“All right, now we can talk. Who are you?"
“I am Dav Claska."
“Claska ... like the tree?"
“Like the tree."
“Dav, tell me, why is it you and Virgo have to go—and what is it you think you know?"
“I know everything you know, and more, Mr. Kaznov. We have to go because it is the will of the Fathers."
“Uh-huh. What's your seed lot, friend?"
“I have no number, Mr. Kaznov. I am direct-line to the Father, Malcolm Claska. I am what you could call a ... Guardian."
“A—Guardian?"
“From the lines of Cashow, Claska, Laszlo, Massak, and Palmer. The five lines of the Fathers who agreed to stay as the oversight committee—the Guardians, Mr. Kaznov. But, please, we really don't have time for this discussion. We must go."
The man turned his head toward Twenty-three, then bent down and touched shields with Niki. Two large, almost colorless eyes looked unblinking at Niki from behind a tuft of silver-white hair hanging down over a nearly hairless face—a ghost of the Fathers.
"We must go—now, Mr. Kaznov."
* * *
Chapter XXX
The tactical display showed nine strong blips stopped on a line ten kilometers long at a point just about twenty-five kilometers south of the pad. North of them and heading for the northwest side of Ganeden, it also showed thirteen more blips at an altitude of a thousand meters, with a fourteenth blip coming directly at them at an astonishing speed.
“That one must be Kaznov."
“It had better be,” Harko grumbled. “How long?"
“At that speed—ninety seconds. What now, Brand?"
“How many people did you bring up? Fifteen hundred?"
“That's it, plus yours makes two thousand. How many do you think Frank has out there?"
“According to Niki's friend—what's his name?—Luto?—there must be at least four thousand in that line alone, and he probably has more held in reserve somewhere. Damn it, why don't I listen to my gut more often?"
“I don't think even your famous gut could have predicted all this. Maybe we'll get lucky."
“Yeah, and maybe—"
“Ops, this is Air Six."
“Go ahead, Six,” Trak said.
“That rover I've been tracking has turned. It's on its way back toward you. Want me to stay with it?"
“No. Break off and go back to Ganeden, but stay a few kilometers east of the track, we have a lot of potentially hostile traffic out here.” She turned to Harko with an I-told-you-so grin and said, “What did I say about getting lucky? I'll bet he saw all that activity and is running for the pad to try to catch a transport out of here."
“Right. And my father's the Emperor of Nuperz. I'll believe it when I see it."
The shock wave of Twenty-three coming to a thundering stop over their heads threw Trak out of her seat and bludgeoned their ears. The roar of thrusters gripped the shelter and shook it violently, set the ground to vibrating, and sent equipment tumbling to the floor. Harko and Trak, unable to stand, crawled for the door. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over, and the only sounds were the ringing in their ears and the unmistakable cries of rapidly cooling metal.
A blast of frigid, foul-smelling air accompanied Niki and Luto when they burst through the door. Niki was shouting, “Brand, Lisha, you have to get all of your men into Ganeden as fast as you can and clear this area—lock up all your weapons. Whatever you do, don't leave a single person armed with anything."
“What?” Harko demanded as he scrambled to his feet. “What are you saying? We're all standing on the edge of the Nurab Deep here ... and you want us to retreat? Disarm? Why should we do something like that?"
“Something very big is about to happen, and anyone who does anything hostile is likely to start a chain reaction no one will be able to control. Just do it. I know what I'm talking about, Brand, so trust me."
“Trust you? What about that Cadre bunch? What do we do about them?"
“Nothing. You do nothing about them."
“Nothing? Frank is about to turn us into one giant Halfyear offering and you want us to do nothing?"
“Frank is term. I'm told that his head was decorating Tazh's table for a couple of days. That's Tazh out there ... and you know he won't listen. Hopefully, his men will run for cover. If they don't, you won't have to worry about them again. Now, don't waste any more time talking. Get your people out of here and get rid of your weapons."
