by S. H. Jucha
“We won’t cut,” Edmas had replied. “We’ll use nanites paste. After we’ve sealed the base to the tunnel’s surface, we spread a thick line around the inside of the airlock. The nanites will disorganize the material. A giant slab will drop to the ring’s floor.”
When Jess frowned, Jodlyne asked, “Anything wrong, Captain?”
“Yes,” Jess replied. “It’s not demonstrative enough. Can you rig something to look like a cutting torch?”
“Ah, I see,” Jodlyne replied. “We need to spend some time pretending to cut with a bright flame, while we spread the paste.”
“Precisely,” Jess replied. He was beginning to grow fond of that word.
As the hour of the assault grew close, Lucia entered Jess’s cabin. He was donning his vac suit.
“I’m not here to object to you doing this,” Lucia said quickly, when she saw Jess’s brow knit. “You know how I feel. It’s logical that you take the lead. I just don’t have to like it.”
“No more than I like you leading an assault team,” Jess replied, “but we’re a little short on veterans.”
Lucia quickly crossed the cabin to Jess, hauled him close by his suit’s harness, kissed him hard, and left the cabin.
“You be safe too,” Jess murmured, as the door slid closed.
In addition to the engineering shuttle, the assault required four travelers. One ship would land at the airlock site. A full brassard would be deployed there. Their movements were designed to capture the Colony’s attention.
The three remaining brassards would split and occupy two more travelers. They’d hover beyond the horizon and wait for Jess’s signal. Those were the cargo shuttles used at Sylia and carried the tripods and hoists.
Jess had hoped to make entry into three tubes, but that required three SADEs. He’d spoken with Orbit through Juliette.
“Understood, Orbit,” Jess had replied. “But for the record, this is something we all fear to do.”
The first three shuttles loaded their brassards. They were accompanied by Lucia, Sam, Yousef, Bortoth, Daktora, the remaining security forces, and Aputi.
After those shuttles cleared the Rêveur, the final traveler landed in the liner’s bay.
“Welcome aboard the Sharon Reems special,” the irrepressible Earther pilot said.
“This is roundtrip service, isn’t it?” Tacnock quipped, as he climbed aboard.
“We hope it is,” Sharon rejoined, “but if the assault commander is aboard, there’s no telling what will happen.”
“Then why are you the pilot?” Jess teased, as he followed Tacnock into the ship.
“It’s simply because where you go, the flying is the most exciting,” Sharon retorted.
Jess examined the woman’s face. She was smiling, but her eyes said she was deadly serious. She lived for the thrill of executing the most audacious maneuvers with a traveler. “Then I’ve the right pilot for the job,” he said, to Sharon’s pleasure.
The SADEs boarded behind Jess. Sharon retired to the pilot’s cabin, and Esteban signaled the hatch closed. Then Sharon launched the ship from the Rêveur, and the attack was underway.
The final reason Jess chose to execute the assault was due to the telemetry collected by a Trident that overflew tubes two and three, many hours earlier. The ship’s powerful telemetry was focused on the tubes, when starlight shone directly on the shuttles and down the tubes. For some reason, the gangways still weren’t extended to the shuttles. They’d been that way since the plan was first devised. Those retracted positions made entry possible.
Traveler one landed with its brassard at the ring site. The troops in the ship would remain aboard until they heard from Jess via the SADEs.
The engineering crew had been at work earlier, continuing to make a great show of their work. The entire area of tunnels and tubes was bathed in darkness. Only the brilliance of the crystal lights, which focused blinding power on a narrow arc to cover the site and the dome, penetrated the dark.
When travelers two and three left the liner, the pilots made a wide orbit around the moon and then crept into positions just below the horizon. They would have a direct approach to tubes two and three, when they received the attack signal.
Lucia studied the moon’s terrain. For the moment, she wore the copilot’s helmet. She highlighted a long gouge in the surface for the pilot. “We can get closer to our objectives,” she said.
