Earth Song: Etude to War (25 page)

Most of their weaponry was up on the Kaatan, but she seldom went far without a weapon or two in her kit.

The two police cars, old style ground vehicles, stopped at the gate and a voice boomed out in native Rusk for them to cease. They ignored the call and increased their pace. Luckily the police didn't have a key and were frustrated by the gate's locks. By the time they figured it out, Minu was activating the gangway retracting mechanism and sealing the door.

“What about the damage?” Aaron asked as he dropped into the pilot’s seat.

“A broken lock? I paid an extra twenty-five percent. They can consider us even.”

A slight 'twang' echoed through the hull.

“They're freaking shooting at us!” Aaron said in amazement.

“Typical Rusk,” Cherise yelled over the PA where she was frantically trying to secure the tons of loose materials. There was little love lost between the Desert tribe and the Rusk tribe. Mostly because of the two times the Rusk had tried to conquer their neighbors.

“Hang on,” Aaron warned as he brought the drives on line and quickly pushed the shuttle into the air.

There was no real damage light firearms could do to the shuttle. But a lucky shot could pierce one of the moliplas windshields or damage a hydraulic line on the lowered landing gear. A moment later they were in the air. Aaron raised the gear and turned the shuttle’s heavily shielded belly towards the squad of wildly firing officers. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the hull dropped to a gentle popping. He ascended them in a flat trajectory and shortly even that sound fell away.

“Rather rude of them,” he added as he brought the nose up and accelerated upwards.

“Well,” Minu observed as she finally took a deep breath, “at least we got the food.”

Chapter 22

April 6th, 534 AE

Kaatan Class Ship-of-the-Line, Geosynchronous Orbit, Bellatrix

Lilith didn't understand why her heart was racing and her breath coming quickly until she realized she was excited. She seldom experienced emotions, she found them singularly annoying and of little use. But as she got older she was noticing them more often.

The Phoenix shuttle piloted by her father was just climbing up out of the atmosphere of Remus. On board were supplies for the expedition, her mother, their friend Cherise, the Rasa Kal'at and a dozen of Var'at's soldiers. She hadn't had anyone other than her family and Pip in the ship for years. A Chosen science team had been on board four years ago, a brief research trip approved by the ship's master, but that was it.

“Lilith, this is Aaron,” the inter-ship radio came to life in her mind, “we are on final and ready to dock.”

“Acknowledged Dad, I have control. You can relax and enjoy the ride.”

“Good to be back.”

“I agree.” Without knowing it, she smiled as she delegated a small program to bringing the shuttles in for a safe landing.

Despite being initially reluctant to have anything as trite as a relationship with the people who did little more than conceive her, she'd made the attempt and been rewarded many times over. She found her mother and father both interesting people and valued allies.

Minu's exiling to the university was mostly because she'd refused to try and manipulate Lilith into allowing her ship to be subverted from her. Of course that would have been a waste of time for the woman to try, but Lilith always respected her for not even attempting it. And now the coming of her sibling as an entirely new and exciting aspect of this relationship. She was beginning to admit the entire thing was fun.

Fifteen minutes later the little CIC doors irised open and Minu propelled herself in at a run. Lilith laughed and caught her with a hoverfield, effortlessly slowing the approach and bringing her mother into a warm but brief embrace.

“Your hair is even longer,” Minu noted the growth. “And you are taller!”

“Aaron likes it long,” Minu grinned and held her daughter at arm’s length.

She looked a little less like a younger mirror image now that she was in her late teens, but the resemblance was still undeniable. Same high cheekbones, small nose, hair the color of burnished copper, but with Aaron's dark brown eyes. He also had his facial expression of a smile that seemed just on the verge, but unlike this moment that smile seldom made an appearance.

“You've grown some,” she commented and felt the arms. They were not the frighteningly skeletal limbs they'd been when she'd first met the young girl, hours after the child had been borne from the chaotic temporal effects of super-luminal travel.

“I have continued the physical activities the physician prescribed for me. I still find sweating… distasteful.”

“Who doesn't?” Pip asked from the entrance to the CIC. Lilith nodded to him and he returned the gesture, the hall light glinting from his dualloy skull plate.

Minu was still uncomfortable with the 'relationship' between her old friend and her daughter, but Pip had yet to betray her trust. It worried her most now that he was living on the Kaatan with Lilith. Minu was haunted by the stories of sexually deviant behavior Cynthia, Pip's ex-wife, had told her over mead and tears one night. Having part of his brain shot away and replaced with computers hadn't brought back all of the once shy, engaging boy she'd almost slept with.

“I love this vessel,” Kal'at hissed as he drifted in as well. “A wonder in so many ways. Thank you, ship master, for allowing us to ride inside.”

