StarCraft

by Timothy Zahn

  Tanya frowned. He was right—the distant background roar had disappeared. “We’d better check it out.”

  “Hang on,” Whist said, watching as Erin’s legs disappeared into the hole. “I’ll come with you.”

  You stay, Ulavu said, stepping past him toward Tanya and Dizz. Guard and protect her, and work further on the transmitter. I will go.

  The silence seemed to grow deeper as Dizz led the way along the corridor and down the ramp. Tanya fought to keep her vision clear of the smoke and her own tears, wondering how her power would work if she could barely see her target. Not very well, she suspected. Dizz had his gauss pistol ready, but Tanya had no idea how many rounds he had left. Not many. Only Ulavu, with his warp blades, had any serious hope of stopping the next wave of zerg, and he had to wait until he was in range of their claws and teeth before he could fight back.

  Except for his warp disk, anyway. But even that could only be used once before someone had to go retrieve it.

  And suddenly, it clicked. Someone to retrieve it…

  The warp disk, she said to Ulavu. Is that why you came to the ghost program to look for a teek?

  That is correct, Ulavu confirmed. You understand now how a Nerazim’s control of Void energies combined with a telekinetic’s ability to maneuver the disk within a group of enemies would create a powerful combat unit. I hoped to experiment with terran telekinetics to learn what innovations they could bring to the disk’s operation.

  Definitely sounds interesting, Tanya said. But why keep it secret? This is the sort of thing military planners love to work with.

  Ulavu was silent another few steps. Because terrans and protoss are perhaps no longer enemies, but neither are we fully allies, he said reluctantly. We are vastly different peoples, Tanya Caulfield, and I fear that much work must be done before we can build a truly close relationship. It was thought best that you not yet know of this weapon or of our research in this direction, lest you misunderstand our intentions or motivations.

  I understand, Tanya said. But I don’t think Emperor Valerian would take it wrong. He seems to be an honorable man.

  Yet beings of honor may still disagree. Sometimes to the point of war.

  Tanya wrinkled her nose, wishing she could argue with him, knowing she couldn’t. We’ll keep your secret, was all she could think to say.

  Can you speak for the others? he asked. At any rate, such a promise is as yet premature. There is still a strong possibility that we will all die before this day is over.

  “Boy, it’s a mess down here,” Dizz murmured. “Can you two even see well enough to fight?”

  “We’re okay,” Tanya assured him, hoping it wasn’t a complete lie. They wouldn’t know for sure until the first zerg appeared around the landing below and charged up the ramp toward them.

  And the psyolisks hadn’t given up, either. She could still feel a low-level buzz in the back of her brain. Presumably they were gathering whatever was left of their forces for a final surge.

  But if they were, they were taking their sweet time about it. Ten steps from the bottom landing, and still nothing. “Speaking of fighting, where are they, anyway?”

  “Good question,” Dizz said. “Weird. Is the air out there getting clearer?”

  Tanya shook her head. “I can’t tell.”

  It is, Ulavu confirmed, seeming as puzzled as Dizz. I hear a new sound. But I cannot identify it.

  “Me neither,” Dizz said. They reached the landing, and he paused long enough to check the indicator on his gauss pistol. “Let’s find out, shall we?” Visibly bracing himself, he stepped around the corner of the landing. Blinking, Tanya followed.

  To find herself facing an extraordinary sight.

  The bonfire Erin had ignited in the downed palisade trees was indeed out. But it had only gone out because a solid blanket of zerg was now covering it, smothering the flames and leaving only a few wisps of rising smoke to show where the conflagration had been. Inside the cave, lined up in front of the smoldering trees, were a dozen zerg of a type Tanya had never seen before. They had the same general giant-wasp form as mutalisks, but were smaller and had larger grasping claws and wider wings. The wings were apparently what was making the unfamiliar sound as the zerg beat them furiously toward the entrance, forcing out the smoke-filled air.

  And standing a few meters inside their line, overseeing the operation, was a zerg broodmother.

  “Well, that’s something you don’t see every day,” Dizz murmured.

