Horseplay

by Cam Daly

  He couldn’t think of an excuse for why he couldn’t go.

  “Take him.”

  A different worker was assigned to take the food to building 2. Connor had no choice but to follow Martinez down a different corridor to building 1.

  A few turns and a couple of doors later and the two of them were in another large room. Connor enjoyed the relative quiet for a moment as Martinez led him to a stack of equipment. More of the wheeled silver vacuum flasks were gathered there, almost all labeled “Liquid Nitrogen.” Each was the height of a man but probably weighed five times as much. Just past them was an open pit going down into the darkness with a ladder on one side and an industrial lift on the other.

  Martinez pointed to the ladder. “Climb down.”

  Connor did as instructed. It took a good thirty seconds to descend, and the pit was deep enough that it was noticeably colder below. It was darker as well, but as his eyes adjusted to the dim light he could make out another electric cart with tool boxes and spools of cable in the back. The passageway was at least three meters wide with a smoothly cut floor. Running along one side were a series of thick metal tubes which ran both directions into the darkness. Every few meters there was a complex looking metal pylon with boxes and other devices clustered around the tubes. He realized that those must be the working components of the particle collider. A constant hum filled the air and he tasted ozone.

  “Is there radiation here?” His voice warbled in un-Tumorish concern as he asked, making him instantly regret the question.

  Martinez turned to give him a quizzical look as he reached the bottom of the shaft. “Yes. A few days of exposure here and you would need to be recycled. But it should only take us a few hours to make the necessary repairs.”

  He had no idea how dangerous it would be to spend hours in radiation but there weren’t any protective suits anywhere. He followed Martinez’ lead and boarded the cart without buckling his safety belt. Martinez smelled even worse than Harris, but the odor dissipated as they drove into the dark tunnel.

  The headlights of the cart were the only source of illumination. Every few seconds a support pylon rolled into view with the next higher number on it.

  Connor realized they would be driving for quite a while. Perhaps an hour, always turning left. He sat in silence and watched the numbers slowly count up towards 223. Fifteen minutes later there was a wider chamber with a ladder going up, but it seemed like the top of the shaft was closed off.

  Another ten minutes later he realized that he had almost been dozing in his seat. The cart was only moving at a running pace but he would still be hurt if he fell out, and that would probably lead to his death via recycling. He decided to take a chance with Martinez rather than risk falling asleep.

  “I am starting to integrate with my host more fully. How long have I been in this facility?”

  “I was told that you came in alone a few hours ago. Do you remember which of us converted you, or where?”

  “No. That part is still unclear. How long have the humans been locked in here?” That should be a safe question.

  “Three days. DeVries came here and told the humans that they'd be running a new configuration of the machine for a few days without interruption. The first few of us came in at that time to help with security and maintenance.” He smiled grimly. “The master even sent a general purpose terrestrial weapons platform to assist. It is on standby in building 3.” With the Tumorish armory. That probably meant he couldn’t just walk in and pick up a weapon.

  “What was this facility used for before last week?”

  “Antimatter production. Our master entered into a bargain with the Molu a few months ago to share this facility, but it wasn’t until the breakthrough that the humans became interesting.”

  Connor waited a minute but Martinez didn’t continue with any information about what was interesting. The Tumorish weren’t much of story-tellers. There wasn’t much time before they reached assembly 223, so he pressed on but tried to not sound too curious. “What was so interesting about the humans?”

  Martinez was quiet for a moment, then stopped the cart and gave Connor a long look. There was a heavy wrench right behind them in the tool bin. Connor started to wonder if Tumorish could even be knocked unconscious.

  “Is your memory stable enough to remember what I say next? We don’t want to have to repeat this instruction. It is safe here because we are far from any monitoring devices.”

  Connor wasn’t sure what the consequences would be to admitting his memory was working. They might expect him to know more about electronics than he really did. But whatever Martinez was about to say to him was clearly of great significance.

  “Yes.”

  “A few weeks ago, one of the VSE scientists named Sousa made some change to the collider that stopped all point to point communicators.” Tanglecomms. “They turned it off very quickly. Then the scientists spent weeks making it much more powerful. We used that time to prepare to kill off all the other visitors here in the Sol system. The Molu and Craven were supposed to be the only ones left. We were almost ready to test the more powerful collider when the new Fleet woman showed up. Now they are running it non-stop until we kill her.”

  “How powerful is she?”

  “Our master has determined that she is one of their top Actives. In her current body she is classified at the same level of personal lethality as an enhanced Vreen. Killing her will be a great accomplishment. We tried to lure her out in San Francisco but she was faster than expected, and escaped our trap.”

  Connor realized that he had been the bait for that trap. “So we are here to kill her?”

  “The weapons platform is here for that. The Molu destroyed her support satellite a few hours ago. Our task here is to watch over the scientists, and help maintain the sections which would kill the valuable humans. We will convert them soon, when the Master commands it. All except Sousa. He is to be left human and captured alive. Do you understand that order?”

