Chapter Five

A long, deafening tone sounded throughout the facility, punctuated by an automated spoken message:

“Shelter in place. All personnel. Shelter in place.”

Tessa took a heavy step back, then another, keeping the gun up. Something clattered into the corridor. Probably a smoke grenade. They wanted to get close enough to engage her with non-lethal equipment. Not because they were such nice people, but because Deilani only had value alive.

White smoke began to fill the corridor. Tessa whipped around to see a casually dressed woman stop in her tracks, clutching a stack of meal boxes. Tessa leveled the gun at her face, then wiggled it toward the exterior door behind her.

“Open it,” she ordered.

The woman hesitated. Tessa fired several shots into the smoke, then pointed the pistol at her again. The woman dropped her lunchboxes and scrambled to the keypad, activating her holo.

Tessa flicked the magazine out of the pistol and tucked the gun into a loop on her suit to reload it without loosening her grip on Deilani, who was saying something again and feebly trying to get free. Tessa wasn’t interested; she struck Deilani sharply on the rump to make her stop moving.

The doors hissed open with a yellow light strobing above them. The woman backed away with her hands up.

Tessa clunked into the airlock, hitting the pad with the grip of the pistol. She checked the chamber one-handed as the doors closed, then slipped the gun into its holster. The lights turned green and the pad by the outer doors lit up. Tessa keyed it to open, getting both hands on Deilani and setting her jaw. The painkiller was doing some heavy lifting, but her eyes still stung from tears and the relative weakness of her left leg was noticeable.

Deilani wiggled again, no doubt still trying to speak. At this point, Tessa could probably put her back on her feet and lead her by the hand, but that wouldn’t work outside. Deilani’s suit wouldn’t protect her from the heat for long. It would be better to carry her than for her to exert herself.  

The doors opened, revealing the surface of Logos. The shimmer of the heat was more obvious without a viewport in the way. The silhouettes of the Gulls wavered against the distant volcanoes and their red and gray haze.

Moving outside would force Tessa’s adversaries to adapt. She didn’t know if their immediate supervisor was someone with combat experience or just Jane telling them what to do. If Tessa was leaving the facility, they would have to conclude that this was a snatch and grab and that she had transport inbound to extract her. If they had any sense, they’d forget about her and mobilize any suitable weaponry to target that nonexistent transport. If they could take care of Tessa’s ride, they could neutralize her and get Deilani back at their leisure.

But if they didn’t have any hardware that could threaten a drop shuttle or light aircraft, they’d have no choice but to chase her. Or maybe she was very lucky, and they’d think that she believed that the Gulls were real and wanted to borrow one. There would be humor in that.

Tessa lurched out of the airlock at a ragged run, heading for the nearest Gull. It wasn’t a real aircraft, but she could still use it as cover. Lights flashed at an exterior door sixty meters to her left as she pounded over the ground, each step throwing up a pillowy cloud of ash.

That settled it. Mind games weren’t on the table. These were security guards commanded by someone with a simple view of the world. They were coming after her.

Tessa reached the Gull and fell to one knee behind the rear landing strut to catch her breath. She drew the pistol and leaned out to aim. She squinted through the shimmering haze, lining up the sights on the doors. They started to open, and she pulled the trigger rapidly. Landing a lucky shot or two would be more feasible while the guards were packed into that airlock. If they pushed and spread out, she was finished.

White smoke appeared. It had worked; she’d slowed them down. This was a sad impersonation of withdrawing under fire, but there was a limit to what zero planning and an outdated New Earth pistol could accomplish.

Tessa forced herself upright and moved up, holding out the pistol and continuing to fire. Two hundred meters to her ten o’clock stood the entry shuttle that was their only viable way out. It was still mated to the facility; there was no way to board it from the surface, and doing so wouldn’t do any good when the place was still full of armed guards. They could easily prevent takeoff.

The excavator was some ten meters tall, with wheels that stood higher than the entry shuttle. It made the Gulls look puny. Unlike the Gulls, it was not a prop.

A bullet zinged off the gray metal and Tessa didn’t look back, she just grabbed the ladder and braced herself. Running in her condition with Deilani over her shoulder hadn’t been easy, but climbing was a challenge on another level. She heard a noise that could only be another bullet striking the vehicle. The ladder was recessed, which gave her a little protection.

