The Caverns of Mare Cetus (4 page)

   Garrett handed her the rifle.

   "Don't worry," said Devon, stepping beside Isis and placing a hand on her shoulder. "That kind of butchery will never happen here."

   "Y-y-you're all disgusting," said Richelle. "You've been talking about that poor woman like she was a piece of m-m-meat."

   "Not intended," said Garrett. "But Hunter needs the facts laid out."

   "I agree with Isis," said Richelle. "Let's d-d-drop the subject. It's scaring me."

   A smile spilled into Ramon's face. "M-m-me too. I-I-I'm terrified."

   "You are?" asked Richelle, appearing confused.

   "Oh, yes. My hair stands on end just thinking about some guy attempting to lay Renata…"

   Richelle huffed.

   "Shut up!" exclaimed Arielle. "Your wisecracks aren't needed."

   "Garrett," said Renata, ignoring Ramon. "This planet's been explored for a long time, and no life's ever been found on this ball of rock." She motioned toward some nearby outcrops with her hand. "Even all of these limestones are totally inorganic. Nothing has ever evolved here. Nothing lives here now."

   "Tell that to the men and women that never came back from Mare, and the ones that never even got out of the caves," said Garrett. He took the rifle back from Isis.

   "Accidents, incompetence, hotheads, a bad sense of direction?" smirked Renata. She rolled her eyes.

   "This is my mission!" said Hunter emphatically. "We're going to follow STEPS! The rifle stays here! STEPS don't permit it."

   "You do know since the Severon Incident," said Garrett, "Security Provisions can override STEPS."

"A plague of freak events in no way justifies weapons!"

   "I'm following those provisions to the letter," said Garrett, as if he wasn't even listening to Hunter anymore. "I have some 4MEVelectras for the CG." He reached into his pocket and took out a small, dull-finished black pistol, holding it by its rectangular-shaped barrel.

   Renata waved Garrett off. "No thanks. I don't think they're necessary."

   "Why not?" asked Arielle. "Do you want to end up the way that woman did? With your insides spread all over the cavern?"

   "Get with it," said Renata. "My only worry down here is Ramon."

   Ramon chuckled. "I wouldn't worry none, Señorita Corazón de Piedra."

   "What about you, Trent?" asked Garrett.

   "I'll pass," said Trent.

   "Since the Command Group has declined, SP-7.2 states other party members have the option." Garrett held out a pistol, Arielle eagerly taking it.

   Edison reached forward. "With what you've just told us, this might not be such a bad idea."

   "What he just told us is pure fiction," said Hunter angrily. He turned toward Trent. "Come on, guy. Give me some backing on this."

   Trent put up his hands. "You know we can't overrule Security."

   "Like Garrett said, Hunter," said Arielle. "Since 97.3, Security Provisions override STEPS when a security officer is present. Besides, I would prefer to avoid being a fillet." She giggled.

   "That's not funny," said Richelle.

   "Hunter's right," said Ramon, grabbing for Arielle's electra as she pulled it away from him. "You don't need that. Shouldn't this be going to Junior Miss Security?" He looked at Devon, who appeared to be obliviously staring into space. "On second thought…"

   Devon turned to Ramon. "I have no use for it—like your comments."

   "Anyone else?" asked Garrett.

   "I've changed my mind." Hunter snatched the last pistol from Garrett's hand. "At least I know I can trust myself with this thing."

   "But can—we—trust you?" asked Arielle, flashing him a malicious grin.

   Hunter scowled. "In case you've forgotten, I am leading this expedition."

   "I'm painfully aware of that," she said. She pushed her hair back and began examining the electra. "How many charges does this model have?"

   "Fourteen with each insert," said Garrett. "There are two extra clips in the handle. Remember, there's four million volts in that baby. When you fire—make sure you mean it."

   "When you fire it?" asked Hunter, startled by Garrett's choice of words.

   "Calm down," said Trent. "Everyone has gone through weapons review."

   "One more thing," said Garrett, "I've left two SQUID robotics on board the ships. I don't want anyone coming here and sabotaging our rides home while we're jerking around in the caves. I've transferred the SQUID disable codes to your Vimaps, so any of you can shut them down."

   "Right," said Ramon. "Like someone's really going to fly out here just to mess with our ships. How paranoid can you get?"

   Garrett stepped up to Ramon, the rifle clenched in his hands, his eyes blazing with scorn. "Just remember who
is
security around here, wise ass."

