by Steve Perry
Noguchi felt as if she had been sitting there for hours, but she knew it had been only a few minutes. Funny; all she really wanted to do was lie down and sleep until she woke up at home. On Earth, back in the tiny apartment she’d left a million years before…
Would that be so bad? Just to give up and wait there until help came, until the damn company sent someone to pick them up? They could probably hold out, just do some heavy reinforcing of the locks and then sit tight. Maybe she could even stay here, in her room. The people downstairs could make do without her. They would figure out something.
Hide away, do nothing, wait. Yes, that felt right—
“Ms. Noguchi?” A soft voice crackled over her com.
Noguchi felt her stomach tighten at the sound. Why did they need her, it wasn’t fair! She couldn’t run a battle, she was an overseer for Christ’s sake!
“Ms. Noguchi, this is Weaver.” The hesitant voice called again.
Noguchi sighed. “Yes, what is it?” It didn’t matter, none of it did.
“I’m sorry to interrupt or anything. I thought—I mean, I know you and Mr. Shimura were friends, and I’m sorry to bother—”
“What?” She wanted to feel angry, but there was still nothing.
“There’s something you should see. I could transfer it to your screen, it’s the feed from the security cam on the southwest side of the tower. It’s dark, though I’ve boosted the gain—I guess there are a lot of lights out over there—”
Noguchi turned wearily and looked at the console on her wall, already sorry she’d admitted to being there. Fuck these people. They didn’t even like her. What did they expect? Why did she have to take care of them? Why her?
The screen snapped on.
It was a bonfire. At first, Noguchi didn’t recognize that it was a picture from anywhere on Ryushi; she was reminded of old holos she had seen on Earth, of tribal dancing, ritual stuff.
But the dancers were the warriors. The dragons… Well, no, not really dragons, aliens.
There were five or six of them, the creatures who had killed Hiroki and the others. They ran and stumbled and jumped high in the air all around the fire, which was probably built with debris from the west lock. Sparks flew, flame cracked and rose into the early evening sky as the aliens danced and circled. And they carried spears…
There was no audio, but Noguchi could imagine the howls of victory. For the spears they held high in the air were decorated with their conquests. As she watched, one of the warriors danced past the cam with one of the black nightmare-bug skulls jammed onto the point of his spear.
And the next warrior—
She quickly looked away, then returned her gaze to the screen. She didn’t want to believe what she had seen, but it was true. Fuzzy and distorted by the heat and bad lighting, but there.
Hiroki’s decapitated head on the tip of the creature’s spear, the sharp, bladed end running through his neck and out of his mouth.
For just a moment, she thought she might vomit.
The alien danced from view, but Noguchi had seen what she had needed to see. The nausea passed. Something new, some new feeling was filling her up. It wasn’t sorrow or sickness, although she felt both of those things. No, it was dark and solid and throbbing, like a huge, black machine had started running deep inside, at the core of her being. It was a physical sensation, this feeling, a rumble of newness.
It was many things, but the easiest to understand was the anger. She watched the celebrating warriors and felt the apathy get eaten by the new machine, chewed and burned away, fuel for the thing at her center. It cleared her mind for what she would need to do.
She was going to kill them. All of them. Not just for Hiroki’s death or the lives of the ranchers or her career—she felt almost selfish about her reasons, but in the end, it wouldn’t matter. They would die because they dared to try her. She was a woman of honor and they stood against her.
* * *
Roth and Cathie stood near the table where Spanner sat, Noguchi’s gun in front of him. A lot of the others watched also, although there really wasn’t much to see. Spanner had already filled eight speedloaders, and was working on his ninth. He fed the rounds in slowly and the metallic clicks were loud in the quiet room when he closed the latch knob. It had been pretty silent here since Hiroki’s last transmission.
