Emergence

by Ken Lozito

  “Well, hopefully, she’ll take after her mother in the looks department, but if she gets your personality, then you’re gonna have a lot to deal with. You should have four or five more kids after this to balance it out.”

  Connor shook his head, momentarily at a loss for words. “We won’t be catching up to you and Victoria anytime soon.”

  “We’re just doing our part for the colonial effort.”

  “Birth numbers are up, and we’re actually above the original colony numbers,” Connor said, and Diaz gave him a long look. “Okay, pregnancy has been the topic of conversation a lot lately.”

  “No wonder you had to get away.” As soon as Diaz said it, he burst out laughing, and Connor couldn’t help but join him.

  “You keep me grounded. How far away are the others?”

  “Not to worry. We’ll be there pretty fast in this baby.”

  There were no signs of pursuit by the Sierra security agents, and Field Ops was likely looking for him on the ground. Thirty minutes later they received a signal from Carl Flint giving the coordinates to their camp. Diaz landed the skimmer just outside a modified troop carrier that had the letters SRI on the side. The Sanctuary Recovery Institute had a small fleet of ten troop carriers that were little more than civilian airbuses.

  Connor climbed out of the skimmer. They were at a temporary camp well away from any colonial settlement. Deterrent systems were up and running, which discouraged any of New Earth’s local wildlife from coming to investigate, and the camp was quiet. There was a campfire burning, and Connor saw John Rollins stand up and walk over as Carl Flint walked out of the troop carrier.

  “Give me a hand getting this loaded up,” Diaz called to Rollins.

  “Only because you asked so nicely,” Rollins said and glanced at Connor. “Spirit of cooperation.”

  Rollins and Diaz had gotten off to a rocky start when they first met a few months earlier. Rollins’ abrasive personality could rub anyone the wrong way, but he’d become somewhat more agreeable.

  “Sir,” Flint said in greeting.

  Carl Flint might’ve been retired from the CDF, but he was still every bit the soldier.

  “We had a new arrival just about fifteen minutes ago. Startled the hell out of us because we weren’t expecting him,” Flint said.

  “Who?”

  Flint gestured toward the troop carrier. “He said his name was Tommy Lockwood, and he has a message for you from Noah. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, just that it was only for you.”

  Connor pressed his lips together and nodded. “Alright, I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you get some rest? We won’t be here for that long.”

  Connor headed inside the troop carrier and saw Tommy Lockwood standing at one of the work areas.

  “Mr. Gates, Noah sent me. I have a secure comlink terminal you can use to speak with him,” Lockwood said and started to leave the troop carrier.

  “Wait, that’s it? Aren’t you gonna stick around?” Connor asked.

  “I’m not sure, to be honest. Noah just told me I had to deliver this terminal directly to you.”

  The young man left the troop carrier, and Connor was alone. He used his implants to authenticate with the comms terminal. It took a few moments to spool up, and Connor noted that it was bouncing the comlink signal through a set of relays that would make it difficult to track. Then Noah’s face appeared onscreen.

  “I got the new terminal. Is this really the only way we can communicate?” Connor asked.

  “You said it needed to be secure, so this is the quickest thing I could come up with.”

  “Did Dash reach you?”

  Noah nodded. “Yeah, he did. He’s resting. I’ll have a closer look at the recon drone data.”

  “Dash will be able to help you.”

  Noah gave him an amused expression. “I thought he was your protégé.”

  “He’s got a lot of potential, but I think he could learn a lot from you.”

  Noah smiled. “Well, that makes things easier because I had the same thing in mind for Tommy.”

  Connor frowned and glanced behind him. “Lockwood?” He couldn’t keep the shock from his voice.

  “Yes, he can help you.”

  Connor didn’t have anything against Tommy Lockwood, but the kid was as green as they came. He’d managed to survive their meeting with Siloc, but if there was anyone unsuited for fieldwork, it was definitely him. “So we’re exchanging protégés?”

