Lekiso kept from looking at her fellow humans. Instead, she opened the private channel up to Connor and Ormond as well.
“Hey guys, are you close?” she asked.
“Yes, we just got off the lift. What’s up?” Connor replied.
She could almost feel Ormond’s sarcastic reply hovering in the background.
“We have an alien here.” Lekiso sent what she saw over to them.
“Says that its master or owner or whatever has a Devourer parasite to trade us. Marc says he is being monitored over the Puzzle Box network.”
“So, what’s the catch?” This time, it was Ormond that answered.
Lekiso smiled to herself.
“I thought you’d get that part. It wants us to go with it to meet its master. Hang on a moment, let me check something.”
To the Jascalian, she said, “Can all five of us go with you to your master?”
“Of course. There is not a problem with all of you going, yes.” The alien’s fur poked comically out of the mechanic’s suit it wore, but Lekiso didn’t let that distract her from the gleam of cunning intelligence in its big brown eyes.
“Okay, and what sort of trade would this be?”
“Ah, my master, he is not concerned. You have goods, weapons, or Domum Marks, and we trade, yes?”
“This seem a little too easy to any of you?” she asked over the channel.
“More than a little, boss. And the mention of weapons, huh? If these were refugees, they’d probably want a way off the station or money to do it with. This is something else.” Ormond was thinking along the same lines as Lekiso.
“So, do we say no?”
“Uh, this could be a good chance, right?” Marc was eager to get on with it, driven by his need to see what happened when they brought a specimen back to the ship.
Meriam was more reserved. “I don’t know. We could get into some kind of trouble.”
“The Domum at the medical center did comment that they were meticulous about any Devourer being loose.” That was Connor.
“And the whole setup seems dodgy to me too.”
Meriam replied, “I meant that the real deal could be trouble. They could try to get us all away in their own territory and rob us.”
“That’s true, lass, but we aren’t exactly helpless neither,” reassured Ormond.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. We are armed, all of us, and our suits can take a good number of knocks with their built-in protective shields. We keep our eyes open for anything too serious than we can handle, and we should be fine.”
Lekiso waited for a second while everyone thought about it. “Anyone want to say no?”
Some comments came back, but mostly, they all agreed it was worth a try, especially to get a live Devourer specimen. She told the Jascalian, who hopped in glee and then told them to follow it to the carriage station.
The four of them met up with Ormond and Connor, who were waiting at the elevators. The Jascalian wasn’t surprised at all to see them, which also put Lekiso a bit more on edge.
They all got in an elevator together to go down.
Automated log update.
Data downloaded from Domum medical center describes the Devourer physiology in great detail. A complete copy has been stored in file 253-B, and addendums will be made based on current events in 253-C.
Current analysis indicates that the Tempest in relative timeline is correct in seeking the complete genocide of the Devourer species. They are anathema to their goals and plans as detailed within the relative timeline events, associations to Tempest drive, and goals cataloged in file 884-D.
The resilience of the Devourer organism is higher than parameters of survival for every other cataloged species including humans. The subjective timeline indicates that the Devourer species would become extinct within the next several mission milestones.
Objective timeline priorities updated.
A sample of the organism and contact with the species is both available and possible according to Puzzle Box records. Subjects will be updated as appropriate to complete these objectives within the overall mission parameters before the milestone event date of the Puzzle Box in the subjective timeline.
Subjects’ activities and exploration has continued, and recordings have been updated to relevant files. Approved equipment has integrated, programmed hints to capabilities have been inserted, and monitoring indicates subjects believe the equipment provided has the capabilities listed.
Expected results may vary within defined parameters.
Monitoring continues.
**
Izzix’s head swiveled from right to left as its compound eyes tracked the humans on their way past.
From its limited understanding of the creatures, it could not tell what they felt. For all it knew, they were in high spirits and making jokes, although the general protocol social programs advised that the lack of noise and neutral expressions weren’t due to happiness.
The humans took the stairs from the lift platform and followed them down the spiral, which led to the magnetic carriage area. The arrivals section was on the other side of the extra-high floor of Enone Hub.
Inside it had enough open space, tall and wide enough for many carriages to come in and out.
This allowed for the ones that were in almost constant motion to arrive, pick up or drop off passengers, and continue—unless, of course, it was a special-request carriage like the ones the humans had first utilized to go and see Commander Vax.
That one had been rerouted from the standard traffic pattern for the explicit purpose of transporting the humans to the command center.
It had been Izzix who had to manage the small but nevertheless necessary traffic change, primarily to ensure that the carriages did not become overly full or that passengers would have to wait longer than the protocol-advised time.
It was an elegant transit station.
Everyone got off the carriages on one side to go up spiral stairs to the lifts that would take them into Enone Hub, while beings wishing to travel somewhere else on the Puzzle Box could only embark on the opposite side.