“First, you tell me what's going on."
“Turn your long range scanners vertical and take a look. What you'll see are four big ships coming down. The Fathers are coming back, and they have no way of knowing we're descended from their original colonizing party. Because of Tazh's stance they may mistake us for part of the hostile element here. If we do anything to provoke them, they may—"
“Okay, okay, I get the idea, but how do you know—"
“He's right, Brand,” Trak said. “I have four objects, big ones. Two pair in a hundred kilometer vertical spread. Altitude is now two hundred kilometers to the first pair and closing fast."
At that moment a breathless, half-frozen Vagnu stumbled through the door. He took a couple of steps before falling at Niki's feet and rolling over onto his back. Seeing Niki's face, he sighed and held out a hand wrapped in a bloody bandage.
“Praise to the Ancients, I've found...” His speech halted when the smiling faces of Harko and Trak appeared above him.
“Welcome back, Vagnu,” Harko said.
“You ... you don't understand. The area's swarming with Cadre. I came ... came to warn..."
“Save your shagrat whimpering for the trial, Vagnu."
“Brand, I—” Niki began and was cut off by Harko.
“One second, Niki. Lisha, will you do me the honor of taking the honorable GoL Vagnu into custody?"
“With the utmost pleasure. Dathan Vagnu, authority has been granted me by CAC three-thirty-seven to rescind your rights as a citizen of Paz, pending a criminal trial to be held at the earliest possible time. You are, in other words, under arrest,” Trak said while applying the cold steel restraints.
“Now, Brand? Get your people out while you still have the chance,” Niki pleaded.
“What about you?"
“We have something to do that doesn't include any of this."
“You're running out on us?"
“We're doing what we must do, that's all. Good-bye, and good luck.” At the door, Niki looked back and said, “Remember, get all the weapons out of sight."
* * * *
Shan herded the last four aboard Twenty-three and started forward to speak to Niki about what was on his mind when he saw two men sitting at the aft end of the passage against the passenger compartment bulkhead. One of them, even though there were twenty meters between them, he recognized immediately to be Virgo Mills. The other was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place him. Shan pulled out his snooper and pointed it down the passage.
“...ya be so damned sure this is a good idea? Ya heard what the man said. He said one-way. One-way, permanent, ya know?"
“Yes, that's what he said. If you want to stay here, get off the ship before they close the door, but I am telling you it will be better for you there than it will be here."
“There? Where, there?"
“Wherever. Out there ... somewhere. What does it matter?"
“It matters. Tell me again about the freezin’ stuff."
“Cryogenic stasis?"
“Yeah, that crap."
“It's simple. Basically, you're term until we get where we're going. And no, it won't hurt."
“So, how do ya know if ya made it? I mean, how do ya know if yer still all right, y'understand?"
“I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have gone after you, Virgo."
“Yeah, but it's yer job. Told me that, ya did. So, how do ya know yer all right?"
“If you wake up, you're all right. If you don't, who cares?"
Shan put the snooper back into his coat pocket and headed for the forward compartment, suddenly feeling very good about everything. He'd come with Niki for a story, and he'd got two. The first he'd already sent to the Journal, the other he'd hold for another time, another place. Sax entered the passage a few doors ahead and waited for him.
“Well, Bo, are we on?"
“What did Harko have to say?"
“He said he was glad to get rid of me. Said I talk too much."
“Some recommendation."
“Yeah, but I don't think he meant it. So, are we on, or not?"
“We're on, Filo, but I still need to talk to Niki."
“Right. Let's do it."
“Alone, Filo."
“Whatever you say, partner."
“Who's the big guy with Mills?” Shan asked.
“Very super-spectacular, unbelievably-special, man. Name's Dav Claska. He's one of the Guardians. We have eight of them aboard."
“One of the what?"
“Guardians. They're direct line from the Fathers, man. Can you beat that? Lines of Cashow, Claska, Laszlo, Massak, and Palmer."
“Really?"
