Deep Space Intelligence : Complete Series

by Gary Weston

  ‘I’ll see you all at six.’ She tapped her husband on the shoulder. ‘You. Don’t be late.’

  Miller, Lake and Joy spent another two hours with the digger, making another three feet of continuous trench with still no sign of any connecting tunnels.

  ‘Well,’ said Miller. ‘I think that proves it. The other nest was not made by the same colony.’

  Lake agreed. ‘I’ll just have to think what the implications are. Thanks.’

  ‘Anything to help. We had better go or Mel will chew my ears off. I’ll come back for the digger in the morning.’

  Chapter 15

  ‘Ralph was right about your cooking skills, Mel,’ said Lake. ‘That was a great feed.’

  ‘Not a bad drop of plum wine, either,’ said Joy. ‘I’ll give you a hand clearing up, Mel.’

  The two women gathered the plates and took them to the tiny kitchen, scraping the food scraps to be composted later, the plates and cutlery placed into the zapper to be cleaned.

  ‘So,’ said Melora. ‘Quite dishy, in a serious sort of way.’

  ‘He’s ok, I suppose.’

  Melora filled a jug with more of the plum wine. ‘I saw the way you looked at him. He certainly likes you.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, Mel. Besides….’

  ‘What? He isn’t married, is he? He hasn’t mentioned anyone.’

  Joy said, ‘It isn’t that. Another couple of weeks, he’ll be gone. I’m not sure I could handle that.’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed. Not until I had my wicked way with him.’

  ‘Mel. What a thing to say.’

  Melora laughed. ‘I’m married, not dead. But like you say. Who knows how long you can have the pleasure of him for. Go for it, girl.’

  ‘Maybe a few more glasses of plum wine and I’ll think about it.’

  It was an evening of pleasant conversation and enough plum wine to ensure a mellow mood.

  ‘Well,’ said Joy. ‘I see another big day coming up, so we should get an early night.’

  ‘Indeed,’ said Lake, taking the hint. ‘A lovely evening. Thank you.’

  Lake felt like he had made new friends, as he walked along the main path by the side of the jungle. They could hear the creatures that lived there settling down for the night. Through the toughened plastiglass roof, the tiny moon cast spectral shadows off the larger trees. Artificial lighting was dimmed at night and Lake and Joy walked slowly side by side.

  ‘My place is that way,’ said Joy.

  ‘Then I’ll be the perfect gentleman and escort you, fair maiden.’

  They reached Joy’s rooms and she opened the door. ‘Perhaps I don’t want you to be a perfect gentleman.’

  She took his hand and led him inside, closing the door quietly behind them.

  Chapter 16

  ‘Well, you two look happy this morning,’ said Ralph Miller as he adjusted his helmet.

  It was true that even with the bio-suits, there was a glow about Lake and Joy.

  ‘Good morning,’ said Lake who was looking at Joy. ‘I’ll give you a hand getting the digger out of the jungle.’

  They made their way along the path but pulled up when they got to where the trench was. At the point where the digger should have been at a depth of twelve feet, was a hole down which the mechanical digger had disappeared. They stared in disbelief, trying to comprehend what had happened.

  ‘We have to get the commanders here to see this,’ said Joy.

  She was right, so the three went together to the commanders’ offices. Commander Carver was talking to John Nightly when they got there.

  Lake said, ‘Commander. You need to see this. Commander Vickers, too.’

  Carver said, ‘John. Put a call out for Commander Vickers, please.’

  ‘Yes, Sir.’

  While they waited for Vickers, Miller explained what had happened.

  Carver said, ‘That’s thick, reinforced concrete under the jungle. The same for the rest of the Base, except on two separate levels.’

  Deputy Commander Vickers entered. ‘Something happened?’

  ‘Put your bio-suit on,’ said Carver, doing just that with his own suit. ‘We’re going in the jungle.’

  Ten minutes later, they were where the hole was, standing on the edge, staring down into it.

  Carver said, ‘I knew you were digging the trench, but are you saying the digger was left down there?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Miller. ‘We came to get the thing out of there, and this is what we found. That hole must have opened up during the night.’