   "You just keep your eye on your pet," said Ramon. "Make sure nothing harms her priceless body." He took a step toward Renata and nudged her in the side with his fingers. "Isn't that right, Miss Ren-ny whose name rhymes with Jenny?"

   "Hey," said Renata. "Get your hands off me. And I thought I told you already—you have no business calling me by my nickname. And what's with the cheap shot equating me with Jennifer Astoni?"

   Devon looked puzzled.

   "Ah," said Ramon. "I can see you're confused. Let me enlighten you."

   "Shut up, Ramon," said Renata.

   "Her precious nickname is pronounced wren, like the bird, and knee like…well, your knee." He reached down and tapped Devon's knee, and she pulled her leg away. "She spells it R-E-N-E. Most places I've been, they'd say that was Re-nay, but not for Renata 'cause she's one-of-a-kind as you'll soon find out."

"Shut up, Ramon," repeated Renata, her face growing red.

   "Your nickname is Rene?" asked Devon. "I like that pronunciation. That's a pretty name, actually. Is it okay if I call you Rene?"

   "Absolutely not!" resounded Renata.

   "I'm sorry, Devon," said Ramon, bringing his hands to his head. "I forgot to tell you. Only her handpicked friends get to call her Rene, so I guess this means you're not one of her friends. That is the way it works, isn't it, Rene?"

   "I just told you not to use my nickname," said Renata. "Is there some problem with your hearing…"

   "Trent, look at this crap," said Hunter as Ramon and Renata squared off. "We're not even in the caves and they're at each other's throats."

   "Well, do something," said Trent. "You are the commander."

   "Like what? Clobber both of them?"

   "If that's what it takes."

   "You know damn well why I won't do that," said Hunter. "It probably wasn't the brightest idea to bring those two together on this mission, but I had my reasons." He glanced back at the Canopus. "What about those SQUIDS? Where does Garrett get off bringing them along?"

   "Security Provisions," said Trent.

   "Don't remind me. But those sentries are some wicked bastards."

   "Garrett's the best. Would you expect anything less?"

   Hunter sighed and placed the pistol in his pack. "I guess not. But if he is the best, why do we have two security personnel?"

   "We don't," said Devon who was standing behind Hunter. "I thought you knew. I'm not Security. I'm an Internal Observer."

   Hunter turned toward her. "An Iob? That's the last thing I need."

   "Didn't you read the BioForms?" she asked.

   "Well, uh," stuttered Hunter. "I didn't have time. I just assumed you were part of Security since the P-File had you listed as Security."

   She raised her hand in a gesture of revelation. "That's where the confusion lies. IO is a branch of Security, but doesn't have true security authority. If you didn't read all of the P-File, then you wouldn't have known management felt it was essential to have an Observer on this mission, especially in light of what happened on the Banyon mission."

   Hunter crossed his arms in a defiant stance. "Well, let me tell you, I am command here. I don't expect any interference."

   "No arguments from me. Frankly, I didn't want this trip, but the MAO came in. You know how that is. I'm only here to observe. I won't step across your authority. STEPS 40.00.07. Can we shake on that?"

   Hunter was disturbed by what the company had pulled on him— again, but Devon's suddenly agreeable disposition had pacified the situation. They shook hands. "You'll be working with Garrett then?"

   "Not really. I work alone. I promise I'll be as quiet as a mouse."

   "I thought you knew she was IO," said Trent.

   "I've been preoccupied," said Hunter. He waved his hand to the others. "Okay, folks. Let's go." He started toward the entrance to the cave, the others following. When he stopped at the opening, which was certainly unbefitting the most spectacular cavern on the planet— just a narrow cleft in the rock leading into darkness, a trail of warmth eased across his face. The air inside the cave was markedly warmer than the biting winds that relentlessly rattled across the desert sands in this latitude this time of year.

   "Say your goodbyes to Tau Ceti," said Hunter as he looked at the pale orange disk setting in the east.

   Ramon stepped forward. "Quiero tomar la delantera, señor. Bien?"

   Hunter nodded. "Yes, you can lead, Mr. Ramirez."

   "Muchos gracias," said Ramon. He rapped on his helmet with his knuckles.

   "Hunter," said Renata. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

   "Pienso que tú nunca tienes algunas ideas buenas, Renata," said Ramon. "Just watch where you step, Señorita Stone, or you might end up with guano on your boots…"

   "You just watch where you step," said Renata.

