by A. R. Knight
As the ship descended through Europa’s atmosphere, Viola used the cameras to explore the view. Eden Prime and the surrounding landscape was still a moldy green, a patch of growing life surrounded by the marching line of the terramorpher. From this high up it resembled fog-covered hills, rolling lines of mist moving too gradually for Viola to see as they chewed up ice and sucked up water and, mixing with imported rock and sand, converted the stuff into soil.
Europa was a ball covered in ice, and the terramorpher was making land from the bottom up. Growing mountains. What Viola would give to be inside one of those giant machines, watching a world literally made beneath her.
79
Sisters
They were landing. The Wild Nines, here. Marl set the transmission, targeted it towards the relay satellite that would send it bouncing through a series of repeaters to Alissa’s ship, hidden somewhere in the depths of space.
“Sister,” Marl started, then took a breath. “Sister, I’m sending this in case I don’t make it through until tomorrow. The group of mercenaries is proving stubborn, proving dangerous.
“There is a chance that they will make it to me. Bosser, the man pulling Eden’s strings, tells me that it is either the heads of these mercenaries or mine. I’m not confident in the former.”
Behind her, the office door opened and Castor stepped in. Marl waited until he shut the door behind him.
“Alissa, you must know that there is no home for you here. Eden is watching closely, and even if I survive, they won’t let me live without a leash.
“However, there is one thing I can tell you. Maybe you can use it, to help your cause. Several days ago a large freighter passed through the system, Eden-branded. I met with the captain and learned where they are heading, and why.
“I’ve sent the details in this package, and hope that it is enough.”
Castor cleared his throat.
“Sister, I have to go. If this is to be the end of it, then I’m sorry we didn’t have more time together. That we spent our lives on edges. I loved you through all of it.”
Marl cut the recording and sent the transmission. Then looked out over the frozen wastes. Through the blurred haze of tears, she could picture the towers, the beaches, the endless pleasures Eden Prime would become. That she might yet see.
“It’s time to go,” Castor said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “The trap is set.”
Marl reached underneath her desk, pulled out the sidearm kept there for emergencies. Fully charged and ready for its murderous task.
“Then let’s watch it spring,” Marl said.
80
Attacking Ice
Looking at the Nines, each of them covered in weapons, Davin felt an electric rush. This was what it meant to be part of a team. Together taking on an impossible task.
Mox, standing near where the ramp opened, had his cannon latched on and pointed towards the exit. Any ambush would get a face full of laser. Behind him, Opal stood with a pair of long, thin guns. Pin-pointers, Opal called them. Modified from welders and precise manufacturing tools, the beams fired by those things were so tiny as to be invisible. Because lasers were silent, taking away the sight of the beam made finding the shooter of one of those guns damn near impossible.
Davin had Melody, his shotgun, along with a pair of sidearms on his belt. Phyla sported a simpler, though no less deadly, assault rifle, one meant to fire a ton of lasers in rapid-succession. It sat in Phyla’s arms, held by a shoulder strap. Davin couldn’t remember the last time Phyla came on a land-based assignment with them, but her arms were steady, her eyes hard.
“Touching down now,” Viola’s voice came over the comm. “Bay looks empty. Real empty for a cargo delivery.”
Davin glanced at Erick, who gave him a quick nod. The doctor had a small sidearm of his own, but wasn’t coming. Anyone hurt needed to have somewhere to retreat to, and while the Big Bertha didn’t have a true medical bay, they’d brought along enough first aid equipment for Erick to work his magic.
Were they ready? They had to be.
The hauler touched down with a bump, and Mox had the ramp open a second later. The big man didn’t fire as he walked into the bay, a good sign. Or a bad one, depending on whether Marl knew they were coming. If the other bays were busy, there might not be unloaders ready.
That thought died a quick death when Davin hit the bay floor and saw nothing, not even a security officer coming by to register the ship’s arrival.
