“That would represent a foolhardy risk.”
Frowning, Lisa took a turn to stare into space. There was a gap in either Rug’s logic or her own, and the Quatro’s circuitous semantics had her doubting which it was.
Of course, there were other reasons for the Quatro’s distress. Soon after the surviving Daybreak fighters were squared away in holding cells, along with the few Three Points members they’d kept alive, Lisa and her companions had learned of the war on Eresos, which seemed to shock the Quatro.
“Our species does not engage in gratuitous conflict,” Rug said, flanks heaving. She was the only Quatro in sight at the time, and Tessa and Andy stood nearby as well. The Quatro were too large to fit inside most Habitat 2 structures, so they mostly remained in the climate-controlled out-of-doors. “They would not have engaged without provocation,” she said.
“The reports say they attacked two cities, Rug,” Tessa said, her tone gentle. “And that they killed hundreds of innocent civilians.”
“Plus, you are pretty lousy to humans who aren’t us,” Andy chimed in. Lisa glared at him, which he studiously ignored.
“It is one thing to regard someone with suspicion,” Rug said, sounding scandalized. The translator was pretty good at converting Quatro inflections into spoken English, too. “It is quite another to do them harm.
“After the Meddler attack, we lost contact with the other Quatro that accompanied us to this system. We feared they had died. But this is almost as concerning as that prospect. If they’ve strayed so far from Quatro norms…” Rug shuddered, also like a horse, a gesture Lisa had come to think of as equivalent to a human shaking their head. “It is difficult to countenance.”
Lisa felt for the Quatro. And whether they came to trust more humans or not, so long as they did no harm, they were welcome to remain in Habitat 2 indefinitely, as far as she was concerned.
That said, she didn’t have the time to play therapist to them. The social fabric of Habitat 2 had been damaged badly, and now it fell to Lisa to ensure that damage got repaired.
“You’ve come a long way,” Tessa said to her, without prompting, as they both worked through damage claims made by residents of Habitat 2. “I’m prepared to consider you graduated from my training program. Congratulations.”
“Wow. Thank you.” It truly did mean a lot, and it elevated Lisa’s mood, which she sorely needed.
“Just don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Right now, everyone’s treating you like you’re the city council and Darkstream’s physical incarnation all wrapped up in one.”
“It’s just until a new council is elected, ma’am.”
The older woman smiled. “You can call me Tessa again, Lisa.”
It was good to have her old friendship with Tessa back—surprisingly intact, despite the rigors the former soldier had put her through.
She wished she knew where she stood with Andy, though. They’d been through a lot during their journey across Alex, and they’d even seemed to bond a little at the end of it. But now that he was back in Habitat 2, he seemed just as smug as ever, and possibly even more aloof than before. Lisa told herself that she didn’t really care about that, but still, it would have been nice to think what they’d endured together had meant something.
Tessa was right about the pressure Lisa was under, and they couldn’t hold elections for city council soon enough. Cooper had executed the entirety of the old city council on his way to seizing control.
With the exception of one man: Councilman Leonardo Fiore had not been executed, which Lisa found highly suspicious. It probably meant he’d been corrupted by Daybreak all along, but there was no actual proof of that—just some pretty damning reports of special treatment during Cooper’s occupation.
I guess I should just be grateful that the drug problem isn’t likely to resurface anytime soon.
Tessa had her own view on that, of course.
“The drugs will come back,” she said. “They’re a factor in every human society. Besides, Darkstream needs them around, so that they can continue policing the populace. Controlling them.”
That had made Lisa repress a sigh. The star of the company she worked for had certainly fallen somewhat in her eyes, but she still had trouble swallowing Tessa’s endless conspiracy theorizing.
And then, something happened that lent a level of credence to those theories that Lisa would never have anticipated.
Part of repairing the social fabric inside Habitat 2 involved investigating exactly what had led to Daybreak’s insurrection, and then to putting on trial those who’d been involved. It would likely take months, but she figured that to properly recover from the crisis, they had to figure out exactly what had happened.
To speed up that process a little, she floated the prospect of leniency for any prisoner that offered information that either led to a conviction or was judged significant in uncovering the truth.
She wasn’t sure how well that would work, since she didn’t have the authority to decide on how much leniency could actually be given, or whether any could be given at all. A message she’d sent to Valhalla requesting guidance on the matter had not yet received a reply.
So it surprised her when one of the prisoners came forward, a man named Samuel Dalton, almost immediately.
He claimed to be a high-ranking member of Daybreak, and citizen reports seemed to confirm that—he’d been seen giving orders and generally bossing around some of the Daybreak underlings.
The guards brought the man before Lisa in shackles, inside her temporary office in the Constable Station near the center of town.
“Well?” she said, eyebrows raised, trying for a mix of skepticism and cool disinterest.
“Darkstream willingly allowed the takeover by Daybreak,” he said. “Encouraged it, even.”
That shattered Lisa’s mask of detachment. She furrowed her brow and stared at the man. “Why would they do that?”
“Because they knew Daybreak would take away everyone’s assets, along with their rights. They’d be slaves, basically, and that’s what they were until you came back here with those savages.”
