by Alex Kings
“Sit down, wherever is fine. Would any of you like tea?” She smiled apologetically at Yilva. “I'm afraid we're not really equipped for Petaurs. Is there anything human I can get you?”
“Oh, wow, uh, I'm fine really,” said Yilva. She scampered onto one of the chairs and glanced at the titles of the books on the shelf.
“The rest of you?”
“We're good, thank you,” Hanson said.
“As you wish,” said Orlov. “I'm having one, though.” She retrieved a tray from a space under the desk, and filled a blue and white ceramic cup from a teapot. When she was finished, she came and settled down on a chair opposite the rest of them. “What can I do for you?”
Hanson leaned forward and handed the piece of metal with the code stamped onto it. “Am I right in thinking this comes from Iona?”
Orlov, having taken a pair of narrow reading glasses from her suit and put them them on, peered at the piece of metal. She turned it over one, then checked the code again, frowning. “You are,” she said. “It's from one of our micro-factories, though I couldn't say offhand which one.” She handed the piece of metal back to Hanson and sat back to take her teacup from the table. “We make a lot of goods that are shipped off-world nowadays. You can look up this code on any of our terminals to find the micro-factory it comes from. I don't know if it'll be any help, but you're free to investigate there if it suits your purpose.”
“I'd appreciate that,” said Hanson. “And, actually, there's something else I'm curious about. The hospital you have set up … it seems rather large for a colony this size.”
“Ah, yes,” said Orlov. “I suppose the details of our history don't get out much. About seven years ago, some of our people started falling ill to a disease we couldn't identify. It didn't have a high mortality rate. It wasn't decimating the colony. But it was worrying us. After we asked for help, a science team from IL came to investigate. They managed to trace the disease to a mutated form of the Artifex Scaphidium virus that had been on the original colony ship.”
Hanson knew about Artifex Scaphidium. Its history was taught in every Alliance education course: An artificial virus created by biohackers a little over a hundred years ago, using genes from Ebola and a few other nasty strains. Very dangerous. Used in several terrorist attacks. A subject of intense medical research until it was finally eradicated thirty years ago.
Orlov continued: “The mutated form wasn't dangerous, like I said. But it was still a concern. It was immune to all the vaccines that stopped the original. So IL asked us if they could set up a lab on Iona to research to virus and find a way to eradicate it. In return, they built the hospital to deal with all the cases, and gave us a lot of infrastructure investment. Iona would be a lot poorer without them.”
“There's an IL lab on Iona?” said Hanson.
“About two miles south of here,” said Orlov.
“Is there any chance we could get a look at it?”
“I don't think so …” said Orlov, frowning. “Formally, the base belongs to IL, not Iona. It's beyond my jurisdiction. A lot of the stuff there is proprietary, a matter of corporate security, that sort of thing.” Orlov shrugged. “It's the one part of the deal I'm not happy with. But they help support the colony, and it's a big planet, so I can't really complain.”
Hanson nodded. “I understand. The micro-factory should be enough.”
“Glad I could help,” said Orlov. “Come back if you need anything else.”
“Of course,” said Hanson. “Thank you.”
As they left the offices, Moore said, “I assume, sir, we're all on the same page?”
“Secret medical lab,” said Hanson. “On the planet where bizarre clones are being shipped from? I'd say it's a pretty safe bet.”
Just outside the offices, there was a set of public computer terminals. Hanson did a quick search for the code he'd found. The micro-factory of origin seemed to be based in Columborough, one of the smaller settlements a few hundred miles to the east. He was just about the set in for another trip when he found something else:
There was a shipment of goods from that particular micro-factory, along with half a dozen others, stopping at Iona City in less than half an hour. There they would be loaded onto a hovercraft.
The hovercraft's destination: IL Lab.
“There,” he said, showing his team. “That's the lead.” He thought for a moment. “Okay, here's the plan. Agatha and I will go down to the hovercraft port and wait to see what's on this shipment. The rest of you, I want you to go and look around the hospital.”