  “What, a broodmother?” Tanya asked, blinking furiously. The air was definitely starting to clear, but she was still seeing the world through a layer of tears.

  “I mean the zerg fanning out the cavern,” Dizz said. “They’re not armored.”

  Tanya squinted. She’d missed that part entirely.

  But he was right. Unlike every other zerg she’d ever seen, these seemed to have only a rugged, leathery skin instead of the usual interlocked bony plates.

  Their conversation had apparently caught the broodmother’s attention. Ah, she said in a gravelly psionic voice as she turned to face them. My apologies for the lateness of my arrival. I am relieved to find you alive.

  “For the moment, anyway,” Dizz said. “That question’s always a little up in the air. Who are you, may I ask?”

  The broodmother bowed her head and torso. I am Overqueen Zagara.

  Tanya swallowed hard, her swimming vision blurring even more. Overqueen Zagara, the heir and successor to Sarah Kerrigan, the most powerful ghost humanity had ever produced. Here was the zerg who had brought the Dominion and the protoss to this crossroads of war and peace, and who even now held that balance and hope in her claws.

  If she had come here for Tanya…

  I feared that the unknown creatures you have been battling would overwhelm you, Zagara continued. I thus traveled here in the hope that my presence would wrest control back from them.

  “It seems to have worked,” Dizz said. “Thank you, Overqueen. Assuming those are your zerg that put out the fire and not the psyolisks’ associates.”

  They are mine, Zagara said. These are also my skyrlings that I have set to clear the smoke, that you may once again have clean air.

  “Skyrlings, huh?” Dizz said. “Interesting design. A new breed, I assume?”

  Yes, Zagara said. They were created by Abathur at my command, to one day carry the adostra when they are fully grown.

  “To where?” Dizz asked.

  To wherever they must be. Zagara paused, and Tanya could sense the Overqueen’s mix of fear and anger. The adostra within the growth chamber. Do they yet live?

  “As far as I know,” Dizz said. “We certainly didn’t do anything to them. Let me call and…You know, why don’t you just come up and see for yourself?”

  Tanya felt Ulavu stir beside her. To deliberately invite the zerg Overqueen behind what was left of their defensive position…

  But Ulavu said nothing, and Tanya likewise kept silent, and after a moment Zagara lifted a clawed limb. I will, she declared, starting across the floor. Do not fear. My zerg will stay under my control.

  “Good,” Dizz said grimly. “Because I’m guessing there are still some psyolisks hanging around. Tanya?”

  “Yes, they’re still there,” Tanya confirmed. “Still hoping they can make us wipe out the adostra for them.”

  “Or hoping to kill us and pin it on the Overqueen,” Dizz said. “Whist? You getting all this?”

  There was a pause. Reflexively, Tanya reached for her volume control, only then remembering that her comm was currently on Erin’s head. “What does he say?”

  “He says he’s getting it,” Dizz relayed. “He doesn’t believe it, but he’s getting it. Anyway, we’re bringing her up,” he continued. “If I were you, Whist, I’d try real hard to have that transmitter up and running by the time we get there.”

  He smiled tightly at Tanya. “Emperor Valerian is going to love this.”

  —

  “…Overqueen Zagara
then confirmed that these are the adostra she created,” Lieutenant Halkman said, concluding his report. “Or at least, these are the pods that Abathur said the adostra would be grown in. Without opening one of them, she can’t tell for sure.”

  “And she refuses to open one?” Artanis’s voice came over the bridge speaker.

  “She doesn’t refuse, exactly, Hierarch Artanis,” Halkman said. “But she points out that appearances can be deceiving, and even with a closer look and a smell test, she might not be able to confirm these are what she asked him to make. She said our analysis would be much more definitive.”

  Valerian looked over at the biolab status display. “They’re starting the tests now,” he told Halkman. “They say both samples Dr. Wyland took look good, and should give good results.” He checked another display. “Sickbay also reports that Dr. Wyland herself has arrived, and they’re getting to work on her burns.”

  “Thank you for letting us know, Emperor,” Halkman said, sounding relieved. “One last thing: Overqueen Zagara confirms that this is a version of the transmitter Abathur made for her. Probably why she was able to get it working so easily. She has no idea how many more he might have made on the side. And I think that brings us up to date.”

