‘Not if you don’t fly in, ma’am. It is aerial defense; she cannot depress it down far enough to reach ground forces. Of course she may have other weaponry I am not aware of.’
‘I’m glad we got those new shields,’ Kambisha said. She studied the map. ‘How about air and such?’
‘Air and gravity are standard norm, though you’ll probably notice the smell of sulfur; temperature around fifteen degrees norm, no unusual microbial life forms, humidity lesser than average, time just past midnight on a 26-hour day; weather is dry. It is dark at the location, this world has no moon.’
‘Thank you,’ Kambisha said. ‘Ram, get your squad ready.’ She checked her belt; her knives, the Dregh paralyzer and her saber were all there. ‘Emma, Captain Unnaerd; if any one of you notices anything, call me.’
‘Good luck,’ Unnaerd said soberly.
She nodded and smiled, then joined the eight Marines at the open airlock. ‘Ready?’
Ram saluted, and without another word, they rode down shielded. It was indeed dark, far darker than they were used to
We need something to make us see at night, she thought. Not a magelight; something that doesn’t betray us to the enemy.
‘There’s a building,’ Ram said, pointing at a square mass even darker than the surrounding landscape.
Kambisha raised her hand and then brought it down. She dove and all followed her to a rocky field with sparse grass and knee-high berry bushes. She sent out her senses, searching for life, but there wasn’t anything around more advanced than a mouse.
She turned her attention to the building. It was three stories high, built in that typically Moi mixture of stateliness and strangely modern simplicity. Its windows were narrow slits, perhaps more to let in some air than that depressing orange daylight.
Clacath Hall, a sign over the entrance said. The sagging doors were open, but it was too dark to see anything inside.
‘We should be at the outer ring of buildings,’ she said. ‘This place could be a students’ dormitory.’
‘Here’s a lane of sorts,’ Ram said and she nodded. The map had shown the outlines of a road, both connecting the concentric circles and cutting straight through them to the Institute’s center. It was there, and in better condition than you’d expect after the gods know how long a period of neglect.
SPLAT!
She rocked on her heels and couldn’t stop a cry as a beam of something splashed against her shield to form a sizzling puddle on the road. ‘What the heck?’
‘It looked like a bird,’ Techneer Donoan said. ‘At least something flying; it happened too fast to see it well.’
Kambisha took a deep breath to steady herself. ‘Birds spitting energy beams? Some metabolism!’
‘It wasn’t alive,’ Healer Thon said. ‘Whatever it was, it was not an animal.’
‘It leaves a stain on my shield,’ Kambisha said. ‘I never seen anything do that before.’
‘Maybe it’s some kind of corrosive,’ Donoan said. ‘We better watch out, or we’ll all have holes in our shields.’
One of the Marines jumped, slapping at something with his saber. ‘Gotcha!’ He crouched down, poking at something, and Kambisha joined him.
‘Well done!’ she said.
‘I dunno what I got. I thought it was a bat, it bein’ so silent-like. But it’s not.’
‘It’s some sort of servor,’ Donoan said. ‘A flying servor with a built-in beam gun.’ He picked it up and put it in his backpack. ‘Interesting.’
‘Killer!’ a voice cried, and another beam caught the techneer in the back. He stumbled and cursed.
‘Where is it?’ A Marine peered round with his own beam gun in the hand. ‘I’ll show ‘im how a beam feels.’
‘You won’t get far, you villains!’ the voice shouted. ‘My brave defenders will stop you, Dreghs. You must be Dreghs... Mustn’t you? Die!’
‘We are no Dreghs,’ Kellani said. ‘We come to help you.’
‘False! You come to kill and rob! I know!’ The voice sounded both mad and scared.
‘Come,’ Kambisha said. ‘Let’s hurry. Before more of those flying things come.’
They hurried on, following the crumbling road deeper into the complex. Soon they passed through a corridor between two massive buildings. On both sides were high transparent walls, connected by open walkways twenty feet over their heads. Inside was darkness and Kambisha only vaguely saw what could be desks and chairs.
‘I’m sure it’s very modern and beautiful,’ Donoan said. ‘But in this orange darkness it’s the heck creepy.’
Kambisha agreed. There was a special sort of nightmarishness to this world that gave her goosebumps.
