They might still bomb the colony out of existence out of spite, like Harry had said, but maybe they wouldn’t. Even if another ship came in and destroyed them, they still might bomb the colony out of existence before they died. Again, just for spite. There really wasn’t any way for the colonists to be sure they could survive, aside from doing what the invaders said. Even then, the Terrans had shown they could be ruthless and would kill whoever they wanted. There really was no good answer. Regardless of what they did, they could be bombed out of existence at any moment.
But the missile system was the key to it all. The Turds had no reason to leave while the missiles were still able to ‘defend’ the colony from the ALS forces who might come to take it back.
The resistance needed a way to destroy the missile system…but how? It was guarded by lots of Terran troops. The scouts that had surveyed the Terran site talked about “fixed defenses,” “fortified positions,” and “remote-operated sentry guns.” She wasn’t sure exactly what all those terms meant, but the scouts had been impressed enough that they said it would be a slaughter to try to capture or destroy the missile system. It was located at the bottom of a line of cliffs, with a large cleared area surrounding it. The scouts couldn’t even get close to it, due to all the sensors.
It had to be destroyed for the Terrans to leave…but it couldn’t be destroyed. What could they do?
Mio looked up and realized she was at the firethorn bush where she had been captured by the resistance. That was it! Without thinking about it, her subconscious had solved the riddle. The resistance couldn’t attack the missile system from the front, but what if there was a secret back way through the plateau that led to the missile system? She had to find out!
Except, having drawn the conclusion, she couldn’t make her feet move another step closer to the firethorn bushes that guarded the entrance to the secret tunnels. She couldn’t go back into the tunnels. She couldn’t. What if she got trapped in there again? What if she couldn’t get back out?
She had to go, if the resistance was to have any chance at reclaiming the planet. She took a step closer.
All she had was half a flask of water, her laser pistol, and the memory cube. Maybe she should go back to camp and get some supplies. Some more water, if nothing else. That way, if she got lost, she would have time to work out how to get back out again. Yeah, that was a good idea; she should do that.
Mio started to turn, then realized if she walked away, she might never come back. She still had nightmares about being lost in the dark, and the thought of going into the mountain terrified her. If there was any other way…but there wasn’t. She took another step and found herself face-to-face with the bush.
She couldn’t go any farther without having a painful experience, and she couldn’t go back, so she got down on her stomach and looked under the bush. There was no one there and nothing to stop her from continuing. Darn it.
She pushed aside one branch and slithered under the bush. Standing up, she found the door closed. She shrugged her shoulders. The resistance fighter must have closed it. Oh well, she didn’t know how to open it, so she’d have to go back to camp. She turned to leave, but a flash caught her eye. The door wasn’t shut, just pulled until it was almost closed; there was still a small gap.
Mio walked over to inspect the door. She sighed. It was still open. The door was still sticky and squeaked loudly enough to be heard in First Landing, but when she pushed on it, it opened all the way. She waited to see if someone would come to investigate the noise, praying someone would, but no one did. The blackness inside loomed, brooding, like an enormous monster just out of sight. It waited, baiting her to come in, so it could pounce on her when she least expected it. She could almost feel the creature’s breath across her feet…then she realized it was just the cooler air of the cave escaping.
She took one step inside the passageway, then another. Nothing attacked her, nor was there anything to be seen.
Mio sighed. She had to do this. It was the only way Adelaide would ever be free. She turned to the right to follow the passage that led along the cliff face and walked three steps into the gathering gloom before stopping and spinning around. There was some kind of light switch at the other door, she remembered; was there one here, too?
Her heart soared when she saw the metal plate sticking out of the wall. There it was! This time, healthier and in better shape, she was able to jump up and slap the plate on the first try. Dim green light illuminated the passageways. Hurray! She wouldn’t have to expend any of the memory cube’s batteries, at least for a while, and she wouldn’t have to worry about falling into a ten-thousand-foot crevasse.
She set off, hoping to get as far as she could while she still had light. She came to the first cross passage and saw the upheaval; she might be able to get up it with a running start (and some light to see by), but a ladder would make it a lot easier.
Mio passed four cross passages and came to a fifth. Looking down the passage, she realized she couldn’t see very far; the light was getting dimmer. She broke into a jog; when she had started the journey, she figured she had about seven miles to go. It ought to take about two and a half hours to get there, a half hour inspection, and two and a half hours back. She would be home by dinner…or at least before the sun completely set. That was in the light, though; she had forgotten about how slowly she had to go in the dark.
It would take a lot longer to get there once the lights went out, and even longer to return. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.
The lights went out, and Mio took a break to catch her breath and evaluate her options. She had been traveling for over an hour and was probably halfway to where the missile site was…if indeed there was a door there. She didn’t know if there would be, and if there wasn’t, this was going to be a long, lonely, dark trip.
