by L. V. Lane
“Landon, if I die, I’m okay with it.” Reeve sent a scowl Landon’s way. “This is torture.”
“Riley genuinely doesn’t believe she will die,” I added.
“Fine,” he relented.
Reeve and I took the last two slices before Landon had finished speaking and stuffed it in our mouths so enthusiastically that he laughed. “Better print another one or you will have to listen to my stomach complaining. We can all die together with a smile on our faces.”
Riley printed another one, and then some drinks, and then an array of other dishes. We sat down on the plush seating and devoured the bounty before falling into a post-food stupor.
Reeve sat cross-legged in front of the windowed wall, a bowl of snacks close at hand, although I had no idea how she could even contemplate more given what we had just eaten. They would have to roll me out if I ate another bite!
“We need to bring the rest of the colony here,” Landon said. As he lounged back against the soft seat, I sprawled out beside him, feeling full and content. “We should leave tomorrow.” Reaching down, he played idly with my hair. “Do you think the food-creator can produce some travel rations?”
“It’s a printer, and yes, I believe so,” Riley said. “Could we delay another day before returning? It would be a shame to leave on foot if there is a better option. We should look for an operations center. There must be something controlling the build program and we might find transportation and communications. The city is still in the creation stage, so there must be an assembly area for both the material and technology required to aid this.”
“I’m okay with a small delay, but otherwise, we need to collect the colonists the manual way,” Landon said. “The second colony ship is due to arrive soon, and I won’t leave our people exposed to danger, be it from the Federation here or the Federation who might imminently arrive. Even if the ship doesn’t arrive, we are starving, and we know there is food and shelter here.”
Reeve frowned at Landon over her shoulder. “What makes you think it won’t come?”
“We never received the communication. There was no value in frightening the colonists with that knowledge when everyone was hanging on to a hope. Given what happened on our own ship and the way things were collapsing before we left, we should presume it’s been infiltrated, and plan accordingly. We need our colonists inside the city, and we also need to learn how to protect ourselves using the weapons available.”
“Right. Let’s go.” Reeve jumped to her feet with more energy than I could summon. She dumped her plate on the table next to the others and then her lips pursed. “We got enthusiastic with the printing. What do we do with the leftovers?”
“There will be a deconstructor next to the printer. What’s left is turned into raw materials and reused,” Riley said.
“Reused? Ew, that’s disgusting,” Reeve said. “The bits of food as well?”
Riley poorly smothered a smile. “Aterra recycles water. How is recycling food worse?”
“Okay, we don’t have time for a food recycling ethic debate,” Landon said. “Let’s move out.” He glanced down at me with a questioning expression when I bounded out of the seat.
I’d been sleepy a moment ago, but now, I was eager to explore the city again.
We packed what we needed, and leaving our packs in the room, headed out once more into the city.
Landon turned expectant eyes toward Riley as we exited the building.
“The construction site first,” Riley said. “Unless something else piques my interest.”
I laughed. “Everything interests you,” I said.
Riley only grinned.
We walked along the neatly paved streets toward the far end of the city where the construction took place. Two of the guard bots clunked past, but otherwise paid us no heed. As we neared the construction area, the bot activity increased. Several heavy-duty movers were busy at the base, along with more of the round white controller bots.
“I’m surprised the city is self-creating buildings with individual designs,” Riley mused. “There must be a master plan or blueprint.” A building emerging into view on the left snagged her attention.
It was taller than the rest, with a wide base that rose to a pointed tip. We all paused to regard it, and then by silent consensus, approached. There was a plaque at the base in ancient Federation, or what we now suspected might be Jaru. Riley read it out. “Majestic Tower.”
Landon craned his neck. “I’m not going to argue with the sign.”
Lights, wall viewers and information panels sprung to life as we entered. Riley made her way over to the listing.
“Do you understand it?” I asked as I joined her.
“Ancient Federation was never the easiest written language… Ah, global monitoring. That sounds promising.”
An elevator took us down to a basement complex. Here, we entered a white, light, circular room with a set of curving desks facing a huge viewer wall. Operational information sprung up to the viewer. Interactive desk surfaces also came on.
“Is it the same language?” Landon asked.
“Yes, sort of. This is ancient Federation, or what I now presume to be Jaru. I’m somewhat familiar with it. Most Federation ancient technology relies on it, but the basic access was voice activated, so I never spent a lot of time reading it.” She made a couple of the hand-gestures, grinning when the city plan appeared on the viewer. “The standard gestures are working. That’s great. Ancient technology is autonomous. The occasional configuration change is the extent of my experience.”
“Oh wow.” I stepped up to the viewer where a cityscape was now displayed.
“That’s one hell of a city.” Landon joined me. “Don’t suppose there is a transport in the construction queue yet?”
“Let’s see,” Riley said. “Yes, we do have transport designs. I will need to adjust the schedule… Done. One will be ready in eleven days.”
“Much faster than walking.” Reeve grinned. “And I can stuff myself in the interim.”
