The Lost Voyager: A Carson March Space Opera

by A. C. Hadfield

  The bright red glow emitted by the initial flare had thinned and was becoming weaker by the second. Mach reactivated his helmet light and scanned the man’s suit for clues to his identity. A small white diamond, the OreCorp logo, was printed on his right breast.

  When they hired Mach, the representative told him they had no employees on Noven Beta. He took them at their word but knew that large corporations sometimes left employees stranded after deciding to complete operations on remote planets. They crudely called it collateral damage.

  “Are you part of Voyager’s crew?” Mach asked.

  The man lowered his right arm and extended the knife toward Mach. “You don’t fool me. You’re one of them. I saw you behind the monsters.”

  “You’ve got the wrong guy,” Mach said. “I’m here to search for a missing ship. Calm down and let’s talk.”

  A small bug scuttled across the ground between them. The man gasped and tensed. His teeth chattered and he stared at the insect with a wild-eyed expression.

  Mach stepped forward and crushed it under his boot. “I’m not here to hurt you. Have you turned off the facility’s power?”

  The man ignored the question again. Mach sighed. He was clearly dealing with somebody who had lost his mind. Something had spooked the man beyond words, which gave Mach an uneasy feeling. He decided to wait and show him that they meant no harm.

  Two thin blue strips appeared out of the gloom. Sanchez and Adira swept around to the man’s right side, maintaining their aim on him. Both had their helmet lights back on and didn’t have any noticeable injuries.

  “What’s the situation?” Mach asked.

  “Just two other casualties, dressed like him,” Adira said. “One had an ID swipe. He worked here as a driller.”

  “Solves the mystery of who they are, I suppose,” Mach said. “Did they attack you?”

  “Yep. Both dead.”

  The man went rigid after hearing Adira’s words. He took a deep breath, sprang forward, and thrust the knife at Mach’s chest.

  Mach swayed to his left and parried the blow harmlessly wide with his SamCore Stinger. He went to reach out for the man and reiterate they meant no harm when Sanchez fired. The round exited through the chest of the man’s suit and he collapsed face first to the ground.

  The warehouse fell silent.

  Mach crouched over the man and turned him over so he faced upward.

  “You’re going to die,” the man whispered through blood-glistening teeth. His eyes closed and his helmet rolled to the left.

  The man’s final words sent a chill down Mach’s spine. He looked up at Sanchez. “Nice shooting, hotshot. I wanted him alive.”

  “You didn’t tell me that before he went for you with a knife,” Sanchez replied. “What did you expect me to do?”

  Mach hid his irritation with a light sigh and a shake of his head. “Fair enough,” he said. “But still… let’s not be so hasty next time. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” He searched the compartments and pockets of the man’s suit, but all were empty.

  “I don’t think they were trying to ambush us,” Adira said. “Why kill the power and hide in a warehouse?”

  Mach nodded. “They were hiding from something. I’ve got a feeling they killed the power to avoid any unwanted attention. Have a look at the roof damage. This place was attacked.”

  “Reckon it’s linked to Voyager’s fate?” Sanchez said.

  “I don’t believe in coincidences. Let’s get this place powered up and see if we can find some answers.”

  Mach asked Babcock and Squid Two to meet him in the command center while Sanchez and Adira searched the living quarters at the far end of the warehouse.

  Squid Two floated over Babcock’s shoulder, shining a light from the end of one of its silver tentacles as he inspected the console and controls.

  “They must’ve powered down the proton reactor,” Babcock said after flicking a red switch on the console. “We need to go underground.”

  “Where’s the entrance?”

  “The elevator won’t work, but there’s steps at the far end of the warehouse.”

  “That’s not good news.”

  Babcock frowned. “Why? It’s a relatively easy task to reactivate.”

  “The building took a hit. That area’s covered in debris.”

  Squid Two chirped to Babcock, who peered at his smart-screen. “We should be okay. There’s a five-meter layer of concrete protecting the reactor. Squid will lead us to the entrance.”

