A Memory in the Black (The New Aeneid Cycle) (41 page)

"What?"

"When Diomedes shot you. You were arguing with him about whether or not to destroy the weapons we'd captured. He pretended to agree with you, then shot you in the back when you turned." Michael swallowed. "It made me sick, tore me up just to watch it. I drew on him myself after that."

Gideon's grip
seemed to tighten on the core.

"This is a stunner
your sister gave us. It's how we put you under so Felix could fix your memory and bring you back. Basically it's the only hope I've got of overpowering you." He held it out to Gideon. "Here. Take it." The other man reached for it halfway and then hesitated. "It's not a trick."

Gideon snatched it, moving as fast as Diomedes might have, and
then scrutinized it without hardly taking his eyes off Michael. "A stunner."

"Yeah. What Diomedes did to you? I'm giving you this so you know I won't do the same thing. I'm trusting you, and I need you to trust me. I'm completely helpless now. I need you to trust me that this is the right thing to do."

Gideon put the stunner away. "I should destroy it."

"Maybe. If you want. I
only care that you leave the core here." Michael's mind raced, searching for more to add. "You say you need to return with something. We can give you that. It won't be the core, but it ought to be enough to show them you did all you could."

Gideon took his hand off the core. "Like what?"

Michael told him. A minute later they'd gone out the ceiling hatch and left the core behind.

"You know we don't really have a back-up plan if this doesn't work."

"That makes it one more plan than I have lived with in the past few days. Pull!" Marette released the door to Primary Control for Marc to slide it open. The wreckage of the two turrets lay strewn on the floor among the longer-dead bodies of the Control crew. Marette's gasp barely carried over the radio.

Marc's stomach turned. "Man," he
whispered. Though it looked safe, he did not want to enter that room. The time on his visor read five sixteen a.m. Zero wireless networks in the area. Room temperature—inside his cooled suit pocket where he was keeping his hip rig, anyway—was sixty-one point nine degrees.

Marette moved past him as if unaffected and pointed to a console. "There's the core. This Gideon is effective."

Marc stayed where he was.

"Marc! Speed is a factor."

He shook himself out of the fog and looked past the bodies to where she'd pointed. The old core lay atop the console. "Okay," he managed. "If you can get the new core in, I'll install the leech."

"
Oui
. And for the sake of safety. . ." Marette opened a panel and reached deep within. She gave a fierce yank, then another, and another, before she appeared satisfied. "The link to
Paragon
is now doubly severed. How much time?"

"Um, not long, I think. Where's, ah, where's the auxiliary access?"

"Over there. Just focus."

After a
breath, Marc rushed through the carnage, knelt at the console, and opened up an access panel to get at the circuitry beneath. Fagles's leech was designed to splice in from an exterior point such as the base's transmitter, but connecting it directly was more suited to what they were about to do. After double-checking the last-minute alterations he'd made since arriving at the base, Marc set the leech along one of the windows facing Earth, plugged in the cables, and set to work on the connection.

Across the chamber
, Marette was getting the backup core installed and rebooting the system. If this worked, he wouldn't see her again for a while. Their reunion so far was too brief for his tastes, and the circumstances nightmarish. Then again, what the hell did he expect?

"Focus," he repeated to himself.

A burst of light sent him near jumping out of his suit before he realized it was just the room's lighting returning to life. "Wish you'd have warned me about that," he said.

"Apologies. The main computer is rebooting. How is your leech?"

"Nearly done. You said it'd take about ten to get the atmosphere back to breathable?"

"
Oui
, ten minutes."

He nodded. "Ought to give me just enough time. Let 'em know." Marc set to work on braiding the leech's software into the Omicron system, focusing on his visor's readouts
and trying to ignore the death around him. The faster he got it done, the faster he could get the hell out of the room. It didn't have to be elegant; it didn't even have to be particularly hidden anymore. It just had to work. He barely heard Marette radio the others in Life Support to tell them the system was back.