  Connor’s mind was reeling. He needed to get free from Martinez so that he could report back to Kery. The Tumorish had said that there were no monitoring devices here, and he didn’t have one of the camera headsets that allowed the Craven to directly observe his activities. Could he somehow steal the cart and leave Martinez down here?

  “Do you understand that order?” Martinez repeated the question in a louder and slower voice, as if speaking to a child.

  “Yes.”

  Martinez started the cart again. After a minute the tunnel widened into another chamber. In the middle of the floor there were a pair of large machines of similar but not identical design. They were connected via cables and pipes to the thick tubes of the collider, which continued off down the tunnel into the darkness.

  “We need to repair the back up vacuum pump. The collider tube must be as close to absolute vacuum as possible, or else the particles will scatter.”

  This might be the chance that he had been waiting for. If he could bring down the decoherence field here, then Kery could get Horseplay delivered in time.

  “What would happen if the particles scattered?”

  “The radiation level would increase dramatically and destroy these bodies within a few hours. We would not be recycled.”

  Martinez didn’t sound particularly bothered by that detail. The Tumorish had very little sense of self or self-preservation. But Connor did and he wasn’t about to kill himself without knowing that there weren’t any other options. Over the past few hours he had started trying to convince himself that he might have to sacrifice his life to protect humanity, but this didn’t seem the time for it.

  “Unload the tools and cable while I check the pump.”

  Martinez walked over to the pumps and flipped switches on a dark control panel. Connor began to unload the gear from the cart.

  “It looks like the power cabling has failed. Cut off power at the junction box there.” He pointed to one of several large switches connected to the the collider tubes.r />
  Connor pulled the heavy switch and Martinez went to work on the machine. His brain might have been partially devoured by a parasite, but the combination of man and alien somehow still knew how to work with electronics. With little help from Connor he quickly found the damaged high voltage cabling inside the machine.

  “Whatever you do, do not restore power.” He leaned into the machine and began working with the uncovered wires.

  Connor took a few quiet steps back to the junction box and flipped on the switch.

  Martinez gave a gurgling cry as his body spasmed. The lights in the pump chamber flickered and the Tumorish flopped to the ground, partially ripping the wires free. Connor cast about for a tool heavy enough to smash Martinez while he was down and spotted a pair of heavy bolt cutters on the cart.

  He grabbed them, but was astounded when he turned back to see Martinez already climbing to his feet, smoke still coming off his hands and arms.

  Connor froze.

  “We…are…eternal.” The injured man turned to face Connor. “Why did you turn on the power? And why do you have those?” He was looking at the bolt cutters.

  “I thought that you said to turn it on. I got these…to cut the cable and free you.” He lowered the bolt cutters. “How serious are your injuries?”

  Martinez straightened up, shaking his arms as if trying to restore feeling. His hands were blackened and the stench of burnt flesh filled the air. He didn’t seem to be able to move his fingers at all. “My arms are damaged. I need to be recycled. I will direct you to complete the work here. Start by turning off the power.”

  Connor still wasn’t sure that he could take the bigger man in a fight. He did as instructed.

  #

  It took almost an hour for Connor to fix the original problem and the extra damage that he had caused. At times during the work, Martinez leaned in close to check Connor’s work or give instruction. The charred remains of his fingers crumbled off when he touched things, exposing bone beneath. Connor struggled to keep his dinner down.

  Finally the pump was repaired. Martinez looked at the control panel to make sure it was working properly and the two boarded the cart. Connor had to drive. Between the knowledge of the radiation affecting him every minute and the presence of the Tumorish next to him, Connor couldn’t wait to get out of the tunnels. He drove as fast as the little cart could go, hoping all the while that Martinez would just keel over and die.

  It didn’t happen. An eternity later, they were back to the ladder up to building 1. Martinez tried to flex his hands without success. “I will need to use the equipment elevator. Climb the ladder and send it down to me.”

  Connor was elated to reach ground level again and be in range of Kery, but he could see Martinez staring up at him and didn’t dare call her yet. It took him a few seconds but he got the elevator turned on and sent the black and yellow striped platform whirring down to Martinez. A moment later the Tumorish called up from the semi-darkness that he was ready.

  As the lift ascended, Connor let out a long yawn. He had been through the most stressful day of his life and the return to the light and warmth of the VSE complex made him suddenly sleepy.

  Martinez stepped out of the lift and started around the pit towards the hall to building 5. “I do not think that you are integrating well. We will both be recycled.”

  Shit. Did each Tumorish decide this for himself, or was his “raw meat” act backfiring on him?

  “I disagree.”

  Martinez stopped and turned to stare at him. He squinted as if trying to see some detail in Connor’s eyes. Shit shit. Apparently recycling decisions weren’t something that was discussed. Connor’s heart was pounding. The sense of relaxation was gone and he trembled. Martinez drew closer.

  He looked past Martinez at something on the other side of the room. “What’s that?”

  The Tumorish turned away to look and Connor shoved him off the edge of the pit. Martinez tumbled noiselessly down into the darkness and landed with a distant thud. Connor had pushed so hard that he almost fell as well. He windmilled his arms and barely regained his balance.

