by M. D. Cooper
Terror that something horrendous was happening to her husband and son lent Isa speed she hardly believed possible. She was racing through Heliopolis, yet she barely felt out of breath. In another few minutes, she would be at the gallery.
Oh stars, I haven’t talked to Erin! She reached out immediately.
She took a deep breath and explained where the real danger was.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
STELLAR DATE: 05.25.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Marine Park, Ithaca
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
Jude had been frightened by the submersible’s tumble through the water, but he was OK. Martin checked him over as he was explaining what had happened to Isa. His son didn’t have any cuts and he’d been held securely in his safety straps the entire time. He’d already begun to stop crying.
The submersible had survived the shock wave without any damage. All its systems were working normally, and there were no leaks.
Martin was torn. What he most wanted to do was get Jude out of there. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but it definitely wasn’t a situation that was safe for a young child. Yet he also didn’t think he couldn’t bring himself to leave people to die.
While he was talking to Isa, Lindsey was speaking to him, also over the Link. She was telling him that she was on her way but that he was only five minutes from the amphibian.
“I want Octy,” said Jude. The toy had fallen to the floor of the submersible when the wave hit them.
Martin picked it up and handed it to him. He took a long look at his son’s sweet face.
I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him…but could I live with myself if someone I could have saved lost their life because I didn’t help them?
Telling Isa his decision, Martin started up the submersible and drove it toward the last known location of the amphibian. The vehicle was transmitting but it hadn’t moved since the explosion. Its engine had probably been disabled by the wave.
As he drew nearer to the other vessel, Martin began to see the bodies of dead fish, also killed by the explosion. The water was murky due to the choppy surface creating waves that disturbed the loose sand and debris of the seabed. He probably wouldn’t see the amphibian until he was right on top of it. That meant he also wouldn’t see Pietr if he was still in the vicinity. He mulled over the likelihood of the tech trying to hurt him or Jude, and found it hard to believe, but he also couldn’t believe that Pietr wanted to steal the picotech.
Martin looked at Jude again. The little boy was picking up on his father’s tension. He was quiet and looking around with frightened eyes, crushing Octy to his chest.
Slowing the submersible, Martin considered that Pietr had been playing a very clever game for months and would not give up on his plan easily. But Martin wasn’t interested in preventing him from stealing the picotech—Pietr had to be armed, and he couldn’t go up against an armed man. He only wanted to try to save the passengers if he could.
He checked his position. He should be nearly at the amphibian.
There!
The vessel was lying upside down on the sea floor. It was full of water, just as Lindsey had said. He could also see figures inside. They had drowned, but if he could get them out quickly, there was a chance they could be revived. Rescue services had to be on their way, despite the problems in the capital. Lindsey had contacted them ages ago.
I just have to—damn!
Martin knew he couldn’t leave the submersible. Initially, he’d been thinking he could tow the amphibian to the surface, or perhaps retrieve the passengers one by one, but he if he opened the submersible to leave it, Jude would drown.
Then the murkiness in the water cleared a little, and Martin saw into the amphibian more clearly. The bodies were…smashed. They had been crushed against the vessel’s walls and windows. There was no saving these people. No brain could have survived that amount of damage. Inside each of those poor people’s skulls would be nothing but mush.
As the awful comprehension hit him, Isa was telling him something about Pietr being extremely dangerous. She was insisting that he get their son to safety, and Martin agreed. There was no point in remaining.
“We’re going back now,” he said to Jude.
The little boy received the news solemnly, only registering his understanding with the expression of his large eyes. Martin began to turn the submersible, while at the same time telling Lindsey what he’d seen. In the middle of the vessel’s movement, the engine cut out. Martin tried it again, but it didn’t respond. He guessed the shockwave had done more harm than he’d thought. They would have to wait for Lindsey to turn up.
Perhaps an unconscious part of his mind had registered movement in the corner of his vision, for all of a sudden, Martin felt a compulsion to turn to his left. When he did, he saw a figure in the weeds. The man’s eyes were open and focused.
He’s alive! Thank stars someone survived the attack.
But Martin’s surge of happiness turned to horror when he saw the man lift a weapon and aim it.
There was nothing Martin could do. He couldn’t maneuver the submersible out of the way with the engines offline.
At the last second, he unclipped his safety harness and threw himself across Jude. He heard the rounds hitting the submersible with dull thumps. Then he heard a crack.
One of the windows had been hit. Water sprayed from it onto Martin’s back. Water was running in through other holes, too.
The shooting finally stopped. Martin waited a long minute, but no further shots struck the submersible.
“Are you OK?” he asked Jude.
He lifted himself off his son and checked the boy over. He didn’t seem to have been hit. Martin felt warm liquid running down his calf and knew the same could not be said for himself.
Eamon said,
Water had pooled on the submersible’s floor, now red with Martin’s blood, and was quickly rising. Martin looked up through the roof to the surface of the water. They were about ten meters down. If no one reached them before the submersible filled with water, Martin could swim with Jude to the surface without any danger to the boy. The sea was still choppy, but he could tread water for hours if he had to.
The submersible suddenly rocked. It lifted and turned, forced along by an invisible flow of water. Another shockwave had hit the vessel, along with a cloud of sandy water, but where had it come from? And why? This second shockwave had felt much smaller than the first.
The vessel settled again. Whatever had happened, it hadn’t hurt them. Martin wondered if the wave was due to explosives used in a battle over the picotech. But they were some distance from the site.
A dull thunk sounded behind him. Martin turned.
The man who had shot at the them was right outside. He was carrying a knife, and he was trying to get in.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
STELLAR DATE: 05.25.8941 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Messene Station
REGION: Troy, New Canaan System
MacCarthy and Linch were coordinating the final touches on the space station’s maglev while Erin was stuck writing yet another report.
