Stray (23 page)

They stopped, and sat down, heads angled toward each other as if they were talking.  First Squad waited, and made no move to prevent them when the dogs loped off through one of the gates.

I was glad First Squad doesn't indiscriminately slaughter everything they encounter, but curious as well, and asked Zee about it over dinner.  I've learned not to ask too many questions while in the spaces.  First Squad will usually answer me, but I think they'd rather keep their attention on scanning for attacks.

"Fortunately, the Castle Rotation was one of the first spaces we encountered," Zee told me.  "It's an obvious lesson: some of the Ionoth can act as our allies, if only by lowering the number of our opponents.  Combat Sight allows us to judge intention to a degree, and those two today sparked no reaction.  Wary, but no more.  If they attack unprovoked, they'll be put on the kill on sight list, but not until then.  In some of the spaces, if we tried to kill everything there, it would take us a week, and it only makes sense to focus on Ionoth which pose a tangible danger.  Still, don't–"

"–pat cats," I finished resignedly.  "Has been seen again?"

"Not yet.  Hardly an ideal situation, having an Ionoth loose in KOTIS, no matter how useful.  It
is
pushing us to develop newer and better scans.  If you see it at all, contact one of us immediately."

I nodded, though I can't say I'd particularly want to help get it captured.  Tomorrow is Fifth Squad testing, worse luck.  Not looking forward to it. 

Tuesday, February 26

Fifth Squad

Fifth Squad are fuckwits.

Their captain is that Kajal guy with the voice, who was making an ass of himself to Zan.  I was lucky, I think, that I'd had that warning about what he was like: smugly pleased with himself and the type who is really interested in proving himself better than everyone else, even for small things.  I don't know if his squad started out as unlikeable as he is, but he seems to have infected them pretty thoroughly.  It's a five guy, one girl team, but I can't say that the girl, Elwes, is any nicer than the rest of them.

They're a generalist squad, so we met in Test Room One to start with.  They were all standing in the middle in a circle, and didn't glance at me as I came up.  Kajal's a big guy, maybe 6'4", and the rest of his team are pretty close to as tall.  Even though I'd learned from Seventh Squad that I shouldn't have to worry about official on-the-record test sessions, I still felt a bit nervous.  And then annoyed, because even though there wasn't a chance they didn't know I was there, Kajal left me standing at his elbow while he finished telling his squad something not particularly interesting-sounding about their next day's rotation.

"Right then," he said, at last.  "Let's get started.  Nise, you're first up."

They moved away, only one of the guys staying near me (he had great hair: spiky with dark blue tips).  He waited till Kajal nodded at him, then grabbed my shoulder for a moment and began testing a Telekinesis talent.  It went on like that for all of them.  None of them spoke to me or nodded to me or anything like that.  Every one of them gripped my shoulder in the exact same way – not roughly or hard or anything, but enough for me to feel it through the uniform's padding.  All the other squads, since the first day with First Squad, have barely touched me, usually brushing the back of a hand against my arm.  It couldn't be coincidence that every single one of Fifth Squad approached enhancement so differently, though it's really hard to imagine them sitting around deciding this would be a worthwhile exercise.

Then we went into the Ena to test Ena-specific talents.  Since Kajal continued to address all his remarks generally, so they could be interpreted to include me, I followed along behind, wondering if what he was trying to do was get me to kick up a fuss or act upset or what.  We always do Ena tests in the grassy space First Squad took me to, which is both easy to get to and seemingly permanently clear of Ionoth.  There was nothing different about what Fifth Squad did for their testing there, except they walked in front of me on the way, striding along at a pace I didn't expect, so that I trailed them by a few feet.

That was a mistake, I think.  Sure, there was pretty much no chance anything was going to attack me, but it looked like they were being lax and had forgotten they were supposed to be protecting me.  I hope they get demerits.  And when we were back in real-space, they just walked off without another word.

I took myself off to medical, and tried to figure out why Fifth had bothered.  To intimidate or upset me, yeah, but why?  What does it gain to make me feel uncomfortable?  It did work.  I spent most of the time feeling embarrassed and angry.  They acted like my enhancement was something bad, a thing causing them inconvenience.  Like they were barely tolerating that they had to work with me.

