Return protocol, p.14
Return Protocol, page 14
“Wha—” Noah felt his world spin, vision blurring and his inner ear struggling to maintain balance. Zuri’s knife slashed upwards through the tendrils, the ends falling away from the gel but the newly cut ends drove back in. Slashing she cut them away again, dragging the now falling Noah away from the platform.
“Finn,” called Zuri not knowing what to do next as the fine threads drove along Noah’s thighs towards his now bleeding side. Finn reached behind, pulling the rifle from the top of his pack, snapping the straps. Spinning, he fired energy bolts into the black fungus, the searing bolts melting and burning where they hit. It shuddered as Finn fired again, spreading his shots across the threads he could see oozing from its base to spread out in the water. They lit up, burning upwards and into the main body of the throbbing mass.
Finn splashed over to Noah, probing his side where the threads crumbled under his touch. Blood seeped mixing with the gel.
“Smith, is that thing dead.”
“No idea, it’s marginally colder than the surrounding area, there are still fluctuations. It’s a fungus, Finn, how do you kill a fungus?”
“Fire,” came a hoarse whisper from Noah. “If it doesn’t spore that way.”
“Zuri, out of the water. Stand up. Your armour is cracked too, let me see.” Finn ran fingers down her side, the tears were above the water now, round her ribs but they’d been briefly underwater when she’d rescued Noah. “Stay out of the water, it’s the gel they are after and then you.” Finn stood Noah up, leaning him against Zuri he removed his pack. “Take him out of range, stay standing.”
Finn slapped Smith in his slot on the platform, adding one of Noah’s power discs from the pack. “Get me the info ASAP.” Quickly assembling the chemical explosive ring, he then stripped the metal rods from the backpack frame, tying them together with bits of Noah’s rope.
“That’s dangerous Finn.”
“Less dangerous than throwing it just before impact, it may even hold if I can skewer the damn thing.” Finished, he had a poor man’s shaft, but it’d do. Finn attached Lumu’s kukri curved knife to the end, giving a silent prayer of thanks as he did so.
“Got it, far left unit three boxes from the top, then middle two boxes above the water line. Got it locked, I can guide you.”
Finn could see the fungus pulse, the tendrils beginning to ease out from underneath. Recovering Smith, he reached back and slammed the hooked knife with the explosive circle into the black mass. It held, Finn threw himself back and detonated the ring as he crashed under the surface of the water. Emerging ten seconds later he was relieved to see the fungal mass sprawled across the wall, platform, and the units behind him. Finn waded around the unit sides to find Zuri still holding Noah.
“He’s babbling, talking about his side being numb but I can see no more threads. If I strip his armour, we’re just exposing his body to more attacks.”
“We get him to the lift shaft; you take him up and I’ll get the plaques we need.”
“Where are they? Up high?” Finn nodded in response to Zuri. “Then it’s me that goes, and I’m lighter to pull up. Use Noah’s power pack to climb.”
“Swap me over Finn, I can help her through,” said Smith.
Finn reluctantly slipped his respirator off and doing their best not to inhale they swapped helmets. He held her hand briefly, the message clear.
“Go, I’ll be there.”
Finn lifted Noah over his shoulder, the weight crippling but he had no more extra power to use. He waded slowly through the water as Zuri followed Smith’s directions.
Chapter 37
Haven Data Storage,
Mountains of Zezzat, Havenhome
Noah’s weight seemed to triple as Finn dragged him towards the lift. The water pushing back more and more as he struggled on. But Finn could not, would not stop. The promise to keep them all alive repeated in his mind over and over, driving his feet through the blackness.
No more.
He could see the shaft ahead, his light playing against the partially exposed doors, the familiar blue hued metal sparkling back. Swirling around him the fungal threads had powdered, rising to the top to form a scum that splattered against the ceramic armour. The corridor felt like a never-ending nightmare with the end getting further and further away. Catching a breath Finn refocussed on the metal units, starting again he counted them down as he dragged Noah onwards.