Noguchi had been gone for twenty minutes or so, which was just as well. Roth hadn’t liked seeing the new overseer choke up. Tears would have been okay, but Noguchi had just—swallowed it and gone inside of herself. It was too bad; Roth had seen an iron thread in Noguchi during the setup of the barricades, and had hoped they would all see more of it. Bitch or no, she was competent under stress. Or so they had thought. They were gonna need that, given what they were up against.
Ackland had made a short speech after Noguchi had walked out, about how they were all going to have to pull together and decide what their next move would be. But he was dry-mouthed and scared, he didn’t have any suggestions after that, and finally he sat back down. He didn’t know what to do, either.
Cathie kept a firm grip on her arm as the silent tension grew. Roth knew her spouse didn’t want her to step forward, although she was as qualified as anyone else, maybe more so. She didn’t want to lead the colony, but someone would have to. Much as she wished it would have been Noguchi, Roth didn’t think she was going to come back.
Spanner continued to load the bullet holders methodically. High velocity hunting rounds, jacketed slugs that would punch through a wall. Someone would need them.
Noguchi stepped into the room quietly.
“Ms. Noguchi—” Ackland looked and sounded confused.
She had pulled her hair back and knotted it tightly at the base of her neck. She wore a fully padded coverall, the kind that the rhynth workers wore during gelding time; the suit was designed to dull impact from stray kicks, and had saved Roth herself from a lot of injuries. She had strapped a carbine to her back and wore knee and elbow leathers, as well as gloves. A comset hung loosely around her neck, and her eyes were cold and hard.
Roth grinned nervously, and felt Cathie’s arm slip around her waist. Noguchi was back—and looked like a woman to reckon with.
“Who owns the fastest hover bike?” she said, her voice cool. Cool, strong, authoritative.
Roth said, “I guess that would be me.”
Noguchi nodded at her. “Where is it?”
“East lock. Keycard’s in it.”
Noguchi smiled briefly at her, the expression calm and yet somehow chilling. The nitrogen queen was back, only this time, there was something else under the icy facade.
Ackland laid a hand on Noguchi’s shoulder and turned her roughly to face him. “That’s it? You’re taking off? What about the rest of us?” His voice was heavy with anger, his composure blustery. “I thought you were supposed to be in charge! Where’s your sense of responsibility?”
Noguchi took a deep breath. And then she punched Ackland low in the gut, hard.
20
The anger rested in her like a dormant but wild animal, waiting to be awakened and used. Noguchi knew she had bigger things to deal with than this overblown rancher who stood fuming, his fat finger pointed at her chest. But she had had more than enough from him. She took a breath and jabbed. It was a reaction more than a decision.
Ackland folded, gasped, and fell to the floor.
She heard the people all around step back; two or three applauded.
“Responsibility?” Her voice sounded strange to her ears, cold and furious. “Hiroki is dead, Ackland! And a big part of this shit sandwich is on your plate! If we live through this, you’re going to find out what happens to people who are responsible!”
Ackland was still on the floor, face red, trying to catch his breath. The anger suddenly coiled back to a resting state, left her exhilarated and exhausted all at once. Ackland was an annoyance, but nothing to slow down for.
Like a headache.
She raised her ga
ze and looked around at the watching crowd. The faces she saw weren’t angry, just somber. Maybe Ackland wasn’t quite as popular as he thought. The only important thing now was getting the job done, the job she was responsible for—hunting down the things that had disturbed Prosperity Wells. But not simply for vengeance.
For honor.
Noguchi raised her voice so that everyone could hear. “Weaver, you’re in charge until I get back! The rest of you will follow her orders to the letter, is that clear?”
A few of the ranchers nodded. It would have to do.
Spanner had holstered Hiroki’s revolver to a rhynth-hide belt with pouches for the extra ammunition carriers. Noguchi smiled briefly at him and strapped it on without another word. No one spoke.
Several of the ranchers and employees followed her down the long hall to the east lock, but she didn’t have anything else to tell them. She had an idea, but the details weren’t quite worked out yet; she had told Weaver the basics over the com, so help on this end was covered. But judging from how fast Hiroki and his team had been taken out, time couldn’t be wasted on planning; she’d have to play it mostly by ear.
