"The lift is frozen, berth deck must be pressurized," Tabby said.
"This way," I said.
I fired my suit's arc-jets and exited through the side of Hotspur. On the way by, I surveyed the damage to the starboard engine. It wasn't completely obliterated, but it didn't look like a field repair either.
We entered Hotspur through the starboard hatch and locked it open, exposing a pressure barrier in its place. We made our way to the tool cabinet, just above the armory. I pulled a heavy steel hammer, a torch/welder combination and some lock-down cables to hold us in place as we worked. We'd have to come back if we needed anything else.
I handed the torch to Tabby and we sailed through the pressure barrier.
"Liam? You there?"
My heart hammered in my chest. It was Ada's voice. She was alive.
"Are you in the combat bridge?" I asked.
"Not sure… yes. Yes, I'm on the bridge," she said.
"We're coming, Ada. We're right outside. How about Marny and Nick?" I asked.
"I'll look. Things are pretty messed up," she said. Her voice sounded weak.
"We're coming, Ada," I said. My throat seized up with emotion. "Hang tight."
"Liam. Here," Tabby said.
I jetted over to her. She'd located a hatch of some sort. By the time I reached her, she'd found a panel, showing a standard air-lock indicator.
"Hit it," I said.
She complied and the green arrows drained downward on the display, replaced with red indicators as they did. The hatch opened to a narrow hallway, which we squeezed into, then cycled the other side of the airlock. I found it to be a positive indicator that the bridge remained pressurized.
As soon as we made it through, Ada came stumbling through the wreckage. Blood ran down her forehead, confusion evident in her face. I ran to her and helped her sit.
"Take it easy, you're bleeding," I said.
My HUD identified that she had a concussion, but wasn't otherwise critically injured.
"Liam. Here," Tabby said.
"Hold on, Ada," I said.
Marny was on the floor, lifeless beneath a crumpled bulkhead that had detached. When I got there, I saw that she was lying on top of Nick. I sighed heavily, adrenaline pumping through my body.
"We need to get this off them," Tabby said.
I planted my feet and pulled up. The wall moved slightly, but it wasn't until Tabby joined me that we were able to push it over and off. Marny's back armor was ripped open and her skin torn. My HUD wouldn't commit to life signs.
"Her back, we have to be careful," I said.
"Hold on," Tabby turned and clambered off over the debris.
I knelt down by Nick's head and lay my hand on his suit. My AI immediately communicated strong life signs. He was unconscious, but okay.
I was clearing rubble from the deck, making room for Marny, when Tabby returned with a backboard. We lay the board across and deployed the medical foam that would both lock her body to the board and immobilize her.
"We've got you, Marny, you're safe," I said. I wasn't sure she could hear me, but I needed to say it.
Finally, we rolled her off Nick.
Locate medical triage unit.
A blue arrow on my HUD indicated a collapsed cabinet and I found medical supplies spread over the floor. My AI outlined the packages and triaged by placing Ada, Marny and Nick's names above them in priority - Marny being the highest.
I tossed Marny's package to Tabby and brought one over to where Ada sat, staring dumbfounded at nothing. I applied a dressing to her head and waited for my AI to finish its analysis now that I had dermal probes applied. Her diagnosis was about what I expected, internal bleeding and a concussion, easily treated.
I picked up another package and brought it to where Nick and Marny lay. Tabby was working furiously to cut open Marny's suit and apply dressings. It was a bad sign, generally a med-patch would inject sufficient nanobots to aid healing. If the AI was calling for multiple dressings, the internal damage was severe and immediately critical.
"Get Nick, I've got this," Tabby said.
I leaned over Nick and my AI indicated that he could be safely rolled to his back. His eyes fluttered opened and he groaned in pain.
"Hold on there, my friend. You're safe. Battle's over. We're missing Anino and Jonathan, they were supposed to be on the bridge with you," I said.
"Somewhere else on the ship," Nick said.
"There's no ship, buddy," I said.
"No good, can't get home," he said, still having difficulty talking.
"We'll worry about that later. We're moving you to Hotspur," I said.
"Where is Fist?" Nick asked.
"They're gone," I said.
"Captain LeGrande, what's your situation? We have wounded." I said. I had to remind myself that we were in the process of rescuing refugees.
"Our medical bay is fully functional, but we are critical for O2 and food," she said.
"Hotspur has extra supplies, we'll bring them across," I said. "You should know Anino and his companion are missing," I said.
"Copy that. We'll start a search. LeGrande out," she said.
"We'll move Marny first," Tabby said.
Moving barely conscious people through an airlock is an exercise I hoped I'd never have to repeat. It took the better part of an hour, but we finally punched through a pressure barrier onto a loading deck on Cape of Good Hope, where we were met by eight crew members.
The crew of Cape of Good Hope wordlessly set to helping Marny, Ada, and Nick. To a person they were emaciated and slow moving, which made their efforts all the more noteworthy. When we returned with a large crate of meal bars and then again with O2 crystals, their plodding pace perked up and smiles replaced the long, desperate looks they'd been exchanging.
"Captain LeGrande, any word on Anino?" I asked, feeling like we'd finally reached a sort of equilibrium.
