Suns Eclipsed

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  “I wanted to talk where no one would witness the conversation,” Natasa said. “You’ve been meeting interesting people, Khalil Ready. The Alignment, Laurasia, New Veles…you’re doing the rounds.”

  Khalil shrugged. “I can meet who I want. They’re all free worlds.”

  “Yes, they are.”

  “You wanted to talk?”

  “You really think your Eriuman pretender could ever hold the free worlds together, Khalil?” she asked softly.

  “She doesn’t want to hold the worlds together. She wants the worlds to work with her to hold the Eriumans and the Homogeny back. To stop them gobbling up free states.”

  “No one asked her to do that.”

  “They didn’t have to. Don’t you want the Republic to go away?”

  “Of course I do. Only, the one thing I learned from your brother is that no one can win, going up against them.”

  “You’re going to run away and let the two war machines stomp all over whatever they want?”

  “Heroic gestures won’t win against our enemies. I’m going to play it smart.”

  “How?” he demanded.

  As if they had been waiting for that question, seven man-sized shapes stepped out into the middle of the ruins. Crunching steps behind him made Khalil whirl. There were four more there. They were dressed in black from head to foot. Black headgear masked all but their faces.

  “Eleven people, just for me?” he asked. “You’re that afraid of me, Natasa?”

  “This is not my doing,” Natasa said. In the rising dark, the only thing visible about her was her white face and the bobbed red hair, which glowed. Her eyes were dark pits. “My part of the deal was to get you here without stirring interest in your movements.”

  “So. The girl. All innocent and simple. No one would look twice.” Khalil studied the dark figures. “I would tell you that I appreciate the compliment, except you haven’t brought enough people.”

  “Oh, but they’re not people.” It was a man’s voice. “We did compliment you, Riva. We brought only the best to escort you back home.”

  Riva. Cold figures walked up Khalil’s back, prickling hard. He hadn’t heard that name for a very long time.

  “Natasa,” he said quickly. “Whatever your deal with the Bureau, cut your losses. Leave now.”

  “You don’t understand, Khalil. They don’t want your hero girlfriend anymore,” Natasa said. “She’s tainted. Useless. Hiding away and licking her wounds. They want me, instead.”

  Six of the seven figures in front of Khalil moved toward him. The other four—making a standard set of ten—would be closing in, too. He risked a fast glance over his shoulder to confirm his guess.

  The last figure, the speaker, was standing by one of the mold-lined walls, orchestrating.

  “Whatever they told you, they’re lying,” Khalil said loudly.

  “They’re partners,” Natasa snapped, irritated. “You should have stuck by your brother, Khalil.”

  It was too late to break for the doorway. Too late to do anything. Natasa was outside the Hjalmar’s deadly ring, though. “Run,” Khalil told her. “While you can. These…things…they don’t leave witnesses. They never leave witnesses. Go, Natasa!”

  From her aborted movement, her silence, Khalil knew she was hesitating. Questioning, finally. Had she remembered now his peculiar background? His long association with the Bureau?

  Khalil forced himself to stand still as the Hjalmar grew closer, even though the instinct to defend himself was almost overwhelming. If he fought, they would kill him. “The Bureau don’t want you at all,” he told Natasa. “You’re just a conduit to me. Try to leave. Prove it to yourself. If you are allowed to leave, you know you’re needed.”

  Natasa didn’t argue. Perhaps the fear in his voice convinced her. She turned and dashed across the uneven ground, her heavy spacer boots thudding quickly.

  “Take her,” the controller said shortly.

  The two Hjalmar nearest Natasa swiveled and moved after her. They didn’t run, yet they covered the ground swiftly.

  The other eight circled Khalil. This close he could see their faces. The blank, unlined flesh, the lifeless eyes, the unmoving lack of expression. These were the true warrior apps, bred in the android tanks for a single purpose.

  Beyond the broken walls of the building, Khalil heard Natasa cry out. The cry was cut off abruptly. Then silence.

  He closed his eyes, regret spearing him.

