The Broken Cage (Solstice 31 Saga Book 2) (15 page)

He looked at Muir. “I want that dish in place. Before we go. We might need it once we’re on the ground safely. Build a barge or tow it. I will leave it to you.” He paused again. “Are we clear? Any questions?”

“I still want first look at all the current sensor data,” Bowen stated.

“No. If the team has questions, they can come to you. If you think the probe is the only way, you have three months. You’re dismissed. Dr. Bowen, I'd like a word. Please stay.”

Hume was the last one out. The door slid shut.

“Doctor, do you want to know why they don't respect you or listen to you?” Worthington asked, sincerely.

She drew her chin in and didn't speak.

“You can't demand respect. You can't just take respect. You have to earn it. They don't trust you. You have given them no reason to.”

She said nothing.

“Dismissed.”

She got up and stormed out.

“Ben, I want a close eye on her,” he said, knowing AI~Ben was always there.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Rand Goes West

“Poole, my Emergency Module’s AI, had an underlying template. No advanced templates. Just the basic personality overlays. Chen’s rig had the souped-up AI. That AI was the best I had ever seen. Poole was handy, but the AI Barcus had was scary. Literally.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Master Chief Nancy Randall, senior surviving security member of the Ventura's crew.

<<<>>>

Rand led the horses that remained south to the same small valley where she killed the other four trackers. If anyone followed now, they would have a mystery on their hands.

Poole stood still in a creek, waiting for Rand. She rode the horse into the shallow water, and it began drinking, as she climbed directly from the saddle to the cockpit.

“Well done, Poole. Let's start moving toward the rendezvous point, but not directly. Continue in escape-and-evade mode with a particular focus on leaving no tracks,” Rand said, as she took off her helmet.

Poole moved along the creek, quietly and smoothly. No rushing.

The scene around her rolled by smoothly in AI~Poole's HUD. The imperfect seal on the door had become barely noticeable as time went by. Rand opened a pocket in her pack and took out a meal bar. It was the peanut butter chocolate one. It contained 2,000 calories of balanced nutrition and, she suspected, a little extra something that made her think clearly, calmly, more decisively.

“Poole, when do you estimate we will arrive at the rendezvous?” Rand asked, as she munched.

A tactical display appeared that showed the planned route. It was complete with twenty kilometers in the creek and many more over rocky outcroppings, double backs and misdirects. All were overlaid on the tracker's map parchment. Temporal indicators showed where they would be, and at what time. It even had bio-breaks scheduled.

This was going to suck.

“Forty-six hours and eleven minutes until the rendezvous.”

The time passed faster than she expected. Rand slept a lot. She memorized the map. It was an old habit. Never rely on the tech. Her Ka-Bar served as a constant reminder.

AI~Poole read aloud to her a classic book from her list.
Watership Down
by Richard Adams.

The route had to be recalculated multiple times. The rain had caused the creek to rise. A small village that was not on the map had to be bypassed. A forest fire had ravaged one area, leaving it too open and too slow to pass through.

It was about 0300 hours on the day she got close. Rand’s Fly did a recon of the site before she got there. Tan’Vi were there already. The shelter was a low thing, dug out from under a huge, flat rock that made up its entire roof. This was one of the shelters that was invisible from a satellite view. It was on top of a bald, rocky outcrop that was the highest elevation in the area.

Tannhauser was perched on the roof, scanning the broad vistas, looking for her, or any indications they were followed.

She would hold tight. Approach just after dark. “Poole, I’m not sure they’re truly ready for you yet, so keep hidden after you drop me off. The forest comes closest, here. Wait there, after you drop me off.”

***

Darkness came quickly this time of year.

Rand’s helmet had excellent night vision capabilities, as bright as daytime. Even though the colors were flat, her vision was sharp.

The fire where Vi was cooking was in a depression. The audio in the helmet was enhanced as well. Rand heard Vi quietly humming as she stirred a pot.

The only problem with the helmet was that with it on she couldn't smell the stew. Rand’s mouth was watering already.
Meal bars be damned.

