Defender

by Janet Edwards

  A cry of triumph came from below, followed by the sounds of a struggle, and the wristset lights all converged on one spot. “We got him!” said Matias’s voice.

  “They finally got me,” Forge’s voice echoed him in mockery.

  Adika turned the lights on again, and adjusted his ear crystal before speaking. “Everyone, meet up on gallery 1, and then we’ll head back to the aircraft hangar.”

  Adika and I went down the conventional external staircase, and walked into gallery 1. “How did Forge manage to hide for so long without someone stepping on him?” asked Adika.

  “Forge was clinging to the underneath of gallery 5 the whole time,” said Eli. “He isn’t a human being. He’s a spider.”

  “I wasn’t clinging on to anything,” said Forge. “I was lying across two of the support beams. You’d have spotted me within the first two minutes if you’d thought to shine your wristset lights up as well as down.”

  We walked back to the aircraft hangar, and found clusters of people working on equipment, while others stood watching with an air of resigned boredom. I went over to where Lucas was sitting on an empty crate.

  “How is the mobile operations centre progressing?”

  “I’m torn between using the words abysmal and disastrous,” said Lucas. “We haven’t managed to get either the Liaison or the Tactical areas working yet. We can’t depend on the standard power supply when we’re chasing Mars, so we have to adapt everything to run from power cells.”

  He shrugged. “The aircraft has returned from the main Hive with some vital missing parts, so things should go much better this afternoon. I’ve discovered one major oversight on my part.”

  “What oversight?”

  “When we arrive at the main Hive, we’ll have to set up the mobile operations centre in the aircraft hangar for speed and security. Therefore we’re rehearsing setting it up in the aircraft hangar here. The problem is that most of the unit staff are petrified of Outside, so we have to evacuate them into the corridors before we can open the hangar doors to let our aircraft in or out.”

  “Will that be an issue during the actual chase after Mars?”

  “Hopefully not,” said Lucas. “When we arrive at the main Hive, we’ll close the hangar doors as soon as our aircraft are inside, and we shouldn’t need to reopen them again until after we’ve caught Mars. I suppose we could take some screens with us, so we can block the view of the hangar doors if necessary.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think a few screens would be enough to reassure people who’ve grown up with a deeply ingrained fear of the hunter of souls and his demonic pack.”

  “True. Even my own Tactical team couldn’t face staying in the hangar when the doors were open. Intellectually, they know the horror stories about Outside are just myths, but they’re up against a lifetime of social conditioning.” Lucas sighed. “How did the Alpha Strike team do in training?”

  “Not very well, but that’s because they were chasing Forge around what he described as a colossal children’s climbing frame.”

  Lucas laughed. “I thought Forge would make them work hard in there.”

  I moved on to the subject that was worrying me. “Sakshi said there’ll be someone at every workstation in the power supply nexus, dealing with power surges during the fuel rod changeover. That’s a hundred and fifty minds on the galleries, and several more in the power control centre as well.”

  “Yes,” said Lucas. “I hadn’t realized so many additional staff would be in the power supply nexus during Operation Rainbow Cascade.”

  “Finding Mars’s mind should be relatively easy, I’m expecting it to be quite distinctive, but describing his location to the Strike team will be incredibly hard.”

  I pulled a pained face. “When I look with the telepathic view, the galleries and staircases are invisible. I’ll just be seeing a mass of minds sprawled across ten levels of the Hive, and making rough estimates of where Mars is. The view from his eyes won’t give me any clues, because all those galleries and workstations look the same. I can’t count on being able to give the Strike team a description of Mars, or even a name, because people rarely think about those things.”

  “I’ve been considering this point too,” said Lucas. “We won’t be able to evacuate the staff from the power supply nexus, because uncontrolled power surges would cause immense amounts of damage. Even if you manage to give the Strike team enough information for them to locate Mars, they’ll be charging into a three-dimensional maze that’s packed with innocent bystanders.”

