Parker Interstellar Travels 6: The Celaran Ruins (2 page)

“You
don’t need one. You’re young and healthy and... well, besides, you’re Trilisk
Special Forces now anyway. You’ve got way more advanced features built right
in.”

“Trilisk
Special Forces. Nice one.”

“Well,
you know... Imanol and his pet names. He came up with it for Cilreth2.”

Telisa
nodded. “How did you know I’m not original?”

“I
set up
New Iridar
with some basic Trilisk detection and warning systems.
I noticed right away you’re in a host body. Besides, the damn robot almost
couldn’t bore through your skull. It’s harder than steel.”

“We’re
not headed to a Trilisk world. So says Shiny.”

“But
the Trilisks visited other races and... well, spied on them, or ruled them, or
something.”

“I
guess we have no choice but to risk it for Shiny,” Telisa said.

“I
know. Why aren’t you the original?”

“I
can do a better job like this.”

“Then
that goes for the rest of us, too,” Cilreth said softly. Telisa did not pick up
any hostility in Cilreth’s mood, only curiosity.

She
handled losing Cilreth2 better than I handled losing Magnus.

“Yes.
Ask Shiny. I think he studies us and thinks of us as primitive animals. He
wants to solidify my position as leader. Probably because I’m the one he has
the most leverage over.”

“Ah.
So as the strongest and fastest of us, instinctually we’ll fall into line
behind you.”

“Sorry,”
Telisa said. “But I think that’s how Shiny thinks of us.”

Cilreth
nodded.

“Your
priority has to be our security, as usual,” Telisa said. “When the time comes...”

“Got
it. And you?”

“I’m
going to start a mini project to recharge my cloaker and the breaker claw. I
should have what I need to accomplish it.”

“Good
luck. Don’t blow yourself up.”

“On
a ship this small? It would probably blow us all up,” Telisa said and walked
out.

Chapter 2

Caden
caught himself thinking about the action on the orbital command center of the UNSF
yet again. He kept slipping off to relive the events in his imagination over
and over. It was agony. He had betrayed the very organization he had spent
years of his life preparing to serve.

Siobhan
came through the tiny door of his quarters and flopped down with him in his
sleep web. She smiled. He was glad her mission had gone so much better than
his. Caden had shared his dismay with her a couple of times, but he had hidden
the fact he could not let go of it. While she was around, he tried to focus on
her success. Siobhan needed to find a new passion now that her revenge had been
enacted.

She
succeeded at her life’s mission.

“It’s
that time,” he observed.

“That’s
why I’m here! You pick first,” she said. “Hi grav or low grav.”

“No
way. With you, that’s a loaded question.”

“I
won’t hold it against you.”

“Prove
it. Hi grav planet. Day or night?”

“Night,”
she said, slipping in closer and kissing him. He kissed her back, then broke
away.

“Okay,
time to train.”

“Got
it,” she said, though her voice held disappointment.

“It’s
the only thing we can do to prevent it from happening to us.”

It’s
the only thing we can do to keep from ending up like Telisa and Magnus. One of
us dead. Or supposed to be dead.

She
knew what he meant. “I know, Caden. I’m ready.”

The
training scenario generator was ready to give them a session. Caden activated
it, then flipped his link over into VR mode.

The
universe flickered out and reopened in another place created by the TSG. Thick
jungle plants surrounded them, rods of green pointing straight upwards. The
entire scene was in twilight. Caden immediately felt his feet settle into a
mossy mixture of dead plant material and dirt. His limbs were heavy. The air
was moist.

“I
thought it was a night setup,” Siobhan said over her link.

“It
is what it is,” Caden said. He knew sometimes their parameters could be changed
as a way of keeping them on their toes. Telisa insisted on leaving an element
of the unknown in most of their training. He looked up. The light source was a
huge moon hanging in the sky. He pointed at it. Siobhan nodded.

They
stood quietly for a moment, weapons in hand. Their links received mission
information. Caden absorbed the mission summary:

Survive
20 minutes until help arrives. Stay together and be above the jungle canopy by
the end for aerial extraction.

Caden
checked his visual feeds. Two attendants floated through the twilight jungle
within fifteen meters of their position. The plants were green, resembling
Terran ferns, though they grew straight up. Caden pushed one experimentally
with his boot. It was a stiff green rod, rising in defiance of the high
gravity. The fern rod leaned, then fell over. It took down two other plants
when it fell in a chain reaction.

“These
plants are crazy. They fall like dominos,” he said.

