The Airship: A Futuristic Dungeon Core (The Laboratory Book 2)

by Skyler Grant

  That was the power I'd hoped to get from the Flora Core, although only three uses of it was disappointing. Still, as Anna had proven with those Sparkseeds, even a short-term application of that power could be incredibly destructive.

  The weaponry situation was also less satisfactory. We had gotten one of the main cannons repaired, but while it was powerful, the firing time was slow. We had side cannons that could fire much more quickly, but they were essentially anti-personnel weapons and little use against armored targets. Building a power beam would take around a month. I started the project aware it would be a long time to see results.

  Inside the ship, I'd focused on defenses in a few key areas. The most likely route of entrance by invaders was going to be from above, which made deck five our first line of defense. Fortunately, it also housed the Wolves. I set aside a suite of rooms for Hot Stuff and her lieutenants. I might not think much of the Wolves, but that meant I was willing to throw their lives away. I made grenades and submachine guns plentiful so they could spray fire and destruction to their hearts content. I also rigged a supply of Pistonweed seeds to distribute throughout the level, along with a growth light. If I needed to, I could turn the deck into a killing floor.

  In Engineering I planted Sparkseed throughout and constructed stairwells proofed against electrical charges as well as insulating it from the other decks. It didn't take long for Engineering to become an extremely hazardous environment for anyone other than the Rats, or my shielded repair drones.

  For the Espionage deck I set into place routines to replicate what incidentally happened during the attack on the dome—it worked well. I could now, with a quick thought, trigger the sequence to open the ramp door and alter the pressure to send any invaders tumbling out of the bottom of the ship.

  Research was well defended already by the Bats with their turrets and energy shields. That just left the Command deck, and Candice and Diana would do for security of my core. I did make one minor tweak, adding armored plates over my BioCore layered with a thin layer of Righteous goop sandwiched between them. I hoped it would serve as protection against any further assaults by a Command core.

  During the week I'd kept the Powerhungry on the move. I thought it best not to present an easy target, and this gave us a chance to map some of the surroundings as well. The jungle was vast. I didn't have anything comparable in my records. The exploration found three active volcanoes and two villages that appeared to have been abandoned for decades.

  While the jungles teemed with wildlife, civilization was a rare thing. I scanned several old wrecks, and at times detected ships at the very edge of my sensor range, but this part of the Rim really was desolate.

  It was therefore something of a surprise when I got a hail. It was even more a surprise when I realized who it came from.

  I opened a comm to Anna, who was practicing combat with her new teleportation ability. The Wolves she was sparring with were holding nothing back and she was crushing the competition by never being where expected.

  I said, "I see you've found an all new way to hit on boys. At least this method appears to be meeting with some success."

  "There are girls too," Anna said.

  "Unfortunately for you, girls also have good vision. Perhaps you should try dating one of the Bats?"

  "The goggles weird me out," Anna said.

  I could understand that. Still, she really needed to accept what she could get.

  "We've got a communication. It's the Righteous, they want to talk," I said.

  "Which means they really want to talk briefly before betraying us and trying to kill us dead," Anna said, working loose her shoulders. "Get me a clip of Righteous killing ammunition and build a few Righteous Killer bombs. We'll chat with them."

  Anna, unrealistic in love and practical in war. I generated ammunition for my drones as well and got Mechos to work on bomb triggers. We were ready to talk.

  26

  I sent acknowledgment to the Righteous broadcast and seconds later a ship materialized in the sky near us. We hadn't seen any Righteous vessels this large before. A massive sphere was surrounded by a ring. The entire ship was painted in shades of white and gold.

  We were large compared to most ships—and this one was slightly larger than us. I sent science drones to scan it at close range. Perhaps I'd get some insight into their technology. At the very least it would aid in teleporting over bombs.

  In all of two minutes Anna had somehow found time to change into a dress and fix her hair. I thought the risqué gown of red and gold made her look like an under-ripe tomato.

