by Piers Platt
“Muir, stay here – if all else fails, you can try to hold ‘em off with that pistol of yours,” Falken said. “And they might not attack you once they find out Shep’s on board. Raynard, are you up for a quick trip back into the research center?”
Raynard frowned. “You want to go back in there. The place the bad guys are about to assault?”
“Yeah,” Falken said.
“I can’t walk very well,” Raynard told him, indicating his injured leg.
“I don’t need you to walk,” Falken said. “I just need you to take a little ride. Come on.”
Chapter 31
“That’s it,” Falken grunted, pushing Raynard up from below. “Pull yourself up, and take a seat.”
With a final effort, Raynard hauled himself into the cab of the funicular, and took a seat on the narrow, two-person bench. Through the cab’s windshield, he saw a short, narrow tunnel cut into the rock of the mountain face, and beyond, the sheer sides of Mount Olympus stretched up and up. A thin ribbon of steel tracks led straight up the mountainside, glinting gray-white in the moonlight.
Falken climbed up the final rungs of the ladder, and then resettled the oxygen mask over his face – Raynard had knocked it loose in their efforts to climb the boarding ladder.
“Okay, controls,” Falken said. “Pretty basic, okay? This lever controls motion. Move it in the direction you want to go – up for up the mountain, down for back down.”
He pointed to a lower setting on the lever. “Press the button in and then slide the lever all the way down to set it for emergency descent,” Falken told the journalist. “You’re gonna want that one. It’s basically a free-fall descent at that point, like a roller coaster, no brakes until you hit the very bottom. But then it brakes hard. So make sure you’re strapped in tight. Got it?”
“I think so,” Raynard said. “How fast will it drop?”
“About thirty seconds, top to bottom,” Falken said. “Compared to maybe three minutes to get all the way up at the start.”
“Is that going to be fast enough?” Raynard asked. “What if they find a way in while I’m in here?”
“Sit tight, and hope they don’t think to look in here,” Falken said. He handed Raynard a noise cancellation staff from the research center’s supplies. “Good luck,” he said.
“You too,” Raynard said.
Falken patted him on the shoulder, then climbed back down the ladder. Halfway down, he stopped and swung a circular hatch closed, sealing the funicular access shut. Then he dropped the rest of the way down to the floor and dashed down the research center hallway. He paused for a moment at the inner airlock hatch – through the porthole, he could see the airlock was filled with smoke, and a bright orange line snaked a jagged cut nearly halfway around the outer door frame.
Shit. They’re working fast. Not much time.
Falken turned and ran back through the research center, hooking left down a side corridor and into the sensor displacement room. He hauled up the lid to one of the units, checked that it was ready to go, then peeled his oxygen mask off. He took a deep breath. The air tasted thin, and slightly acrid.
Brondi said there were only a few minutes of air left in here. Let’s hope that’s enough.
Falken slid the sensory displacement helmet on, then climbed into the pod and booted it up. He lay back as the warm gel flooded into the pod, buoying him up. As usual, he had the distinct sensation of déjà vu, of being simultaneously in two places at the same time. Then the connection firmed up, and the sensations of the pod disappeared.
He found himself staring through the open eyes of the proxy he had left sitting at the rear of the Starfarer’s cargo bay. He could feel the ship’s deck rumbling beneath him as its thrusters pushed it higher into the atmosphere.
At the far end of the bay, past the two dragon cages, Falken saw Vina handcuffed to some kind of shipping pallet, along with Ed. Captain Auresh stood talking to them. Other armed crewmembers stood in groups around the bay. Falken counted them quickly.
One, two, three … four, five, six … seven, eight … and Auresh makes nine.
He stood up slowly, carefully, and flexed the proxy’s powerful limbs.
Here we go.
*
The funicular climbed with surprising speed, the cable hauling it upwards along the steep incline of the rail tracks. Raynard glanced over his shoulder – already the Liberty Belle and its landing pad appeared to be far below him, and he quickly lost sight of the wrecked Ecolympus truck sitting outside the research center’s vehicle bay. Of the Starfarer, there was no sign.