   "…and
when
you fall, watch how you land. You wouldn't want to get any shit on that pretty face of yours." He gave her a wide mocking grin, then started toward the entrance, dragging Arielle behind by her hand.

   As the others started after Ramon and Arielle, Renata looked to Hunter.

   He turned toward Ramon. "Cool it, Ramon! If I hear any more of that shit come out of your mouth…"

   They could hear Ramon burst into laughter.

   Renata gave Hunter a look of disdain. "You're right on top of things, aren't you? Nice counter." She entered the cave.

   Garrett glanced back at the robotic transports slowly moving toward them. "You know, Hunter, for all it's worth, I almost hope I never see the surface of this miserable planet again. Go ahead." He motioned toward the cleft with the barrel of his rifle. "I'll follow."

   Hunter took a last look at the wind-gouged surface of Mare Cetus, then slipped into the cave.

Chapter Two

Mare Cetus

Third planet in orbit around Tau Ceti

Equatorial diameter: 12,622 km
Sidereal rotation period: 26h 14m 12s
Mean distance from Tau Ceti: 142.4 million km

Period of revolution around sun: 342.7846 Mare solar days/year

(375.73 Earth days)

Mass (Earth = 1): 0.96

Number of satellites: 2 (Orientis Mare, Occasus Mare)

1 AU = Distance of Earth from the Sun.

   Once the group had passed through the cleft, the gently sloping passage broadened considerably. Its greenish-gray walls and low ceiling were exceedingly smooth, as if they had been carved by a master stonemason who had exquisitely polished them countless times. Despite their appearance, Hunter wasn't impressed. They were characteristic of the entry passages of a number of other lesser caverns he had explored on the planet.

   As reflections of greenish-white light from Hunter's symotes, small lights attached to the shoulders of his jacket, danced across the shiny surface of the walls, Hunter realized his lights were operating in the wrong wavelengths. The light should have been bluish-white, not green. Figuring their auto-sensing mechanism was out of calibration, he stopped hiking and began adjusting the controls of a modulator attached to his belt. Symotes. An innovative, though dated technology, they eliminated the need for hardhat or other light sources and added significantly to one's perception of the caverns. They were synchronized with eye and head motion through nerve impulses picked up by contact lens-like receptors and would change spectral ranges to enhance the definition of the features surrounding him. No matter how fast he moved his eyes, the symotes would be on target. The dim light on Hunter's modulator turned green. He looked up; his lights shone blue.

   Hunter took out his Vimap from his pocket. He called up a 3D realtime map the Kalo robotics were creating as they hurried through the passages ahead. He noted his team's first stretch was along a monotonous, winding, gently sloping corridor nearly five kilometers long. About midway along the corridor two passageways branched away from it. The right-hand passage, which was the one Hunter's team was going to follow, was a wide, straight channel. The left passage, which ran toward the shaft where Sid and his team members had died, was a narrower, meandering channel littered with slabs of rock thought to have been dislodged during a strong, recent marequake that was registered by seismic monitors buried around the planet.

   Hunter began hiking again, and after a while he became preoccupied with Arielle's mood. Despite seeing in her the strongwilled, temperamental woman he was all too familiar with, when they were discussing STEPS, the worry in her eyes told him something else. On top of that, Edison seemed nervous too. Both Arielle and Edison jumped at the electras. Could Garrett have caused that by spooking them with his Severon nonsense?

   Hunter stopped to examine an angular grayish-brown rock wedged in a crack in the wall above his head. He dislodged the bubbly-textured rock and noticed a series of bluish-green bands running through it. "Arielle!" he called out. "Take a look at this." When she got back to him, he handed her the rock.

   As she turned it over repeatedly, scrutinizing every inch of its surface, Hunter scrutinized her. Despite Arielle's belligerence, she was drop-dead gorgeous. From the moment he had met her, he reveled in the sound of her throaty, sensual voice and the allure of her voluptuous curves.

   "The fractures in this limestone appear to have been mineralized with a mix of copper and titanium hydrates," she said, looking up. "They appear diagenetic, but they could also be an in situ feature."

   Hunter continued to observe Arielle, noticing she was biting her lower lip. Then his eyes became focused on her hands, which appeared to be shaking.

   She cleared her throat. "Hunter, I said it's a copper-titanium replacement. It may have formed after the deposition of the sediments. But then again—where did this come from?" She held the sample out toward him, her hand definitely quavering.