  Mach held the opaque glass door open and Squid Two floated past, shining its beam around the warehouse. He and Babcock followed, snaking between the dark shapes of machinery and vehicles until they reached the edge of a shallow twenty-meter-wide crater directly below the gaping hole in the roof.

  Twisted and tangled pieces of metal and plastic were spread inside and around the rubble-strewn shallow crater. Mach thought it had to be the work of a powerful laser cannon, similar in type to the ones fitted on Commonwealth Defense Force or horan destroyers.

  Squid Two’s beam settled on a small dark area next to a sheet of burnt metal. Mach grabbed the edge and heaved it to one side, revealing a half-meter-wide hole. He leaned down, positioning his helmet’s light through the gap.

  Chunks of concrete covered most of the staircase leading to a tunnel seven meters below. There was just enough room to squeeze over the debris and get down. Through the dusty air, Mach noticed multiple cracks spidering across the ceiling leading down to the reactor.

  “Can Squid Two get down there and do the job?” Mach asked.

  “It needs a human to manually reactivate. Squid Two’s strength is his intelligence.”

  “Can you give me instructions if I can reach it?”

  Babcock pressed his smart-screen and stared at it. “It’s a simple procedure. I’ll go—”

  “No. I’m not risking you down there. Wait here and I’ll give you a shout when I reach the reactor.”

  “Is that all you’re making me do on this trip? Wait for you at entrances?”

  Mach stood and put his glove on Babcock’s shoulder. “I admire your spirit, Babs, but trust me, your hard work begins once the facility powers up.”

  Babcock returned a weak smile and nodded. “You’ll need to take this.”

  He handed Mach the silver security token.

  Mach decided to strip off his cold-weather shell to allow for more room to move in tight spots. If he were quick enough, the temperature wouldn’t compromise his graphene nanosuit. He unfastened the shell down to his waist, pulled his arms out, and lowered it around his boots.

  The damned thing was always awkward to pull over boots. He tugged at each leg while trying to think of a better design. There had to be one. After eventually freeing himself, he placed the token in his thigh pocket, grabbed his Stinger, and pressed his body against the rubble covering the stairs.

  “Make sure you come back in one piece,” Babcock said.

  “Make sure you’re still here to give me instructions.”

  Mach pulled himself downward at a forty-five-degree angle through the tight gap. The back of his helmet scraped against the ceiling. His light illuminated the route ahead. Getting down was probably the easy part. He leopard-crawled forward for three meters, descending at a steady rate over sharp chunks of concrete.

  Wedging his foot against one of the larger chunks, he thrust forward.

  The chunk fell to one side and crashed past him. It toppled toward the bottom of the staircase, picking up speed as it went. A shower of dust dropped through cracks in the ceiling after the chunk thumped against it. Other pieces of debris moved as it bashed its way down.

  Mach grabbed hold of a rock and took a deep breath. The whole field of debris covering the staircase seemed to slide down. He hoped it would stop and he hadn’t caused a mini landslide.

  The fear of being buried alive under the falling concrete behind him spurred Mach forward. He crawled downward as fast as he could, ignoring th
e scrapes and stabs to his arms and legs from sharp pieces of debris.

  A twisted piece of metal screeched against the graphene suit, but the hard material resisted splitting. Another rock bounded past him and thumped against the pile collecting at the bottom of the staircase. With only two meters to go, the gap widened to allow Mach to crouch. He immediately got to his feet and rushed forward, descending into the start of the tunnel.

  “Mach, behind you!” Babcock said over comm.

  Mach turned. A head-sized lump of metal stuck his shoulder, sending him flying back and crashing against the ground.

  Stars flashed in front of his eyes. He moved his shoulder and winced at the pain. A small bug, with chunky black legs and an oval orb for a body, scuttled across his visor. Its legs tapped across the transparent surface.

  The bug rose on its two back legs and dropped, striking two small fangs against the visor with a click. Thick yellow venom sprayed out and dribbled down the side.

  Mach grimaced then smiled at the bug’s ambitious but ultimately stupid reaction. “You’re not getting through, little fella.”

