by J. N. Chaney
“This may take some time,” said Sigmond.
“Do whatever you have to,” I told him. “The rest of us will see what we can find.”
“The rest of us?” asked Dressler.
I nodded. “I don’t know about you, but it feels like someone’s pulling the strings here.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Octavia.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I asked, motioning to where Gaia had been standing. “The way she was acting. As soon as she tried accessing the controls for the trilobites, she lost her shit.”
“You think someone did that to her?” asked Dressler.
“Don’t you?” I asked, like it should be obvious.
Dressler took a moment to think about that. “I don’t know, Captain. It could be something as simple as what Alphonse suggested—hardware decay.”
“And if he’s wrong?” I asked.
She didn’t say anything.
“We need to assume the worst. In this case, that means a saboteur. Could be the Union, could be the system. Who the hell knows? We just need to think about every angle.”
“In that case, might I make a suggestion?” asked Alphonse.
We all turned to him.
“Gaia mentioned something about there being a trilobite hive somewhere nearby,” he continued.
“That’s right, she did,” said Octavia.
“If we can locate the manual override, we may be able to bypass Gaia altogether, although I couldn’t say where it is,” he admitted.
Verne tossed his hands up. “Wait a second! Did all of you forget how dangerous those things are?”
“Siggy,” I snapped. “Think you can find us a map before you go diving too far into the system?”
“I believe I can, sir,” said the Cognitive. “Excuse me, please.”
“While he’s doing that, I want us to split into two groups. Doc, Abigail, and Octavia, you three are with me. Al, I want you and Verne to stay here and look after Siggy. If he manages to get Gaia back online, give me a call and we’ll come running.”
Alphonse nodded. “Will do.”
“Uploading cartographer program,” informed Sigmond, suddenly. “Stand by, sir.”
A map appeared in the corner of my display, along with six red icons, each one indicating a member of the team.
Far away from us, but still within walking distance, another icon appeared. A massive yellow circle with the words “Target Destination” beside it.
“Looks like there’s a path near the back of this room,” said Abigail.
“Great job, Siggy,” I said.
“Thank you, sir,” said the Cognitive. “Reentering Capsule now.”
“Good luck,” said Abigail.
“Is anyone going to answer my question?” asked Verne. “Aren’t you even remotely concerned about what those machines can do?”
“That’s exactly why you’re staying here, Verne,” I said, walking to the rear of the atrium, near one of the branching corridors. “Alphonse, don’t let him take any unnecessary risks.”
The former constable nodded his agreement.
“Everyone ready?” I asked.
Dressler, Octavia, and Abigail were right behind me, prepared to move out. “And waiting,” said Abby.
“Good,” I said, turning my eyes forward. “Let’s go find ourselves a trilobite nest.”
SIXTEEN
The passageway was dark and empty, a far cry from the blinding light of the atrium. If it hadn’t been for the suit’s flashlight, we probably wouldn’t have made it very far.
“Are you certain that Cognitive wasn’t just spouting nonsense back there?” asked Abigail. She was right beside me, holding up the rear as Octavia and Dressler took the front.
“I’m not sure of anything,” I admitted.
I thumbed the grip of my pistol, trying to feel the groove in it, but failing. The suit’s gloves were too thick for that sort of thing—a real shame, since it usually helped to steady my nerves.
“You said earlier that you think there’s something else going on down here,” she continued. “Why?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t sense it, too,” I said.
She gave me a light shrug.
That surprised me. She and I were usually in sync, but apparently not about this.
“Fine, believe what you want,” I finally said. “But I’ve got a sense about this.”
“Is that all there is to it?” she asked. “Besides the trilobites under the city and the malfunctioning Cognitive.”
I paused, weighing the question, and it took me longer than I cared to admit before I gave an answer. “Maybe, but my head’s too busy to break it all down right now.”
I could sense her doubt grow, even as I said the words.
She gave another nod but said nothing.
Fine, don’t believe me, I thought. I’m not even sure I believe it myself.
But that wasn’t true, either. I did believe, and for good reason.
Brigham had told me to expect them. He’d warned me that something would happen and that I’d have to face the consequences of what I’d done.
An image of the man flashed in my mind. He was in the mud, covered in blood and rain, glaring at me with those bloodshot eyes, a crazed look staring back. A bloodlust that aimed to be quenched, even in death.
The old man had nothing left to lose in that final moment. No cause to lie to me, not anymore. Only the truth would give him peace, the satisfaction of knowing that I’d have to face another enemy sometime down the line.
That was the truth I couldn’t tell, not right now in this awful place. Not to the woman I loved. That moment haunted me, and I knew it would do the same to her if I let it.
We reached the end of the tunnel soon enough. It opened into another room, this one half the size of the atrium. Its walls stretched high, all the same, and a set of wide stairs led to another opening.
We followed the path on the map, staying on our guard and watching the sensors for any sign of movement. The closer we drew to the nest, the more likely we were to see one of the machines.