  He shrugged. “Whether those people react by getting in the way and demanding explanations, or by running in panic, there’s a risk of Mars escaping in the confusion. We need to take instant control of the situation, and I’ve thought of one way to do that, but I know exactly how hard it would be for you.”

  I frowned. “What’s your idea?”

  “We dress up Buzz as a nosy and send her into the power control centre.”

  I gulped. I’d been worried that my fear of heights could be a problem during the chase after Mars. It had never occurred to me that my difficulties with nosies would be an issue.

  “Obviously, we’d let you read Mars’s mind first, and get all the information you can,” said Lucas. “Buzz would then enter the power control centre, and stand by the Power Controller’s chair. Everyone in the power supply nexus would be able to see her there. Buzz could distract them while the Strike team got into position, and then make them stay in their seats while Mars is arrested.”

  He paused. “This approach would help us take control of the situation, but I know how hard it is for you to work near nosies. It could be impossible for you to keep reading the target’s mind.”

  I pictured a power supply nexus packed with people, all reacting to the arrival of a nosy, and winced. “It would be a struggle to read anyone, even my own Strike team members. Not everyone reacts badly to a nosy, but there’d be a hundred and fifty people in the nexus. There’s a danger they wouldn’t react as individuals but as a crowd, so the emotions of anger and loathing start multiplying.”

  “Yes, with crowds you can get mass emotional contagion, where the emotions of all the individual members start synchronizing,” said Lucas. “We can’t risk that happening, so I’ll have to think of another way to …”

  I lifted a hand to stop him. “There isn’t another way that could work as well. The sight of a nosy has an instant impact on everyone. People would immediately accept Buzz’s authority, and believe whatever she told them. Everyone except Mars, because he knows the nosies are fakes. He’d still be distracted though, so …”

  I broke off. “I’m going to have to think about your plan for a while, and decide if I can cope with it. Can we talk about something else now?”

  Lucas nodded.

  “There’s some surprising news from Adika,” I said. “He and Megan are engaged, and will be getting married after she’s had the baby.”

  Lucas’s mind flared brighter as his thought levels went into high-speed analysis mode. I’d been stunned by this news, and only understood why it was happening after reading Adika’s mind. Lucas worked it out for himself in thirty seconds. “Hopefully that will solve their relationship problems.”

  “Adika certainly seems very happy at the moment.”

  “I’d better go and congratulate him.”

  We went across to where Adika and Forge were standing with the Alpha Strike team.

  “Amber told me that you and Megan are planning to get married,” said Lucas. “My congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” Adika glanced at where Megan was working, and smiled before turning to me. “Amber, will you want to come along to watch the Beta team training session this afternoon, or would you prefer to rest?”

  “I’ll come along,” I said. “I need more practice running circuits on their minds.”

  “We shouldn’t be wasting training time on the Beta team greenies,” grumbled Tobias. “If the Alpha team carry on training th
is afternoon, we’ll learn how to catch Forge much faster.”

  “Really?” Forge glared at Tobias. “You were struggling to catch me, and now you want to use your failure as an excuse to steal my team’s training time? Being recruited earlier gives you a huge advantage over the Beta team, so you smugly call them greenies, but …”

  Adika frowned and opened his mouth to intervene, but another voice cut in first. “I’m in total agreement with Forge on this. I’ve only been away for a few days. If the Alpha team have already fallen apart to the extent that they need to steal the Beta team’s training time, then I’ll disown the lot of you.”

  We all turned to face the new arrival. Rothan stepped forward to hug Forge, and then smiled round at the rest of us. “Have you missed me?”

  “Of course we’ve missed you,” I said, “but what are you doing here?”

  “You sent an aircraft back to the main Hive to collect vital items you’d left behind. I felt those vital items included Emili and me.”

  “You know that Amber means you should be back at the main Hive having medical treatment,” said Adika. “You were critically ill only days ago.”

  Rothan shrugged. “The genetically tailored replacement cell treatment has fixed the damage to my lungs, and the Fire Casualty Centre has discharged me. I’ll need daily follow-up checks for infection over the next month, but I can have those from our own medical staff.”

