by Alex Kings
“What is it?” Olivia asked, finishing the cake.
“Tentacles, from a sort of jellyfish.”
Olivia found this didn't dissuade her from finishing the cake, though at the end of it she went back for some more duck.
“Oh,” she said after a moment, “there's something else I wanted to ask.”
“By all means,” said Kaivon.
“Your suit hums. But you can turn it off if you want to be silent, right?”
“Yes.”
“What's happening there? I assume you can't do it all the time, or you would just leave it silent.”
“Life support,” said Kaivon. “That is the sound of systems scrubbing and oxygenating the water inside the suit. We can turn it off for around 30 minutes, but it becomes increasingly uncomfortable.” The topic seemed to excite Kaivon. After a moment, he went on, “Albascene suit engineering actually has a lot in common with ship design. Both involve the maintenance of homeostasis in the middle of hostile environments. In fact, it was modifying my own suit when I was young that led me to working with ships.”
“There was a lot of demand in those days,” said Mero without looking their way.
“The Petaur exodus,” explained Kaivon. “The Albascene had come to rely on their engineering prowess, including suit design. We were defeated in the War of the Ancients and subject to a regime change. So we had to make do with whatever was on hand to fix our suits.”
“I remember the exodus,” Mero said softly, staring into space. “I was only a pup at the time, of course. Had no idea what all the commotion was about. Just a lot of people talking about liberty and destiny and all that crap, and then there weren't any Albascene around anymore. I missed the training sessions with them.”
“Training sessions?” said Olivia.
“They intended to make me an assassin,” said Mero. For a moment he was silent, his ears sunk halfway to his head. Then he regained his energy. “Close enough, eh? Anyway, look, if you're interested in alien food, try this.” He offered her a fruit.
They ate and talked among themselves for the next hour. When the Outsider jumped, they put saucers over their cups. At last, when everything was done, Dr. Wolff harried them all into bed. Cleaning up could wait until they'd defeated a mob boss.
Chapter 73: From Below
The gas giant, Sukone's next base, was striped in colours of coffee and milk. A distant red giant burned like a dying ember in the far distance.
The Outsider jumped into a close orbit an hour before Sukone was due to arrive, hiding close to one of the three dozen moons to hide its arrival from anyone who might be watching from the outer system. It accelerated sharply until it was grazing the outer atmosphere, dropped two stealth shuttles, then rose again to squirrel itself amid the chaos and confusion of a volcanically active moon.
The two shuttles plunged nose first into the atmosphere, gathering speed until they punctured the last layer of clouds and flew into an immense, shadowy open space, an endless ocean of hydrogen. At last they began to slow.
Aboard one of them, Rurthk sat at the helm, while Eloise, Mero and Olivia sat in the back.
He hit the comms. “We're in position.”
“Also in position,” came two signals from Kaivon and Wolff.
“Good. Commence radio silence.” Rurthk gestured at the console. He had the shuttle listen for disturbances in the magnetosphere. Anything large enough entering the atmosphere, no matter where it was on the planet, would show up.
Outside, the shadows of the clouds a hundred miles above cloaked them in darkness. But the scales told him that the pressure was greater than at the bottom of a planetary ocean, and the temperature was high enough to melt lead. They were buffeted by continual winds, but the shuttle held them steady.
The interior of the shuttle made Rurthk slightly uncomfortable. Everything was too expensive, too polished. Military-grade polymer and sapphiroid everywhere. At least the console had an interface theme similar to the ones he was used to.
It would be another hour and a half at least before Sukone arrived. Rurthk turned to his crew. “Anyone up for a game?
Two hours later, the console chimed. A large mass had just dropped through the magnetosphere, setting it ringing like a bell. The shuttles traced the waves of disturbance back along quivering magnetic field lines to the source. It was a few thousand kilometres away. Rurthk plotted a course through the atmosphere leaping from cyclone to cyclone, where the disturbance of their passage wouldn't draw too much attention.
It was another hour before they were in range. Sukone's base came into view, a triangle silhouetted against the clouds above. The mile-long twin fusion flames behind it burnt white hot, lighting up the atmosphere.
Rurthk brought the shuttle in closer, approaching from below and behind. They were surely close enough to be detected. If Wells was wrong and Sukone saw them, they wouldn't even know about it. A single laser burst could incinerate the shuttle instantly.
“Well,” said Mero, “we're still alive. That's a good sign.”
“Let's wait until we get out of here before celebrating,” said Rurthk, taking them towards the left rocket.
The shuttle's hull thrummed from the turbulence in the base's wake. The glare from the fusion flame became so bright that the windows darkened automatically.
The cylindrical shape of the rocket lay ahead of them, where it merged with flowing curves into the rest of the base. Rurthk turned the shuttle on its side and brought its underside into contact with the rocket.
There was a twang as the magnetic clamps engaged and an airtight seal linked the two craft. Rurthk gestured at the console to begin the boarding procedure.
The shuttle scanned the base's hull where the two were in contact, probing gently with microwaves and magnetic resonance and effector fields. It sniffed out all the systems that would respond to a breach and disabled them carefully. Then it extended a set of plasma torches, and began to cut through the hull.
