by Steve Perry
No time like the present. She sat in front of the console, lifting the arm control from next to one of the small, circular monitors. The system activated; a series of symbols scrolled across the screen on a backdrop of red. Topknot, had shown her once how their system worked, and he was going to regret it.
If I can figure out what does what ...
The Shell's system-and probably all yautja drives, she didn't know-was image-based, each tiny picture a representation of an action or thing. All she had to do was access the right area and connect the symbols in the correct order.
She touched the sensor "pen" to a silhouette of a yautja ship and another set of images popped up-a claw, a mask, lines representing doors, other symbols that she, didn't know. There was an egg in the set, and she tapped that one; this time, the image of the queen came up, surrounded by new pictures.
She touched the queen, connecting it to a hand, what looked like a series of knots, a triangle, and back to the queen. There was a flash of green light, a warning with new options available; Noguchi repeated the series and this time there was no warning flash. Instead, the image of the queen appeared alone-and from the symbols that scrolled out beneath, she saw that she had been successful.
Bam bam bam!
Startled, Noguchi turned, saw a pair of faces through the thick window in the door, their mouths moving and mandibles flexing. They'd discovered her sooner than she'd expected, but it didn't matter-or it wouldn't, in a few moments. One of them signaled "stop," fist out in front, and Noguchi turned away. Turned back to the screen, hoping that piloting the ship would be as easy as releasing the queen.
So now she knew what it felt like to be an outcast from two worlds. She'd turned her back on humanity because she'd never felt at home there, and now, by her own hand, she'd erased what Broken Tusk's mark meant to the Clan. She would be Hunted by them, actively, and if they caught her, she wouldn't die quickly.
In that moment, she decided that she was happier than she'd ever been in her life.
If he hadn't had the shit so thoroughly kicked out of him, Jess probably could have managed to refuel the Nemesis shuttle on his own; not as fast as with two experienced people, but having to walk Ellis through the process took a few minutes. Each passing second stretched like eternity, and though Jess's anger had only increased with the beating, he felt like he'd learned his lesson on letting it get the better of him, at least for the moment. They had to get gone. Briggs and his other guard could be back at any time, with reinforcements.
And if that's not incentive enough, something is very fucking wrong with this picture.
The tilted platform, the strange rustlings in the trees far below, the alarm that wouldn't shut off. It wasn't possible, but the station had a deserted feel to it, as if everyone had mysteriously disappeared. On the plus side, the freaky circumstances had stirred enough adrenaline through his bruised body that he was capable of moving. But there was also a feeling in the air like death, like no matter what they did, their future didn't include making it off Bunda.
And it won't, if we don't get some fuel loaded into this thing ...
Everything was ready on his end, flow rate adjusted, the mixture and filtering set. Jess looked away from the control console, over to where Ellis was trying to fit the hose into the shuttle's tank opening. Jess watched for a second and was about to call out for the kid to twist the damn connector to the right when Ellis got it. The line hooked, Jess hit the pump switch.
Lara leaned out of the shuttle, looking as nervous as Jess felt. "What's the holdup? Prelaunch is done, we're a go." She kept her voice low, her gaze darting left and right.
Jess started to give her a thumbs-up, wincing instead as his shoulder recommended otherwise. Every part of him hurt. "We're on, three minutes," he said.
Lara went back in, Jess turning his attention back to the fuel gauges on the console. Three minutes, and they'd be on their way. Even with the air filters cleaned and a full tank, they'd be facing death again within a week-but not at the hands of the Company, and that felt like the best they could hope for-
"Jess, look out!" Ellis screamed.
Jess looked up, confused, the kid was staring in his direction but there was nothing around. Ellis finally snapped-
Wham!
Something hit Jess's shoulder, hard, knocking him to the deck, the new pain brilliant and sharp. Jess clutched at his arm and looked up, saw nothing--except the air, moving. As if it had taken a tangible form, a shifting, living, creature, and he could just make out what looked like twisted knots of hair but much too high, no man was that tall-
"Get away!"
