by Mike Freeman
“Yes, we can hear you, Shuttle Two. We’re examining your telemetry now.”
Novosa gestured at the console.
“They’re not hearing us. They should switch to open communication and broadcast everything.”
“Will they be ok?” Stone said.
Havoc studied the data.
“Loss of one oxygen tank should be comfortably manageable, although they should turn back for the Intrepid and it’ll take them a lot longer to get back at one only third drive. They need to scan for more devices.”
“This is Shuttle Two. We've had an explosion. Can you hear us? We aren’t receiving anything so we're switching to open communication.”
Havoc nodded with satisfaction.
“Good,” Novosa said.
“I hope they're ok,” Weaver said.
Stephanie came back online.
“We're down to one tank. We're returning to the Intrepid. We cannot sense anything you are transmitting. We should be back within eight hours. Please assume we can't hear you unless we confirm otherwise.”
“Sabotage?” Stone said.
Havoc nodded as he reviewed the Shuttle Two telemetry.
“Yes, but not what they think.”
“What do you mean?”
Havoc highlighted the relevant data on their mission net.
“Look at their telemetry.”
The others inspected the data. Novosa highlighted some of the readings.
“It’s very strange. Their telemetry looks fine. Some odd thrust and steering patterns lead to a vibration and a full vent of the starboard tank. But nothing wrong. It appears their onboard readings are out.”
“They should notice that shouldn't they?” Stone said.
Weaver frowned.
“They didn't have an explosion?”
Havoc nodded.
“Exactly. Intrepid, please be aware that we are monitoring Shuttle Two telemetry and it appears they’ve had a system failure. The problem does not seem to be physical. Their systems may have been compromised.”
“Got it, Havoc, thanks,” Tyburn said.
“So they haven't lost a tank?” Stone said.
“No, but they think they have.”
Stone brightened.
“So it's not a real problem?”
“What's perceived as real is real in its effects,” Weaver said.
Havoc nodded.
“That's battle.”
He flew parallel to the huge south wall of the pyramid. The top of the wall was flat and had a continuous strip of ideograms inscribed along it.
“Drone ready?”
“Ready,” Novosa said.
Realization dawned on Stone’s face.
“Someone's hacked their shuttle?”
Havoc watched the end of the wall approaching.
“Probably. Alright, Novosa, launch it.”
One of their drones dropped and lit, maintaining formation just off their wing. As the shuttle neared the corner of the wall, Novosa sent the drone over.
The response from the gargantuan statue by the southern entrance was dramatic and immediate. It lunged forward onto one knee and raised an arm. At least it looked like an arm. An eight meter long clawed appendage, anyway.
“Whoa!” Stone cried.
“What the...”
Four apparently unguided kinetics fired toward the drone at hypersonic speeds. Alarms lit up across the console. Havoc's reaction went into overdrive and the kinetics slowed to a crawl despite moving blindingly fast. Havoc both cast and moved the controls simultaneously as he dived the shuttle below the wall.
“Shit!” Novosa said.
Stone crouched down against the console.
“Did that thing shoot at us?!”
Havoc monitored the environment.
“Everyone ok?”
“Sure.”
Havoc nosed the shuttle higher.
“There it is,” Novosa said.
The alien statue had resumed its original position.
Stone wiped his forehead.
“That was close.”
Havoc played the encounter back in his mind’s eye.
“Quite close.”
He banked the shuttle in a looping turn. Weaver’s eyes narrowed.
“We're not doing that again, are we?”
Havoc shook his head.
“I don't think that would be sensible.”
Stone nodded.
“Damn right it wouldn’t.”
Havoc listened through the open comms as Stephanie, Hwan, Kemensky and the late inclusion on Shuttle Two, Karch, discussed what to do. The difference in the onboard readings versus the transmitted telemetry suggested that the shuttle control systems had been compromised. Someone was mounting a psychological operation to damage morale and provoke conflict. It hadn’t occurred to the crew of Shuttle Two to check if their explosion was genuine – the sudden vibration and the venting from the tank had felt completely realistic to them. Not only that, it had been confirmed as real by their instrumentation.
Havoc would have checked, he knew. He thought that if anyone would suspect something it would be Karch. Karch had immediately run diagnostics on the shuttle software but hadn’t surfaced any issues. The fact that Karch had run diagnostics without discovering the subverted feeds suggested a sophisticated attack.
With Marsac being blown up, a bomb on board their shuttle would not seem unrealistic. Unwelcome, of course, but not unrealistic. Tanks simply didn’t fail like that so they would conclude it was sabotage. In the discussion on Shuttle Two, Stephanie had already stated as much and Karch was agreeing with her.
Havoc brought their shuttle round until they had come full circle and were approaching the wall again. He nodded toward the statue.
“Let's exercise that thing a little more. Could you put four drones over the wall, please, Novosa.”
“Four?”
“Yes.”
“Four full drones?”
“Please.”
Novosa turned to him.
“Isn’t that a waste?”