  “Won’t you need some time to get fit again?” asked Eli.

  Rothan laughed. “I haven’t been out of action long enough to get unfit.”

  Adika patted Rothan on the shoulder. “In that case, we’re glad to have you back with us.”

  There was a babble of conversation, but I just stood there watching in silence. I was remembering Rothan’s younger brother sitting in the waiting room at the Fire Casualty Centre. The boy had been thinking how cowardly he was in comparison to Rothan, and now I was feeling exactly the same way. Rothan had been trapped by fire, choking from smoke, but calmly kept lifting others to safety before escaping himself. My difficulties with nosies seemed trivial in comparison.

  If Rothan could put his horrific experiences in the fire behind him, and come to help us catch Mars, then I should be able to cope with Lucas’s plan to take control of the situation in the nexus. After all, the crowd of people there would be reacting to the nosy as a terrifying inhuman creature, but I would know it was just Buzz dressed up in a grey mask and clothes. That would surely make things easier.

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  When we flew back towards the main Hive, there were a multitude of stars shining in the night sky. I stared out of the aircraft window at them, wondering if some of those stars were the other worlds that orbited the Truesun. Was I looking at Mercury, Venus, Mars, or Jupiter right now?

  I glanced round Aerial one. The Alpha Strike team all had electrical items wedged uncomfortably on their laps. There was no conversation at all, not even a joke from Eli to break the tense silence.

  We’d rehearsed the plane disembarkation and setting up of the mobile operations centre dozens of times in the last few days. Our best time was four and a half minutes, but one lost or broken item of equipment could add another ten minutes to that.

  Gold Commander Melisande’s voice spoke from my ear crystal. “Light Angel, what is your status?”

  “Light Angel is airborne and should be above the Hive in eleven minutes,” said Lucas.

  “Light Angel, I’m talking to you on a private communications channel so no one else can hear us,” said Melisande. “At this moment, even my own team are unaware of the expected threat and your planned intervention. I’m assuming that you still wish me to keep them in ignorance.”

  “Yes,” said Lucas. “Mars may just be a maintenance worker with access to key power systems, but we have to allow for the possibility of him being highly placed in either Power Services or Gold Command.”

  “It is now twenty minutes to midnight,” said Melisande. “Operation Rainbow Cascade is entering the final ten minute countdown. We’ll need you in position over Burgundy Zone aircraft hangar in twenty-five minutes.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  Lucas’s voice sounded perfectly calm, but I checked the top levels of his thoughts and found them in turmoil.

  … logic says that Mars must be going to sabotage Operation Rainbow Cascade. I’ll be the laughing stock of Law Enforcement if logic is wrong and …

  … worried about asking Amber to do this, especially when Buzz is playing the part of the nosy. Amber’s already been through too much in …

  … taking this approach, but how could our telepaths have checked the minds of everyone involved? It’s not just the people from all three work shifts, but the host of extra temporary staff in each power complex, and …

  Words vanished and were replaced by a sequence of rapidly changing images. Hasties cordoning off all the bulkhead crossing points. People in maintenance uniforms checking that every bulkhead door on every level had sealed, and the shutters had come down across all air vents and crawl ways. Power workers crammed into the galleries of a power supply nexus.

  Overwhelmed by the images, I pulled out of Lucas’s mind, and looked at the screen of the dataview he was holding instead. There was the usual oblong diagram of the Hive, with a group of flashing dots approaching it that marked our aircraft’s location.

  “Five minute countdown,” said Melisande.

  I was expecting silence for another few minutes, but our pilot’s voice spoke in an urgent tone. “Lucas, I’ve got Hive Defence calling me. They’re querying why our formation doesn’t have flight clearance and is off-course for our home zone aircraft hangar. I’m going to have to tell them something or they’ll launch fighter aircraft.”

  “Tell them to call Hive Gold Command channel 9,” said Melisande. “I’ll deal with it.”