Lisa’s head jerked back, as though she’d been slapped. What the man had just told her almost perfectly mirrored what Tessa had said on the day all of this had happened.
That doesn’t make it true, she tried to tell herself.
But the thought rang hollow, and she began to sense that something fundamental had changed in her little world. Something that couldn’t be repaired or put back in place.
Chapter 58
Retreat
Bronson lent his full approval to Gabe’s crusade against the Quatro dens, sending most of Plenitos’ garrison to accompany Oneiri Team, along with what remained of the reserve force the company had sent down the space elevator. The captain also gave command of the battalion to Gabe, given Clifford’s death.
The fact that Plenitos was being left with a skeleton force of defenders bothered Gabe, on some level. It reminded him too much of Northshire.
But on another, more immediate level, he couldn’t care less. The extermination of the Quatro was what mattered, and everything else was subordinate to that.
Everything.
The entrance to the Quatro tunnels was comprised of solid rock, and too tiny for the mechs to enter. They might have blasted it wider, but the claustrophobic conditions persisted for half a kilometer, and it would have taken them days to finish the job, possibly weeks.
The tunnels probably narrow again farther in, anyway.
It didn’t matter. Each member of Oneiri was trained in every weapon Darkstream had ever made, along with several it hadn’t. If the lucid network was good for anything, it was that. Preparing players in the basics of combat, priming them for being trained and molded by the company later.
In particular, Oneiri had focused on drilling dozens of scenarios it was likely to encounter on the surface of Eresos, over and over again, until they were etched into the surface of their brains. As a result, t
heir instincts would guide them through much of any engagement, and training and conditioning would see them through the rest.
So when Gabe ordered his pilots out of their mechs, no one complained. No one even blinked.
They’re ready. After Ingress and Plenitos, he doubted there was much they weren’t ready for, actually.
The dead Force Multipliers had left behind plenty of weaponry, with which he outfitted his team now. Shotguns for Marco and Beth, assault rifles for Gabe, Ash, and Jake, a flamethrower for Richaud, and a heavy machine gun and tripod for Tommy and Henrietta to operate.
Hopefully we won’t have cause to set that up. It would mean they were in the direst of straits, and frankly, Gabe did not expect to enter those.
Most of the Quatro are already dead. They have to be, after the battles we just waged.
Either way, the heavy machine gun was the most powerful artillery Darkstream had signed off on for this mission. Mortar shells would be useless in the caves. Rocket launchers and grenade launchers were invitations for friendly fire. And fuel air explosives…
Well, they weren’t approved for use at all anymore. They’d been meant for clearing out the Quatro en masse, before any of Darkstream’s noncombat personnel had colonized Eresos. The same personnel who had later mostly quit the company to become the planet’s citizens, unaffiliated with their former employer, except via the equipment they leased.
Now that Eresos was more heavily populated, the Darkstream board considered the use of fuel air bombs too…“sensitive for the current environment,” was how Gabe remembered it being put.
Oneiri Team led the way into the tunnels, scouting ahead for the rest of the force. They were the best-trained and best-prepared out of everyone on the mission.
And yet, outside of his mech, Gabe felt incredibly vulnerable. Incredibly small.
Not to mention, he suddenly felt somewhat divided about what he was about to do.
There’s no going back now, he told himself. This isn’t the time to cut and run. You’re the one who orchestrated this. See it to the end.
Remember Jess, he told himself.
He did. And he advanced.
His body was somewhat stiff as he did, probably from being inside his mech for so long. He tried to work it out as he walked, as best he could, taking overlong strides to stretch his muscles a bit.
The implants had night vision capability, obviating the need for lights. The Quatro would have no warning. And Oneiri would give no quarter.
Tommy and Henrietta were on point. At the first sight of Quatro, they would begin setting up their tripod and gun while the others charged ahead to engage, seeking to push the aliens back. If things went south, they could fall back behind the heavy machine gun, which would tear the beasts to shreds.
The tunnel they walked along continued for fifteen minutes without splitting, and barely changing direction by more than a few degrees here and there.
“Contact!” Tommy shouted after twenty-five minutes of walking along the same tunnel, his voice cracking, and he began fumbling with the tripod.
Gabe, Jake, and Ash surged forward, raising their SL-17s to sight along the barrels, firing at a pair of Quatro standing side-by-side fifteen meters in. The gun muzzles flashed, creating a strobing effect in the gloom.
Nothing happened. The Quatro stood there, completely immobile.
“Wait,” Jake said. “Are they, like, statues?”
They weren’t. A series of clattering noises followed, which Gabe quickly realized was the sound of bullets falling to the rock.
Then the Quatro took a step forward in tandem. Another.
“Fire!” Gabe yelled, and they did again, all three of them sending a volley of lead directly at the aliens.
Again, nothing. Again, the bullets hit the ground with dozens of clinking noises.
The Quatro stepped forward.
Suddenly, Gabe’s gun was wrenched from his grasp, and so were Ash’s and Jake’s. The weapons flew through the air toward the Quatro, disappearing into the dark behind them.
