by M J Dees
"Not any more, sorry."
"Where can we get access to their system?"
"Future?" Sevan suggested.
"Too risky," said Ay-ttho.
"Isn't the Corporation chasing us?" asked Tori.
"Possibly."
"So why don't we allow ourselves to be captured by the Corporation? Then we can access the system from their own ship."
"Would you drop me off somewhere, please?" asked Sevan. "I don't want to be captured by the Corporation again. They keep torturing me."
"I thought we were a team," said Ay-ttho.
"I just don't share this same obsession for killing Barnes."
"So, do you propose we do nothing while Barnes goes around liquidising planets?"
Even if that was exactly what Sevan wanted to propose, Ay-ttho's expression told him it would be a bad idea. He looked at Tori, M'Sychu and Lopez and realised he was in a minority of one.
"So, we just sit here and wait for the Corporation to come and get us, do we?" Sevan asked.
"It wasn't just that they were badly performing concessions," said Ron. "The Doomed Planet and Daphnis were both concessions where Barnes designed the workforce."
"Did he design workforces for other concessions?" asked Ay-ttho.
"I can't answer that," Ron apologised. "But it might be another line of inquiry."
"So, are we just going to sit here and wait for the Corporation to come and get us?" Sevan asked again.
"Yes, Sevan," said Lopez. "That is exactly what we are going to do."
Sevan decided the best tactic was to sulk and he slumped in his chair and stared out of the observation window at nothing.
"Would you excuse me?" asked Lopez and left the bridge.
"Where's he going?" Sevan asked once Lopez had left.
"I don't know," said Ay-ttho. "Maybe he's gone to get something to shove up your waste product discharge cavity."
Sevan returned to staring out of the window but then had an idea.
"Ron?" he asked. "When I was chief council member they used to give me this juice called pish. You wouldn't be able to synthesise some of that juice for me would you?"
"I know exactly what you mean," said Ron.
Sevan sat forward in excited anticipation.
"No," said Ron. "Sorry."
Sevan slumped back into his seat.
"A number of ships have just emerged from the Doomed Planet jump point," said Ron.
Tori re-attached the terminals which allowed him to view the weapons system.
"I see them," he said. "Six Corporation patrol ships. Too far to get a target on them."
"Don't fire," warned Ay-ttho.
"I won't."
"More ships have just arrived through the Aitne portal," said Ron.
Tori turned to see the virtual display in the direction of the Aitne portal.
"Republic patrol ships. Six. Again, out of range," said Tori.
"What's going to stop them from blasting us to smithereens?" Sevan asked Tori. He was too scared to ask Ay-ttho.
"Don't worry," said Tori.
He removed the terminals and shut down the weapons system.
"Ron? Initiate the surrender signal," said Ay-ttho.
"Surrender signal initiated," said Ron. "However, I envisage a problem."
"Oh great," said Sevan.
"The plan is to be captured by a Corporation ship so we can access their system. However, the Republic ships are not only closer, they have jurisdiction. If we are captured by the Republic we will not be able to access the Corporation system."
"Fushy!" said Ay-ttho. "Set a course for the Corporation ships. Full speed."
The Mastery of the Stars' engines roared and the freighter began to move.
"That might not solve the problem," said Ron. "According to protocol, the Corporation is obliged to hand us over to the Republic forces."
"Tori, fire everything we have at the Republic. Ron, maintain the surrender signal, direct it to the corporation."
Tori hurriedly started up the weapons system and reattached the terminals.
"I don't think that will solve our problem," warned Ron.
"Fire!" Ay-ttho shouted.
Tori began firing at the Republic ships which were barely within range. The Republic ships began to fire back but their blasts did little damage to the freighter.
Meanwhile, the distance between the Mastery of the Stars and the Corporation vessels was shrinking rapidly.
"Ron, you might want to ease up a bit and bring us in more slowly," suggested Ay-ttho.
Ron was silent and the Mastery of the Stars continued accelerating towards the Corporation ships.