  ‘That goes right through the concrete,’ said Vickers. ‘I can’t even see the bottom of it.’

  Carver said, ‘This needs investigating. Mr Miller. Will you organise a team to go down there?’

  ‘How did I know that was coming,’ said Miller. ‘Professor. Are you game to go down there?’

  ‘Very much so,’ said Lake. ‘Half a dozen of us should be enough. We should go armed, too.’

  Carver said, ‘The only weapons on the planet are in my office. Three laser rifles.’

  ‘I have my two of my own,’ said Lake.

  Joy looked at him in surprise. ‘You have weapons?’

  ‘Joy. Sorry. You may as well know. I’m not a professor. I’m a Deep Space Intelligence agent.’

  Joy stared at the man who had shared her bed just hours ago. ‘You? You’re a DSI agent?’

  Lake nodded. ‘Yes. And my name is Tagg Raven. There’s no point in pretending otherwise, now. Ralph. Let’s get organised.’

  Less than one hour later, Miller had two of his best men suited up and armed and ready to go. Mervin Hanson, his technician, thinking his science background would be invaluable, and his extraction foreman, Ryan Cole, who was a huge, strong, reliable man. Raven dropped his cover completely, and handed Cole his spare laser rifle.

  ‘I’m still not happy about you going down there, Joy,’ said Raven.

  Joy said, ‘Don’t even think of trying to stop me.’

  ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

  Carver said, ‘Right. Raven. We’ll lower you down first. This line is over two hundred feet long. When you reach the bottom, try the radio and we’ll send the others down.’

  ‘Ok.’ Raven attached the harness to the safety shackles and he was lowered slowly into the hole by the winch. Most of the line had been used up by the time his feet were on the ground and it went slack. ‘I’m at the bottom. There’s a tunnel leading off it. Send the others down.’

  Twenty minutes later, all five were at the bottom of the hole. Miller stared at the wrecked digger, crushed by its impact.

  ‘That was a good machine. Not even worth scrap, now. Might as well just leave it down here.’

  Chapter 17

  Five helmet lights cast odd shadows in the tunnel carved out of solid rock.

  ‘This is one hell of a tunnel job,’ said Ryan Cole. ‘And I’ve seen plenty in my time.’

  Miller said, ‘But who made it and when, I’d like to know. We all saw the plans. There was no mention of a tunnel when the Base was constructed.’

  ‘It was later,’ said Raven. ‘Did you see the reinforced concrete? Whomever made the tunnel went straight up and through it.’

  ‘And they took all the rubble away,’ said Joy. ‘Look how clean everywhere is.’

  Mervin Hanson was examining the wall of the tunnel. ‘This rock has been fused. Something burned through the solid rock.’

  Raven called Carver on the radio. ‘Are you hearing me?’

  ‘Yes. Loud and clear.’

  ‘We’re in a tunnel. It’s about three yards in diameter. The walls have been made by something burning through solid rock.’

  There was a pause, then, ‘There’s no equipment I know of that can do that. Not on that sort of scale.’

  ‘That’s what we thought. We’ll see where it goes. I’ll call you every couple of minutes.’

  The five walked slowly along the tunnel which was dead straight, but sloped gradually dow
n. Miller and Raven led the way, Joy Dainty behind them, with Hanson and Cole at the rear. After ten minutes, they noticed the tunnel sloped down more.

  ‘We must be about three hundred feet down by now,’ said Miller.

  Raven tried the radio. ‘Just static. We’re too deep.’

  ‘Do we carry on?’ asked Joy.

  ‘Let’s take a vote,’ said Raven. ‘I say we go on a while longer.’

  Miller said, ‘Not too much, though. Maybe another ten minutes.’

  Hanson said, ‘Ok. Then we go back and come down better prepared.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Cole. ‘Now we know we could go on for miles.’

  ‘Joy?’ Raven asked.

  ‘Ryan’s right. Just a little further.’

  ‘On we go then,’ said Raven.

  The tunnel continued as before, sloping down, the diameter and walls perfectly consistent.

  Raven was about to turn back when Miller said, ‘Do you hear something?’

