was up and hobbling within a few hours. Kelly and Vaughn trained in the EVA suits with the recovery teams. Vik watched and struggled about.
The Vek kept a constant guard. Two sentries stood at the door. The airlock into the rest of the ship had one tiny window, and it was painted over.
Koric came out the next day. His manner was much more relaxed. He found Rachel at Umi's side. He sneered at the wounded human. "I never understood the effort you put into your wounded. They can't fight, work, or be useful."
"It's a human thing," Rachel replied.
"Indeed. You find the accommodations satisfactory?"
"You could let us inside," Rachel replied.
"Hmm, no." Koric looked back to the sealed door. "You'd find the atmosphere rather disagreeable. Now, I need to know our destination."
Rachel pulled out a small case from her pocket. Raziz came over with a console and set up a corrosion-streaked reader. The console blinked on, and data flowed over the screen in waves before finally settling.
"Polov's Star."
"I don't know your star names," Koric said. "Nor why you bother naming them; they are beyond count."
Raziz pulled out a standard data chip from the side of the console and handed it to Koric. "Standardized coordinates."
Koric bowed and walked back into the rest of the ship.
"Not fond of visitors, eh?" Umi said.
"No one has ever been beyond the cargo bay of a Vek ship," Raziz said.
"Not for lack of trying," Rachel added.
"What's the plan, then?" Umi said.
"You get your rest," Rachel said. "You're in no shape to do anything. Consider it a vacation."
Umi snorted.
Vaughn and Kelly ran drills in the EVA suits. They moved between the rows of containers with mock weapons. Vik directed the movements. He was the only true Infantry team lead; the others were straight up Armor or Engineers.
Umi knew it was going to be rough. He trusted Kelly and Vaughn, but neither one was up to securing an entire starship in zero-g. Not that he was an expert either, but four were better than two. Though Vik hoped to get into a suit by the time they arrived.
Umi wasn't in any shape to do much. The bullet had passed into his shoulder, clipped an artery, and then shattered against his shoulder blade. They had his arm immobilized, and it still hurt to walk around. Just getting up was a enormous effort.
"Teams ready?" Rachel said to Raziz.
Raziz shrugged. "Ready enough. It'll likely be a debris field scattered over too far of an area. I'd be excited just to find some hull sections."
"Hull sections with a drive," Rachel said.
"That'd be jackpot."
"So we go all this way on a hope and a dream? A jackpot? Just to find a drive?" Umi said. He struggled to sit up.
"This isn't our first dance," Raziz said. "There's dozens of teams like this all out looking. Space is big, really big, and you can park a starship a few light-years from a star and it will never, ever, be found."
"We take any tip we can find," Rachel added.
"Even when an upstanding citizen like Toro finds something?" Umi said. He didn't bother hiding the sarcasm.
Raziz glanced at Rachel. "This one is special. We've never found an intact cube like this."
"What's so special?" Umi asked.
"It's a control cube. So that might mean—" Raziz said.
"—that there's something worth controlling," Rachel fi
nished.
Umi watched Vaughn and Kelly stumble in the suits and shook his head. At least they had a few days to practice.
***
Four days later, they arrived in a system with a piercing white star. The Vek hadn't bothered them other than changing the guard at the airlock. In that time, the team set up a command center near the airlock. A medical tent went up on one side and highlighted the risk. The salvage teams each had their specialized equipment laid out: plasma cutters, arc torches, grinders, drills, and fusion lances.
Umi hobbled across the room with one hand in a sling and the other gently gripping it. Each step jarred his shoulder, and he gritted his teeth. The painkillers did enough to keep the pain dulled, but not enough to make it go away.
The airlock opened with a hiss, and Koric came in. He walked straight to Rachel. "We need the cube for a more accurate set of data."
Raziz stood up from her console. "That shouldn't be necessary."
"That positioning is old; the star is in an unstable orbit. If you want to find your wreck, then I need that cube in our navigation system."