Havoc had a simple view of resources. You spent them to deal with problems. He’d seen too many people die because they were trying to preserve assets for an unknown future eventuality instead of a real and immediate threat. He thought there were very few situations where that approach was justified, and that this wasn’t one of them.
He shrugged.
“Could save us from dying.”
Novosa considered this.
“Fair enough.”
Four drones went out over the wall as Havoc guided the shuttle higher in order to observe. The statue lunged forward and fired four kinetics at each of the drones in turn. As before, the kinetics flew over the top of each drone.
Novosa highlighted a track in their battlespace. For speed, she simulcast to text as well as speaking.
“We have movement from the western statue. Thing. Guardian. I’m tracking it.”
Havoc studied their battlespace.
“Pull three of the drones back and push one forward.”
“Done.”
One of their drones accelerated toward the pyramid and thus toward the guardian, as Novosa had called it. The guardian opened fire. Kinetics obliterated the drone. Stone winced.
“Ouch.”
“Pull two out and leave one stationary, please, Novosa.”
“The other guardian is turning back.”
Havoc nodded.
“Makes sense.”
“They’re coordinating,” Weaver said.
“Looks like it.”
A hail of kinetics annihilated the stationary drone.
Havoc had seen enough.
“Ok, prep the two drones for pickup, please. Good job, everyone.”
From Shuttle Two, they heard a muffled boom. There was screaming and then silence. Weaver’s hand covered her mouth. Everyone waited, bracing themselves for the worst, as Havoc deployed sky hooks to recover the two drones.
Stephanie’s panick
ed voice burst out of the radio.
“This is Shuttle Two. We’ve had a second explosion. We’ve lost both our oxygen tanks. We don’t have any suits onboard so we’re down to the reserve. The reserve tank is damaged but has managed to self-seal. Our drive is down to twenty percent of rated acceleration. We’re at least thirteen hours from the Intrepid at maximum burn. We don’t know if you can hear this, but we’re short of sufficient air by a projected nine hundred minutes across three of us. I’m not including Karch in that estimate as she can rebreathe, but not sufficiently to sustain us all.”
Novosa frowned at the instruments.
“That isn’t right. They easily have enough oxygen left in the reserve.”
Havoc frowned as he thought about the capability of the people on board. It sounded like Karch was hoarding her oxygen or, more generously, being extremely conservative in case something else went wrong. A fifteen hour requirement for a thirteen hour trip meant even one less crew would present a shortfall, though presumably Karch could make this up.
“I repeat, we are short of sufficient oxygen by nine hundred minutes,” Stephanie said.
Novosa shouted at the radio.
“No, you’re not!”
Tyburn tried to transmit to Shuttle Two. No one was getting through.
“Why can’t we cast to the crew directly?” Stone asked.
Havoc shook his head.
“I tried. They’re tied in through the shuttle antenna.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” Weaver said.
No, Havoc thought.
Novosa covered her face with her hands.
“This could get real ugly, real fast.”
Havoc nodded.
“Intrepid, how near operational is Shuttle Three?”
“At least an hour,” Tyburn said.
“Can we get a raft to Shuttle Two?”
“Negative. Launching Shuttle Three is faster.”
“Can we signal their hull with a laser? Or even light kinetics?”
“We tried directed energy. It seems signals aren’t being transferred to the crew. Their sensor systems are screening.”
“I'm going to sit her up, Tyburn.”
“Roger that, Shuttle One.”
Stone looked at Havoc.
“Why can we hear them?”
“Psyops. It’s classic.”
Weaver gave a look of revulsion.
“That’s sick.”
Havoc nodded. The Shuttle Two crew thought they were short of oxygen. If it had just been a bunch of scientists on board they would probably sit it out, hoping for rescue and expecting to die, and then miraculously find that they'd lived. But there weren’t just a bunch of scientists on board. On Shuttle Two, Karch’s voice was clear and bleak.
“We don’t have enough oxygen to make it back. We need to do something.”
There was silence.
Havoc banked the shuttle right.
“Ok. We’re heading for Shuttle Two. I’m going to sit her up. Prepare for burn everyone.”
On Shuttle Two, Stephanie tried to reason with Karch.
“Shouldn’t we just wait?”
Karch’s tone was emphatic.
“No. That’s the classic mistake. People wait. They wait too long and everyone dies.”
Weaver looked in horror at the console.
“Oh no.”
Havoc tilted the shuttle back, laying the crew horizontal, and initiated the burn. The shuttle punched upward, pressing them back with brutal acceleration.
“How long?” Weaver said.
“Maybe ten minutes.”
Or put another way, it would take a miracle.
Havoc could hear the Shuttle Two dialogue in perfect quality over the shriek of their engines. He could even see the crew on their shuttle feed, standing in the forward cabin as they discussed their dilemma.
“I think we should wait,” Stephanie said.
Karch shook her head.
“That’s not an option. You’re just saying the three of you should die of asphyxiation instead of one of you. I can’t let that happen.”
Kemensky nodded.
“She’s right.”
It wasn't clear who Kemensky was agreeing with.
“The logic is undeniable,” Kemensky concluded.