Atop the stairs, another hallway formed, stretching around a tight corner, heading to the left. We followed it, minding our sides as we passed by several smaller openings. They were mostly empty rooms, but a few had some equipment still inside.
Dressler stopped dead in her tracks, shining a light into one of the rooms. The rest of us paused beside and behind her, waiting for her to say something.
“Something wrong?” asked Abigail.
Dressler held her chest and let out a breath. “I’m so sorry,” she said, pointing inside the room. “That scared me half to death.”
“Scared you?” asked Octavia, sliding in front of the doctor with her own light as she tried to get a better look.
Abigail and I did the same, stepping closer to the opening. Inside, sitting on top of a large table, three trilobites sat on their backsides, motionless and discolored.
Abigail tensed for a quick second before raising her rifle.
“It’s okay,” said Dressler, breathing easier than everyone else. “They’re not active.”
She walked inside the room, towards the machines. I was about to tell her to step away but noticed her hand on her pistol. She was still being cautious, despite her own assurances. I should have expected that, given what she’d been through by now.
Dressler picked up a metallic rod propped up against the wall, then nudged one of the trilobites, spinning it around. “Look here,” she told us, pointing at the side of the machine with the rod. I noticed a few missing legs and some brown grime caked to the bottom. “These were never finished. Either that, or they were being repaired.”
“That’s a relief,” said Octavia.
“Quite,” replied Dressler, leaning closer to one of the trilobites. As she did, I noticed her grip the pistol a little tighter. “I wonder if this was where they built them.”
“Could be,” I said, motioning for her to come into the
hallway. “We’ll ask Gaia when she’s fixed. Let’s keep going for now. Still got a job to do.”
She nodded, then proceeded to follow me. “I suppose we do need to prioritize.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” said Abigail.
The following corridor actually had a few working lights hanging along the walls. They were dim and hardly useful, but the farther we walked, the brighter things became. Eventually, we reached a room with branching paths, one in each direction, three of them well lit.
The map indicated the forward path led to a dead end, so we’d have to take the left one.
The new corridor was bright enough that I could see the walls with some clarity. They were decayed, half-torn at places. That was surprising, considering how pristine the atrium had been, not to mention the rest of the city.
“Careful ahead,” I cautioned as we reached the next door. The map showed that we were nearly at our goal, a large chamber five times the size of the atrium, stretching for a quarter kilometer in every direction. “Whatever’s on the other side of that, make sure you’re ready for it.”
The pad right next to the wall was active, so I placed my hand on it, curious to see what might happen. My tattoos lit up with a soft blue glow, indicating they were working, and I waited.
“Do you think it still works?” asked Octavia.
“The tattoos seem to think so,” said Abigail.
“That doesn’t mean—”
The door slid open like it was in a hurry. I lowered my hand, causing the glow to dim back to normal, and I raised my finger. “Remember how the trilobites react.”
“Sound, wasn’t it?” asked Octavia.
“Something like that,” answered Dressler. “Keep your distance. Five meters. A little more if you can help it, of course.”
“We’ll definitely try to help it,” I said, looking at Abigail and Octavia.
They both nodded.
“What about talking?” I asked.
“Pardon?” asked Dressler, raising her brow.
“If they react to sound, does that mean we can’t talk to each other? How do we communicate?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem with the suits. They’ll muffle your voices significantly. That, combined with the limited range of the trilobites’ sensors, should make it safe to talk.” She paused. “Of course, if you come across one of them, I would suggest staying as quiet as possible, all the same.”
“In other words, stay alert,” I said.
I motioned for everyone to move forward. Abigail and Octavia readied their rifles, taking positions on either side of the door. I gave Octavia the go-ahead, and she proceeded through the opening, covering the left side, while Abigail took the right.
“Clear,” they each said, nearly simultaneously.
I followed right behind them, gun out and ready to kill.
To my surprise, there was nothing. No sign of any trilobites or threats, although I knew better than to lower my guard.
The open area stretched far into the distance, with tall ceilings that must have been forty meters high. Large scale pillars placed throughout the area seemed to keep everything in place. The only wall I could see was to our left, about a hundred meters away. That was strange, since the human eye could easily see four kilometers on a clear day, and the map said the other end of this place was closer than that.
“Where is everything?” asked Abigail.
“Remember where we are,” said Dressler. “This is the core of the planet.”
“So?” I asked.
“Line of sight is smaller here,” she explained. “Remember the city we saw earlier?”
I thought back to when we first entered the core. The city had been all along the wall, surrounding the open space in the center. “Are you saying we’ve got limited sight because the ground is curved?” I asked.
“Essentially, yes,” she confirmed. “It shouldn’t be a problem, though. We can use the map to navigate, and the trilobites are only a threat in close proximity. We can certainly see beyond five meters.”
“About a quarter kilometer,” said Octavia.