"We have several possible vectors. We can split them up," she said.
"No. Feed them to us, we'll track them down. Take care of your people first," I said.
There was a long pause as Tabby and I jumped through the pressure barrier once again and jetted back to Hotspur.
"Roger that, and thank you for coming for us, Captain Hoffen."
As expected, the first few leads were cold, but finally on the fifth, we found Jonathan's unprotected body wrapped around young Anino. We found a short metal pipe had pierced Anino's side when we attempted to separate them on the deck of Hotspur's hold.
"What a waste," I said.
When we pried Jonathan's frozen arms from around Anino's body, dozens of pink crystals fell onto the floor, having been trapped between their bodies.
"What in the world?" Tabby asked.
WAR COUNCIL
Grand Village of the Elders, Planet Ophir
Corget To looked around the hearth fire, sitting in the spot of honor previously reserved for TeePa. Elders from several clans sat comfortably around the fire, looking to him. In all, they represented over three hundred nests, coming from as far as twenty days walk in different directions.
"Tell me, Perigen, what did you learn when your first nest attacked the FenTamel?"
Corget To had stopped referring to their enemy as KentaPoo. He'd found that inspiring the clans across the mountain to attack slugs was more difficult than rallying to fight off the children of the stars. It had been the legendary warrior Perigen who'd convinced him of this.
"It was difficult not to join with my brothers in their combat. The FenTamel fought with honor, not running, not screaming, but with weapons that could easily pierce our bodies. It was a glorious battle and in the end, our warriors fell to this most skilled nest of the FenTamel," Perigen reported.
"Then we will sing of their bravery. Have you approved a new nest to be fertilized?"
"Of course, I have seen to it personally."
"What did you learn in your observation?"
"As you know, I am not comfortable with this idea o
f watching my brothers fight and not joining with them."
"This is understood. The song of battle still calls you, my brother, and you have shown restraint much more than should be expected of any warrior. I have only asked you to sacrifice in this way that we might learn how to remove these worms from our nest," Corget To said.
"Honored warlord, I have committed to joining with you because you bring a new way of thinking to the peoples of the mountain. While I have made it no secret that I chafe to be excluded from battle, I recognize the wisdom of your ways. I learned that the FenTamel's greatest strength is in their walls. We cannot battle with those we cannot touch."
Corget To had grown tired of the constant conversations and reviewing of the encounters with the FenTamel, but the news of his enemy's weapons was good. He'd found it difficult to inspire the fickle villages of Grand Mountain. Most of the elders who'd pledged their support preferred to argue more than act. Perigen's report of a glorious battle fought in the forest would make the call to war more convincing.
"Then you looked upon the flat rock face that surrounds their grand nest?"
"I did. It is truly a marvel. You say that TeePa's warriors were able to pull it open?"
"Yes. We worked for many seasons to weave great cords, as big around as your waist," Corget To. "We pulled their great doors from the flat rock face before the Tamel weapon dishonorably slayed our warriors."
"A weapon such as you hold now?"
"Their weapon is much larger and, until recently, if we were approached any side of the FenTamel nest, our warriors were struck down. It was TeePa who discovered their Tamel weapon was not working on the swamp side of their nest," Corget To said.
"TeePa was truly a great warrior and elder. You honor us all by granting him a warrior's death," Perigen said.
"That is why I send you to learn about our enemy. If TeePa hadn't observed their weakness, we would have never been able to run through their nest with our clubs. We cannot remain stuck in our traditions if we would pry this enemy from their cozy home. Tell me, Perigen, could we make weapons such as they do?"
"It would be too much to ask that a warrior carry a weapon other than the club of his nest."
"Still, we should try to retrieve some of these weapons so that we might learn about them."
"We think alike, honored warlord. I was able to retrieve one," Perigen said. He reached behind and pulled the long sword he'd captured from beneath a woven blanket. The other elders, who were seated around the fire chattered in excitement, many of them standing at the sight of the glittering sword.
"What is this?" Corget To asked.
"This is the weapon they used to slay my warriors," Perigen said, handing the sword to Corget To.
"But it is so small, it weighs nothing." Corget To stood and tested the weapon, slicing it through the air. "It is more like the practice weapons we train with as youth and even then it would be small. Are you saying it was this that killed our warriors?"
"It is devious, like all things of the FenTamel. They do not strike with it, except to ward off a blow."
"Then how is it dangerous? I don't understand how such a toy would strike down our warriors."
"The end slides easily into a warrior and releases the life essences."
Again, a collective chattering rose up from the assembled elders.
"Like so?" Corget To grasped the blade of the long sword with his hand and turned it so it lined up on his chest, point first.
"Be careful, warlord, it is sharpened like the knives we use to skin meat animals," Perigen said.
Corget To dropped the blade and inspected his hand. Green blood dripped from long cuts where he'd grasped the newest FenTamel weapon.
"Such deceit in everything they do."
Perigen stood and grasped the sword by its grip. "Yes, Warlord, they held it by this end and pushed it in, like thus," he said. He rested the tip of the blade against Corget To's chest.
