Ruthless (20 page)

Then Johnny saw the others; the pure humans who had been saved the fate of the mutants. No chump-dumping for them, instead they went to the body sharks. Sometimes it was best to keep them alive while their organs were removed. Best for the organs, not the people they came from. Erik remembered the screams. He remembered the screams when he closed the door and went looking for somewhere to wash.

Erik's body was shaking violently now, tears streaming from his eyes. He kept forgetting to breathe, gasping in short spurts which caused his face to go redder by the second.

"Come on," growled Johnny. "Show me the money."

Erik sobbed, mumbling something incoherent, his tone pleading, desperate, but Johnny kept staring, looking for more recent events; the thing that had brought Erik here. Erik understood that someone had invaded his mind in search of something. He had thought it was evidence of the chump-dumping and body sharking, but it wasn't.
Tuka's on the other ship, take him. Ask him
. The man with the white eyes was looking for something else, looking for a much more recent secret. It seemed so inconsequential in comparison to the things Johnny had already seen.

"So tell me," hissed Johnny, his voice coming from both inside and outside Erik's head.

Sneck you
, thought Erik.
Sneck you and the horse you rode in on. It's none of your business. You can do whatever you want. Yeah, I've got skeletons in my closet but who hasn't? I'll never talk, I'll never tell you about the-

"Holy sneck," whispered Johnny, dropping Erik in surprise. The tortured pirate collapsed to the ground, curled into a ball, and was worryingly still.

All Johnny had were images, but they told a story of their own. Two ships, the
China
and the
Sherman
, hijacked mid-flight by the pirates. They would ransom the high-end passengers, send the poor to the organ shops, and anyone who wasn't worth the trouble would be sent to the airlock. The cargo would be fenced, of course, and the ships' final fates would be determined. Erik was just a minion, he didn't know where they were going, but he had built an image in his head: a white, snowy plain, stretching away into infinity. And rising out of it something quite incredible.

"Oh my," said Isaiah, his big eye close to the spectrometer.

"What is it?" said Wulf.

"There is something down there, on Kajaani."

"There can't be," said Nigel. "It's just a rock."

The
China
was just a civilian vessel, but it still had a few useful tools that Isaiah could use. He targeted one of the ship's cameras on the area in question and bumped up the magnification as far as it would go.

"No, no, he's right," said Wulf. "There is a... shape on the surface."

"A tetrahedron," said Isaiah over the intercom. "A massive regular solid, in metal."

"A what?" said Wulf. "What is this thing?"

Johnny didn't even turn around to look. The camera locked on and patched through its pictures to the virtual windows in the bar area. Cries of surprise rose up from the lower bar as the civilians saw what was in their grasp.

"A pyramid," said Johnny. "A giant, golden pyramid."

LIFELESS

"We are going to need blankets," said Wulf, holstering his gun that Blarg had recovered for him.

"You tired already?" asked Squid.

"No, not for der sleeping, for der staying alive."

"Oh, please," said Blarg. "I brought a big coat, that should be enough."

Wulf chuckled. "Not if you were my worst enemy," he said, "would I agree to that." Upon reflection, he had quite a few worst enemies that he would happily watch freezing to death. But technically, if someone were his worst enemy, he would prefer to fry them on a giant skillet.

Wulf pointed down at the surface of Kajaani. Even with the star filters up to full, it was a white, featureless plain of ice. "We are looking at der night temperatures of minus forty,
jah
? Minus forty. Do you know what that is like?"

"Wait!" whined Squid. "You said that the place was heating up! Why's it so cold?"

Johnny took a slow breath and willed himself not start slapping people. "Because," he said slowly. "The temperature is fluctuating."

"Along with the star," said Blarg.

Isaiah had dug up figures from the ship's computer library. Last time a survey was done in the Kajaani system two years earlier, it was significantly colder. Despite the low temperatures on the surface by their standards, they were looking at a local heatwave.

"Yes, yes," said Blarg. "I imagine it is very, very cold. I will wear gloves."

"You will wear mittens," said Wulf. "You want a hood that covers your head. You want a face mask. You want to be dressed like you are going out for a snecking space walk."

