Argonauts 2: You Are Prey

by Isaac Hooke

  “I used up all my bricks last time,” Lui said. “And I’m low on jetpack fuel.”

  “All right, Tahoe, you do it,” Rade said.

  “Roger that,” Tahoe replied.

  “The rest of us will cover you until the charges are in place,” Rade said. “Now, any questions?” There were none. “Argonauts, prepare to deploy.”

  Rade moved past Lui to survey the cavern beyond. He kept his LIDAR overlay active, and the three-dimensional wireframes were filled-out from the dim illumination provided by the glow lights situated on the walls between the passages. Satisfied that the positions hadn’t changed much since Lui had last taken a look, he retreated.

  “Argonauts, deploy,” Rade said.

  Most of the team retreated into the current tunnel, while Lui, Tahoe, Manic and TJ tossed frags inside in turn. The four of them raced back inside to clear the entrance for Rade, who tossed another grenade forward, just as the nearest gatorbeetle guard peered inside to investigate.

  The explosions went off in the main cavern, and squeals of fright tore through the air. The gatorbeetle directly in front of them instinctively ducked, then the frag underneath its body went off. The creature collapsed lifelessly with a large chunk missing from its thorax.

  The four team members on point threw smoke grenades into the cavern and dashed within. Rade and the others followed; the grenades detonated, sending up plumes of covering smoke in the different sections of the cavern. The remaining gatorbeetles were squealing louder than ever.

  Rade had set his AI to auto-aim his rifle as he ran, and while he tossed another grenade toward the seething mass to the left, his rifle took down one of the gatorbeetles up ahead.

  More explosions rocked the cavern as other grenades detonated. Two gatorbeetles had blocked Lui and Tahoe’s paths, but they exploded a moment later as previously hurled grenades detonated.

  Tahoe reached the target passageway and he jetted upward, letting his weapon hang from his shoulder while he retrieved two bricks and attached them to the ceiling. For an instant Rade watched him reach for two more of the explosives that hung from his harness, but then Rade turned away to provide covering fire with the rest of the team.

  Gatorbeetles were racing across toward the party, attempting to intercept the Argonauts. They were falling to the team’s laser rifles, and the few grenades the Argonauts had left.

  We should have taken more grenades from our Hoplites.

  “Charges are set!” Tahoe said, landing beside Rade.

  “Argonauts, retreat!” Rade sent.

  The squad fled that cavern and dashed into the tunnel. Rade kept close to the drag man, Fret, and when he judged the distance sufficient, he transmitted: “Tahoe, blow the charges!”

  The shockwave rumbled past them and the cave shook violently. Rade was hurled to the stone floor. A wave of thick dust enveloped the tunnel.

  “Sheesh,” Rade said. “How many charges did you use?”

  “Everything I had,” Tahoe replied.

  Rade scrambled to his feet and sent a radar burst through the dust behind him. The tunnel was completely sealed. “Good job, Tahoe. Let’s go, everyone! And you might as well turn your headlamps on, full brightness.”

  They passed a few of the wide caverns that served as “trade” zones, but invariably the areas were abandoned. Sometimes there would be one or two of the silk-woven baskets left behind, but they were always empty.

  Occasionally the squad was intercepted by groups of two or three more gatorbeetles along the way. The team members had already exhausted all of their grenades by then, so they resorted to tossing and detonating their explosive charges, or simply halting to aim between the mandibles and firing into the esophagi. The light from the headlamps didn’t seem to have much effect on the enemies, barely even stunning them, but it did help the squad members aim their tossed charges more easily. Or so Rade surmised: maybe it was just a psychological illusion encouraged by the light, but it certainly seemed easier to throw a grenade into a solid tunnel versus a three-dimensional wireframe.

  Rade noted that all of the gatorbeetles his team encountered were of the warrior caste. Apparently the ordinary aliens understood that the nest was under attack, and were relying upon the warriors to expel the invaders.

  All of the Argonauts had realized by now that they could indeed penetrate the carapaces with their lasers, but the aliens usually wouldn’t fall unless the shots lined up with the head or esophagus, or the center of the body. The gatorbeetles kept running when someone hit a limb, simply favoring other legs.

  Different passages converged with the main tunnel as they proceeded, and as he passed each of them Rade usually caught a glimpse of distant gatorbeetles racing toward him and the others as the aliens scrambled to find secondary passages with which to head them off.

  “We’re gathering quite a crowd behind us,” Fret transmitted.

  “Save some of your charges, team,” Rade said. “So we can blow the entrance.”

  “Don’t think we’ll have time,” Fret said.

  “We’ll make time,” Rade replied.

  In moments they were coming upon the main exit. It was broad daylight out there, judging from the amount of light pouring in.

  The two sentries outside the opening maneuvered to block the entrance.

  The Argonauts in the lead fired their lasers into the esophagus of either one of them, and the aliens went down.

  “Who has charges left?” Rade asked.

  “I have three,” Shaw replied before anyone else could speak.

  “Mine the ceiling,” Rade told her.

