by G J Ogden
Tory shook her head, “So you’re thick as pig shit, as well as stinking like it.”
Despite himself, Hudson laughed, drawing an angry glower from Rex.
Tory then slid past the mighty frame of Rex Kove, and walked up to his two sons. “Move out of my way, pumpkins,” she said, and the young hunters parted, as ordered. Tory breezed past them and then turned back to Rex. “I’d like to say it was nice seeing you again, Rex, but that would be a lie,” she added, before strolling away.
Hudson turned to follow, but Rex grabbed him and held him back. His massive hand closed almost entirely around Hudson’s forearm. “Don’t get too attached to your little girlfriend,” he snarled. “Because she ain’t making it off this rock, without paying me what I’m owed.”
Hudson shook off his powerful grip, and squared off against the bigger man. “I saved your ass once,” he said, reprising his tough guy ‘relic hunter’ persona for the first time since his last hunt. “Don’t expect me to do it again. I strongly suggest that you stay out of our way.”
Then Hudson strode off confidently, stepping through the two sons, who parted, this time without being ordered to. He met Tory on the steps of the Scavenger’s Paradise. She was filling her webbing pouches and ammo carrier with the new .44-40s she had just acquired.
“He’s going to be a problem, isn’t he?” said Hudson, as another two looters raced past on the street, chased by a man with a baseball bat. The town was going crazy.
Tory nodded, “Yes, he is. And Rex won’t be the only asshole hunter in that wreck that’s going to cause us headaches.”
Hudson squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temples. Just reaching the Landing Strip bar would put them at risk of catching a stray bullet. He knew what they had to do, but hated having to make the choice.
“Okay, change of plans; we go to the wreck first,” he said, firmly. “We can’t risk any delay, like you said. We find those fragments and the crystal recombiner device, and then come back for Ma, if there’s still time.”
Tory frowned, “Are you sure? I’ll back you up either way.”
“I know you will,” said Hudson, smiling back at Tory. “But stopping Goliath has to come first. I don’t like it, but it’s the right thing to do.”
“I’m not used to doing the right thing,” sighed Tory.
Hudson smiled again. “Well, for someone so inexperienced at it, you’re doing pretty well so far.”
Tory got up and offered Hudson her hand. “Okay then, one last hunt.”
Hudson took her hand, and she pulled him up. “One last hunt. Let’s make it one to remember.”
CHAPTER 10
To save time, Hudson and Tory had returned to the Orion and flown it directly to the crashed Revocater, before setting it down on the hull. Ordinarily, a couple of RGF Patrol Craft would have forcefully chased them off way before that point, but the few RGF officers that had remained were too preoccupied trying to police the hunters that were already leaving the wreck.
Hudson had chosen a landing site as close as possible to the area indicated on the map Morphus had given him. However, even from their advantageous starting position, they were still limited by the need to find a suitable entry-point into the Revocater.
“Assuming we can navigate a fairly direct route, it shouldn’t take long to reach the navigation hub,” said Hudson, studying the map on the datapad.
Hudson was wearing a rucksack and carrying the climbing gear, while Tory had attached an assortment of tools and gizmos to her webbing pouches. The 1873 Winchester, which was now rarely parted from Tory, was also slung over her back.
They had managed to climb down unassisted to a ledge inside the Revocater’s outer hull. Now Tory was attaching the last of three anchors into the alien metal, so they could drop into one of the ship’s labyrinthine corridors. She fed the ropes through the anchors, and handed one to Hudson.
“We’re lucky that the crash ripped open the hull so close to where we need to be,” said Tory, getting ready to descend. “The sooner we’re in and out of this thing, the better.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” replied Hudson, as he peered down into the fissure. He guessed it was probably thirty meters to the inner corridor from where they were. “Reaching this point from one of the established entrances would have taken a good couple of hours; maybe more.”
Tory nodded and started to lower herself down. “That’s true, but this section will still have been well trodden by previous hunters,” she said, dropping further into the chasm. “So, we still need to be careful of other crews that may already be in here. And of booby traps too.”