As Erin spoke, she recalled the early days after Walter had come to be her new AI partner. At the time, he had seemed pushy and annoying, always interfering in parts of her life that weren’t any of his business. She’d doubted that things were going to work out between them. Yet eventually, she’d come to understand that he had her best interests at heart and she’d grown to appreciate him. She’d also discovered they shared a similar sense of humor. She was going to miss him when the time came for them to part ways.
said Walter.
Concentrating on report writing was hard at the best of times, but Erin’s mind was full of the trip to the Island of Aeolia and everything that had happened there. The view from the edge of the island over all of Thrace, and the experience of climbing down into the rainforest that grew in the cave were seared into her memory.
She was also thinking of Martin and their unspoken agreement to put aside their differences and try to get along. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with the truce, but it seemed the best option in the circumstances. It was probably the most she could hope for from him. Continuing their feud would only hurt the people she cared about, so she was willing to compromise for all their sakes, but she would never forget Martin’s abhorrent accusation.
“That’s it,” Linch exclaimed. He high-fived MacCarthy.
“Maglev’s done?” Erin asked.
“Done, dusted, and ready to roll,” Linch said.
“Good work, guys,” said Erin. “This calls for a celebration. Cream sodas all ‘round.”
“I thought you said we did a good job?” MacCarthy asked.
“I did,” replied Erin.
“Then why are you punishing us by making us drink that disgusting beverage?” asked MacCarthy.
“We are talking about the same thing, right?” Erin said. “Cream soda is the nectar of the gods.”
“If you say so,” MacCarthy said. “But I think I’ll have something else.” He took drink orders from the rest of the team and left the control room.
When MacCarthy returned with their drinks, they had a brief toast and then work continued. Unable to avoid it any longer, Erin returned to her report. The next stage of the project would involve building the sanitation plants. Not the most glamorous facility, but necessary.
Erin finally finished off her report and sent copies to Tanis and the relevant departments in Troy’s government and considered taking another tour of the station via pinnace, but knew she would have to run a gauntlet of teasing comments first.
“Hey,” said MacCarthy. “Check the news. There’s a coup happening at Government House. The secessionists are trying to take over Troy.”
“No way,” said Linch in a breathless voice as he shook his head. “Taranian bastards.”
Erin dipped into the news feed. The information was sparse. An armed attempt at taking over the government was taking place. The media anchor said the attack had begun over ten minutes ago, but the report had only just been officially confirmed. Expletives sounded around the control room as the engineers read the news.
Linch said, “I’m not surprised. This has been brewing for a long time.”
Erin pursed her lips. The Taranians had been a pain in the ass back in the Kap, and a few of them had come along to New Canaan. That they could cause so much trouble here made her blood boil.
Up until now, she’d only considered their disruptions in terms of what that would mean for completing Messene Station. Poor Tanis certainly had her hands full with Troy.
When Isa told her, Erin shouted aloud, “What?!” Then she jumped up and ran out of the control room.
She sped through the corridor to the spaceport. The marine park lay almost directly beneath the space station; the flight would only take a few minutes.
She had reached a pinnace and was climbing inside.
Erin started up the engine and flew out into space.
She searched for and found Martin’s location.
Erin input the coordinates.
If she told him, he would only give her grief.
She set the pinnace on automatic and the vessel aligned itself and began to plunge downward. Pushing off from her seat, Erin propelled herself toward the back of the pinnace and the EV suit locker. She took out a suit and began to put it on. The pinnace had moved to a ninety-degree angle with the planet surface and was dropping like a stone.
Erin struggled into the suit as acceleration forced her against the bulkhead. She sealed it and pulled herself downward to return to her seat.
She would have to override the pinnace’s safety systems. She didn’t have time to make a smooth landing in the sea. Isa had said someone was shooting at Martin and Jude. A few seconds’ delay could mean the death of either of them.
The blue waters of the Sea of Marmara were speeding up to meet her. Erin gave a solid tug on her harness to make sure it was secure and then went through a mental checklist of what was onboard; all pinnaces were equipped with weapons.
Of course, none of them would work underwater. She wondered what Martin’s assailant was firing.
Erin reached under and her fingers quickly encountered a knife hilt. She unclipped the weapon and drew it out.
She switched the pinnace’s controls to manual and disabled the safety systems. She knew the vessel’s structural integrity; at her current speed, the force of impact was almost certainly survivab
le.
Just a few moments longer….
White-tipped waves rushed up. Erin braced, and the pinnace hit.
Even with the a-grav systems dampening the impact, she was thrown forward so hard, her safety harness felt like it was cutting into her, even through her EV suit, and her face collided with her visor. Blood ran from her nose, and for a moment, dull pain radiated, quickly quelled by Walter. Nothing was visible except sand.
The vessel had struck the seabed nose-first. Erin unfastened her harness and climbed up along the pinnace’s overhead, grabbing handholds. Water was flooding in.
When she reached the door, she thumped the manual operator with the fist that held the knife. The device didn’t respond. Erin hit it again, harder, guessing that the water was affecting it.
The door opened, and the rush of water knocked her back, breaking her grip on her handhold. She was thrown to the front of the vessel.
In a moment, the pinnace was entirely waterlogged. Erin swam upward and out of the door. The pinnace’s impact on the seabed had thrown up so much debris, the water was opaque, but her HUD had highlighted Martin’s location. She could also see another figure was approaching him.
Erin’s view from her visor showed nothing but sand and water. Her HUD showed the figure of a man only two meters away. She was glad of the cloudiness of the water—it would disguise her approach. She readied her knife and kicked hard.
At her closer proximity, Erin could finally see the attacker. He had sensed her as well and swung around, showing his face.