  But even as he said that, he watched with horror as his visor’s outer polycarbonate coating bubbled underneath the venom. The HUD blinked red and flashed up an emergency alert. The venom was compromising the visor’s integrity.

  Chapter 6

  Mach shook his head from side to side. The bug slid off his visor, leaving a trail of toxic venom. Sharp pain shot through his shoulder as he tried to raise his glove to squash the thumbnail-sized creature.

  The bug scuttled under a crushed piece of plastic tubing on the ground, but Mach had a more immediate concern. Polycarbonate continued to bubble and a small section in front of his left eye, where the venom pooled, sagged inward as if it was made from plastic wrap. The HUD alert flashed an imminent breach.

  Wiping the venom off with his glove would possibly melt through Mach’s hand. He raced through options in his mind, grunted back to his feet, and staggered to the pile of rubble covering the staircase.

  Babcock’s helmet strip shone through the dust, creating a murky light blue glow between gaps in the smashed pieces of concrete.

  “Are you okay, Mach?” Babcock asked.

  “I’ll live. Have you got your claytronic kit with you?”

  “Yep. What do you need?”

  “A new helmet, and quick.”

  “I’ll start assembling.”

  Mach leaned over the rough pieces of concrete and scrambled up. The HUD stability measurement clicked down from twenty percent to fifteen in five seconds. He pushed all thoughts about the stability of the debris to one side and scrambled up the narrow gap, scraping the back of his suit and helmet against the ceiling as he raced for the top of the staircase.

  Pieces of rubble thumped down into the tunnel below after he thrust his boots against them. When the measurement reached two percent, Mach took a deep breath. A moment later, a small hole appeared in his visor.

  The freezing, carbon-dioxide-heavy atmosphere of Noven Beta rushed inside. Mach’s face tightened against the stinging cold. He focused, clambered the last two meters up, and ascended back to the warehouse.

  Babcock stood next to the bottom half of an assembling helmet. Millions of nanoscale robots formed a sparkling silver rim on top, working to the instructions he gave them to create it. Squid Two floated over the expanding shape with extended tentacles and chirped.

  “Twenty seconds,” Babcock said and turned to Mach. “Are you okay?”

  Mach’s lungs were at the bursting point. His dry eyes bulged as he held his breath. He returned a nod and pointed at the hole in his visor.

  “Oh, I see,” Babcock said.

  The HUD display flickered and cut as the hole in the visor expanded. Mach squeezed his eyes shut. His body shook and stars flashed in front of his eyes. He grabbed his helmet, twisted it off and threw it across the warehouse floor.

  Feeling his legs buckle, Mach dropped to one knee. He held out his hands, hoping a new replacement would be placed in them at any second. It felt like he’d waited a minute already.

  “It’s complete,” Babcock said. “Hold steady.”

  The lower rim pushed into place around Mach’s neck. He heard the reassuring click of his new helmet locking into place against his support pack. The temperature warmed and the HUD pinged to life.

  Mach opened his eyes and gasped for air. He dropped to all fours while regulating his breath.

  Babcock passed him his Stinger rifle. “That was a bit close for comfort.”

  “Thanks, Babs. You’re a lifesaver.” Mach slung his weapon over his shoulder and glanced around the quiet warehouse.

  “What happened down there?”

  “A little insect’s venom. Stamp on any and you’ll see.”

  “Interesting. I haven’t come across an insect species that can do that kind of thing.”

  Mach sighed and rose to his feet. “The last thing I’d call it is interesting. I’m going back down. Be ready to do the same thing.”

  Babcock nodded. Squid Two drifted toward the staircase and shone its tentacle light down. Mach took a moment for composure, then activated his strip light and moved over to the gap in the ground.

  The previous descent and climb had created more space and revealed larger chunks of rubble below. This allowed for easier movement and Mach made swift progress to the tunnel. His boots landed with a crunch and he glanced at the piece of plastic tubing the bug had scuttled under.