“Communication?” Landon asked.
Riley gestured over the desk. “I’ll check, but I doubt anyone at the main base will realize I’m trying to contact them. No one has used earbuds since we arrived, and Cathy isn’t the most skilled—” She stopped.
I grinned and Landon raised an eyebrow.
Riley’s lips twitched in return. “I dare say we can find her some simple tasks to do when we bring the colonists back.”
“What about Base-44?” Reeve asked Landon.
“As soon as we get the transport back, I’m heading to take it out,” he replied.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Eric
THE CAMP INHABITANTS had been unsettled since Landon left for the city, shocked to discover members of the Federation were living among us. But also from what some of the non-Federation had done to Riley. Given we were busy dealing with the fallout from those events, I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
I had taken over Landon’s office, if you could call the pillaged flight deck of the crashed transport an office, and as I stomped in, I found Cathy with her head in an open panel and her ass in the air, doubtless scavenging further.
“Haven’t you busted up Landon’s office enough?” The crack of her head against the compartment top made me wince, but the scowl she cast my way over her shoulder made me grin.
She muttered something I suspected to be uncomplimentary under her breath—and went right back to pillaging. I’d bet she would’ve jumped out sharpish had it been Landon who caught her in the act.
“Eric!”
I pivoted to find Marik in the doorway.
“We found a couple more for the hot-pot!”
The ‘pot’ was the not-so-affectionate term for the transport where the Federation prisoners were being kept—‘hot’ because the transport was hot as hell when it was sunny here and the prisoners ‘cooked’. Still, I didn’t suffer empathy for their plight. While waiting on Riley’s recovery, Landon had
questioned them, keeping those that proved talkative and executing the rest. We had been topping the ‘hot-pot’ up over the subsequent days. No one was inclined to worry about their conditions.
“Just brought the colonists from Base-23 back. Only two were Federation, and no sign of collars.”
“Good work.” We had been gradually assimilating the satellite camps back into the central base for safety, which exasperated the already dire food situation.
“Did you get a look at Base-44?”
“Yeah, briefly, but the patrols are tight, and we couldn’t get close.”
“Prisoners?”
“Yes, we saw a group being taken in. No sign of collars, but they were under heavy guard. I was trying to work out how we could bust them out. Can’t leave them there with those animals. They still have collars. We know some boxes are missing.”
“Don’t start getting overzealous again. Landon told us to wait, so we wait.”
“You didn’t complain about me being overzealous when I was saving your ass! And we still have a few explosive packs.” Marik grinned. “I know how to put them to good use.”
I still had nightmares about Marik’s suspect explosive handling techniques. No way was I letting him loose with some more. There was an assault rifle in Marik’s hands, and he was tapping his fingers against the stock in a manic way that set my teeth on edge. Had he found a stash of stimulant? “Can you—stop that?” I pointed at the rifle.
Marik slapped his hand flat against the case. “Sorry, I’m a bit wired.”
No kidding!
“When do you think the Commander will be back? Riley was pretty banged up when they left.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m impressed Riley survived, let alone got on her feet. Might be more of mind over body where Riley’s concerned. It’s a challenging trek, even without her injuries.”
“Sir!” A military grunt belted into the transport at a run. “There’s a transport!”
I bit back a snarky comment about competent news delivery. “You might need to be a little more specific. There are numerous transports out there.”
“It’s not one of ours!”
There was a slight delay while I processed this, during which Marik bolted out the door. I swore and took off after him. “Who the hell is it then?” The question remained unanswered, and the man followed on my heels as I headed out. Had the next colonist ship arrived? I jogged through the chaotic camp toward the chasm and the only possible location a transport might be visible.
As I broke the tree line, I stopped dead and stared with gleeful admiration at a glistening transport straight out of a futurist’s musings. A rough military formation was in place with weapons trained on the incoming craft.
It wasn’t Aterran, and it wasn’t Federation. “Stand down!” I nearly added ‘idiots’ on the end, but thankfully, suppressed the insult. It would get them riled up—my diplomacy skills had long been lacking.
Faces swung my way, but they did lower their collective arsenal.
It touched down so quietly, I wondered at how it might be powered, and I stepped forward as a side door swished open and a ramp dropped down with a smooth motion and soft hiss.
Landon emerged from the craft. He was smirking, the idiot—Reeve, Riley, and Eva at his side, and I breathed out the biggest sigh of relief in my life. Collectively, weapons were holstered.
“The city?”
“The city,” Landon confirmed.
I hugged Eva, not caring who the fuck saw. Then I hugged Riley… And Reeve. Well, wasn’t this fucking awkward.
“Give me a status update,” Landon said, breaking the awkward impasse.
“Tense, but we’re coping.” I noted Reeve also wore ‘an air of gloating’ as she winked at me.
“Good.” Landon gestured back at the transport. “I’ve brought some assistance with me… and food.”
“Food?” I swear my stomach rumbled at the mere mention of food. Ah yes, that would be the starvation part of my brain kicking in. I had a sudden sharp suspicion the food cache might be why they all looked so smug.