Perhaps they expect me to complain?  For a lot of the time I felt like it, but I don't even see the point.  I don't feel safe working with them in the Ena, but I'm unlikely to be assigned to another generalist squad if they do change who I work with.  I figure I'll either be kept with First Squad or swapped between the big hitters and the Sight specialists as the need arises.  I don't know.  I want to bitch and complain about it, but there's no-one I can do that with.  Everyone on First Squad would have to deal with it officially if I whined about it, and so would Zan if I laid it on her.

I guess, if I brood on it too much, they'll have won.  So I'll try to forget all about it, and not worry unless they show up on my schedule again.

It's occurred to me that, in gaming terms, I'm an escort quest.  So funny.  And Fifth Squad are hardcore pvp-ers who think quests are a waste of time.  Tools.

Wednesday, February 27

Cancelled

Today was supposed to be Boxes Rotation, but when I woke up this morning I had no appointments for the rest of the week.  I've gone all paranoid that this means they've decided to assign me away from First Squad.

I guess this is an opportunity to catch up on all the school work I've been ignoring, which I will get to right after I'm done with some important worrying and sulking.

March

Sunday, March 2

Aether

'Aether' is an Earth word, I'm sure of it.  Or, at least, 'ether' is, and I know that's an anaesthetic, but there's another definition.  I've read it in fantasy novels, used for the 'atmosphere' in one of the afterlifes or something.  There's a phrase, 'off in the aether' isn't there?  Aether is a word on Tare, as well.  I found that out...it's four days ago now, I think.  The day which was supposed to be Boxes Rotation.

I spent the morning on the roof doing homework and enjoying the sunshine.  It was a rare cloudless day, really nice.  After lunch I lolled about on my bed, watching news and sampling dramas and trying to read the descriptions of online games I'm considering subscribing to because no-one would treat me as a stray in a game – just a noob.  But they all look a bit daunting because it's played inside your head and though they're not 'in-skin', they'll still be vastly more than I'm used to.  The things you might do in a 'full' virtual reality are more than I'm willing to take on just yet.

I was labouring through the description of one when an appointment was entered into my calendar, and I had just looked to see that I was supposed to be doing a 'Retrieval' starting five minutes ago when Zan "opened a channel" to me, which is Tare-speak for calling me, except that when someone opens a channel you don't get any choice about answering your equivalent of a phone – their voice is just abruptly there in your head.  Only people with a certain amount of authority can do that, generally for emergencies.  This was a big one.

"Cassandra, come as quickly as you can to Green Lock," she said.  "Ready for entry into the Ena."

I was glad I wasn't still on the roof.  "Something happen?"  I asked as I quickly stripped off the clothes I'd been slopping around in.

"The Pillar investigation teams have gone down," Zan said, which was enough to make me run along the corridors, after I'd made a lightning-quick bathroom stop and had my uniform sprayed on.  I was too scared to ask what exactly 'gone down' meant, just hoped 'retrieval' meant something more positive than bringing back bodies.  First Squad are pretty much making this planet bearable for me, and the idea of anything happening to them made me sick.

I wasn't the last to arrive.  Both Twelfth Squad and Tenth Squad were gathering, more than a few of them looking mussed and sleepy since they were on an earlier shift than mine and would have been in bed when the call came.  The only person I'd worked with before was Zan, and the implications of that kept my mouth shut altogether as they waited for the last stragglers to arrive.  To use two squads who had just come off-shift, and to put me with them when they're not squads I'd tested with, was more than enough to underline how bad it was.  I didn't even need to see the worried glances they kept exchanging.

This was the first time I'd seen any of the Setari really fretting.  The Tenth Squad captain is a guy named Els Haral, who looks incredibly laid-back and speaks with a soft voice.  He was having a really good calming effect on everyone else, but the situation wasn't one you could tamp down on thoroughly.  And there was one guy there from Sixth Squad called Juna Quane, who had brought the news back and was barely able to stand the delay while everyone assembled.  Haral created a shared space for both squads, Quane and me, and began briefing everyone as the last few were heading toward us – one of the advantages of the interface.

"Following our regained access to the Pillar space at the beginning of Shift Two," he said, "all but one of the monitoring drones were recovered intact.  These revealed an unvarying energy signature from the Pillar, but no other activity.  The space itself is exposed to deep-space and heavily frequented by roamer Ionoth: primarily swoop-type, and some larger.  Third and Fourth Squads were deployed to perform an external examination and, if satisfied, to commence investigating the interior.  Given the calibre of Ionoth, First, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth were assigned as support.