Hwan dropped her head into her hands.
Havoc vibrated violently as their shuttle thrust through the lower atmosphere.
Karch drew a pistol and clipped it to the cabin wall.
“We need to sort this out in the next ten minutes. Even then we’re technically in the red. We’re going to draw straws.”
Stephanie looked stunned.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
Karch drew out some filament wire to cut into lengths.
“If you draw the short straw, you take your own life.”
43.
Havoc pushed the shuttle as hard as it would go; harder than it should go. Their shuttle was battered brutally as they accelerated toward orbit.
Stephanie spoke in a small voice. She sounded like a frightened child.
“Why can’t we wait?”
Karch held out her hand with three lengths of wire protruding.
“Ok, here are the straws. Does everyone agree with this; does everyone understand and agree?”
There was a pause then everyone nodded.
Karch proffered her hand to Kemensky.
“Ok, Kemensky, draw one.”
Novosa stared at the console.
“Otva otva otva otva.”
There was a muffled sound, then Kemensky’s head dropped with relief.
Karch extended her hand to Hwan.
“Ok, Hwan, draw one.”
“Karma,” Hwan said as she took one.
“I can’t listen to this,” Weaver said.
Hwan slumped back, the slender thread slipping from her hand.
Shuttle One roared through the stratosphere, clawing its way upward.
Karch turned to Stephanie.
Stephanie spoke in a quiet voice.
“This isn’t right.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kemensky said.
Stephanie sat with a numb expression.
“No, wait, let's think about this.”
Karch shook her head.
“I'm sorry. There’s no time.”
“No, honestly––”
“There’s no time!” Karch said.
“Look, I’ve got to tell you...”
“Are you going to do it or do you want me to help?”
“Help? Don’t! I mean, I will...”
“Ok.”
“But I just wanted to say, look, I have to tell you––”
Karch pointed at the pistol.
“Just do it.”
Stephanie twisted to look at the pistol, her expression aghast.
“I have––”
Hwan’s voice interrupted, surprisingly loud.
“No.”
Karch turned to Hwan.
“What?”
“It should be me.”
“What?”
“It was meant to be me. It’s my fate.”
Karch looked bewildered.
“What are you talking about?”
Hwan started sobbing.
“I killed my family.”
Shuttle One tore though the upper atmosphere, breaking free of gravity and shooting for orbit. Havoc tracked their time to target. They had to match the flight profile of Shuttle Two before they could do anything other than obliterate it in a collision.
“I’m going to spin and burn down.”
“How long?” Weaver said.
“Less than five minutes.”
“What did Hwan say?” Stone said.
“What?” Karch said.
Hwan screamed hysterically.
“We didn’t have enough batteries! I was too scared. I didn’t want to die. I couldn't face it, not waking up. I'm sorry!”
“Damn,” Stone said.
Karch
looked at Hwan.
“Are you seriously...”
Hwan sobbed uncontrollably.
“Don’t you understand? This is for me! I deserve it.”
“Otva,” Novosa said.
“We have to get there in time!” Weaver said.
“You’re saying you want to...” Karch said.
Hwan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Oh, no,” Weaver said.
Stephanie looked between Karch and Hwan.
“Oh my God. Why can’t we––”
Karch cut Stephanie off as she pulled the pistol from the wall.
“I’m sorry, Hwan, but you have to be quick.”
“Three minutes out,” Novosa said.
Karch pressed the weapon into Hwan’s hand as she stood up. Hwan looked down at it, then back at Karch.
“I’ll go next door. Do I just...?”
“Just squeeze the trigger. Make sure the muzzle is pressed against your temple. You can put it in your mouth if that’s easier.”
Weaver and Stone gasped in unison.
Hwan nodded.
“Alright.”
Weaver was beside herself.
“This is the tettraxigyiom contamination. She’s suicidal. It's amplified her feelings. This is wrong.”
“Goodbye,” Hwan said.
Stephanie hugged her.
“I’m so sorry, Violette.”
Shuttle One’s vibration dissipated as the atmosphere thinned but the g-forces were still brutal as they decelerated and turned. Havoc didn’t care. He was giving it everything. Stone slumped forward in his harness, unconscious. Havoc monitored Stone’s lifesigns to make sure he wouldn’t suffer permanent damage.
“About a minute out,” Novosa said.
Silence. They waited for the sound of a kinetic shot.
And waited.
“I’m sorry,” came Hwan’s voice, sounding far away, “can you please... help me?”
Weaver clapped her hands over her mouth.
“Eugh.”
On the radar screen the two dots repeatedly converged then leaped apart as the resolution of the distance scale increased. They were close.
“Twenty seconds,” Novosa said.
Havoc kicked it up a notch for the final burn.
Weaver passed out, shortly followed by Novosa.
Hwan emerged back into the cabin carrying the pistol.
Havoc released his suit, rushed back through the cabin and scrambled into the lock. Their shuttle was still curving to match the vector of Shuttle Two. The lock sealed behind him.
In Shuttle One, Karch pointed up at the cabin camera.