"Ron!"
Ron was silent.
Ay-ttho tried unsuccessfully to take control of the ship.
The Republic stopped firing because of the proximity of the Mastery of the Stars to the Corporation ships.
"Ron! Give me control!" Ay-ttho shouted. "Ron! Stop the ship!"
It was too late. The Mastery of the Stars collided with one of Corporation vessels which buckled under the superior strength of the freighter's hull.
The Mastery of the Stars was not without damage however and a hole punctured in the entrance door caused the internal safety doors to be activated and sealed the bridge from the rest of the freighter.
M'Sychu looked at Sevan, Sevan looked at Tori and Tori looked at Ay-ttho.
"Now what?" asked Sevan.
"Now, we wait," said Ay-ttho.
CHAPTER 6: DARK RIDDLES
The Mastery of the Stars had struck the Corporation ship with such force that it had passed right through and out of the other side.
Tori had stopped firing at the Republic vessels and Ron had cut the engines so that the Mastery of the Stars was now drifting.
"We are receiving a communication from one of the Republic ships," said Ron.
"Oh, you're back are you?" said Ay-ttho. "What the fushy happened, Ron? Why, in the name of the Giant Cup, did you ram one of the Corporation ships?"
"I'm sorry," said Ron. "But it was necessary. Would you like to know what the communication from the Republic ship was?"
"Necessary for what?" asked Ay-ttho. "I despair sometimes, Ron."
"I would like to know what the Republic said, Ron."
"Thank you, Sevan. They said that we should prepare to be boarded."
"What do we do now?" asked Sevan.
"We need to get into one of those Corporation ships before the Republic get here," said Ay-ttho.
"How do you propose doing that?" asked M'Sychu.
"We can use an escape pod," said Ay-ttho. "Jettison it through the side of one of their ships."
"What?" said Sevan. "Are you expecting us all to fire ourselves into the side of a ship?"
"No, just Tori and I will go. You and M'Sychu stay here."
"And get captured by the Republic?"
"Make up your marbles," said Ay-ttho. "Do you want to stay or go? If all goes to plan, you might not get captured. Just stay here and don't open the door."
"Great," said Sevan with as much sarcasm as he could muster.
Ay-ttho and Tori climbed into an escape pod watched by M'Sychu and Sevan from the bridge.
Before they could close the pod and jettison it into a Corporation craft, the Corporation ships began firing at the Republic ships.
"What dark riddle is this?" asked M'Sychu.
"Tori! Get back on the weapons system," shouted Ay-ttho.
Tori leaped out of the pod, ran over to the weapons chair and strapped on the terminals. In the time it took Tori to get the weapons system up and running, it became clear that none of the Corporation ships were firing at Mastery of the Stars, they were only targeting Republic vessels and, although the Republic ships had started returning fire, they had sustained a considerable amount of damage on account of being taken by surprise.
"Ron, move the ship out of the way," said Ay-ttho as the fire between the Corporation and Republic ships reached a ferocious level.
Ron steered the Mastery of the Stars clear of the battle into a position where they could see the spectacle of almost a dozen Corporation and Republic ships destroying each other.
"What is happening?" asked Sevan.
"They seem to be destroying each other," said Ay-ttho, stating the obvious.
"But why?" asked Tori.
They watched the destruction continue until only one Corporation vessel was left with weapons systems intact. Then the firing ended and there was a long pause, during which they wondered what might happen next.
"Dark riddles," My'Sychu muttered.
“Ron? Ay-ttho?” A voice crackled from the communications desk.
“Lopez?” asked Ay-ttho. “Where are you?”
“In the Corporation ship.”
“Which one?” asked Sevan.
“The only one that isn’t destroyed.”
“How?”
“Never mind how. Oh, alright, I’ve accessed the Corporation system, that’s how I could control their weapons systems. I’ve managed to take control of this vessel and I have discovered where we need to go.”
“Where?” asked Ay-ttho.