  Anna took a moment to adopt a suitably languid position on her throne and keyed a video comm to the other ship. "This is Annabella Besari, Queen of the World. What the fuck do you want?"

  There was a swirl of blue energy in the middle of the throne room and a holographic projection of a woman appeared. She adopted almost the opposite attitude of Anna, her posture stiff, and her uniform of white and gold surprisingly plain despite the bright colors.

  "Commander Tala Reese. We want the stabilizer orb you acquired," the woman said.

  Anna narrowed her eyes. I thought she'd tell the woman off, but instead she said, "Possible, I suppose. You realize you aren't allies and the last time you suggested non-aggression you aimed for our destruction."

  "You planned your own betrayal. You likely have again and we have too, of course. Still, perhaps we can subvert expectations," Tala said.

  Anna waved a hand idly in the air. "If you had anything I was interested in, I might consider it. As we both know, your technology is useless to us."

  Was it? I was still trying to figure out the Righteous. I knew that they occupied the core instead of the Rim. A section of reality that most resembled the world of old. The Righteous purified the Powered, stripping them of their gifts in the name of removing some kind of evil. Despite that their airships and immortality spoke to their own use of Power cores.

  "Were you aware King Olec has fallen?" Tala asked, far too casual.

  "Ah," Anna said, silent for several long moments. Then she said, "I have a partnership with this vessel and its core."

  "Emma. We are aware," Tala said.

  Anna explained to me, "King Olec was the ruler of the Brightspire and the endless river. He was a Righteous ally and although their partnership was uneasy, it appeared to be sincere and rewarding for both sides. If I understand Tala properly, she is suggesting a similar alliance might arise between us. She’s offering that we can be Olec’s replacement."

  "An offer made by hologram because she doesn't trust us enough to come in person," I said.

  "You've made something of a habit of killing Righteous," Tala said.

  We were good at it too.

  "Which still doesn't change the fact that I have something you want very badly, and you've nothing really solid to offer me," Anna said.

  "What about the location of the Aelfwal socket?" Tala asked.

  Through the monitoring bracelet I could detect how Anna's vitals spiked. Whatever that was, it had her excited.

  "Bullshit," Anna said.

  "No use to us. As you know, it is incompatible," Tala said. “But for you...”

  "I would like to believe you. Can you offer assurances?" Anna asked.

  "Myself. This is not even an exchange for the orb, but a first step in a partnership. In exchange for the orb I'll turn myself over to you as guarantee of goodwill," Tala said.

  "Thoughts, Emma?" Anna asked.

  "Human life isn't worth very much and she places far more values on hers than I do. If they were willing to take you in, that might at least do me a service," I said.

  "Righteous value one of their Commanders highly,” Anna said, before turning back to the holograph. “Consider us interested, but there is a complication with the orb."

  "A complication?" Tala asked.

  "Emma, could you teleport Ophelia here?" Anna asked.

  I did so.

  "What is this about?" Ophelia asked in
that strangely vacant tone.

  Tala circled around Ophelia, who stared at her flatly. Tala said, "I see. How did this happen?"

  "Ophelia has the ability of accelerated healing. She was left to die lying over the stabilizer orb and wearing a basic clone of Emma's intelligence," Anna said.

  Well, Anna was being forthright. I didn't like it. I still didn't trust the Righteous at all.

  The hologram shimmered and solidified. Where before there was a projection, now flesh and blood took its place. Tala had teleported here directly.

  The Righteous had many capabilities they shouldn't have.

  "Well, if you wanted to give every Righteous nightmares over this abomination, you've managed to do so," Tala said.

  "Screw you. You're no prize yourself, lady," Ophelia said, then blinked as if startled at her own words.

  "You are neutralizing what happened?" Anna asked Tala.

  Outside, the Righteous ship shimmered and vanished.

  Tala reached into a pocket and withdrew a square-cut gem of some sort, flipping it towards Anna who caught it. It made my sensors ache just to look at it.