What had she been thinking? She should have at least gotten Harry to come. She hadn’t though, and now she was by herself in the dark. Somehow, having survived the last trip, this time didn’t seem so bad. Perhaps that was because she knew she could retrace her steps and get out? She wasn’t sure, but the knowledge did make her feel better about continuing. If she ever decided to turn around, there weren’t any dangerous areas she’d have to traverse in the dark.
She decided to continue. Even though she would have to go more slowly, she could use the memory cube to help light her way, at least for a while, which would help.
With the cube providing its limited light, she continued on for another hour. Although she couldn’t go as quickly as when the lights were on, she still made reasonable time. She had just stopped to rest when the green lights in the passage came on.
Now she could make up some time!
As soon as the thought went through her mind, a second one joined it. Why had the lights come on? There were only two times the lights had come on, and both of them were when she had pushed a plate to turn them on.
She wasn’t alone in the tunnels.
She figured she still had about 45 more minutes of travel time remaining, but this changed everything. While she could go more quickly with the lights on, she would have to restrain herself; the worst thing she could do would be to go charging headlong into a Turd ambush.
It seemed obvious the other person/people in the tunnel must be Turds. If anyone from Adelaide knew about the tunnels, she was sure she would have heard about it.
She put away her pistol and took off her boots, trying to tread as lightly as she could. The stone of the passageway was cool on her feet, but the surface was smooth. If she could hear the Turds coming before they saw her, she could still get away. She was almost at her target; better to complete the mission, if possible, than to have to come back another time. Breathing through her mouth to remain as silent as she could, she continued down the passageway, staying against the right wall.
Mio traveled another half hour before she heard them. At least two men and a woman, talking as they walked. Mio couldn’t hear them very well; the ec
hoes of their voices made the words indistinct, but they sounded like soldiers from the gruff tone they used.
She withdrew slowly down the passageway before them, trying to keep their voices at the same level. Periodically, she would catch words like “attack” and “killed,” usually from the woman’s voice, which seemed to travel better, but never enough to be able to decipher what they were discussing.
After about five minutes, Mio noticed the voices were fading; the people had turned around and were going the other way. She hurried to catch up with them, listening as the men continued to talk. Mio froze suddenly. There were only men talking; what happened to the woman’s voice?
Leaning against the wall, Mio waited for a few minutes, her time measured by her panicked heartbeats. Had the woman gone into a side passage to wait and see if they were being followed? Mio couldn’t remember if there had even been a side passage. She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t be sure.
Mio’s eyes scanned the passageway, and she realized the light was fading. The patrol had probably turned around to make sure they didn’t end up walking through the tunnels in the dark. Mio waited another minute, and her patience was rewarded. A shadow detached itself from the left and flowed quickly, wraithlike, down the hallway after the troopers. The woman who had been with them.
Hurrying to keep up with the woman, Mio passed the cross-passage where she had been hiding. Someone had written “Turn around here” on the floor. Stupid Turds.
The lights went out before Mio could catch up with the soldiers, and she was forced to slow down again. At least she didn’t have to worry about a giant hole in the passageway…did she? If the Terrans were walking down the corridor, that must mean it was safe, right? Mio didn’t want to take anything the Terrans did for granted, but she couldn’t use the memory cube with the enemy nearby, so she continued down the tunnel slowly with one hand on the right wall. After 10 minutes, Mio realized she could see; the passage was getting lighter.
If there was light, natural light, then there was a door close, and it was open. It also meant there were probably Terrans nearby, so she crept down the passageway, going even slower than before.
She heard the voices at the same time she saw the door.
“I still don’t understand why we have to patrol those tunnels, Sarge,” a man’s voice said. “Damn things are creepy. And to be in them when the lights go out? No way. It feels like something’s sneaking up behind me the whole time.”
“We have to patrol them,” a woman’s voice replied, “because if we found the passages, the stupid resistance fighters may find them, too, and use them to sneak up on us. That wouldn’t be much fun, now would it?”
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” a second man grumbled. “Don’t we have a spy in their organization? One of their leaders? Won’t he tell us before that happens?”
“He ought to,” the woman replied, “but I don’t want to put my life in the hands of someone who’s willing to betray his own people, do you?”
“Not really, no.”
“Well then, quit complaining,” the woman said. “Besides, they should have a camera up in the tunnels soon; after that, we won’t have to patrol them anymore.”
“I can’t wait,” the first voice muttered.
The voices grew fainter; the soldiers were walking away. Now was Mio’s chance—she had to find out where she was. She set her boots down and drew her pistol. Keeping to the side of the passage, she crept toward the door. It was still light out, and the sunlight was hard on her eyes after the darkness of the tunnels.
Mio listened for several seconds at the side of the door. When she didn’t hear the voices anymore, she eased her head around to where she could look out. Just like the other doorway, there had been a stand of firethorn bushes that blocked access to it, but it looked like a vehicle had knocked some of it down, then someone had cut a path through it. Unfortunately, they had cut the hole over to the side, and the only direction Mio could see was to the left along the side of the cliff; she couldn’t see anything straight out.