Marette moved to prep the shuttle as Marc continued his se
t-up. "Nearly ready," she said. "You can do what is needed from here?"

"Yeah. Or
on the rover, once the first part's done. Just make sure they get the terminal in Life Support connected to the main system or this won't be nearly as effective."

"You underestimate the intimidation of the French language." She flashed a smirk. "But I will make certain."

Though her smirk faded quickly, it was enough to let Marc ignore the danger for a moment. Would the AoA assign him here after this was all over? "Come here a sec? This'll go faster with your help." He pointed to the leech.

Th
ey worked out the final details. Marc borrowed Marette's superior knowledge of Omicron to speed the process. It was nearly time.

"I think I've got it from here.
" He gave her a hesitant pat on the leg that she might not have even felt through her suit. "Glad you're okay."

That only got a nod and a smile from her before she stood up. "And you. Luck to both of us."

"I—yeah."
Time and place, Marc.
He turned back to the leech and she moved toward the door. When he glanced back at her, she was already watching him.

"I shall keep a priv
ate channel open. In case there is a problem. Inform me immediately should anything go wrong."

"Yeah."

And with that, she was gone.

Felix wasn't getting better. Caitlin was holding his head in her lap when Michael and Gideon got back to the rover. Their safe return gave her a small measure of comfort. They could leave that much sooner.

"How is he?" Michael asked.

She shook her head. "The same, I fear. Where's Marc?"

"He'll be coming soon. Not long, then we'll get out of here."

"And he'll have the recording?" Gideon asked. Caitlin wasn't sure what he was talking about, but found she didn't much care and just let them talk.

"I told him to bring it."

"I didn't hear you."

"Different
channel." Michael said. He left Gideon to come and kneel by her and Felix. "Gideon took out the turrets. Marc's getting the computer back up so the shuttle can leave. We owe him, we'll make sure he gets better."

Caitlin wasn't sure what else they could do at this point but get Felix home. "How soon before Marc returns?"

"Not long."

Frustrated with her impotence, she nearly stood to go prepare the rover to leave before realizing she didn't quite know how to do so. "Michael, start the rover. Make sure we're ready to go as soon as Marc gets here."

The younger man hesitated. "We should probably keep—"

"Just
do it. Please."

Marette returned to Life Support alone. Despite her report of the death of Michael "Rogers" and the evidence of a third party active at Omicron, with the computers under control once more, the faces of those previously trapped in Life Support were brighter than she had seen them in days.

"So what now?"

Marette hardened herself for the response. "Now, we regain control of Omicron. ESA will lift the quarantine in time, but only if we can assure them it is safe. There are to be zero transmissions made without my authority. Primary Control is open to vacuum so we shall make this our auxiliary control room. You have reconnected the terminal here to the main computer?"

"Yes, ma'am," Hladky answered. "We still have a backup console isolated if we need to do what we did before."

"Knock on wood," Levy whispered.

Marette permitted herself a smile. "Good. The evacuation shuttle is now on stand-by should we need it. For the moment we shall examine the status of the complex from here, then perform a more thorough walkthrough of the non-vacuumed areas when that is complete."

The group sprung to action, getting back cameras and calling up schematics. "Be alert for any evidence of the newcomer. We believe he has entered
Paragon
."

"Begging your pardon, Chief, but if someone's still running around out there, shouldn't someone take a suit and go back to control with Sebring?"

"
Non
. Control is secured but damaged. We shall not put our only two suits in the same place."

"Those two
lads say just what this 'third party' is here for?"

"From what they have told me," Marette gave just a moment's hesitation, "one possibility is data theft."

"Right, and the other?"

She sighed. "This was to be need-to-kn
ow only, but given the sighting: sabotage, possibly via an infestation of, I believe they said, 'self-replicating nanomachines'."

Levy gave an uneasy laugh. "Grey goo? That's not even possible!"