"Sixth Squad was stationed in the adjoining entry space to observe, and the primary teams entered without incident and commenced the external examination.  Here is the schematic of the Pillar prepared following external scanning and observation.  We'll move into the near-space now."

We broke neatly into our two squads and Tenth Squad went through the gate-lock first.  Zan had kept her call to me open and said: "Stay on my left as we travel, and tell me on this channel if you can't keep pace, or feel any threat." 

There wasn't much I could say to this except "Yes," and I looked over the schematic during the brief pause while we waited to go through.

The Pillar was a lot bigger than I'd realised.  With nothing around it except white or washes of rainbow colours, I'd judged its height by the door.  If the schematic was correct, then the door was nearly three times as tall as 'normal' doors.  The Pillar seemed to have a hollow inner tube running all the way from top to bottom which was marked 'power core'.  The gap between the inner and outer wall didn't seem to have any stairs or levels or more than possibly some structures on the ground floor.  Built, if anything, like a giant thermos.

Once we were all in near-space, Haral and Zan both gave the order for a quick march in formation.  The squads each settled into three pairs and we started off, with me settling beside Zan and Lenton, while Quane played offsider with Tenth Squad.

"During the external examination," Haral continued, "three groups of swoop-types and one tarani attacked.  These were well within projections, and easily dealt with.  A little over one zelkasse ago, the decision was made to open the Pillar." 

A kasse is about two and a half Earth-hours long, and a zelkasse is a quarter that, so it had started less than an hour before Zan collected me.

"There was no apparent locking mechanism, and the doors were opened easily using a drone.  When no negative reaction was detected, Third and Fourth engaged in another set of scans preparatory to entering.  They had not yet completed when this happened."

We'd reached the first gate out of near-space, and though all these spaces would have been recently cleared, Haral and his partner did exactly the same pause, scan and clear through that had become familiar, but he gave us all a fragment of recorded memory to digest first.  It had a 'mission display' overlay and had "Quane"  written in the lower left and a little 'life monitor' for the rest of the squad along the right side, which of course made me think of gaming in a far from positive way.  No infinite lives or save games here.

The first image was of the Pillar space through the gate from the Platforms space.  Quane had looked left, where there was only white flatness with a rainbow-tinted backdrop, and a handful of Setari.  Then he'd looked right, back past more Setari to the tower in the distance.  It
was
a lot further than I'd thought, maybe a hundred metres away.  The doors were open, and Third and Fourth Squads were standing well back from them, playing with a drone.

I saw Ruuel just before he moved.  He turned his head sharply and I think he shouted, but it was too late.

White light.  A massive beam of it, roaring out of the open doorway, spreading to completely block sight of the Pillar and the Setari.  For about ten seconds nothing could be seen and Sixth Squad bit back startled comments.  Then the whiteness began to lift, or drain down, quickly clearing at the top.  The hazy outline of the Pillar came visible first, and then black shapes, lying in a settling mist.

"Kormin sent Ammas in, and confirmed aether effects," Haral went on, while we were still watching the end of this.  "He was able to reach Tsennan with talent and return, bringing him out, but even that brief exposure left him debilitated.  Tsennan's vitals were steady, but he showed no immediate sign of recovery.  At that point Kormin sent Quane with the emergency call."

We reached the next gate, and after we were all through Haral switched to handing out orders.

"On reaching the Pillar space, Kantan will enhance and create a vortex, drawing up as much of the aether as possible.  Then the Telekinesis talents will enhance and bring out as many of the fallen squads as can be reached.  Our major challenge will be successfully reaching the most distant squads while suffering the effects of aether.  And Ionoth."

That was a big 'and'.  I wasn't sure what swoops were, but it was obvious that they'd deployed a lot of squads to ward them off.  At about this point I was starting to really have to work at not slowing down, and was glad the space before the Platforms space was this short remnant of a flagstone road, all tumbled and broken and not the sort of thing you can jog straight across.  And then we were in the Platforms space, and Sixth Squad weren't waiting for us.

"Twelfth, stay with me," Zan said curtly, as Tenth and Quane doubled their speed and dashed up the criss-crossing white squares.  She increased her pace, and lifted me easily with Telekinesis.  Then Tenth reached the top and someone cursed, my interface only telling me "(Profanity) (profanity)."

