Descent

by Hamish Spiers

  “Then they know we’re out here?” Naima asked her.

  “Yes,” Lady Calayra said. “You and Drackson have been spotted at a couple of locations in coming here.” She smiled as she saw Naima’s expression of disdain. “Don’t worry, though. You shouldn’t discredit yourselves. In each case, it has only been a brief visual made by someone like a maintenance worker. Someone who really shouldn’t care one way or the other about a couple of Harskans.”

  “But someone who’d be amenable to the suggestion of a reward for information though,” Naima pointed out.

  Lady Calayra nodded. “Right.”

  Drackson smiled. “I don’t think this should be a problem. The Imraehi know we’re out here then and they might have some theories on our motives. However, there’s no need to be concerned yet. Even if they suspect we’re gathering information for a United Frontier strike against them, it won’t help them much. They have no idea about the extent of our network or what we know and at best, all they can do is try to attack this vessel.” He looked at Alia. “And thanks in part to some modifications by the Federation’s intelligence network and a few more by Alia here, the Albatross can outrun most warships, outmaneuver most medium sized armed freighters and outfight the average gunboat. So as far as I’m concerned, if the Imraehi wish to dispense with the niceties of political intrigue and attack us outright, they’re more than welcome to try. Now, what about the Younger Lady Erama and Master Asten? Has there been any word on them?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Lady Calayra said. “But we’ll keep you informed.” She handed him a card. “I understand the Adopted Lady Erama and Master Zak are going to need our intel fairly soon. This is everything we’ve got so far.”

  “I’ll forward it on,” Drackson said. “But how did you know the Phalamkian strike is moving ahead of schedule?”

  Calayra smiled. “You pay me to know things, Drackson.”

  Jiang climbed off her bunk and, swinging her feet, she dropped to the floor. Then she opened the built-in wardrobe provided in the room and pulled out the clothes she’d acquired. Thin garments more suited to the climate than the clothes she’d arrived with.

  As she dressed, thinking about what her next move might be, her thoughts drifted to Vismach and, with an effort, she tried to block him from her mind. She was trying to forget about Vismach, trying to forget about the whole business that had brought her to Port Alema in the first place.

  What she wanted more than anything was to be back on the Albatross with the others and on a regular assignment. Though as she thought this, she almost laughed out loud. There’d been no regular assignments for her since she’d left the Department of Security to work with Drackson and Alia. It had been part of the initial appeal of course and, on most days, she was glad she’d made the choice. But right then, she couldn’t help feeling a bit nostalgic about the department.

  She went down to the street-side café, where she had a leisurely breakfast and a coffee. Then, in the middle of her coffee, she looked up, or rather down, to see a painfully familiar face.

  “Mind if I join you, Jiang?” Vismach asked.

  “Immensely,” Jiang told him with a scowl. “But go ahead. Maybe the authorities might raid this place and arrest you. Give me a little bit of morning entertainment.”

  “It pleases you to jest,” Vismach said, sitting down and uttering a cheerful click. He raised a hand, turning to a human waiter who was walking past. “A coffee, thanks. Black with no sugar.”

  “Sure thing,” the waiter replied, making a note in his pad and going back to the counter.

  “I’m sorry you left in such a hurry the other night,” Vismach said when the man was out of earshot. “I think you would have found the experience quite educational. Also, I thought we were in this together.”

  “You were mistaken,” Jiang told him. “I’m just waiting until I can get a ride out of here.”

  “Then why wait?” Vismach said. “I’ve given you encryption keys to access the daily schedules for all the regular commercial and military vessels leaving Port Alema. And if large scale operators or navy transports don’t appeal to you, you could always buy a ride out of here.”

  “With a stranger?” Jiang asked. “When every second pilot who flies into this system is a pirate or an amoral mercenary like yourself?”

  “You don’t trust anyone here.”

  “No. Present company included.”

  “Understandable,” Vismach conceded. “However, I don’t think it explains your choice to wait here entirely. You could find a reputable pilot if you looked but you haven’t tried. No, you’re in the khalakye’s nest and you’re curious about the possibilities that brings.”