The kid, screaming, and the strange, bitter smell hovering around the invisible monster was suddenly overwhelmed by the dizzying fumes of ship fuel. Jess heard liquid hitting the ground, heard Lara calling from inside the shuttle as the air creature moved, turning toward Ellis--and Ellis was suddenly only a few meters away, his young face contorted by fear and purpose, the dripping, arm-thick hose in his hands. Before Jess could do any more than sit up, Ellis opened the nozzle all the way, a blast of oily fuel shooting out at the shifting thing.
At once, Jess saw the creature outlined in the powerful river of liquid-a giant after all, humanoid, staggered by the fluid jet pounding at its massive chest. Ellis was struggling to keep hold of the whipping hose, the creature struggling to escape the blast-and Jess heard the sharp electric crack come from the creature, from its invisible cloak, and saw the shuddering change as parts of it became clear. Jess covered his face, screaming for Ellis to shut it off, to get back, and--
BA-BOOM!
-the bright, white orange night turned to thoughtless black and Jess followed it down, the monster's dying howl chasing him into unconsciousness.
They'd moved out in groups of four and five, each group equipped with at least one weapon, each pale, terrified individual trying to watch all directions at once. All they had were shotguns, practically antiques, but Irwin didn't mind so much; beat the shit out of nothing at all, and one of the groups had agreed to come with her, to wait on board the Sun Jumper for Briggs. The rest of the researchers, scientists, and both Bunda pilots had headed off for the orbiter transports, docked near the top of the station.
Two men and a woman had come with Irwin, one of the men almost catatonic with fear; she and the other man, John something, had to drag him most of the way to the Jumper while the woman guarded. Beneath the droning alarm the night was strangely silent, as if all the life on Bunda was holding its breath, hiding from whatever demons had come. The woman, a redhead named Tia, carried the shotgun with the grim, no-nonsense expression of a veteran soldier. Irwin was glad to have her along.
Once they were in, the hatch closed, Irwin warmed up the ship and joined the other three in the cabin, the viewscreen dialed to show the platform outside. The fear-struck scientist was already strapped in, his eyes blank and empty, but Tia and John seemed okay. No one approached, the faraway sounds of the transports taking off the only change in the strange air. They watched for what seemed like hours, although it couldn't have been more than a few minutes-and when the platform shook beneath them, a glow of orange light rising up past one of the envelopes along with the dull, muffled sound of an explosion, her companions had had enough waiting.
"If that was a stabilizer, the slant's about to get a fuckload worse," John said, turning to Irwin. "And if one of the envelopes gets blown through, the whole station's going down."
"Maybe your guy was on one of the transports," Tia said hopefully.
Irwin nodded slowly. Maybe he was. And if he wasn't, maybe it was because he was dead, and she wasn't so hot on the idea of joining him.
"Strap in," she said, and the relief on both their faces lent conviction to her decision. She was the pilot, these people were counting on her to take them to safety; -Briggs and his twin goons were on their own.
Irwin snapped off the viewscreen and moved toward the cockpit, harnessing in and taking a final check on her passengers be
fore she realized that she hadn't had time to think about what had happened to Windy. It had all happened so fast.
And we were going to be together, we both wanted it, and now it will never happen. He'll never laugh at another one of my dumb stories, or drink to old times or kiss a woman, ever again-he's over, like some movie, dead.
Irwin brought the Jumper up, a tear running down her face for the terrible murder of her friend as they blasted away from Bunda survey.
Vincent was nearly hysterical when they finally made it to control, and Briggs had to suppress a serious urge to scream at him. It was bad enough that the ASM had led them halfway around the station trying to find a lift that worked, babbling all the way about what a Company man he was. But at the sight of the corpses on the outside platform, followed by the sounds of Bunda's transport ships taking off, he'd graduated from annoying to a possible liability.
They stood in control, Vincent pacing and tearful, his voice raised to a near shout.
