StarCraft

by Timothy Zahn

  Ulavu wasn’t some useless civilian scholar and researcher.

  He was a dark templar.

  The two remaining zerg might have tried to scramble to a stop as they recognized their new and unexpected enemy. But if that was their intent, they failed. The first zerg’s momentum took it straight into the weapons, impaling itself on the shimmering blades as its body slammed into Ulavu’s fists. Ulavu staggered slightly with the impact, but by the time the second zerg hurled itself at him, he’d recovered enough balance to neatly sidestep the arcing leap and slash a horizontal slice through the zerg’s entire body, gutting it from chest to tail.

  And as the buzzing abruptly dropped to barely background level, Whist realized it was over.

  Or maybe, he amended soberly, it had just begun.

  Ulavu took a moment to survey his handiwork, probably making sure both his targets were dead. He crossed in turn to each of the two Whist had wounded and made sure they also wouldn’t cause any further trouble. Then, almost reluctantly, he turned back to face Whist. Do not be alarmed, the protoss’s voice came in Whist’s head as the warp blades vanished. I am indeed your ally. I ask that you do not reveal my secret to the others.

  Whist took a careful breath. Why not—? he forced the thought.

  Cursing, he keyed off his comm and opened his visor. Some people could do this thought-to-thought communication with protoss, but with his brain still spinning from the buzzing, it was way too much effort. “Why not?” he repeated aloud.

  Ulavu’s eyes flicked past Whist to Tanya. I have deceived her these many years, he said, sounding almost embarrassed. That was a new one for the books, at least in Whist’s experience. Protoss never got embarrassed. She will be hurt and dismayed to learn the truth.

  “You think?” Whist shot back as sarcastically as he could manage. “What the hell is going on? Who are you, anyway?”

  I am Ulavu, the protoss said. I am a researcher. But I am also more.

  “Something more, as in a dark templar?” Whist growled. His throbbing brain made a connection to that previous conversation. “Yeah. Cute. Dizz only asked about psi blades. The weapons you guys use are called warp blades. Completely different.”

  They are, Ulavu said.

  “Not in practice,” Whist said. “Fine. Whatever. Nice to know protoss can split hairs, too.”

  I did not wish to lie. I spoke truth without revealing my identity.

  “Yeah, well, it’s all academic anyway, because your bubble’s about to go poof.” Whist gestured to the four zerg carcasses. “Unless you’ve got a clever way to explain away warp blade wounds.”

  In answer, Ulavu reached over and plucked a grenade from Whist’s belt. This will eradicate all traces.

  The protoss started to pull his arm away. Whist caught his wrist, vaguely aware that if Ulavu activated that particular warp blade again, he’d finish his life with the nickname Lefty. “Hold it,” he warned. “Not saying I don’t appreciate having some extra muscle along. God knows we can use it. But if you want me to play ball on this secret-identity stuff, I need to know why.”

  Ulavu was silent a moment. Hierarch Artanis is uncertain how much he can trust terrans, he said. The Nerazim are similarly ambivalent. We have all seen the viciousness of terran combat, and the disunity of the terran race.

  “Yeah, you protoss should talk,” Whist growled. “So what, Artanis sent you to spy on us?”

  He sent me to observe, Ulavu corrected. More hairsplitting. He wished to know whether terran unity could be achieved and whether conflict among you could be eliminated. Of equal importance, he wished to know if the ferocity you had demonstrated in battle would now be turned against the protoss.

  “This may come as news to a born-and-bred warrior,” Whist said, “but we terrans are pretty damn sick of war right now. Even if we weren’t, we’re not crazy enough to launch one against you. Trust me.”

  I do trust you, Sergeant Foster Cray, Ulavu said. But I was given a mission. I must complete it.

  Whist scowled, trying to think. This conversation was a long way from being over—that much was for damn sure. But right now, they didn’t have time for chitchat. The fact that the buzzing was still going on even though this batch of zerg were dead strongly implied there were more little nasties lurking around somewhere. “Fine,” he said, releasing his grip on Ulavu’s wrist. “I’ll try to keep your secret. But.” He raised a warning finger. “If we get in this deep again, you’d damn well better join in the fun. Clear?”