“We're ready,” said Rurthk.
Mero went to a hatch on the floor, unlocked it, and swung it open. A fat disk of metal was attached to the underside of the hatch. On the other side was a hole, looking out onto a corridor.
Mero grabbed a pistol and poked his head through the hole. He looked around, then gave a positive signal with his tail, and slipped gracefully through the hole.
Rurthk went next, rather less gracefully. He lowered himself through the hole. The shuttle was at a right angle to the base. The gravity shifted suddenly; down became sideways and sideways became down. Rurthk twisted round and landed with a thump on his feet.
Carbide floors. Gravity around 1.4 gees. Dim lighting. He remembered their first time here.
With hand signals, he told Mero to check the end of the corridor. Behind him, Eloise slipped out of the hole – now in the corridor's wall – and helped Olivia out after her.
Rurthk sent a command over his comms to the shuttle. The hatch closed, carrying with it the section of wall. There was still a circular seam visible, but at first glance it would look like there was nothing amiss.
“All clear” Mero said quietly. “We're exactly where we planned to be.” He'd already covered up all the cameras with smart matter.
“Good,” said Rurthk. “Let's move.”
Chapter 74: Admin Work
Zino slouched in front of a computer terminal, gesturing idly at the screen. News about Tommy Egliante's death filled the Volpone newsfeeds. There was a staff member and an assassin who needed to be paid off and moved around. It was all terribly tedious.
The first thing Sukone had done upon Zino's return was to give him this job. Where he could see the action, the death, the glorious carnage, but not take part in it.
“Who the hell,” he muttered to himself, “goes into organised crime for the admin work.” He brushed his hand against the terminal, swiping away all the text.
“Zino,” said a Glaber striding into the room.
Zino looked over at the Glaber and
imagined killing him. “What is it?” he said.
“Egliante's operator has left Volpone as we asked.”
“So?” muttered Zino. “Kill him.”
“Sukone believes he may be useful and wants him given accommodation and money.”
Zino sighed. “Fine,” he said. He looked up at the Glaber and fantasised about breaking one of its giant teeth to stab it in the neck with.
“Further, Sukone will meet Albert Wells to discuss the problems over Nereus. He has this task list to be accomplished during his absence.” The Glaber held out a tablet.
Zino stared at it.
The Glaber was like a statue.
After several seconds had passed, Zino snatched the tablet out of its hand. “Go on then, piss off,” he told it.
The Glaber left.
Zino gestured at the tablet to open, read the first few lines, then hurled it against the wall. He grabbed a gun and stalked out of the room, itching to kill something.
*
Rurthk advanced down the maintenance corridor with Mero by his side, and Olivia and Eloise taking up the rear. They passed alcoves for accessing hydrogen flow, microfusion units, and magnetic coils controlling plasma flows. No maintenance was scheduled, and they were uninterrupted. At the end of the corridor, they turned right, heading for the operations room.
As they reached an intersection, Mero held his hand up and sniffed. “I smell Glaber,” he said, subvocally over the comms.
“That's just me,” Rurthk said.
Mero gave him a look. “I hear them. They're coming from down there.”
By this point, Rurthk could also hear them.
There were two ways the Glaber could go. No way to tell which. Rurthk picked the one that led back to the rocket, assuming it would be less used. He ordered the team to retreat.
They stood together just out of sight, with their backs flat against the corridor. The Glaber came closer. Two of them, by the sound of it. They muttered to each other in soft growls. Something about the quality of the food.
They stopped at the intersection.
Mero looked at Rurthk and held up his pistol. Rurthk took his.
The two Glaber moved away, still muttering about food. Rurthk waited for them to go, then looked at Mero.
Mero nodded, and they returned to the intersection.
“Yeah, I think we're safe for the time being,” Mero said as they turned a corner.
And there stood Felix Zino, grinning at them.
Chapter 75: Operations Room
Zino had his gun out and levelled at them. The other hand was inside his suit pocket.
“I'm impressed,” he said. “Really. I heard you and couldn't quite believe you were here until I saw you. So you've come all this way to stop Sukone. Do you plan to kill him? Or destroy the base?” He smiled at them, then lowered his gun. “Either way, don't let me stand in your way.”
Rurthk stared at him. “What do you mean?” he growled at last.
“I mean, go ahead. Create some carnage!” said Zino. He tilted his head at one of the corridors. “I'd go this way if I were you,” he said. “The other way has a few guards hanging around.”
“You're lying,” said Mero.
“What could I have to gain by sending you down the wrong corridor?” said Zino. “Look, if I wanted to stop you, do you really think I'd have someone else to do it? Besides …” He took his other hand out of his pocket. In it was a partially contracted tablet with his finger hovering above a red button. “I could call a swarm of guards down on you if I wanted to.” He stepped out of their way.
Rurthk glanced at him, then at Mero.
“You're not seriously considering this, are you?” asked Mero.
Rurthk looked back to Zino. “Why?” he said.
“I'm bored,” said Zino. “Had enough of the lizard emperor of hot air. Time for a change.”