Then the aliens charged.
“Back!” Gabe barked. “Fall back behind the tripod! Tomlinson and Jin, prepare to fire!”
They retreated behind the heavy machine gun, which commenced its staccato roar, a blinding starburst spouting from its muzzle.
The effect was exactly the same, with the Quatro continuing their charge. One of the aliens pulled ahead of the other, reaching Tommy to swat his face with a paw larger than the boy’s head.
Tommy flew into the tunnel wall, neck twisted at an unnatural angle, staring back at the rest of his team, rivulets of blood dividing his face into vertical segments.
“Retreat!” Gabe screamed over the battalion-wide channel, running from the Quatro as fast as his stiff body permitted. “Everyone out of the tunnel, now! Get out! Get out!”
Chapter 59
Quadruped
Gabe was one of the last to rush out of the tunnel mouth—not due to some valiant instinct, but only to his position in line.
His breathing came out hot and ragged, and his innards felt like they were vibrating. Without the mech dream separating him from the world, he’d been completely certain he was going to die down there.
If I’m being honest, I have no idea why I didn’t.
“Get into some kind of formation,” he ordered over the wide channel. “Prepare to send everything we have against those Quatro.”
For his part, he made a beeline for his mech, using his implant to send it his unique signature. It detached its back, lowering it to form a ramp for him to climb.
He reached into the mech, groped the pocket just inside and to the right, and sighed with relief when he found the sedative he used to enter the dream and control his machine.
Popping it, he climbed into the claustrophobic confines of the mech, trying not to let the closeness increase his sense of panic.
At last, he slipped into lucid, and a dream-replica of the world replaced reality.
In that dream-replica, Gabe became his mech once more. Its limbs were his limbs, and so was its bristling artillery.
But the tunnel mouth remained empty. The Quatro did not pursue them onto Eresos’ surface.
Why didn’t our bullets affect them? The Quatro are invincible!
But invincible or not, the aliens did not emerge.
All of Oneiri were inside their mechs now, pacing back and forth in front of the tunnel mouth, but always facing it.
Their confidence had returned, now that they had resumed control of their mechanized colossi, and they positioned themselves between the tunnel and the rest of the battalion, ready to protect their fellow soldiers from whatever the Quatro had become.
Still nothing. Why don’t they come?
“What happened to Tommy?” Richaud asked.
“The Quatro got him,” Henrietta said, her voice quavering slightly. “One swipe was all it took.”
Richaud shook his head, silent.
“Sir?” Jake said.
Gabe turned to look at him, and when he did, he found Price facing away from the tunnel. Following the seaman apprentice’s gaze to the horizon, he saw…
Nothing.
“What is it, Price?”
“I—maybe it’s nothing. I thought—”
Something streaked across the sky, toward the surface of the planet, and when it met the horizon there was a brief, faint glow before darkness returned.
“There!” Price said. “That was it.”
Another meteorite fell as he said it, and then another. Except, these did not behave like regular meteorites. A fourth fell, much closer, and this time it was followed by a rumble that Gabe felt from inside his mech, from within the dream.
“They look like they’re coming down pretty close. Think we should check it out, sir?”
“Yeah,” Gabe said. “Just you and me. You others, stay here and guard the tunnel mouth. Notify me immediately if you detect any movement at all.”
“Yes, sir,”
his team responded in rough unison.
Gabe and Price loped toward the low hill where the meteorites had seemed to fall, not saying anything else, both presumably lost in their thoughts.
Eresos’ landscape sped by, and it occurred to Gabe that he was finally starting to take it for granted—even the weird, leafless trees, and maybe even that constant mildew smell.
Maybe this was home.
Or maybe it’s just a suitable place to fight the Quatro till I find an early grave.
At the top of the grassy hill, they found a wide area that had been flattened, and at its center was a perfectly circular crater, no doubt caused by one of the things that had fallen.
Adjusting his night vision and using his implant to magnify his sight, Gabe studied the spherical object lying in the exact middle of the fresh crater.
He approached it.
“Sir, do you really think…?”
Price trailed off, probably after realizing Gabe intended to continue ignoring him. When he reached the sphere, which was easily five meters across, he noticed several crescent-shaped crevices. He stuck his hand into one, tugging at it, but not expecting it to do anything.
So it surprised him a fair bit when something did happen.
“Sir, get back! It’s opening up!”
Gabe didn’t need to be told twice. He danced back, then leapt backward into the air, coming to land on the rim of the crater beside Price.
“Is that…?” Price trailed off again, apparently hesitant to classify the object that the sphere had opened to reveal.
The surface of that object was very similar to that of the Gatherers, of the Amblers…
And of the mech Price and his father had found on that comet.
In fact, it clearly was a mech. But just as clearly, it was not one that had been designed for human use.
“Quadruped,” Gabe muttered, his voice hoarse. “Someone built this for the Quatro to use.”
“Who’s sending these here?” Jake wondered aloud. He clearly didn’t expect an answer.
Which was good, because Gabe didn’t have one for him.
“Could it be a species that lives in one of the nearby star systems?” Jake went on.
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