  “Yet the account is not complete,” Artanis said darkly. “Where are the psyolisks? How did they come to exist? Are there more? Where is Evolution Master Abathur, and will Overqueen Zagara allow him to be brought to us for questioning? Most important, are the adostra truly the creatures that Overqueen Zagara claims, or are they wrapped in yet more lies and manipulations?”

  “I do not lie, Hierarch Artanis.” Zagara’s voice came from the speaker heavy with dignity and suppressed anger. “I have acted in full good faith throughout our encounters. I can only repeat that my good-faith efforts continue. I have left the protection of my conference structure in order to aid the Dominion survey team. I have located psyolisk carcasses, confirming their existence, and sent them to you for study. I have sacrificed many of the Swarm to extinguish the fire and bring the survey team to safety. I have ordered my broodmothers to remain within their spire centers, and the leviathans that they summoned to remain on the ground.”

  “Such goodwill may be merely fear of our fury,” Artanis said. “We will not soon forget the battle that cost the lives of Templar and Nerazim alike.”

  “That battle was initiated and driven by the psyolisks.”

  “So you say,” Artanis said. “We have heard enough words. We need now to hear some evidence.”

  “You have the evidence of the psyolisk carcasses and the report of the survey team.”

  “Neither of which gives proof of the perpetrator or intent,” Artanis countered. “I repeat my question. Where is Abathur?”

  “I do not know,” Zagara said. “I allow him to go where he will, subject to my command. Furthermore, I refuse to believe the evil you charge him with. Abathur is the evolution master, eldest of all living zerg. His loyalty is to the Swarm.”

  “Then whence come the psyolisks?” Artanis demanded.

  “I do not know,” Zagara said again.

  “If I may interpose my thoughts,” Valerian said quickly. To him it was obvious that Abathur was manipulating this mess, though the evolution master’s motivations were still murky. But Artanis and Zagara were at a horn-locked stalemate, and nothing was going to budge either of them.

  Nothing but absolute, objective proof. And the only way to get that proof was to drag Abathur out into the open and persuade him to talk.

  Which might be harder than it looked. Valerian assumed he had to answer Zagara’s summons, but there was a lot about the interaction between Overqueen and evolution master that he didn’t understand. If Zagara refused to call him, or if Abathur refused to come when she called…

  Valerian frowned as an odd thought suddenly struck him. To come when called…

  Artanis and Zagara had gone silent. Valerian had interrupted their argument, and they were waiting for him to say his piece.

  He had one shot at this. He had better make it work.

  “We’ve had long-distance communications like this one,” he said, improvising as he went, hoping his brain could stay ahead of his words. “We’ve had face-to-face conversations in zerg territory. I think it’s time, Overqueen Zagara, for you to speak with us in Dominion territory.”

  “I will not travel to Korhal IV,” Zagara said flatly.

  “I’m not asking you to,” Valerian hastened to assure her. “But I would very much like to speak with you aboard the Hyperion. Am I correct in assuming that your personal leviathan is the one in which Mukav came to me to deliver your plea for help?”

  “It is.”

  “Then may I ask you to summon it to Point Three?” Valerian said. “I would humbly request that you board it in the company of the remaining members of my survey team and join me for a conversation.”

  There was a short silence. “Your request is strange, Emperor Valerian,” Zagara said at last. “I see no purpose to it.”

  “The purpose is peace,” Valerian said. “I believe that if you will grant me this request, we can together establish the proof that Hierarch Artanis requires.”

  Another silence. Valerian mentally crossed his fingers…

  “Very well, Emperor Valerian,” Zagara said. “I will summon my leviathan.”

  “Thank you, Overqueen Zagara,” Valerian said. “One final request: a moment in private with my survey team?”

  An even longer silence. “Very well, Emperor Valerian,” Zagara said again. “I will return outside to await my leviathan.”

  Matt reached over and tapped the mute button. “With all due respect, Valerian, this plan is nuts,” he said in a low voice. “Bringing her aboard the Hyperion is begging for trouble.”