"Mane, that's in your normal range," Haral said, unflurried, but with just a hint of tightness in his voice.  "Ignore the swoops and pull them back here."

One of the girls from Tenth Squad stepped through the gate.  Another turned to a trio of blacksuited figures lying unmoving on the platform just above the one next to the gate.  Zan, jogging up, glanced through the gate as she returned me to my feet, and said: "Ice seems safest."

Haral nodded, eyes narrowed as he watched over Mane's shoulder.  I could see what seemed like a pair of pearly pterodactyls, but less awkward-looking.  Swoops.

"Lenton, enhance and stop them before they follow," Zan said, adding a hand gesture to tell her squad to spread across the nearest three platforms.  Me she had stand just to the right of the gate entrance.

Lenton, who seemed to have left his temper behind today, brushed a hand against my shoulder and stepped through immediately, slipping past Mane as she returned.  She had three limp Setari hovering behind her, and everyone moved back so she could bring them through, Haral catching her by the shoulder as she looked likely to fall over herself.

The nanosuits are good protection, really resistant to piercing and cutting, and automatically self-repairing, but they're not invulnerable.  And they left the faces bare.  Of the three Setari Mane brought back, two had gaping rents down their fronts, slick and wet, and the third looked like something with a wide, small-toothed mouth had tried to bite off his head, and not quite succeeded.  I recognised Dahlen from Seventh, but not the other two.

"Kantan, enhance and start," Haral said.

Kantan was a tall, fairly dark guy.  He touched me on my back, stepped around the cluster of people trying to do something about the injured, and walked resolutely out into the knee-high mist.  Lenton had made two massive balls of ice with swoops in the centre, which fell to the ground and stayed still.  He paused a moment, looking around, then stepped back through, staggering as he came but managing to stay upright.  He was sweating, but said steadily enough: "Another cluster of swoops to the left, approaching fast, and what looks like a stilt in the far distance behind the Pillar."

"Darm, enhance and take care of the swoops," Haral said.  "And tell Kantan to come back in before he collapses.  Namara, will you go after?"

Zan nodded as a curvy Setari went through the gate and turned left.  Kantan was a Wind talent – I could see the stirring agitation he was causing in the mist thickly covering the ground.  Like Ketzaren he needed time to set up anything really strong, but managed to start up a twisting spiral, sucking the mist toward it, before he returned obediently and stood shuddering and shaking his head.  "That will draw for a while," he said, as Zan touched my arm.  "But more was flowing from the Pillar."

"Rest," Haral said, watching Zan step through.  "You may be able to strengthen it later, and it's at least pulling some of it away from this gate.  Drysen, prepare to enhance.  Status on injuries?"

"Dahlen and Roth will keep," said Nels, the Setari who had been doing most of the medicking.  She'd somehow made most of the wounded's uniforms move aside, and was busy spraying what I guess was liquid bandages everywhere.  "Ammas is critical and getting worse."

"Quane, Sherun, get him back to base," Haral said.  "Drysen, go through.  Tens, Charn, get ready to take some of these."

The difficulty was not the weight of the Setari, but distance and numbers.  I'd already learned from testing that picking up multiple small objects is harder than one big one.  Zan, the strongest of the telekinetics, had gathered eight fallen at once, and started feeding them quickly through the gate into the waiting arms of the two Haral had ordered forward.  Others stepped up to ferry them further away from the crowded entrance, and then Zan came through, stumbling.  "Darm's down," she said, voice slurred.  "Drysen's fetching her.  One swoop of that cluster still coming, no more in sight."

"Kiste, take care of it and come straight back in," Haral said.  "Mane, how's recovery?"

Mane, the first of the telekinetics who had gone through, was sitting two platforms up, looking green, but she stood up when he spoke and came back down to the gate.  "Doesn't wear off quickly," she said, grimly.

"We'll pause when Kiste's back in," Haral said, surveying the still forms around him.  They'd managed to get less than half out so far.  Drysen, when he returned, had Darm and three others.  One of them was Zee, which made my heart give a little joyous skip, but the toll on the two rescue squads was obvious.  They'd brought in every Setari who was close, but almost all of First, Third and Fourth Squad were still out there.