"I don't understand, who could have done this? Why, why would anyone want to kill them, why didn't someone call us, why did they leave? Jesus, I don't understand, where's Cabot, he wouldn't have left without trying to find us and-'
"Shut up," Briggs snapped, almost as irritated with himself as with the blithering Vincent. He hadn't expected such a savage attack, hadn't been prepared for it, and God only knew what was happening to the three on the shuttle.
"Nirasawa, this station is under attack by person or persons unknown," he said briskly. "Get me back to the Nemesis shuttle by the fastest possible route."
"Yes, Mr. Briggs," Nirasawa said, turning back to the outside platform. Briggs followed him, stepping over one of the extraordinarily dead people and wrinkling his nose in disgust. All three had been eviscerated, which didn't strike him as the work of a Company exec-leading him to the unsettling conclusion that some outside competition was involved.
Vincent tagged after them, finally quiet, and as they reached the steps leading up to the next deck
BA-BOOM!
Nirasawa reached back and gripped Briggs's arm before he could fall as the platform trembled violently, continuing its gradual slant. Briggs could see a reflected glow off the side of one of the spheres. Something was on fire, something in the direction of the H/K shuttle.
They'd have to hurry, these stations wouldn't withstand a serious fire and with no one to put it out, it was only a matter of time-
"The whole platform's going to crash," Vincent said.
Brilliant.
"I don't understand," the ASM whined, stumbling up the stairs behind them. "Why would anyone-"
Briggs cut him off, tired of waiting for Vincent to figure out what was right in front of him. "Think about it-your survey hasn't turned up anything of particular value, has it ... yet someone has deemed it necessary to attack your station and kill your people, on the very same day that a shuttle from the Nemesis lands. Tell me-do you really think Weyland/Yutani is the only corporation interested in the data they collected?"
They reached the top of the steps and started across another deck, the flickering glow getting stronger. Across the wide, empty expanse of dark platform was another set of stairs. Briggs sighed, feeling entirely put out with the circumstances, with the idiot botanist and the obstinate Lara and with whatever internal leak had led to the immensely inconvenient attack on Bunda's station.
"You mean another company did this?" Vincent asked, his attempt at outrage coming out in a squeak.
Nirasawa had stopped, his head cocked as if listening for something. Briggs glanced back at Vincent, wondering what he could possibly say that would make him be quiet. Nothing, he imagined, some people were just-
"Sir-trouble," Nirasawa said, and stepped forward with his arms raised, reaching out as if to grab a shadow. Briggs frowned, peering into the darkness--and suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant appeared. He was dressed in some kind of armor with long, beaded hair surrounding a full face mask. He towered over Nirasawa by half a meter, and the guard was by no means a small man.
A cloaking device!
"Wh-what is it?" Vincent stammered.
"Synthetic," Briggs said, unable to keep the awe out of his voice as Nirasawa grabbed the giant's arms, straining to hold him in place. Nirasawa was state, his vat-grown muscles fibered with steel thread, the combination of electrical stim and pumped microhydraulics providing him with exceptional power; Briggs had wanted two of them, but there simply weren't enough of his model to meet the demand. That the assailant seemed to be holding his own was simply amazing, and with an invisibility device ... this was big, he'd have to get a team on it as soon as possible.
"I'll hold him, Mr. Briggs," Nirasawa said, barely able to restrain the monster synth. "I would recommend you get to your Sun Jumper-"
The attacker slipped one hand free and slashed at Nirasawa's face, divots of layered flesh flying. The guard managed to restrain him again, but Briggs realized that he was right; the 949 log wouldn't do him any good if he were killed in a station explosion or murdered by one of these cloaked soldiers.
Back to the ship, wait for Nirasawa, and then have him fetch Keene and the others, we can conclude our business on the way back to Earth ...
"Vincent, take point, I don't know the layout," Briggs said, reluctant to tear his gaze from the struggle. Truly astounding. There was a clattering sound coming from the strangely dressed synth, perhaps some malfunction. If Nirasawa could incapacitate it, carry it back to
"But-Mr. Briggs, isn't that your ship?"
