Parker Interstellar Travels 6: The Celaran Ruins (15 page)

Caden
scrambled down his vine and ran out into the smoking ash-covered area, then he
turned sharply right toward the ship. He kept his single remaining personal
attendant close, just in case it was reporting his position to the battle
sphere.

If
it wants me dead, I’m dead either way. I think it wants those things dead.

Vooosh.

As
if Caden’s presence had been the only thing keeping the section of forest from
destruction, as soon as he staggered out into the burned out area, the forest
to his right flashed into a burning wall. His suit warned of breathing hazards,
but Caden wasn’t about to deactivate his faceplate anyway.

Caden
stopped thinking and just struggled to make it to the
New Iridar
.

Vooosh.

Telisa
found him and put her hand on his shoulder, slowing him.

“The
battle sphere has us covered,” she said. “Slow down. Head for our sick bay,
what there is of it.”

“How
bad is it?”

“Your
neck is burned badly. Deeply,” Telisa said.

“I’ll
make it. Concentrate on Siobhan. Get her back.”

“I
will. Tell me about Vincent,” she asked. “What did he do during the attack?”

“He
did absolutely nothing,” Caden said.

“Ah.
Just froze, right? I think that’s how they deal with stuff like this,” Cilreth
said.

“Doesn’t
seem very useful,” Jason said.

“Well,
if you look like a plant, acting like a plant isn’t so bad. Who shoots at a
plant?” Cilreth asked.

The
battle sphere,
Caden
thought, but he did not say it aloud. He knew what she meant.
Oh. Did
Vincent just get incinerated?

“Well,
yes, if you’re on a planet where the plants aren’t hunted by whatever is
attacking,” someone said.

Caden
felt pain eating through the blocker his Veer suit had put into his
bloodstream.

Great.
All those raw nerve endings. I need more synthetic skin from my pack.

“Well,
at least our watchdog proved useful,” Cilreth said.

Telisa
just stared at the battle sphere and said nothing. Caden felt woozy. He let
them lead him to the ship.

Chapter 14

A
scary machine with knobby metal limbs carried Siobhan inside a hexagonal weave
net. Its body was small, incongruous with the length of its arms. Its eight
limbs came together in a central juncture only about the size of her upper
torso. Joints were set at four points along each of the arms or legs. The limbs
were strong despite the thin rod composition. Siobhan could not overpower her
captor. She had struggled at first, but it soon became clear waiting was her
only option. She had been stripped of her weapons and equipment pack.

The
machine brought her inside through a roof door and deposited her on a metal
platform with rails around the sides. She gazed at the building beyond. The
ceiling was much higher and larger than the platform, just as she had seen
before she was captured. The wide open space immediately made her feel exposed
and vulnerable.

Another
of the creepy machines climbed onto the platform from below.

Are
these Celaroid machines or just Celaran? If so, I don’t want to see one of
them. Pretty clearly not flying creatures if this is roughly what they look
like. Just amazingly long arms.

The
two machines worked to hoist Siobhan onto another smaller raised platform that
could have been an oversized Terran coffee table. They gently set her down and
then started to open the net. Grateful to be released, Siobhan pushed the net
away from her toward one of the machines.

The
machine surged forward, pinning her to the flat table with four segments of its
legs. Siobhan screamed. She railed against the thin metal legs, but they were
incredibly strong. She might as well have been struggling against solid rock.
She was mostly immobilized at arms and legs. Another bar kept her head from
rising more than a few centimeters.

What
the hell is it doing!?

The
machine froze. Her panic fled its course. Siobhan regained control of herself.
She took a deep breath.

“It’s
just curiosity,” she told herself. “They’re just curious... not meaning to
scare me.”

Siobhan
believed her words. She just said them out loud to calm herself against the
panic of being trapped. The other machine moved up from the side and extended
an arm. It came close to her face. Something soft ran over her cheek.

They
won’t dissect me. They won’t. Fracksilvers, what if they ARE going to dissect
me?

“I’m
a sentient creature please don’t dissect me!”

An
arm came out from the other machine and tested the zipper of her Veer suit. The
zipper wouldn’t move unless her link told it to unlock, or she put her fingers
on the surface in the manual release pattern she had set under her arm.

Clearly
the machine had done some sort of mechanical scan, as it knew what the zipper
was for. There was a tiny flash and a pinpoint of heat on her chest. The zipper
broke.

Frackedpackets!

“No!
Stay out of there!” she snarled. Once again Siobhan tested the arms. She tried
to throw the machine off balance, but with such long limbs its base was too
wide. She concluded it must be attached to the floor or the table somehow
anyway.

An
odd thought arose that caused fear to rise again: what if they were not aliens at
all? What if she was just the toy of some Terran gang that had taken over the
facility?

