by Isaac Hooke
Tane flinched at the slight pain caused by a sonic injection into the back of his hand. He smelled ozone for a moment, and then the scent became more normal, if still a little musty. Not to mention heavy with the taint of recycled air.
He glanced at his arms and legs and saw that the black threads still emerged from the spacesuit, passing through unhindered by the fabric to trail away from his body. He hadn’t actually believed the suit would be able to contain the strange energy, of course.
He noticed there was also a jumpjet unit in the closest. Not military grade, but still powerful enough to leap from one building to the next. He ID’d it on his HUD:
Item: Jumpjet unit I.
Item type: Uncommon.
Weight: 45 kg.
Effects: Provides expanded jump capabilities, allowing for leaps up to twenty meters in 1G environments. Jumps can be chained for added distance.
Jumpjet specific:
Charges: 20/20.
Tane considered the weight and decided he didn’t really need to haul around another forty-five kilograms. He already felt heavy enough as it was. Besides, if an attack came he was going to be running straight back to the ship, not jumping away.
Tane bent over to pick up the storage pouch he had removed before donning the suit, and secured it to the external utility belt he wore. He figured Nebb would be searching the shipyard for valuable items after the crillia were cleared. After all, they would still have to wait for the repair drones to finish up, and no smuggler worth his salt would miss an opportunity to loot items that were free for the taking. And even if Nebb didn’t, Tane decided it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.
The pouch would be exposed to the decon wash-down upon his return to the Red Grizzly, so he wouldn’t have to worry about any contagions sneaking aboard via the pouch. But admittedly there was a chance any items he put inside might be infected…
“Grizz, I’m guessing these microcrillia won’t survive the transition back to our own universe?” Tane said.
“No,” the ship’s AI said. “Like all kraal, dwellers or otherwise, they will die instantly upon contact with our universe. Unless we transport them inside the proper environment.”
“So if I find something out there and somehow it ends up in my storage device, when I remove the item in our universe, any contagions will die?” Tane asked.
“That’s right,” Grizz replied.
Tane made a mental note not to sort through any collected loot until the ship had passed well beyond the Anteres Rift.
“Good idea, bringing the pouch by the way,” Grizz said. “You understand how my captain thinks.”
“I certainly do,” Tane said. “I could’ve probably made a very good smuggler in another life.”
“It’s not too late to change the course of your life,” Grizz said. “I didn’t become a smuggler until I reached my thirties, you know.”
“Really?” Tane said. “Interesting. Now take me to the armory.”
A waypoint indicator flashed on his overhead map and Tane made his way through the corridors once more. The suit felt bulky, heavy, and Tane was winded by the time he reached the storage locker embedded in the bulkhead.
“Geez, these suits aren’t really made for planet-side work, are they?” he said to no one in particular.
And no one answered him.
He examined the four plasma rifles racked in the storage locker. They were all Saber models. The only difference between these and the C2 Cutlass rifles he used at his farm was that they gave twenty percent added plasma burn damage rather than fifteen, and fired five to twelve round bursts instead of four to ten. That and the adjustable grip.
Weapon: S4 Plasma Rifle.
Model: Saber IV-2 Rev a.
Item type: Uncommon.
Additional damage: 20% added plasma burn damage per hit.
Additional effects: None.
Adjustable grip for spacesuit and battle armor gloves.
Plasma Rifle specific:
Firing rate: Semi-automatic. 5-12 round bursts.
Recharge rate: 30 seconds per round.
Overall weapon charge: 100%.
Extra features: Weapon lights, illuminated scope, laser sight.
He grabbed one of them. When he wrapped his bulky gloves around the stock, it expanded slightly to fit his grip.
Well that’s handy. Memory metals at their finest.
He double-checked that the safety was active and slipped the strap over his shoulder.
At the ramp, which was currently closed, Jed was already waiting. The Bander didn’t have to suit up: his power armor was equipped with a helmet feature and he had already extended it to cover his head. He peered at Tane through a translucent pane of polycarbonate.
Jed’s armor had been restored to its former resplendent glory. Runes glowed across the outfit, and the surcoat of the pistol crossing the sword was visible, merging with the digital patterning. The whole suit swirled with a multitude of colors, and occasionally disappeared entirely in that odd manner only his suit could do.
“Does that armor of yours have jumpjets built in, too?” Tane asked.
Jed pointed at his helmet, toward his right ear, and shook his head, moving his mouth soundlessly.
A moment later Tane received a comm request.
Jed has asked you to join channel 59-B. Do you accept?
Tane did.
“Welcome to the shared comm band for the mission,” Jed told him over the comm. “Say again?”
“I was asking if you have jumpjets built into your powered armor,” Tane said.
“No,” Jed said. “But I can attach a jumpjet unit. Just like you.”
“Ah,” Tane said. “Then what are these.” He pointed at small vents along the rib cage area of Jed’s armor.
“Outlets that allow me to release oxygen during spacewalks,” Jed said. “Useful for steering purposes.”
“Nice.”
