Code Breakers: Delta

by Colin F. Barnes

  Everyone became quite as they waited for the inevitable crash.

  But it didn’t come.

  The shuttle, pushing through the jungle, eventually ran out of momentum against the thick brush and came to a stop with a screeching, rending yell of defiance.

  No one moved for a moment, scared that any minor movement would set off some catastrophic event. The section behind the cabin clicked and hissed with the dying fire, the metal stretching and cooling under the extinguishing foam.

  The stench of smoke hung heavily in the air.

  A long minute passed and Gerry spoke. “I think we’re okay. Good job, Jachz. You handled that well.”

  “I’m used to it, I guess,” he said with a wry smile, showing more humanity in that moment than in all the time Gerry had known him. “First the crash of my ship and now this,” Jachz said. “Is twice a coincidence or a trend?”

  Gerry noticed a slight tremble in Jachz’s hands as he let go of the control sticks.

  He does feel after all, then. Gerry had considered that it was all a ruse, but if it was, then he was being extremely authentic. The truth was, Gerry suspected, that Jachz wasn’t withholding anything and he was what he said he was.

  Either way, Gerry would keep an eye on him.

  He hadn’t survived this long by trusting the Family.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you,” Petal said. “But I’m sick of flying. Almost every damn time it ends badly. I’m losing count of how many times I’ve been shot out of the sky or crash-landed. It’s ground vehicles only for me now.”

  “I know what you mean,” Gerry said, smiling even as he brought back the memories of crashing into Bachia during the battle with the Red Widows. If it wasn’t someone shooting you down, it was malfunctioning equipment.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Holly said, unbuckling from her seat. “I feel like a target stuck in here.”

  “I concur,” Petal said. “Let’s get the fuck out of here and find whatever it was that tried to kill us. I feel a little revenge coming on.”

  Gerry grabbed the slate that displayed Jess’s location and placed it in the webbing around his chest. He and the others had changed into combat fatigues. They’d no doubt need them now they were looking at a trek through the jungle.

  Each wore a knife and a pistol on their belts. The rest of the gear was in the back of the shuttle, probably now useless after the fire. “Okay, everyone ready? Draw your weapons, we don’t know if there’s something, or someone, waiting for us out there.”

  “Okay then,” Petal said, grabbing her pistol with one hand and the lever to open the shuttle’s side door with the other. “Let’s go get us some jungle fun.”

  Petal pulled the door to the side and made to step out, but her foot dangled over air. Gerry dashed forward and grabbed her arms, pulling her back.

  She dropped the pistol.

  They stood at the edge and watched it fall down into a great pit.

  The shuttle rocked on the edge and threatened to tip into the hole.

  “Holy fuck,” Petal said, scrambling back inside.

  “What the hell?” Holly said, joining them cautiously. She looked over Petal’s shoulders and down into the pit. “Oh no… that’s, oh god, no…”

  Gerry turned away when he saw the contents of the pit.

  The pistol made no noise when it struck the bottom. The pit was at least thirty meters wide and fifty deep. At the bottom, lit up by the evening sun, were bones. Thousands or perhaps millions of bones all piled up together. Among ribs and femurs and skulls were the rotting fabrics of flags from various nations.

  They were rocking on the edge of a mass grave.

  Gerry staggered back and fought to hold back the bile rising in his throat.

  Petal turned away, her face pale.

  “Head to the back,” Holly said, her voice shaking as she stepped through the cabin and approached the bulkhead door that led to the rear section of the shuttle. Jachz made to move toward the side door, but Petal shook her head and pushed him toward Holly.

  “You don’t want to see that, Jachz. You shouldn’t see it,” Petal said.

  Jachz simply nodded and followed Holly through to the rear of the craft.

  Petal and Gerry joined them, moving slowly so as not to disturb the balance and send them crashing nose first into the bone pit.

  “Are you okay?” Gerry asked as he held the door open for Petal.

