“Well, if the hop out of atmo was the one that self-repaired, that makes sense. Thirty? Was Matt able to tell where the end point was?”
“Not yet. But he said wherever it was, there was a good amount of delay. The timestamp on the message showed 24 minutes of light lag. He is trying to find the source now.”
“Jesus. I mean… we knew there were colonies, but… they couldn’t have survived this long, could they?”
“How many colonies do you know about?”
“Mostly the mining ones: Mars, the asteroid belt, some around the moons of Jupiter. But they all vanished during the Sundering. We didn’t have any way to check if they survived the event, so we assumed they just died out.”
“Well, we may know soon.”
“Did you send a message back?”
“Not yet. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. If it is a colony, and they have managed this long on their own, what do we say or do? We can’t help them and that message is a cry for help. We have nothing to offer.”
“Except information. They need to know what happened as much as we do. It’s a side of a story we haven’t been able to piece together, Jo.”
He nodded slowly. “How many people, though? How many people could be in the colony?”
Ayna was quiet. “Thousands. Eighty years ago, the smallest colony had over four thousand people in it.”
“So if they have survived this long, or managed to grow, we have to tell potentially tens of thousands of people that everyone that could help them died on Earth eighty years ago and the survivors can’t help them, so they will die too?”
“Goddammit.”
Ayna checked her messages again. Come on, Kaiban. She resisted the urge to leave her desk and make yet another cup of tea. She closed her messages and started reading the latest report on the Artificers that she already read through once, retaining none of it thanks to her inability to focus on anything but the Blight crystals. Her mind kept drifting back to her library at home and finding Shara with the sample. The voice and the screams echoed in her mind as the words of the report blurred past her again.
A flash of red in the corner of her tablet alerted her to a new message. She opened it and smiled when she saw it was from Kaiban. The smile fell away as she read through the message,
Ayna,
Thank you for your consideration for the new project. I would have loved to be a part of such a historic project, however I must decline. Due to my obligations to my family, I feel that I just cannot devote the time and energy to the project that would be required. If there is anything else that I can help with, as always, I humbly offer myself services.
Ayna wanted to throw the LightTab across the room than cry. Instead, she composed a reply with a second plea to his ego. Kaiban had been her first choice only because she knew of his ambitions. After she had met with him, the next three casters she had met with had immediately rejected the request. Belvi’s rejection still echoed in her mind, as it wasn’t an argument she had expected.
“If we need to use new types of source to defeat the Xenai, there will be no defeating them,” he had said then recounted the tales of Harran, Merende, and Kerai, as well as Retona and Channoon, not focusing on some of the side-effects of their work, but on how long it took them to develop anything usable. She should have seen that argument coming.
You know what I should do? I should just have the Guard round them up and move them to the labs.
She pulled up Captain Hassan in her messages, but as her finger hovered over the button to compose a new message, her hand trembled and she put the LightTab down. She stood and paced behind the desk, then walked out on to the balcony to pace more.
There were other casters, less gifted, but perhaps she could find one who was less cautious as well. Or one whose ambition surpassed even Kaiban’s. If only his damn husband didn’t have his claws into him so deep. I am sure Kaiban would have accepted, if only he hadn’t talked to his husband about it. She knew it wasn’t quite that simple, but she let her anger punctuate her thoughts as she continued to review her options.
Mentally reviewing each Source-caster prominent enough for her to know them by name, she concluded that none were as reckless as she needed them to be—other than Shara, who was not an option. She considered the Underground casters who would probably do anything to get Topside, but their abilities were unknown. She went over each option to avoid the one that lingered since Kaiban had expressed his disapproval of them: the Artificers. Gifted, proven, and just as ambitious and in need of standing as they were before they ascended from the Underground. There were several who had stayed in the Underground to pursue ambitions frowned upon by the Crafting Guild, and she happened to know one. They had been friends as children, and Bobi was always open to a good deal.
Ayna leaned on the balcony railing, gripping it tightly as she clenched her jaw. Her LightTab chimed behind her. She walked back into the room and to her desk.
What now?
She picked up her Tab and glanced at the second polite decline from Kaiban. The spite drove her to decide.
The steam and hiss of the room filled Ayna’s ears. Everything seemed so much louder in the closed spaces of the Underground. The metallic taste in the air swarmed into her mouth before she saw the source. Bobi Shriver was tall and lean, as expected of an Illara. What was surprising was the wide span of his shoulders and the muscles that rippled down his arms and back. He was always working long days to fill orders for the amulets that held so much promise for source users. The amulets he created were intricate, but not delicate — in both appearance and the powers they could unleash. Ayna could not help but wonder if his body could make the same promises of power and intricacy.
Ayna had known Bobi since she was in a child and when they became teenagers, she had wondered about him. A blush of embarrassment rose to her cheeks. She was grateful no one was around to see, and Bobi had his back to her. She admired him for a moment longer, and then stepped forward.