“I can use them in gravity environments for boosted movements as well.” Jed pointed out the vents at the back of his elbow and knees.
“Nice,” Tane repeated. “But at the cost of oxygen.”
“There’s always a cost for everything,” Jed said. “Someday you’ll understand that.”
“Even friendship?” Tane said.
“Especially friendship,” Jed said.
Tane was quiet a moment. His eyes drifted to the plasma rifle Jed held, and then to the big man’s belt. The Bander had opened the leather flaps, so that the hilts of his pistol and sword were revealed, glowing in anticipation.
Tane nodded toward the rifle. “What’s wrong with your pistol?” He was curious to see the smaller weapon in action. Or the sword.
“I choose the weapon based on the task at hand,” Jed said. “If we’re going to be shooting down crillias, this rifle is all I need.”
“All right,” Tane said. He gazed at the Bander’s utility belt. “But why no shield generator?”
“The Essence runes carved into my armor generate the shield,” Jed said. “It’s far more effective than a belt-attached shield generator. With those typical generators, there is a single point of failure. With rune-enhanced armor, there are many.”
“I see,” Tane said. That would explain why Lyra didn’t wear a shield generator at her belt, either: her dress was covered in just as many runes as the power armor, if not more.
Positron and Nebb appeared moments later, dressed in spacesuits that were similar to Tane’s, but different in one major respect: the circular light globes at the center of their utility belts. Shield generators. They carried plasma rifles as well.
The pair squeezed in front of Tane and Jed and positioned themselves directly before the sealed ramp. Nebb wore several small pouches on his utility belt that could only be personal storage devices. He was definitely planning on doing some looting.
Sinive and Lyra arrived last, moving in behind Tane and Jed. Sinive carried a plasma rifle, but she had also moved her pistol and holster to the utility belt outsid
e the suit. The grip area of the pistol had enlarged to fit her gloves. She also wore the pouch of a storage device attached to the belt, and like Tane didn’t have a shield generator.
Lyra had no shield generator on her suit belt either, but Tane figured her dress could probably create the necessary shielding around the spacesuit. Lyra didn’t carry a rifle, however on the right side of her utility belt hung a strange cylindrical object. Tane thought it must be a weapon of some kind: it looked like the hilt of a pistol, or maybe a sword, but without the blade.
El Bee rolled into the corridor behind them.
“Farewell, farewell,” the maintenance robot’s voice came over the shared comm band. “I’ll take good care of the Red Grizzly while you’re all gone. And I’ll ensure that Grizz doesn’t want for company!”
“I may have to deactivate myself at this rate,” Grizz complained.
“Please don’t,” Nebb said.
“Switching to airlock mode,” Grizz intoned.
The hatch spiraled closed behind the landing party, and cut El Bee from view.
15
Small saucer sections opened in the bulkheads on either side, and Tane felt a momentary pull toward them as the existing air was sucked out. Then the openings coughed mist as atmosphere from the outside was used to re-pressurize the compartment.
The ramp lowered. When it touched down, the deck momentarily shook.
“Positron, clear the platform,” Nebb ordered over the comm.
Plasma rifle in hand, the robot moved down the sloping ramp at a crouch.
Tane fingered his rifle. As he waited, he idly glanced at the overhead and spotted the spray devices that would be used to decontaminate the party upon return.
“It’s clear,” Positron said over the comm.
“All right, people,” Nebb said. “Let’s make this quick. Positron, you’re with me. Everyone else with Sinive: get those crillia off our engines!”
Tane stepped down the ramp. As soon as he emerged on the platform outside, he felt suddenly heavier. He realized the gravity of this world was slightly higher than the standard artificial gravity aboard the Red Grizzly. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but with the extra weight of the suit, Tane really felt it.
“By the way, the gravity out here is a little stronger than on standard TSN colony planets,” Nebb said.
“I noticed,” Tane transmitted.
“You might want to up the output of the servos in your suit to compensate,” Sinive said.
“You can do that?” Tane accessed the suit interface on his HUD. “Well look at that.” He made the adjustments and soon was moving just as easily as if he wasn’t wearing the suit at all.
He followed Lyra, Jed, and Sinive across the landing pad, weaving between the big landing gears underneath Rapier-class ship toward the aft region. The four emerged on the port side and continued toward the back.
In the sky above, there were no stars. Everything continued to be hued a dark blue, as if the universe were locked in eternal twilight. There was no sign of the distant gas giant in the sky.
Strangely, he felt no fear as he walked out there in that dark, strange universe. None at all. In fact, it almost felt a little like he was home.
But of course I’m not.
Yes, he felt no fear, though he knew he should. He wondered if the Umbra suppressed negative emotions in some way.
It was brighter here than inside the ship, and Tane could see the dark threads that emerged from his body better. He noticed the translucent strands no longer led in the direction of the ship, but rather proceeded at an angle into the platform beside him, as if reaching toward the city below.
Is that where my would-be puppet master resides?
