Death Dealer

by T. G. Ayer

  Kelem’s voice came over their team Link.

  Nerishka pursed her lips.

  They reached an intersection, and Dresden directed Kelem and Judith to branch off toward the comm center.

  asked Judith as she followed behind Kelem.

  Nerishka replied.

  Kelem snorted.

  Dresden interjected, his tone deadly serious.

  Kelem asked.

  Judith swore.

  They walked in silence for a moment before Dresden asked.

  Nerishka gave an exaggerated shrug as they moved into a long corridor lined with glass-fronted labs some bare, some still containing rows of equipment that Lyra identified as exotic matter containment and analysis systems.

  A box lay next to the entrance to one of the labs, datapods scattered around it. said Nerishka drily.

  Dresden grabbed the data-pods and shoved them into a pouch on his chest before moving inside to clear the room.

  asked Judith over the comms. <‘Cos you’re gonna want to see this.>

  Dresden and Nerishka shared a glance before moving out of the lab and down the corridor to the comms room.

  A few minutes later, they entered the room to find Kelem and Judith standing before a console in the center of the room.

  Nerishka stared at the pair who were scowling at the screen.

  Judith replied.

  Nerishka asked.

  Lyra said.

  Nerishka shared a frustrated glance with Dresden who said,

  The team searched the entire level, but other than the discarded datapods, there was nothing to be found. They moved to the other floors on the off chance that there would be clues, but they were empty except for old gear left behind by the mining operation when it shut down five decades ago.

  Dresden said after they’d been searching for hours,

  Nerishka said.

  Nerishka’s shoulders sagged but she forced herself to remain stiff-spined. They’d come so far, followed the trail all the way to this dumb rock. And her gut had led her there.

  There’s always a first time to be wrong.

  said Lyra, her voice soft and comforting.

  Nerishka smiled to herself. She wasn’t used to having the need for a pep talk and she wondered why she’d even been disappointed.

 

  Lyra sniffed.

  Nerishka admonished.

  The AI’s avatar shrugged.

  The team headed into the lift shaft, and Nerishka stared at the empty hallway for a moment before they began their ascent to the docking level.

  Lyra sent a rush of warmth that almost overwhelmed Nerishka.

  Judith grumbled, her eyes appearing tired.

  Nerishka said stoically.

  Judith merely nodded then looked over Nerishka’s shoulder at the rest of the crew.

  Lyra’s words hit Nerishka deeply.

  How had she failed to see how committed Dresden and his team were? They’d followed him because he was family, but even then, they’d all been passionate about finding who’d killed all those people. They’d wanted justice just as much as Nerishka had. And that meant more than a damn.

 

  Judith led the way down the corridor, and the team fell silent as they drew closer to the bay doors.

  Nerishka let out a deep breath.

  Lyra sent an affirmative and fell silent for a few moments. Then she sighed, the sound brimming with defeat.

 

  They were nearly at the doors to the ship’s bay when Lyra yelled out on the comms,

  asked Nerishka as the AI faltered.

  Lyra replied privately,

 

  Lyra send a burst of warmth at Nerishka and said to the team,

  Judith asked.

 

  As one, the team turned and followed Dresden and Nerishka to the lifts at breakneck speed. As they climbed down to the bottom of the lift shaft, no one spoke except for Lyra.

 

  Nerishka sighed.

  Lyra sighed with relief and Nerishka found herself frowning.

  Lyra’s avatar shrugged.

 

  Lyra didn’t reply, but Nerishka got the impression her AI appreciated the faith in her abilities.

  They reached the bottom of the lift shaft—which appeared to end in solid stone. The team searched for some sort of access for several minutes, before Kelem simply kicked the stone. With a low groan, it shifted, dropping ha
lf a meter.

  Judith said and settled down on the rock, using her a-grav systems to push on it.

  A minute later they had pushed open the doors to the eighth level and stepped into the corridor beyond. It ran for just a few paces before opening up into a room that had the feel of an antechamber.

  Kelem said, gesturing to the closed doors at the back of the room.

  Lyra said.

  Only a second later, the door opened and the team rushed to cover as beam fire poured out.

  muttered Nerishka as she unslung her rifle and returned fire.

  BINGO

  STELLAR DATE: 10.18.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)

  LOCATION: Yazata Asteroid

  REGION: Ayra System (Independent)

  called Lyra.

  Dresden lay down covering fire straight through the doors, while Judith and Kelem plastered themselves against the bulkheads on either side and sprayed rounds down the corridor beyond the door. They fired in tandem, their fields of fire sweeping across the interior space, eliminating both drones.

  Kelem surged forward.

  yelled Lyra as beamfire lanced out from the corner of the room. He grunted and dropped to the deck while Judith stepped in and took out the autoturrets that had emerged behind them.

  Nerishka paused to check on Kelem but Judith waved her off. she said as she patted Kelem on the helmet.

  Kelem nodded as he rose and rolled his shoulders. “That’s what ablative armor is for, right? To ablate?”

  This is why I don’t do teams, Nerishka thought as she tried to compartmentalize the worry she felt for Dresden’s people. Keeping her rifle ready, she eyed the corners of the room, as they moved into the corridor. It was also short, and emptied into another room, this one filled with consoles, arrayed rather like a starship’s bridge.

  Before any of them could reach the first console, Lyra said, then she paused,

  Nerishka hid a smile, as did Dresden, but Judith chuckled.

  Kelem asked.

  Lyra initiated a holo at the far wall and a recording began to play.