  When Jiang opened her mouth to reply, Vismach cut her off. “Don’t deny it, Jiang. Like it or not, in my business, you need to be good not only at reading people at any given moment but figuring them out in their entirety. What makes them tick. How they would act in given situations. All of that. And believe me, I’ve figured you out, Jiang. I figured you out a long time ago. You and I both know I’m right.”

  “The waiter’s coming back,” Jiang said.

  “I know,” Vismach replied, before turning around and taking his coffee from the tray. “Thank you, my good friend.”

  When the waiter left, Vismach turned back to Jiang. “Do you want to know what I did the other night?”

  “I’m just dying to hear all about it.”

  “I crippled three orbital weapons satellites,” Vismach told her. “They may have taken out who knows how many Frontier vessels before they could be neutralized. Thanks to my efforts, they will take down none. Perhaps I am an amoral mercenary but what I did may well save the lives of many men and women in Frontier naval service. Surely, a little heat is a small price to pay for that.”

  Jiang sighed. “All right. But maybe if you tell me the whole plan next time, I won’t get rattled.”

  Vismach nodded. “Fair enough. I should be a little more understanding of the fact that you’re not accustomed to this type of work. But if you’d like to get some practice at it, I have another job. And with luck, we should be able to carry it out without any fireworks.”

  Jiang nodded. “All right. What is it?”

  “There are references in the Imraehi Defense Force computer networks to weapons that I can’t account for,” Vismach told her. “And the Frontier task forces that are coming here will need to know about them, preferably before these weapons are used against them.”

  Jiang sat up, frowning. “The United Frontier has task forces heading here right now?”

  “Yes,” Vismach said, “in two divisions. I’ve word that Admiral Seirvek is bringing a Hie’shi led task force here directly, while your esteemed Adopted Lady Erama and Master Zak are bringing a Phalamkian led group to secure Katara first.”

  “So much for the United Frontier,” Jiang said.

  “Well, they are at least united in their objective,” Vismach pointed out. “And there are large numbers of ships from other Frontier worlds in each group. However, the launch of these task forces means that we’re now on something of a deadline. I can do the job I’ve set out to do on my own if I have to but I’m asking you for your help because I know you’re a capable professional in your particular field of expertise. You were a great investigator when we first met, Jiang and I believe you could be instrumental in finding out more about what these Imraehi are hiding up their sleeves.”

  “All right,” Jiang said. “If I’m here anyway, then I may as well try to be of some use. What are these weapons?”

  “I don’t know,” Vismach said. “The first batch of weapons I found references to sound as though they’re similar in concept to the Federation’s battleroids but I’ve seen no such thing planetside and I don’t believe any of the Frontier nations really developed any battleroid technology that was comparable to the Federation’s either. Perhaps battleroids have been used here and there but the Frontier nations appear to be traditionalists when it comes to spac
e weaponry, preferring the tried and true classic combinations of war cruisers and fighters. So whatever these battleroids the Imraehi have are a mystery to me.”

  Jiang nodded. “Right. Battleroids. And the other weapons?”

  “The Imraehi call them ‘stinger nets’,” Vismach said. “And I know nothing about them at all. At the moment, all I have to go on is the name and the implications that come to mind.”

  “A literal net that can be fired around an enemy ship,” Jiang mused. “And then...”

  “Exactly,” Vismach said. “That is the crux of the matter. And then what? In what way do they sting their prey?”

  “And all we’ve got to go on with these weapons are their names?” Jiang asked, just to be sure.

  “That’s all,” Vismach said. “Names that I found in the enemy data banks the other night.” He produced a pad and handed it to Jiang. “I took the liberty of downloading the files that referred to the weapons in case they may shed some light on things.”

  Jiang took the pad and felt her resolve hardening. “All right, Vismach. I’m in.”

  Drackson rolled over onto his side. He opened his eyes and shut them again. The cabin lights were still off and were not set to turn back on for a good five or six hours. He sighed.