“It is a pleasure to be appreciated,” Lilith said, no smile in evidence but a twinkle in her eye.

“Hi pumpkin,” Cherise called from the doorway, “looking good!”

“Thanks, Cherise. It has been a long time.”

“Three years, since dinner at Minu and Aaron's. You've really grown up!”

Lilith nodded as did Minu. In some ways, Lilith was more a physical match for Cherise. Long of limb and torso with a natural grace born of a life in zero gravity. Of course Cherise was curvy with wide hips and heavy breasts, where Lilith took after her mother in those departments.

“By all measures I am now sexually mature,” Lilith announced in her typical matter-of-fact manner. Minu caught the look Pip gave her and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“And on that note,” Cherise waggled her hips, something she could only manage in the gravity of the hallway, “we need to talk over a bottle of mead or two on this little cruise.”

“Don't you even think about it,” Minu grumbled. Her old girlfriend preferred females over males, a fact that wasn't lost on her in this situation.

There were only two males on the ship, one was spoken for (and her father), and the other was off limits. Minu didn't really worry about it. Lilith had thus far seemed completely non-sexual. But would that last much longer?

“Kal'at's team are securing the supplies they'd brought aboard,” she told her daughter. “We can break orbit whenever you want.”

“We broke orbit as soon as the Phoenix shuttle was locked in the bay,” Lilith told them.

She swept an arm and one side of the chamber became a massive viewscreen. Everyone stared in wonder as they got a panoramic view of Bellatrix, as the Kaatan swung around Romulus and pushed away towards deep space. It was as if half the sphere had become transparent, allowing them to stare out into space.

“Always reminds me of Star Trek,” Aaron joked, now floating in the CIC with Minu, Cherise, Pip and Kal'at. To them it felt like they were flying away from the planet of their birth.

“Is this what it is like to fly the ship?” Minu asked her.

“Similar. But if I must concentrate fully, I prefer a more immersive experience.”

“I'd like to see that sometime.”

Lilith considered it for a moment then nodded her head. “I can allow that, mom. We can discuss it later in the mission.”

“Now that we're under way,” Cherise spoke up, “we can dispense with some of the secrecy. Where is our first stop?”

* * *

In the opening hours of the trip everyone except Lilith and Pip lent a hand in stowing supplies. As they were opening packages of food and feeding them into an anonymous wall opening where crystalline robot arms took them away, Aaron suddenly stopped and looked at Minu.

“What's wrong?”

“You ever wonder what we were eating back when we first got the ship?”

“What, at the firebase?” Minu thought for a second. “You know, I never even gave it a thought.”

“The ship had been in mothballs for a million years. That food was a million years old.”

Everyone stopped and gawked at each other, at least the three humans who'd been there.

“Pip?” Minu called over the PA.

“Yes boss?”

“How the hell did the Kaatan keep consumables for over a million years?”

It was quiet for almost a minute and she knew he was checking. “According to the information I have, the suspended animation fields the People have are able to retain molecular deterioration completely.”

Aaron shook his head. “Are you saying they could hold something in suspension, forever?”

“Yes.”

All the humans exchanged startled looks, the Rasa just continued working. After a minute they got back to work. Despite his reassurance, Minu couldn't shake the fact that they had been eating million year old sandwiches.

* * *

It took two hours of cruising with the less efficient impulse drive before it was safe to engage the gravitic lens drive. In only seconds the ship went from a long sleek needle-pierced white ball to a blur of light lancing into nothingness. For hours nothing happened, then a ship slowly climbed up out of the swirling gases of Vegas like a ghost rising from a fog covered lake. A sea monster rising from the depths after sensing prey.

For a time it hovered there, sensors tasting the flavor of the departed crafts energy trail and gravity wake. Then, as quietly as it had appeared, it descended back into the crushing depths of Vegas.

Chapter 23

April 13th, 534 AE

Kaatan Class Ship-of-the-Line, Geosynchronous Orbit, Planet Atlantis, Galactic Frontier

The endless oceans of Atlantis rotated below as the crew observed from the old CIC, a deck away from where Lilith actually ran the ship. The eleven day trip had allowed the crew to get used to working on the ship and situate the CIC the way they wanted it.

The arrangement was similar to what Minu and her friends set up years ago before her daughter was born, when they were forced to improvise a way of running a ship missing most of its computer capabilities, and anyone who really knew what it was capable of. Six control stations were made from forcefields to allow them to sit and interact directly with the ship, though Minu still suspected that every request or command still went through Lilith.

“My father discovered Atlantis in his first year as a four star scout commander,” she told them. “There is only one city is at the bottom of the deepest ocean. I guess the name just made sense to him.”