  "A void crystal fragment attuned to the stabilizer orb. I recommend you have it placed into a necklace and that she wears it around her neck. The Righteous will work on a longer-term solution," Tala said.

  "And they are leaving you behind," Anna said.

  Tala lowered herself to one knee. "As the offer of goodwill. I swear you my loyalty and my service. All that I know and all that I am is yours to do with as you will."

  "Send her downstairs, Emma. I want to know everything about her. Make it horrible," Anna said.

  I teleported her to a testing lab and began a vivisection. They never seemed to enjoy that. I could devise some more traumatizing experiments later.

  27

  Upon our return to Reevesport things had changed quite a bit. Only a few ships were docked. It seemed that most vessels were keeping some distance from the city and their cannons manned. We weren't engaged as we flew past, but more than one gun moved to track our progress.

  We were allowed to proceed to our usual dock without incident. If the entire port opened fire on us at once we might be in trouble, but with the current state of our defenses we made a hard target. No one wanted to start something.

  As soon as we settled in I was getting a communication from Cutout asking to come aboard. Anna agreed to meet him in her throne room.

  Anna again went for a slinky red dress that she probably thought made her look regal. Either that, or she was attempting to seduce Cutout. I couldn't deny the possibility, desperation makes one do foolish things.

  Cutout was accompanied by three guards. The trio of blondes might have been clones for all their perfect similarity in terms of features. Cutout took a moment to look around the throne room. "Girl, if you're trying to impress someone, you're trying too hard. I see you did some off-the-books mission. Not mad, this makes you more useful and, oh, the opportunities that have opened up."

  "I'd think of where you are and encourage you to think of showing some respect. It looks like a war is about to break out," Anna said.

  "Girl, your tits are pretty good, but they aren't that amazing," Cutout said.

  Anna's features went cold. Anna didn't usually turn cold when she got angry. I made certain a testing labyrinth was prepared and got Candice and Diana ready for combat, just in case.

  "Men have died for them. You may yet be counted among that number. Say something interesting, quickly," Anna said.

  Cutout gave her a cocky smile and shrugged. "The Descari Cartel were the major provider of Blocker, a drug that could block telepaths. Their supply dried up and suddenly everybody is busy learning each other’s dirty little secrets. The Eithnari, the Hunters, the Magnesium Fist, are all at odds. This is a time made for a man of ambition and I am a man of ambition."

  I didn't doubt that much was true.

  "That isn't a plan," Anna said.

  "Suppose not," Cutout said, and he faded to an outline only to reappear an instant later directly before Anna's throne—with a shadowy blade already stabbed in her midsection. It happened too suddenly even for my far superior capacity to prevent it. It didn't stop me from responding.

  I teleported Anna to the Medbay. Around her she was already forming her suit of armor, although her vitals were doing terrible. The spectral blade had done far more damage than a normal sword strike should have. Her accelerated healing in combination with the Medbay was slowing it down, but not stopping it.

  Cutout vanished from the throne room as did his guards, each leaving their own silhouettes behind.

  One of the guards materialized a few seconds later beside my core along with a woman. This one had long raven hair and wore a brilliantly sparkled dress that seemed utterly unsuited for invading a ship. She began to sing. Power rippled out—compulsion. Were it not for the shielding I'd have been lost in an instant.

  The other guards and Cutout were rematerializing with new people. One appeared with a whole squad in Engineering, although the moment they arrived bolts of electricity leapt from every available surface and flesh began to sizzle and twitch.

  I'd equipped Candice with an acid gun. Short range, but that would do. I knew that the moment Candice materialized the woman’s compulsion field of the singing would hit her, but that was only an issue if I didn't prepare for it. I had Candice squeeze the trigger of her gun, a spray of acid beginning to stream from the nozzle, before I teleported her.

  A mouth opened wide for singing made a convenient receptacle for the gun’s nozzle. The singing woman looked startled for just a moment as Candice appeared in front of her, then the stream of acid went down her throat. The song was instantly silenced, her hands clawing at a throat already starting to dissolve from the inside out.