Let Falken worry about that, Raynard told himself. You’ve got your own shit to handle.
He turned and faced forward again, wincing at the pain in his leg – the painkillers Luthena had given him back in the infirmary had recently worn off, and under the dressing, his wound throbbed with each of his heartbeats, aching in rhythm.
The funicular’s clear canopy passed through a narrow slit in the rock, and then Raynard spied another tunnel a few hundred yards ahead – the track seemed to disappear back into the mountainside just as it reached the peak’s summit.
I wonder if this thing makes a lot of noise, Raynard thought. Are they gonna hear me coming? Probably.
The moon disappeared from view again as the cab slid into the final tunnel, and for a few seconds Raynard found himself riding blind – the only thing he could see was the softly glowing control panel next to him. Then the tunnel ended, and the funicular leveled off, emerging back into the moonlight. It eased to a gentle stop alongside a metal platform.
The aerie lay spread out below him – a wide, conical crater, bowl-like, nearly a mile across. Hundreds of irregular boulders dotted the loose shale landscape, and Raynard could see bones strewn across the ground as well.
Okay, I’m here. But where are the dragons …?
He peered around the crater, searching for signs of the creatures, but everything was still, and the night sky was empty, too. Then he saw a boulder move, and with a shiver of surprise and fear, realization dawned on the journalist. The dragon unfolded its wings, stretched its neck with a yawn, then tucked itself back into a tight ball, wrapping its wings around its body.
Ah. They’re everywhere. Hundreds of them, all sleeping. Got it.
Raynard reached a trembling hand out and set it on the funicular’s door handle. He took a deep breath, making sure his oxygen mask was firmly in place. Then he remembered Falken’s words, and double-checked that his seat belt was still on. It was. He glanced at the nearest dragon-boulder, noting its long tail, twitching slightly as the beast slept.
Raynard released the door latch, and slid the door back along its rails, opening the cab to the outside. A ripple seemed to pass along the dragons – they stirred suddenly, and Raynard saw several lift their heads up, questing in his direction.
He released the door handle, and picked up the noise cancellation staff. Raynard glanced down at it quickly, setting his thumb on the device’s activation button. He closed his eyes for a moment.
Oh my god, this is stupid. This is so stupid.
Raynard jammed the switch to the Lure position. At once, every dragon in the aerie jerked upright, and Raynard heard a chorus of snarls and screeches ring out across the crater. The nearest dragons took to the air, launching themselves toward the funicular.
Shit!
Raynard grabbed the control lever for the cab, and jammed it into the emergency descent position. The cab jerked, and for a split second, it rolled leisurely back toward the entrance tunnel to the aerie. Raynard’s heart raced at the unexpectedly slow movement – he nearly panicked, but with a force of will, managed to keep hold of the staff, holding it out of the side of the cab, even as the dragons dove toward him.
But then the vehicle tilted and hit the main slope of the track, and Raynard felt his stomach drop with a lurch as it plummeted downward through the tunnel near the peak. He kept the staff held in the door, broadcasting its wounded faun signal to
the night air.
The funicular blasted into the open, and then through the slit trench a second later, and Raynard risked a glance over his shoulder. A flock of dragons had taken to the skies over the aerie, and he saw a dozen of them tuck their wings in close, dropping into a dive in pursuit of him.
Shit, they’re gaining on me. They’re faster …
He forced himself to turn back, facing forward – the ground was rushing up to meet him, and in the distance, he could see the final, protective tunnel that housed the funicular base station, its dark entrance gaping invitingly.
Come on, come on!
Raynard tapped on the computer terminal in the cab, accessing the controls for the research center. Then he cocked his arm back, preparing to throw the staff.
*
In the research center’s vehicle bay, the crewman shut the cutting torch off, and pulled his visor up.
“That’s it,” he said, sweating under his oxygen mask.
Kuda, standing behind him, lifted his rifle, pointing it at the door. The other four crewmen stood to either side of the hatch, weapons at the ready.
“Ready?” Kuda asked.
“Ready,” they echoed.