"You mean stuff like this?" said the Boy. He was holding up thick fibre overalls that had once been quite colourful.

"Where did you find those?" asked Johnny.

"I'm not stupid," said the Boy. "I figured if they were planning a trip to the surface, they'd have the kit they needed."

"So you checked their rooms?"

"Snecking A, I did. They had six of these."

Johnny grabbed the clothes for a closer look. The Boy beamed at him proudly. They were rough to the touch, smeared with a dry white paste.

"What is this stuff?" said Wulf. "Correcting fluid?"

"Something like that," said Johnny. He scratched the surface until some flaked off, revealing the original bright yellow colour of the suit.

"Yellow?" asked the Boy.

"Yeah," nodded Johnny. It was the safest colour in the world. It shows up at night and is even visible in the snow.

"So why paint it white?" asked Wulf.

"Because they've got the safest snow gear money can buy," Johnny explained, "and they've camouflaged it."

"They don't want to be seen?" asked the Boy.

"Yeah," Johnny was puzzled.

"Johnny," Wulf said. "Foxes are white in winter, so-"

"So they can't be seen," said Johnny. "I know."

"What's your point?" asked Blarg.

"We should expect... other difficulties."

"Der triangle thing is guarded?" asked Wulf. "But by what?"

"I dunno," said Johnny. "But good job, Boy. Get the rest of the gear and bring it up. Come on Wulf."

There was another exit from the bridge. The door was unmarked because anyone who didn't already know what it was had no business looking for it. It opened onto a ladder that ascended above the bridge to something that wasn't on the ship's plans.

The airlock cycled open and Johnny, Wulf and Nigel crawled up into the lander. Lifeboat was such an ugly word, and not one that the shipping company enjoyed using. But every captain needed a lander for the occasional sub-orbital trip, courtesy call, and possible terror-stricken flight from a ship in danger.

"I do not like this much," said Wulf, turning up his nose at the bucket seats in uncushioned plastic.

"Yeah," said Johnny. "It's bargain basement all right. But I would guess it would seat six."

"You, me..."

"Squid and Blarg, I'm not leaving them in charge."

"And who else?"

"The Boy."

"But he's just a... well, a kid."

"Yeah," said Johnny. "But he's strong. And while we've got him with us, Isaiah won't run for home without us."

Wulf leaned in closer. "You are not trusting Isaiah?" he whispered.

"Right now," said Johnny. "The only one I trust is you."

"Me, too," said Nigel. It wasn't a question.

"You stay here," said Johnny. "You've been through enough."

"No," said Nigel. "I want to come."

"Er, Nige," said Johnny. "This isn't a Sunday stroll through a nice park. We are going undercover in subzero temperatures on a mythical planet and we don't even know why."

"Yeah," said Nigel. "I know that. But I want to be there when you take the
Sherman
."

Johnny stared at him.

"Last time I left Ruth in someone else's hands, that was the
last
time," said Nigel.

"Okay then," said Johnny. "Fine with me." He had his expedition party for the golden pyramid, whatever it was that the pirates wanted with it. "We've been lucky," he said. "But there's no telling how many of them are onboard the
Sherman
."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Nigel.

"We are going to play along for as long as we can," said Johnny.

"If all the comms lines are out, it means we can string them along for a while. If we're going down to the surface, we can surprise the lander crew there."

"Ah," said Wulf. "This I am understanding. We do der old Danish double-back."

"Quite possibly," said Johnny, never quite understanding.

"What the sneck is that when it's at home?" said Squid.

"We go down to the ground, take der
Sherman
lander crew by surprise, use their lander to get back to the
Sherman
, and then take der
Sherman
by surprise."

"I see," said Blarg. "You wish to parcel out the opponents and keep their numbers manageable."

"Yes," said Johnny. "That way, the odds are merely bad, and not plain stupid."

It was a tight fit in the lander with everyone in their environment suits. When Johnny first put his on, he felt pleasantly snug. By the time he reached the top of the ladder, the sensation had heightened to a tingling on his chest, arms and legs. The effort of merely climbing into the lander, which would have barely broken a sweat on a normal day, made him uncomfortably hot, as if someone was rubbing menthol into his skin.