  ‘It came from ahead of us,’ said Raven. With his laser rifle at the ready, he walked on.

  ‘Water,’ said Joy. ‘I hear running water.’

  A few more yards and they were at the end of the tunnel. It was a ‘T’ junction, with a much wider tunnel heading off in two directions. Below them by about ten feet, was a river, crystal clear water flowing gently to their left.

  ‘Interesting,’ said Miller. ‘Time to go back and decide what to do.’

  Two hours later, they were drinking coffee with Commanders Carver and Vickers in the communal hall.

  ‘I’ve been here from day one,’ said Carver. ‘There was no tunnel then.’

  Vickers added, ‘And this planet hasn’t been inhabited before we came. It’s just a bleak, desolate rock.’

  ‘What’s known about its history?’ asked Raven.

  Carver said, ‘According to the scientific data, this planet was on a different orbit around its sun. Then, it was struck a glancing blow by a massive asteroid, which took it further out in this solar system, until it started on a new orbit. Which is basically why there are no signs of life as such on the planet. Everything would have been wiped out. The only reason it has breathable air is from algae. That survived by the ice caps, about the only green thing on the planet.’

  Raven asked, ‘Algae produces oxygen?’

  ‘Apparently, yes. If I remember the science correctly, it has a photosynthetic ability which is derived from cyanobacteria that produces the oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis. That’s why we only need the suits outside because of how cold it is. We are self-sufficient for oxygen in here, anyway, because of the jungle. Ninety percent of our food supplies come from that, supplemented by provisions brought in by ships.’

  Joy said, ‘The Base is a standard design and mature plants are grown specifically for that purpose and the nutrients we’ve developed over the last hundred years or so, establishes what we need very quickly. One thing we’ve become very good at is creating almost instant jungles on planets like this. It also keeps me gainfully employed.’

  Carver said, ‘The algae was discovered when the ice caps were tapped into to provide our water. The other assumption is that the tiny moon here was created from the collision, from whatever was left over from the asteroid. That all happened about twenty two thousand years ago.’

  They were interrupted by John Nightly racing into the hall.

  ‘There’s been another murder.’

  Chapter 18

  The two security officers lay dead. They had been posted to keep people away from the hole in the jungle. From their slashed bio-suits, a line of troglonite bugs were carrying the last of the flesh away to a new nest.

  ‘I heard their cries for help over their radios,’ said Nightly. ‘It lasted for just a few seconds.’

  ‘Did they say anything?’ Raven asked.

  ‘No. It was all over in seconds.’

  ‘I want to see the camera footage,’ said Carver.

  They all followed the commander to his office and Nightly played the recording on the screen. Obscured mostly by the foliage, they could see the same blue shape that had occurred when the others had been killed. There was the same luminescent blue glow from it which reflected the Base lighting for a few seconds and the two men screamed. Then, they were silent and the blue glow vanished.

  ‘Whatever that thing was,’ said Carver, ‘It was no ghost.’

  ‘It must have come up through the tunnel,’ said Raven.

  Joy said, ‘And we were down there with it.’

  Miller said, ‘We have to destroy that thing. Otherwise, it’ll be picking us off one at a time.’

  Vickers said, ‘I’d like to send a whole army down there, but it wouldn’t be much of an army without weapons.’

  ‘Maybe there’s only one of them,’ said Joy. ‘Or just a few. So far, they’ve only sent one at a time up here.’

  Raven said, ‘I hope you’re right about that. We saw nothing all the way to the river. I’m guessing that thing either lives in or nearby that river.’

  ‘We need to take food with us,’ said Joy. ‘Enough for a day or two at least.’

  ‘Joy. You’re not going,’ said Raven, flatly.

  ‘Says you.’

  ‘Yes, damn it,’ snapped Raven. He instantly regretted the outburst. ‘Sorry. We need to talk. Just us.’

  ‘You two go outside,’ Carver said, ‘We’ll get everything organised.’

  Vickers said, ‘I have to go and break the bad news to the families of the dead men. Boy. Am I dreading that.’