  Clear, Ulavu agreed. There was a subtle change in the tone of his thoughts, and Whist had the strangest sensation of an ironic smile. I can hardly complete my mission if I am dead.

  “Good. Remember that.” Whist nodded toward the carcasses. “Go ahead and mulch them. Make sure you’re not standing too close.”

  Whatever else the protoss military taught its dark templar, at least it gave them basic knowledge of Dominion weaponry. Ulavu positioned himself exactly half a meter out of primary blast range before tossing Whist’s grenade into the zerg dogpile. “Okay,” Whist said as the echo of the blast faded away. “Let’s see if there’s anything we can do for Tanya.”

  He knelt down beside her and flipped open her armor’s bio display. I believe she was the main target for the attack, Ulavu said, crouching at Whist’s side.

  “Really?” Whist said, looking sideways at him. He’d never seen a protoss crouch. It looked strange with those back-jointed knees. “Well, it sure worked. She’s out like a light.” He nodded toward Ulavu’s forearms. “Those look new.”

  They are experimental, Ulavu said. He looked down at the warp blade focusers, and as Whist watched they folded back into their flat forms. Not as powerful or as sturdy as traditional focusers. But better for situations like this.

  “Like when you’re playing things cool,” Whist said. Gently, he tapped Tanya’s cheek. “Come on, kid, wake up.”

  Ulavu leaned closer. Let me try. Can you remove her visor?

  “Sure.” Whist popped the catches and eased it off. Tanya’s eyes were closed, but her face looked peaceful enough. He’d half expected to find a twisted expression of pain or terror. “She’s all yours.”

  Thank you. Ulavu fell silent, his eyes focused on Tanya’s face. There was a sound of footsteps behind them—

  Whist spun around on his knee, bringing up his C-14. “Whoa!” Dizz called as he and Erin came around the corner, his voice faint through Whist’s helmet. “It’s just us.”

  “You should have called ahead,” Whist growled, lowering his muzzle.

  “We did,” Dizz said. “Your comm’s off.”

  “Oh.” Making a face, Whist turned it back on. “I thought you were securing the entrance.”

  “Oh, it’s secured, all right,” Dizz assured him grimly, breaking into a jog as he spotted Tanya lying on the floor. “Whole ceiling came down in front of the gap. We’re going to have to wreck some more trees to get out. What happened here?”

  “Meet the brain bugs,” Whist said, gesturing to the mess that had once been the four zerg. “The latest product of Lying Bitch Zagara, Incorporated.”

  “They got Tanya?”

  With a sudden, shuddering gasp, Tanya twitched and opened her eyes. “Ulavu—?”

  I am here, Tanya Caulfield, the protoss said, catching her armored hand and squeezing it. Somewhere along the line, Whist noted, he’d replaced the gardening gloves, once again concealing his gauntlets and their warp blade focusers. Are you all right?

  “I think so.” Tanya shifted her eyes to Whist, a pained expression creasing her face. “I bailed on the fight, didn’t I?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Whist assured her. “A few shots, a grenade, and we got it done.”

  “What are these things?” Erin asked. She had gone over to the carcasses and was kneeling beside them, fingering a piece of dorsal carapace. “I’ve never seen a zerg with this coloration.”

  “Like I said, something new,” Whist said. “We think they’re what was causi
ng the mental buzzing.”

  “You mean the buzzing I can still hear?” Dizz asked.

  “Which means, yes, there must be more of them somewhere,” Whist agreed.

  Dizz huffed out a breath. “Terrific.”

  “Wait a minute,” Erin objected. “This doesn’t make any sense. Apart from group communication, the zerg have never had psionic powers before. They’ve certainly never had projective psionics of any kind.”

  “Aside from Kerrigan,” Tanya said. “Not sure that counts.”

  “But how?” Erin persisted. “That ability simply isn’t in zerg genetics.”

  “Well, maybe they found some new genetics somewhere,” Whist said. “They’re really good at doing that, you know.”

  “At least it explains your fancy plant pattern,” Dizz commented. “Got to be connected somehow.”