The strange clunks coming from the glistening craft distracted me from my belly, as a line of a high-tech bot emerged.
“What are they?”
Landon smiled. “Our new friends.”
“Holy hell!” Marik stepped over. “Time to take on the Federation camp!” He grinned, and this time I grinned back.
“I’m guessing the trip was successful then?”
“Yes. Very,” Landon said, getting straight down to business. “How confident is Rachel in identifying Federation people among us? Is it possible some didn’t fall prey to the disease and are resistant in the same way that Riley is?”
“As you can imagine, she has been fired up.” I lifted both hands in a placating gesture when Marik glared. “Hey, no pun intended. According to Rachel, there are physiological differences between Aterrans and Federation due to the years of genetic manipulation. There is a way to trigger a reaction using a virus. Nothing fatal, so we might try testing it on Riley. I assume she’s doing okay?”
Riley nodded. “Of course,” she said, small face turning worried. “Will it, ah, hurt?”
“Just one tiny bundle of joy there, Riley,” I said, eyes narrowing. “There’s a chance there will be snot involved, but Rachel assures me no one will die.”
“What did you discover?” Marik interrupted. He was balancing on the balls of his feet.
He’d definitely found a stash of something he shouldn’t.
“You can see for yourself, later. But first, we have a Federation camp to deal with.”
Marik began rocking on the balls of his feet, his narrow face mobile with excitement. “They’ve got prisoners. It’s been a race to bring the satellite camps back in. We know they’ve taken several. Given there’s no dead left behind, either they met no resistance or overpowered them swiftly. It appears their aim has been to capture and not to kill.”
“Collars?” Landon asked.
“I didn’t see any in use when we reconnoitered Base-44,” Marik said.
“They have three boxes that we know of,” I added. “That’s fifteen hundred.”
“Okay, we’ll keep a skeleton support here. Everyone else with military training can load up.”
“Now?” Marik started tapping manically on his assault rifle, face charged with glee.
“Yes, now. I want people ready and a report of personnel placements before we leave.”
Marik took off, motioning to his nearby team members, who had been waiting a short distance away. Reeve followed them.
“Where’s Jax?” Landon looked to me.
“Boy wonder? He’s out on patrol, but I’m surprised he didn’t telepathically know you were back.” My face turned serious. “Some rumors have surfaced about him since you left.”
“Rumors?” Eva asked, giving me a suspicious look. Bloody predictive!
“Yeah, I hear he shits rainbows now.”
Landon barked out a laugh. “I heard that rumor too.” He smirked. “It’s not a rumor, though. I know it for a fact.”
I nudged his head at the bots, which the colonists were inspecting from a distance. “They useful or just for show?”
Landon tapped his thumb and finger together and then made a series of confusing hand gestures. The bots transformed, weapons shifting into position, stumpy legs widening into attack stance.
“Shit me! They’re packing!” I leaned back, both impressed and horrified by the display. The nearby colonists had scattered. I sent a shifty look Landon’s way. “You don’t have a good history with hand gestures. You’re not going to mess up that sequence thing and kill us all, are you?”
“That was just the basic prep. I don’t control them, Riley does. Remotely, although they do have autonomous capacity. But we’re overriding it for now.”
“Well, that’s pretty damn useful.” I was only half talking about the features, the thought of Landon having control over a bunch of ki
ller bots was alarming, and I was relieved to hear Riley was involved.
“Landon!” A breathless Jax emerged from the forest at a jog. “Eva!”
“First time I’ve ever seen the bastard out of breath,” I muttered. “And he wasn’t due back for an hour. See what I mean? Better clear the area before he starts dumping!”
Landon’s lips twitched.
“I heard you were back and double timed it!” Jax said as he neared. He gave the bots no more than a cursory glance, before gathering Eva into a bone crushing hug.
I grinned as Landon gave the oblivious pair an indecipherable look.
“Good to have you here.” Landon’s expression evened out while I rolled my eyes. “We’re about to head out to the Federation camp.”
“Great! What do you need me to do?” Jax said before planting an affectionate kiss on Eva’s head.
“Help Marik. We’re mobilizing everyone but a skeleton protection. Let’s pull the camp in close and I’ll leave two of the bots here to protect the camp while we’re gone.”
Jax snapped out confirmation and took off again at a jog, his team falling in seamlessly behind him.
“One day, he’s going to fuck up,” I muttered.
“No, he’s not.” Landon grinned openly now. “He’s really not.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Damn it,” I reluctantly agreed.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Landon
IT TOOK SEVERAL hours to mobilize everyone, during which time, I updated Eric on events in the city. Riley had gained control of the satellites for communication, so we reinstated everyone with earbuds as well as distributing the freshly printed rations.
“I’d got used to living without earbuds,” Eric said as we climbed onto the transport. He gave the nearby guard bot a dubious look as he passed it. “But they sure make life easy again. The Federation camp was using their wrist plates, which was one up on us until now.”