Izzix felt, as much as it could feel, that the organization of times and schedules shown on the large boards all around the station complex were clear and visible.
If not, then surely a being would log a complaint or suggestion, and Izzix would forward it on to the command center for review. It had been quite some time since the last suggestion it had received, possibly due to the notices that Commander Vax had posted up on the displays in response.
Izzix was working through the protocols that detailed sarcasm.
In the meantime, the Dadarian observed the humans get on a carriage with several stops at factory complexes and other accommodation structures on the outer loop. They did seem to be following the direction of a Jascalian—industrious mammalians, Izzix had always thought.
The Dadarian opened a channel to the command center.
“Commander Vax, please.”
Izzix got confirmation from the officer who answered and waited for only a second before the deep baritone voice of Commander Vax spoke.
“Yes, Harbormaster Izzix?”
“Commander, the humans are traveling with a companion, as you indicated. I have also observed another Lanillan who was observing them make an encrypted communication to one of the old refinery structures on the carriage loop they have taken.
The same Lanillan made another communication once the carriage the humans were on departed.”
It had been somewhat of a surprise for Izzix to learn that other beings did not pay much attention to a Dadarian and where they were looking. Commander Vax had been quite correct in that it was hard to see what was being observed when the observer had compound eyes that could see in many directions at once.
“Thank you, Izzix. Can you provide the identification number of the structure?”
“Yes, Commander.” Izzix sent the code along.
“Your assistance in this regar
d is appreciated, Izzix. That will be all.”
“Yes, Commander.” Izzix closed the channel and scuttled around on its six legs to maneuver into one of the elevators nearby. As it got in and selected the seventh docking arc to greet more new arrivals yet, the Dadarian thought to itself about how much time had just been wasted on these humans.
Not that Izzix minded in an emotional sense, but it had tasks to get done within a limited span of time. The interruption by the commander, simply because he wanted to maintain an absolute discretion, was not going to benefit Izzix’s workload.
Still, if Izzix were to admit to any kind of emotional reaction, it would be curiosity. These humans were entirely new, and so far, they had made an impression on the commander, although Izzix could think of no logical reason why.
Perhaps they were simply a curiosity to the commander as well, although Izzix did not find that to be realistic either. The commander was a Domum of strategic and logical thinking, an excellent opponent in their frequent tactical simulations, of which Izzix generally excelled with its ordered mind and generous patience.
But as Dadarians had come to learn, the galaxy didn’t run on pure order and logic. There were also feelings involved. Perhaps Izzix had finally spent enough time to start developing this other internal organ that Commander Vax referred to as “his gut.”
Because Izzix was certainly interested in what was going on, the refugees, these Tempest anomalies, and the arrival of the humans did not seem to fit into a coincidental framework.
* *
The magnetic carriage accelerated away from Enone Hub along with the loops that went out at a tangent from the direction they had last traveled to the command center.
The hoops of the magnetic carriage flew past, with the humans huddled to one side, staying together while the Jascalian stood at its ease off on the other side. It smelled slightly in the sterile air.
Space outside was a still image dominated by the planet that hadn’t finished forming, dotted with lit areas from the various mining stations that had been built to suck out its precious ores and metals. Against that backdrop, various ships flew by, some cargo vessels and the gigantic loops that held the magnets.
With the lights that flew past, it felt a lot like traveling on the subway. Connor watched the next group of magnetic hoops approach.
Lekiso had started issuing a string of instructions as soon as they had boarded, right after making sure they had gotten a carriage to themselves.
“Marc, can you control the carriage at all, as in make it stop for a while?”
Marc didn’t seem happy with what they were doing. To illustrate that, his voice was a bit shaky on the private channel.
“Uh, yeah. But usually, the carriages don’t stop. They continue on an automated process so we can ask the command center for this one to stay put, and they will allow it if we give a good reason.”
“I was hoping more to keep this quiet, Marc. If the Jascalian’s buddies are watching for communication, I don’t want to tip them off.” Lekiso was calm, her posture relaxed while facing the Jascalian.
They hadn’t said much since leaving the food court. Even the Jascalian seemed content to move along in silence now that they had agreed to follow it.
“Uh, well, I can infiltrate the governing software and just make the carriage wait. It’s not very secure, and our software seems to be very advanced, or it has a lot of security codes that the Domums should be keeping more secret.”
Connor decided to mention the obvious. “Won’t they be suspicious anyway when the carriage doesn’t leave once we get off?”
“I’m hoping that without a communication trail to make them think we have arranged it, they will be more impressed with our capabilities,” Lekiso replied.
“It always helps to give them a bit to think about,” Ormond broke in.
“Besides, this way, we tip off the Domums that something is going on without getting hold of them to tell them. That way, we get monitored, and if this is some kind of group of criminals, they’ll hopefully be smart enough to realize that the Domum officials may come looking for our bodies.”