Rurthk considered this for a moment. “Let's go,” he told his team, heading down the corridor Zino had indicated.
*
As they entered the centre of the base, the décor changed in the way Rurthk remembered: Flagstones on the floor, mosaics on the walls and gilt fittings. This was Sukone's domain, designed to fit his self-image as a Varanid king of old.
Mero stopped in front of one of the mosaics to prise a gemstone sun off the wall. He juggled it once, threw it onto the air, then opened his coat to catch in in his pocket. Then he saw the way Rurthk was looking at him. “What?”
They reached the operations room. On the way, they'd had to hide from a couple more of the base's workers. No patrols, though. Sukone was secure enough that he didn't seem to feel the need.
Standing outside the door, everyone readied their guns. They were all in position. Rurthk nodded and opened the door.
He and Mero were first through, with Eloise and Olivia behind.
Operations staff were lined up on both sides of the room in front of computer terminals. Some humans, some Glaber, some Petaurs.
Rurthk and Mero took one side of the room each and announced their presence by shooting the Glaber. The Glaber would have sacrificed themselves to try and alert Sukone anyway, so it was better to get them out of the way first.
“Nobody move!” shouted Mero. “I see your hands go near those consoles, you join them.”
The Glaber slumped over the terminals beside their colleagues. The rest of the operations staff stared in silence, hands in the air. There were five left.
“Get on the floor,” Rurthk ordered the staff. “Hands away from your body.”
They complied with awkward hurriedness.
Rurthk and Olivia stood over them waving guns while Eloise guarded the door and Mero quickly went from terminal to terminal checking what each showed.
“Yeah, I know this system,” he said, bounding across the room to one of the terminals. “This one should lock the door.” His hands hovered over the terminal, then he turned to the Petaur who had been sitting in front of it. “You! Is this how I lock the door?” He grabbed her and hauled her up. “Before you answer, keep in mind that if anything goes wrong, you die first.”
“Yes,” she squeaked.
“Good. Now back on the floor.” Mero watched the Petaur go down, then gestured at the terminal. The door clicked.
“It's locked,” Eloise confirmed after a moment.
Mero grinned and leant over the terminal, his tail waving back and forth. After a few moments, filled with diagrams flicking across the screen and bad tempered muttering, his tail calmed. “Barracks are locked down,” he said.
“Good,” said Rurthk. They were halfway there. 'Now how about records?”
“Over here,” said Mero, moving to another terminal. There was a dead Glaber slumped over it.
Rurthk pushed the body off the chair, and Mero gestured at the terminal. “Yeah, we need a password.”
Rurthk looked down at the staff. “Who else uses this console?”
Silence.
“Anyone?”
“I, uh …” said a human.
“You can get up,” said Rurthk.
The man carefully stood, his hands still raised. “The records aren't there,” he said, taking a small step towards the terminal.
“That's close enough, Mero growled.
The man's throat bobbed and he nodded. “You have to go to that folder there, on the left.”
Mero checked it. “And the password?”
The man gave him a string of characters.
Mero's fingers danced over the console. “We're in,” he said. “I've got audio recordings, videos …”
“Anything that backs up the accusations?” Rurthk said.
“I'm looking …” said Mero. He frowned and gestured at the console a few times. The list of files on screen didn't move. “It's frozen.”
“You … you need a thumbprint,” said the man.
Rurthk glanced at Mero.
“Unless you want to wait for this thing to fix itself,” said Mero, “we have to.”
&nbs
p; “Go on, then,” said Rurthk, pushing the man towards the terminal.
The man gave a pass gesture, which opened up a new window. He held out his thumb and reached towards the screen.
“That's an alarm!” Olivia cried from the far side of the room.
Rurthk grabbed the man's wrist a moment before he touched the terminal.
“It's not, I swear!” cried the man.
Mero leant in and checked. He swiped away the window.
“Well?” said Rurthk.
“Kid's right,” said Mero. “It's a silent alarm. If our friend touched this, everyone would come down on us.”
He shot the man in the head.
Someone yelped as the body fell to the floor. Rurthk grabbed Mero and hissed, “You didn't need to do that!”
“Ensures it won't happen again,” said Mero, calmly. “Anyone want to step up?” he said to the room.
In the commotion, none of them noticed that one of those on the floor had grabbed a tablet on the floor and gestured a command at it.
Chapter 76: Somewhere We Can't See Them
In the throne room, Sukone's terminal chimed. An urgent communication from one of his staff.
“Put it through,” he told the Glaber standing by his side.
The Glaber nodded, light from the fire glinting off its giant, slick incisors.
The call came from the operations room. Audio only. Sukone listened to various gentle scrapings, then muffled voices. He strained to hear better.
He recognised those voices.
“My quarry has slipped my grasp to try and sneak up behind me,” he whispered. “Well, Captain of the Outsider, I am not so easily defeated.” He turned to the Glaber. “I want an entire platoon outside that door. Our heroes shall exit triumphant and unwitting into a blaze of gunfire.”
“Yes, Sukone,” said the Glaber. It went to the terminal, gestured a few times, then said, “The barrack doors are sealed.”
