DusktoDust_Final3 (34 page)

They gained access to the facility through a ventilation shaft on the north side of the mountain. In the environmental suit, it was difficult for David to properly grip the rope as he repelled down the shaft. When his feet landed on solid ground he released the rope, raised his weapon and scanned the room. The two Divers ahead of him were already posted at the door to the room they were in providing security.

In two minutes he was out of his environmental suit and was joined by Letsego, Gnasher, and fifteen other ICARUs troopers in the small ventilation maintenance room. The air was warm but far more conformable than being outside.

“
We
’
re in. What
’
s the plan now?
”
Gnasher asked Letsego.

“
We need to get to one of the facility
’
s computer terminals,
”
the intel operative said.
“
There has to be a map to this place on there.
”

“
Well, we
’
re not gallivanting around this place blind with a whole squad.
”
Gnasher turned to Sergeant Washington.
“
Wash, I need two of your Divers to join me, Carpenter, and the Staff Sergeant. The rest of you stay here and wait for my call.
”

The Sergeant nodded acknowledgement.
“
Miller, Delahanty, go with the El-tee.
”

The five men stacked on the door. Gnasher nodded at the point man.
“
Go.
”

The door slid open. David followed Gnasher out into what was an empty tunnel. There was only one way to go.

The small team moved tactically down the tunnel. The passage was silent. Right now they were operating blind. They needed to find a computer terminal and get a full picture of what the facility looked like. David had spent a day here, but his exploration of the place had been very limited.

They moved down the tunnel a few hundred meters. There was no activity. Soon they came across a single door in the right tunnel wall. Gnasher approached it and placed his ear against it.

“
I don
’
t hear anything,
”
the platoon commander said.
“
Stack up.
”

The five men moved into position. Each held his rifle with attached silencer at the ready. Gnasher extended his hand, fingers extended, and counted down. On one, the lead Diver punched the release on the door control panel. The door slid open and the three ICARUs soldiers flowed into the room on the other side, followed by David and Letsego.

By the time David was in the room the battle was already over. All he heard were a few metallic clicks from the Divers
’
suppressed weapons.

David entered the room with his weapon up. The three men ahead of him were finishing clearing what appeared to be a small detention center. There were the bodies of three Windcorp troopers lying lifeless on the floor.

“
Clear!
”
One of the Divers yelled as he made it to the end of a long row of detention cells.

“
Clear.
”
Gnasher acknowledged.

Behind him, David heard the footsteps of Letsego as he entered.
“
I
’
ve got a computer terminal over here.
”
The spook started logging into it.

David took a look around the room. There were five cells against the far wall, all dimly lit. Two of them had bodies in them.

“
See if you can open these cells,
”
David said to Letsego. A few seconds later the cells slid open in sequence.

There was no need to properly check the man in cell two for a pulse. He was dead. The cold feeling of his skin told David that. The man in cell four was a different story. When David knelt down to check his neck he started coughing uncontrollably.

“
It
’
s alright. Get up slowly,
”
David said as the man leaned forward.
“
Do you know where you are?
”

“
In hell,
”
the man managed between coughs.
“
Who are you?
”

“
We
’
re with the Peacekeepers.
”

Gnasher entered the cell.
“
Miller, we
’
ve got a live one!
”
He called out. Specialist Miller entered and produced an oxygen mask for the man.

“
What
’
s your name?
”
David asked after the man had recovered.

“
Joseph Robinson.
”

“
Do you know much about this facility, Joseph?
”

Robinson nodded.
“
I used to work here. I
’
m an archeologist.
”

“
An archeologist? So you know about the Titans?
”

The man laughed.
“
The Titans? If you are talking about the alien civilization we unearthed then yes. According to what we have found they called themselves Cdat
’
h Vars. The Titans must be the consumer friendly title Titus Windham has picked in an effort to play God.
”

Gnasher stepped in.
“
Did Windham put you in here?
”

Robinson nodded.
“
He didn
’
t like what I found in the historical archives we uncovered for the Cdat
’
h Vars. It challenged his grand plans for the Ferenic technology.
”

“
What are you talking about?
”
David said.

“
If you
’
re here I
’
m guessing you know about the Ferenic tech.
”
The two men nodded.
“
When we first found it- I mean us archeologists, not Windcorp- we though it was amazing; That something as simple as Rockworm could produce such an amazing amount of energy when manipulated by the Cdat
’
h Vars technology. Yes, the weaponry we discovered was borderline terrifying, but the energy possibilities were endless.