  A minute later, our pilot spoke again. “We’ve now been sent blanket authorization for flight manoeuvres connected with a Hive Gold Command emergency defence operation.”

  Another long silence. “Five seconds to Operation Rainbow Cascade,” said Melisande. “Four, three, two, one. We’re initiating belt system slowdown and cordoning off the bulkhead crossing points. Where are you, Light Angel?”

  “We’ve just reached the Hive,” said Lucas. “On approach to Burgundy Zone aircraft hangar now.”

  After the quietness of Hive Futura, I was keenly aware of the thunder of the Hive Mind close to me. A hundred million thoughts. A hundred million people depending on us to keep them safe. I rubbed my sweaty hands on the fabric of the clothes I was wearing. I could do this. We could do this.

  “I have confirmation of belt system slowdown and bulkhead crossing points blocked from all zones,” said Melisande. “Ordering bulkhead doors to close in ten seconds.”

  “Light Angel is now holding position above Burgundy Zone aircraft hangar,” said Lucas. “Ready to transmit remote activation code for the hangar doors.”

  “Bulkhead doors are closing now,” said Melisande.

  There was a very long pause. Maintenance people would be calling in confirmation that the bulkhead doors had closed, but that process was only scheduled to take five minutes. We seemed to have been waiting far longer than that.

  “Clearing Burgundy Zone to initiate fuel rod changeover,” said Melisande.

  We all waited tensely. Lucas had his finger poised over his dataview, ready to send the signal to open the Burgundy Zone aircraft hangar doors.

  “Light Angel, Burgundy Zone reports a faulty fuel rod,” said Melisande.

  “Light Angel acknowledging,” said Lucas. “Moving to position over Red Zone aircraft hangar.”

  I heard the note of the aircraft engines grow louder as we started moving, and then quieten again.

  “Light Angel is now holding position above Red Zone aircraft hangar,” said Lucas.

  “Clearing Red Zone to initiate fuel rod changeover,” said Melisande.

  Red Zone reported a faulty fu
el rod, so did Orange Zone and Yellow Zone, but then we were holding position over Green Zone aircraft hangar and the calmness of Melisande’s voice changed to urgency.

  “Green Zone reports successful fuel rod changeover.”

  “Light Angel is landing.” Lucas’s forefinger stabbed at his dataview, and I saw a light appear below us as the Green Zone hangar doors slid open in response to our signal.

  “I’m allowing the cascade to continue as planned,” said Melisande. “Clearing Turquoise Zone to initiate fuel rod changeover now.”

  There was a lurch as our aircraft swooped downwards and into the hangar. A couple of bewildered people in Hive Defence uniforms started running towards us, only to back away rapidly as they saw more aircraft were following us in.

  I heard the voice of our pilot magnified to deafening levels by a loudspeaker. “Stand clear! Hive Gold Command emergency defence operation in progress. Call Hive Gold Command channel 9 for confirmation.”

  Our aircraft came to a halt. Adika opened the door, and hit the button to deploy the emergency evacuation chute. The Alpha team started leaping out of the door in turn, clutching electrical equipment protectively to their chests as they slid downwards.

  Lucas turned to me. “You’re sure you can do this, Amber?”

  “Yes.”

  He gave me one swift kiss, stood up, and we went to follow the Alpha team down the evacuation chute. By the time we’d reached the ground, Aerial two had parked neatly next to our aircraft, but I noticed something odd about the lighting. I looked up at the ceiling, and saw the hangar lights were flashing erratically.

  “What’s happening?” I asked.

  “Power surges,” said Lucas. “The power supply nexus has two fuel rods in deadly embrace, so there are bound to be power surges, but the new fuel rod is only low power. The problems can’t possibly be this bad, unless …”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Mars must be doing this. He’ll be wondering why the power isn’t overloading the nexus buffering system yet. Everyone else in the nexus will be trying to minimize the power surges, but Mars is working against them. He’s concentrating the excess power in areas near the nexus, in the hope that it will trigger an explosion.”