Without more information, the trip was worthless, so she got down on her belly and slid forward, using the rest of the bushes as cover. Like most firethorns, there was a low gap at the bottom. She could see something black, but she couldn’t tell what it was, so she continued forward. The gap under this bush was a little shorter than the one at the other door, and she was forced to drag herself through the dirt to stay underneath the menacing thorns.
She pulled herself forward and was almost to the edge when someone walked past. The soldier’s boots passed within a foot of her nose, but the man didn’t see her. He continued in the direction he was heading. With the man gone, Mio could see what the black things were. Tires. Big tires. She pulled herself another few inches forward, and her arm contacted a firethorn.
Pain exploded through her arm and into her body as if she had stuck her arm into a vat of acid. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, and all that escaped was a small whimper. When the bright light cleared from her eyes, she could see the vehicle. It was an enormous truck, far larger and longer than anything she had ever seen before. On top of it, at the front end of the vehicle, she could see the pointy nose of what had to be a gigantic missile. She was inside the missile launcher camp!
She scanned slowly back and forth, but the missile truck was so massive it blocked most of her view. She could see another truck to the left down the cliff line; the man that had passed by her was talking to someone there. With a little better angle, she could see the thing on top was definitely a missile. There was another vehicle to the right, but it looked unlike anything she had ever seen. It was shorter than the missile trucks, but boxy, and had a lot of metal poles sticking up from it. Weird. Beyond it, it looked like there were some tents, but she couldn’t be sure.
Having seen everything she needed to, Mio slid back through the bush, got up, and ran back into the tunnel. She ran down the tunnel until she could barely see, put on her boots, and vanished into the darkness, skipping as she went. She had the edge the resistance was looking for!
* * * * *
Chapter Fifteen: Benno
Benno came to in fits and flashes of consciousness, slowly knitting together until they formed a skein of wakefulness. Sensation returned. At first, all he could feel was a dull ache centering on his shoulder and a detached numbness everywhere else. Then more input crept up and defined itself. The wound below his right collarbone burned with low heat, but it was bearable. What annoyed him the most was the soreness he felt everywhere else, as if he had been whipped back and forth like a toy in the clutches of some irate toddler.
When Benno realized he had been that toddler, he groaned and cracked his eyes open.
He recognized the Puller’s sickbay. The space was entirely too clean and bright, its antiseptic smell clashing with the smell of ozone and oil that usually defined shipboard air. Wires and IV lines trailed away from his arms and torso to monitoring gear and bottles of fluid, pressurized to maintain flow, even in microgravity. He lifted one aching arm and felt it tugged insistently downward, but whether they were under thrust or spin, he could not tell.
“Ah. Back among the living, I see, Skipper.”
Benno turned his head, his neck stiff and sore, and saw the Puller’s independent duty hospital corpsman, Chief Tony “Doc” Kramer. The man had been a vocal non-supporter and non-participant in the mutiny, but he had been allowed to stay out of the brig or the detention section because of his skills and an oath of non-interference. Benno nodded and tried to speak. After clearing his throat, which set both his wound and his chest afire, he croaked out, “How long down?”
Chief Kramer went about checking Benno’s monitors. “Since you got injured and punked out on us? Or since you tried to kill the whole crew with your little ‘victory maneuvers’ there at the end? Either way, it’s been almost 36 hours.”
Benno croaked again, but more firmly this time. “SITREP?”
“I nearly broke my
goddamned neck! Did you bother to consider that not everyone might have been strapped in? If sickbay wasn’t near the ship’s center of rotation, you might very well have killed me and the other corpsmen. Who, I’ll add, can’t exactly stay in acceleration couches and still render medical aid! It’s not all ‘bots down here!”
“Doc, I’m sorry about banging you or anyone else around, but do you have a report on the current situation or not?”
The chief corpsman relented. “I don’t know the full situation, just the medical piece. Eight persons killed, 24 injured enough to seek care, but only six of those need further treatment at a dedicated medical facility. Fourteen might not seem an excessive butcher bill to you, but considering you have a fifth of the crew locked up, that’s nearly ten percent of the remainder. You’re going to have to get better at this combat stuff if you want any chance of rescuing all the Lost Six. Well, Lost Five now, I suppose.”
Benno’s eyes widened. “The Terrans aren’t in control of Paradiso anymore?”
Kramer shrugged. “We’re over the planet now, in orbit, and split open like a daisy for spin gravity. I sure as hell hope we aren’t still worried about Turd troops down on the surface.”
Benno struggled upward in the half-g of spin. Kramer shook his head but did not try to hold him down. Instead, he reached for the comm attached to his forearm and said, “Hold on. You can’t go anywhere until you get some clothes. I’ll get the others down here instead.”
Minutes later Benno was sitting up, a fresh blanket on his lap, waiting while Kramer disconnected him from the monitoring gear and IVs. Senior Chief Ludovic, the giant engineer, and Chief Dufresne entered. Both looked relieved to see Benno conscious, though Ellen Dufresne’s smile was the only one that might count as warm.
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