Variant: A science fiction thriller (The Predictive: Deep Space Fringe Wars Book 2)

by L. V. Lane

  “You’ve been compromised,” Riley communicated and that quick, we were back in the game. “They have motion detectors around the perimeter.”

  “Broad communication.”

  Seconds ticked by before Riley replied with, “Done. Camp movement has increased. They’re alert to the danger and are mobilizing to defend or counter-attack.”

  “Where the hell did they get motion detectors from?”

  “They’re Technologists,” Riley replied. “They probably made them.”

  A communication came through from Jax. “What the hell is everyone doing?”

  “Someone tripped a motion detector,” I responded.

  “Well, it’s not me! I spotted it and disarmed it before I proceeded.”

  Marik, who had been listening in on the four-way conversation, started laughing. “Golden balls for the win,” he mouthed to me.

  I made a neck slicing motion at Marik to shut him up, although I was inclined to agree with him. “Not everyone has your innate capability, Jax.”

  “We’ve got bigger problems,” Riley interrupted. “A transport is coming in to land.”

  “Transport? What transport? I’ve not requested any transport.”

  “It’s not us. It’s the missing transport,” Riley explained. “I’ve picked up its signature. It’s the one that disappeared when we first landed on Serenity. The three hundred military personnel we thought we lost, we can assume they’re Technologists. It will be landing in approximately ten minutes.”

  That explains why Base-44 looked so bloated when I was last here. Were the missing military personnel already present in the camp? Or were they about to bolster their numbers further? Were they about to pack up and abandon the camp? “Riley, why the hell are you only telling me this now?”

  Marik motioned to his team, and they formed up ready to move out at my word.

  “I’m controlling ten guard bots single handed as well as monitoring the satellite view of the camp,” Riley replied. “I only have one set of eyes!”

  “Can you shoot it down?”

  “Other than the Pulse Beam, which would be useless in this instance, there are no weapons within the city,” Riley said. “Investigating further wasn’t a priority.”

  “There’s no point in waiting,” Jax communicated. “I’ve picked up Landon’s escorts. They never got to hand him over to the prisoner section. A Federation patrol intercepted them en route. The Technologists had a little fun with Landon before taking him to their base leader. I’d say the chance of him locating the prisoners now is low. The camp activity is increasing. We need to move, now.”

  “I agree,” I said. “We can’t let them leave on the transport.” I turned to Marik who wore that unnerving air of calm. “Okay, Marik, you’re up. Let’s go.”

  I switched to the global channel and gave the orders for all teams to commence the attack.

  Marik grinned. “About time.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Landon

  INSIDE THE WOODEN command shack of Base-44, life was not progressing so well for me. They were giving the collar—and my resistance to it—a work out. In between the intensive bouts of pain, they asked me questions.

  Outside the command tent, a battle was taking place.

  Riley had provided increasingly infrequent updates on the disastrous attack. That there shouldn’t have been any attack yet worried me. That there hadn’t been an update for a while worried me more.

  “Tell me about the attack,” Calen demanded.

  I was on the floor. I had spent an extensive amount of time writhing around there in a way that was only partially an act. The dickhead team leader who enjoyed playing with the collar control, also enjoyed using his fists. Luckily, he was too stupid to notice that my left eye was now swollen shut, whereas earlier it had been the right. I was recovering but not fast enough and their attention was pushing me to my limit. “I have no knowledge of the attack. I wish I did. Really, I do. I would sell my soul for you to turn this insane device off permanently. The two men found me a week ago. They killed my patrol—I wish they’d killed me, too.” My words held a certain vehemence that gave my statements a realistic slant. The pain was intense, and while I was able to contain it in a mental compartment and still function in a cognizant way, the intensity remained.

  “Where are the two men who brought him?” Calen turned to the team leader who nursed the collar control.

  “They left. Said they had to check in.”

  “Go and find them. I’m inclined to believe his story. I have extensive experience in using the collar on prisoners. No one can maintain a lie under so many iterations.”