One of the Marines pointed upward with his gun. ‘Ram, I thought I saw a shadow move.’
‘I don’t see anything,’ Ram said. ‘Let’s just be ve-ery careful.’
Nothing happened as they passed underneath the first footbridge. They walked cautiously on, peering left and right into the gloom, when suddenly an orange light illuminated them.
‘Trapped!’ the voice cried. ‘I got you now, dastardly intruding Cra! They are Cra, aren’t they? Shoot! Shoot!’
Six bright beams came down, and several Marines tumbled down from the force of the hit.
Kambisha had her paralyzer out and sprayed shadows on one footbridge. Behind her, several Marines fired at targets on the other one, and a heavy thud followed.
‘Down and out,’ Ram said grimly. ‘Don’t try this stuff on the Realm Marines, you stupid things!’ He watched his downed men scramble to their feet. ‘No one hurt?’
‘Me pride,’ a Marine said. ‘Cursed machines.’
‘What?’ Kambisha turned and hurried over to the body fallen from overhead.
‘He’s right, it is a machine,’ Donoan said. ‘Not a servor, an automaton, like those the Qoori make. Funny, it doesn’t look like a soldier or a guard.’
‘You killed them!’ the voice cried. ‘You killed my assistants! Ooh, you terrible criminals!’
‘Stop fighting us,’ Kambisha snapped. ‘We are Realmfleet, come to help you, Polymatech.’
‘No! You are robbers! You want to steal my knowledge. You won’t get it! You won’t!’
‘Check your meters, Polymatech. How do they read? How do you feel? You need servicing! You of all people should know that!’
‘No! I’m fine! I’m... fine. You just want to hurt me. Go away; leave me alone.’
‘You will die if we can’t help you,’ Kambisha said. She motioned to the others to follow her. ‘Your fluid must be green by now. Can you reach your own mechanisms?’
‘No!’ the voice screamed. ‘I cannot! Only my servor control. I can fight! You hear! I–can–fight.’
‘You sound out of breath,’ Kambisha said remorselessly. ‘You’re spending far too much power. Stop resisting. We’re almost at your door. Lower your screen and let us in.’
‘No!’ the voice yelled. ‘I will not!’
‘You must! Lower your screens! Let us help you!’
‘Oh my people, why have you deserted me?’ the voice wailed. ‘Ranlarn, Techneer Hawi, where are you? Why am I all alone?’
‘You’re not alone, Polymatech. I am Kambisha; I am here to help you. Techneer Donoan is here with me, and Healer Thon. Lieutenant Dram and his guys are here. Emma, the brain person of Lin-Gor 9, she is here with her captain and crew. We all came to help you. You are not alone. But you must let us in; we cannot help you here.’
‘I will not! I will end it all; the suffering, the horror! I will call the ship. BOOM!’
The brain giggled and Kambisha felt her blood run cold. ‘Emma! Is there a ship around?’
‘Not orbital, ma’am. I... Yes! There is! It was parked on the next planet’s moon, but it launched. Shall I shoot it down?’
‘No; I’m coming up.’ She turned to Ram. ‘You guys stay here. I must see to that ship. Donoan, you and Thon take care of the brain.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ the tech said.
‘All right; Lieutenant Ram, try to get into the main building and reach the brain. If you guys can heal her, do so. If not, wait for me.’ Then she ported to Lin-Gor’s bridge. ‘Where is that ship?’
‘Coming in on her engine,’ Emma said. ‘She’s A-Di 14, a very old frigate.’
‘Doesn’t look all that spaceworthy, with her airlock open,’ Captain Unnaerd added.
‘What?’ Kambisha turned to the viewscreen. ‘Show me that shot of the door, as large as possible.’
The side of the old ship filled the screen, and the airlock was clearly visible with all markings and damages of its many centuries.
‘Got it,’ she said. ‘I’m going to port.’
‘On a screen shot?’ Unnaerd said, aghast.
‘It was a clear and current sight,’ Kambisha said. ‘I’ll call you when I’m inside.’ Then she shielded up and ported.
Her heart hammered in her throat as she came out and saw the walls of the other ship’s airlock around her. She had never tried this before, and though she was sure it would work, her queasy stomach had been less convinced. She hurried away to the bridge; the ship was entering the atmosphere, and her time was shortening rapidly.