Eleven, ten, nine, eight…
It began to work, he timed his breathing to the rhythm as he did for his PTSD exercises, calming his pulse and maintaining his pace. The panic receded; his legs felt lighter and more capable though the weight remained the same. Sooner than expected he reached the shaft, leaning Noah against the wall. Finn removed his pack, attaching Noah’s and his rifles either side with the remaining straps. Unhooking the rope from where he’d tied it, Finn clipped Noah’s harness in. Decision time, go up and haul him after or tie him on and double the weight in this gravity.
I just can’t see the armour coping with two of us. Nor the rope.
Finn took his remaining rope from the pack, the one in the shaft being Zuri’s and Noah’s was somewhere in the water near the fungus. Finn looked up the shaft, the metalwork rarely exposed but enough struts for him to work with. Remembering, he removed Noah’s power disc, attaching it on top of his own. Leaving his harness unclipped and backpack on, he clambered up the rope to the second strut, about six foot up. Finn hauled Noah up using the extra strength he now had, wrapping the rope around the strut with a fisherman’s bend knot and attaching his extra rope to this. He looped this round the strut opposite, giving it a tug, it pulled the slip knot. Satisfied he hauled himself up Zuri’s rope, the end of his clipped to the harness. Noah hung two foot above the water in the shaft, but at least he was clear. It was the best he could do.
◆◆◆
Zuri waded through the water, careful not to let any reach her ribs. Smith directed her towards the far left of the room, his incessant talking more a mark of his nerves than her need to be calmed. Live tendrils once again swirled within the water along their route towards their target corner. Zuri readied her rifle; she was in no mood to take any more crap. Noah played on her mind.
Me and mine, we survive.
Slowing the pace, she reached the last unit before the corner. The density of the tendrils had increased with the area full of dead husks, though less than near the platform.
“Smith, you got anything?”
“Got a smaller colder patch middle of the next wall, fluctuating like the last one. Distance about 20 yards. Your sight will pick it up.”
Zuri switched off the lights, too much warning. She eased out the mirror sight so she could see round the corner, its thermal image clear. In fact, she could potentially take a shot.
I need to hit those tendrils first though, so I’ll need light.
Zuri brought the rifle round the corner, sighting by thermal before switching to visual. With torches switched on, the sight focussed on the threads oozing from its base, she put in a burst of bolts. The threads shrivelled, the fire rushing up to the main body burning like fuses. Zuri shifted her aim up to the main body, letting an armoured round loose before another burst of bolts seared the fungal mass. The boiling shell drilled then exploded, clearing the centre of the smaller fungus completely, leaving a bulls eye ring.
No time, need to get back for Noah.
“Where Smith?” a red reticule appeared on her visor, targeting a box in the middle of the corridor just above the water line. Zuri waded through the newly powdered tendrils, reaching the box Smith narrowed in on the correct plaque. Expecting a struggle, Zuri was surprised as it eased out of the slot on a spring-loaded shelf. She slipped it in a pouch, moving as Smith targeted the next. This one was three yards up but there was a ladder rack nearby, about six units down. Zuri pulled at it, feeling the bottom slide along encrusted rails, it would move with some extra leverage. With the armour power levels now at eighty percent she had little extra to give, but she still had the bar. Slotting it in behind the wheel took some luck and guesswork while being able to keep her ribs above the water line. Zuri pushed her foot against the metal rod, simultaneously the servos in her elbows and shoulders forcing the top. With a little manoeuvring she felt the rack give and kept the momentum going until it slammed against something under water. The ladder itself wasn’t near enough to the unit box, but if she clambered up the data collection arms, then it might be possible.
◆◆◆
Finn reached the entrance level floor, exhausted from the ascent against the planet’s gravity. He pulled himself over the threshold of the lift doors, searching for breath and allowing the lactic acid in his arms to dissipate. The aches hurt, but as the lactic eased he rose and stretched. Finn hunted for something to wrap the rope round, to act as a single pulley as he attempted to heave Noah up. It wouldn’t make the pulling easier, but it would make resting an option.
