Still Falling: Book 1: Solstice 31 Saga (8 page)

“I think you are right. The measurements and materials analysis support the idea.”

“If so, this may tell something about whom we are dealing with.”

Barcus blew out the candles and added a few more logs to the fires.

“Em, add a pitcher and washbasin to the list.”

Barcus completely undressed and climbed into the bed. The sheets were scratchy and coarse. But the bed was warm and dry and clean.

Where the hell did she find pillows?
He wondered.

Barcus could not see the sky out the window, but he knew the moon was full because its light filled the courtyard. It was very much like the moon from back home, but maybe just a bit smaller. Like Earth’s moon, the same side always faced the planet. It looked like a face as well. A horrible, angry, disfigured face.

A line of clouds had crossed over the moon before he fell asleep. By the time he heard the rain begin, he could barely see the window’s outline, it was so dark.

Barcus woke up just after dawn the next morning. As he drank his instant coffee, he stepped outside the gatehouse door under the slate roof that covered the walkway. It was leaking badly. Looking back inside at the gatehouse’s vaulted stone ceiling, he saw no leaks there. A large amount of firewood was neatly stacked there, just below the window outside, under the eaves that covered the walkway.

Walking counter-clockwise through the doorway, which ran along toward the kitchen side, he saw the roof there had several leaks as well.

Outside, he could see that the overgrowth had been cut back. Any plant that had managed to grow in between the flagstones in the various inner courtyards had been expertly removed. The area that was once the kitchen garden was now clear of small trees. It wasn't mowed or tilled. It was trampled flat. It looked much better.

There was a neatly stacked pile of poles against one wall. They were the former saplings and trees with their branches stripped, standing by for future use. The debris that must have been cleared was nowhere to be seen.

There were gutters at the roof line, guiding the water down large storm drains. Engrossed in the very effective design, he walked directly into a steady drip of water.

He found the public midden easily. The door hinges were very rusty. The midden was stone with a wooden top that was dried and cracked. There were six keyhole shaped seats to choose from, all with the lids down.

Opening a lid, he could hear water rushing by far below. Pulling out his multi-tool, he switched on the light and shined it down. Water rushed by three meters below. It must be storm sewers and the rain doing it. But what about dry spells?

It was a smart setup.

He had a seat and started to read about beekeeping.

CHAPTER TEN

Foxden

“Barcus clearly did not destroy the Ventura. All the Solstice 31 Incident assumptions are now called into question.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.

<<<>>>

A few weeks went by, allowing Barcus to manage and direct further cleanup and repairs at The Abbey. At the end of that period of time, the gatehouse, the gate tower, the willow courtyard, the stable yard, the stables and the rooms above were all power washed and clean. Enough firewood had been collected to serve him the entire winter, more than was necessary, really. There were about thirty cords of wood neatly piled in the woodshed that was made for ten times that amount. The majority of the wood was from the trees that had been removed from The Abbey courtyards. Several of the trees remained. Barcus didn't remove any that he thought might help conceal his occupation of The Abbey from potential watchers from above.

One was an old apple tree that had grown to an impressive size since The Abbey had been abandoned.

Em had surveyed the surrounding area with BUGs and found several good sources for salvage. So far, she had not found any other books, even though Barcus kept asking her.

“I think we are ready to stock The Northern Cache. I would like to get it cleaned up, furnished and stocked with some supplies – food, water, clothes, blankets, firewood, and gear,” Barcus said.

“It would go faster if we all went with the first load. For your safety, I don't ever want to leave you at The Abbey alone for long until it's secure,” Em said.

“Are you babysitting me?” Barcus feigned insult.

“I just don't trust you to stay out of trouble,” Em chided.

Barcus thought of Chen again just then. Dead, frozen, in the mountains.

“After we are done with that The Northern Cache, I want to go get the STU,” Barcus said.

Em's avatar seemed genuinely surprised.

“Why, Barcus? That location represents a risk.”

“I need him close enough for local comms. I have work for him to do.”

“Barcus, we would have to fly him here. We could be seen. Where would you hide him? Again, why do you need him? It's a risk.”

“First off, the shuttle has a small parts fabricator on board, more supplies, the med scanner and more tools. Second, he has massive CPU cycles. I want to use him to crack the encryption for their comms. Plus if we need to run...” Barcus faded off.

Em was looking thoughtful now.