‘A-Di,’ she said. ‘Change of Command.’ She gave the code.
‘I hear,’ the ship said slowly, as if she hadn’t spoken for ages. ‘Prepare for impact.’
Through a side window she saw the Institute’s main building coming rapidly closer. ‘Port away!’ she yelled, as the ground was very near now. ‘Port away!’
‘Comply.’
Darkness took a long time.
‘Where are we, A-Di?’ Kambisha said, breathing deeply to steady her racing heart. Gods, that was close!
A bit unsteadily, she walked to the large windows over the control panel. Outside was a frozen world, blindingly white in the light of a bright sun.
‘Entrallen, Captain. Such was my next destination.’ The voice sounded ancient. A-Di 14... She remembered Athelstan mentioning the frigate that let the Dreghs escape their world. It had been the A-Ba; this ship must be about as old. Built centuries before the Realm, and still active!
She turned her mind to the world outside. Entrallen; she had never heard of the place.
‘Do you have any data of the planet? What are your orders?’
‘No data, Captain. My orders state I am to land, wait for passengers and then go on to Moigar.’
‘You suffered damage; can you still operate?’
‘Affirmative.’
‘How are your energy reserves? Can you handle another port?’
‘Affirmative.’
She let out a long sigh. ‘Change of destination. Do you have the coordinates of Firstworld, Flor 3?’
‘Negative.’
‘How can I add them to your memory?’
‘Through the keyboard on the captain’s console, ma’am.’
Kambisha went to the worn command chair and sat down. Quickly she typed the coordinates of Realmport. ‘Do you read these?’
‘Yes, ma’am. It is quite a distance away, but I should make it. Do you want to go there now?’
‘I will check out this place we are first,’ Kambisha said. She hurried back to the open door. Outside was snow; not the ankle-high bit Kell got in winter, but three feet or more. The sun was a yellow dwarf like Firstworld’s own, much farther away yet very bright.
There were some buildings with round roofs, looking like beehives covered with snow. One of them was bigger, and it was there Kambisha rode her broom. The sky was a clear, harsh blue and her shield isolated her from what must be a deadly cold environment.
The door to the main building was frozen shut, but after a brief heat spell it opened with the sound of breaking ice. Inside was a hall like usual, on a much smaller scale.
‘Anyone home?’ Kambisha called.
‘Entrallen 5 Station,’ a voice said. ‘This is a recording. We are out of energy. Recalled to Moigar, but the ship never came. Nor did any new supplies. Our Moigar patrons abandoned us. My clan kin all died when our power ran out last night; even we can’t stand minus a hundred-odd degrees. I was unlucky and survived. Now I will go out and see how it is with the children in the Uphill Hold. Then I, too, will die. May the spirits of the ice have mercy upon our souls.’
Kambisha entered the code to the brain’s cellar and with every ounce of her strength managed to get the hatch door open. She went down in icy darkness and switched on her belt light. One glance told her the brain was dead, frozen solid inside its fluid.
‘Cursed luck!’ Then she hurried back to the hall. She searched the backrooms and found a row of mummified, icy statues.
She went back to the ship. ‘Emma? Do you read me?’
Across the lightyears came a cry of relief. ‘Admiral! Oh, dear! Where are you?’
‘Entrallen; A-Di’s next port of call. It is an ice world. The station here ran out of energy; no survivors. How are things with you?’
‘Lieutenant Ram took the building; Healer Thon got the brain cleaned up, and we found half of the Institute’s people in stasis below. I’m about to take them aboard and bring them to Realmport. Ma’am, have you checked your ship?’
She hadn’t, actually. ‘No. Why?’
‘Cury, the Institute brain person, said there were people on your ship as well. She... loaded the ones that wanted to go to Moigar into A-Di, put them asleep and parked them on the next planet’s satellite. She didn’t want to lose her best brains for a whim, she said. I am not sure she was fully sane to begin with, so Captain Unnaerd and I contacted Realmport. Gunild sent Healer Holyn and Brain Techneer Marff. I’m waiting for their verdict.’