  When he opened them again, the controller was standing on the other side of the motionless Hjalmar, studying him. The man’s face was more human than his set. He tilted his head curiously. “You are not what I expected, Riva. They assigned a whole set for you. For one man. A brother. It made me curious to know what manner of man you were. Now I can see their caution was unjustified.” He laughed. “They were so afraid of you!”

  Khalil gave him a hard smile. “They should be.”

  “I just don’t see it,” the controller replied. He lifted his hand. “All I have to do is raise my finger and I will have beaten you.”

  Khalil locked gazes with him. “You might overcome this body with your apps, but I’m a long way from beaten.”

  The controller raised his finger. The Hjalmar moved in.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Demosthenes, Alkeides System

  The development of the second test bridge forge did not generate the same curiosity as the first, so when the forge was accidentally launched, only Thecla, Vang and Retha were there to see it.

  Sang had pushed on with the project with Thecla, while the people who worked with them waxed and waned as their interest levels did. Sometimes, Sang asked directly for help, if someone had expertise they needed. Mostly it was he and Thecla doing the work.

  Sang didn’t mind the isolation. It was more efficient not having someone peering over his shoulder. Thecla liked to work hard and valued silence as much as he did.

  Sang was running a series of on-off trials to establish how long the bridge would hold before venting the charge via lightning and destroying the forge. Each time he reset the forge, he let it run longer, monitoring the buildup of the charge.

  In between, he and Thecla tweaked settings and other variables, to see if the charge build up could be delayed. They didn’t let a bridge form. Instead, they let the generator wind itself up.

  When it happened, Sang had no warning. He reset the forge, reset the timer and glanced at Thecla to see if she was ready, then fired it up.

  The forge made a different sound, this time. It was a busy hum, rather than the overstressed whining of previous trials.

  Sang stared at the forge. So did Thecla. “Something’s different,” she said.

  An ellipsoid shape formed in the air just in front of the bench. It was two meters tall and a meter across at the widest point.

  “That’s the landing deck!” Thecla said. “Look, there’s Vang and Retha. Firing range practice again. That kid never stops.”

  “Did you set the forge to generate?” Sang asked, frowning down at it.

  “No. Look, Sang! It’s a working bridge! Man-sized!”

  Sang glanced up. The bridge was big enough to step through. “How did the coordinate get changed?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Thecla said impatiently. “Can they hear us?”

  “Probably not,” Sang said.

  “Get their attention somehow. Wave at them,” Thecla said.

  “Why?” He was genuinely puzzled.

  “Because it’s working!”

  “Barely working,” Sang said. “Listen, the overload is building up again.”

  The hum was growing louder.

  Thecla groped for the pelota ball they had put to one side for future trials. It was to replace the makeup box Hero had offered the first time. Before Sang could protest, she tossed the ball through the opening.

  Immediately the humming dropped down to a quiet murmur.

  Sang looked at the forge, astonished.

  “
Watch!” Thecla urged, drawing his attention back to the bridge.

  He looked up again. The ball had shot through the bridge and now was bouncing along the deck. The bounces grew smaller, then it rolled between Vang and Retha, who were studying their targets.

  Retha pointed at the ball. Both of them turned.

  Thecla waved, laughing.

  Vang holstered the ghostmaker he was using, scooped up the ball and spoke to Retha.

  “Sound can’t pass through,” Sang observed. “A solid object can. Vibrational frequency is filtered, then.”

  “How do communications feeds pass through?” Thecla demanded. “They’re light and sound.”

  “Light and sound packaged in a physical form,” Sang reminded her. “Interstellar signals are converted to charged particles before they’re sent.”

  Thecla beckoned to Vang. “Toss the ball back!”

  “He can’t hear you,” Sang pointed out.

  Vang was considering the bridge, his head slightly to one side. He touched the middle of his chest, then pointed to the bridge.

  “No!” Sang said urgently. He stepped around the bench so Vang could see him more clearly and shook his head. “We have no idea what happens if you try to come through the wrong way.”