“Anything in particular?” said Moore.
“The hospital and the lab are both IL. They probably use the same security protocols. Yilva, I want to pay close attention there, see if there's any way we could get around the security systems.”
Yilva nodded sharply. “Sure. Good! Let's do that.”
“Okay,” said Hanson. “We meet outside the hospital in one hour. Move out.”
Chapter 35: Hovercraft Melancholy
The hovercraft port was an open grassy place interrupted by broad steel platforms with cranes. Three of the large, squat vehicles sat beside the platforms with the matte-black carbon fibre skirts deflated beneath them like old balloons. Off in the distance, Hanson could see a concrete ramp leading into the sea.
In ten minutes, the shipment would arrive from the monorail to be loaded onto one of the waiting hovercraft.
Hanson stood on a platform at the edge of the port where he could see the whole port without looking too conspicuous.
Beside him, Agatha sat on the edge of the platform, dangling her feet over the ground a metre and half below. She sneezed, sniffled loudly, and finally blew her nose on something she fished from her pocket.
“What?” she said, dropping the impromptu tissue on the ground. “Just hayfever.”
“You have hayfever and you asked to come outside on a colony planet?” said Hanson.
“Yeah.” Agatha grinned at him, then held up a case of small pills. “Don't worry. It'll be gone in a minute. Not gonna screw up a shot by sneezing or anything, if that's what you're worried about.”
Hanson shook his head and scanned the port in front of him again. “So what's the issue between you and Srak?”
Agatha looked up at him. It was some time before she spoke. “You noticed that, did you?”
“It was hard to miss.”
“Damnit. I don't know, do I? Just, since getting back from the Afanc, it's …” She gave him a suspicious look. “Why do you care, anyway?”
“Shouldn't I? For the moment, at least, you're on my team. If something's on your mind it makes you less effective.”
“Yeah, there is that. But still, I dunno.”
“Srak wasn't happy about what happened on the Afanc,” offered Hanson.
“Yeah, I know. But he's not me. It's a bitch that people had to die, but it was the only way out of there, wasn't it?” Agatha paused to sneeze, then went on. “Really, I dunno. I'm not very complex. I like shooting at stuff, I like blowing stuff up, I like sunshine. I don't like being bored. That's it.”
“Right,” said Hanson. He looked away over at the port.
After a few seconds, Agatha said, “What do you mean right?”
“Just that,” Hanson said idly. “Right. That's all there is to you.”
Agatha climbed to her feet and paced back and forth across the platform a few times. “Vance,” she said at last. “That was it. And I don't mean killing him. That's not it.”
“Then what is?”
“I never liked the bastard. But I realised on the way back … slimy as he was, he was the once person on the whole bloody Afanc I thought maybe – maybe – I could rely on. My whole life, and apart from Srak, that slimy bastard was the closest thing I had to a friend. How fucked up is that?” She sighed and scraped the tip of her boot across the surface of the platform. “Now Srak's worried about the Afanc, and I'm not. I'm worried about all this shit and he's not. So it looks like maybe I can
't even rely on that friendship.”
Hanson put a hand on her shoulder.
“Okay,” said Agatha. “It's cool. Got it all out now. I don't need a pep speech.”
“Are you sure? Can we get this job done”
“Trust me,” said Agatha. “I'm good at this stuff.”
Hanson, checking the port again, noticed a few workers had come onto one of the platforms. A few seconds later one of the cranes activated. It swung about as something was rolled onto the platform.
The cargo was out of site as the workers connected it to the crane. Hanson only got a good look at it as the loaded crane turned slowly back across the port. It looked at first like a regularly patterned cuboid – then he saw what it was made of.
A block of stasis pods.
They were lying on their backs, held together by hair-thin nanotube wires. Empty, by the look of it. But the amount … Hanson counted the edges when he got a good view. Four by eight by ten. Three hundred and twenty pods.