“Remember: they have a pistol, and they may have some other improvised weapons, too. They’re gonna be waiting for us. We go in hard and fast. Grenades first, then sweep and clear. Shoot anything that moves.” Kuda gripped his rifle tighter. “Okay, pull it open on my mark,” he said.
The crewman took a grip on the door, bracing his feet against the ground in the vehicle bay.
“Five, four, three, two …” Kuda said, but then the outer bay door rattled and slid upward, disappearing into the ceiling.
Kuda and the crewmen turned around, startled, gazing out into the darkness beyond the bay.
“They must have opened it from the inside,” one of the crewmen guessed.
Kuda frowned. “Well, it’s not gonna do them any good now.”
Suddenly, a short, thin rod speared into the ground outside the vehicle bay. Kuda could see a leather strap dangling from one end of the device – it took him a moment, but then he recognized it as a noise cancellation staff.
“What the …?” the crewman muttered.
Kuda’s eyes went wide.
A dragon landed on the staff with a hiss, crushing it into the earth. Then another landed beside it, flapping its wings and snarling. Two more landed beyond them, and then two more, until Kuda lost count.
The first dragon swiveled its head, pointing its ears at the group inside the vehicle bay. Kuda could see the gills along its neck opening and closing as the beast sniffed the air. Kuda eyed the bay door switch – it was all the way across the bay, right next to the open door itself. The dragon opened its jaws, and took a step toward the bay.
The crewman next to him, hands trembling on his weapon, took a step backwards. Three other dragons heard the movement, and crouched down, stalking toward the bay. One of the crewmen panicked and opened fire, and then all hell broke loose. Kuda heard other guns joining the fray – he ignored them, and ran for the door switch. He was within arm’s reach of the switch when a dragon pounced on him, pinning him to the ground with its full weight. Kuda shrieked in pain. Back by the airlock, the firing continued for another few seconds, and then it ended in a series of brief, agonized screams. Then the only sound in the bay was that of the dragons, fighting over their prey.
Chapter 32
Inside his proxy, Falken crept forward along the Starfarer’s cargo bay. He had nearly slipped between the two dragon cages undetected when a crewman finally spotted him. The man frowned, then lifted a hand, pointing.
“Hey …,” he said.
Falken broke into a sprint, disappearing between the cages, heading directly for Vina and the men around her. Auresh had his back to Falken, but he turned at the sound of boots on the metal deck, reaching for the pistol in his belt holster. He yelled in alarm, raising his weapon, but Falken grabbed him by the wrist and the gun discharged a single round into the floor. Falken twisted the captain’s arm brutally, and felt a pop as several bones broke. Auresh shrieked, dropping the pistol. Falken grabbed the master key dangling from Auresh’s neck and tugged it free with a jerk. Then he kicked Auresh in the stomach – with the proxy’s extra mass behind it, the kick sent the captain flying several feet across the bay. He slammed into another one of the crewmen, knocking them both to the floor.
The two other crewmen nearest to Falken opened fire a moment later – both fired a pair of shots, hitting him in the proxy’s chest. Falken ignored the bullets and closed with the men, decking one with a vicious right hook, and then grabbing the second by his combat vest. The man fired again, point blank this time, and a panicked look crossed his face as he realized that Falken was completely oblivious to the wounds. Falken kneed him hard in the groin, and then threw him over the shipping pallet, into the wall of the bay.
“Falken?” Vina asked, fear and confusion in her eyes.
“It’s me,” he said. He bent over her, and gripped the metal of the pallet where her handcuffs were attached. With a grunt, he peeled the metal bar back, and it snapped, letting her slide the handcuffs off.
“Look out!” she yelled, seeing another group of crewmen approaching from one side of the cages.
Falken pulled her close, shielding her from them. He heard several more gunshots ring out – they impacted along his back, but he felt no pain.
“Stop shooting!” Ed yelled, still handcuffed to the shipping pallet. “You’ll hit me!”
“You okay?” Falken asked.
Vina nodded against his chest. “Mm-hm.”