  She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Nothing should be a surprise anymore given all the things we’ve seen, right?”

  “I hope not, but that… well, that’s all kinds of fucked up. I worry what else we’re going to find out here.”

  “Let’s not think about it,” Petal said. “Just concentrate on finding that ’borg and Jess.”

  “Yeah, go on; let’s get out of here.”

  They made their way through the middle section of the shuttle. The side exit thankfully led to solid ground. Gerry poked through their supplies. Their water and food were unspoiled, protected by the crates they were stored in. Their rifles were also undamaged apart from some visible scuffing.

  The worst of the fire was in the rearmost section, destroying the engine beyond repair. Gerry knew it was done on purpose. This was no random shooting. Two shots were all it took to ruin their engine, meaning they had no choice but to go on foot.

  The pit looked much larger from outside of the shuttle. It was like a great energy beam shot it out from above. All the trees and vines and thick brush simply ceased to exist around its perimeter, leaving it open to the air.

  The bodies were probably picked apart by numerous scavengers before ultimately rotting away, leaving just the bones. He saw flags from all the major nations and alliances, pieces of uniforms, soldiers and civilians alike.

  Gerry turned away from the sight and hoped he would eventually forget the image. He stepped back toward the shuttle to join the others and listened to the sounds of the jungle. In the trees he heard movement, small scurrying movement. Animals… real ones. It’d been so long since he saw any.

  A shape caught his attention above the pit: a bird.

  The sun shone down from a low westerly position, bathing the place in a golden glow, casting long shadows. The smell of dirt and smoke filled the thick, humid air. Sweat was already beading on his forehead. He wiped it away and surveyed the wreckage of the shuttle.

  Trees and bushes were snapped aside and flattened, creating a tunnel a few hundred meters long back through the jungle. Pieces of grey and white metal debris littered the place.

  Gerry felt a tinge of sadness that this wild place was now tarnished by the damaged craft. The jungle must have stood undisturbed for decades, and a few minutes into their journey they had already spoiled it—but then it was not a patch on the pit.

  “It was an energy weapon,” Jachz said from the rear of the shuttle. He bent low to survey the damage.

  Gerry stepped closer and kneeled down next to him. Two puncture wounds in the hull confirmed Jachz’s assessment. “This isn’t the work of an individual,” Gerry said. “Something that large must have come from a weapon platform.”

  “Which means we’re not alone,” Holly added, holding her rifle out, pointing the barrel towards the line of dark trees surrounding them.

  “Not necessarily,” Petal added. “It could be an automated system. Like from that over there.” She pointed to the south. Above the trees poked a small dome atop a triangular metal structure, much like the ones Gerry had spotted earlier. Blue lines of electricity crackled around its surface before disappearing into the structure.

  “Of course,” Gerry said. “That’s what the fence and towers are: a perimeter defence system. It makes sense if this was the Family’s main territory.”

  “I hate the sound of that,” Petal said. “With the pit and the towers—what else is waiting for us? Anyone else think this is turning into a suicide mission?”

  “No,” Gerry said, placing the rifle in a sling over his back
. “We’re going to be fine. We’ll figure this out. Trust me. If everyone’s got their supplies, I suggest we move out. By the looks of Jess’s signals, she and the ’borg are on foot too. That evens things up a little.”

  “I agree,” Jachz said, pulling his backpack straps over his shoulders and removing the large, curved knife from his belt scabbard. “We carry on. I’ll take point.”

  “Petal and I will follow. Holly, you want to take the rear?”

  She mock-saluted Gerry and smiled. “Got it, boss. My pleasure.”

  “Okay, let’s move out.”

  They followed Jachz around the perimeter of the pit until they reached the other side. The ex-Family member hacked at the vines and branches, cutting a way through for them. Gerry and Petal stepped forward aside him and helped with clearing a trail. Holly remained on guard, covering their rear.

  They kept on like that for an hour, cutting, trekking, staying on guard.