If
I find out there are Terran men and women behind this, I’m going to be adding
some new people to my kill list.

Her
heart beat rapidly again. The arm slowed. It retreated.

Siobhan
took deep breaths and struggled to relax again.

See?
It slows when I get too agitated. It cares about my well being.

The
arm returned and unzipped her suit about three centimeters. Siobhan bristled.
It was all some kind of nightmare. She found herself wishing it was virtual for
no sensible reason. Virtual torture somehow seemed cleaner and less personal.

The
machine folded over a bit of her suit at the zipper. The end of its limb
hovered over the exposed skin for a moment, then swabbed it with something
soft. Then it let go of the suit and pulled the zipper back.

Siobhan
took another deep breath and counted her lucky stars.

Aliens.
Aliens. Just curious and see? They can tell I don’t like that.

“Thanks,”
she muttered. Then, a little louder, she said, “Let me go please?”

There
was a loud clack from somewhere nearby. It put her nerves on edge yet again.
The other machine had grabbed a long tool. It came toward her.

“I’m
sorry I trespassed,” she said in desperation. “Can you understand me? Do you
even speak?”

The
tubelike tool stopped over her head, then slowly moved downwards.

It
must be scanning my insides. Or irradiating me to see if that kills me.

The
arm pointed its tool lower, heading down her torso. Then it moved over her left
leg. It hummed and paused again. Siobhan’s neck hurt to stare down so sharply
in her restricted position, but she was too scared to not watch. A huge needle
snapped out of the tool.

“Fracksilvers!”
she yelled in combined fear and anger. She struggled anew, then the needle met
her suit. The Veer skinsuit reported dangerous surface pressure at a tiny point
on her leg. Then she felt the prick as the suit reported a very tiny failure
point. She forced herself to be still. It did not hurt much.

Is
it injecting or sampling? Sampling. They are just sampling. Please just be
sampling.

Siobhan’s
heart redoubled its pace. She struggled for breath. The arm retreated.

“I
guess it’s nice you stop when I get scared, but now I get the feeling you’re
just pausing and plan to continue anyway.”

To
her own ears, her voice did not sound as careless as she had been shooting for.
She listened for a moment. The hangar was big, mostly quiet. There was a
background hum. The air felt fresh and at a comfortable temperature on her
face, though it was hard to tell. Her skinsuit regulated her temperature and
aided in evaporation of sweat in the heat as well as closing off to add
insulation for colder climes.

The
arm moved forward again. She tensed. It stopped above her face.

“Careful!
Now think about what you’re doing there—”

A
series of lights flashed into her face. She squinted. Then the light became
dimmer. She opened her eyes a bit more. She saw a black pane hovering before
her eyes.

It’s
testing my vision.

The
black pane showed a single horizontal white line across the top. Then the line
descended. She tracked it. Then two parallel lines descended together. Then
three. Then four.

“Yes,
I can count, thanks,” Siobhan said, though she calmed considerably. This was
certainly much better than being scanned and poked.

The
single line descended again. Siobhan had a sudden inspiration.

“One!”
she said. She synced up with the lines as they descended. “Two... Three....
Four.”

The
sequence repeated itself so she did too.

Two
lines ascended from below and two lines from above. They met in the center,
then descended.

“Two
plus two equals four,” she said. More lines met in the center. Each time she
described the sequence aloud. Then lines formed in the center and subsets of
them descended leaving lines behind, so she started to speak out the
subtraction involved. The intuitive sequences continued for multiplication and
division.

This
seems reasonable. They think kind of like us, maybe.

Soon
her link started to report noise. She suppressed the warning. Siobhan knew her
link queried for service lists several times per second. No doubt the Celaran
investigation had turned up its requests on the link frequencies.

“Can
I talk to whoever’s in charge here? Well, actually, anyone at all?”

Abruptly
the rods securing her against the platform rose. The machine retreated a meter
then stopped.

A
floating platform smoothly joined the platform she stood on. The low wall
around the area opened to allow access to the mobile platform. Lights blinked
insistently at her from the contrivance.

“You
want me to go that way,” Siobhan said aloud. She took a nervous breath.

I
can’t believe I made it through that. I think they are going to let me live,
maybe even let me go! Or they just want to get my hopes up. If they kill me now
I’m
really
going to
be pissed.

Chapter 15

The
forest around them was a ruined mess of incinerated debris. Telisa was reminded
of the destructive capability of the Vovokan battle sphere. Thanks to Momma
Veer, Caden’s rifle, and the sphere, the entire team had survived the sudden
attack.

At
least this time our watchdog played the role of bodyguard
, she thought.

Imanol
summed it up out loud. “Well, Shiny’s pet made short work of them.” Imanol had
been hit by the caustic substance, but required minimal first aid since his
suit had taken most of it. Jason’s faceplate was ruined and his face was red
but mostly unburned. Cilreth had burns on one leg and another partially ruined
combat suit.