   "Where, what?" he asked, her geologic prowess ruffling his concentration. "Uh. Over there." He pointed at the wall.

   Arielle stepped up to examine the wall. "Nope. Float rock. You know, only one other locality on the planet has displayed such replacement. In the Selinax Complex, but two thousand meters down. Finding something like this near-surface is exciting. A bit puzzling though. We need to keep our eyes glued to the walls. See if we can find a source bed."

   He gave her a sheepish grin. "Good idea. Keep our eyes glued. Could be an answer here. Interesting. Uh, excuse me. I just remembered. I need to talk with your boyfriend."

   He hurried forward and caught up to Ramon who was at the front of the line, soon becoming consumed in a lengthy discussion with Ramon about their water sampling and analysis plans for the cavern. Time passed. The group reached the split in the passage; a small yellow light on the wall in the right passage, placed by one of the Kalos, was blinking like a lighthouse beacon.

   "Follow me, por favor," said Ramon. He started into the passage, everyone following closely, except Garrett who was straggling some distance behind.

   After they had hiked for a while longer, Hunter looked back, his eyes immediately catching a faint blue glow from Garrett's rifle. As an uneasiness rippled through his stomach like a snake slithering through grass; he kept anxiously glancing back as the light dimmed, then blackened.

   "Hey, Ramon," he said as he adjusted the fit of his backpack. "What are your thoughts on Garrett bringing that damn rifle down here?"

   Ramon put his finger up like an idea had just popped into his head. "Actually, I think now it was a good idea."

   "You do?"

   "Yup. You never know when you'll need to particle pulse something. Renata could sure use a good pulsing, don't you think?"

   "Get serious," said Hunter. "And speaking of Renata, you need to lay off her. Okay?"

   "Come on. You know you love to watch that face of hers turn blazing red."

   "I said to quit riling her up. You're going to give that poor woman a heart attack. It wouldn't hurt if you showed her a little respect now and then. In fact, consider that an order."

   "Seguro," said Ramon, nodding. "No soy niño. Piensas en nada más que hacer el amor con ella. Sé."

   "So, why is Garrett acting like a cat on a prowl? Is he waiting for something to happen so he can try out his rifle?"

   "It already has," said Ramon.

   Hunter's brow rose. "It has?"

   "Junior Miss In-Security. A very nice ass-set to our group, don't you think?" He laughed.

   Hunter cringed. Sometimes holding a serious discussion with Ramon was like beating one's head with a hammer, but Hunter knew inside the jokester was an astute observer.

   "I can tell she doesn't know crap about speleology though. Seems more like management to me than security."

   Hunter smiled. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "She is management—an Iob. Came out about a year ago. From Earth."

   "An Iob," said Ramon, sounding perturbed. "Hmm. That's a good thing to know. Thanks for the tip, amigo. And now a tip for you. Either Garrett's having flashbacks to his North African days, expecting a crazed trooper to jump out of a side passage, or he's waiting for that monster he's pulled out of his ass. Which one it is, I have no idea."

   "I wish he wouldn't have brought up that Severon crap. I think he's got some of the group spooked…like Arielle."

   "Arielle's spooked? What are you talking about?"

   "Haven't you noticed? She seems uptight."

   "Oh," said Ramon, then he shrugged. "So?"

   Realizing Ramon was going to be of no help at all in figuring out what was going on with Arielle, Hunter turned and called back to her. "Hey, Arielle! You got a moment?"

   Arielle took about twenty quick steps and moved up beside Ramon. "What's up? Did you find more of those banded rocks?"

   "No," said Hunter. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else I've noticed. You seem a bit nervous. Is there something bothering you?"

   "What makes you think that?" She stopped hiking.

   Ramon and Hunter stopped as well.

   "Just routine observations," said Hunter.

   Arielle began twisting strands of hair around her index and middle fingers as she stared at Hunter's face in silence.

   Hunter glanced at Edison, Devon, and Trent as they walked past them, and he noticed Trent giving Arielle a curious look. Something was going through Arielle's mind—Hunter was sure of that.

   As the standoff between Arielle and Hunter continued, Ramon finally broke the silence. "Well, is someone going to say something, or are we going to stand here forever?"

   "What? Lost your way already, Ramon?" asked Renata as she came up on them. Isis and Richelle were hiking beside her.

   Isis giggled.

   "No offense, Ramon, but I'll take the lead now," said Renata. "Which is how it should have been in the first place. Right, Hunter?"