The pilot signaled the other traveler, and the ships wove through a canyon, cutting their distance to the tubes by a third.
“Travelers one, two, and three, with the brassards, are in their assigned positions, Captains,” Juliette reported.
“I think it’s about time we were addressed by our names,” Jess said to the SADEs.
“As you wish, Captain,” Juliette replied, with a smile. “We have a few moments before we land. Is this an appropriate time to discuss your progress with the commodore?”
Jess frowned at Juliette, and he heard Tacnock chitter.
The SADE quipped, “Too bad. I was hoping to learn about human reluctance in forming partnerships.”
“Maybe it’s not too late to abort the assault,” Jess retorted, staring fixedly at Juliette.
“An excellent way to make your point, Captain,” Juliette said.
Jess’s frown deepened, and he asked accusingly, “How many individuals are on your link?”
By way of Juliette, Jess heard Lucia say, “She’s connected to every Omnian who is part of the assault, Jess, but you and I were the only ones who heard her comments about us. Then again, there’s your local audience.”
At that revelation, Jess had to laugh and so did Lucia. Tacnock joined in the light moment, and the SADEs smiled.
Juliette felt her task was done. Two of her favored people had a moment of sharing and relief before the assault began. It was unknown who would survive.
Sharon touched traveler four down beyond the horizon. She’d followed the paths of travelers two and three to get close to their targets. Then she slipped over the canyon wall to land behind a rocky outcrop.
Jess, Tacnock, the SADEs, and Sharon closed their suits’ faceplates. The humans activated their air, and the SADEs triggered their heat exchange mechanisms.
The foursome exited the traveler, and Jess and Tacnock exchanged a forearm embrace. Then the SADEs gathered up the Pyrean and the Jatouche in their arms and bounded off across the moon.
Jess and Tacnock carried enough air to reach the tunnels under their own power, but their supply wasn’t enough to provide for any contingencies or for a return trip. Therefore, it was considered an unnecessary risk. More important, Jess and Tacnock couldn’t have covered the distance in time before the shadows receded and starlight illuminated the tunnel-tube complex. This was the compromise that had been reached.
With only two SADEs participating, it meant that would be the number of passengers carried and the number of tubes entered.
Jess attempted to convince the SADEs to carry launchers, but they’d refused. Esteban went so far as to tell Jess that he wouldn’t take the life of a sentient. That was why Jess chose to send Tacnock with Juliette. He felt certain she would defend the little Jatouche. The memory of his discussion with Esteban reminded Jess that, defensively, he was on his own.
As the SADEs and their packages ghosted through the dark, Esteban signaled traveler one, and the brassard exited the ship and marched toward the airlock.
Powerful avatars, recharged by internal grav cells, enabled the foursome to cross the intervening distance quickly. They remained merely darkened figures on the moon’s surface. Care had been taken to dull any reflective surfaces on the four suits.
As the SADEs neared their targets, they separated and headed for tubes two and three, which were the closest.
At the mouth of tube two, Esteban set Jess down and peered over the precipice. He walked the edge, searching for the g
angway. The lack of light required the SADE to use augmented sight. When he spotted the gangway’s lip, he tapped Jess, who had clung to the back of the SADE’s harness. Then Esteban extracted a line, hooked one end to Jess’s harness, and guided Jess to the edge of the tube.
Jess checked his launcher’s readiness, tapped Esteban twice on the chest, and then eased over the tube’s lip. He knew the alliance built tunnels, tubes, and gangways to the same exacting specifications. This allowed Esteban to know how much line to pay out to set Jess’s feet on the gangway’s metal apron.
Nonetheless, Jess heaved a sigh of relief, when his boots landed on the narrow metal shelf. He thwacked the line hard, twice, and Esteban gave him enough slack to release the hook. Then the line disappeared from view.
Now comes the hard part, Jess thought. The phrase recalled Lucia to mind. She often said it.