As Tessa reached the top, a sudden pull and a scrabbling touch at her back made her jump and nearly fall. She clung to the railing and twisted, holding onto Deilaini to see that it wasn’t some incredibly spry guard that had caught up to her. It was wildlife: a flying animal, dark gray in color with a translucent membrane filling out what appeared to be wings. Four clawed protrusions were hooked into the shoulder of her suit. Her helmet flashed a yellow seal warning.

Startled, Tessa let go of the railing long enough to throw her elbow to knock the thing loose. It fell away, flapping desperately. Tessa jerked the handle to open the cockpit and dumped Deilani inside. She grabbed the metal loop above the door to haul herself in, only to be struck from behind a second time. Her helmet bounced off the doorframe and she dove into the seat, rolling over to see the creature trying to crowd in with her. It was more than a meter in wingspan, and the body squirmed with reddish spines.

Swearing loudly inside her helmet, Tessa jerked her pistol out and blew several holes in the thing, which dropped in her lap, spasming madly. Gray, frothy liquid bubbled out of the wounds. She hurriedly pushed it onto the floor, then kicked it out onto the tiny platform at the top of the ladder. The cockpit door started to close with a hiss and Tessa took the main seat, pushing Deilani out of the way. Deilani grabbed at her arm, but Tessa swatted her away and put the gun on the console, flipping the switch to power up the engine.

Deilani shook her arm again. Tessa pushed her off a second time, grabbed Deilani’s seatbelt, and pressed it into her hand.

The excavator’s power level was yellow, but that was good enough. Tessa seized the control stick and the lever that controlled the throttle. She’d been trained to handle light ground craft and she was an expert in EVA. She was not a pilot, nor was she trained on heavy machinery. Both of those things had been evident on Nidaros when she had attempted to move an aircraft in a cargo bay, but finesse wasn’t what she was going for today. Tessa threw the throttle forward and Deilani hurriedly tried to strap in. Tessa stole a glance at Deilani’s face. She was red and shiny. Tessa had to get her out of the heat.

She throttled up as the massive vehicle shuddered and ponderously began to move. The windshield was caked with ash, and the jets intended to clear it barely worked. Tessa could guess that the guards on the ground were getting out of the way.

She could barely see the shape of the shuttle. It would be important not to hit that.

Everything else was fair game. She prodded the touchscreen in front of her. Neglected metal wailed as she set the utility arm on the front of the excavator to configure itself into something like the front of a bulldozer.

“Can you move?” she shouted at Deilani.

Deilani replied, but her voice was muffled by her suit. Her gloved hands clutched at her straps.

Dust and ash on the console shifted as the pressure in the cabin changed. Tessa looked over sharply to see the canopy door opening. An armored guard thrust a pistol through the opening, taking aim at her past Deilani. Deilani grabbed his arm as he pulled the trigger and the touchscreen shattered. The control stick locked in place.

That suited Tessa; she already had the excavator pointed where she wanted it.

She lunged over Deilani, tackling the guard out the door and to the platform outside. She landed heavily on top of him, knocking his pistol away and bashing his helmet against the grating. Tessa reached for her gun, only to remember that it was on the console. She pulled back her fist for a punch, but arms wrapped around her middle, inadvertently squeezing her injured side. Tessa cried out in pain and dismay as Deilani dragged her back into the cockpit, holding her tight.

The excavator jolted as it struck the side of the facility, driving the forward blade directly into the canteen that Tessa and Drexler had previously occupied. Viewports and metal struts crumpled like they were nothing. Tessa struggled free of Deilani.

The guard picked himself up, balancing on the madly shaking platform, but Tessa planted her boot in his chest and kicked him over the railing. The air was suddenly full of billowing white and gray clouds from all the compromised pipes and plumbing; liquids were instantly aerosolized. The excavator was still rumbling forward, trembling as it pushed its way through the heart of the structure.

Tessa pulled Deilani out of the cockpit and pointed down. The taller woman staggered to the ladder as Tessa reached back in to grab her pistol. Her leg gave out and she caught herself on the railing, then clambered down after Deilani, who was dropping off to land among the debris.

The steam was thick enough to hide a steel girder until it was too late. Tessa was knocked off the ladder as the excavator trundled deeper into the structure, leaving a path of destruction behind.

It was at least four meters down to the hard floor of a corridor, made al fresco by the excavator. Sensing freefall, Tessa’s armor deployed its airbags, but that wasn’t enough to stop the impact from making her see stars. Ice crystals had formed on her visor from the coolant in the air. Tessa tasted blood. She’d bitten her tongue.