  Noah gave him a knowing smile. “Seems that way. We both get something out of it.”

  Connor blew out a breath and grinned. He still remembered Noah as not much more than a boy when they’d first met. He’d grown up quite a bit, and Connor felt a mixed sense of pride. “Alright, I’ll go along with it. Now, about the drone data. We’ve got a serious problem. It’s worse than we thought it was—”

  Noah glanced at something off the screen. “We’ve got a trace. Someone’s tracing this right now, which means they have command authority on the communications network. We’ll need to cut this short.”

  “Understood. Just make sure you have Dash with you when you review the data,” Connor said.

  Noah frowned, but there was no more time and he cut the comlink. Connor left the troop carrier and joined the others at the campfire. There was only a handful of them, and they all looked at Connor as he approached.

  “I guess I’ll be leaving. Noah will expect me back soon,” Lockwood said, his hands fidgeting.

  “No, he said you should stick around, so you’ll be coming with us,” Connor said and looked at the others. “I’ve got a couple things to tell you guys.”

  He proceeded to tell them about what had happened—about the spying and the fact that Field Ops and security were on a heightened state of alert at Sierra.

  “So, Franklin is in Delphi, and you want to go to New Haven,” Diaz said.

  Connor shrugged. “It’s closer to us, and hopefully I can get support from there.”

  “Who’s the mayor of New Haven?” Flint asked.

  “Jean Larson. I don’t know much about her,” Connor said.

  “She’s a second-term mayor in New Haven and has a high approval rating. She also has a reputation for looking out for New Haven’s best interests. There’s a research center there that has a range of specializations, mostly for terrestrial-type technologies,” Lockwood said and then stopped.

  Connor’s mouth was open in mild surprise. Perhaps Lockwood would be useful to have around. “Thank you. We’ll head out to New Haven in the morning, but there’s something else. Someone beat us to the bunker. They’d already been there and gone before we even arrived.”

  6

  “Don’t trust anyone.” That had been Conner’s advice to Noah when he’d first started trying to figure out who was spying on them, but this bit of advice was contrary to Noah’s optimistic tendencies. He preferred to trust people until they proved themselves to be dishonest. He’d always been an optimist, but Connor had warned against it, knowing him too well. In order to find out who was spying on them, they couldn’t afford to put anyone into a trusted category by default. A few months ago, he and Connor had sat down and gone through all their known associates to determine whether they could be involved. The whole effort had made Noah uneasy. Listing everyone he’d ever been in contact with and trying to guess who might be involved had been exhausting. He didn’t like it. There were a few people he could think of who would never be part of anything like that—Connor’s wife, Lenora, for one, and he couldn’t imagine Sean doing anything like this, or Lars for that matter. Sean would do what he had to do to protect the colony, but there were lines not even Sean would cross.

  A ryklar screech echoed in the distance, and Noah glanced out the window for a moment, then checked the status of the perimeter fencing. He was in a remote location, far away from any colonial settlements. He’d set up—or been part of setting up—so many forward operating research bases that setting up his own little home away from home hadn’t
been too much of a challenge. His friendly little out-of-the-way place was isolated, and he could disconnect from colonial communications systems at will.

  Noah heard his visitor rouse from the bedroom, and the door opened.

  “Did you hear a ryklar?” Dash asked, looking out the window.

  “There’s a pack that moves through this area sometimes. They follow the landrunners’ migration path nearby.”

  Dash rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “And you still think not using standard deterrent systems is a good idea?”

  Noah shrugged. “The fencing’s been enough for years. If ryklars come near us and try to get through the fencing, they’ll get the shock of their lives. Besides, the deterrent systems can be detected by Field Ops. This way, we can be truly isolated and hidden from those who want to find us.”