“But
look at that. When they fall near the base of another one, it braces itself
with the fallen ones.” Caden looked. Siobhan had found a standing plant that
had fused itself right onto other plant stems.

One
of the attendants reported a disturbance. It picked up mechanical noise coming
through the trees. Then one of the attendants dropped off. The other reported
laser fire.

“Withdraw,”
Caden said. He moved away from the oncoming sounds. He glanced behind him.
Siobhan dropped a sphere and followed.

“I
left them a surprise,” she said.

Caden
transmitted a nonverbal acknowledgement code through his link.

The
plants were so stiff they slowed him down. Though he could topple them, each
one remained an obstacle as it collapsed. Caden started to dodge them. When he
grazed one, the tiny branches popped off with a sound like breaking glass. The
sound made Caden think they might be sharp like glass, too, so he told his Veer
suit to glove up his hands.

They
ran through the jungle. Caden dodged, jumped, and ducked continuously through
the tough high gravity plants. He slipped around an especially thick trunk,
then leaped over a pool of deep green muck. Caden came up on something he could
not identify and slowed.

A
fat, many-legged creature rotated in surprise at their arrival. It was smaller
than Caden and covered in mud. The thing shot a stream of liquid at them. Caden
hoped it was water. Caden’s weapon came into line but he did not shoot. The
squat, hippo-pig creature did not look dangerous.

Kaboom!

The
first detonation sounded behind them. The initial sharp blast dampened down to
a sound like a cathedral shattering as hundreds of the glassy plants broke. The
grenade’s detonation message reported: one mechanical, ninety five percent kill
confidence. Caden looked at the largest trees nearby. Their trunks were
massive, the size of a house, though they did not rise as far as those on
Earth.

The
creature flattened its bulk toward the ground. In its new position it looked
like a pile of mud. Caden supposed it had been shocked by the noise of the
explosion. They passed it and left it behind.

“We’ll
choose one and start to climb at the last minute,” he suggested.

“I
can’t see far. That would be relying on luck.”

“Yes.”

“This
one is nice and tall, looks easy to climb. Maybe we can circle back?”

“Good
idea,” he sent.

But
more complicated. Still, I think I can time it since we know when we need to be
ready for the pickup. Although the TSG may well cause that to go wrong and see
how we handle it.

They
ran around the candidate tree, heading away and using it for cover. Caden’s
legs felt heavy. His muscles burned. The heavy lateral movement was as bad as
his increased weight.

Siobhan
must be hurting big time. No matter how much she trains, she’s built for lower
gravity than Earth, and the simulation knows it.

Kaboom!

“That
was my last one,” Siobhan said between gasps of air. Caden slowed. He slipped a
grenade out of his pack and held it back to her.

“Got
it! Go! Go!” she urged over the link, though he saw her body wobbling.

Their
other attendant went offline. He felt blind on the battlefield. The only thing
Caden knew was there had to be more attackers out there. As they moved through
the forest, Caden thought about their pickup. The trees looked easy to climb,
though the gravity would make it more difficult.

“The
trees are massive. They could take a grenade. We can save the last grenade for
the base of the tree,” he said.

“Okay,”
Siobhan transmitted. “As long as we’re not in direct line of sight with the
grenade. Some of these stiff shards will fly like knives.” She would not have
been able to say it out loud, Caden thought, because he could hear her gasping
for air. It was nice to be able to talk through their links so they could
concentrate on breathing rapidly.

Caden
led them around in a large circle toward their right. He hoped the enemy was
not numerous and advancing across a broad front. If they were, the circle back
tactic could prove disastrous.

Fzzzzzzzt.

Leaves
ignited around them.

“They’re
faster than us!” Siobhan said. “I’m heating up!”

“Behind
this tree!” Caden said. They were at another huge tree. Caden zig zagged around
three glass ferns to the side of the trunk, then clambered around it.

“We
can’t make any distance,” Siobhan said. Her face showed pain, though Caden
could not tell if she had been burned. He accessed her Veer suit interface with
his link. The suit reported it had almost absorbed its limit of energy in the
rear torso panel. Another laser strike there would destroy the back of the suit
and cook her alive.

“Your
suit is overloaded. Run on ahead. I’ll delay them here.”

“Or
I could turn to face them on the fresh side,” Siobhan said, but they both knew
the whole suit also had a shared energy reservoir that could only take so much.
Part of the suit’s defense was simple physical armor, and part of it was a
webwork that could transfer and absorb electromagnetic energy.

“Go,”
he said.

Siobhan
staggered on as Caden hugged the tree. He brought up his weapon. It was set for
a mechanical target profile. He drew his spare laser pistol and armed it, too.