“Why a city five kilometers under an ocean?” Aaron asked.

“He had a theory that the deep ocean subduction zone once contained rare elements that they mined. The city straddles the planet’s largest subduction fault line.”

“It could be a vast source of renewable elements,” Kal'at agreed, snapping his jaws for emphasis. “It seems unlikely it would ever be exhausted.”

“And still the world was abandoned,” Minu finished with a shrug. “Lilith, can the shuttles make it down to the city?”

“With some difficulty,” she spoke from the air around them. “The shuttles’ forcefields can handle the stress until you enter the structural shields of the city. The shuttle will be ready in ten minutes.”

“I don't suppose your dad said where he'd hidden his clue?” Aaron asked.

“He's never that direct. The notes say the city is in good shape so we'll play this like a typical scrounge mission, so you're going to be lead. Good news is gravity on Atlantis is less than seventy-five percent.”

Aaron nodded, his sore legs liked the sound of that.

“We'll go down in force,” Minu continued. “You, Cherise, myself, and Kal'at with a squad of soldiers.”

“Any risks?” Kal'at asked.

“No, it's low on the salvage list so not really claimed by any of the big guys. But the Portal network goes through some hot territory, pinch zone between the Mok-Tok and T'Chillen. Just not safe for us to easily get here.”

“Unless we happen to have a starship,” Cherise pointed out.

“You know,” Aaron began, “if one of the higher order species ever managed to get its act together they'd tear the whole galaxy apart and run everything.”

It wasn't a thought that gave anyone there comfort. Luckily for them, if there was anyone the higher order species hated more than small upstarts like Humanity, it was the other higher order species. The de facto detente that had existed for untold eons was probably for the better. Sometimes Minu was amazed that the Tog had ever survived in that crowd. But then she remembered that they had starships themselves, and she didn't know how many or how powerful they were.

Shortly the team was assembling their gear in one of the Kaatan's shuttles. Since it wasn't an official Chosen mission, Minu hadn't bothered to try and get official equipment. That meant she couldn't take weapons from the armory, she'd brought her own.

She, Aaron, and Cherise were armed with brand new MK II Shock rifles, the newest improvements being developed by Groves Industries. Just because the company specialized in aerospace didn't mean they couldn't do weapons systems as well, and what better way to test prototypes than in a field test?

They all wore the now standard issue light scout armor with improved energy shielding technology gleaned from the Kaatan class ship. The suits were capable of operating in space if necessary and sustaining the wearer for four hours.

While the new guns were lighter and more accurate, they were still the same long and somewhat unwieldy length, a limitation of the weapon’s plasma chamber and powerful laser chambers. But in keeping the weapon its original length they'd improved the range and hitting power. One of them had a new high powered optics system which offered the prospect of being usable as a true sniper weapon. She hoped there wouldn't be an opportunity to test it.

The five Rasa who were joining them were all equipped with their venerable yet deadly accelerator rifles. These being troops normally assigned to their moon colonies (not under Var'at), they were not used to the shock rifles, so they stuck with what they knew best.

Once everyone was in place, Aaron took the controls.

“We're ready to disembark,” she informed Lilith over her headset.

“Noted, Shuttle One. Stand by.” A moment later they felt a brief disorientation as they left the Kaatan's gravitic field and their own kicked in. The needle shape of the shuttle slid clear of the bay, was spun around by forcefields under Lilith's control, and then set free.

“Shuttle One, you are free to maneuver. Have a safe trip.”

Aaron smiled at how she sounded like a commercial flight controller on Bellatrix, wondering if she'd taken her cues from listening to movies of her training by the Medical Intelligence. Pip had mentioned a few days ago that the young woman was watching some drama broadcasts now. Maybe she was 'growing up'?

“Roger that, we'll check in upon docking at the city.”

The shuttle used a hybrid of holographic and manual controls. Lilith explained that while anyone implanted like herself could pilot with only their thoughts, Aaron was limited to hand controls and gestures. He intuitively knew that her way would be much faster and more efficient, but growing up flying with hand and foot controls was a habit he didn't think he could easily overcome.

The shuttle nosed down and he nudged the power past twenty-five percent. The machine responded like nothing else he'd ever piloted. The engineers blamed some of the problems with the Groves Industries shuttle on his experiences with the ancient shuttles (of which his engineers had been allowed to briefly study). The intuitive fly-by-wire systems could literally anticipate the pilot’s commands. The more you flew it, the more it recognized your style, and adapted to you. With nothing to do during early reentry, he decided to chat with his daughter.

“Lilith?”

“Yes, father?”

“Did the People use fighters?”

“That is an interesting question. They used fighters, but only as drones. No manned fighter craft were employed.”