“Hang on,” Falken told her. He wrapped an arm around her and lifted her up, then ran, carrying her across the bay, as another salvo of bullets flew past him. As he passed the edge of one of the cages, another pair of crewmen appeared, weapons drawn. With his free hand, Falken grabbed the first one by the throat, and then threw him into the second – they landed on the deck in a tangled heap.
More shots rang out from behind, but Falken ignored them and continued across the bay to the far wall, where an emergency hatch stood, recessed into the wall paneling. Falken punched the hatch’s access panel, and the door swung back, revealing a small escape pod, with a handful of padded seats and a porthole in the far wall.
Falken set Vina down inside the escape pod, and handed her the master key to the Liberty Belle. “Hold on to that. When you land, stay put,” he told her. “I’ll come find you. Don’t get out!”
“Okay,” she said, nodding.
He winced as a bullet ricocheted off the door frame. “Get strapped in!” he told her. “I’ll see you on the ground.”
He tugged the door closed, and then turned and yanked down on the pod’s release lever. An inner door slid down over the pod door, and a second later, he heard rockets firing, and felt the ship lurch as the pod blasted free.
Okay, that’s Vina sorted out. Now I gotta try to bring this ship down. Or at least disable their ship-to-ship weapons.
He felt another bullet hit him in the back – Falken turned and faced the Starfarer’s crew again. Several had taken cover behind the shipping pallets and dragon cages; Auresh was back on his feet again, too, wincing in pain. The captain waved with his good arm, shouting to get his crew’s attention.
“It’s a proxy,” Auresh snarled. “You’re not gonna kill it. Just aim for the knees. If he can’t walk, he can’t fight.”
Shit, Falken thought.
He ran toward the front of the bay, into a hail of bullets – many missed, but more than a few struck him in the legs, and he felt his right knee give out. He stumbled, but caught himself.
I’m not gonna make it to the bridge, he thought. Better think of something else.
Falken changed course, hobbling now – he saw several of the men step back, trying to keep their distance from him.
That’s okay, run. I don’t need to catch you.
Falken reached the nearest dragon cage just a
s another round hit him in the leg, splintering his left shin bone. He propped himself against the side of the cage, and took hold of the heavy steel bar that held the cage’s door locked in place. Falken lifted the bar up and tossed it aside, and a split second later, the door burst outward, knocking him onto his back. The dragon landed on the shipping pallets, spread its wings, and roared.
Ed, cringing beneath the dragon, screamed in fear. The dragon sunk its teeth into Ed’s chest and yanked him into the air – Ed’s arm, still handcuffed at the wrist to the shipping pallet, tore off at the shoulder. The dragon shook Ed like a ragdoll, then tossed him aside, and leaped onto a crewman nearby, who went down firing and yelling.
Amidst the mayhem, Falken pushed himself out from underneath the cage door, and saw Auresh kneeling, holding his broken arm flat against the floor so that he could type on his wristpad. A moment later, the cargo bay ramp dropped open, and swirling cold wind rushed into the bay.
Falken tried to stand, but his legs could no longer hold him upright – he fell forward. His chest felt strangely constricted – he found himself coughing, and a burning sensation took hold deep within his lungs. For a second, his vision wavered, and went dark.
My real body’s suffocating, he realized. Running out of time.
He crawled toward the second dragon cage, and saw the first dragon jump into the air again, flying overhead to attack another crewman, who had been fleeing for the stairs at the front of the cargo bay. Falken pulled himself to the base of the other cage’s door, but he could not reach up high enough to get hold of the locking bar.
Across the bay, the surviving crew had begun to concentrate their fire on the freed dragon – their pistol rounds weren’t dealing it much damage, but in the face of persistent harassment, the creature finally screeched and then launched itself into the air, disappearing through the open ramp with two quick beats of its wings.
Falken abandoned trying to reach the locking bar on the second cage; instead, he took hold of the closest cargo strap tying the cage to the deck, and pulled. The strap held, but as Falken continued to pull, using all of the proxy’s formidable strength, he saw the strands in the strap begin to give. He felt another bullet hit him in the arm, and then the strap broke, and the cage jerked suddenly. Another strap snapped apart with a loud tearing sound, and the cage began to slide, slowly at first, then with increasing speed.