“Yeah. Nobody on Paz knew they existed—until now."
“Hmm—well, that's quite a lineage—two trees, a weed that chokes everything it comes in contact with, a bean, and a thorny shrub we'd all like to see disappear."
* * * *
“Fourteen ISCU utility shuttles are moving east from the landing site at two thousand six kilometers per hour. Nine vehicles of unknown type and origin have stopped at a point fifteen kilometers south. Another of similar type is moving west at two hundred kilometers per hour toward a cluster of vehicles of a different type, origin also unknown, located one hundred kilometers south. In addition, there are two hundred and nine small vehicles moving from various locations around the landing site to a point north, probably near the center of a small group of structures surrounding the hot spot I reported before."
“Thanks, Rammix. Do these movements appear to be coordinated?"
“Yes. However, each group seems to be unrelated to any of the others—based on their movements."
“Have we been detected?"
“Unknown. I detected one weak radar signal that swept us, but there have been no probes. The greater probability is that our presence remains unknown to the inhabitants."
“Reduce group separation to ten kilometers and fix rate of descent to one hundred meters per second. At what altitude will we have full resolution mapping?"
“Twenty thousand meters."
“Standard stop at twenty thousand meters and proceed with mapping—one hundred kilometer radius from the landing site."
* * * *
“They're retreating, sir."
“Retreating? How? What direction?"
“The shuttles have all gone east and north of Ganeden. All other rovers are converging on Ganeden center."
“What? Go active and get us back in the air where we belong. I want to see what's happening out there."
Tazh's AAV emerged from the snow, the deicing plates kicking away the unwanted weight of its frozen burden like a shavecat ripples its skin to rid itself of snap fleas before they bleed its life away. The craft climbed to five thousand meters. Long range radar sent out its probing fingers, and fed a monitor with imaging through a computer that real-time interpreted and enhanced the electronic echoes to near pic quality on the screen.
Tazh viewed the scene in disbelief. The shuttles had disappeared over the northeastern horizon and infrared revealed their trail to be a straight line—but a straight line to what? Along that line was the Sherman Volcano Field, and beyond the Sherman Chain were vast obsidian beds, glistening eternally black high above the snow line. Farther east lay the dismal emptiness of the Northern Desert, an expanse of glittering powdered obsidian that ended abruptly at the Baldwin Break. There the Continent ended and the Eastern Sea began. Beyond that was nothing but the Halfyear ice floes—nowhere for them to go. What in the name of the Ancients were they doing?
Damn, damn, damn ... Kaznov's probably with them.
Images of small rovers peppered the screen, all closing on Ganeden at top speed, while superimposed infrared was dominated by the glaring heat of the Halfyear pyre that sent its column of hot gases high in the air, where they curled gently east and were absorbed in an ice cloud. Tazh's face collected and displayed his anxiety. He was overwhelmingly perplexed by what he was witnessing.
“What is it, sir?” the lieutenant operating the radar asked.
“Lieutenant, I want you to think critically for a moment. You're a general who has brought his best troops to defend a place like Ganeden. You have a personality as tenacious as a sanger's weasel, and you're as devious as a starving munchbug. You find yourself faced with a force superior in numbers and armament, but you have at your disposal a weapon that is, for all practical purposes, invincible, if only you could deploy it. What would you do?"
“Well, sir, I suppose I'd do whatever I could to get in position to use that weapon."
“Yes, but how? How would you do that?"
“By ... by confusing the enemy. I'd draw his attention to something else while I maneuvered my ... while I ... well, by my Ancient, that's what he's doing, isn't it? He's moving—"
“Yes—that's what he's doing. He's moving things around for us to watch, and when we're mesmerized by the garmice running around in the field, he hits us where we are most vulnerable. And where are we weak, Lieutenant?"
“I don't know. We have weapons capability and scanners on all ... all ... from above, sir."