Jed was looking to and fro, searching the surrounding shipyard. Tane decided to do the same. Keeping his rifle lowered, Tane noted how insubstantial everything continued to look as he directed his gaze between the different ships.
I’ll never get over that.
Tane glanced at his overhead map and realized he was no longer receiving positional information for everyone else from Grizz. The dots representing the locations of his party members were frozen at the ramp.
“By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, the Red Grizzly’s external sensors ignore ID information,” Nebb said over the comm. “So you should all enable position sharing going forward. I don’t want anyone getting lost out here.”
Tane received a “position share” request from Nebb and accepted. In moments the locations of everyone else appeared on the overhead map. Nebb and Positron were on the opposite side of the ship compared to Tane, Sinive, Lyra and Jed.
“What’s the range?” Tane asked. He knew that the mixnet node in the suit would boost the range of his chip, but he didn’t know by how much.
“Should cover the entire shipyard,” Nebb said. “Grizz, while we’re busy here, I want some drones in that hangar, collecting repair elements. Positron, go with them, and when you’ve determined the hangar is clear, assign one of the drones to stand watch and get back here to help me.”
“Will do,” Positron said.
“Sending drones to nearby hangar for collection of refined elements,” Grizz said.
Tane glanced at his overhead map and saw Positron move away with the drones, which showed up as green dots on the map compared to the blue of everyone else.
Tane and the other members of his group reached the aft port section. The exterior portion of the engine chamber was this huge, cylindrical hull section. However, because of the crillia, it looked like some celestial object had slammed into the ship and taken out a tri-pronged chunk. A portion of the deck beyond was revealed, the exposed corridor sealed by a hatch on the far end. The insides of that deck were completely covered in small, quivering blue creatures. They looked like very big slugs, the size of Tane’s forearm. The edges of the creatures were solid and distinct, so that they appeared to be the most substantial things here. He could see the slimy pincers at the tips of their heads in intricate detail, pincers that opened and closed as a proboscises repeatedly darted into the ship, licking away at the hull layers.
“Disgusting,” Sinive said.
“If we start shooting them, will they swarm?” Tane asked.
“We won’t have to worry about them swarming,” Jed replied. “The gravity restricts their movement. If they let go of that hull, not only will they lose their nourishment source, but they’ll drop straight down. Those not lying on the deck already, anyway.”
“How’s it look over there?” Nebb said over the comm.
“We got a breach in the engine infestation area, too,” Jed said. “They’ve borrowed their way into the deck beyond.”
“Yeah I know,” Nebb said. “Grizz told me after we landed. It’s not pretty, I hear.”
“No,” Jed said. “We’re going to have to climb in and clean them out.”
“Whatever it takes,” Nebb said.
Sinive lifted her rifle to eye level. “Let’s concentrate on cleaning those within sight from down here first, all right?” She aimed down her sights and squeezed the trigger. A plasma burst erupted from the tip.
One of the crillia dropped away from the edge of the breach and landed on the platform next to Tane. Its underside was covered in tiny legs, like a millipede.
Tane prodded the lifeless form with his rifle. The legs trembled slightly.
“The plasma doesn’t kill them?” Tane said.
“It will force them to let go, at least.” Sinive was already lining up her next shot. “And if the plasma doesn’t kill them, the gravity eventually will.”
Another crillia dropped.
“Actually the plasma does kill them,” Lyra said. “Any movement you’re seeing is simply misfiring nerves.”
Tane aimed at the blue creatures and joined Jed and Sinive, firing at any exposed crillia he saw. The creatures fell, some landing on the platform, others tumbling away somewhere inside the ship.
Lyra stood watching near
by while the three worked.
“Hangar is clear,” Positron reported in. “I’m assigning a drone to stand watch and returning to the Red Grizzly.”
“Good,” Nebb said. “Because the overflow vent is a mess over here!”
Tane and the others continued firing away.
“Can you touch the Essence yet?” Tane asked Sinive between shots.
“Nope,” Sinive said.
“But you can feel it?” Tane pressed.
“Yeah, but feeling isn’t the same as touching.”
Tane glanced at Lyra. “What about you?”
“Just barely,” Lyra said. “Not enough to help in any meaningful way. Though I can create certain small works.” She patted the small cylindrical object she had attached to her belt.
Definitely has to be a weapon of some kind.
Eventually Jed, Tane, and Sinive had shot away all of the creatures they could see from where they stood on the platform. Jed clambered up the rungs on the side of the engine and fired several shots to clear the entryway. With one boot he slid the closest dead crillia off the deck, sending the lifeless creatures near the breach flowing off the ship. Then he swung himself inside.
Tane and Sinive followed him in and continued the job. They’d shoot the creatures that were stuck to the metal deck or bulkheads, and when the crillia let go, they’d kick them out through the breach.
When they were done, Jed ordered Tane and Sinive to vacate the deck. Tane and Lyra did so, hanging onto the rungs on the hull just outside; after, Jed made a quick sweep of the corridor with the scanner built into his glove. He used the red variant of the beam emitter like when he had scanned Tane.