  Vang’s eyes narrowed. He nodded, as if he had heard. His mouth moved as he spoke to Retha, squeezing the pelota ball.

  The forge’s humming sound grew louder.

  Thecla grabbed one of the multi-tools and tossed it through.

  Immediately, the hum dropped to a soft murmur once more.

  “If you don’t use it, it blows a gasket,” she said. Then she grinned. “Use it or lose it.”

  Vang picked up the tool and hefted it and the pelota ball. He moved around the bridge and disappeared from view.

  “He’s bringing them back the long way,” Sang said, relief touching him. “Good.”

  The hum of the forge was starting to increase again.

  “Are you timing that?” Thecla asked.

  He was a perfect timekeeping instrument and had no need for external tools. “I am,” he confirmed.

  Retha looked at them and shrugged. What now?

  As the hum increased, Thecla cast about for another object to toss.

  Sang picked up a fragment of purified carbyne. He tossed the heavy angled pebble through.

  The hum dropped once more, this time below audible levels. He frowned.

  “The carbyne makes a difference,” Thecla said. “The lack of a charge, you suppose?”

  “It must be,” Sang said slowly.

  This time, it took more than ninety seconds for the forge to wind itself up to full charge once more.

  Sang waited until it was just below the discharge point, then tossed a larger fragment through.

  The hum stopped once more.

  Retha watched the tests with an amused expression. He picked up the bigger chunk of carbyne and weighed it in his hand, showing surprise at the weight of it.

  They tossed three more pieces through before Vang arrived. Retha gathered them into a small pile. Vang dumped the pelota ball and the multi-tool on the bench and waved at Retha.

  The forge was humming again. Thecla grabbed the pelota ball and tossed it through. It bounced once, then hit the pile of carbyne fragments and bounced again, this time back toward the bridge.

  Retha leapt and grabbed it. His hand connected with the edge of the bridge. There was a shower of sparks and Retha stumbled backward.

  “No!” Vang cried.

  Retha dropped to the ground and writhed, his body vibrating.

  “He’s seizing!” Thecla yelled.

  Vang lunged forward, to help Retha. He stepped through the bridge…

  …toppled to the deck floor and lay still.

  Thecla cried out a wordless protest.

  Sang switched off the forge and the view of the deck and the two bodies disappeared. “Hurry,” he said and ran for the landing deck, five levels below.

  * * * * *

  Bellona was running by the time she reached the medbay. Not that her panic was noticed, amongst the hysteria already there.

  There were a dozen people standing around the treatment bed where Vang lay. They were shouting at each other. There were more than a few of Amilcare’s people there, too.

  “Diagnostics, first!” Thecla yelled.

  “Listen to the AI!” Hero spat. “The diagnostics show nothing!”

  “Someone get his heart moving,” said someone else.

  “No, no, he needs oxygen, first!”

  Sang was standing by one of the recovery beds, a small island of calm. Retha lay on the bed, on his side. His eyes were closed, the bruises from long term sleep deprivation stark against his white face.

  Bellona moved over to the opposite side of the bed and looked at Sang. “Fontana said Vang was dead.” She kept her voice down.

  Sang let out a heavy breath and nodded, his gaze flickering to the group clustered around the treatment bed. “He stepped through the bridge. It depleted every charge in his body. He was dead the moment he emerged.” His eyes met Bellona’s. “That’s why the diagnostic aren’t working. That’s why they won’t revive him, no matter what they do.”

  “This isn’t your fault,” she said firmly.

  “Yes, it is,” Sang replied. He looked down at Retha. “Retha suffered a seizure just from touching the thing.”

  “He’ll recover?”

  “Only to learn that Vang is dead.”

  Bellona squeezed his arm.

  “Help me! Help! I’m all alone. I can’t find Khalil!”

  The shouting in her ear made Bellona cry out and clap her hand to her ear. She tottered, her balance thrown by the volume.

  Fontana and Thecla both mimicked her, staggering away from the treatment table, their hands to their ears.