Noguchi reached the lock and peered out of the loophole window; the bike was only a few meters from the entry. The deepening dusk was deceptively peaceful-looking, quiet.
Roth stepped up behind her, expression set. “I could come with you,” she said softly.
Noguchi considered it, then shook her head. “No. If I don’t come back, someone will have to come up with other plans. You’ll help most by staying here. Talk to Weaver, she’ll fill you in.”
Roth nodded. “Let me cover you, then.”
“Okay. I’ll signal here in approximately twenty minutes; if I haven’t called, weld this lock and keep a CDS going to the corporation’s sub-HQ. If you keep backing up and sealing the doors as you go, you might be able to hold out until they give up, or until my idea pans out.”
Or they get in…
It didn’t need to be said. Roth nodded again and shouldered her rifle.
Noguchi opened the door and broke into a run in the hot night air.
* * *
The pain had been flowing away for a long time, how long he didn’t know. Or where he was, or what exactly had happened. More than once, he had risen from the dark to feel that he was still alive, still nan’ku. There were straps on his body, which conjured images of a snarling dark creature in bands of dlex.
Queen. Kainde amedha.
He surfaced briefly with the familiar image and then decided to sleep a little more. He must still be unwell, although he felt that his strength had somewhat returned. The sickness was sensory; the smells in consciousness were alien, strange. The air was wrong. And he sensed no yautja nearby…
Dachande slept, but left his inner eye open and watchful. He would investigate the situation later. Soon.
* * *
Noguchi jumped on the bike and stabbed at the key at the same time. Her adrenaline was in overload, her breath shallow. Everything around her had slowed down, but she was at light-speed.
She jammed the accelerator down and flew toward The Lector, free from fear. Death wasn’t so scary once decided on; Noguchi didn’t want to die, but the odds weren’t in her favor. After seeing Hiroki’s head on a spear, she had accepted the futility of the situation. She would probably die—but not without company.
There was an overpass ahead, the second-story walkway between the sewage treatment plant and the main well. Noguchi floored the pedal; the shadows there were thick and secretive.
She was halfway through when the dark exploded to life.
The attack came from her left. A high shriek, then something big and heavy hit. The bike tipped, veered toward a wall in the dark, claws ripped, the bike righted—
—and she was back in the open. The creature had fallen off of the unbalanced bike. There was another shriek behind her. She got the impression of great speed from behind, as the thing ran—
Noguchi grabbed for the rifle on her back and circled wide. It was one of the bugs. Because everything had slowed, she saw it in perfect detail as it ran. Long black skull with razor teeth, an impossible body, segmented, black, metallic. There was only the one.
She flew straight at it, a part of her mind screaming at her to get away, fast.
She aimed the rifle…
The creature’s head blew apart in a spray of blood.
Another jumped out from the heavy shadows, ran at her—
—she hit it, heard the cry of pain and rage. It clutched at the cycle, scrabbled up, loomed above her.
There was a meter-thick beam under the walkway, barely visible in the dark. Noguchi ducked low and flew straight at it.
The bug’s howl was cut short and the bike lifted again.
Noguchi circled back and headed again for the ship, heart pounding. In spite of the physical reaction, she felt calm. Very awake, but not panicked; she felt in complete control, she knew exactly what she was doing…
She slammed on the brakes suddenly and cried out, enraged by her own stupidity.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
Miriam Revna.
She had forgotten.
* * *
The coms had been out for several hours before Miriam heard the shots echo through the compound. There had been gunfire before, but it hadn’t been so close. Several times, she had heard weird screams, alien sounds.
Miriam held the bonecutter tightly and tried to breathe deeply. She had stood by the door for what seemed like days, and she was exhausted. The patient had not regained consciousness, although his readings had jumped several times, indicating a raise of bodily functions—increased heart rate, blood pressure, temperature. The readings could be wrong, though, probably were; she had never seen a creature quite like it. Neither had Kesar…
Kesar.