“I hear you have some pull with the Artificers these days,” Ayna said, projecting her voice as best she could. She smeared a ridiculous smile on her face, ready for Bobi to turn around and have his own moment to survey her. Of course, it had been years since she had seen him. It had likely only been hours since he had last seen her. Someone had plastered her face and a transcript of her briefing to the rest of the Prin council on the Blight Field everywhere on the SatNet. Luckily they had stopped the intruder before they had gotten farther into her server. Word from her spies was that the Underground had gotten photos of the field weeks ago, ones that looked strangely like the ones she had received and marked as Classified, and sent their own photographer to investigate. That had prompted the hacker to get more information. She had kicked off an investigation, but already knew it would turn up nothing usable.
Bobi turned around abruptly at the sound of her voice. He found himself a few paces away from Ayna and hastened over to her, lifting her off the ground in a giant hug. “Well, if it isn’t the tiny politician!”
Ayna bowed her head in a show of mock grace when he returned her to the ground. “Do you have a moment? I’d like to talk to you about… things.” She peered around him and glanced at the other Artificers in the area.
Bobi nodded and turned back to his forge. He pulled a wooden grip on a metal handle above his head, which moved the smoldering pile of coals back into another compartment of the unit. Then, he pulled a second handle to the right and water cascaded down over the work surface, boiling, steaming and cooling. He turned back to Ayna. “There is a great little lounge spot near the pond outside.” He lowered his voice. “Few people down here take the time to go all the way out there.”
Ayna nodded, stepped aside and waved her hand, signaling that she would follow Bobi wherever he wanted to lead her. He stepped past her, through the door and into the tunnel that she had entered through. He took a left into a smaller passageway, not more than a few dozen paces into the tunnel. The echo of their footsteps
grew louder as the passage grew smaller. A sheen of moisture coated the walls, and occasional droplets dripped down to the floor. The stagnant water accumulated into more droplets and pools near the base of the wall as the floor sloped unevenly upward, back towards the surface.
Ayna picked up her skirt, mostly in show, as the bottom few inches were soiled beyond repair, soaked through from her travel into the Underground. She lifted her hand to shade her eyes as she emerged from the tunnel, pausing behind Bobi’s broad back as her eyes adjusted. The worn-down stairs to her left were missing chunks of concrete, with the bottom step missing entirely. Rust covered the metal of the handrail, infiltrating so deep into the metal that it had eaten holes through the iron. Bobi took the entire length of stair within two steps, sailing from the middle of the stairway, over the decayed and missing steps, and down to the ground in one smooth hop. He turned and put up a hand, which Ayna grabbed, allowing him to put a hand on her waist and guide her as she hopped down to the ground.
He slowed his pace to match her smaller strides as they walked toward the small pond together. He waved her over to a park bench that had long-since fallen to pieces. One small section of the bench was still standing. He sat on a large rock next to it, placing his elbows on his legs as he leaned forward onto his arms, his head just a few inches from Ayna’s.
“Now. You want information on the Artificers’ operations? I assume because of… new data?”
Ayna nodded, keeping her face straight despite being giddy that he had assumed the wrong reason for her visit. This put her at less of a disadvantage, but she had to proceed carefully. She was not exactly close with Bobi any longer, if she ever had been, and she couldn’t know her offer would appear to his self-interest enough to make him temporarily trustworthy. She also knew that Bobi would not confide in her unless she also confided in him. It wasn’t a matter of mutual respect or a mark of good manners and cooperation for Bobi. For him, everything was give and take. Even though they had worked closely with Shara to help her develop source amplification through amulets, everything was an exchange to Bobi. Rather than take payment in credits, he insisted she take on his son as an intern. In order for her to get what she wanted from him today, she would offer him some information or a trade that would benefit him. She decided that gaining information was worth the risk of information getting out.
She took a breath and started the explanation. “I’m sure you have seen the Blight field photos on the SatNet. Perhaps even the stolen ones?” She paused long enough for Bobi to incline his head slightly, then continued, “It has come to our attention that the Bloodsmiths and their current experiments will be interested in the field. It contains some not entirely natural properties that could augment their experiments. They will not share any of their data on their experiments, however. The Artificers have no doubt noticed as well, and I was hoping that you might assist me in acquiring some of the data that the Artificers have… gleaned.”
Bobi nodded. He did not seem surprised that Ayna knew of the Underground operations, nor that she knew that the Artificers had a few spies within the Bloodsmith operation. The Artificers ran themselves like a business, while the Bloodsmiths were more like a tentative friendship between various factions. They were volatile, and things within the group could change without notice. Despite the differences between the two groups, the Bloodsmiths and Artificers traded often, leading the Artificers to keep an ear to every wall. Many of their best deals came not just from making a deal expecting a power swap within the Bloodsmith organization, but occasionally even making a deal that forced a hand and became the catalyst for a power swap.
Ayna had made similar deals through her own resources. She had been ready to do so again to put someone more pliable and communicative into play — someone she could work with more easily. However, she had been surprised to find her resources could not find a chink in the current organization. Everyone had united under this Tani and her work, and at least for now, the bond was solid. Ayna’s operatives were searching for ways to destabilize Tani, but so far had failed.
Ayna was looking forward to sitting down with the latest report on Tani. This one was nearly 50 pages long. It would be a good read by the fireplace in Jo’s study later that night. There had to be a vulnerability in what Tani was building, and she knew she would find it in those pages, somewhere.