That got his attention. Briggs's head whipped around, his gaze following Vincent's pointing finger. For a second, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, unable to comprehend that Irwin would dare-but the elite Jumper was speeding away from the station, its sleek form unmistakable against the starry sky.
Damn her, when I get back to Earth, I'll...
When he got back. of course he would, but suddenly, he wasn't so sure that he should be worrying about what he would do to Irwin at some future date. There were more immediate concerns-and for the first time since he'd landed on this forsaken hole, for the first time in years, he had no idea what the next step should be.
* * *
Chapter 20
The force of the explosion pushed Jess underneath the shuttle, lucky for him; as it was, Lara had to slap out a patch of burning fabric on his leg before dragging him away from the growing fire.
She wasn't sure what had happened, she'd heard Ellis shout and then there was the explosion, the shuttle rocking violently. She'd run out and seen Ellis frantically pulling the hose away from the ship, huge sections of the deck covered with burning fuel. She'd seen a flailing shape engulfed in flames only a few meters away, and for one terrible second, she'd been sure that it was Jess. If she hadn't heard him groaning from beneath the transport ...
Ellis joined them behind the shuttle, helping Lara pull Jess to the far railing, but Lara knew that they wouldn't be safe if the tanks caught fire. Jess started to come out of his daze, looking up into Ellis's stricken face as he rubbed at his jaw, obviously in pain.
"Ever heard of overkill, kid?" he asked.
Lara laughed weakly. Jess was okay, that was the important thing-but the realization that they weren't going to be flying anywhere was sinking in, making her feel very, very tired.
God, is this ever going to end?
"What happened?" Lara asked.
"I think I killed us," Ellis said, so softly that Lara barely heard it. "There was, this-thing, it attacked Jess ...
He trailed off miserably, the dancing light of the developing fire on his face making him look incredibly old. Lara put the rest together quickly enough; he'd sprayed the assailant with fuel and somehow, something had caught fire.
"It was invisible," Jess said, using the rail to drag himself to his feet. "Some kind of electrical device, got shorted out and boom."
Lara couldn't find it in herself to be surprised. A personal cloaking mechanism? Sure, why not, it was no strang
er than corporate mass murder, no more improbable than being fished out of the abyss on a dead shuttle in the first place.
There was a soft humming overhead and they all looked up to see a small ship go streaking across the dark, close enough for them to see the Weyland/Yutani logo. Lara thought she'd heard other ships earlier ...
...and what are the chances that there's still anyone left willing to give us a lift? Or anyone at all? If there were people around, they sure weren't interested in putting out the fire that was currently consuming one of their landing decks.
"Briggs?" Jess asked, still watching as the ship shot away from the station.
Lara nodded. "Probably." She didn't say what she was thinking, what Jess and Ellis surely already knew. If a high suit like Briggs, who'd wanted them so much that he'd come to Bunda himself was giving it up-then things here are bad, really fuckin' bad.
Maybe the thing that had attacked Jess had been busy with the researchers, before; that might explain the ceaseless alarm, anyway. Or maybe it was just the fact that the station's platforms had continued their slow tilt, at least fifteen degrees now; if they slanted much farther, there wouldn't be a stable deck to take off from.
"We gotta get out of here before the shuttle catches," Jess said, although he didn't look well enough to do much more than stand upright. And Ellis looked like he was on the verge of some emotional collapse, his entire body trembling, his eyes wide and shining with unshed tears.
"I'm so sorry," he said, taking a step away from them, his hands clenched into fists. "This is all my fault."
"Hey, I might've done the same thing," Lara said, "or Jess. It's..."
"You don't understand," he said, his voice rising, "I've done everything wrong since we got here, everything!"
Instinctively, Lara took a step toward him, reaching out-and there was a sound so deep, so powerful, that they felt it as much as heard it, WHOOOF, an explosion of brilliant light, a massive wave of pressure that threw all of them against the waist-high railing. The deck beneath them slanted past forty-five degrees, all of them falling, landing and skidding