The horses in the picket behind the shelter didn't notice her as she passed. It was easy to remain perfectly quiet with night vision this good.

Tannhauser was on the roof rock, in the shadows, watching. Rand knew he was trying to keep his night sight sharp by avoiding the direct line of sight with the fire.

Rand still managed to walk right up behind Tannhauser where he stood. She said nothing, just waited.

To his credit, when he turned toward Rand and almost bumped his nose into her collarbone, he didn't cry out, or even startle, very much.

“Hello, Tan.” Her helmet system whispered in an impossibly low, quiet whisper.

He recovered almost instantly. “Hello, Rand. Are you hungry?”

She reached up, took off her helmet and shook out her hair. “I’m starving,” she said, with a smile in her voice.

“Pan biscuits with boar stew.”

Tannhauser rubbed his hands together and smiled, his anticipation was evident, as he carefully climbed down in the total darkness.

***

Vi was undisturbed when Rand emerged from the shadows with Tannhauser. The stew and biscuits were delicious. Shredded cheese was sprinkled over the top in just the perfect proportions. The talk–about food, drink, and childhood favorites, of all things–was comfortable.

When the meal was over and everything was cleaned up, they sat around the fire, drinking fine wine from the trackers' supplies they had collected. Better wine than Tan’Vi ever had before.

The Fly patrolled the sky. It had an unobstructed view in every direction. They would be safe here, this night. The air was cool, calm and dry, even though the sky was gray with high clouds. It was autumn air.

“We need to find a place to hole up for the winter,” Tannhauser said. “If you don't mind another week's travel, I know a place where they will never find us. But, once the snow flies there, we will be stuck.”

“What will we need to do?” Rand asked.

“On the way, we will need to get some provisions. Particular things. We have the coins for it now.” He shook a pouch that held coins. “Vi knows what to get. The hunting, and trapping, is excellent where we are going.”

“And where is that?” Rand asked, over her cup.

Tannhauser looked at Vi, briefly, and said, “Salterkirk.”

Memorizing the map paid off. Rand recalled Salterkirk on the map. It was one of the locations marked like no other.

“It is north and west. Near lake Northwind. Why there? I thought that place got a massive amount of snow,” Rand said.

“It does get a lot of snow. It's why few people live there. This spot is superb, if you have horses. Excellent shelter.”

Rand looked into the darkness in the direction of Poole. He seemed to know when she did.

“Survive, hide, collect intel. It's a good plan, Rand. For now.”

***

It took the full week to reach Salterkirk.

Rand traveled with them for only the first day and a half. They parted when they entered a village to purchase provisions. Rand’s horse was used as a pack animal after that.

Rand usually walked into camp, after dark, in time for dinner and to keep watch all night. She slept during the day while Poole traveled. Rand also got out and ran behind Poole for a few hours a day to keep fit. She missed the heavy gravity of the outer rings that so easily kept her fit. Poole selected paths and speed that was very challenging for Rand. She ran some days, in full gear, with her rifle. Other days, if it wasn't too cold, in just her tights, for speed.

It helped her think. Or, not think. Whichever she needed more.

It got colder and less populated the farther north they went. Rand could smell the lake where they camped, in the open, on that last night. Vi described it as ‘the inland sea’. She said it was a miracle that the water was fresh, without a trace of salt. It was also ironic that their winter shelter was a vast cave complex that was formerly used as a salt mine.

***

Rand explored the cave via the Fly, before any of them arrived.

The main cavern was probably five or six acres, and had a stream flowing slowly through one edge. It flowed directly under a stone cottage built in the cavern at the far end. It was a sprawling, single level building. The roof was slate. It was wet, all the time, from the constant drips from the cavern ceiling. It looked like a misty night.

Sand and rubble had been used to smooth the areas around the cabin. All the paths into the cottage, from the inconspicuous entrance, were even and leveled. Massive amounts of moss and mushrooms grew in this cavern. Great pillars reached into the darkness, all the way to the ceiling far above. Poole could quickly hide inside there, lost in the darkness.

Rand got there first.