  “No,” Erin said. “The pattern was in the plants. Psionic genetics only show up in animals. No, there’s something else going on here.”

  “So let’s go get some answers,” Whist said, squinting up the ramp. “Got at least one ramp to go, and then whatever else is up there.”

  “What about the brain bugs?” Dizz asked.

  “We find them, we kill them,” Whist said.

  “Good,” Dizz said. “Just checking. That’s kind of a stupid name, you know.”

  “You got something better?”

  “No, but lucky for us we have an expert on these things.” Dizz cocked an eyebrow at Erin. “Over to you, Doc.”

  “Psyolisks,” she said promptly. “It fits both their profile and one of the standard zerg naming conventions.”

  Dizz looked at Whist. “She’s good,” he said. “Psyolisks it is.” He held a hand down to Tanya. “You feel up to moving?”

  “Sure.” Ignoring his proffered hand—and Ulavu’s—she got back to her feet. “Don’t worry. This won’t happen again.”

  Whist looked at Ulavu. She is correct, the protoss confirmed privately. Now that they know about me, I will undoubtedly be their primary target.

  Whist turned away, pursing his lips. If they knew about him. With the psi blocks humming away, and all the witnesses to Ulavu’s attack dead, they might not.

  He hoped not, anyway. Given the choice, he’d take a functioning dark templar over a ghost of undefined power any day. Especially a dark templar the enemy didn’t know about. “Let me know if you start going light-headed again, Tanya,” he said. “That goes for all of you. Oh, and watch out—the buzzing can blur your vision. I think you’ll be okay if you know it’s coming and stay on top of it.”

  “And if not, try a quick stim?” Dizz suggested.

  “Probably,” Whist said. “Erin, did Cruikshank show you how to do that?”

  “Yes,” Erin said, her voice grim. “I’ve also seen the list of stim side effects. I think I’ll take my chances with the buzzing.”

  “Suit yourself,” Whist said. “Okay. Same marching order. Let’s do this.”

  The ramp they were on turned out to be the last one. The landing at the top opened into a wide corridor that in turn led to an archway about fifty meters farther ahead. Beyond the archway was what looked like a cavern, but their angle didn’t allow them to see very far into it. Oddly enough, especially given that they seemed more or less in the middle of the mesa, there was a surprising amount of dim light filtering in from somewhere.

  Dizz noticed it, too. “Wonder what the light’s coming from,” he commented as they all paused.

  “The spectrum is the same as the sunlight,” Erin said. She had crouched down a couple of steps to the side and was poking at the rough floor with her finger. “No obvious source, so it’s probably coming in via several conduits from the top or sides.”

  “Never mind that,” Tanya said. “I assume we’re going to check out that chamber up ahead?”

  “We should,” Erin said, still poking at the floor. “That’s where the pattern we’ve been following starts.”

  Whist and Dizz exchanged looks. “We doing magic now?” Dizz asked.

  “No, we’re doing lichens,” Erin said. “They show the same pattern as what we saw from orbit in the macroflora. That pattern definitely leads to that chamber.” She stood up. “Are we going?”

  “In a minute,” Whist said, frowning at the floor. He hadn’t even noticed there were tiny plants down there. “You keep talking about this plant pattern, but you’ve never said what it is. What is it, some kind of giant arrow only people with science degrees can see?”

  “It’s a little more subtle than an arrow,” Erin said. “It’s…You know how if there’s a place where the wind always comes from the same direction, the trees and bushes lean the other direction? It’s sort of like that. The tree leaves, for one thing. Leaves usually have slightly different colors or textures on their tops and undersides. They’re also turned mainly upward so as to catch the sunlight, but here on Gystt there’s an extra vector added in. The trees themselves are noticeably taller near the focal points, too, as if they received the most intense growth spurt. There are also indications in the tree branch arrangements, the symmetry of smaller shrubs—”

  “Okay, fine,” Whist interrupted. “We’ll take your word for it.”

  “It’s almost like a flow pattern,” Erin continued. “Flow isn’t really the right word, but it gives you a sense.”

  “And you can see that in the lichens, too?” Tanya asked.

  “Yes,” Erin said.