  “—teams abort. This is not a drill. Evacuate now—no traces. We’re executing lockdown contingency DD-A9. Extract all backups and secure for priority transport.”

  Dresden asked privately, glancing over at Nerishka.

  Nerishka stared up at the face of General Azag, second in command beneath President Inanna of the Ayra System.

 

 

  President Inanna was renowned for the changes she’d made in the Ayra System, bringing advancements like affordable mednano to the general populace, who only a century ago, were mostly as vanilla as the day they were born. Not that Inanna was all that wise and loving a ruler. She was also known for her excesses and her aspirations, like her choice in name. Inanna, ancient goddess of power and war. All of which the president craved.

  Nerishka said to Lyra.

  Lyra replied, already sounding distant.

  Dresden was swiping through a console near the holo display when he let out a strangled grunt.

  “What?” Nerishka hurried to Dresden and peered over his shoulder at the screen.

  “They dumped all their data down here before wiping the systems above. We have records here dating back all the way to before this facility was built. Everything from inbound shipments to arrivals and departures of personnel and ships.”

  Nerishka let out a mirthless laugh. “Probably because they believed this level was secure. So…what were they researching?”

  “Look at this,” Dresden said as he pulled up a file. “They sent out a report to someone saying that after the incident, work was continuing. Think they up and moved, or was Azag lying and covering his ass?”

  “Beats me,” Nerishka muttered as she reviewed the next report.

  “Damn.” Dresden shook his head as he read over it, commenting privately to Nerishka.

  “Damn what?” Judith asked.

  “Just more bad people doing bad stuff,” Nerishka replied. “There’s a whole discussion about keeping the crash-site secure and General Azag assures them that he will make sure nothing is traced back to the research.”

  “So Azag did erase the records of their clean-up crew arriving,” Judith said, shaking her head.

  Nerishka leaned forward. “There’s a confirmation here that a small chunk of the asteroid laden with some of their research had impacted at the settlement. Also, confirmation of the Ir-192 and Au-198 levels. Shit…they cleaned up the iridium, but since the gold has such a short half-life, they opted to just let it dissipate.”

  Lyra added.

  Kelem grunted. “Sure, people too close to the iridium were toast, but they could have evacuated the rest.”

  “If you were a tyrannical general out to buy yourself more power, would you trample your underlings in order to get what you want, or would you try for Humanitarian of the Year?” asked Nerishka, her tone hard as she stared at the screen.

  “Point taken,” Kelem muttered.

  Nerishka leaned closer to the screen, her hip pressing against Dresden’s back. “There…another entry. Yeah, got that one too, has information about where they’ll move to.”

  Dresden paused then brought up the contents of the file on the holo, swiping through them briefly.

  “OK, Death Dealer,” said Judith, her tone resigned. “I get it now.”

  Nerishka frowned and glance over at the redhead. “What?” She didn’t have time to get into a squabble, but she was curious.

  “Maybe we need to nominate you for Humanitarian of the Year.”

  Dresden snorted as he continued to sift through the data. “You so have her pegged.”

  Nerishka grunted and shifted her body away from Dresden’s warmth.

  Dresden finished reviewing the data and turned to the team. “We have more than enough. Guess it’s time to move out.”

  said Lyra on the team Link.

  asked Judith, folding her arms as she leaned against a console, her weapon resting in the crook of her arm as though she carried a child.

  replied Lyra.

  Kelem snickered.

  Lyra let out a dry laugh.

  Dresden turned to face the holo where Lyra displayed a map of the Ayra System, a small red dot blinking out beyond the planet of Sraosha. “That’s the outer asteroid belt,” he said.

  said Lyra, irritation filling her voice.

  asked Judith, frowning even as her tone emitted concern.

  Lyra admitted. decrypt some other messages. Yazata’s been confirmed as the only viable location for the tests. Azag was convinced that he could come back here to continue the research once the dust settles. They left the research and all the data secured and in place. It’s waiting for them to return.>

  “Which means they are coming back here sometime soon,” said Nerishka.

  Dresden grunted. “Which also means they may be watching this rock more closely than we thought.”

  “Which means we need to get the hell out of here,” said Kelem.

  “No. Wait,” said Nerishka holding her hand out to them.

  “Are you nuts?” asked Judith, her eyes narrowing. “We have to get out of here. They’re probably already on the way.”

  “Didn’t you hear what Lyra said?” Nerishka grinned. “It’s here. On the asteroid.”

  Judith turned to Dresden, her brow lowered. “OK, Boss. You and Nerishka have been playing coy with what is really going on. But now it’s time to come clean. What is ‘it’?”

  Dresden groaned, holding his forehead. “We have to tell them. It’s not like it’s a secret anymore.”

  Nerishka gritted her teeth and gave a resigned nod. “OK, yeah.” She turned to Judith and Kelem. “The Ayran government is researching jump gate technology, and based on the sample we found, they are on the right track.”

  “Jump gate?” Kelem folded his arms. “Is that some sort of FTL system?”

  “It is,” Dresden replied. “It’s technically called a ford-svaiter mirror. Sort of like a wormhole, but it doesn’t kill you to use it.”

  “Instead of a day to travel a light year, like with dark layer FTL, a jump gate can get you across known space in seconds.”

  Nerishka watched as her words sank in. Judith was shaking her head, and Kelem’s eyes were wide.

  “What about insystem jumps?” he asked.

  “There’s no restriction,” Nerishka replied. “You can jump into, and out of, a system anywhere you want, so long as you have a gate.”

  “That would change everything,” Judith whispered.

  Kelem’s eyes narrowed. “You two are talking about this tech like it already exists.”