"I love my suit," said Wulf. "It is so
cosy
."

Johnny was sure he would appreciate it more on the ground.

Squid was last aboard. He had spent several excess minutes in the nearest toilet pouring cups of water between his outer and inner suit garments. Squid was in a good mood, convinced that he would be able to keep a thin layer of moisture close to him for hours. If it worked, he would consider wearing one of the environment suits full-time, but without the insulation, of course.

Blarg and Nigel were businesslike and dour, eager to get the show on the road. The Boy looked similarly unimpressed, but that was his usual expression so nobody paid it any heed.

There was much rustling in the cockpit as everyone took their seats. The matte white snow camo on the suits caused whirring noises as they rubbed together, and dislodged flakes of white paint onto the cockpit floor. Blarg had imperiously waved a pilot's licence at Johnny and he saw no reason not to let the Betelgeusian fly them in. He put Wulf in the co-pilot's chair because he wanted someone near the joystick who had experience of Arctic weather conditions.

There was some debate over who got to have the Gronk on their lap. The Boy simply twitched in revulsion. The Gronk itself began shivering uncontrollably when placed anywhere near Squid. Eventually, Johnny looked sternly at Nigel, who took the hint.

"Whatever," said Nigel. "I suppose it might be an extra airbag if we crash."

The Gronk immediately went into juddermine meltdown and was silent.

Despite their arguments and confusion, they were still in their seats a minute before launch. Nobody said a word. Blarg fiddled with the scanner fields and gravity deflectors, but kept his hands well away from the buttons that mattered. Wulf peered down at Kajaani, looking for any signs of life. Stuck further towards the back of the cockpit, Nigel and the Boy sat in stony silence with nothing to look at.

As the countdown neared zero, all gazes strayed to the clock.

Ever the stickler for propriety, Blarg reversed the gravity magnets bang on the hour. The lander gently fell free of the
China
, continuing to rise away from it. The white void of Kajaani scrolled in front of them for a few moments before Squid kicked in the rear engines. There was a muffled rumble from somewhere behind them, and the planet seemed to stop moving. Then, it began to grow gradually larger.

"Remember," said Johnny. "We are minions."

The other passengers turned to look at him.

"There's going to be us, and, I'm guessing six other guys. We've probably never met before, but don't attempt to engage them in conversation. Everyone be like the Boy, okay?"

The Boy blinked in astonishment.

"Sulky and miserable?" asked Blarg.

"Quiet," said Johnny. "Everything about the Boy says 'don't mess with me'. Leave me to do the talking and we'll be fine," he lied.

"Aha," said Blarg. "Something has detached from the
Sherman
."

Johnny turned to face the back wall and looked through it. His alpha vision seemed to work better in a vacuum, but it was still limited. His mutation didn't include a zoom function. The
Sherman
was a lumpy metal club about a mile away, its stern sitting thirty degrees above its bow and rising all the time. The
Sherman
was slowly cartwheeling in orbit. Someone had failed to stabilise it with the rear retros - a sign that the original crew were dead and the ship was being flown by amateurs. The Sherman's lander could also be seen hurtling towards Kajaani. It seemed to be accelerating a little too fast.

Johnny had a better view of the snow planet as they drew near. The white snow, which had seemed unbroken from orbit, was a dirtier affair close up. Rapid rivers tore foaming channels through the ice - meltwater, seeking a new place to settle in the rising heat. Patches of green and brown showed signs of plant life, clinging desperately to the sides of low hills.

"Trees," said Wulf, nodding to himself. To the Viking, trees were a sign of habitability. Given twenty friends and some good axes, maybe some strong girls to sew and make sail, he could have a strong ship in a few weeks, and would sail it over the rapids. Wulf changed his mind as the lander flew over a rush of waterfalls that would smash any Viking ship to pieces in seconds.

The
Sherman'
s lander was ahead of them in a descent spiral. As flurries of new snow spattered against the forward windows, Blarg dragged the controls around and began flying with one eye on the instruments. He looked for a secure place to set them down.