“Before the snows fly here, I want to park the STU in the lake by The Northern Cache. We will travel to him, get close enough that we can use short range directional comms to bring him on- line. We will then bring him down to us on Grav-foils only. No engines, not even thrusters. Do you think that the two of you can manage that?” Irritation was creeping into his voice.

“You cut me to the quick, sir.” Em tried to make light.

“That will also solve two other risks since we’re talking about risks. If someone is up there and they are watching the STU, we will know without risking ourselves. The same when he picks us up. We will do it at night, a cloudy night. A stormy night would be better if they can watch via satellite because if our best hope for escaping detection is Grav-foils only, our best acceleration will only be about 8.1 meters per second squared. But it will be quiet.”

“Then we could get to the lake in one night,” Em added.

“And if they somehow trace the STU, there we will be, at The Abbey.”

“If we can get the STU stashed before winter settles in for real, he will be under the ice. They'd never find him.”

“Barcus?” Em said.

“Yes?”

“What about Chen?”

There was a long pause.

“I will go back for Chen when I can explain to her what happened...and what I've done about it.”

“When we are on this trip, I want to stop at The Stone Cauldron, for salvage.”

Em smiled at this.

The next day, they all went to The Northern Cache, making a side trip to that estate where they had found the good furniture. They loaded up Em with a table and two chairs, a medium-sized bed, some trunks for storage, clothes, blankets, oil lamps, candles, dishes, pots, and various other items they had learned were handy like a broom, wash basin, mirror, and even a chamber pot.

They reached the lake as they were debating on a better name for the place. Em's image was sitting in the other front seat as they glided smoothly across the countryside.

“The name should not contain information that is descriptive in any way. It would be bad OP SEC if the name referenced a location. We even need to rename The Abbey.”

“Okay, okay, you've convinced me. What should we call it?”

“The Northern Cache or The Abbey?”

“Both.”

Em's avatar actually looked thoughtful. Barcus realized again how very useful the Emergency Module’s AI was in a survival situation. He'd be going nuts if he were alone. He smiled, realizing for the hundredth time that he was.

“And Faceless too. Following those same rules.”

“Well if Faceless gets a name, the spider should too. This is kind of fun,” Em said.

There was a large window open on the HUD that showed The Northern Cache in the autumn sunshine. The place was situated on a small rise on the southern edge of the lake. The Northern Cache was built between a couple of conveniently located boulders that made up its left and right walls. It had been dug out and leveled. Heavy beams held up a slightly arched roof that on the outside was overgrown with grass and some kind of dense vines.

Standing on the roof was what looked like a fox. Its nose was turned up, and its face was soaking up the late afternoon sun as it sniffed the air.

“We will call it Foxden,” Barcus said. Somehow Em looked pleased with the name. The tactical display changed the name immediately as a final punctuation.

The suit had arrived before them and had the entire place power washed before they arrived. Barcus loved that. As much as he liked a clean house, he hated that first scrub that seemed to be required everywhere they went.

The door and both windows were wide open, and a large fire was burning in the fireplace already to dry the place out. The place looked almost like new. Barcus wondered at the craftsman's work here. How did they get the seams so tight in the stonework? It didn't even look like they needed to use mortar. The five roof beams looked oversized, but who knew how much all the soil weighed above.

“Em, you know how The Abbey was full of bird and mouse droppings? Well, this place was just super dusty. The windows have excellent seals. The door...” Barcus trailed off as he examined the heavy door. It was perfectly tight in the frame and it swung out easily. That is when he noticed the edge of the door. He originally thought the door was just heavy wood, but it actually had a metal core about a centimeter thick.

“I see what you mean, Barcus. I think this was made by the settlers.”

The furniture was unloaded and arranged in less than thirty minutes. The supplies were stowed, and the bed was even made. It was getting dark when he started heating up some stew.

“I need to learn how to bake bread. I miss bread.”

“There is an oven at The Abbey, but we don't have flour or other ingredients. I will put them on the salvage priority list if you like. We need to step up salvage before the snow flies. I believe this region will get a lot of snow.” Barcus was getting used to the way Em's avatar would walk in and chat.

“I miss toilet paper, too.”

“If you don't mind, I would like to send the spider and Faceless for a physical survey to the east. There are some ruins there that the BUGs can't get inside that hold a bit of promise for salvage.” Em opened a window in his HUD for him that showed a stone dock and pier. There was a large stone building that looked like a warehouse. There were actual roads that led to the forest.