We’re
under equipped
, Telisa
thought.
Before, we would have had all the replacements we could want.
Now... every ruined suit is going to be missed.

“It’s
too bad, those things were nothing but wild animals. They didn’t deserve that,”
Cilreth said.

“You
handled it well,” Telisa sent her privately.

“Thanks,
but I turned on the emotion stabilizer at the first sign of trouble,” Cilreth
said back on their channel.

“That’s
fine. It worked.”

“We
have a right to defend ourselves,” Imanol said in response to Cilreth’s
original thought.

“By
incinerating every last one of them?”

“We
didn’t. The sphere did. I would have been satisfied to shoot a few up front and
run—”

“You
can debate that later. We have to concentrate on Siobhan right now,” Caden
said.

“I
agree, Caden. This little fight gave me an idea. It’s time we introduced the
Celarans to our spherical friend,” Telisa said.

“Wait
a second,” Cilreth said on the group channel. “Are we starting a war with an
alien race?”

She’s
right to hesitate. But I’m making this call.

“They
have one of our people,” Telisa said. “Besides, there are no Celarans here,
just automated defenses. That’s pretty clear from the empty settlement. With
all the snooping around we’ve done on this planet, if there were a couple left,
they’d be aware of our presence by now. I think a guard robot took Siobhan and
incarcerated her. If it’s a real Celaran that took her, they deserve a hostile
response.”

Even
as Telisa said it, she knew she was making some assumptions. Maybe there was
only one Celaran on any given planet and it lived in there. Maybe the Celarans
were only robotic now, having discarded their old bodies. Maybe to Celarans,
trespassing was a killing offense. Any number of possibilities could explain
everything, and they did not all work well with her plan. Yet she felt she had
to act.

There’s
one more advantage to this. If our watchdog is destroyed, all the better.

“It
could kill her,” Caden said. His voice was different, softer, despite his
determination.

His
suit has him on painkillers. But it would be no use to order him to rest now.
It would just be torture for him.

“We
have to get her back. Let’s get started,” Telisa said aloud.

“Everyone
in the ship,” Telisa broadcast through her link. “We’re landing just outside
the perimeter of the third site.”

“I
want to hurry,” she said switching back to speaking aloud. “Let’s give the
watchdog minimal time to recharge.”

“The
force towers—” Cilreth started.

“Are
designed to keep out wildlife, not spacecraft,” Telisa said. “What good would
it do to push a spacecraft away? Most ships have long range weapons systems.”

“Okay,
though you warn us about such assumptions,” Cilreth said.

“We’ll
drop from the sky right onto the base and let our Vovokan friend loose. If some
of you want to hoof it over there, I guess you don’t have to come with me. The
ship will be a target.”

“Wait.
If
New Iridar
is heavily damaged, we might never get back,” Imanol
protested.

“We
have to get Siobhan back,” Telisa said.

“There’s
a middle option,” Cilreth said. “We can land just outside the edge. It might
keep the ship from being a target to the automated defenses. But we know the
battle sphere will come out to patrol the vicinity...”

“And
it will see the Celaran machines as a threat. And vice-versa, when it starts to
incinerate the perimeter net or a tower or a patrolling robot,” Telisa
finished.

“If
we have to, we can take a shot or two to get things started,” Caden said.

“We
can try just outside the perimeter. It makes sense,” Telisa said. “The
New
Iridar
is valuable. If it’s destroyed, I don’t know if we would survive.
I’m not sure we can digest that sap or any of the life here.”

“Honestly,
which side do you think will win?” Imanol asked.

She
turned to look at Imanol. “I have no idea which side will win. Part of me wants
to go looking for Siobhan during the battle, but I guess I’ll wait until
there’s been some damage to the Celaran guard machines. I’ll also have a better
chance without having to worry about being killed by stray fire.”

The
others loaded up into the Vovokan shuttle. Cilreth told the
New Iridar
to
prepare for takeoff.  The battle sphere took the cue and entered the ship
as Telisa did. They prepared for flight inside the small ship.

Telisa
brought up the satellite maps of the third site as she secured herself in the
sleep web of her tiny quarters. She pushed down a pang of loneliness that came
to assail her. Her sleep web had been so warm and happy with Magnus around. She
remembered their giant bedrooms on the
Clacker
.

“There,”
she said, passing Cilreth the target spot. It was fifty meters from the edge of
the Celaran hardtop. “Everyone, fan out along the perimeter when we get there.
Take cover behind some heavy vines. Caden and I will light the fire, if it’s
necessary.”

“Okay,
give me ten minutes to get us there,” Cilreth said.

“Got
it,” Caden said.

The
others provided nonverbal acks.