Tory reached the bottom and unclipped, then Hudson followed her down. He also unclipped, then removed the datapad from his pocket and studied the map again. Helpfully, it indicated their current position, and even showed a route to where they needed to be.
“Shit, what I wouldn’t have given for this a few years ago,” said Tory, looking at the map over Hudson’s shoulder.
“I don’t know how it’s doing it, but it sort of takes the fun out of the hunt, don’t you think?” replied Hudson. He then orientated himself and found the corridor they needed to venture down.
“Who the hell does this for fun?” snorted Tory. “The only fun part is counting your profits and the number of bullets you dodged at the end of each hunt.”
Hudson laughed and said, “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”
Tory unslung the Winchester and cocked it. “I left it back on Sapphire Alpha, just before Goliath destroyed the planet,” came the tongue-in-cheek reply. Then she gestured for Hudson to lead the way. “After you, adventure-lover…”
Their progress towards the navigation hub of the Revocater was aided by the many established bridges and ladders that other hunters had put in place over the years. However, not all of the human additions to the Revocater were designed to be helpful, and Tory also needed to disarm three booby traps within the first few hundred meters. Eventually, they came to a large chamber with a curious hexagonal mass in the center. Metal conduits connected it to the floor and ceiling, giving it an hourglass-like shape. The far wall of the chamber was directly adjacent to where they needed to be, but where the map showed a route between the two spaces, Hudson saw only a solid metal bulkhead.
“This must be the part where Morphus said a corporeal couldn’t get through,” said Hudson, showing the datapad to Tory. “We need to find these channels it said would lead inside.”
Tory and Hudson carefully surveyed the wall, each starting at opposite ends.
“We’re lucky this section is intact,” commented Tory, as she worked her way across. “I’ve been to this area before, in other wrecks, and it has always been totally caved in.” Then she suddenly stopped, and called out, “Hey, over here. I think I’ve found something.”
Hudson hurried over and saw that Tory was examining a narrow, circular opening in the wall. He shone his torchlight inside, but the conduit didn’t appear to extend all the way through the bulkhead. Instead, it cut across further in towards the center. Hudson had a thought, and moved over to the corresponding position on the opposite side of the wall.
“There’s one here too,” he said, finding another narrow opening. The second conduit also jinked towards the center a short distance inside.
“I’ve seen similar openings in other parts of the ship,” said Tory, who had come to investigate the second hole. “I thought nothing of them. I guess no hunter ever did.”
Tory unzipped the side pocket of Hudson’s backpack and removed the cannonball-like device Morphus had given them. Hudson frowned at the object, which Morphus had called a ‘short-range matter demolecularizer’, and turned his concerned eyes to Tory. “What did I tell you about not blowing anything else up?”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” replied Tory, smiling roguishly. Then she crouched down by the opening to the conduit, and got ready to activate the device. “We have no idea what the blast radius of this thi
ng is, so once I pop it in the hole, I suggest we run like hell to the other side of this chamber.”
Hudson nodded, wishing in hindsight that he’d asked what Morphus’ definition of ‘short-range’ was. Tory then twisted the small metal sphere, causing the trench around its diameter to light up red, before hurriedly pushing it into the hole. They both got up to run, however Hudson noticed the device had barely moved through the conduit.
“Tory, hold up!” Hudson called out.
“Hold up?!” cried Tory, “Are you crazy?!”
Hudson rushed over to Tory and grabbed the rifle off her shoulder. “The damn thing is stuck,” he shouted, rushing back to the opening.
“Well, I don’t think shooting it will help!” cried Tory, her voice almost frantic.
Hudson thrust the end of the rifle into the conduit and poked the metal sphere with the end of the barrel. It dislodged and began to roll freely along the channel inside.
“Run!” Hudson shouted, turning and sprinting away from the wall. Seconds later there was a pulsating throb that rose to near deafening levels, before Hudson and Tory were hit with a blast of air, throwing them to the deck.
The gust dissipated, and Hudson rolled onto his back. His ears were ringing and it felt like someone had used his head as a drum. Tory appeared above him. Her mouth was moving, but he couldn’t hear anything.
