“Cathambra...?” he slurred.
Chapter 14
A loud whirring sound roused Darius from sleep. He blinked his eyes open to see the Osprey slowly sinking into the vehicular airlock below the hangar.
“Gatticus!” Blake roared. “What the hell?”
“Good, you’re awake,” Gatticus replied.
“What the—” Blake’s voice rose with alarm. He was speaking another language.
“It worked?” Darius tried, and found that he was speaking the same language. The sounds coming out of his mouth were not what he expected to hear, but somehow the meaning was crystal clear in his head, as if... as if he was still speaking his native tongue.
“Wow,” Cassandra added. “I guess this means I won’t have to go to school anymore.”
“You will not,” Gatticus confirmed.
“Mega snaz!” Cassandra said. That last word was still the same, probably because there was no equivalent in whatever language they were speaking now.
“Amazing,” Lisa added.
“Kak! Ka...? Fek it!” Blake roared.
“Language...” Darius said.
“That’s what I’m swearing about!” Blake snapped. “I can’t speak English anymore!”
“Human mental capacity is not infinite,” Gatticus explained. “Since English will serve no practical use to you anymore, I chose to overwrite it with Primary in order to make more room for other data modules.”
“Fek you,” Blake replied.
A pair of doors opened in front of the Osprey, revealing the launch tube with its flashing crimson lights.
“You landed the Deliverance already?” Darius asked.
“Yes,” Gatticus replied.
“So how come the power’s still on?”
A robotic voice interrupted them, saying, “Three, two, one—” and then they rocketed down the launch tube and out into space.
This time Darius took the momentary burst of acceleration in his stride.
“I set the reactor to power down on a timer. It will shut down soon,” Gatticus replied.
Darius watched a shadowy landscape receding quickly below them as Gatticus pulled up from the moon and aimed for the shining red, white, and blue orb that was Hades. Some of the pressure pushing Darius into his seat returned as Gatticus accelerated toward the planet.
“Hmmm...” Gatticus said. “That is curious.”
“What?” Blake asked.
“I’ve pinpointed the fuel depot on the surface of Hades.”
“Great, what’s the problem?” Darius put in.
“I’m detecting weapons fire in the area.”
Darius blinked. “The depot is under attack?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Well, whoever it is, maybe they can help us,” Blake said.
“Assuming the depot survives the assault. Firing weapons around an antimatter storage facility is extremely dangerous.”
Blake cursed vehemently. “Is there another depot somewhere?”
“Not in this star system,” Gatticus replied.
“We’d better hurry, then,” Darius replied.
“And what if the depot goes boom while we’re trying to sneak inside?” Blake asked.
“Then we will all die,” Gatticus replied.
“You think the people attacking the facility are suicidal?” Darius asked. “Maybe they’re also trying to steal fuel.”
“Unlikely. They won’t have access to any FTL-capable ships. And as for being suicidal... Coalition soldiers have been known to sacrifice themselves for the cause, but it is more likely that this attack is being executed by the inhabitants of Hades. And in that case, they know that they’ll eventually be hunted and killed, anyway, so it is quite possible they don’t intend to survive the assault.”
Darius shook his head. “Inhabitants—as in the people the Phantoms are hunting down there?”
“Yes.”
“How would they get access to weapons?” Blake asked.
“Phantom hunting grounds are not wild jungles with prey running around in loincloths, throwing sticks and stones. They are developed colonies, with all of the infrastructure that entails. Designated prey can even trade with the USO. The only thing they cannot do is leave their planets.”
Blake grunted. “Vonkats in a tar pit.”
“Indeed,” Gatticus agreed.
The language module they’d just downloaded obviously came with new idioms.
“So what do we do?” Lisa asked.
“We can wait until the conflict is resolved and hope that the fuel depot survives, or we can make contact with the attackers and try to get them to call off the attack.”
“Why would they do that for us?” Blake asked.
“Maybe we could offer to evacuate some of them,” Darius said. “They might even be willing to help us if we do that.”
“They might,” Gatticus agreed. “There is, however, a problem with all of this.”
“And that is?”
“If we join forces with designated prey against the Phantoms, we’ll become outlaws in the USO. That means we will be unable to return to any USO worlds after this.”
“Won’t we be outlaws anyway if we steal fuel from the Phantoms?” Darius asked.
“If we get caught, yes. There is another option, however... but it represents something of a moral dilemma.”
“Spit it out, Slick,” Blake said.
“We could jump away in the Osprey. The bomber’s Alckam drive appears to be fully fueled.”
* * *
“What?” Blake bellowed. “You mean this whole time we’ve been talking about stealing fuel from killer aliens when all we had to do was hop aboard an Osprey and fly away?”
“Well, yes, but we would have to leave everyone on the Deliverance at the mercy of the Phantoms,” Gatticus replied.
“You said they’re not going to hunt them as long as they’re in cryo,” Blake replied. “So they’ll be safe there, right? Maybe we can figure out how to come back for them later. Or send someone else—whatever.” He waved his hand to dismiss the concern. “Let’s just get out of here while we still can!”
“Do we even know where to go?” Darius asked.