  She jetted toward the cave roof near the entrance as the rest of the party turned around to assail the crowd of aliens that were quickly coming upon them from the rear. Rade brought down one, and aimed at another. It fell before he could take it. Rade aimed at another and it too went down.

  “Charges are placed!” Shaw said.

  “Retreat!” Rade said.

  The squad members jetted over the bodies of the two dead sentries that partially blocked the opening and then landed outside. They raced down the hard surface of the hillock and onto the calf-swallowing black sand of the plains beyond.

  “Blow it!” Rade said.

  The entrance detonated behind them and smoke billowed skyward. When the dust cleared, Rade saw that the entrance was completely blocked.

  “Good mining job,” Rade said, not slowing down.

  “I learned from the best,” Shaw replied.

  “How long do you think it will take them to dig out?” Tahoe said.

  “I don’t know,” Rade replied. “But I certainly don’t plan to be here when they finish.”

  The Argonauts hurried across the plains as fast as they could in that deep grit, making their way toward the last known location of the Hoplites.

  “This is odd,” Fret said. “I’m not getting a signal from the Hoplites.”

  “Could something be jamming the transmission?” Rade asked.

  “Don’t think so,” Fret said. “The frequency spectrum is completely clear.”

  “That’s not good,” Manic said.

  Shortly thereafter, they arrived at the spot where the Hoplites were supposed to be waiting. There was no sign of the mechs.

  “Where the hell did they go?” TJ said.

  “No time to worry about that,” Rade said. “We keep moving. Surus, looks like you’re going to be buying us some new mechs when we get back.”

  “I would prefer to organize a retrieval party at some point,” Surus replied.

  “Oh I know you would,” Rade said.

  “I’m not sure what the problem is,” Surus said. “Once we reach the ship, we can repair our emitters and easily return.”

  “Yeah okay,” Rade said. “Maybe.” Though he certainly wasn’t looking forward to coming back here.

  As they crossed the plains, other gatorbeetles emerged from previously unnoticed holes in the dunes behind them.

  “Looks like I was right,”
Manic said. “There are other openings in the plains after all.”

  “Pick up the pace, people!” Rade sent, trying to increase the speed with which he waded through the black sand.

  As they neared the mountain, Fret said: “Got some more bad news.”

  “Let’s hear it,” Rade said.

  “I’m not getting a signal from the two units we left guarding the cave,” Fret said.

  “What the hell happened out here?” Manic said.

  “We press on,” Rade said.

  By the time they reached the mountain, the plains were teeming with gatorbeetles behind them, which navigated the sand much better than the squad members, the bigger size of their legs proving advantageous to the aliens.

  Rade led his team up the winding path. It was a long, arduous ascent.

  “Man,” Bender said. “This seems way harder than coming down.”

  “It always is,” TJ said.

  “Yeah,” Fret said. “You know what it is, right? We don’t have mechs.”

  “And Bender, you’re also carrying Harlequin,” TJ said.

  “Good point,” Bender replied.

  “Do you want to switch with me?” TJ asked.

  “No,” Bender said flatly.

  Eventually they reached the spot where the mouth of the cave leading to the Acceptor was supposed to reside.

  But it wasn’t there anymore.

  “What the hell happened here?” Lui said, moving forward.

  “Looks like half the mountain came down on the entrance,” Tahoe said.

  “Quite the avalanche, that’s for sure,” Manic added.

  Indeed, large, jagged rocks had tumbled down from above, burying the cave and the two combat robots Rade had left behind to guard it. He tried accessing those robots but received no signal. The avalanche had likely completely demolished them. That made three Centurions lost in total, now.

  Good thing I didn’t let myself get too attached to them.

  Still, the loss saddened him. AIs were sentient. Plus the robots were going to be expensive as hell to replace.

  “We won’t be able to dig this out without our Hoplites,” Shaw said.

  “She’s right,” Lui said. “I’m sad to say.”

  “Surus can seep through,” Tahoe said. “Then use the Acceptor to return to our region of the galaxy. Then she can come back with a bunch of combat robots to help us dig. Or, if she has to, she can buy some mechs and bring those back, too.”

  “Not if the Acceptor is blocked,” Surus said.

  “Why don’t you check?” Tahoe said.

  She glanced at the incoming swarm of gatorbeetles, which had clambered onto the winding path. Their claws seemed well-suited to the narrow trail. “I don’t think we have time for that right now.”

  “Surus, if we left you here to guard our six, how many of them could you take out?” Rade asked.

  “You’re talking in my Phant form?” Surus said.

  “Yes,” Rade replied.

  “Not enough,” Surus said. “I can’t move as fast as others of my kind. Some of these aliens would get past me.”

  Rade nodded. “All right, Argonauts. Let’s move higher. If anyone has any charges left, we can try for an avalanche.”

  “I have one,” TJ said.

  “Me too,” Lui said.

  Three others had charges.

  “Good. Let’s go.” Rade jetted off of the buried trail and onto the rock beside it, and began climbing the steep face. He had to be careful, because the sharp rock could easily cut through his suit fabric. Below, the heights were dizzying; for the most part Rade kept his attention on the rock in front of him, and just above, looking down only to gauge the advance of the enemy.