“That's right—from above. The shuttles of the Fathers have an unlimited ceiling. So they go far enough away to be out of range of our tactical scanners, then climb in an arc until they're in a position to pounce on our backs. How much time do you need to rig vertical sensors and tie them in to the fire control system?"
“An hour, maybe less."
“Make it less if you can—your life depends on it. Signal the others to do the same. Have them join us at this altitude and form up on an east-west line at five kilometer intervals."
* * * *
“Dani, tell me again why we're doing this,” Lindermann said as his EVA shell sealed shut with a snap like a frightened abalone.
“Because the boss is too busy to listen right now, and I think I've figured out how to get in, that's why. Now, close your hat and start breathing your own sweat. Lana's out there waiting for you."
“At least one woman's eager to—"
His helmet banged shut, and his sentence was cut pleasantly short.
Trane checked over Lindermann's shell, then gave the top of his helmet a sharp rap with the end of a wrench, laughing at his grimace. She smiled lovingly at her not-too-handsome prince, left a moist, lip-shaped smear on his faceplate and shoved him into the EVA launch gate.
“Can you hear me?” Sorenson said as Lindermann approached.
“Sadly, yes. What do you want, Lana?"
“Your faceplate's smudged."
“Lousy maintenance crew. See the laser dot?"
“Who could miss it?"
“Dani says we're to pin ourselves to the hull just forward of it."
“Then what?"
“We wait for her to sing a love song to this crusty old tube, then we go in."
A meter aft of where they screwed themselves into the shielding was a five centimeter black glass disk they'd missed on their previous visits. It's purpose, according to Trane's thinking, was to serve as a receptor for laser transmitted communications. Trane reasoned that the builders and designers would not have been concerned with the possibility of keeping anyone else out any more than merely hiding the lock. The key, she decided, would be the same recognition code that had allowed them to share space with the ISCU in the first place.
A splash of brilliant blue light played on the disk, letting them know she had begun her incantation. Thirty seco
nds passed. One minute.
“Dani, nothing's happening.” Lindermann said.
“Give it another minute. This is an old lady we're fooling with."
“Takes longer to get a message to the brain, is that it?"
“Yeah, same as with you, Shaul,” Sorenson said.
“Thanks, partner. Next time we go for a walk, remember who checks your shell."
“Oops."
“Will you two stop? Anything?"
“No, Dani,” Lindermann said. “I think this old lady of ours is a frigid bi ... wait a minute. I think I see a seam in the shielding. It's beginning to lift. Can you give us some white light over here?"
“Sure. How's that?"
“Much better,” Lindermann replied. “Yep, we have a seam, but it's too damned big for an ordinary utility airlock. I'd say it's fifteen meters on a side."
“Fourteen and a half, the Rammix says."
The plate slowly rose clear of the hull and rotated back to provide clearance for a tubular structure rising from within, then the hull began a deep, resonant vibration.
“Shaul, what is that?"
“It sure as hell isn't an airlock, Dani, and this thing's beginning to shake. What the hell did you say to her?"
“Don't be funny. What do you think? I can't see it well from here."
“I think it's going to be an antenna when it grows up, and I think it's time for us to get away from here. Dismount, Lana."
“Affirmative. The Rammix agrees with your antenna idea, and it has detected a sudden rise in energy around the hull."
“Right. We felt it. I think the old lady's about to wake up."
The two EVA shells accelerated away as four segments that formed the forward end of the ship opened like a flower in search of the sun and slid back a few meters. Trane, from her vantage point inside the shuttle, watched in horror as a monstrous flare of gasses erupted from the now open forward end. The shuttle and two shells closed slowly on ISCU-9's forward thruster.
“Shaul, Lana, I'm overriding your MPCs. You're under Rammix control now."
“Good idea. It's braking to a lower orbit?"
“Affirmative. Lana, I show your hat open—close it."
“Aw, I always miss all the fun. Shield's closed."
“Dani,” Lindermann said, his voice tense. “Get us out of here."
Seeds of Memory Page 40