  All the while Gerry kept an eye on the slate as it registered Jess’s pings. They were slowly closing in. But they were still just over ninety miles away.

  As they continued on into the heart of the jungle’s dark interior, Gerry had the sense that they were being watched or followed. It wasn’t just the sound of whatever creatures lived here, but a real presence. At times he thought he saw the gloom shift just outside of his vision. Other times he thought he could feel the gaze of someone upon him.

  — Keep your eyes open, my love, Gerry sent. — I think we’re being watched.

  — Great, that’s all we need.

  Gerry forwarded the message to the others across their VPN.

  After a short break to take on water and protein in a small clearing, Jachz stood to lead the way again, but Gerry pulled them up short. A twig snapped off to their right, and he saw the shadows shift.

  Chapter 17

  Petal gripped her pistol and stalked forward. Ahead of her, Jachz, the sacrificial lamb, continued to hack at the jungle. Gerry and Holly had taken up positions to her right and left, extending out in arcs, with the hopes of luring their stalker into attacking Jachz.

  The ex-Family AI wasn’t entirely pleased with risking his newly found mortality, but agreed that on balance he would make the most appropriate target as he had been the one leading their trail since the crash.

  Petal hung back about fifty metres. She watched diligently, waiting for any shift of the light. They knew their stalker wasn’t armed, as it would have no doubt fired by now. Which meant it was probably just observing and reporting back.

  That indicated that there were definitely others here, in the jungle somewhere.

  Despite the threat, Petal found herself enjoying the experience. It felt good to be here in a place where things grew, hunting prey, being active.

  — I see it, Gerry sent. — I’m flanking it. It’s heading toward you, Jachz. Petal, close the gap. You should get a good shot, as there’s a small clearing coming up. Holly, come in from your side so we’ll have it surrounded.

  — Good job, Gez. I’m closing in, Petal replied.

  — Ditto, Holly said.

  — Copy, Jachz said.

  She hunched low, changing her pistol for the rifle and held it at the ready. She stepped, one foot over the other, keeping herself to the very edges of the trail and shrouded in the blanket of the tree’s shadows.

  Jachz cut through a thin barrier of trees and entered the clearing. He stopped in the middle and sat on a decayed log. He reached for the water bottle attached to his belt and lifted it to his lips, not looking around, despite knowing it was coming.

  Petal stopped before entering the clearing. She hid inside the shadows and dropped to a knee, watching through the scope for any movement.

  She heard it before she saw it.

  Twigs and leaves snapping and bristling somewhere off to her right. Small creatures scurried in the undergrowth, and a bird flapped its wings and left the safety of the canopy.

  A thin stream of the last remnants of evening light shone through into the open section and reflected off something… glass, perhaps?

  Petal moved her rifle a few inches to her right. And there, melting out of the darkness toward Jachz, a completely black figure with glassy eyes raised its arms, two blades clutched in its hands, ready to drive them down into Jachz’s back.

  Jachz stiffened, sensing the movement, but he didn’t betray the ruse.

  From either side of the opening, Holly and Gerry stepped out of the jungle, their rifles raised. Petal followed suit, stepping inside, and fired off a single round. The muted ‘pfff’ noise didn’t echo, dampened by the dense jungle.

  The round struck the blade in the figure’s left hand, sending up a brief, amber spark. The figure whirled round as it dropped the knife.

  Jachz dropped the water bottle and rolled backwards off the log, rising up on his knees, drawing a pistol. All four of them now moved in.

  “Don’t move unless you want to die,” Gerry said to the figure from the right-hand side.

  It spun round to face Gerry.

  “Over here, fuckface,” Holly said, catching its attention, making it spin round.

  “And one more for luck,” Petal said, grinning with her finger on the trigger, itching to blast the thing into oblivion, but resisting. They needed intel, not a dead body.

  Jachz stood up and sidestepped behind it.

  They had it trapped in place.