These weren't just a few super-soldiers. This could be the beginnings of any army.
The crane lowered its cargo through he open roof doors of one of the hovercraft, then swung back. It returned with a second batch of cargo.
“If you wanna stow away and get a ride to the lab, now would be a good time,” said Agatha.
“No,” said Hanson. “We'd be picked up the moment we got there. We need a plan from Yilva before we go anywhere.”
Once the second pod was stowed in the hovercraft, the roof doors closed. With a soft roar, the skirt of the hovercraft inflated. The turbines on its roof spun up. The hovercraft glided backwards out of of the port, turned, and headed off across the grass plains.
Hanson watched it recede. “Come on,” he said. “Let's go.”
Chapter 36: The Zephyr
Mr. Bell scrolled through the reports on his tablet. The Afanc was all but lost. The little civil war that had erupted there had nearly come to a conclusion, with the Shrikes pulling out. The Dauntless had escaped intact with the datachip.
And he'd lost his office.
Right now he was in a poky little room, coloured gunmetal grey, aboard the Zephyr. The escape had been far too close for comfort.
At least, he though, it confirmed his belief that it always paid to have a backup plan. The shield in his office and a getaway ship on constant alert had seemed a bit indulgent when he first set them up in case the Glaber turned on him. But they'd proven their worth.
An incoming message appeared on his tablet. He stopped looking at the reports and pulled up the message.
It was from the outpost in Iona. He felt a chill go through him as he read it.
The Dauntless had been spotted in orbit. Heavily damaged, yes, but still intact.
This was his chance. Quite probably his last chance. If Captain Hanson learned what was happening in the lab, that was it. He would have enough evidence to ruin them. But if Mr. Bell could get there first and get the datachip, that was enough.
First, he activated the comms and told Zephyr's captain, “Change of plan. Start plotting a new jump – I want to go to Iona. And prepare a high-stealth shuttle.”
“Yes, sir,” said the captain.
Next, he turned back to his tablet and called up Sruthur.
After an annoyingly long delay, the hive-leaders snarling face appeared on his tablet.
“What is it?” hissed Sruthur. He looked even more pissed off than usual. Not surprising, given the Shrikes's defeat on the Afanc
Mr. Bell wasn't sympathetic: “We've seen the Dauntless. It's in orbit around Iona. I want you to meet us in-system. Jump in outside a gas giant to hide your arrival. Here are the co-ordinates.”
“Bell,” said Sruthur. “When we began our alliance, you promised us dominion over the galaxy. Since them, our power has diminished. We have lost the Afanc! If we lose any more, I will have to reconsider out alliance.”
Mr. Bell stared at the Glaber for a second before putting a broad smile on face. “I'm sure it won't come to that, Sruthur. Do you know why? Because this time I don't want armies of your minions swarming over Iona. I want you to go down there yourself and show me some of those legendary fighting skills you've been bragging about.”
Sruthur clicked his teeth faintly.
“And if we fail in this task, I'll be happy to renegotiate our alliance with your successor. Do you understand.”
Sruthur snarled. “We will meet in the system, and I will kill the crew of the Dauntless as you ask.”
“Good man,” said Bell. “Now hurry.” He cut the signal.
Finally, he sent a reply to the lab at Iona: “Begin loading the freighter. Prepare for take-off asap. Set aside three blanks and prepare them for combat.”
Now he just needed to find a way to keep Hanson busy until everything was in place.
Chapter 37: Look Out the Window
Hanson and Agatha were waiting outside the hospital when Moore, Saito, and Yilva came out.
“What did you find?” asked Hanson.
“They've got stasis pods in there,” said Moore. “A set of twenty. I asked, and they said the pods were used for the worst cases of the mutated Scaphidium while they tried the antivirals. Better than putting the patients in a coma, apparently.”