   Isis giggled again.

   "I'll tell you why I'm nervous," said Arielle abruptly. "Something's going on. Something's always going on."

   "What are you talking about?" asked Hunter.

   "You tell me. Tell me why we're really down here."

   "You know why we're down here. To finish the prelim survey Sid's team was trying to complete."

   "Sure. Tell me another…" Her words trailed off. "Yeah, Sid. It all comes down to Sid, doesn't it?"

   Arielle was making Hunter nervous, very nervous. She knew something; she had to know something.

   "Arielle!" called Isis. "We need you to come up front and identify some of these rocks."

   Arielle sighed. "The life of a geologist. Her work is never done." She lightly slapped Ramon's hardhat with her hand. "Keep an eye on him, will you? He's up to something. I can tell." She winked at Ramon, then started toward the front of the line.

   "Let's get moving," said Ramon as he glanced back. Garrett had almost caught up to them. He hurried forward, Hunter following.

   "I like your technique," said Ramon when they had moved a distance ahead of Garrett.

   "What technique?"

   "The silent stare. Sometimes it's smart to just clam up when you've been caught red-handed."

   "Why? Has she told you something?"

   "Ari tells me everything. We've got a good communication line. That's the key to a great relationship, you know."

   Hunter nodded. He had heard this before, but at times he wondered how Ramon and Arielle ever stayed together. Though normally a dependable and trustworthy friend, on a whim Ramon could transform into a brash, arrogant, unreliable child. Arielle, on the other hand, was usually intelligent and resourceful, though too often Hunter had seen her as naive, temperamental, and childish as well. Hunter smirked. It had to be the children that held them together.

   "…so she started telling me something about Sid…" said Ramon. "I mean, Sid's accident…and the connection to our mission. I really didn't want to believe her, but she'd never lie to me about something like that…"

   Hunter looked up. "Huh? What did she tell you?"

   "She, um, said something about our objectives, and how they…they're tied into Sid's mission."

   "Damn her," said Hunter. "How'd she find out about that?"

   "You underestimate her, señor. She's smarter than you, or me.

   Hunter's voice fell to a hush. "Well, she was right about the tie-in to Sid's mission."

   "I thought so," said Ramon. "It has something to, um, to do with Sid's team, right?"

   "Yeah. It does. I'm sure she told you—after they split into two teams, they disabled their homing identifiers and coms…"

   "They did what? I mean, yeah, she mentioned that."

   "…but there's an even stranger part to that story. Their Vimap logs showed Sid gave the order to disable them."

   "Damn. Why would he order that?"

   "On top of that, they supposedly began to free-climb down the shaft."

   "Pendejo. Qué pendejada."

   "They didn't get far though. Someone must have slipped, taking the others with them. And if we're to believe what I've heard, they didn't follow STEPS, didn't follow anything."

   "I heard Sid broke some rules, but…"

   "That's the key," said Hunter. "But! How could Sid blow it like that? The answer—he couldn't." Hunter glanced back, seeing Garrett was still quite a distance behind, the glow from his rifle evident again. "Apparently that shaft goes deep into the Complex. Sonic surveys estimate it bottoms out at over two thousand meters in Level Seven. It's mostly vertical, but there are some zones with ledges. Sid's group landed on an upper ledge. Otherwise they might have gone all the way to the bottom."

   "A lot of good that ledge did them," said Ramon. "Why would they attempt something that treacherous?" He halted in his tracks. "So, what Ari told me—it was right all along. She said we were going to take that shaft."

   Hunter stopped hiking. He eyed Ramon with suspicion. "Our mission has nothing to do with taking that shaft."

   "Well, I thought, I mean, she thought we were going to go after that gravity anomaly they've discovered here. It points to something buried deep in the cavern, right?"

   Hunter's brow rose. "Something? What the hell is—something? It's not just something, it's velandrite."

   "Velandrite," said Ramon. "Oh, yeah. Of course. That's what Ari thought it was. The antibiotic wonder-ore."

   "Enough of this Ari crap," said Hunter, suddenly realizing he'd been had. "I'm on to you now. You didn't know shit about this, did you?"

   Ramon smiled cagily. "But I do now. So, spill the rest, or I'm going to call Ari back here for a nice long chat."

   Hunter was pissed. How could he have fallen for Ramon's deceptions—again? "Okay. But if you say even one word about this to anyone, I'll kill you, understand?"