“I can’t hear you,” he answered, though from the startled look on Tory’s face, he guessed he must have shouted the words at her. Slowly the ringing subsided and he could start to make out other sounds.
“I said, where the hell did you get the idea to do that?” Tory repeated, helping him up. “Using my rifle as a poker, I mean.”
“Haven’t you ever played pool in a bar?” replied Hudson, brushing himself off.
Tory shrugged, “No, there are only two things I do in bars – drink and fight,” she answered, and Hudson knew she wasn’t joking, or exaggerating. Then Tory’s eyes widened, as she looked back to the metal bulkhead, or at least what remained of it. She let out a low whistle and added, “That little alien gizmo certainly packed a hell of a punch.”
Hudson looked over to the far wall and saw that a large, perfectly round hole had appeared in it. It was like a giant beach ball had been inflated inside the middle of the bulkhead, vaporizing the metal as it grew larger.
Hudson handed the Winchester rifle back to Tory and went over to inspect the new opening. He cautiously stepped through the spherical hole, which, remarkably, was completely cool to the touch, and discovered an entirely new chamber, unseen and untouched for thousands of years. Unlike the space he’d come from, which already had lights in place from years of earlier hunts, the new room was dark and cold. However, from what little illumination filtered through the opening, Hudson estimated that it was roughly the same size as a basketball court. And, as he ventured further inside, it also seemed to be partially collapsed.
“Shit, it looks like this section has taken some damage after all,” said Tory, shining her torch through the opening. “I hope we can still find what we need.”
Hudson sighed, and glanced back at Tory. “I guess there’s only one way to find out…”
CHAPTER 11
Hudson pulled on a headtorch and continued deeper inside the Revocater’s navigation hub. Tory caught up with him a few seconds later, and shone the beam of her more powerful flashlight further into the room.
“The damage doesn’t actually look too bad,” said Tory, focusing the column of light at the crumpled metal panels at the far end of the room. “We might have struck gold after all.” Then something glinted in the beam of her torchlight, and she moved closer to inspect it. “Hudson, here!” she called over to him, illuminating the object with the torch.
Hudson hurried over and saw a hexagonal tower extending from the floor to the partially-collapsed ceiling. It was positioned just behind a strange-looking metal pod that looked a bit like a witch’s cauldron, except the material was slightly golden, rather than a necrotic black. It reminded Hudson of something he’d seen before. At first, he couldn’t place where, but then it dawned on him. “I saw something similar to this in Morphus’ shuttle,” said Hudson, running his hand over the smooth, golden metal. “This pod is bigger, but it looks more or less the same.”
Hudson then peered into the pod, and saw a large hexagonal pyramid that seemed to extend into the deck below their feet. It was surrounded by a pool of liquid that also had a strange golden color, similar to how Morphus appeared during its transformations. However, the liquid metal in the pod was dull and lifeless, compared to Morphus’ shimmering, iridescent form. He remembered that Morphus had said the navigation hub was where they would also find the remains of the Revocater pilot.
“I think we’re looking at this ship’s version of Morphus,” said Hudson. He suddenly felt a powerful swell of sorrow rise up out of nowhere, and he almost teared up. They were fighting to save humanity, but Hudson had forgotten that Morphus was already the last of its kind. They’d merely taken its help for granted, and never considered how Morphus might feel. In the beginning, Hudson wasn’t sure whether the alien AI experienced emotions at all, at least in the way humans did, but the longer he had spent with the entity, the more real it had appeared to him.
Tory looked into the pod, then noticed Hudson’s forlorn expression. “Hey, this one is long dead,” she said, a little too coldly for Hudson’s liking. Then she redeemed herself, “But Morphus can still live on, if we find this damn gadget and get out of here in one piece.”
Hudson pulled out the datapad, and checked the information Morphus had added about the crystal recombiner. He looked at the hexagonal tower just behind the pod, and the image and description seemed to match.
“That’s it right there,” said Hudson, pointing to the tower.