  There had been rumors of those within the Federation who were still trained in the art of control collars and of their use to interrogate prisoners. Officially, such acts were illegal, but I wasn’t surprised to learn rules had been bent in the quest to win a war. I wasn’t above bending a few myself.

  Her eyes narrowed on me, and she scrutinized every nuance of my flushed face and labored breathing. “Find the two men who brought him in and bring them here. I want to hear everything about his capture. They will accompany us when we leave.”

  Leave? Every nerve in my body was on fire, and my muscles twitched in the echo of the pain. An explosion, loud enough to override the nearby cacophony, snapped all heads up.

  Calen inspected her wrist plate. “Too late. Gather the prisoners. Take him with you. The transport is here. I want them loaded on board. ASAP.”

  The team leader tucked the control in his breast pocket before dragging me to my feet. “Come with me.” He motioned to the nearest Marine, and we stepped out the command hovel into chaos.

  I was hauled through the camp to the distant and distinctive sound of pop-bombs, interspersed by bursts of automatic fire and screaming. Which part of don’t attack until I locate the prisoners, did they not understand?

  All around were the signs of hurried packing as people and supplies were ferried toward the lakeside. As we hit the tree line, the roar of fighting increased. From first impression, every single person within the Federation camp was armed. Why the hell were we attacking?

  We did not progress far into the trees before we came upon rows of tents, each with two guards outside. The prisoners? “What are you waiting for? You have your orders! Move out!”

  I smothered a grin, guessing Riley might be causing a little disruption to the communication.

  “Get the rest moving!” The team leader pushed past the guards standing outside the nearest tent, dragging me with him. “Everyone on your feet now!”

  The dejected faces of fifty or so Aterran prisoners lifted and they shuffled to their feet.

  Time to act.

  Pivoting, I thrust my joined fists into the throat of my collar-controlling friend. His hoarse gasp for air was satisfying. But more satisfying was the crunch that accompanied me grasping a fistful of his hair and smacking his face into my knee.

  Embedded in the skin of my palm was an amazing piece of Jaru technology and, at my command, the control-cuffs dropped from my wrists. In a smooth follow-up motion, I took the legs out from under the second guard, removed his weapon as he fell, and shot both the Federation men in the head. The tent flap was thrust open and the two outer guards rushed in. I shot them both.

  Outside, the sounds of mayhem were drawing closer.

  I held up a hand—the former Aterran prisoners froze in place.

  Another hand gesture opened my communication. “Jax, I need support ASAP.”

  “Incoming,” Jax replied. “Marik and his team have taken out most of the guards on the other tents. Riley’s been tracking your movement… among other things. Stay put. It’s messy outside.”

  As I pressed my thumb to the collar plate, it popped open and dropped to the floor. Crouching, I relieve the Federation soldiers of their weapons. “Our teams are outside,” I said as I rose, meeting the shocked faces of the room. “We’ll hold here until they’ve cleared the area. Get ready
to move.”

  The ground shook as a pop-bomb exploded close, more automatic fire followed.

  “Jax, where the hell are you?” I demanded. We were going to be blown to pieces by friendly fire at this rate.

  “I’m dealing with a problem. Stay put, two bots are incoming.”

  A sharp piercing, whoop-whoop reverberated around the area, peppered by terrorized screams. “What is that?”

  Jax chuckled. “The guard bots are impressive. I’m here.” The tent flap was thrust open and Jax pushed inside, doing a double take. “What happened to you? Faulty collar or something?”

  “Or something,” I replied. “Is it safe to move out?” The deafening whoop-whoops and resulting screams were grating on my overloaded nervous system.

  “Yes,” Jax confirmed, and turning, addressed the Aterrans in the tent. “As we step outside, proceed directly to the right.” He indicated the way he wanted them to go. “The rest of the prisoners are in transit.”

  Nods and rumbles of confirmation filtered from the occupants of the tent. Satisfied, Jax pushed the flap open. I followed him outside.