“Why is that?”

“Manpower was too vital to risk on a small craft. Using neural interface and combat intelligence augmentation, a single biological operator could command a squadron of a dozen fighters. The Kaatan class cruiser was designed as the optimized combat craft, small enough to require minimal crew, fast and nimble, but also employing sufficient firepower to engage most enemies by itself, though they were meant to operate in squadron formations. They are the only starship this small built by the People with a tactical drive.”

“As useful as they were, why didn't every ship have one?”

“It was a compromise in design and an agreement not to over-utilize the bargain with the Weavers. The tactical drive is capable of transporting many ships at once. They are most often installed aboard fleet tenders. The Kaatan were built near the end of a war. Placing a tactical drive in every ship was a move out of desperation.”

“Is that why you are reluctant to use the one on this ship?”

“That is a different issue.”

Aaron was about to push her farther when static crackled on the line.

“You have entered the ionosphere.”

“Noted,” he said and checked his reentry course. “We'll talk later.”

He wanted to be sure she understood that it wasn't a done issue. The tactical drive was too much of a fascination for him, and he had the feeling she wasn't saying everything she knew about the subject. Outside the atmosphere began to gently buffet the plunging shuttle.

* * *

Aaron brought them out of the steep dive a thousand meters above the wildly pitching ocean surface. The swells were at least fifty meters, and some topped one hundred.

“Surf's up!” Cherise joked. And that from a Desert tribe girl. The humans all shared the joke, but it was lost on the Rasa soldiers.

It was to Minu to state the obvious. “Is this crate really going to go down into that?”

“According to our little girl, it should do it exceptionally well.”

“I'm not optimistic,” she mumbled.

“Only one way to find out,” Aaron said. With deft movements he reduced speed and nosed them down.

“Oooh shiiit!” Cherise cried and unconsciously leaned backwards away from the viewscreen.

After all the concern, the moment of impact was anticlimactic. They hit the water and like an arrow pierced the surface without so much as a bump inside.

“Houston, we have touchdown,” Aaron chortled.

“I think you're mixing metaphors.” said Minu around a sigh of relief.

“Whatever. Course set, destination four thousand meters down.”

The descent was much smoother than atmospheric reentry had been. Hundreds of meters slid by, the water quickly went from blue, to green, then red, and finally to inky infinity. The only sign that they were moving ever deeper was the holographic controls displaying their progress, and the system which monitored the shuttle’s forcefields. In only a minute it was consuming a frightening amount of power.

“You sure we can make it?” Kal'at asked, one eye locked firmly on the shrinking power reserve.

“If Lilith says we can make it, we'll make it.” His other eye swiveled to regard Minu, and then he nodded in a most human gesture. She wondered if his faith in her was overstepping his own sense of survival.

“Power under fifty percent,” Aaron announced, “we're fuel bingo.”

The ancient flier term for the point of no return sent a chill up Minu's back. If they failed to link with the underwater city’s shields, the shuttle's forcefields would eventually fail. Everyone would die instantly as the craft was crushed like a tin can under a truck tire.

Then there was a glimmer of light before them. Nothing more than a dull twinkle as if they were seeing it through a dense fog. On the panel a beacon tracer activated. The shuttle’s computer interfaced with the ancient city and the two negotiated. Everyone held their breath as an agreement was reached.

“Automatic Control Available” the shuttle computer informed them.

The little cabin broke out in cheers and Aaron, gladly for a change, handed over control to the submerged city’s traffic control computer. Less than a minute later they were bathed in light as the shuttle leveled out and approached a magical city of crystal.

“It's like something from a Disney film,” Cherise surmised.

Those with the cultural reference had no choice but to agree. There were hundreds of massive domes where entire forests were visible inside, creeping wildlife growing up the edges towards the top of the dome. Towering spires and cylindrical housing units were interspersed with structures that looked to be industrial in nature. And all of it looked like it was made of delicate crystal.

It was only when they got still lower that the passengers could see the city was floating hundreds of meters above the ocean floor, or rather a huge gouge in the ocean floor. “Is that the continental fault?”

“Yes,” Kal'at confirmed, “the city floats over the subduction zone to harvest minerals.”

“Then why did they abandon it?”

“It’s part of the mystery,” Minu told them. A second later the power meter on the controls ceased its descent. They'd entered the forcefields of the city. “Now let’s see where we're going to be taken to.”

The shuttle banked gently and headed towards a squat mushroom-shaped structure. All around its crown were dozens of open bays. As soon as they realized their destination, lights came on in one of the bays. They were about to land.

“That was the easy part,” Minu said as she got up to head aft and gather her gear. “Now the real work begins.”