  It looked like a human covered in a black form-fitting shroud. Protuberances like scales covered its outer arms and legs. A single sash across its chest held a number of blades and small firearms. Without saying a word, it raised its arms above its head and fell to its knees.

  It stared at Petal with those black glassy eyes. The last rays of the sun travelled across them and showed no emotion. With the sun now set behind the trees, only their glow rods attached to their belts gave them any light.

  They moved in slowly until they were each just a few feet away from the figure. Up close, Petal saw that it wasn’t wearing a shroud at all. The black covering was its actual skin.

  “What the fuck are you?” Petal asked, keeping her rifle aimed at its chest.

  It didn’t look up or respond.

  “It’s a tracker,” Jachz said. “A Family model, similar to the viroborg.”

  Gerry pressed the barrel of his rifle to its neck. “I don’t care what it is. It better start talking.”

  “It’s not sentient,” Jachz said. “It won’t volunteer information.”

  “Then we’ll just take it,” Gerry said.

  “Wait,” Petal said. “Gez, can you feel that… a network!”

  Petal’s internal systems had recognised the tracker as a node on a wider system. She tried to connect, but the security was robust enough that she would need time to crack it, but one thing for sure, the tracker was sending and receiving information.

  “Shit, it’s a trap,” Petal said, whirling around to face the opposite direction.

  From all around them, the trees rustled. Footsteps squelched through the mud. God, how many of them were there?

  All around the perimeter of the clearing, the line of trees parted and out stepped a hundred or more… “What the hell are these?”

  Mutated human-like creatures carrying crude firearms lined the clearing. They wore furs and animal skins. Some held fiery torches while others carried more modern flashlights.

  From behind Petal the tracker stood up, the whirring servos catching her attention.

  A loud crack erupted, and the tracker’s body slumped to the ground. Smoke billowed from Jachz’s rifle. That proved to be a catalyst.

  The mutants rushed in as one.

  Petal emptied the magazine of her rifle in a sweeping arc, taking out four of them before she threw the empty weapon to the ground and extended her spikes.

  She took a quick glimpse to her side and saw Gerry and Holly firing off the last of their rounds, cutting down a dozen or so more, but there were too many of them. Jachz yelled as he was grabbe
d from behind and dragged away.

  Two of them lunged for Petal.

  She quickly shuffled backwards and brought up her spikes. Her enemy’s momentum brought them onto the points, and she drove them up through their throats before retracting them and back-stepping to stand beside Gerry. He had withdrawn his hunting knife and slashed in arcs, keeping a few metres of distance between him and the mutants.

  Up close they resembled the Upsiders. Their faces contorted into grotesque shapes. Their bodies were hunched and covered in boils where their furs and animal skins didn’t cover completely.

  A guttural laugh came from behind the main group of assailants. They all stiffened and backed off. It was interesting, and worrying, Petal thought, that none of them had opened fire. That only meant one thing.

  “Well, well, well,” the voice said, its bass notes rumbling through Petal’s chest.

  The mutants stepped aside, creating a corridor for the owner of this terrible voice.

  Petal tried to send Gerry a message via their VPN, but something was suppressing the connection, making her internal systems crash and reboot endlessly in a loop. She shut them off before they overloaded her brain.

  “You okay?” Petal asked Holly and Gerry.

  “Still breathing,” Holly said.

  “Right here,” Gerry added.

  Through the flickering of the mutants’ fiery torches, a tall figure, at least two meters tall, stepped forward. Half-man, half-machine, its face leered with an all-too-human delight. The skin on its face was peeled back to its ears, exposing a titanium skull.

  Within dark sockets, real eyes focused on Petal. Its pupils dilated wide like a cat’s so that it looked like they were entirely black.

  “Great,” Petal said. “Another freak. Let me guess, you’re another Family-created fuckup. And what? You’re just cruising through the jungle looking for bunnies to roast?”

  “Petal, don’t,” Gerry said, reaching out to grip her shoulder and then whispering, “We’ll find a way out of this yet, be calm.”