“Nereid,” said Lopez. “It’s not home to a poorly performing concession, it’s the sight of something new, perhaps Barnes’s latest project. If the Corporation system is to be believed we will find him there.”
“Okay, let’s go,” said Ay-ttho.
“I have a plan,” said Lopez. “Transfer M’Sychu to the Corporation ship and then we’ll escort you to Nereid as if we have captured you. It might get us closer to the operation on Nereid than we might do otherwise.”
“It’s worth a try,” said Ay-ttho. “Ron? Bring us alongside the Corporation ship.”
Ay-ttho, turned to Tori.
“Hand out weapons,” she said. “It might be a trap.”
The Mastery of the Stars swung round and pulled alongside the Corporation vessel. Ay-ttho, Tori, M’Sychu and Sevan stood, with weapons at the ready as the ships docked with each other and the connecting doors opened.
Ay-ttho was the first to enter the Corporation ship, followed by Tori and then Sevan. No sooner had they entered the first corridor than they saw the bodies of Corporation security personnel laying everywhere.
“Lopez? Where are you?” Ay-ttho spoke into her communicator.
She was met by silence.
“Let’s go to the bridge,” she said.
They proceeded with caution, passing numerous bodies as they went.
“Where’s M’Sychu?” Tori asked as they entered the bridge.
Sevan shrugged.
“Lopez? Where are you?” Ay-ttho shouted into her communicator.
“I’m here,” Lopez’s voice crackled out of the speaker.
“Where?”
“On the bridge of the Mastery of the Stars.”
“What?” Ay-ttho gave the others a look of despair. “Wait there, we’re coming back.”
She started to leave the bridge.
“I wouldn’t bothered if I were you.”
“Why not?”
“Because, I’m leaving.”
Ay-ttho sprinted through the corridors, Tori and Sevan chased after here but when she arrived at the door connecting the two ships it had already been sealed and the Mastery of the Stars was pulling away.
"Ron? Come back and re-dock," Ay-ttho shouted into her communicator.
"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible," the voice of Lopez replied. "Ron is taking a short vacation."
"Lopez! What the fushy do you think you are doing?"
Sevan thought Ay-ttho was about to literally explode having already done it figuratively.
"You can't leave us here!" she shouted into her communicator.
"I can and I have," said Lopez. "Oh, by the way, those Corporation guards aren't dead, they're just unconscious. You might want to do something with them before they wake up."
Ay-ttho said a word in a language Sevan did not understand but he assumed it must have been deeply profane.
"Tori? You and Sevan deal with the guards. I'll try to get this ship moving."
Sevan and Tori dragged the guards to the ship's holding cells which were not designed to contain a whole crew but they managed to fit them all inside with Tori moving about three guards to every one of Sevan's. When they had finished, the found a very frustrated Ay-ttho on the bridge.
"I can't find out what's wrong with it," she admitted.
"Let me have a look," said Tori, as he accessed the system and ran the diagnostic checks.
"I've done all that," said Ay-ttho. "Incredibly, there seems to be virtually no damage to the ship and yet I can't get the engines to start."
"Do you think Lopez has disabled the ship in some way?"
"It's possible, but how?"
"How would you disable a Corporation ship?"
"Disconnect the navigation system from the engine management system somehow?"
"We'll have to start it manually. Sevan, come with me."
Sevan followed Tori off the bridge and towards the engine room. As they passed the detention room, Sevan could hear shouting.
"I think they're starting to come round," he said, but Tori didn't seem interested, he was too focused on the issue with the engines.
"I think we've found the problem," Tori informed Ay-ttho through the intercom. "It looks like someone deliberately sabotaged the control cables."
Sevan saw Tori was holding a bundle of disconnected cables in his hand.
"Then why didn't it show on the diagnostics?" Ay-ttho's voice crackled over the intercom.
"He must have altered the system to silence the alarm."
"Lopez?"
"Who else?"
"Dark riddles," Sevan muttered to himself.
Tori set to work connecting the control cables and no sooner had he done so than Ay-ttho managed to start the engines.