“You are not worried about my safety?” Barcus teased.

“I can do the survey overnight and give you a full report in the morning. You do have your Glock and AR here,” Em stated.

“Wait a minute. You mean the BUGs couldn't get inside there? Don't you usually just send them under doors or through keyholes?”

“There are inner airlocks and doors inside that warehouse that are sealed very tightly.”

The recorded overhead view of the compound revealed that there were some large barges that had been sunk near the pier. Several buildings had been burned down some time earlier this year. So, the place had been in use this time last year.

“Okay. Do it. How long will it take you to get there?”

“Just a few hours. Faceless can ride. We really need names.”

The spider and the suit were headed to the port warehouse, so Barcus settled in. Barcus was glad now that Em had insisted on two more overstuffed chairs for space in front of the fireplace.

“How about Shelobe? Or maybe Charlotte? Maybe Wolf?” The debate went on for an hour. Eventually after much debate that spider was christened as Pardosa.

“Pardosa it is. A species of spider. A thin-legged wolf spider. Par for short. That fits. Now on to Faceless.”

Naming the suit was a more difficult effort. They went through famous people, historic figures, people Barcus knew from the past and even friends from the Ventura. Around midnight, they agreed on Ashigaru
for the suit. They would shorten it to Ash. Barcus also told Em that Ash should have his own voice and personality. It would allow for instant speaker identification. He'd leave it to her to surprise him. Em smiled and seemed very pleased by this. Apparently the maintenance of a single personality was a default setting that she found limiting.

Barcus yawned and decided that it was time for bed. Stoking the fire once more, he said goodnight to Em and crawled into bed, thinking how an outsider watching him tonight would have thought him insane. He felt very safe here. The frames of the windows were practical as well as beautiful and strong as bars. The door, once shut, was like a vault door. It's probably the only reason Em left me here alone, he thought. He fell asleep on his side, watching the firelight dance on the beautiful rug that Em also insisted he bring. She was right, again.

When Em sounded the alarm, he was deeply asleep. Suddenly, his HUD was bright with a tactical display of the region.

“We have an inbound contact. Moving at 1,100 kph at 189 mark 7. It is moving on an intercept with your position, not ours.”

The tactical map showed all the known locations of every reference point Barcus had. The Abbey, STU, Foxden Lake, even the warehouse and Pardosa with Ash. That would take getting used to.

“Stay inside Barcus. That bunker you are in will give you all the cover you need.” Em said.

He realized she was right; it was a bunker. It was pitch dark and chilly in the room. The time was 3:11 a.m. He padded out of bed and added wood to the fire.

“How did you detect this ship? I thought we were running passive scans only.”

“It flew over some of the BUGs I had deployed in the south, from here, to here at this point.” She displayed the map. A section of the map was highlighted, and the track of the ship appeared. “So I had the rest of the BUGs ascend to watch and listen for it. It's very loud. I believe it to be bigger than the other one we encountered. Much bigger.”

“Can you extrapolate possible destinations?”

“Based on its current heading, it could be anywhere along this path.”

The tactical drew a faint line ahead of the ship icon. Barcus froze.

It was headed to the village where they had found Po and Olias. He watched its progress as he warmed himself by his growing fire. The icon slowed and finally stopped just outside that village.

“I have BUGs in that village,” Em said.

A window opened with a view flying over the treetops. There in the center of a large field was a large, fat, cargo style ship. A ramp had lowered in the back, and riders were already exiting the ship.

“How many?” Barcus asked angrily.

“There are 111 men and 123 horses,” came her reply.

The majority of the men were forming ranks and awaiting orders while another smaller group proceeded on horseback to the village as an advance party. Once it deposited its load, the ship’s ramp closed and it took off, making so much noise, Barcus was surprised the horses didn’t spook.

When the advance party got close to the village, they dismounted and began looking at the ground closely. Seven men moved forward following the lead man, who was on foot.

There were now two BUGs covering the scene. One was moving in closer on the lead man. He had a shuttered lantern lit and was slowly walking to the village. The six other riders were still following him in single file.

“He's a Tracker,” Em said. “They talk about Trackers all the time in Greenwarren.”

“Greenwarren... Their next stop will be Greenwarren!” Barcus realized. “How fast can you get back here at maximum speed?”