  Noah watched as Dash glanced out the window again, ducking his head to peer up at the tall trees that surrounded them. No doubt he was thinking that the ryklars could simply climb up one of the trees and leap into their camp. Noah didn’t know Dash well, but Connor trusted him. The young man’s record showed that he’d worked with the Office of NEIIS Investigations quite a bit in recent months, but Noah supposed there were good, levelheaded people who worked for them, although it was also a place for those drawn to bureaucratic red tape. Noah had had more than his fill of those kinds of people.

  “Well, since you’re up, we should have a look at that drone recon data you brought,” Noah said.

  He’d been working out of his office in Sierra when Dash first contacted him about the data. Since there’d been another breach in their security, Noah knew he couldn’t meet up with Dash in Sierra, so he’d sent Dash the coordinates to his own personal research base and met him there. Noah had arrived in the middle the night, and much to Dash’s surprise, he’d decided to get some sleep before analyzing the data.

  “I’m afraid I only know you by reputation,” Noah said, gesturing for Dash to join him at the workstation.

  Dash retrieved two recon drones and carried them over to the workstation. “Not everyone is a huge fan of mine.”

  Noah took the two recon drones and plugged them into the data port. They began uploading their data as soon as they were connected. “I don’t know of anybody who’s universally liked, but both Connor and Lenora speak very highly of you, so that counts for a lot.”

  Dash glanced away, uncomfortable for a moment, but then looked back to meet Noah’s eyes. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too. You’re a hero of the Vemus War, and your work can be seen throughout the colony.”

  Noah brought up a holoscreen. “I’m no hero. I did what I had to do so everyone could survive.”

  “I didn’t mean to offend you, Mr. Barker.”

  Noah grimaced. “Mr. Barker was my father. Please, just call me Noah, and stop with this whole meek-and-respectful thing you’ve got going on right now. I’ve seen your record. You’re quite resourceful. Connor wouldn’t rely on you if that wasn’t the case. So let’s take a look at what we’ve got here. Connor wanted us to look at this together.”

  “When did you speak with him?”

  “A little while ago, but not for very long. Have you seen what’s on here?”

  “Not yet. These are the drones Connor had in the bunker. He didn’t get a chance to tell me what was on them because the ONI showed up.”

  Noah’s eyebrows rose. “You’re not a fan of the ONI?”

  Dash shrugged. “They’re not all bad. It’s just that some of them are more concerned with the authorization they have to investigate NEIIS sites than doing the actual investigations.”

  Noah nodded. “Well, that describes just about any authoritative organization I’ve ever worked with. How come you only consult with the ONI?”

  “They tried to recruit me, but I only agreed to consult with them from time to time. I have a number of different research projects I’m overseeing for the Colonial Research Institute. I also prefer to work a little bit more independently.”

  Noah grinned. “I believe the term Connor used was ‘bullheaded.’”

  Dash laughed. “Sometimes the situation calls for it.”

  Noah played back the drone video feed at three times the normal speed just to get things going. There was no need for them to watch the drones flying through the ventilation shafts in the bunker. One of the recon drones emerged into the central chamber of the bunker, and Noah slowed down the playback speed. The drone pivoted the camera slowly as it scanned the room. The only things Noah saw were piles of rubble from some type of collapse.

  “It doesn’t look like there’s much to review. The stasis pods have been destroyed,” Noah said.

  Dash leaned toward the screen.

  “Here, take control,” Noah said, and watched as Dash zoomed in on the video feed.

  First, Dash looked at the piles of rock on the ground. Then, he panned around toward the outer edges. After a few moments he zoomed back out. He repeated this a few times, working through the entire image. His gaze narrowed, and then he inhaled explosively and looked at Noah.

  “What is it? What do you see?” Noah asked.

  “There were more stasis pods in this room, and these cave-ins look like they just happened.”

  Noah looked at the holoscreen for a moment. “Explain to me how you know this.”

  “Alright, you see the outer edge of the broken-up pieces of rock here?” Dash said, and Noah nodded. “It’s lighter in color, and the reason for that is that those rocks have only recently broken apart. If this had happened sometime in the last hundred years, those rocks would show signs of aging.”