“The nearest USO system is less than fifty light years from here, and just within range. It will only take about a day for us to get there.”
“Then let’s go!” Blake said. “What are we waiting for?”
Darius didn’t like the idea of leaving the others behind, but Blake was right—they might be able to send someone back to rescue them later.
“You said it’ll take a day to get to the nearest system?” Darius asked.
“Yes.”
“And a day to get back...” Darius said.
“Why would we come back?” Blake asked incredulously.
“To rescue the others?” Darius suggested. Blake said nothing to that. “How long before the Deliverance’s power cells are depleted again?”
“About a day,” Gatticus replied.
“So we won’t make it back in time.” Darius mused. “How many people will wake up before we can return?”
“All of them.”
“And then they’ll freeze to death,” Darius added.
“Yes,” Gatticus replied.
“Well, fine,” Blake said. “Go turn the reactor back on, and let’s beat it.”
“With the power on, the next Phantom ship to enter the system will find them instantly,” Gatticus replied.
“Let’s say that happens. Then what?” Blake asked.
Darius frowned. “I don’t think they’re going to care whether the people in cryo are actually designated prey or not.” He glanced at Gatticus. “They’ll just send them all down to Hades to be hunted, right?”
“Perhaps,” Gatticus replied.
“So it’s us or them. Is that what you’re trying to say?” Blake asked.
Darius nodded, and belatedly realized that Blake wouldn’t be able to see the gesture from where he was sitting in
the upper portion of the cockpit.
“Well, I choose us,” Blake said.
“You mean you,” Lisa replied. “If we were still in cryo you wouldn’t bat an eye at leaving us behind.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault we’re in this mess, and getting ourselves killed by trying to be the hero isn’t going to help anyone.”
“It’s wrong,” Cassandra said quietly. “We can’t leave all those people here to die.”
“Maybe they won’t,” Blake said. “We don’t know that the Phantoms will find them before we can send someone back to rescue them. How often do ships come through here, anyway?”
“Most hunting grounds get shipments of visitors and supplies every few days,” Gatticus replied.
“Well, fek it,” Blake said. “I say we vote on it. All in favor of leaving now, yay or nay?”
Everyone said nay except for Blake, but Gatticus remained conspicuously silent.
“Gatticus?” Blake prompted. “You’re the pilot. If you want to leave, it doesn’t matter what the rest of us have voted. We can’t fly this ship without you.”
“That is why I did not vote.”
“So you’re telling me you’re okay with throwing your life away for a bunch of strangers?” Blake pressed. “You obviously aren’t some Coalition terrorist, but you’re about to become one by stealing fuel from the Phantoms. Are you sure you want to do that?”
Again, Gatticus said nothing.
“Well, Slick? What’s it going to be?”
Chapter 15
“I believe we should steal the fuel,” Gatticus said.
“Gave into the pressure, huh?” Blake asked.
“Cassandra is correct: it would be wrong to let all those people die just to save ourselves.”
“You’re assuming that we actually can save them,” Blake replied.
“We have to try,” Lisa said. “Speaking of which, I had another thought. You said this bomber is already fully fueled.”
“Correct.”
“What about the other ones on board the Deliverance? They’re probably fueled too right?”
“Quite likely,” Gatticus replied.
“So why can’t we refuel the Deliverance by taking fuel from all of the smaller ships on board?”
“That won’t give us even close to enough fuel. Smaller vessels don’t require as much antimatter to run their Alckam drives.”
Darius sighed. “Nice try, Lisa.”
The cockpit lapsed into silence, and Darius watched as they flew toward Hades. The closer they got, the more vibrant the mottled reds, blues, whites, and purples of the planet became. Soon the planet was all they could see, and the clouds became towering mountains with ridges and valleys, and angry black swirls at their hearts. Shadows lurked beneath the clouds, and the cockpit began to shudder with the turbulence of atmospheric entry.
“Hey, didn’t you say you were going to use these neural whats-its to give us combat training?” Blake asked, raising his voice to be heard over the rising roar of atmospheric entry.
With that reminder, Darius noticed the subtle pressure around his forehead and he reached up to remove the neural mapper.
“I already downloaded a basic combat module before you all woke up,” Gatticus replied.
“Without our permission?” Lisa asked, her voice rising in alarm.
“I didn’t think you would object. I apologize if my assumption was incorrect.”
“It was,” Blake replied. “You need to ask for permission before you go messing with our heads.”
“I believed I had already been given tacit permission via our prior discussion of the subject, but I will seek more explicit confirmation next time.”
Blake grunted, and Lisa said, “Thank you.”
By now the cockpit was shivering violently and the roar of atmosphere against the hull had become thunderous, making further conversation impossible.
Darius saw the glass around him begin to glow bright orange at the edges, and he could actually feel the heat pulsing off it. He began to worry that the glass would melt, but he realized that it had to be made from a more resistant material than what he was used to from his time.
The clouds raced up fast, and the ground resolved into more and more detail. The reds and purples and greens they’d seen from orbit looked to be some kind of forest or jungle, and in the distance, a rippled blue ocean sparkled.