Jess switched on his helmet light. It was all the illumination he could chance. He unslung his launcher, checked the breech again, and with his heart beating wildly, he touched the blast door panel. The thick metal door slid into the rock face. There were no insectoids in sight, and Jess’s thumping heart slightly eased its rapid pace.
Ducking into the tunnel, Jess located the gangway launch panel and pressed it. The metal lip and its accordion-type tube rolled out.
Various readouts in the Norsitchian language, which Jess couldn’t read, detailed the gangway’s progress. Jess couldn’t care. He waited for the finale — the green telltale that told him a seal had been established and the gangway had pressurized. The wait was interminable, and Jess constantly swiveled his head between the readout and the tunnel’s airlock.
When the telltale lit, Jess glanced again at the airlock hatch. It remained closed. “Gangway connected. No contact yet,” he said over his suit comm to Esteban, which the SADE shared with the assault teams.
Jess crossed the gangway to the shuttle’s hatch. It was lever activated. He reached into the recessed shell, grasped the handle, and pulled it down until it locked in place. The telltale turned green; the sensor having detected an external atmosphere. Then the hatch rotated aside.
Turning on his suit lights, Jess made a quick entry, scanning with his launcher for the enemy. Nothing. He searched the entire vessel’s length and found not a single insectoid.
Returning to the gangway, Jess requested Tacnock’s status and heard the Jatouche was out of range. Jess interpreted that as Tacnock was probably exploring the shuttle. At least, that was what Jess hoped it meant.
Crossing to the tunnel, Jess retracted the gangway. Then he eyed the airlock hatch, which was clearly visible in his suit lights. “Checking the tunnel airlock,” he said.
Jess wanted Esteban to note that the SADE had chosen not to share the risks, which, to his mind, suggested the SADE shouldn’t be giving him advice. Instead, he chose not to reply.
“Hold on that,” Jess said.
None of the circumstances made sense to Jess. The shuttle gangways should have been deployed. That would have enabled Colony members to quickly reach their vessels’ cockpits, seal the hatches, retract the gangways, close the blast doors, and light off the engines to repulse any assaults. Even if the gangways weren’t deployed, the Colony should have been pouring through the airlock hatch to dismember him.
“Hold on that too,” Jess stated even more firmly.
Lucia regarded Sam, who sat next to her on traveler two. He shrugged his powerful shoulders.
“I wish the captain had an implant. I’d love to see what he was seeing,” Sam said.
“I wish he had an implant too,” Lucia said, but she had an entirely different reason for wanting that to be true.
At Jess’s initiation, the tube-side airlock hatch rotated aside. He stepped through, waited for pressurization, and activated the other side. Suit lights illuminated an empty stretch of tunnel.
Jess signaled his faceplate open, which shut off the air. He walked partway down the tunnel without encountering a single entity.
After making his way back to the gangway, Jess said, “I believe there’s no one home. The tunnel appears vacant.”
“If it’s a trap, it’s a clever one,” Jess replied.
While Jess considered whether to order the assault or not, he received another message. Tacnock had ventured up his tunnel as far as the connecting ring. It was vacant.
Jess drew breath to order the assault, when he froze. Fear shot up his spine. “Everyone, listen carefully. We’re in danger,” he said, his voice conveying alarm. “At the ring, keep pretending. Don’t freeze. Orbit, turn the fleet outward. No overt movements. Travelers two and three, lift and make for space. Stay below the horizon. When clear of the surface, maximum acceleration. At the ring, invent an excuse to halt progress. Make it demonstrative, and then slowly board the brassard and the others. Sharon, standby for a quick evacuation, when I give the word. Esteban and Juliette, hook us up and haul us out of these tubes. Captains and pilots, understand this. If you see the dome and the ring light, apply full power. You have to make for space with whomever you have aboard. Your lives and those aboard will depend on you not hesitating.”