“How the hell are we supposed to get that back to the ship?” said Tory, examining the structure more closely. “I doubt we could carry it more than a couple of hundred meters.”
“We don’t need the whole thing, just the main crystal chamber,” replied Hudson, showing the image on the datapad to Tory. Then he shrugged, “But I’ve no idea how to get it out.”
Suddenly, there was a noise outside the navigation hub, and they both froze. Tory held the Winchester ready, and moved closer to the opening. “That blast could have brought some unwanted attention,” she called back to Hudson, in hushed tones. “We need to hurry. I’ll cover us, while you try to figure out how to remove that chamber.”
Hudson started to swiftly inspect the tower, looking for panels that could be detached, or other compartments. Tory had stealthily moved over to the circular hole in the wall, and taken up a defensive position with the Winchester.
Come on, damn it, there must be some way into this thing, Hudson thought, but it seemed perfectly uniform. Then he moved his hands over a section of the tower, and the skin on his wrist suddenly glowed. It was where Morphus had augmented his body to act as an ID fob for the Orion. Slowly, he moved his wrist back, until it glowed more brightly again. Is it reacting to the crystal somehow? Hudson wondered. It was just a guess, but it was all he had to go on.
Hudson focused his search on that section of the tower, and finally spotted a thin seam in the metal. Pressing onto it, a panel popped open, then swung upwards. Inside, there was an object about the size of a shoebox, connected by four metal tubes. It certainly looked like the object Morphus had stored in the datapad’s memory, Hudson thought.
“I think I have it,” Hudson called over to Tory, but she hurriedly turned to him and pressed a finger to her lips. Using hand signals, she then indicated that there were four hunters outside.
Shit, it could be Rex, or worse! Hudson guessed. With renewed urgency, he began trying to wrestle the tubes off the crystal recombination chamber.
Suddenly three gunshots rang out, and Hudson saw Tory pull back behind cover.
“I don’t think they’re very friendly,” Tory called over to Hudson, before firing three
shots in return. “Any chance you can hurry up?”
Hudson finally managed to dislodge the tubes, and slid the box out of the tower. It was translucent, and Hudson could see fragments of crystal rattling around inside. It wasn’t much, and he doubted it would be enough for Morphus to recombine an entire crystal from the fragment they already had. However, unless they could find Cutler and Griff, before Goliath arrived in the solar system, it would have to do.
Quickly sliding the box into his rucksack, he then drew his pistol and moved to the other side of the opening from Tory. More shots rang out, and Hudson heard the rounds ping off the walls inside the chamber.
“Do you have it?” asked Tory, and Hudson nodded. “Then I’m done messing around with these assholes.” She reached into a webbing pouch, and pulled out what looked like a grenade.
“Hey, no blowing stuff up, remember?” said Hudson, but Tory had already activated the device.
“Just cover your ears and shut your eyes,” she shouted, before tossing the object through the opening.
Hudson quickly did as Tory said, and a couple of seconds later there was a detonation outside.
“Let’s move!” Tory cried out, running through the opening.
Hudson followed, and saw the four hunters, all lying on the ground, stunned.
“It was only a glimmer!” Tory called back, answering Hudson’s unspoken question. Though again her lips were curled into a roguish smirk.
“You could have told me!” cried Hudson, racing after her, but then they turned onto another corridor, and almost ran straight into three more hunters.
There was a second’s hesitation, before the lead hunter raised his weapon. Tory’s reactions were equal to the hunter’s, and she deflected the pistol with the butt of the Winchester. Hudson then darted forward and instinctively pistol-whipped the next nearest hunter over the head. The man fell, knocking into his partner, and Hudson advanced, denying the final hunter an opportunity to get a shot off.
Hudson attacked, but his blow was parried, and he felt a knee thump into his ribs. Grimacing, he was then thrown back against the wall and hit with two solid punches. Hudson fought back, grabbing the hunter’s jacket and shoving him away, before driving his elbow into the man’s face. His opponent yelped, and Hudson followed up with two more hard shots to the gut, which put the hunter out of commission.