  Bodies littered the ground, while trees and vegetation had been turned to a pulp by the crossfire. In the distance, I could see a guard bot clunking, pausing to shoot as it made its way toward the lakeshore.

  “The transport?” I pulled Jax aside as the prisoners rounded the tent and headed toward safety.

  “Yeah, looks like there’s more Federation here than we realized.”

  “We can’t let it get away.”

  Jax grinned as he accessed his communicator. “Marik, the prisoners are clear.”

  “I’m on it,” came Marik’s reply. “Gonna wait for them to load it up for easy pickings!”

  Jax shrugged.

  “I want to see,” I said.

  Jax signaled the nearest team member. “Get them out. We’re checking on the transport.”

  Giving his confirmation, the soldier followed the last of the Aterrans as they fled the camp.

  The camp had been decimated by the attack. They had fled or were dead. As we broke cover, I could see the transport. “Where did they get it?”

  “The missing transport from when we first landed, or so Riley reckons. We’ll need to find out where they parked it in case there’s a second base.” Jax pointed to our left. “Marik is making his move.”

  The transport rose, the ramp still closing in their haste to get off the ground. A volley of tiny silver missiles sailed through the air, skimming over the closing ramp door. It juddered, a boom, the closing ramp blew off and smoke poured out. More missiles, flashes, smoke, and then the transport exploded.

  We both flattened to the ground as shrapnel peppered the area. Another crash shook the ground and a great spray of water reached all the way back to us as the transport slammed into the lake.

  We rose slowly. “It won’t be all of them, but it will be most,” Jax said as he stood and dusted himself off.

  “I’m not sorry if a few escaped,” I said with feeling. “I look forward to hunting them down.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  50 Serenity-days later…

  Landon

  GLOBAL MONITORING, A white, light, circular room with four desks facing a huge viewer wall, was located deep in the base complex of Majestic Tower.

  Since the discovery of it several weeks ago, I had been a frequent visitor, but not quite as frequent as Riley, who spent every waking moment here.

  “They are only fifty-four days late,” Eric said, drawing me from my study of the viewer.

  “And that means?” I returned my focus to the viewer. The image was both a welcome and unwelcome one. We had survived the tests Serenity had sent our way; had lost many good people, and many not so good ones, too. We were still here and at such great cost. I wasn’t mentally ready for the next round of trials the ship’s arrival heralded. Perhaps they haven’t been infiltrated? But there had been no message and I thought that was a bad sign.

  Eric suddenly grinned. “I say we blast them. Keeps it nice and simple.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Just kidding. What happened to your sense of humor? Besides, it’s been way too quiet around here and we both know you thrive on high-tension, pressure-steeped situations.”

  My noncommittal grunt earned me a chuckle from Eric.

  “So, you think we’ll—you know—be able to tell if they’re Federation from talking to them?”

  “We couldn’t tell before,” I reasoned.

  Eric sighed. “Yeah, there is that.”

  “They’re hailing us. Well, our old signature,” Riley said. “Are you ready?”

  A part of me wanted to follow Eric’s flippant advice and blast the ship out of the sky. Unfortunately, the future colony would benefit from the additions to the gene pool, so I had to try. Still, if I suspected they were Federation, gene pool or not, I would be happy to follow through on that drastic step. I was a Variant after all, and cold practicality was ever my strong suit. “Yes, put them through.”

  The huge wall viewer transitioned to bring a ship command center and Victor Loire into view.

  I wasn’t expecting to see Victor given he was supposed to be on the last ship.

  “Landon,” the business mogul said by way of greeting. There was a wry smile on his face. “I’m tempted to ask where my ship has gone, but losing a ship is a minor infringement, given you found a city.”

  I smiled and relaxed by the tiniest amount. At least one person on the ship wasn’t Federation. “It’s been an interesting year and fifty-four days. We never got your message.”