Poole fit easily through the winding entrance corridor. He found a good parking spot on a high ledge, just inside the main cavern. The spider's long legs still allowed it to duck low at the entrance and quickly step over the fence and gate, eighty meters inside the main cavern. Rand walked the path into the cottage in complete darkness, her helmet provided vision.

The cabin was dark and musty, but somehow still dry, for the most part. She started fires in both hearths and had a dozen candles lit, in no time. In less than an hour, the cottage was warm and dry.

“
This cavern is a constant 12.3°C
or 45°F. The Fly reports the outside temperature is -5°C
or 23°F
,” AI~Poole reported via Rand’s HUD.

The wind picked up from over the lake and the snow began in earnest. Rand recalled the Fly, so it would not be damaged by the weather.

Even though they could have rode in, they dismounted and led the horses in. Rand had pre-positioned a couple of lanterns, to help guide them. Tan’Vi picked up the first two and brought them along. Those were the only ones on the far side of the gate.

The gate had a pair of oil lamps mounted there. The creaking of the gate echoed in the main cavern, like an alarm announcing their arrival. The gate wasn't designed to keep people out. It was obvious it was made to keep goats and horses in.

The cottage could now be seen, lit up below. The path meandered down, like a country road at night. Rand watched from a vantage point that was an obvious guard station. They walked the horses into the large paddock and unloaded. The horses nibbled at the moss and the mushrooms. The mineral-rich water flowed along an edge of the paddock by the back wall. Covered stalls waited near the water, enough room for twenty or thirty horses.

Rand could not resist. She activated her riot PA on her helmet. She set the voice to ‘commanding male’ and said, in an authoritative, menacing, impossibly loud male voice, “Welcome to Salterkirk.”

She lit a candle lantern, so they could see her descend one of the side paths, a faceless figure in black.

“Enjoying yourself, Rand?” Vi asked, with an amused look on her face.

“Actually, I am,” she replied.

They carried the gear and supplies in.

“This pantry is huge,” Rand said, as she set down two huge bags of dried potatoes.

“It was, initially, the barracks for the miners. Later, when the mine closed, Rayne the Witch stayed here. She lived alone, with her goats, for decades,” Vi answered.

“Rayne the Witch?” Rand asked.

“Yes. She was the miner’s cook, doctor, nurse, barber, and granny,” Vi said, as she dusted the pantry shelves with a wet rag. “She was supposed to be the mother of one of the miners, but no one knew which one. She was just always there. It was only when the salt ran out and they were buttoning the place up that anyone noticed she was blind. No amount of talking could get her to leave. So, she stayed.”

Tannhauser continued, “She didn't need light, in here. When the plague swept through the north, she remained safe. The goats she raised in here were fat and happy in the light of just a candle or two. They say she made excellent cheese.”

“Why was she called a witch? I thought you said Keepers killed witches,” Rand said.

“Everyone thought she could read. She knew so many things. Even after they discovered she was blind, they thought so. And, living in the dark alone...” Tannhauser trailed off.

“Anyway, no one knows what happened to her. Trackers were the only ones she ever saw, in recent decades. She was just gone. Ten or twenty years ago. No idea what happened.”

“It doesn't matter how cold it gets outside. It stays the same in here. The chimney smoke blows up and out, somewhere. Air continually flows in from the entrance. We will need to collect firewood. It looks like there’s only enough in the shed right now to last a few weeks.”

“We have enough food to last until spring, even longer if the hunting and trapping is good, or if you like mushrooms.”

“Maybe by spring, you might trust us enough to tell us exactly what is happening here,” Vi said, and simply walked away, not expecting a reply.

***

There was no night and day in the cavern. It was all night, all the time.

They rested that first night; well to be true, only Tan’Vi slept. Rand did a detailed security sweep of the approach vectors to the cavern. The snow made it very easy to find the opening where the smoke vented from the cavern. It dissipated around an enormous pile of boulders that had gaps big enough for a cat to hide in, but nothing else. The mound was hidden in dense pines, high up on a great crest of a mountain, and was nearly impossible to reach by foot.