“They know we’re here,” Davin said to the group, Viola and Fournine coming down the ramp behind him. “That means we play it slow, safe. Let them screw up.”
Mox and Davin took the lead, the rest of the group filtering out behind. Opal staying off to the side, with Viola bringing up the rear. Fournine doing its own thing, scanning the area in front, above, behind and quipping about the poor decor, or how nice everything would look reduced to rubble. Davin resisted the urge to comment. Viola warned all of them that Fournine’s new personality would be annoying, but, when things fell apart, it would be a vicious fighter. And that’s what counted.
They went through three more empty bays, the silence gnawing at Davin with each step. The tension growing. Everyone wanted an excuse to start blasting, so when they opened the main doors into the promenade, Davin was disappointed to find it empty. The shops in view had red signs showing they were closed. Not a soul stood out on the street.
“Davin Masters!” Marl’s voice boomed from everywhere. “You are a constant thorn in my side. If you would just please go and die, it would make things ever so much easier.”
Davin looked but couldn’t find the speakers, co-opted from their purpose as Emergency broadcasters. Not that it mattered. Marl had to be at the main Eden Prime corporate building, at the far end of the promenade. The location seemed ridiculous, back when Davin first came here.
Why make the required destination of everyone landing there, any business anyway, so far away from the bays? Marl explained that making prospects walk the entire base helped sell them on Eden Prime’s plan. Standard marketing strategy that was terrible for a raid.
“Now, that trick of yours,” Marl continued. “Coming in with that ugly cargo hauler? We wouldn’t have caught you. Would have let you walk right in. Only once again your crimes caught up with you. The head of the company you stole that from gave me a ring. He wants his daughter back, apparently? Such a rogue, Davin.”
Davin didn’t bother looking at Viola. It wasn’t the girl’s fault. Waving the rest of them forward, Davin led the group along the promenade. Every minute Marl yammered on and on they’d be getting closer to her building.
“You might be interested to know your pilot lived. Ferro told me they found him floating in the wreckage of the fighter. If you want to try and save him, you'll have to hurry,” Marl paused. “Now, in a minute you’ll meet a pair of surprise guests. They’ve come a long way to see you, so please do give them your utmost attention.”
“Where is he?” Opal yelled into the air.
Marl didn't reply. Silence fell for a brief moment, then a pair of figures, one tall and one short, stepped out from a closed store. Both wore the same long trench coat Fournine sported when they’d first encountered the bot.
“Androids.” Mox said, confirming.
“Your friend, the pilot,” The tall figure announced. “He is in the prison. Marl wished for us to tell you there is ten minutes before he will be executed.”
“It’s a trick,” Phyla said. “They’re splitting us up. Making it easy for them to pick us off.”
“Even if it is, we have to try, right?” Opal said. “We have to.”
“You and Mox, go,” Davin said. “The rest of us will take care of these two.”
The two androids waved Opal and Mox past them. Davin hefted Melody, aimed it at the pair.
“Guessing this is still a kill or be killed affair?” Davin said to the androids.
They nodded in eerie unison.
“When the fight start
s, you run by them, cool?” Fournine said. “Cause you know I think the world of you, captain, but there’s no way in hell we’re beating two of them. Meaning I’ll play the bait, keep’em busy with my smart mouth while you all take care of that crazy lady. Kill the murder charge, and the androids will stop. Do it real fast, I might not even be scrap.”
“I’ll help you,” Viola said, Puk floating up behind her. “We’ve got a few tricks.”
“You’re crazy!” Fournine said. “I love it!”
“You sure?” Davin said.
“Just go,” Viola replied.
Then Davin turned to the two androids and, pulling the trigger, started a fight he couldn’t win.
81
Running War
The aim was perfect. The blast went right to the heart of the short one, only in the moment between the lasers leaving Melody and getting to the android, the short one wasn’t there anymore. It was a meter to the side, the balls of plasma flying harmlessly by. The android too fast for them to track.