“Hang
with me, guys,” Telisa said. “I would give you more time to recover from your
injuries, but I don’t want us
all
to have time to recuperate.”

Telisa
did not know how long it would take for the Vovokan battle sphere to restore
its energy reserves, but she hoped it would not be ready to face the Celaran
machines. The sphere seemed stronger than anything she had seen from the
Celarans yet, though it was hard to gauge the relative power of such disparate
forces.

Cilreth
brought the
New Iridar
in just over the massive alien spires and huge
leaves. That suited Telisa just fine, since she was not completely sure the
towers could not hurt their craft. They approached the compound without
incident. The ship slowed, then settled back down amid the spires, crushing
vines and debris underneath it as it settled. The towers were quiet.

As
expected, the system is smart enough to know the difference between a few wild
flyers and a spacecraft.

Everyone
headed for the exit ramp. The team dispersed along the fence. Telisa winced,
seeing people limping out with holes in their suits. The Vovokan sphere floated
out and headed straight for the Celaran installation.

By
the Five, it’s about to go crazy out here.

“Cover,”
she reminded everyone. Telisa took up a spot near the ship. The team all knew
enough to stay out of the open, but when Telisa got worried she reminded them
anyway. Caden stayed nearby, waiting for her order.

“Shoot
at one of the towers,” she told him. “I’ll go in and stir something up.”

“Careful,”
he said. She looked at him, but he was already lining up a shot with his sniper
rifle’s software.

Caden
took a couple of shots. A round of counterfire came in immediately.

Crack. Crack. Ka-ching!

An
attendant exploded in front of them as incoming fire hit it. Caden stopped
shooting and stepped behind a trunk.

“That
should do it,” Telisa said. She activated her stealth sphere and approached the
outer fence.

The
return fire from Celaran machines within the base galvanized the battle sphere
to action. It launched its own assault against the nearest tower.

Kzap, kzap, kzap.

Telisa
did not know if Caden’s incitement had been necessary, but in any case the
battle had begun. The Celaran tower was slagged in seconds, bringing down the
fence nearby. Telisa saw more Celaran disks coming out of the buildings to
engage.

Kting. Crack. Crack. Bzing.

The
disk machines shot projectiles at the sphere but its powerful shields shrugged
the fire off. Telisa saw evidence of some energy weapons being used, causing a
shimmering in the air. Her attendants and link picked up noise at frequencies
above visible light.

Telisa
ran through the open section of fence and headed along the inside perimeter.
She was about thirty meters from the battle sphere. Her link showed her breaker
claw ready. She felt the alien weapon could destroy the battle sphere if its
shields were brought down. Did it know where she was? Failure could bring fatal
retaliation.

Maybe
if I wait until the shields are absorbing fire... if the Celarans have enough
left to give me an opening.

Telisa
did not have to wait long. Another group of gliders moved in from her left and
concentrated their fire on the Vovokan machine. She saw the battle sphere’s
shields flicker.

Now!

Telisa
activated her breaker claw on the battle sphere.

Kraaazap! Thwack thwack thwack.

The
shields held. The sphere struck back at the Celarans. Five or six of the
security machines became flying heaps of slag that disintegrated in the air.
Smoking parts rolled across the hard flat surface of the lot surrounding the
buildings. Smoke started to obscure most of the complex before them.

“Five
help us,” she muttered.

At
least it didn’t hit me back.

Telisa
increased her distance. She wondered if she should go look for Siobhan but she
decided to stick to the plan. Was the Vovokan battle sphere going to destroy
the entire base? Would Siobhan get hurt wherever they had her held?

“Telisa—”
Caden said on their channel.

“Blood
and souls!” exclaimed Imanol.

Okay,
I’m missing something...

Telisa
looked up. Above the largest building, a long, flat shape hovered. Telisa
realized it was the building where she had seen the doors in the floor and
ceiling.

Of
course. The spacecraft! It’s real enough.

The
Vovokan sphere saw it too. The machine lanced out with energy weapons.

Kraaazap zrap zrap!

They
had no effect. The hovering ship flickered as it unleashed
something
.

The
battle sphere’s shields failed and the machine dropped. It struck the ground.
Several holes appeared on its surface, emitting sparks and smoke.

Back
off—

KABOOM!

The
machine exploded across the field of pavement. Telisa was hurled back and
landed roughly on the hard surface several meters away from where she had been
standing.

“We
did it!” Caden transmitted. “Telisa, did you see that?”

“Telisa?”

“Where
is she?”

“Wait!
I can see her! She’s hurt!” Imanol said.

“What?”
Telisa mumbled, stunned. She lifted her head and saw her body lying on the
ground in plain sight.

“Come
with me!” Caden said.

“Caden!”

“He’s
right! Go in!”

Telisa
went to sleep.