Settling on the thick door handle of the stairs he looped the climbing rope through and pulled back to fix it. Then he yanked his extra rope, praying for the second time that day. It gave, and he felt the weight as Noah dropped. With an extra twenty percent of power left he hauled. Adopting the method from the corridor Finn counted each pull, taking a rest every three and then continuing on. The steady process eased the burden on his body and mind and after a few minutes Noah’s limp head appeared above the floor. Finn gave one more pull, then tied the rope off through the handle, only then allowing the pain to scream through his arms and shoulders as he lay upon the floor.
Finn rolled himself up on to all fours and moved across to Noah. He reached down and grabbed the top of his harness, hauling him over the threshold. And there, pulsing, a thick mass of black threads hung from Noah’s side reaching back down the shaft.
◆◆◆
Zuri tugged at the rope, “Finn can you pull me up or do I need to climb?”
“I can, Noah’s charge has depleted but I can be some help.” Finn sounded distant but then again the signal was through a lift shaft. Zuri clipped in and with her foot now in a loop she eased the mechanism upwards, feeling Finn pulling the rope up to reduce the distance she needed to ascend. With double Earth’s gravity and having just finished one climb she was eternally grateful for the help.
When she finally reached the top, Zuri climbed over the threshold and up on to her feet. Finn stood with the rope wrapped round him and looped through the stair door handle. At his feet lay Noah, blood congealed on his right side, powdered threads all down his legs. He let the rope drop, slipping behind Noah and hugging him tight, his sobs echoing through the radio.
Chapter 38
Rare Metal Open Cast Mine, Havenhome
Zzind lay on the ground, her feet entwined in the long grass that surrounded the ship. To her left the nanobots worked diligently forming and reforming the tools required to excavate the precious metal that Ship needed. Most of the larger machines, Ship told her, had been constructed from raw material in her hold. Once they had completed their job, they would be stored again and likely repurposed in the future. To Zzind it seemed unbelievable that a complete factory of workers, and miners had been replaced without a single Haven having to break sweat. In her world, people toiled night and day to produce what they needed to get by with never enough to go round. The farms struggled to cope too, one of the many reasons she determined change needed to happen, and soon.
Zzind opened her eyes again, taking in the wonders of the star ladened night sky. Only now did she feel truly free, the burden of Sanctuary feeling a million miles away with its eternal political scrambling and back biting. Ship said that Havenhome was the only planet in the system, but each of the stars in the sky was a sun around which many more planets revolved. Zzind desperately wanted to ask her about the human planet but avoided it. Ship always made her feel in the wrong when she brought them up, maybe now wasn’t the time.
“Ship, how many Explorer ships are there?”
“The Convention built nine, though only eight ever flew.”
“Why? What happened to the ninth?”
“Its AI did not function correctly, rejecting the ship and crew. They had it destroyed before it could infect the other AIs with its madness.”
“So eight, and we know of you and the one the humans were on,” Zzind winced as she spoke, trying not to go there, “Were all the others in the hanger?”
“No, there is one missing. It was on the Orbital Station when we were recalled awaiting a cleansing.” the AI sighed inwardly, hoping Zzind would get there soon.
“Ah.”
“Zzind, there are Explorer ships in the sky, one is heading our way. They are running full sensor scans.”
“I don’t know what that means, Ship.”
“They are reading the planet, searching it for information. It could indicate we are being hunted. The AIs can fly without crew, but someone must have ordered them to. Xxar must have been activated.”
Chapter 39
Mountains of Zezzat, Havenhome
The wind whipped ice particles into Zuri and Finn, gusts reaching fifty miles an hour and relentlessly hammering them even as they dipped below the old snow line. It made the going treacherous, the makeshift sled on which Noah’s body lay pushing against them on the downward slope. They hadn’t spoken for the last half a mile, their bodies protesting the stress they were under as their armour power dipped lower and lower. Smith silent as the last of his power drained in the cold. Finn let the sled slip by, allowing it to pull them downwards, changing the effort required to different muscles in their legs.