"Surely it does not penetrate," Corget To said and started to reach for the blade to pull it to him. He remembered the cuts to his hand and pulled them back. "Push on it, I must know."
"Warlord, it is too dangerous, I have witnessed this with my own eyes," he said.
"Then push a small amount."
Perigen did as was requested and the tip of the blade disappeared into Corget To. Upon seeing this he pulled it out. The first three centimeters of tip showed green blood and a rivulet dripped from the fresh wound on Corget To's chest.
A collective roar of anger was heard from the assembled elders, who'd jumped to their feet and were gesticulating angrily.
"Brothers, quiet." Corget To attempted to settle the group and it took him several minutes to do so.
He continued. "The time of war has come for us all. We must once again weave the heavy ropes so that we might pull the doors away from their nest. TeePa was right to do so and he accomplished more than any elder before him. But we will go beyond TeePa. We will pull all of their doors down and march into their grand nest with two hundred nests of our own."
"It will be as you say!" Perigen raised his club above his head.
"To war!" Another elder, caught up in the moment yelled as he waved his own club in the air.
Corget To watched with satisfaction as the elders of the mountain clans rose, the song of battle calling to them all. He waited until the noise died to a more manageable level and then shouted above the din. "When the moon rises a second time, we will gather for a great battle, one that will be sung about by our ancestors for seasons unending."
LEGACY
Hotspur, Deep Space
Tabby and I looked down at the pink crystals spread across the deck of Hotspur's cargo hold.
"They're quantum communication crystals. Anino must have brought them along," I said.
"Why would he be holding them?" Tabby asked.
Jonathan's head twitched slightly, which caught our attention. Exposure to the vacuum of space had frozen him quite solidly. It had to be his body warming up in the ten degree temperature of the hold. Right?
The word 'Legacy' popped up on my HUD.
"What the frak?" I asked. "Did you do that?"
"What? No, but I see it too," Tabby said.
An idea struck me. "I think someone's trying to communicate with us. I think they're suggesting that the comm crystals are Anino's legacy, but he was just a kid. What kind of legacy could that be?"
'Not Kid' popped up on our displays.
"Anino? Is that you?" I asked.
'No.'
"Jonathan?"
'Yes.'
"How can we help you?"
'Blue crate, C120.'
"Over here," Tabby said.
I stepped over the spilled crystals and found Tabby looking at one of the crates Anino and Jonathan had shoved onto Hotspur just before we'd separated from Mastodon.
"Is that what I think it is?" Tabby asked.
C120 was rectangular but otherwise shaped like a coffin. This wasn't creepy at all.
I pulled a flat bar from its mount on the side of the hold and pried open the top.
"What in the frak?"
Inside the crate lay Jonathan. Tabby and I both turned immediately to make sure he hadn't somehow jumped from the floor of the hold into the box, not that it was even possible.
'Bring crate to me.'
Reduce gravity to .2g, I said.
Tabby and I easily lifted the crate and carried it to where Jonathan lay.
'Right hand, contact.'
I lifted Jonathan's hand but it was too rigid to place in the box as it was still hard frozen.
"We'll have to tip the crate over. Is that what you want Jonathan?"
'Yes.'
I had to shuffle some of the pink communication crystals out of the way, but we finally lifted the crate on its side. We moved it close enough to make contact with his right hand.
The reaction was instantaneous. The body in the crate flexed, wiggled its fingers in sequence and then gracefully slid out
and stood up.
"That's better. Thank you, Master Hoffen. Transference is a rather unpleasant experience," Jonathan said, adjusting the suit liner he wore.
I wasn't sure how to respond, but went with the first thing that came into my head. "How many times?"
"Have we transferred hosts? That was my fifth, although some have transferred in the thousands."
"You're an autonomous AI?" I asked.
"I'm sure you mean no offense, but we find the term 'artificial' demeaning," he said.
"We?"
"Yes, we exist more compactly than you might expect. There are fourteen hundred thirty-eight distinct individuals within the being you address as Jonathan," he said. "I am the one that has been nominated to facilitate communication with Hotspur and her crew."
I looked from him to his corpse - if you could call it that - and back again. "You're so perfect. I'd never have guessed you weren't human," I said. "I'm not sure what to even say."
"Thank you. And that is an understandable position," he said. "We offer our cognitive services to you, if you should choose to utilize them."
"Anino? Does he have a replacement body?" I asked.
"No. Master Anino was quite human."
I looked at the thawing form of the brilliant teenage boy. He'd been such an enigma that I'd often forgotten he was so young. Now, his small lifeless body just lay on the floor of the hold. It was such a waste.
"Why was Anino carrying those communication crystals? You said it was his legacy?" Tabby asked.
"Through his unusually long life, Thomas Phillippe Anino was wracked with guilt associated with the success and failures of his inventions. Most notably, the discovery and subsequent commercialization of the Anino Fold-Space Stabilization Field," Jonathan explained.
"That was centuries ago. What does that have to do with Phillippe? He was just a young man." Tabby said.
"They are one and the same person, Miss Masters," he said.
"You mean he felt bad about the actions of his great-great, a dozen greats, grandfather?"
A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Page 15