"It was 'not even possible' that the alien computer could take over our systems as well, Officer. Dismissive thinking does not aid our cause."

"The Americans," Hladky muttered. "Just before my transfer I heard rumors of a grey goo experiment in
Denver that nearly got out of control. The cover-up said it was a hazardous fuel leak."

"Rumor or not, it is what they suspect, which is why we need to secure the base as quickly as possible so the Space Agency can send aid. We also should get O'Shea to a better location. How is the infirmary?"

Hladky studied the monitor. "Still viable, if this reads accurately. Internal sensors are only semi-functional, but it would appear— Wait."

She pressed closer. "What is it?"

"Something is wrong. Energy surge, I think. For a moment everything went out. It filters back now."

"Cause?"

"Unknown. Possibly prior damage."

"Find out," she said. "
Now. We will not lose control of this base a second time."

"I try, but it's not
— There it is again. An energy surge."

Levy leaned over to Hladky's screen. "Is that coming from in
side the ship?"

"The readings are definitely coming from within Omicron
— Strike that. Possibly both."

"Possibly?" Marette snapped.

Hladky worked intently, shaking his head. "I try to confirm, Ma'am. The sensors are buggered to hell. I'm unsure."

"Cameras," she ordered Levy.

"Cameras. . . Bugger! Cameras are out. Something to do with the surge. Give me a minute."

Marette cursed and opened the channel to Marc. "Mr. Sebring, do you read?"

"
This—this is Sebring,
" Marc answered. The rest of the ESA group clustered in to watch over their shoulders.

"Ma'am, something is happening!"

She ignored Marc for the moment and looked back to Hladky, who went on. "Someone tries to access a terminal in the RTG chamber."

"To do what? Are they tampering with the generator?"

He shook his head, still focused. "I'm working on that. That room has no atmosphere; whoever it is has a suit."

"Get me those cameras, Officer! Mr. Sebring, report your location
. Are you in the RTG chamber?"

"
No, still in Control. What is it? I'm getting some weird readings here, almost like a—
"

"Someone is trying to hack a terminal there. Go!"

"
Right. Stand by.
"

"
Que pouvons-nous faire?
" she muttered.

"Ma'am," shot Hladky, "if Sebring is in Control he may be able to get on the system and keep whoever it is from
—"

"
Non
, Control is too damaged and he is closest to the intruder."

Hladky groaned. "I
may
be able to stop them from here."

She hesitated only a moment. "Do what you can."

It wasn't long before the message appeared.

-This is the Humans' Army for Technological Purity. Know that the secrets within this craft and this base are not of our Earth and must be destroyed. No one should have such power. You have five minutes to evacuate before the area is cleansed. You cannot stop us.-

"
Scheisse.
"

"Cut him off!" she ordered Hladky. "Keep him out of the power system!"

"I don't believe he tries to get
into
the power system beyond sending his message," Hladky said, working. "I get very unusual readings from in there. Radiation, and something further."

"Sebring, report!"

"
Nearly there. . .
"

"We have a terrorist on site, likely in the RTG chamber. They claim we have five minutes before Omicron is destroyed."

"
I'll do what I can.
"

The
chamber lighting began to flicker just before Hladky turned around. "Ma'am, it may already be too late. I don't know what that radiation is but I read power fluctuations and system disruptions all across the board. Even if he can stop it, if there are more than one of them in there—"

"If you have a better idea, put it forward!" she shot. "We cannot lose this complex
again! And where are those cameras?"

Levy's frustrated response wasn't
discernable as Marc came back over the comms for everyone to hear. "
I'm there. Door opening.
"

Those in Life Support exchanged glances as they waited
.

"Mr. Sebring? What is it? How many are there?"

"
I don't see anyone, but there's—there's some sort of ooze. It's covering nearly the whole room in here, including part of the generator. It's still running but. . . I think it's dissolving—everything!
"