‘If they decide Cury isn’t safe in her job, they must act upon it. Put her in stasis until we find another place for her. Maybe one of the outpost operators could replace her,’ Kambisha said. ‘About those other people, wait while I check. A-Di, do you have other passengers on board?’
‘Affirmative,’ the ship’s AI said. ‘Eighty-nine humans are in stasis in hold 2, and all in green.’
‘Emma, you heard? A-Di will take us directly to Realmport; I won’t tax her too much by going to the Institute first. Tell Captain Unnaerd to go home as soon as he is ready.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Emma said.
‘A-Di, port us to the Realmport coordinates I gave you.’
‘Understood. Execute.’
Darkness...
‘Malfunction, malfunction!’ the AI called. ‘Out of drive energy.’
‘Location?’
‘No data.’
‘The passengers?’
‘Switched to emergency power. All green, but no more than twenty minutes’ reserves left.’
‘Gunild? Can you locate me?’
‘Ma’am? Yes, ma’am.’
‘I’m drifting, ship out of power. Twenty minutes stasis left for the passengers; ship has no air.’
‘Emma Lin-Gor just returned. She’ll be with you in a minute.’
Kambisha ran aft to the hold with the sleeping passengers.
‘Admiral, we’re alongside you,’ Emma said.
‘Can you port the ship and all to Realmport like No-R 77 did with that scout ship? I’ll be shielding the passengers.’
‘A-Di isn’t a scout ship,’ Emma said. ‘She’s quite a bit bigger.’ Then she chuckled. ‘But of course I’m not a puny frigate. Let’s go when you’re ready.’
Kambisha enveloped all the bodies in hold 2 in her shield. ‘Ready.’
Shock, darkness... Then all hell broke loose around her. The ship rocked like a runaway broomstick and hull plates groaned under pressures they weren’t designed for. From the bridge came the scream of sirens, and the mechanical voice of the AI shouting, ‘Crashing! Crashing! Cr... Landed.’
‘Still in one piece, A-Di?’ Kambisha called.
‘Yes, ma’am. Multiple breaches of procedure, ma’am. We arrived at our destination. No departure possible without major repairs.’
‘You will get them. Can you
open up the airlock of hold 2?’
‘Negative. You must use the manual override. The red handle over the doors.’
Kambisha ran and yanked the lever down. With a loud screech, the door slid aside and air rushed into the emptiness inside, buffeting her like a major gale. She downed her shield and breathed deeply. ‘Emma? Great job. Thanks, gal!’
‘My pleasure, ma’am.’
‘A-Di? You can switch off the stasis suits.’
‘Comply.’
Then she stepped outside and into Ram’s arms.
‘So you’re telling me we’re a thousand years in the future, the Moi are gone, and you have taken over the Realm?’
The man who confronted Kambisha was a dry fifty-something in a colorful tech suit, his balding head gleaming in the room’s overhead lights.
‘Exactly,’ Kambisha said coolly. The man had interrupted her several times with his inane remarks and she sensed it had nothing to do with shock and all with his own self- importance. ‘The Moi fled back to their own lands. They didn’t spare a thought for those who depended on them—the brain persons running their bases and ships, their trade partners, the colonists who couldn’t evacuate.’
Suddenly she was furiously angry, and she glared at him as she told of the frozen dead at Entrallen. ‘Poor souls waiting for a ship that never came, running out of supplies and finally freezing to death when their shields failed. Because your people fled.’
‘We told you it was a cowardly thing to do, Lord Technor,’ a stout woman said bitterly. ‘We pleaded with you to stay and save our life’s work.’
‘My oaths forbade that, Techneer Hawi,’ the sparse man said stiffly. ‘When the heritor calls, we must obey.’
‘Only it wasn’t him,’ Kambisha said in a hard voice. ‘Based on our information, the heritor either died or disappeared. Then the Cra took over and installed their own man.’
‘There!’ Techneer Hawi said. ‘You obeyed the Cra heritor. Feeling proud now, Lord Technor?’
Before the man could answer, Kambisha lifted a hand.
‘There is no good in recriminating; we must look forward. Our specialists visited the Institute and examined Ms. Cury. They found her fluid mixture was out of balance, which negatively influenced her judgment. With this adjusted, she is well again and busily repairing the damages. In a few weeks all will be as it should, and you can resume your studies and your schooling.’
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