  “Don’t worry; she won’t be coming aboard,” Valerian said. “Hierarch Artanis, are you still there?”

  “I am,” Artanis said. “I, too, have objections. If you seek to imprison or destroy her as a way of blunting the Swarm’s ability to make war, it will have only limited effect.”

  “Be assured I have no intention of doing either,” Valerian said, tapping the mute key. “Lieutenant Halkman, has Zagara left?”

  “Yes, Emperor, she has,” Halkman said.

  “Is the psyolisk interference gone?”

  “Let me check…Yes, Emperor, they seem to have pulled back.”

  “Good. I need you to close down the zerg transmitter and shift to your suit’s long-range.”

  “One moment.” There was a brief pause, followed by the muted sound of sustained gauss pistol fire. “Okay, the zerg transmitter is off the air,” Halkman said, a bit drily.

  Valerian felt his lip twitch. Still, with alien constructs, that was probably the only way to be absolutely sure. “Admiral?”

  “Zerg transmission off at this end,” Matt confirmed.

  Valerian nodded. “Lieutenant? You still there?”

  “Affirmative, Emperor,” Halkman said.

  “And you, Hierarch Artanis?”

  “I am.”

  “All right,” Valerian said. “All of you, listen carefully. Let’s assume that everything Zagara has told us is the truth, and that all the survey team’s speculations are also true. That gives us the theory that Abathur created the adostra as life-nurturing beings under Zagara’s orders, then siphoned off some of the xel’naga essence on his own and melded it with zerg genetics to make his new psionic-powered psyolisks.”

  “Perhaps at Overqueen Zagara’s direction,” Artanis said.

  “Again, let’s assume for the moment that she’s not involved,” Valerian said. “Let’s further assume that Abathur has been manipulating the situation from the start, trying to get us to destroy the adostra so as to poison our conversations and goad Zagara into restarting the war.”

  “All right,” Matt said. “So where do all the assumptions and logic take us?”

  “To the two questions we’ve all been wondering about,” Valerian said. �
�One, if Abathur is manipulating things, what’s his endgame? And two, where is he now?”

  “We’ve tried scanning, but there’s just too much surface area down there,” Matt said. “And given the zerg penchant for digging massive tunnel systems, he could be anywhere on the planet.”

  “Actually, I don’t think so,” Valerian said. “At least part of his endgame has to be getting safely off Gystt. He’s hardly going to precipitate a war with him stuck on the planet in the center of the gunsights. Given that these psyolisks have to be part of his long-term plan for zerg victory, he must also have held back a number of them to take off the planet with him. That means he has to be planning to commandeer a leviathan.”

  “Of which there are seven on the surface,” Artanis said.

  “Correct,” Valerian said. “But I think I can narrow it down. Do you remember, Hierarch Artanis, what Zagara said when we first arrived? She greeted us and then thanked me, specifically, for coming so quickly. And she was right—we did arrive more quickly than we otherwise might have. Admiral Horner, do you remember why we were so prompt?”

  “Because you were intrigued by Mukav’s message, sir,” Matt said, sounding puzzled. “Because the hope of peace was something you thought worth pursuing.”

  “Yes, of course,” Valerian said. “But both reasons would have brought us here eventually. Why did we come so quickly?”

  Matt looked at him sharply. “Because Mukav wouldn’t give us any details about the situation,” he said. “She just repeated the same bare-bones invitation over and over.”

  “And what would have happened if she had been more talkative?”

  “We’d have brought her down for more detailed questioning,” Matt said grimly. He was on the same page now. “And we would have taken a good, hard look at her leviathan.”

  “A moment,” Artanis said. “Are you suggesting that Abathur and his psyolisks are aboard that particular leviathan?”

  “It’s the perfect hiding place,” Valerian told him. “We’ve seen it; we’ve done a cursory flyby, and everything we’ve seen indicates it’s harmless.”

  “It’s a quirk of terran psychology, Hierarch Artanis,” Matt explained. “If you’re planning a crime, you make a point of walking past the police officer on duty, because drawing attention to yourself gives the impression that you have nothing to hide.”