Dressler nodded. “We won’t be able to see what lies beyond that, but I don’t anticipate any serious problems.”
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be any,” I cautioned. “Stay alert.”
The manual shutdown station was on the other side of this place, which meant we had a few kilometers’ hike ahead of us. Walking in half-blind wasn’t exactly ideal, but it couldn’t be helped. We had a job to do.
* * *
The room—if you wanted to call it that—was almost entirely white, basked in a glow from unseen lights. We passed our first pillar—three meters thick and made from the same Neutronium metal as the rest of the facility. The closer we got to it, the more detail I noticed, particularly the grooves along the upper section of it.
“I thought this was supposed to be a nest,” said Octavia, after a short while.
“You almost sound disappointed,” said Abigail.
Octavia smirked. “I guess I was looking forward to a little action. All things considered, it’s been a bit slow since we arrived on Earth.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Abigail. “I saw enough action on my recent trip to the Deadlands.”
“She means the Union thugs who tried to sneak onboard,” I added.
“Oh, yes,” said Dressler. “I believe I heard something about that.”
“Just one of several disruptions,” explained Abigail.
“Maybe I’ll tag along next time, then,” said Octavia, giving her a slight smile.
“Suit yourself,” said Abby. “I’ve already offered Jace the captain’s chair, but you’re welcome to take it, too.”
“Everyone, listen,” interrupted Dressler, coming to a full stop.
I turned around to see her standing totally still, facing our left side. Her eyes were obscured by the corner of her visor, so it was hard to tell what she was looking at, but the tone in her voice was unmistakably cautious.
“What is it?” I said in a low voice, stepping beside her.
She opened her mouth but hesitated to answer. After a moment, she raised her finger and pointed towards one of the pillars. “There,” she whispered. “Watch there.”
I stared at the top of the pillar, waiting, but nothing came. Only the metallic gray, reflecting the room’s light. “Are you sure, Doc? I don’t see a thing. Could it have been your eyes playing tricks?”
Dressler said nothing, only continued to study the pillar.
She was always difficult to read, harder than the rest, but I knew to take her intuition seriously. I decided to wait with her, along with Abigail and Octavia. We stood there in silence, holding our guns and watching.
Seconds passed, although they felt like an eternity, drenching us in silence.
But I remained, all the same. Watched until my eyes burned. Until I had to blink.
That was when I saw it.
A glimmer of light flickered along the top of the pillar, causing each of us to shift.
I felt a hand on my arm. It was Dressler, although she was still looking straight ahead.
I clenched my pistol, anticipation in my chest.
The indent of the metal broke away, sliding in on itself and creating an opening. From inside, there was only a shadow—empty at first and shrouded in the dark.
Before anyone could say a word, something appeared from within the hole, twisting and scraping, clawing its way to the surface.
SEVENTEEN
It only took a second before a few dozen trilobites emerged from the pillar, each one of them taking a spot along the metallic column for themselves.
Moments later, following the first, every other pillar surrounding us opened its inner compartment and unloaded its own army.
Before we knew it, there were hundreds of them clustered into groups on and around the pillars, like bark on a tree.
Nobody moved, except to breathe. The trilobites seemed to be sit
ting completely still, like lifeless rocks.
“Twelve meters,” whispered Dressler. Her voice was so soft, I almost hadn’t heard it.
“What?” asked Abigail.
“There’s twelve meters between us and the trilobites,” said the doctor. “We need to move before they come any closer.”
I nodded, slowly, then turned to the others and motioned for them to step back from the pillar. We could only get so far away before we started getting closer to the pillar on the opposite side. Sensors indicated the midpoint was twenty meters, enough distance to avoid tipping off the trilobites. “Stay close to me,” I told the others as we continued moving.
“Mind your step,” suggested Dressler. “Even at this range, if we make any loud noises, it could trigger the machines. Five meters is only an estimate.”
“You mean they can still hear us if we’re this far away?” asked Abigail.
Dressler shook her head. “I don’t know, but do you really want to take that chance?”
“Good point,” admitted Abby.
The map showed we still had a full kilometer’s hike ahead of us. That wasn’t far, all things considered, but we were hardly in the clear.
More trilobites exited their pillars and scurried along the metal, moving along the floor. They didn’t stray too far from the columns—only a few meters—but it gave us cause for alarm. Without knowing what they were doing or why, we had to stay on high alert, which meant my finger never left the trigger, and my eyes continued to dart between the machines.
Ten minutes of brisk walking got us to the midpoint, but then we had to slow. There was a straight line of pillars ahead of us, each one standing about ten meters from the other, and all of them were covered with trilobites.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” muttered Abigail.
Dressler stared at the line of columns, examining them as they stretched far into the distance. “It doesn’t look like we can go around.”
“Must be a support beam,” said Octavia.
Abigail looked at me. “Any ideas, Jace?”
I thought for a moment, watching one of the trilobites near the floor. I knew if we came any closer, it would react and attack without hesitation.