  A gentle hand brushed over his bare shoulder, coming to rest over his side.

  “You can’t sleep?”

  “I’m worried about Asten and Selina. And Jiang.”

  “I know,” Naima murmured. “But they’re resourceful. Whatever comes their way, they’ll manage.”

  “Will they?” Drackson asked. “They’ve each cheated death a few times in their own ways. We all have. But sometimes, I think we’ve cheated it one time too many and there may be a price to pay.”

  Naima chuckled.

  It wasn’t a reaction Drackson expected. Frowning, he rolled over onto his other side to look into his lover’s eyes. “What’s so funny?”

  “You,” Naima said. “Us. What hybrids we’ve become. I was just thinking that your Harskan is full of Corsidan.”

  Drackson smiled. “I suppose you’re right. You and I are hybrids now. Straddling two worlds, as it were.”

  “And in style,” Naima added. “Anyway, try not to worry about Asten and Selina. Or Jiang. It won’t get us to Imraec Tarc any faster.”

  Jiang hit the search button and watched as the next instance of the term ‘stinger net’ appeared on the screen:

  Order 45, 3-7-289 acknowledged. STINGER NET 3 transferred to Orbital 6.

  She read a bit more and made a note, including the date - which she compared to some other dates she’d written down. Then she hit the search button again.

  Second K.D.STINGER NET duplicate completed. Require the following materials for further production in the quantities specified: Itherian ore -

  Jiang pursed her lips and checked her notes.

  “K.D.,” she murmured. Looking through what she had written, she found two more instances where ‘stinger net’ had been proceeded by the initials.

  She punched up the codes that Vismach had provided her to give her remote access to the Port Alema public library archives. Then she began a new search.

  K.D. + 289

  After looking at the results, she modified the search.

  K.D. + 288

  The resulting display looked rather more promising.

  No results. Did you mean the Karedaes Derelict, discovered by the Karedaes Deep Salvage Team in 288?

  Jiang smiled. “Yes,” she said to herself, tapping the appropriate key. “I think I did.”

  When she was done, she left the room where she was staying and headed over to Vismach’s makeshift quarters, which were starting to look like some kind of research laboratory with all the electronic equipment and pads lying around.

  “How did you go at your end?” he asked, looking up from the latest espionage or sabotage project he was working on.

  “I don’t have all the answers,” Jiang said, handing him a pad. “But I know where you might find the rest of them. The naval research and development center in Keraji.”

  Vismach took the pad and looked it over. “Pity. Port Alema’s become quite comfortable with its surveillance network disabled. It isn’t going to be easy going somewhere new and starting from scratch.”

  “Well, don’t bother with their surveillance network,” Jiang said. “Just keep moving fast enough to keep the authorities from catching up. Besides, when the Hie’shi get here, the Imraehi are going to have their hands too full to worry about you anyway. Probably.”

  “And if they don’t,” Vismach asked, “it’s not going to bother you one way or the other if I get myself shot?”

  Jiang sighed. “Well, believe it or not, Vismach, but right now I’d rather you didn’t. A lot of lives might depend on what we do here and, whether I like it or not, I need you right now.”

  “My dear Jiang,” Vismach said. “I think I hear the voice of pragmatism.”

  “Don’t push it, Vismach.”

  The Hie’shi raised a placating hand. “Understood. We’re not friends. I mustn’t forget that.”

  “Anyway,” Jiang said, tapping the pad she’d given him to draw his attention to it, “an Imraehi deep space salvage team discovered a derelict ship of unknown origins in 288. The occupants of the vessel were dead and whatever they originally were, they must have been a highly unusual race. They’d somehow done away with their organic bodies.”

  “Rubbish,” Vismach scoffed. “That’s impossible.”

  “Well, I would have thought so too,” Jiang said, “but that’s not what the original research teams found. These creatures had wired their brains into mechanical bodies, using artificial means to keep their remaining living tissue functioning.”

  “And that technology failed?” Vismach asked, glancing over Jiang’s findings.

