The Machinery of Light (63 page)

One of the neighboring ships suddenly comes apart like a cheap toy as Eurasian long-range artillery strikes home, spilling unearthly shadows along the hull of the
Harrison
. Linehan feels even more exposed than he already is. He keeps expecting debris to start raining down around him, yet he keeps on following Lynx, who seems to know exactly where he’s going. The hull’s curve is sharpening. The engines are dead ahead.

S
armax abruptly stirs and pulls himself out of the corner, then starts moving against the craft’s acceleration toward the cockpit door. The eyes of Jarvin and Spencer track him from the wall screens.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” asks Jarvin.

“Out,” says Sarmax.

T
hey’re on the rear of the ship, clamped to a wall sloping down toward the inferno of the motors. Linehan feels like he’s looking at the very edge of existence—like it’s all surrounded by some bubble, and he’s finally reached it. The Moon’s no longer visible. But a hatch is—

“Blow it,” says Lynx.

S
pencer stays where he is—in the zone, locking down the cockpit, keeping an eye on all the entryways. Jarvin’s dropped back out—back into his body. He moves after Sarmax, who barely glances at him.

“Don’t try to stop me,” he says.

“From doing
what?”
asks Jarvin.

“Like you need to ask.”

C
an’t you hack it?” asks Linehan.

“Systems are fucked,” says Lynx.

“Sometimes the old-fashioned way’s best,” says Linehan. He opens up with his lasers and starts carving through the hatch.

S
armax stops at the cockpit door, turns to face Jarvin.

“You really
don’t
want to fight me,” he says.

Spencer’s doing his best to hack the mech’s zone-connections. He figures Sarmax has managed to switch them off again, but it turns out they’re still on. Yet he can’t break through. Apparently there’s a new factor in the mix.

“She’s inside you,” he says slowly.

“Finally,” says Sarmax.

“You’ve gone insane,” says Jarvin.

“Fine.”

“You go out there and they’ll kill you.”

“You’re the one who’ll die if you don’t open that door.”

Spencer stares at the man. Being trapped in a confined space with an off-the-leash mech wasn’t exactly what he was planning. He can see only one way out of this.

“Let’s not be too hasty,” says Jarvin. “We can—”

“No we can’t,” says Spencer.

The cockpit door slides open.

L
inehan tears aside what’s left of the hatch. They slide into the shaft that’s revealed, glad to put the exterior behind them. But as to what’s in here with them—

“Get ready to start killing,” says Lynx.

“They’re already dead,” mutters Linehan.

T
he door shuts behind Sarmax. Spencer watches on the camera-feeds as the mech makes his way down the shaft toward the exterior door, stepping around the charges and mines liberally strewn along its length. Jarvin cuts back on the zone.

“Let’s take him out,” he says.

“Are you nuts?” says Spencer.

“We’re nuts if we let him out of here.”

“The man’s a world-class mech. We can’t hack him. You really want to get in the ring with him?”

Jarvin says nothing.

“Besides,” adds Spencer, “even if we nailed him, he’d still take out half the fucking defenses while he was going down and then the Rain would be right up our asses.”

“So what the hell are you suggesting we do?”

Spenser shrugs. “Write him off.”

T
hey roar out of the shaft and through an airlock, coming into the infested areas, letting shots streak out ahead of them. The colonists look almost happy to see them. Linehan figures they have reason to be, since he and Lynx are the only targets left. They’re approaching the engines—

“Antipersonnel weapons only,” says Lynx.

“That’ll make it that much tougher.”

“You know you love it.”

T
he far door to the cockpit access-shaft opens. Sarmax heads through, pulling himself along the walls as acceleration hauls against him. Lights flicker here and there, but it’s mostly dark. Quiet, too. Bodies are strewn about. Looks like the crew has finished killing one another off.

Or maybe the Rain has done it for them. Sarmax really doesn’t care. All that matters is that she’s back. That she appeared in his head and told him what to do if he wanted to see her again. His latent mental abilities have finally coalesced.

Or else he’s gone nuts. Or he’s been had. Because he sees no signs of her now. His mind’s empty. So are these corridors. He keeps on making his way through them.

T
hey come through into the engine area, spraying flechette rounds in clouds around them. The colonists who have broken through to this area are trapped. It’s over quickly. Lynx and Linehan fire shots down the corridor through which they’ve come. They’re slamming the doors shut.