“
But then we broke the Cdat
’
h Vars language and started reading their historical data. We had always wondered how a civilization with access to such limitless energy technology had suddenly ceased to exist. The Cdat
’
h Vars historical records answered that question.
”

“
What are you talking about?
”
David said.
“
What does it have to do with Rockworm?
”

“
It was the Rockworm,
”
Robinson said.
“
The Ferenic dust. Since its discovery here scientists have been trying to identify if the substance is alive or not. Well it is. And it brought the Cdat
’
h Vars civilization to its knees.
”

“
That doesn
’
t make sense,
”
Gnasher said.
“
It
’
s a dust.
”

“
It is a unique organism that feeds off of the life around it. In the historical data it stated that the Cdat
’
h Vars had a great civil war. They used the Ferenic weapons. The death caused by them allowed the Rockworm to grow.

“
Rockworm feeds off of life from the death around it. And it has a mind of its own. One hive mind. After years of Cdat
’
h Vars civil war the Rockworm had enough energy to make its own decisions.
”

“
Right,
”
David said skeptically.
“
So you are saying that Rockworm not only thinks for itself but it caused the death of an entire civilization.
”

“
That
’
s exactly what I
’
m saying.
”

David looked at Gnasher. It was a farfetched story.

Robinson began to panick when it seemed they didn
’
t believe him.
“
You
’
ve seen it haven
’
t you? How the Ferenic kills?. It is not in the way of a weapon. You have to see that it is something more sinister.
”

David had to admit that the way Ferenic killed was not just terrifying but similar to how an animal stalks its prey. If Robinson was telling the truth then the violence that the Federation was about to inflict upon the galaxy would not just change humanity as they knew it forever, it would very likely be the end of humanity.

“
Joe, I
’
ve got some bad news for you. While you
’
ve been in this five star resort down here Windcorp and the Federation have started a world class shooting war in the space around Prospect. And they are using the Ferenic weapons. If your theory is correct, do you think this Rockworm will be a threat to humanity?
”

“
Wait, the war has already started? We have to stop it! You have to understand that Cdat
’
h Vars was a very small civilization. Their civil war involved just hundreds. Maybe thousands dead. If you are telling me that a human war has already started involving Rockworm, then yes, I believe the Rockworm poses a very real threat to humanity.
”

“
Wonderful,
”
David said dryly.

“
How can we stop it?
”
Gnasher asked.
“
There has to be a way.
”

“
End the war,
”
Robinson said flatly.

The interview was then interrupted by Letsego.
“
I
’
ve got it.
”

David and Gnasher stood and walked over to the computer terminal.
“
You
’
ve got the map?
”

Letsego nodded.
“
Schematics to the whole facility. The control room is here,
”
he pointed at the screen.
“
I
’
m guessing that
’
s where the missile mainframe is.
”

“
There.
”
Robinson was now standing behind them. He was pointing at a large room in the bowels of the facility.
“
You might be able to stop it from there.
”

“
The Rockworm?
”
David said.

He nodded.
“
There
’
s a Ferenic power source there that is powering the entire facility. It isn
’
t a Cdat
’
h Vars artifact. It
’
s actually part of the rock. Some of the scientists think it is the heart of the Rockworm or something.
”

“
Cdat
’
h Vars?
”
Letsego asked.

“
I
’
ll tell you later,
”
David said.

“
So what are we supposed to do?
”
Gnasher said.
“
Destroy the thing?
”

“
No, release it.
”

This didn
’
t make sense to David.
“
So you
’
re telling us to stop drawing energy from the thing that will kill all of humanity when it gets enough energy?
”

“
Rockworm is like any other organism. It wants to be left alone. If we stop drawing energy from it maybe it will leave us alone.
”

David could see that Letsego was completely lost, but now was not the time to repeat the whole story again.
“
Well at this point, I
’
m game for anything,
”
he said to Robinson.

They gathered the rest of the ICARUs soldiers in the detention cell. Two were designated to stay with Joseph Robinson, the archaeologist. The others prepared for further incursion into the facility.

When Letsego had finally heard the archeologist
’
s full story he had to admit that, while out of the ordinary, the tale did have a ring of truth. Letsego had witnessed Rockworm first hand and was fully convinced that Ferenic dust was a living organism. The theory that it had a hive mind that could reach across the galaxy was disturbing.

Gnasher, Carpenter, and he had concluded that there were now two primary targets. The first was the missile control room. The threat to Commodore Long
’
s returning fleet had to be neutralized. The second target was the Ferenic power source that Robinson had identified. If
freeing
the power source from the facility could possibly save humanity it was worth the effort. The whole idea seemed a little melodramatic to Letsego.

The men agreed to split up. Gnasher and Letsego would go for the control room with eight Divers, while Carpenter would take Washington and the four remaining men to take out the power source.

The two groups parted ways shortly after leaving the detention center. From there, Letsego led Gnasher and the Divers through a labyrinth of side tunnels. He had plotted a course to the control room that kept them off of the main thoroughfares in the mining facility. There was a battalion of troopers stationed here. If the Peacekeepers got into an open firefight they wouldn
’
t stand much of a chance.

The Divers ahead of Letsego rounded a corner and stopped.
“
Where to now, Staff Sergeant?
”
the lead Diver said.