  The others followed close behind. Sometimes someone slipped and fell, but they returned to the wall by activating their jetpacks.

  The gatorbeetles scrambled onto the precarious cliff face below them. The pincers in their legs were surprisingly well-suited for climbing.

  Rade knew that a small plateau awaited higher up, near the summit, because the HS3s had mapped the area earlier. So after several minutes, when Rade had reached the area thirty meters below the plateau along the wall, he said: “Okay people, it’s time to place the charges.”

  “Do you intend to shelter on the plateau?” Lui asked. “If so, we’re setting the charges a bit close. What if we collapse it?”

  “Then we continue higher.”

  The charges were placed and armed, then everyone clambered up to the plateau. Rade peered over the edge to gaze at the approaching gatorbeetles below. Very few had continued this far, but those that did were certainly determined. Rade watched one of them slip and plunge all the way to the ground. It struck the wall several times on the way down, and when it landed, unsurprisingly it didn’t move again.

  When the gatorbeetles passed the rock face where the explosives were attached, Rade said: “Detonate the charges.”

  The rock exploded below and the entire face there separated from the mountain, causing a new avalanche that swept the gatorbeetles away. Rade had selected a route that led away from the previous collapse, so that the falling rock wouldn’t further bury the Acceptor.

  Meanwhile, the plateau remained intact.

  “Well,” Rade said. “We’ve done all we can for now. It’s time to rest. Manic, Fret, keep watch on the mountainside. Let me know if any of the aliens try to climb up here again.”

  “You think we’ve disheartened the survivors enough to give up the pursuit?” Tahoe asked.

  “They’ll give up, eventually,” Rade said, sitting back. “But until then, we rest.”

  fourteen

  The chittering royal guards latched on to the body of the laser-riddled Artificial and dragged it from the throne room. They carried it deeper into the nest, in tunnels that were permitted to only a special few, and reached the chamber protected by three sentries. One of the royal guards touched its antennae to those of the closest sentry, and all three stepped aside shortly thereafter; the royal guards carried their lifeless subject within, where a table with two large robotic arms connected to it awaited.

  When the royal guards deposited the Artificial on the table, the arms set to work.

  Some time later Tantalus opened his eyes. He sat up, puzzled as to how he had arrived at the repair room. He accessed his memory. He had been fighting the intruders in the throne room when a grenade had gone off. Lasers had then bored into his midsection, destroying his battery, and his AI core had shutdown.

  But how did I get here?

  One of the royal guards stood beside him, and it rubbed its mandibles together, explaining the situation.

  Tantalus listened to what the royal guard had to say, then he dismissed the Conquered creature. He retreated deeper into his storage subsystems, and reviewed the images the Master had psychically transmitted to him earlier.

  He looked out upon the world from inside the Interface that connected the Master to the head and thorax of the queen. He was ripped away and rudely hurtled into some sort of container—the same container the royal guard reported to have found abandoned in the throne room. He was spun around incredibly fast, and sucked upward into a box. The smaller container shut, plunging the world into darkness, and the imagery ended.

  Next, Tantalus fast-forwarded to the video feed he had recorded with his own eyes after activating the EMP and revealing the attackers. He recognized the black box containing his Master immediately: it hung from the harness of one particular jumpsuit.

  He zoomed in on the helmet of the person who carried it. When the head turned, he caught sight of the features behind the faceplate. He paused the feed and zoomed in further.

  A woman had the Master.

  Tantalus stepped out of the repair room and summoned the waiting royal guards.

  It was time to find her.

  RADE AND THE others remained on the plateau near the summit.

  Far below, past the avalanche, the gatorbeetles milled about along the winding
trail all the way to the bottom of the mountain. Their movements were aimless, chaotic. Sometimes an alien accidentally misstepped and plunged off the narrow path to its death.

  Finally, after two hours of confusion, the gatorbeetles began to retreat. Those aliens on the outskirts of the seething mass at the bottom departed first, starting in ones and two. Then larger groups. Others higher up began to follow them, so that eventually, after another few hours, there were no aliens left on the mountain at all. The gatorbeetles crossed the plains and after several kilometers began to vanish, ostensibly taking different tunnels underneath the plains. Rade had his local AI record the positions where all of the aliens disappeared on his overhead map, so that he could easily find those holes again in the future. The openings definitely blended in well with the surface, and because of the distances involved, they appeared exactly the same as other depressions in the dunes on the LIDAR band. It was no wonder the HS3s hadn’t spotted them.

  “All right,” Rade said. “Surus, you might as well check on the Acceptor.”

  Surus nodded, then climbed down to where the cave mouth was buried. A green liquid oozed from the toe of her boot, pooling. It wasn’t perforating the fabric in any way, or causing the suit to depressurize, but rather passing clean through the material. After emerging entirely, the Phant flowed between the rocks and vanished.

  “It’s definitely buried,” Surus transmitted after returning to the body of Emilia Bounty some time later. “We’re not getting anything through until we dig it out.”

  Rade sighed. “All right. I guess we’re going back to retrieve our Hoplites after all. When we get the mechs, how long will it take them to dig out the cavern, Lui?”