“Not that I expected anything less,” Davin deadpanned.
“Go!” Fournine yelled, jumping forward towards the tall one.
Davin didn’t wait, didn’t check to see if Phyla was coming, but ran towards the gap between the androids. The tall one went forward to meet Fournine, the two of them clashing with their long knives in a ring of metal. Sparks flew. The short one ducked a few shots from Phyla, holding her trigger as she ran, and made a move to cut them off when Viola sprayed an unceasing barrage of hot energy towards it.
The short android jumped and tucked into a roll, blowing by Davin and moving towards Viola. Davin hoped she knew what she was doing. Now, though, it was on him and Phyla to reach Marl, to cut off the charge before those two bots killed them all.
With the sounds of the fight behind them, Davin and Phyla sprinted down the promenade towards the large, mounded form of the Eden Prime corporate building. As with the other stores on Eden Prime, the corporate building wrapped its way up the curved wall of the base.
To accommodate the size, the base built itself like a fungus, growing pods attached to the promenade and each other, until it covered a hundred meters of floor from ground to ceiling. Each rounded section shone with a different color, representing the different moons that Eden, the mega-corporation, either had or was in the process of converting to prime real estate. In the center, around the main door, was the deep blue of Europa.
“Shouldn’t we have run into someone, anyone by now?” Phyla huffed behind Davin.
“My bet is they’re waiting behind that door, ready to blow us to pieces as soon as we go in,” Davin replied.
The entry loomed large, the curved portal flattening when it hit the ground and spreading wide enough for four or five people to wander through abreast. A small stair ran up to it, with wide half-circles of concrete forming each step. Anyone looking through the dark windows paralleling the door would’ve seen Davin and Phyla slow and look around, trying and failing to find another way.
“If all we have is the front door, let’s make sure we knock politely,” Davin said.
“Politely?”
Davin went up to the large door. On the left was a scanner, ready to unlock if they had a badge. Davin gestured to the right side and Phyla went over, rifle ready. Davin looked at the scanner, then took out his old Eden Prime security card. He pressed it against the scanner, which beeped a negative and stayed red.
“Worth a try,” Davin said at Phyla’s incredulous look.
“Now what?”
“We knock.”
Davin pounded his hand on the door. To say that the metal exterior was kind to his hand would be a gross overstatement. Rather, the rippled metal, grooved to make the frozen waves of Europa’s seas, scratched Davin’s fist. On the other side, Davin heard the scuffs of boots moving. Bits of whispered commands slipped into his ears. The door's locks clicked out. Then the metal slabs slid inward, curling back.
“See? I knew they wouldn’t give up a chance to shoot us,” Davin said.
“I’m so glad you’re right,” Phyla replied.
On the other side of the door sat the entry hall, a tiled cavern that gave way at the back to a series of counters, at which complaints could be registered, forms filled out, and lines waited in. Davin wasted several mornings there himself, staring at the crowd and trying to figure why Eden paid them to guard a bunch of bureaucrats. On the sides of the lobby, stairs curled up along blue walls towards office space. Towards Marl.
Dangling from the ceiling was a spectacular chandelier made from reproductions of Europa ice threaded through with lights. It cast the room in an underwater glow. Aside from that, the rest of the lobby was empty. Davin looked across the entrance into Phyla’s tense, stressed face and slipped into a smile. Better to face doom with a cocky grin than crying eyes.
“Cover me,” Davin said, and Phyla gave a quick, terse nod.
Davin aimed Melody at the chandelier, and pulled the trigger. The blast went high and spread, striking around the ceiling where the chandelier was bolted. The lasers burned through the cabling, snapping it and sending the work of art plummeting towards the ground. Davin leaned back against the door and shielded his eyes. When the bright flash grayed out the black of his vision, Davin lowered his arm and, crouched, wheeled around the edge of the left door.