Panels and supports crumpled under the excavator’s wheels and the groaning of the structure was louder than the blood in her ears.

Deilani appeared out of the cloud and bent over her, taking her under the arms. Tessa shook her off and rolled over to her hands and knees. She spat blood inside her helmet and pushed upright, shoving Deilani toward the intact corridor. Tessa drew her pistol and turned back to cover, but there was no one to shoot at.

It would’ve been effortless for these people to stop them from departing if Tessa had merely tried to get Deilani to the shuttle. Now there was something more pressing to occupy their attention.

Through the embers, Tessa saw guards performing a two-person carry on a bloody woman with a respirator on her face.

Another guard was looking through the wreckage, where smoke rose as though a fire was starting. He stopped and looked in Tessa’s direction. His submachine gun was on his sling, but he wasn’t touching it. A second passed, and he went back to trying to lift a fallen beam.

Tessa took a step back, then staggered after Deilani. Emergency doors had closed when the habitat depressurized, but Jane’s holo was enough to get them open again. Tessa faltered, and Deilani ducked under her arm to support her.

The Golden was waiting in the reception area, leaning against the hatchway with his arms folded. He said nothing as they stumbled raggedly past him. As they made their way down the mating corridor, he sealed the hatch and locked it. Brushing flecks of ash from his suit, he followed them aboard.

Drexler was on his feet, face pale. One hand rested on the back of a seat and his knuckles were white. A handful of people were seated and strapped in: survivors who had fled to the shuttle. The Golden must not have considered them a threat. Tessa didn’t care.

She deactivated her helmet with a hiss and groan.

The Golden ducked past her and entered the cockpit.

Deilani was fumbling with her helmet. Tessa pushed her roughly at Drexler, then pointed toward the rear of the shuttle.

“There’ll be kits back there. Get her body temperature down,” she ordered. “Strap her in and keep her still. Get her cool. Do it now.”

Drexler caught Deilani before she could stumble into anything that mattered.

Tessa looked to her right. A man in white coveralls was staring at her. He quickly looked away.

She followed the Golden into the cockpit, closing the hatch behind her before dropping into the copilot’s chair as the Golden took the controls and warmed up the engines. Where had he gotten the permissions to operate this thing? Had he taken them from the actual pilot, or was he faking credentials with Golden spy tech? It didn’t matter.

Tessa’s straps weren’t easy to deal with because of her gloves. Blood loss played a role in this too: it was making her clumsy. She took the medical kit from the console between the seats and opened it.

“How badly are you hurt?” the Golden asked.

Tessa ignored him.

“I suppose there is a doctor on board. But don’t get any ideas,” the Golden told her. “You need me to fly.”

“I can fly,” Tessa replied. It was half-true. After what had happened on Nidaros, she had made a point to learn some basics about operating modest air and spacecraft. She wasn’t a pilot, but in a pinch, she could’ve gotten this craft off the ground and out of the atmosphere. At that point, the computer could’ve done the rest.

Although, she couldn’t have done that without appropriate credentials. Tessa wasn’t getting ideas. She was there to make sure that this spy didn’t get any.

“And you know what to say to Waypoint control when we get there?” the Golden asked as the shuttle began to rise.

Tessa twitched but stayed busy applying her coagulant. She kept her eyes on what she was doing, and not the wreckage of the facility.

The Golden activated the local comms. “Strap in. We burn in about a minute.” He took his finger off the button and turned to Tessa. “It’s not the tidiest work I’ve ever seen. But I guess you just did what they trained you to do. I’d heard the jokes about Evagardian negotiations.” He snorted, then took his hand off the joystick and offered it to her. “Tommy Feng.”

Tessa ignored his hand, securing the medical kit and bracing herself for takeoff.

“Is the lieutenant in one piece?” Feng asked, deactivating the safeties on the main thrusters.

“You can’t have her,” Tessa told him tiredly.

“She’ll be more trouble for your government alive at home than she would in my hands,” he replied with a shrug. “What about our other mutual friend? Will he be telling anyone what happened here?”

Tessa’s hands tightened on her armrests. “No,” she said.

One corner of Feng’s mouth turned up. “I’ll recommend you for a medal for valor and service to the people. Should I have it sent to your house on Old Earth?”

Tessa gave him a look. Feng chose to stop talking.

The End until next time.

Followed by Clear Sky