  Noah used implants to bring up the ONI report. “There’s no mention of that in here.”

  Dash looked at the header on the report and frowned. “You’re able to get the ONI reports?”

  Noah shrugged. He’d initiated his tap into the ONI comms systems the day before, with a filter on the team Connor had encountered. “They’re a government agency, so this is in effect a public record. If you look at it that way, it’s not exactly stealing. But that doesn’t answer why the ONI didn’t arrive at the same conclusion about the rocks.”

  “They wouldn’t because they’re not real archaeologists. They’re primarily interested in the presence and status of the stasis pods.”

  “Makes sense, but how do you know there were more stasis pods in this room?”

  “The bunkers with stasis pods have a particular layout when it comes to pod placement and their support infrastructure. Also, you can see the severed lines over here,” Dash said and zoomed in on a particular part of the image. “Whoever stole the pods probably believed that all the evidence would be covered up when they destroyed the chamber.”

  “Or they could have been in a rush,” Noah added.

  “Why would they need to rush? It was just me and Connor out there.”

  “Whoever this group is, they’ve gone through a lot of trouble to keep themselves secret. And now it seems that they’re gathering stasis pods. I doubt they just want to study the pods. I bet they’re going to revive the NEIIS in a controlled environment.”

  Dash frowned. “Could the CDF be doing this?”

  Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. “God, I hope not, but I can’t rule them out until we know for sure.”

  “Judging by the layout of the room, they might’ve gotten away with five or six stasis pods. What would they do with six NEIIS?”

  “It really depends on who’s doing the collecting. If we can find out who they are, we can probably figure out what their motivation is. Is there any way to figure out which NEIIS faction this bunker was associated with?”

  They watched the remaining video, which only showed the recon drones making a hasty retreat out of the bunker. That must’ve been when Connor was discovered by the ONI.

  “I didn’t see anything else. Maybe we should go back there and take a look,” Dash said.

  Noah pressed his lips together in thought. “We’ll keep that option on the table, bu
t right now we need to figure out who took the pods and who’s spying on us. There has to be a connection there—possibly even the same group.”

  Dash’s gaze became distant. “I thought we were just racing to identify bunker sites. I never even considered that someone would move the stasis pods.” He sighed, his expression worried. “They must have used the NEIIS translator I created. It’s the only way they could do something like this.”

  Noah watched as the young man clenched his fists. “This isn’t your fault. Using that logic, it could just as easily be my fault for the work I did adapting NEIIS tech to use our power sources. We’ll figure this out.”

  “They must have known Connor was coming and had to rush—they killed the other NEIIS in the bunker just so they could get away!”

  Noah’s mind raced. The people they were trying to find were more dangerous than he’d originally thought if they were willing to kill the NEIIS to cover their tracks. Would they do the same thing to them?

  “Do you know what this means?” Dash asked.

  Noah brought up a couple of command prompts and initiated specialized search routines to activate on remote systems.

  “Yeah,” Noah said very softly.

  “Shouldn’t we get some help from Sanctuary?”

  Noah shook his head. “No, we can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Well, uncomplicate it.”

  “The group we’re looking for is dangerous, and they know we’re looking for them. They’ve already breached our security, so if I put a call in to Sanctuary, I’m just going to alert them and possibly inform them of what we know.” Noah held up his hand when Dash began to speak. “We’ll do this together, and when we find them, we’ll get some help.”

  Noah waited a few moments for Dash to come to grips with what he’d said.

  “What do we do first?”

  7

  Sean walked along the dimly lit flight deck with Captain Halsey. Talon-V space fighters were lined up on either side of the Vigilant’s secondary deck. Sean’s implants allowed him to see the sleek stub wings that were adorned with the CDF insignia. Salvage teams had retrieved quite a number of these space fighters from the Vemus wreckage. The Talon-Vs had been completely overhauled at Lunar Base and cleared for usage by the CDF fleet.