  “Yes, it was an interesting year and fifty-four days on the other side of the universe, too. The remaining eight ships will be arriving sooner than planned: imminently, actually. I’ll have my transport prepared. I’m eager to explore the amazing new planet you’ve found.”

  My face hardened. Victor wasn’t going to like my approach, but his ego would need to take the hit. “That exploration will need to wait.” We were here courtesy of Victor’s money and grace. The mogul wasn’t someone who took kindly to direction. “Everyone will need to undergo a quarantine.”

  “Quarantine?” Victor’s eyes narrowed.

  “Bring your immediate team only on the first transport. Once you pass quarantine, we can discuss the schedule for the remainder of your ship face-to-face.”

  A lengthy period of silence followed. I suffered Victor’s scrutiny boldly, more than aware of the mogul’s intellectual capability.

  Victor was doubtlessly hoping I would fill the silence. I didn’t.

  “Would it not be a waste of a transport, bringing so few?”

  “Don’t push this, Victor. This city is more than capable of defending itself.” I was bluffing. The mighty PB that had defended his arrival appeared to be an autonomous defense that might take Riley years to understand. But I’d become adept at dealing with authority figures of every kind and flavor over the years, and I could bluff like a pro. “I have my reasons. While I understand you might be concerned about our intent, I assure you it’s in your best interest to comply. You picked me to lead this colonization venture for a reason. I suggest you remember what that means.”

  There was the slightest tightening of Victor’s jaw. Had the moment not been so serious, I might have found greater amusement at Victor’s obvious struggle in following orders.

  “You have my offer for arrival. I’m not prepared to converse further until we meet in person. But I would advise you to employ Override Order 4-7-3 ship-wide.”

  No reaction came this time, just a steely expression, followed by, “Consider it done. When can I arrive?”

  “Now, I’ll have the coordinates and flight path sent through. Please, don’t attempt to deviate. The systems here will be monitoring. Any deviation will be treated as a hostile move and the city will respond.”

  Victor’s grin was dark and held a promise of dire retribution. “I won’t.” He ended the communication.

&nb
sp; Eric let out a low whistle.

  “I’ve sent them the details.” Riley glanced back at me. “Do you think he will follow your instructions?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Victor may be piqued, but he’s not stupid. That override command is voice activated. Only one person on each ship can implement it. He will know exactly what it means.”

  “Trust no one,” Eric said. “You sure he’s not Federation?”

  “If he is Federation, it’s the biggest infiltration in the history of the war, given he funded weapons research. No, I trust him, but I won’t trust a single member of his team until they pass Rachel’s test. Twenty hours is all they need. I’m sure it will be the longest period of Victor’s life, but he will get over it once he knows. Anyone who shows signs of infection will be killed.”

  “Killed?” Eric raised an eyebrow.

  “Eventually,” I elaborated. “Once I’ve had a little chat with them.”

  Eric cracked his knuckles. “We both know you and your twig fingers don’t get the job done right.”

  I chuckled. “That’s why I like you so much, Eric,” I said. “Now, let’s double check Rachel has everything ready to go and meet our guests. Keep monitoring, Riley. Update me if you see anything suspicious. May as well make the most of this new tech.”

  Eric and I took the elevator to ground level. Riley had embraced the prevalence of technology enthusiastically. Given what she had endured—and the fact she’d saved our lives—I saw no need to restrict her. The genetic level inhibitor had been removed. Riley was no longer doomed to die if anything happened to me. I felt a whole lot better knowing that.

  The retinal viewer, and associated internal sound chip, were my new favorite gadgets. I could see a superimposed view of communications and hear the communication privately. It took some getting used to, but it was an impressive piece of integral tech.

  Below the soaring towers, the streets were quiet, just the occasional colonist going about their business. We had restricted everyone to Majestic Tower for the time being. There were far too many buildings for our needs, and it would be easy to lose people if they were allowed access to everything. Riley had locked it down to these limited access points, but if eight more ships were about to arrive, it might be time to start opening more.