by M. D. Cooper
Rika kept her mental tone even.
Rika cocked her head.
Rika decided to ignore the barb…and the one before that, and instead related the plan. Whether they rescued Piper or not, destroying the klemperer rosette required them to land at the ancient facility on Delta Moon, then get down to Piper’s node chamber.
Both his bandwidth and his access to the world outside his mind was restricted by a physical buffering device. There were also defensive NSAIs set up to ensure that the buffer wasn’t removed. Rika still hadn’t reviewed all the data on those, but Piper seemed to think they would be exceptionally challenging.
Regardless, once they had reestablished Piper’s full connection to the RMS systems, he could initiate a destabilization within a short period. The AI had explained that the moons each had a miniature black hole at their core, and that he could use one to shift the moon’s orbit. The moons sped around Epsilon at such a high velocity that the first collision would happen within days. Hours, if Piper could control the RMS systems on the other moons, which he believed should work if the remote access systems still functioned.
Leslie gave a mental sound of amazement.
Rika chuckled.
* * * * *
“Well that’s odd,” Ellya said, frowning at her console.
“What’s that?” Noah asked, looking up from the Private Huzzah cast he was watching—not the new one; they’d moved on to repeats by then.
Ellya gestured at the comm display. “We just got new orders. We’re to land on Delta Moon, and dock at the control facility there.”
“We what?” Noah asked. “I thought that place was restricted?”
“Me too. Orders check out, though. I guess they’re trying to clear the orbital paths and are doing some inspections down there.”
Noah half turned to Ellya. “Inspections for what?”
“Orders don’t say, but I pinged Chief Watson back on Farthing Station. He said fugitives escaped from that ship that came in, the Spine of the Stars.”
“Huh, that’s nuts,” the man said, his voice only wavering a little. “I guess we’d best get down to Delta. Maybe they’ll let us get off the ship and stretch our legs ‘til this all blows over.”
Ellya glanced at him. “Uh…yeah, I bet they just let anyone wander around one of the top secret installations down there.”
Noah didn’t reply, and Ellya altered the shuttle’s course, slipping into the flight path that the moon’s STC had provided.
Rika chuckled.
she answered, still laughing.
Leslie groaned.
* * * * *
The freight shuttle had just settled on a cradle in the moon facility’s main docking bay, when a squad of soldiers rushed in, weapons drawn and leveled at that ship.
“Oh, shit…” Noah muttered, glancing behind himself. “They know you’re here!”
“Know who’s here?” Ellya asked, twisting in her seat.
“Dammit,” Rika muttered as she materialized. “They didn’t know. You should have kept your yap shut.”
At that point, both Noah and Ellya screamed. Rika supposed that having a two-hundred-plus centimeter mech appear right behind you was an alarming experience for most people.
“Uh…OK,” Noah replied, while Ellya just nodded.
“Good.” Rika faded from view. “Remember, I’m watching you.”
She rushed to the rear hatch as it finished opening, and barely managed to slip past a pair of soldiers storming up the ramp.
Across the bay—which she noted also contained two of the interstellar-capable pinnaces—Leslie pinged her location at one of the exits.
Rika nodded, while Leslie asked,
A laugh nearly escaped Rika’s lips.
Niki asked.
Leslie laughed as she and Rika rounded a corner, continuing at a brisk jog through the facility.
Rika pursed her lips as she dodged a technician who was pushing a rack containing what appeared to be antimatter bottles.
Nine minutes later, they reached a secured bulkhead that led into an old section of the base. Four guards stood before the sealed door, and Rika signaled that she’d go right and Leslie should take out the enemies to their left.
Leslie flashed an acknowledgement, and moments later, a pair of lightwands flared, appearing from nowhere moments before they drove through two faceshields, instantly killing the guards behind them.
Without hesitating, Rika slashed to the right, cutting into the neck of the second guard on her side before jerking the electron blade up and into the woman’s head.
She glanced over to see that Leslie had performed a similar move, and that both her Niets were down as well.
he finished.
On the far side of the door lay a long, sloping hall that ran down for a hundred meters before curving around to the right. Niki had already sent a set of drones ahead, and the two women took off after them.
* * * * *
The two women ran for another ten minutes through the ancient facility, the passage they were taking curving periodically as it led deeper into the moon.
After descending over a kilometer, they came to another door. Rika was about to drive her lightwand into it, when Leslie touched the controls, and it slid aside.
“Unlocked.”
“And if it triggers an alarm?” Rika asked as they walked through into a wide chamber.
“You can see the feeds above; they’re a minute from finding the four guards we killed. Good thing this base only has a two-squad complement, ‘cause we’re going to have to fight them off while Piper does his thing.”
Rika nodded while gazing across the chamber they found themselves in. It was nearly three hundred meters across, and fifty deep. The floor was a large bowl with a hole in the center, and above that hole, suspended on a complex gantry, was a large AI node.
It wasn’t as large as some of the NSAI nodes that Rika had seen in the past, but at five meters to a side, it was certainly larger than any SAI core she’d laid eyes on.
Above was another shaft stretching up into darkness, and Rika set about finding its control systems. When the lights came on, she could see that it stretched all the way up to where she gauged the surface of the moon to be.
Well, looks like that’s our way out.
“I’ll cover the door,” Leslie said from behind her.
She glanced back at her friend, who sported only a PR-109. “Here.” Rika pulled her AC9CR from its hook, and tossed it to the scout. “You’ll need some more boom. Just be careful, he’s my baby.”
Leslie snorted. “One hell of a baby. Don’t worry, I’ll burp him when I’m done.”
Rika wagged a finger at her before continuing to the center of the chamber.
Niki highlighted a device on Rika’s HUD that sat on the deck next to the node.
The AI made a strange noise.
Rika wasn’t surprised. She’d never been this close to a black hole, and had no intention of repeating the experience anytime soon. She approached the physical network restrictor, and examined the connections. There were four of them, and she simply had to disconnect each line from the restrictor on each side, and then directly connect them all.
the AI replied.
Rika peered at the expanse over her head, and realized that there were regularly spaced orbs set into the grey plas. Each one was a meter across.
Rika drew a deep breath, nodding slowly.
GETTING REAL
STELLAR DATE: 10.23.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: MSS Fury Lance, near Delta Moon
REGION: Epsilon, Old Genevia, Nietzschean Empire
Though Chase knew Heather’s recommendation to remain on the Fury Lance made sense, it didn’t feel like the right move.
>
Half the Marauders are on stealthed shuttles approaching the various stations surrounding Delta Moon, and I’m up here. Pacing across this bridge again like a damn impotent fool.
On the main viewscreen, a group of Harriet carriers moved into a higher orbit around Delta Moon, with destroyers and cruisers in a widely dispersed escort pattern around the massive ships.
Chase set his jaw, glaring at the screen.
“Stars,” Chase muttered aloud. “Nietzscheans really do suck balls.”
“Sir?” Chief Garth asked.
“Potter was just telling me how there might be AIs down in those moons, keeping their orbits stable in the rosette. Word is that they’ve been shackled there for some time.”
“Damn,” Ona whispered. “That’s terrible, especially considering what Captain Heather said. Alone out here in the dark for that long.”