  Vickers, Raven and Joy left the others to organise the mission. Before moving on, Vickers said, ‘Joy. Neither Commander Carver nor I would order you not to go down there. Suggest, perhaps. Men and women are completely equal. No question about that. But at least just listen to Agent Raven. I have to go.’

  ‘I’m going, Tagg,’ said Joy as Vickers walked away, his shoulders slumped sadly.

  Raven held her hands in his. ‘I’m going to tell you something I’ve not told anyone for years.’ He took a deep breath before continuing. ‘Three years ago. I was on a mission. Tracking down the boss of a pernicious drug business. Millions had become addicted to it. Many died, in a very horrible way.’

  ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’

  ‘Hear me out. This…isn’t easy for me. One on my team. Tilly Jordan. I loved her and she loved me. We raided the drug lord’s den. I hesitated. Damn. I should have just taken him out. I had him there in front of me. That split second gave him the chance to get a shot off. He missed me. The shot took off half of Tilly’s face.’

  ‘My God. She was killed?’

  ‘No. She’s alive. The surgeons did what they could. She blamed me. Still blames me.’

  Joy wiped away tears off his cheeks. ‘Oh, Tagg.’

  Raven took her hand and kissed her palm. ‘Joy. She was a trained agent. You’re not. I don’t want…Joy. I can’t risk you going down there.’

  ‘I’ll be ok. Anything gets in my way, I’ll shoot. Tagg. Whatever happens down there, we go through it together. Come on. Let’s go kill that thing.’

  Raven knew he was beaten. Everything screamed at him this was wrong, but Joy Dainty was a strong minded woman and she wasn’t going to be talked out of going with him. He kissed her pretty face. It was down to him to protect her.

  Chapter 19

  Carver stood with them at the edge of the hole. The remains of the two men had been taken away and Vickers was still with their families. Several backpacks had been filled with provisions and equipment. It was time to go. They didn’t bother with the radio this time, because of its limited range in the tunnel.

  ‘Joy. I still wish you would stay up top,’ said Carver.

  Joy wriggled into one of the backpacks. ‘I intend to be more than the token female on this mission, Commander Carver. That thing has killed our friends. Time for payback.’

  Raven said, ‘Is she always like this?’

  ‘She’s a woman. Argue with her
at your peril. Good luck, Agent Raven.’

  Raven was lowered first, Joy last. They wasted no time in heading at a fast marching pace along the tunnel. Nobody spoke. This was all about business; the killing business. Eventually, they reached the river.

  ‘Downstream or upstream?’ asked Raven.

  ‘It’s a fifty-fifty call,’ said Miller. ‘Why don’t we find out where this river’s going?’

  ‘Ok.’

  There was a path running alongside the river, as carefully made as the tunnels. The tunnel here was twice the diameter of the one they had walked down, and the path was a consistent four feet wide. With his laser rifle ready, Raven took the lead, Joy right behind him. The big man Cole was at the rear again, keeping a lookout behind them as well as ahead. After four hours of slog, they came to a wider part of the tunnel with a flat surface, big enough for them all to rest on. They broke out the rations and ate.

  ‘I think we should stay here and sleep,’ said Raven. ‘There may not be another opening like this.’

  ‘Fine by me,’ said Miller, taking off his boots. ‘I haven’t walked this far in years.’

  Cole said, ‘We’ll take turns on watch. I’ll take first watch.’

  They each bagged a two-hour watch, Joy taking number four. For now, all she wanted to do was to share a blanket with Raven.

  ‘Are you still mad at me?’ she asked, her head on his chest.

  ‘Mad at you? I was never mad at you.’

  She kissed his cheek. ‘I thought you were. About me coming with you.’

  ‘I care about you, that’s all.’

  ‘You do?’

  He could feel the warmth of her body against his. It had been a long time since he had held a woman in his arms, at least one who meant something to him. ‘I’ve had to travel across half the galaxy to finally meet you. We get through this, I’ll never leave you.’

  Wrapped up in each other’s arms under the blanket, they fell asleep.

  Chapter 20

  ‘Well, we survived the night,’ said Hanson.

  ‘Good morning to you too,’ said Miller, stretching his back. ‘Such a cheerful disposition you have.’