Immediately, Orbit directed the Rêveur’s controller to use the ship’s attitude jets to orient the liner away from the moon. He continued to use the jets to gain some limited velocity. Simultaneously, the SADE reoriented the three Tridents and moved them in the same direction.
Lucia wanted more information from Jess, but her pilot obeyed the assault commander’s dire order. With traveler three beside her ship, she navigated the canyon, broke into the open, and accelerated clear of the moon.
At the ring, Edmas sent a message to the pilot of his shuttle. In response, the pilot signaled the controller. Suddenly, the lights went out, and Edmas threw up his arms in disgust. Then he sent Jodlyne and a tech to investigate.
Jodlyne quickly returned and waved dramatically at the shuttle. Then Edmas sent two more techs with Jodlyne to the ship. As more techs ran back and forth, the majority remained aboard the ship.
Finally, Yousef, who commanded the brassard, and Edmas pretended to argue. Arms were waved, fingers were pointed, and rude gestures were made. Ultimately, Edmas stalked off toward his shuttle.
Yousef railed at the dark. His gestures were exaggerated, and the thought crossed his mind that he’d have made a terrible actor.
Esteban had communicated to Yousef’s brassard that the Norsitchians were to appear dejected, when Yousef waved them toward their ship.
Jess had crested the tube’s rim, when he received the message that traveler one and the engineering shuttle were loaded.
“Sharon, make for a point equidistant between tubes two and three. Make it fast,” Jess said. “Juliette, do you have Tacnock?”
The SADEs hoisted Jess and Tacnock into their arms and sprinted for the traveler that was touching down. A single landing was the quickest means of retrieving the passengers and exiting the surface.
Jess saw the dim outline of traveler four resolve, and he announced stridently, “At the site, lift! Full power! Orbit, the fleet!”
Orbit and the traveler pilots directed ships’ controllers to make for open space, as fast as the engines could be driven.
The SADEs made their traveler, as a platform and the ring energized. Esteban and
Juliette coordinated at a speed only SADEs could manage. Juliette leapt through the open hatch, signaling Sharon to launch. Esteban came through the opening second, with Jess in his arms. The traveler shot off the landing site, as Esteban signaled the hatch closed.
Aboard the Rêveur, Olawale, Patrice, and Ophelia watched the holo-vid in horror. A transport momentarily appeared in the ring. Then it detonated. The blast disintegrated the ship and the ring, which released its enormous store of power. A massive pulse of energy spread out in a hemisphere, crossing the face of the moon and pushing into space. Momentarily, the dome brightened, but incredulously, it held.
-31-
Find Them
The enormously powerful wave of energy swept across the fleeing traveler four. It briefly accelerated the ship before it overloaded the grav engines and most of the electrical systems.
The SADEs, anticipating that they wouldn’t clear the moon in time and expecting turbulence, had dropped to the deck and wedged themselves between the seats. They held their charges tightly.
When the energy pulse inundated the ship, the last to fail was the grav system. It had been built with triple redundancy, and a cascade failure was necessary to eliminate the system entirely. The ship was nearly through its final moments of acceleration, when the grav system shut off.
Without bracing by the SADEs, Jess and Tacnock would have been killed. As it was, the release of gravity and the resulting jolt jarred the SADEs loose. They bounced off seats and the overhead before coming to rest in awkward positions.
In the aftermath, the SADEs discovered that all three biologicals, human and Jatouche, were unconscious. Despite Sharon’s secure strapping into her pilot’s seat, the whiplash had knocked her out.
The SADEs converted the front row of seats into medical beds, and they laid Jess, Tacnock, and Sharon on them. They improvised straps to hold them in place in the ship’s weightless environment.
Juliette attended the three injured individuals, and Esteban investigated the ship to determine its status.
Esteban found the grav engines permanently offline and the controller down. Air, water, and the food dispenser were the only operational systems. Unfortunately, they were slowly draining the backup power crystals, which serviced them in case of emergency. This situation certainly qualified as that.