Miriam closed her eyes and breathed deeper. She didn’t want to think about him, not yet. She wasn’t ready to admit that he… she wasn’t ready to grieve.
The two coms in the lab were notorious for fuzzing out, sometimes for days at a time. They had never bothered getting them fixed—the lab was only a few dozen meters from the main transmitting antenna, not a hassle to walk. No one had tried to contact her—although she wouldn’t know, of course. She was scared, and she missed Kesar more with every second.
A hover bike pulled up outside, and Miriam heard running footsteps. Perhaps it was Kesar—
She knew it wasn’t somewhere inside even before she heard Machiko Noguchi’s voice.
“Dr. Revna! It’s me, Machiko!”
Miriam gripped the bonesaw closer and went to the door. She punched the entry button and looked outside, cautiously.
It was the overseer. She wore a padded coverall and held a rifle. Her gaze scanned from left to right as she edged into the lab, facing out.
As soon as she was inside, Miriam hit the control and the door slid shut.
“Machiko, I heard shooting! What happened?”
The younger woman turned to face her. Miriam was struck by the changes she saw in Noguchi’s cool expression. Something huge had occurred, something that had made everything different. It was in her eyes, in the set of her mouth—
“Things are bad, and they’re about to get worse.” In spite of the circumstances, Machiko Noguchi sounded calm. “Can you handle a hover bike?”
Miriam shook her head and set the cutter on a table. “No. I never learned. Kesar was going to teach me, but we never—”
“Do you know how to use one of these?” Machiko cut her off, held up the rifle she carried. “I don’t have time to get you back to ops.”
Miriam shook her head again.
Machiko handed it to her anyway and spoke quickly. “It’s a semiautomatic, so it does all the work for you. Just point it at what you want to shoot and squeeze this trigger.” She motioned at the crook of the rifle. “You only have six rounds, so don’t waste any on warning shots.”
Miriam took the rifle hesitantly an
d frowned. “Ms. Noguchi, I’m a doctor, not a soldier…”
“This isn’t war,” Noguchi said softly. “This is survival.”
Miriam felt tears in her eyes, but wasn’t sure why. “Who might I be—shooting at?” The words were strange in her mouth.
“Your patient’s brothers. Or something that looks like a two-meter-tall black insect with a banana-shaped head full of teeth.” Machiko said. She walked over to the patient and the table of artifacts and picked up the odd shield she and Hiroki had studied before. She held it up toward Miriam.
“The unclassifieds that Roth brought in—Kesar’s report said he thought they might transport eggs, or spores, to host bodies. Is it possible that when those spores grew up, they’d look like this?” She pointed at the strange animal etched into the surface.
“It’s impossible to say,” Miriam said slowly. She felt horribly confused. “Why?”
“Because I’ve seen some of these things tonight. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of them in The Lector. And I think Ackland’s rhynth were infected”—she paused—“or impregnated, by these things. And they’ve spread it to all of the herds on the ship. I think our two unclassifieds are connected somehow.”
Miriam looked at the etching and then over to the specimen strapped to the table. “Not biologically. They’re quite different in chemical makeup.”
Machiko nodded. “There’s no time to worry about it now, anyway.” She looked at the injured alien. “We ought to shoot that thing,” she said. “But maybe we’ll need it as a hostage later.” She walked toward the door.
“What are you going to do?”
Noguchi turned. “I have an idea or two. Listen, I want you to stay here, okay? Outside is not safe. Keep the door locked. I’ll come back for you as soon as I can, but if you haven’t seen me within the next hour, start thinking about how you can get to ops. Wait until daylight, and take the rifle when you go. I’ll tell the ranchers to watch for you.”
And she was gone, just like that.
Miriam set the heavy weapon on the table and stood with her eyes closed for a moment. It was all like a dream, surreal and frightening. None of this could be happening. She looked at the alien creature on the exam table and tried to get her thoughts in order.