Rachel thought for a second and then nodded. "Very well. How close?"
Koric took the cube from Raziz. "A few hours. We'll give you access to our video feed."
He left them and returned through the airlock.
"You trust them?" Umi said.
Rachel shrugged. "Not much choice."
"Three hours! Get ready, people!" Raziz said. Her voice was sharp in the cargo hold.
Umi hobbled over to his team. They were all in EVA suits with the chests opened up. In front of them was a collection of weapons.
"How ya feeling, Cap?" Kelly said.
Umi almost shrugged but caught himself. "Sore. You guys ready?"
Vik took a few gentle steps and grinned. "It'll be better in zero-g."
"What's the plan?"
"Salvage pops a door open, research clears the digital systems, and then we secure the airlock. At each stage we leapfrog in, and the salvage teams come in and follow," Vik said.
"One section at a time? No one moves till you call clear?"
"That's the plan," Kelly said.
"I can't wait!" Vaughn said. His eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Focus now," Umi said. He knew how excited Vaughn got when it came to gadgetry. "Now gear up and get with salvage."
The team picked up their weapons and moved toward the airlock. Umi leaned down painfully and picked up a pistol. He checked the ammo load, saw it was armor-piercing explosive, and stuck it into his sling. Just in case...
The video feeds clicked on three hours later without warning. They went from black and dull to showing a harsh, white light.
Raziz squealed. She hopped up and down in her EVA suit. Bill clacked his legs on the floor in his own odd version of an EVA suit.
Rachel stood up from her command console. There was a look of triumph on her face.
There, framed in the video screen, was not one, but two complete starships. They were both pitted and worn, the raw metal scoured by eons of interstellar dust. Both had significant battle damage. Sections of hull were missing, gouged away and shredded by shrapnel.
The smaller of the two was an elongated cube. Weapon mounts bristled from the perimeter with hexagonal shapes embedded in between. The rear drive was a half sphere studded with black.
The second ship, farther away, was much larger but also in much worse condition. Debris stretched out from the rear. Stars glinted through gaping holes. Scorch marks surrounded the damage.
The team cheered. The command group was abuzz with activity as they identified entry points. Rachel debated with Raziz about how best to tackle both. Other team members came in and argued for a dual punch. They decided to do an immediate triage and see which ship was worth focusing on. While the smaller ship looked better, the larger one made for a juicier prize.
The engineering team was all grins. They quickly packed up their interface equipment. Just a few moments before, they were passive observers, but now they had an actual starship to repair. Bill was at the lead and headed to the smaller ship.
Rachel walked over to Umi with a triumphant smile. "We're going to examine them both at once. Whichever is in better shape is the one we'll focus on. The larger team is going to the smaller ship; we'll send a skeleton crew to the larger ship."
Umi bit his lip. This wasn't his show. "Kelly, you go to the big boy. Vik, Vaughn, cover the little one." He assumed that the ship in better shape could possibly have more functioning defenses.
Koric called over the comms system, "You're clear. We're holding a hundred meters out."
"Thank you, Koric," Rachel said. "Could you bring the cube?"
"Of course, I'll be down once we're in position."
They loaded up into transport shuttles that were little more than propellant and cargo rigging. One of the ship's hatches was specially converted into a large-scale airlock.
Kelly snapped on her helmet and checked her weapon. She gave Umi a wave and set out with the first group. Vik and Vaughn left with the others. They had one more of the transports in reserve.
Umi sat and watched the incoming streams.
Each of the suits was fitted with bright lights and a high-def camera. The ship grew larger until they were right up next to it. The hull was crisp white with flecks of bare metal glinting through. The crews spoke in low voices and secured up next to an airlock.
The hatch was manually opened. Bit by bit, it grew wide. The airlock was empty.
Vaughn slid in through the gap. "Clear."
Umi glanced over; the second transport wasn't even to the larger starship yet.