Ahead the ship glowed, a light seeing them home in the bitterness of the night. They trudged onwards desperate to be back, but equally pained with their task on arrival.
A shot pierced the raging wind, the bullet slamming into Finn’s shoulder, spinning him round. Zuri hit the floor, the protests of her body ringing as loud as the crack of the bullet. Finn lay motionless, but the plate had held though cracked and the bullet lodged in place.
“Play dead,” as she spoke, Zuri moved, spinning to the left and behind an ice ladened rock as a second bullet zinged into the wood of the sled. Zuri eased the rifle off her back and checked the revolver remained in her pouch. She was so tired.
Me and mine, we survive.
Bringing the rifle round she caught her target on thermal, the face releasing hot breath against a frozen background. She let the piercing bullet fly, watching it melt, drill and explode against its target. Below him, behind a large boulder she caught two more signatures, probably their legs sticking out. Zuri sent two energy shots towards them then moved, noting Finn had already gone.
The signatures stayed put, but there was no telltale pooling of blood. Then she caught Finn’s thermal image crossing her path, tearing into the figures. Zuri sprinted, the last of her energy drawing a drop of adrenaline, she reached the boulder as Finn brought his fist crashing down into a Haven’s face.
“Stop!” she screamed over the radio. “Stop, Finn.” But the beast was released, and he brought the fist down again. Zuri grabbed the arm, twisting it back and against his shoulder. “Stop,” she whispered. “Stand down Lance Corporal.” Finn strained against her. “They are unarmed, soldier. Honour and duty. They did not kill Noah.” She felt the pressure ease slowly, the anger fading on the wind. Zuri let his arm go, gently touching his shoulder as she moved him off one of the Haven soldiers that had surrendered earlier. The snout bloodied and bruised, but alive. Zuri took the soldier by the arm, lifting it up. Then she offered her hand to the second one, who paused while looking her over, then took it.
Adui aangukapo mnyanyue. When your enemy falls, lift them up.
Zuri turned away from them, the soldiers fading away in the night’s bitterness. Lifting Finn, she half dragged him across to the sled to resume their journey. They picked up their straps and pulled their lost squad member the last twenty yards to the ship, the door opening as they approached, Yasuko at the doorway awaiting their return.
Chapter 40
Mountains of Zezzat, Havenhome
Yasuko’s nanobot arms rolled the body on to its side. They had already stripped off the armour and skinsuit, the body covered in impact bruises all down the right side. Just below the hip, at the top of the thigh was a livid wound covered in powdered tendrils from the fungus. Yasuko scanned her data banks, not liking what she found. At least they’d sterilised everyone and their equipment on their return from the storage facility.
I can’t let them see the next stage; I don’t think they would recover.
It was the Talin, the human protein in the kinetic gel that drew the fungus. Once it started feeding the threads had moved through to enter Noah’s body, pumping him full of a chemical that caused disorientation amongst its normal prey. The human system for carrying oxygen in the bloodstream probably prevented the full effects initially. Humans had red blood as opposed to most of Havenhome’s warm-blooded animals where it was blue because of the copper rich hemocyanin binding the oxygen.
“Smith.”
“Yes, Yasuko.”
“I need to destroy Noah’s body before they wake up, in an hour the fungus will have developed to the point where it fruits. It will be awful for them to see. I need you to tell them this, I am a machine, and they will think I act without care for their friend.”
“I think you underestimate them, Yasuko. But yes, I will support you. We have been through too much already. I hope it was worth it.”
Chapter 41
Havenhome Orbit
Three Standard Days Later
Zuri ran her fingers down the healing bruises along her right side, the deep purples, and blue had turned brown with Yasuko’s administrations, but the pain was a reminder. Waking up after twenty-four hours rest, realisation had hit her when collecting breakfast. Feeling Noah’s absence from the table, from his usual desk conversing with Yasuko, even the lack of cups he left everywhere. These were the things that brought the hot tears. Zuri leant her head upon her bent knee, staring at the screen showing Havenhome spinning below them. Had it been worth it? Was the loss of their friend worth getting home, or helping a people out of starvation?