How high are those waves? Darius wondered. They had to be huge for those ripples to be visible from such a high altitude.
As they continued down through the atmosphere, the ship gradually stopped shuddering and the sky progressed from light shades of blue to a dark cobalt.
Gatticus leveled out somewhat and dived into the clouds at a shallow angle. Everything vanished in billowing sheets of white. Rain drops beaded the glass around Darius and ran backward in trickling streams. The clouds darkened steadily until they were flashing with angry purple blooms of lightning. Thunder boomed ominously, and the Osprey began shuddering once more, but this time from regular turbulence rather than the speed of re-entry.
They descended for about half a minute more before they punched through the bottom of the clouds. The turbulence vanished, and the forest canopy swept up beneath them. Towering trees soared all around in varying shades of crimson, purple, and green. The tops of the tallest ones disappeared into the angry black clouds overhead, and thick black vines draped with curtains of vegetation hung between them like bridges.
Gatticus leveled out fully now. He was forced to weave a path between the trees and hanging vines. The clouds grew even darker and Darius noted that the sky was hazy with precipitation up ahead. Gatticus flew straight into the storm, and the canopy blurred with rain. A flashing purple fork of lighting hit one of the trees, carving off a thick branch and sending it crashing down to a lower level of the forest canopy.
“Where are we going?” Blake yelled to be heard above the sound of rain and air roaring against their hull.
“To the settlement closest to the fuel depot,” Gatticus replied. “We’ll stand a better chance of success if we can convince the locals to help us—or at least to call off their attack.”
“Who are the locals?” Lisa asked.
“A variety of terran types, which makes sense given that this is a terran-class planet.”
“Terran?” Blake put in.
“Earth-type. It means that the planet is considered habitable to humans and other species with similar requirements.”
Before long, the rain cleared and the clouds became thin, shimmering curtains of mist. Red, green, and purple leaves shone brightly in the sun. Up ahead, the rippled blue ocean appeared, shining with golden petals of sunlight.
The mist cleared, and the trees fell away as Gatticus flew down along a broad white beach.
Curling mountains of water crashed with an audible roar, rushing all the way up the beach and back, endlessly on repeat. Darius couldn’t help wondering what caused those waves. Strong tidal forces from the planet’s moon, perhaps?
“So, where’s this settlement?” Blake asked.
He needn’t have asked.
Up ahead the beach vanished, and sheer black cliffs took its place. Further inland, the trees thinned out to a rocky field of silken blue grass, and the ground rose to meet the cliffs in a jutting peninsula that was separated from the forest by high black walls. Behind those walls lay a variety of squat black, brown, and gray structures, and even a few multi-story towers with small, round openings in their sides. At the highest point of the peninsula a massive, red-leafed tree soared high over everything with wooden platforms and structures built at varying heights, overlooking the settlement below.
As they drew near, Darius saw that there were some kind of weapon emplacements dotting the walls, and the tops of the taller buildings. He also noticed the small circular openings in the sides of the buildings gleaming with panes of glass.
Somehow the settlement managed to look both primitive and advanced at the same time. Gatticu
s slowed as they approached, aiming for one of the lower levels of the tree and what appeared to be a metal landing pad, with actual lights shining along its edges.
They have aircraft? Darius wondered.
As the tree loomed before them, its sheer size became apparent. Some of the wooden structures built on the platforms around the trunk were three and four stories high.
Blake whistled softly. “Gives a whole new meaning to tree hugging.”
Darius saw bipedal and quadrupedal creatures appear on the platforms below. They stopped and looked up as the Osprey hovered down for a landing. The Osprey touched down softly, and the roar of its engines died.
“Let’s go meet the locals,” Gatticus said.
Darius released his harness and climbed the ramp to the upper level of the cockpit. Blake and Cassandra were already on their feet, but Lisa was stuck. She didn’t know about the harness release lever yet. Gatticus went to help her, and Darius took a moment to study the aliens congregating on the landing pad outside.
He blinked in shock. Some of the faces staring back at him were actually human. He walked to the front of the cockpit for a better look. Besides the humans, there were plenty of humanoids, some of them covered in fur, or scales, or wrinkled skin—even a few with shiny shells or exoskeletons. Most of them stood on two legs, but others stood on four or six—and even eight in the case of a furry spider creature.
“There’s dozens of different species here,” Darius said. He felt a sudden need to sit down, but he leaned on the back of the pilot’s chair instead. He was in shock.
Gatticus came to stand beside him. “Phantom hunting grounds are necessarily cosmopolitan places—dumping grounds for the undesirables of every species in the USO.”
“Undesirables,” Lisa said slowly. “You mean unfortunates. Their people sent them here to die, and for what? To feed the killer instincts of some ruthless aliens? How can everyone buy into such a barbaric system?”
“The Coalition doesn’t,” Gatticus replied.
“But they’re a minority, aren’t they?”
“I know it seems barbaric, but the Phantoms elevated most of these species from different types of barbarism when they arrived. The Phantoms and their hunting practices notwithstanding, the average life expectancy in the world you left was far shorter than it is in the USO.”
Broken Worlds: The Awakening (A Sci-Fi Mystery) Page 10