  “Connie,” Bellona said. “Quietly, girl. Calmly. What has happened?”

  Sang’s gaze became unfocused. “Where are you, Connie?” he said firmly. “Report.”

  “He didn’t come back, it’s been twelve hours and thirteen minutes and forty-three seconds and he’s not back!”

  Bellona swallowed. “Where are you, Connie? We’ll come and get you. You just have to tell us where you are.”

  “I’m on the landing field! They’re all mean here. They won’t help me. They don’t believe me that anything is wrong. He wouldn’t just not come back. He doesn’t do that. Something’s wrong, oh, something is so, so wrong!”

  Fontana moved closer to the bed, his hand still over his ear, even though it didn’t muffled the sound at all. “Can you get a direction from the communications channel?” he asked Sang quietly.

  Sang nodded. “Working on it.”

  Bellona held her hand, gesturing for calm, even though Connie couldn’t see it. “Connie, stop this. Right now! Pull yourself together! We can’t help you if you don’t make sense. Remember your function. Report your status.”

  Connie was silent for ten long seconds. Then she said in a softer voice: “Khalil told me he was doing the rounds. Drinking.”

  “Shipper bars,” Thecla murmured, from behind Bellona.

  “He said he would be late. He didn’t say how late he would be, but he has never been gone this long and not let me know why. The city mind won’t let me search for him—it says I’m not a priority. Only I know something has happened.”

  “Where are you, Connie?” Bellona asked. There were only a few free worlds who had the necessary infrastructure to host an AI with the capacity to manage a whole city.

  Connie gave a little sound that might have been a hiccup or a sob. “Cerce City,” she said softly. “Will you come and get me?” she asked. “Please? I’m frightened!”

  Fontana rolled his eyes. “I’ll come in the Alyard and bring you back home, Connie,” he told her. He glanced at Bellona and lifted a brow.

  She nodded. He could take the ship. Of course he could.

  “I’m leaving now,” Fontana said, moving toward the
door.

  “Me, too,” Thecla said. “I know shipper bars,” she told Fontana.

  By the time they reached the door, they were running, too.

  Hero was still working with the AI on the treatment bed. The hysteria had subsided as the minutes piled up. They sensed now what Sang had known immediately. Vang was dead.

  Bellona moved over to the bed and everyone made room for her.

  Hero looked at Bellona. She gnawed at her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to do,” she said brokenly.

  “There is nothing you can do,” Bellona said, speaking loudly enough for all of them to hear. “He is beyond recovery. The most skilled medic in the known worlds could do nothing for him.”

  The faces turned toward her, with their fear and their upset, were a condemnation.

  “Bellona! Enemies in the area! Get to the bridge!” It was Thecla’s voice in her ear, using Connie’s communications channel.

  Bellona whirled, putting her back to everyone. “How can that be?” she demanded. “The proximity alarms haven’t sounded.”

  “They emerged from null space right in front of the Alyard, a light year out from your position. They’re coming, Bellona. A Karassian first class destroyer and an Eriuman cruiser. Should we open fire?”

  “On a carrier?” Bellona said. “Are you crazy?”

  “She is. I am not,” Fontana said, his voice calm. “We have the element of surprise,” he added.

  “No. Go to Cerce. Find Connie and find out what happened to Khalil.”

  “That leaves you without a ship,” Fontana pointed out.

  “We’ll manage,” Bellona told him. “Go. Now.”

  “Going,” Thecla said.

  Bellona turned back to face the medbay once more. “Emergency,” she said loudly. “We have enemies on our doorstep. To the bridge. Everyone. Now!”

  She ran for the bridge and heard the thunder of many steps behind her, echoing along the short corridor to the bridge. As on the Alyard, the medical bay on Demosthenes was located next to the bridge.

  “Sang, get the Demos moving. Every positioning thruster that works,” Bellona yelled as they spilled into the empty bridge. “Aideen, talk to the null-space AI. Set up a jump.”

  “To where?” Aideen asked.