  “What about you?” Dizz asked, gesturing to Ulavu. “You’re the other researcher in this group. Does this make any sense to you?”

  I have not seen the pattern, Ulavu conceded. But Dr. Erin Wyland has greater expertise in such matters than I do, and patterns are often apparent only to those who know what to look for. I am willing to trust her judgment.

  “Fine,” Whist said, trying to forget all the times he or one of his unit had thought they saw something in the rocks or bushes that turned out not to be there. Human eyes and brains were really good at finding patterns whether they were there or not.

  Still, whatever was going on with the plants, the psyolisks definitely needed to be checked out. The chamber up ahead was the next step; they might as well make it a clean sweep. “Usual order. And stay sharp. If the buzzing gets louder, for anyone, for God’s sake say something.”

  “You think we ought to call this in first?” Tanya asked. “Just in case.”

  “You mean turn off the psi blocks?” Dizz asked pointedly.

  “Why not?” Tanya countered. “They don’t seem to be doing a lot of good in here.”

  “We don’t know that,” Dizz said. “Actually, the fact that Whist was able to take down four psyolisks by himself strongly suggests that they’re doing something to slow down the opposition.”

  Whist looked sideways at Ulavu, to find the protoss gazing back at him. He wasn’t saying anything, but the reminder of Whist’s promise lay heavy in the air.

  “Or they’re just weaker than the average zerg,” Tanya said. “A grenade wouldn’t have done that much damage against even a single zergling—”

  “Enough,” Whist interrupted. “The psi blocks stay on; discussion over.”

  He looked at Tanya, who clearly had more to say. “Discussion over,” he repeated flatly.

  She wrinkled her nose but turned away without comment.

  “Okay,” he said, hefting his C-14 and touching his elbow to his spare mags in his belt, just to make sure they were there. “Let’s go.”

  The corridor, Tanya quickly discovered, wasn’t nearly as smooth-walled as it had looked from the top of the ramp. It had indentations, some of them large enough for a small zerg, others extending far enough back that Whist had to shine a light into them to make sure they were empty. It made for slow and rather nerve-racking progress.

  But wherever the rest of the psyolisks were hiding, they apparently had decided not to bother with piecemeal ambush. Nothing attacked or even showed itself.

  But the buzzing in her brain was
definitely getting louder. Whatever Zagara had planned, she was a long way from being finished.

  And that plan could get horrific in a hurry. During the war Sarah Kerrigan had been trapped by the Overmind and absorbed into the Swarm. If Zagara had something similar in mind for Tanya…

  She shook her head firmly. It was not going to come to that. Absolutely and positively not. Whatever happened, whatever it took, she would make sure she died before the zerg turned her into something horrible like the Queen of Blades.

  Finally, they reached the archway. “Here we go,” Whist murmured. “Stay sharp.”

  How do you feel? Ulavu’s thought came to Tanya through the buzzing.

  I’m fine, she replied, frowning. He was trying to hide it, but she could sense an unusual level of pain in his tone. Are you all right?

  I am fine, he assured her. But if I should fall unconscious, I would appreciate your pledge that you will protect me.

  Absolutely, she promised, a knot forming in her gut. He hadn’t asked anything like that in any of the other battles or near-battles the team had faced to this point. Was there something different about this situation, something he knew about and she didn’t?

  Maybe it wasn’t as different as she thought. Maybe after she’d blacked out back on the ramp, he’d blacked out, too.

  Of course, if they both blacked out, there wouldn’t be a lot she could do to protect him. Which just meant she had damn better stay on her feet this time.

  And she would. The last time, she’d been taken by surprise. Now that she knew what to expect, she was confident she could fight off the effects.

  And if not, there were always the stims Dizz had suggested.

  The chamber was much larger than the entryway cave three ramps below them. A hundred meters straight ahead, built into the far wall, was a three-tiered zerg-style structure with sixty milky-white pods nestled into the curves and textured material. The pods were ovate, roughly a meter long, with a translucent outer skin. Something was inside each one, but even with the vision enhancements in Tanya’s visor, she couldn’t make out any details. The support structure itself was unlike anything she’d ever seen, though it shared some of the characteristic features of zerg spawning pools and evolution chambers.