  It didn’t seem a good idea to go hunting for creatures with such corrosive power. Mach edged around shattered pieces of concrete and advanced deeper down the dark tunnel. The ground inclined and the debris cleared. He passed through a set of swing doors and entered a large space with a dark machine, presumably the generator, at the center of it.

  “I’m here,” Mach said through his comm. “What’s first?”

  “Do you see any lights?” Babcock said. “The generator’s battery should still be powering them.”

  “Nothing. Let me have a look around.”

  Mach circled the generator, passed a dark control panel to his left, and walked to the far side of the room. Nine green lights winked on the back wall. Each had a red button below, under a transparent casing.

  “I can see them, and a row of buttons,” Mach said.

  “Place the token in the slot above them. When the lights turn white, hit the buttons from left to right to activate the boot sequence.”

  “As simple as that?”

  “The token acts as a switch,” Babcock replied. “It’s OreCorp we’re dealing with here.”

  Mach recognized the contempt in Babcock’s response and wondered if he was offended by the simplicity of the operation or just hated the large corporations. Whatever the reason, their potential payday made it irrelevant. He grabbed the token from his thigh pocket and placed its edge into the thin dark slot. Internal working parts behind the wall smoothly swallowed the token with a quiet electric whine.

  After pressing each button, all lights changed, and the token ejected. Three dull mechanical thuds came from behind the wall and the generator in the center of the room whirred.

  A holographic keyboard blinked alive on the control panel. A single black screen flashed to life above it and white data streamed across it.

  Fluorescent lights flickered on overhead, bathing the generator room and tunnel in artificial yellow light.

  “How’s it looking up there?” Mach asked.

  “Sufficient for our requirements. Make sure you grab the token. I’ll need it in the command center.”

  Mach pulled it from the slot and slipped it back in his pocket. Relief washed over him as he made his way around the humming generator. The first part of OreCorp’s request could be executed, which guaranteed half of their payment, but it was the easy half. At some stage, he knew he’d have to tell the crew the real story.

  Sparks crackled and fizzed across a gloomy section of the tunnel. Mach quickened his pace, glanced acros
s at an exposed length of split cable, and hoped it wouldn’t cause any issues above ground. He reached the bottom of the staircase and wasted no time clambering up the covering of debris to the top.

  The warehouse lights were out around the damaged ceiling, but the front half, leading to the command center, shone down over the dusty machines and mining tools.

  Adira and Sanchez stood chatting to Babcock and Squid Two.

  Mach eased out of the gap, dusted himself down, and struggled back into his shell.

  Sanchez looked over his shoulder and smiled. “I hear you were nearly taken out by a bug?”

  “Takes more than a pest to kill me,” Mach replied.

  Sanchez turned away. Mach fished the token out of his pocket and placed it against Babcock’s chest. “Time to do your thing. Let’s destroy that data and get the hell out of here.”

  Mach followed Babcock through the opaque glass door into the command center. The place had a safer feel with bright circular ceiling lights glaring down at regular intervals and the rest of the facility cleared. All five wall-screens were on standby mode and lights on the console winked. Sanchez sat back on a central workstation chair and rested his boots on the desk. Adira joined Mach below the screens.

  “Find any clues to what happened here?” Mach asked.

  “Pools of frozen blood next to the transport door but nothing else. Besides the three men, it’s deserted.”

  Babcock placed the security token into a round indent on the console. A touchpad slid out and an orange holographic screen appeared above it. He keyed in commands and strings that Mach didn’t recognize.

  Thousands of digits, letters and symbols flowed along the screen. Squid Two hovered closer, paused for a moment, and beeped twice. Babcock nodded.

  “Found what we need?” Mach said.

  “There’s a hidden directory. Squid Two’s capturing the contents before I delete it.”

  “Are you sure that’s the data we’ve been asked to destroy?”

  “Unless they’re worried about their operations logs, video feeds or resource management information getting out, I’d say so. I’ll purge everything just to be sure, including the backup data. Provided there’s no physical copies, it’ll do the job.”