The engineers moved in and sealed the outer door. They cracked the next hatch. A touch of atmosphere puffed in. Vik halted them once it was open just a few millimeters. He leaned in close and shined his suit light through. A long hallway disappeared into darkness. Wires and equipment were strewn everywhere.
"Cover me," Vik said to Vaughn.
The airlock opened wider, and Vik glided in.
Umi studied the screen. He couldn't pick out many details; the damage inside wasn't nearly what it originally seemed. The cables were laid out properly, sorted and color-coded, like something was working on... "Watch for the crawlers!"
Vik halted himself, but it was sloppy. He grasped at a tangle of wires and bounced off the wall. There was a loud clang as he collided with a wall.
Something appeared in the distance. It kicked off the floor and glided through the air. It had a dozen metallic feet and was like a flat metal centipede. Beady eyes glittered in the light.
Raziz yelled out, "They come in pairs!"
Vik had snapped off three shots. The metal worm flew apart. Bits of debris careened everywhere in a cloud of shrapnel.
The recoil of the gun sent him back again. He tumbled down and bounced off the floor.
For a split second the camera flashed by, and the next crawler leaped into view.
"Down!" Vaughn yelled. He let loose a stream of fire. Rounds ricocheted off the floor and walls. The little crawler leaped from one wall to the next. Just as it was about to land on Vik, he snapped up a pistol and fired off a round. The crawler shuddered, gently bounced, and was still.
"Keep watch, just hold," Umi said. His heart was beating fast; he hated watching others fight.
Raziz took a deep breath. "Second team reporting in, they're scanning the ship now."
The airlock to the cargo hold opened, and Koric stepped through. He walked over to Rachel with both of the sentries. His hands were locked behind his back and he wore a smug smile. One of the sentries pushed past Umi, almost knocking him down.
"Koric?" Rachel said. She stood up from the command console.
The sentries charged their weapons and leveled them at Rachel and the command crew.
"What are you doing, Koric? We have no debts," Rachel said.
"I'm afraid you found a bounty worth more than you can imagine. Corpses leave no debts," Koric
said. He dropped his hands down. In one hand was a pistol, and in the other the cube.
Umi slid a hand slowly into his sling. The only question he had now was whether or not his ammo could punch through the Vek body armor.
#
Chapter Twenty-Three
Planet Squire, Kalivostok System
Vasilov-Kvinsk Xeno-Archaeology Research Camp
Colonel Clarke was inside the research facility, pacing back and forth, watching the video from the recon team. He leaned over and paused the feed to watch critical images. But the one he kept halting at was the capsule rising up into the air and then hovering back down. That was not something he'd expected to see.
Commander Arap came up with Doctor Sokoloff at his side. "Quite the show, eh Cole?"
"Indeed. What's the consensus with your staff, Doctor?"
Doctor Sokoloff sat down slowly. She looked beyond tired. "It's a launch device."
Commander Arap clicked his teeth. "A bit big for a device, isn't it?"
"Scale is irrelevant, gentlemen. It's creating a gravitational field that resonates from each axis. These pillars aren't anything like we thought. They serve one purpose, and that's to put things into orbit."
Now it all made sense to him. He'd wondered why the Kadan and Emflife hadn't pushed on the gate. Why they never continued the engagement. Why they seemed content with just a foothold.
It was because they wanted all those troops tied up on stargates and planets, away from where they were really needed.
"They're going to invade Kalivostok from orbit and bypass the stargate."
Arap nodded his head sharply. "Well, son of a bitch."
"Comms?" Clarke yelled over his shoulder. "Anything?"
In the past day, the meager comms connection had gone completely dead. The jamming had intensified. The last orders were to continue recon, engage as necessary, and return with critical information.
"No, sir!"
"Can we blow up those pillars?" Arap said.
Doctor Sokoloff shook her head. "Whatever they're made of is extraordinarily tough. They've survived tens of thousands of years of dust without so much as a scratch. You'll never destroy them with explosives."
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