“If we only had to deal with twenty,” Hanson said. “I just saw a set of over six hundred heading out to the IL lab.”
“Christ,” said Moore. She frowned. “I'd guess using them in the hospital is just a cover story, then. They asked the colonists to build these things, and told them it was for their own good.”
“Seems likely,” said Hanson. He turned to Yilva. “Any luck?”
Yilva gave him a big grin. Her pink tail flicked about excitedly. “Oh, yeah I think so!”
“You think?”
“The top level is private,” said Yilva. “I've got a nanofilm to skim the details of all the access cards used to get in. It'll download the information to my tablet. The thing is, we'll only have as good a security clearance as the people who use the top level hospital. The people with the highest clearance probably spend most of their time in the lab and never come to the hospital. We won't have that.”
“It's a start,” said Hanson. “What about getting close to the compound?”
“That's part two,” said Yilva, still smiling. “An advanced lidar system will see through our level of stealth. So we get the lidar to ignore us. Yeah! The nanofilm I mentioned? It also dumps a small computer program onto the card in question. They take that back to the facility, and when they're close enough the program downloads into the local network with all the securities. It adds an exception to the expert system running the lidar. If we transmit the right signal, it'll see us – then classify us as 'nothing interesting'. It won't alert any of the staff. We can fly right up to the door undetected.”
“They could look out the window,” said Agatha.
“Yeah, well …” Yilva shrugged. “We just have to take a gamble, I guess? Internal sensors are all run by AI – if we disable that, no-one will notice for a while. Anyway, we still have to wait for the right someone to visit the hospital and get back to the lab. I don't know how long that'll take.”
“Let's hope sooner rather than later,” said Hanson. “Good job, Yilva. Tell me as soon as we have an opening.”
“Will do!” Yilva ruffled her skin flaps, looking pleased with herself.
While they waited, Hanson decided to head back to the shuttle. If nothing else it would help to have Srak know they hadn't forgotten him. On the way he activated his comms: “Hanson to Dauntless.”
“Lanik here. I hope things are going well planetside, sir.”
“For the moment,” said Hanson. “It's actually a little worrying. Normally I've had to shoot at something by this point.”
“Don't worry, sir,” said Lanik. “I'm sure all hell will break loose soon.”
Hanson smiled faintly to himself. “Speaking of which,” he said. “We've got news of a facility on the planet
. A lab. I've seen over six hundred stasis pods heading that way. We're planning to break in there soon. I'd like you to scan the facility from orbit, get as much detail as you can, and transmit the information from the shuttle. A map of the surrounding area would be helpful too. It's twenty miles south of Iona City, apparently. That's all we know for the moment.”
“Yes, sir. We'll begin the scan now. You should have the map soon.”
“And Lanik, there's something else.”
“It's looking like IL is involved. I suspect they may be our main guys. Even if they're not, they're involved at a deep level.”
“The corporation?”
“Yes. It tracks everything we've seen so far. Yilva said they're throwing around money but want to keep themselves hidden. We've seen they seem to represent human interests. We've seen they have influence around the admiralty board. It all tracks. I think we might have enough to open the conspiracy at this point – I'm transmitting everything I've learned down here to the Dauntless. If things go bad when we look around the facility, I want you to get out of here and spread this information as far and as wide as you can. Just reporting it won't be enough. But if you do that, we might have a chance of ending this conspiracy.”
“Let's hope it doesn't come to that, sir,” said Lanik.
“Let's hope. Hanson out.”
Hanson signed off his call. Almost immediately after, the Dauntless called him back. It was Miller on the line. “We just got a call from Mayor Orlov. She says she wants to speak to you ASAP.”
Hanson came a halt. “Bloody hell,” he said before transmitting. Then: “Okay. Tell her I'm on my way.”
Chapter 38: Not Yet
When Hanson was shown into her room, Orlov was sitting on her usual chair with a half-empty cup in front of her.
“Captain Hanson,” she said. “Sit, please.”