“I can talk to Petyr,” Bobi replied. “He has been working under one of the Vice Artificers to figure out if the Blight crystals would be of any use to us in our work, but so far we have been working entirely off of the Bloodsmiths’ studies of the sample they could obtain, which is limiting, to say the least.”
Shit, they already have a sample. And Bobi wants to get a hold of one himself. He wants to work with it himself.
She wasn’t ready to address her true purpose, “Do you know where the Bloodsmiths have relocated to? Perhaps we could get their sample, maybe lose track of some of it.” Ayna may have trusted the Artificers more than the Bloodsmiths, but only barely. Even this potential solution did not sit well with her.
Bobi shook his head. “We don’t know that it’s a pure sample at this point. They could have done anything to it. Although, I am sure we could dig up some location data for you, if we had incentive… So far, you have asked for two things and offered nothing in return.”
Ayna shifted on her small, broken bench. The images of the Blight field re-appeared before her, covering the beautiful long grass and the pond’s lily pads with a crimson shimmer of blood. She remembered Hafi’s description of the field and felt like she would be cleaner if she went for a swim in that field than if she allowed the Artificers to have access to… whatever the fuck it was.
“I can’t, Bobi. I can’t just give you access… at least not before we know more.”
Bobi clearly had anticipated this response because he was already prepared with another suggestion, “Perhaps you just need more people to work the problem? Perhaps just a few, well-respected students of Source amplification?” He tapped his embroidered jacket and arched an eyebrow, “They could join the science team you already have on the problem and provide new angles. It wouldn’t be a big problem if they accidentally sent a report to a mistyped address, would it?”
Ayna laughed, ecstatic that he had suggested exactly what she wanted as payment for a favor she had already been prepared to offer. “You always have a solution for everything. That would not be the end of the world.” She reached over and patted his knee. “Send me over credentials for any candidates. I will allow you to have one assistant. That’s it. You and one assistant.”
Bobi beamed. “I thought you would take more convincing.”
Ayna laughed again. “I don’t have all day to be pestered by you. You would follow me and whine until I gave in just to shut you up. It’s easier to accept that you’re going to be one of the team. I know you are more than happy to give everyone the shaft as long as you get what you want.”
Bobi chuckled. “I can’t argue with that.” He stood and brushed off the back of his trousers where the rock had deposited dirt. “I’ll get you candidate information by the end of the day. You can walk around to the west from here to get back to central Prin, rather than going back through the Underground.”
Ayna nodded. “Maybe someday we’ll get those old motos running again.”
Bobi laughed. “Do you need people for that, as well? One of our boys has gotten one of the aero crystals to respond and move without a Source-caster while carrying over five times its weight. He’s working to increase the weight load.”
The idea intrigued Ayna. “I’ll have to look into this advancement — you know, if we are all still alive in a few months.”
Bobi nodded, his eyebrows creased with concern. He gave Ayna a small bow. “I’ll make sure you come back and take a look. We can always use affluent patrons.” His jovial tone didn’t match the way he shifted and pushed his hands into his pockets, as if looking for something to grab onto.
Yes, Bobi. The sit
uation with the Xenai is that serious.
No one seemed to fully understand that. Not even Jo.
Maybe I don’t even know how serious the situation is.
She looked at Bobi, a glimmer of an idea popping into her mind. “What about the ascent vehicles? Have any of your guys gotten them working?”
He looked at her curiously. “Well, you would have to define working. We had one guy that was able to relaunch a sat after rebuilding it from scraps and modifying its power source, but he miscalculated the launch. It’s likely about 2000 miles…” he looked around then pointed northeast, “… that way. He wasn’t sure if it reached proper escape velocity because it didn’t occur to him to re-install any location software.”
Ayna couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous idea of launching without location software, even as Jo’s voice echoed in her head.
We have nothing to help them.
27
Tani
People filled the lab, bringing with them all the noise that disrupted Tani’s ability to think. She couldn’t escape it, even hiding in her room. She had two patients in for surgery the next day—the first Terran patients—and it felt like they each had dozens of family members with them, although in reality they had only three each. Tani wished she had set the allowed number of family members per patient lower: perhaps at zero. Delilah handled most of their questions about what to expect, and Vin handled their accommodations, but Tani still felt them watching her every time she stepped outside her room, so she stayed inside as much as she could, observing her rats with their Blight crystal implants.
They were hearty little buggers. Despite all she had put them through to test what the crystal would do, they were prancing around the glass cage just as they had before she had broken and removed limbs, taken out organs, and introduced cancers. They had all recovered from their traumas, although it seemed the rat whose thyroid had been removed had taken the longest to recover. She had wondered if he would make it when he had ballooned up and gotten so lethargic he wasn’t even eating, but eventually he had regained energy then slimmed down to a normal size again. It still confused her that regrowing limbs had taken less time than regrowing a thyroid. Tani lifted the top of the cage and carefully dropped in a handful of chicken bones to treat the poor little experiments. She replaced the lid and took a deep breath, then exited her room.
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