  I wasn't ashamed to reuse a trick that worked once. Diana squeezed her trigger before materializing behind the guard that teleported with the singer. Acid caught her in the back of the head and she began to flail.

  I teleported both guard and singer to holding cells in research. I wasn't sure if the medical routines could save them or not, but I did prefer a living test subject to a dead one, when convenient.

  Cutout was busy killing Wolves. The man stayed nowhere more than an instant before he moved on with his sword, piercing a new target. He didn't even take time to stab them—just as he had with Anna he materialized with the blade already inside of them.

  One of the guards grabbed Mechos and teleported away. Cutout had found one of Hot Stuff's new lieutenants. The young man gurgled blood as the blade pierced him, but then his midsection erupted in an explosion of fire that sent Cutout stumbling backwards with his clothes in flames.

  That moment of distraction was enough. I teleported him into a holding cell. Almost at once he was bouncing from wall to wall in flickers of shadowy energy, trying to cut the shielding. I wasn’t concerned, I'd yet to encounter any power my test shielding couldn't hold.

  Elsewhere the ship was quiet. The plan must have been to kill Anna and the security personnel—the Wolves—neutralize Mechos as another upgrade core, subvert me, then seize the ship.

  That it had happened so quickly proved how well-executed the plan had been. A significant portion of the Wolves were dead, Mechos was gone, and Anna was dying.

  28

  I had to get Anna stabilized. If the Medbay itself wasn't doing it and her own accelerated healing wasn't helping, that only left me one remaining option. I teleported Ophelia to her bedside.

  "Could you give me some warning first? Oh shit," Ophelia said, wobbling unsteadily and then catching sight of Anna who was wracked with tremors on the medical bed. Her armor was hiding the injury.

  Ophelia's close proximity was healing Anna somewhat. It kicked up Anna's healing ability just a bit further, but she was still headed in the wrong direction. Ophelia wore the fragment of Void Crystal that Tala provided which was keeping her personality from going all strange again.

  "Bad day
. Did you get the fucker?" Anna asked, clutching at her stomach.

  "He's in a containment cell. They tried to take over the ship. Your lifetime of wrong health choices isn't working in your favor. Your vitals aren't improving," I said.

  "Shouldn't they be?" Ophelia asked.

  They should, but powers worked in unusual ways when they came up against each other. Ophelia herself was virtually immortal from her ability, but Anna's version gained from research was closer to something like one of Ophelia's second generation of lieutenants would have—far weaker than the original.

  "It appears you are even more useless than first assumed, Ophelia," I said.

  "Not her fault," Anna said, and cried out in pain once more. "Fucking bastard. The infirmary won't stabilize me?"

  "Normally it would be, but there is a power involved. That sword is doing something to poison your blood. Normally the Medbay can cope with even your host of health issues," I said.

  Anna nodded, she was taking the news of her impending death calmly for all she was obviously in pain. "Options?"

  "We get you a power of your own. We try to transfuse blood from Ophelia, or we test Hot Stuff's lack of principles by having her crawl into bed with you. You'd get a full lieutenant’s version of Ophelia's healing or gain some of Hot Stuff's ability to burn away blood-borne pathogens. We also have what I believe is a Command core," I said.

  "No direct power transfer," Anna said, sitting up. "It causes madness. I can't have that."

  Anna had said as much before. I don't know where she got such ideas from, I had consumed multiple Power cores and I wasn't in the slightest bit mad.

  "You're already an egomaniac with delusions of Queendom and general competency," I said.

  "No. Find another way," Anna said.

  I was quickly running out of options. The poisoning in her blood was impacting multiple major organs.

  "Lose the armor," I said.

  The armor flickered away leaving Anna rather overexposed. Now the injury was all too evident, a gaping wound in her stomach. Tendrils of black were spreading out from it to her surrounding flesh.