“Uh, our bodies? Do you really think it could be that bad?” Marc was a lot more nervous now.
“No, Marc, it shouldn’t be that bad at all. You have a lot of the data. Do you really think any serious weaponry would be allowed on the Puzzle Box with the Domums in charge?” Connor asked.
“Besides, I don’t think they realize how well armed we are, so even if they are going to ambush us, we should be able to give them a few surprises too.”
“Uh, sure, I get that. But we are all very new to this, aren’t we? I mean, as much you seem to know your stuff, the rest of us are not military or anything. We could be surprised considering how little experience we have with this place and these people.”
Connor glanced at Ormond when Marc spoke, but the Englishman didn’t react.
Good at keeping a neutral expression, I expect. One of those things that takes years of practice.
Risking your life develops certain skills.
“I know, Marc,” said Lekiso. “That’s why you, Meriam, and Connor will wait with the carriage while Ormond and I go make the trade.”
“Uh, okay. I feel better about that.”
“I’ll look after you, bud. Don’t worry,” Connor said.
He looked at Meriam, she glanced at him and smiled a “thank you”, since she didn’t look like she needed further reassuring, and he decided not to say anything else. It was interesting to him, though, that Lekiso chose Ormond to go with her.
She probably suspects the same thing that I do, he thought.
“Yeah, you should be able to hold your own, mate, with the systems you have and the gun thing. Heck, we even have software to help us shoot straight. I checked. And somewhere in this mess of memories, we got implanted, they should have given us some skills too. At least, I would if I was going to set up this kind of thing.”
Ormond sounded strangely upbeat.
He is probably looking forward to the prospect of some action, thought Connor. He’s probably as frustrated as the rest of us with all this mystery.
Not as much as Marc, though.
Connor did a quick review of his equipment.
The singlesuit energy fields read as fully operational. They would take the strain of absorbing anything that hit him, either kinetically or by transferring the energy out and away as harmless photons. The science was there, niggling in the back of his head, but he didn’t really care enough to know how it all worked.
What he did understand was that the suit could take several hits depending on the strength of the source before it would have to recover. And recovery was quick given a chance. It was like the protective fields would need a recharge or rest cycle before they could retake the hits, so as long as he could work to avoid being shot within those few seconds, he’d be fine.
The gun disguised as a piece of equipment on his hip registered as fully charged. He could change its settings through his interface. He didn’t even have to touch the weapon for anything except firing it.
“Hey, guys, shouldn’t we set our weapons to stun?” he asked over the channel.
“That would be best, yes,” Lekiso said.
“I don’t want to kill anyone else if we can avoid it. Don’t feel bad if you have to get lethal, though. This situation isn’t ideal, after all, and we need to look out for ourselves. These aliens may all be figments of hallucinations. But for now, let’s stick to being safe.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Ormond quipped.
“Uh, okay,” said Marc.
“Yes,” Meriam agreed.
Connor set the weapon to a mid-stun setting. It had quite a range of firing modes, and according to what he read on his interface display, it also had a lot of shots it could put out at that power range.
Lethal wasn’t something he was comfortable with. Despite their agreement, he didn’t think the others were either.
It was im
pressive how high an output the device did have, from being able to act like an acetylene torch to a full-on bolt of ionized particles, which, it said, could blow a hole right through one of the bulkheads.
He didn’t really think that he would try that setting out too soon if he could help it. But Connor did have to wonder at the level of force that their strange abductors had allowed them. They could have tried to blow their way into the ship through the airlock with this kind of firepower.
Perhaps the abductors had hedged their bets on the humans not wanting to risk the damage as a result, or maybe they were protected in some way. Connor expected that the latter was probably the case. Why equip them with anything that would be a threat, after all?
“Uh, the carriage is slowing down, we should be getting to wherever it is this Jascalian is taking us.”
Marc stepped over to the carriage window to look outside, and the other four joined him.
At the next loop, there was a structure of some kind built on, like with a lot of the hoop rings where the various buildings of the Puzzle Box had been added. This one, their displays identified as a refinery, where the metals in the rock mined from the planetoid core were delivered for grinding, melting, and eventual extrusion.
Usually, the cargo carriages would travel along the magnetic rings to link up with the refinery, be filled with refined metal, and proceed along the carriageway to one of the hubs for loading onto a cargo ship. With the decline in the available metals, many of the structures were left empty or rented out by the Domums to other groups to make use of their machinery.
The carriage they were in slowed down even more. Obviously, this building was the group’s destination.
* *
Commander Obragon Vax watched with his higher ranked officers while the humans got off the magnetic carriage at Refinery Two-Two-Five.
“Sir?”
The officer indicated the magnetic carriage monitoring program, which was flashing a warning that it had been subverted by other software and was being told to remain at the docking area of the refinery instead of continuing along the magnetic ring.
Abductees Page 17