  “The group that did the initial study didn’t believe so. They believed the brains and organs of these disembodied critters failed from concussion injuries in combat. Anyway, the mechanized suits are the battleroids that those Imraehi files refer to.”

  “If they were wired up for direct neurological control, I wonder if the Imraehi were really able to convert these suits to actual battleroids,” Vismach said, “especially as no nations in this region of space are traditional battleroid users anyway.” He made a cheerful click. “Actually, I find it kind of funny that the Imraehi would attempt to manipulate technology far more advanced than their own. On Katara, they apparently talk endlessly about their own technological advances and how the Katarans can learn from their wonderful knowledge, as though they’re deities dispensing providence to a group of primitives. As though they know everything there is to know. As though their civilization is the most advanced there is. Yet it seems that wherever one lies on the technology scale, there’s always someone who’s higher up.”

  “Yeah,” Jiang conceded. “I suppose that’s true. Although, I’ve never heard of this particular group of technophiles before.”

  “Maybe that derelict’s a leftover from one of the many civilizations the Levarc wiped out,” Vismach suggested. “We’re close to the borders of their former empire.”

  Jiang nodded. “It’s possible.”

  “However, we might save that mystery for another day. Now, how about the stinger nets?”

  “They also came from the derelict,” Jiang said, “although I believe the Imraehi are able to replicate the technology themselves. There were mentions of stinger net duplicates in the files.”

  “But I guess there’s no public record of what the things do, correct?”

  “Right. A civilian research team made the initial investigations of the derelict but after a month or so, the navy stepped in and took the derelict off their hands. All subsequent information on the derelict and the technology it contained are classified.”

  “Well then,” Vismach said, “I’d better see about organizing transportation to Keraji.”

  “Make that transportatio
n for two,” Jiang said.

  18. The River

  Drackson, Naima and Alia were quiet when they had their breakfast in the mess. The Albatross was making good speed but it was necessary to make course deviations to avoid some of the sentry patrols and deep space defense posts the paranoid Imraehi had set up. Drackson meant what he said about the ability of the Albatross to handle herself if it should come to a fight. He didn’t doubt his ship. But he wasn’t taking any chances either. And, whether he liked it or not, retrieving his three friends was not his only duty right then - especially now that it was not only Zak and Maia’s task force heading in but Admiral Seirvek’s group as well. All in all, it meant a lot of lives were depending on the information he and his makeshift network could provide on the Imraehi and their defenses.

  As he and Naima finished eating, Alia walked over to a little alcove. Sitting down, she checked on the tracking system they’d set up to see the latest information on the whereabouts of Jiang, Asten and Selina. A few moments later, she let out an elated cry. “Hey, guys!”

  Drackson and Naima went over to see what had caught her attention.

  “Here,” Alia said, gesturing to the display she’d brought up, a magnified view of Imraec Tarc’s surface. “I’ve just picked up Asten and Selina. It’s as I thought. Local vegetation was obscuring the signals so we couldn’t read them. But it’s not as dense where they are at the moment.”

  “They’re on the move,” Drackson said, leaning over for a better look.

  “They’re on the move,” Alia said, nodding. “On foot for some reason.”

  “That’s strange,” Drackson said, frowning.

  “I think it’s clear now they were dumped there in that forest,” Alia said. “But after going over all the data I’ve been able to pull from what weak and infrequent signals we’ve received, it looks as though they’re making their way along a watercourse towards the coast.”

  “Then we’ll pick them up there if we can’t reach them earlier,” Drackson said. He put his hand on Alia’s shoulder. “Well done.”

  Asten and Selina were in fairly good spirits. Their treetop walk had broken the monotony of their travel and they were now back on the ground. The carnivorous flowers they’d discovered were nowhere in sight, the trees were spaced more widely apart than they’d been at any point on their journey and the Elise, the stream that had been their faithful guide throughout it all, was much wider here than the little trickle Selina had first discovered. The water was moving more swiftly as well and, with lightened spirits, they followed its example.