"Where to?" Tori asked, as he and Sevan returned to the bridge.
"Nereid, of course," Ay-ttho replied.
"It's fortunate that Nereid is only one jump point away," Tori commented.
Ay-ttho thought about it for a moment.
"A little bit too convenient don't you think?" she said.
"Do you think Lopez was lying?"
"He's not exactly been honest with us."
"So, what should we do? Go to Nereid?"
"If he's not at Nereid we have no idea where to start looking. Nereid is the only lead we have."
"What about the Guards," Sevan asked, as they sped toward the jump point.
"What about them?" Ay-ttho asked.
"I think they're waking up."
"So?"
"So, should we not do something?"
"Nope."
"Okay," Sevan relaxed into his chair and watched the approaching portal.
He wanted to ask what would happen when they arrived at Nereid, a Corporation concession, when they would be surrounded by corporation forces, but Ay-ttho looked like she did not want to answer any questions and Ay-ttho scared Sevan more than the Corporation did.
When they emerged through the portal, they were not blasted to smithereens as Sevan had worried. No-one was waiting for them at the other side of the jump point and they were not met by a fleet of antagonistic Corporation frigates when they arrived at Nereid. It was almost as if no-one cared whether they were coming or not.
"They must know about the shoot-out with the Republic ships," said Tori.
"Not if Lopez overrode their system," said Ay-ttho.
"They would still have heard from the Republic," said Tori. "And, in any case, he is in The Mastery of the Stars. They're not going to give him permission to land on Nereid without asking questions."
"I don't like it," said Ay-ttho. "There's something wrong."
"Let's go then," said Sevan. "No point in hanging around if we don't need to."
"Welcome to Nereid," a sickeningly pleasant voice cracked from the communications desk. "You are now under local traffi
c control and will be guided safely to your designated landing area in Waterfall."
"She's not lying, I've lost control of the ship," said Ay-ttho.
"What did she mean, Waterfall?" asked Sevan.
"According to this," said Tori, looking at the system. "Waterfall is the Corporation's main base on Nereid. It's a city built behind..."
"Let me guess," said Ay-ttho. "A waterfall."
"That's right."
"Sometimes I wonder who the Corporation gets to come up with names for things," she complained. "Tomorrow, Future, Waterfall."
"The Doomed Planet," Sevan chipped in.
"I think Tomorrow and Future are meant to be inspirational," said Tori. "The space station for tomorrow, the city for the future..."
"The city behind the waterfall," Sevan completed his thoughts.
They watched as the ship was guided through the atmosphere towards a rocky landscape of snow-capped towering peaks, not unlike Pandoria but even more dramatic.
In between two of the peaks, Sevan could make out a huge cascade of water and, as they drew closer, he could make out a gap in the rock behind the water like the opening to a huge cave or gigantic cavern.
As they descended further it was clear that they were heading for the gap behind the water where Sevan could now make out towering buildings hundreds of stories high.
Before long, they found themselves in-between the vast torrent of water and the opening to the great cavern which was filled with buildings, their lights glittering in the darkness of the hole within the rock.
"What are we going to do when we land?" Sevan asked, so impressed by the spectacle that he forgot Ay-ttho's prohibition on him asking questions.
"I think we are about to find about," said Ay-ttho. "Whatever we do, I think it’s better that we do it armed."
Sevan saw they were approaching a landing strip where a platoon of automatons appeared to be waiting.
"Here we go," said Ay-ttho.
"Welcome to Waterfall," the pleasant voice crackled. "A reception committee is waiting to take you on your guided tour of the city."
"Reception committee?" said Sevan seeing that the platoon didn't seem to be carrying weapons.
"It must be a trap," said Ay-ttho.
CHAPTER 7: WATERFALL
When the ship docked, and the doors opened, Ay-ttho, Tori and Sevan emerged from the ship with their weapons ready. They proceeded with caution out of the ship and onto the landing strip where the welcome from the automatons was as pleasant as the voice from traffic control had been.