Some
chance they’ll come around the other side of the tree.

Caden
tucked himself next to a ridge in the tree leading down to a large root. It
gave him some cover from the back side just in case. Movement against his side
caused him to start. The skin of the tree moved.

“The
trees move,” Caden blurted. He stayed calm. If the tree ate things that nestled
among its roots, he was probably already toast.

“What?”

A
machine ran out in front of him. It looked like a typical light combat machine:
vaguely man shaped, metallic skin, holding a weapon usable by human soldiers.

Caden
launched two rounds with his main weapon. He gave it a shot from his laser
pistol as well. The machine went down in a burst of smoke.

“I’m
okay,” Caden clarified. “Just FYI the trees can move. Slowly. Or at least their
skin undulates.”

“Uh,
great. Are we going to be able to climb it?”

“We’ll
make it. Smart ropes can do most of the work, if it comes to that.”

Caden
ran ten paces away from the tree after Siobhan and dove behind a log. He
watched from a quarter meter of open space beneath it. Another machine ran out,
making good time. It opened fire at the same time as Caden. Some unseen force
ripped the laser pistol from his hand. Caden finished shooting his other
weapon. His hand felt numb. Blood splattered across a nearby green plant like a
bizarre decoration. Caden did not even bother counting his remaining fingers,
he just turned and ran to find Siobhan.

“I
hear fire,” she transmitted from up ahead.

“I
got two, I think. Running for you as fast as I can,” he sent.

“Okay,
I’m heading back around. I know the tree,” Siobhan said.

Caden
found her in the forest. He tried to move quickly and silently, but it was
impossible.

It
doesn’t matter. The machines can hear us easily even if we were quiet.

Caden
fell in behind Siobhan. She slowed to take a position beside him for a moment.
He could hear her ragged breathing.

“Give
me the last grenade. I’ll buy you some time,” she said.

“No,
stick with me!”

“It’ll
take some time for the smart rope to crawl up. You can get started, then I’ll
just rush right up.”

“In
high gravity? Sucking wind like that?”

“The
rope can help,” she said.

Caden
checked his link map. They still had fifty meters to go. He turned and fired
ten rounds into the forest blind. Given their target settings for mech, he
might get lucky, or at least cause the pursuers to pause just before the PIT
members arrived at the tree. It was a desperate measure. Mechanical combatants
might be set for fearless aggression or they might hang back to preserve
themselves.

Their
course brought them back to the tree they had decided on for extraction. No
fire came at their heels. Caden brought out a smart rope and sent it climbing.
It slid up like a snake, weaving back and forth against the ridged surface. The
gray skin of the tree moved in response, but it did not impede the progress of
the rope.

Here’s
hoping we’re nothing more than a brief irritation to a harmless life form.

They
leaped up and started to climb. As soon as Caden made it to the first
branching, he checked on Siobhan’s progress in the heavy gravity.

Instead
of following him, Siobhan shuffled back down the rope.

“Their
lasers can still kill us up here,” she said. “We’ll die. I’ll misdirect.”

“Get
back up! Maybe the pick up vehicle is armed! We can hide behind the trunk,” he
said, but Siobhan had already armed the last grenade at the base of the tree
and started to run around it.

“I’ll
come up the other side,” she said. “Get in the vehicle and move the smart rope
to the other side for me.”

“We
could have dropped the grenade just the same,” Caden said, ordering the rope to
crawl to the opposite side. He heard the sounds of an aircraft approaching. He
looked for it but it was not above them. Most extraction craft were very quiet;
he decided this atmosphere must be carrying the sound better than he was used
to.

High
gravity, denser air? Or just different composition?

“This
way they’ll think we skirted around the tree, just like the last few times,”
she said. “They’re tracking us.”

“Tracking
by what method?” he said. “If it’s accurate then they know exactly what you’re
doing.”

A
VTOL braked above to come to a hover above him. Missiles launched from two pods
hanging from its underside.

Fooom. Kablam!

The
explosion lit up the foliage below. The crashing sound of the brittle stems
echoed through the forest again as smoke rose into the sky.

That’ll
start some dominos falling.

Fzzzzzzzt.

Caden’s
arm heated up from a near miss. He recoiled behind the trunk, moving away from
where he guessed the fire might be coming from. His Veer suit circulated the
heat from his arm, causing his whole body to warm up. Hot air escaped from his
suit to be replaced with cool air from his surroundings. He started to sweat,
which the suit used to dump more heat.

Caden
smelled smoke. He realized the tree was on fire.

All
the easier for our pickup to see us.