  From the bottom of the pit he heard a mumbled cry. “We…”

  Connor turned to one of the large wheeled flasks of liquid nitrogen. It was as tall as he was, and several times heavier.

  “…are…”

  He lined it up with where he thought Martinez landed.

  “…eternal.”

  He pushed the flask off the edge, trying to match the force he used a moment earlier. Its silver surface was more visible as it fell than Martinez had been, flashing a couple of times as it spun then disappearing into the darkness. A second later there was a metallic crash, followed by a gurgling sizzle as the near absolute zero liquid spilled out and boiled away.

  “Are you still eternal?”

  There was no response.

  That didn’t mean that Martinez was definitely dead, though. He had to be sure. There weren’t any signs of other Tumorish around, and there hadn’t been any of the patrolling Knight mechs in the collider tunnel below. That might be the safest place to collect himself and try to report in to Kery. He put the phone in a front pocket and began climbing back down the ladder.

  He activated the Sneaker phone. “Kery? Are you there?”

  “Yes. I…yes. It’s been almost three hours - what’s going on?” Her voice was urgent. She clearly hated to not be in control of what was happening.

  “I killed someone. One of them. At least, I think I did. I’m about to check.” The cloud of nitrogen vapor below completely obscured the body. It was incredibly cold down in the pit now, although the vapor seemed to be spreading more horizontally than vertically.

  “Are you injured?”

  “No. No, but he wouldn’t die. I tried! I had to try to do it over and over again. He just wouldn’t die!”

  He stopped talking when he realized how loud he was starting to get. The first time he tried to kill Martinez had just been an instinctive response to opportunity. The second time felt like self defense. But the third time felt different. More wrong, somehow, to drop the vacuum flask on him.

  “Make sure he’s dead. That’s the important thing.” She said it as a matter of fact.

  He stopped climbing for a moment. There were more differences between them than their species. She was a killer. He had never even tried to take a life before, while she had hunted the Craven and who knew how many other aliens when they got in the way of her missions. She would do absolutely anything to protect her people. He wondered if he could do the same.

  “Connor?” She could see from the phone camera that he wasn’t moving. “You okay?”

  He didn’t feel okay but wasn’t sure how to respond, so he bypassed the question. “I’m about to check on Martinez. How can I be sure he’s dead?” He started down the last few rungs of the ladder and reached the floor.

  “If his body isn’t breathing, he’s dead. The Tumorish cells need oxygen just like yours.”

  The warmth of Connor’s body seemed to deflect the roiling white vapor coming from the half-submerged flask, giving him a narrow wedge of clear floor to inspect.

  At first he had a panicked moment that Martinez wasn’t there, but then he realized the flask had landed directly on him. Thankfully, the mangled corpse was face down. He was apparently frozen solid.

  “He looks very dead to me.”

  Her voice was more gentle when she replied. “Connor, he was already dead. The Craven were using him like a puppet. Now let’s figure out what to do next.”

  “He gave me a lot of information about this facility. Check the Sneaker video log when the tunnel signs were in the one-eighties.”

  He was about to head into the collider tunnel when voices cried out from above. A light shone down towards him.

  He breathed a whisper to Kery. “Damn. They heard it.”

  “Martinez? Cooper? What happened?” Harris.

  Kery whispered hurriedly to Connor. “It was an accident. Blame
him.”

  She was right. That could work. Martinez had never reported back after they got within radio range because his hands weren’t working right.

  Connor shouted up to Harris, trying to make his voice dispassionate about the death. “Martinez was injured doing the repair work. I finished it and drove us back here, but he slipped and fell from the top of the pit.” He felt a little more safe having this conversation from the bottom of the pit. He could always hop back on the cart and try to drive away if they didn’t believe him.

  Harris replied a moment later. “How did the vacuum flask end up down there?”

  Connor had hoped that Harris couldn’t see that. “He grabbed it as he was falling. It rolled after him.”

  Another moment passed without any audible conversation from above. He could tell that there were at least a couple of other Tumorish there too, so he couldn’t just push Harris into the pit as well. Especially if he was still wearing the camera headset.

  “Okay. Come back up.”

  So much for staying in the tunnels. He climbed up the ladder again. As he did, Kery spoke in his ear. “I’ve been listening to the conversation you had with Martinez. That was amazing, that you got him to tell you all that. This ‘Sousa’ person is the key. You have to find some way to get to him and learn what he did to the collider to generate the decoherence field.”

  Connor cleared his throat noisily. Kery kept talking. “I don’t know if that was meant for me, but I have no idea how to get to Sousa. Maybe you can pose as a VSE employee. I have two minutes of power left and I want to assemble everything we have learned so far as a data packet for Fleet. Also, I’m sending you a picture on the phone. If you have a chance to get outside or on to a roof unobserved, draw the symbol in the picture. It will tell Horseplay that the decoherence field generator is inside.”

  He very much wanted to know what Horseplay would do when it detected the symbol, but didn’t have a chance to ask. He was just about to the top where Harris and two others were waiting.