Without looking, Davin pulled the trigger again and sent a bolt rolling at the trooper standing behind the door. The trooper’s fire whisked over Davin’s head and charred a few hairs. Davin’s bolt caught the guard in the chest, causing the guard to collapse a smoking ruin. A few lasers danced by Davin from shooters behind the right door, striking the farther wall to the side.
Davin swiveled right, looking for the next target, and saw a trio of troopers aiming at him. They clustered around a doorway leading to one side of the building, ducking behind the opening as Davin looked. There wasn’t any cover, just five yards of empty space between Davin and the door. So the captain flicked the switch on the shotgun and pressed the trigger. Loaded with a pair of shock grenades for just this purpose, Melody spat a black oval that bounced in front of the side opening.
One of the troopers managed a half-hearted shot that went wide, bouncing off of the left door and away. The other two grabbed him and dove away from the grenade. It exploded a moment later, sending a series of arcing lightning bolts at anything conductive. The troopers met the requirements, several bolts jumped over to the trio and laced their bodies with white for a second before leaving them groaning and incapacitated.
More fire echoed behind him. Phyla busy keeping her promise of cover. The captain pressed his back to the left door and sidestepped to the end, keeping an eye on the empty lobby and those stairs leading to the second floor. There should have been snipers up there. Or someone with a rifle like Phyla’s, ready to spray hot light at them. That there wasn’t meant the troopers were tactical morons, or there was something more going on here.
A glance around the edge of the doorway showed Phyla clinging to the end of the right door, peaking around with the assault rifle and letting fly a few miracles. Davin made out a pair of troopers on that side, hunkered around the stairs. Another grenade might do the trick, but then he’d be empty. Instead…
“What’ve you got?” Davin yelled to Phyla.
“The pair on the stairs?” Phyla said. “I think they’ve got me.”
“I’ll distract them, you wipe them out.”
“Say when!”
Davin took a few quick steps to the first guard he’d shot and pulled the trooper’s gun from his hands. Carrying the short rifle back to the edge of the door, Davin extended his left arm and prepared to throw. The pair on the stairs continued to let fly with scattered lasers.
“Three! Two!” Davin yelled. “One!”
The gun arced out from Davin’s hand, flying and bouncing along the floor. As it flew, Davin turned around the door and triggered a shot at the stairs. It was way wide, but the flash of the bolt scared th
e pair, who were watching the thrown gun. Phyla took the cue, poked around the side of her door, and blazed the pair in a sheet of blue fire. A second later the lobby, aside from the moans of some of the troopers, was quiet.
“That was luck,” Davin said.
“For you, maybe,” Phyla replied. “I’m all skill.”
“And I’m very grateful,” Davin said, moving towards the stairs. “I’m going left. You take right.”
The two of them creeped up the slate gray and blue steps. Marl’s office was at the top and back, with a window facing the outside of the base and onto Europa’s wet exterior. Davin hit the top of the stairs first. A closed door to the right across the narrow walkway bridging the two stairs. A similar door on his side.
Davin held up a finger to Phyla, causing her to stop on her top step. He pointed at the closed door that Phyla couldn’t see, using the palm of his hand to show what it was. Phyla nodded, then moved forward a few feet and confirmed that Davin’s corner had the same beyond it.
Davin motioned for Phyla to hold her position, covering him again, as he went forward to his corner. Turned around it, reached for the door with one hand and the other on his shotgun trigger. As Davin’s hand neared the panel to open the thing, the door opened and Ferro kicked Davin in the face.
Davin felt his teeth rattle, his brain bounce around his skull as he fell back and hit the floor of the walkway. The bounce forced Davin’s eyes open, and he saw a stream of lasers flash over his face. Phyla saving him, again.
Pushing back the pain, Davin tilted his head up and looked back through the doorway. Ferro wasn't there.
“I don’t think I got him,” Phyla said, running over, keeping her gun pointed at the open door.
“Don’t forget the other one,” Davin grunted, and Phyla twitched back to cover the closed door. “Damn, that guy really got a good kick.”
