The Dying Light (16 page)

Roche nodded, indicating for him to continue.

“From Guhr Outpost we have traced the tug’s movements to Gatamin, where it changed course and headed further in-system.”

“How did its pilot know where to go?” Haid asked.

“The tug, naturally, contained detailed navigational charts showing every settlement in Palasian System. Relevant targets were easily located.” B’shan rotated and expanded the map of Palasian System. “Geyten Base was hit next. The Armada base knew that something had happened to Guhr Outpost, but didn’t have enough details to react in time. Barely had they readied two ships to investigate, when the enemy struck.”

“We received pictures from Cemenid just before we arrived here,” Roche said. “We were unable to locate the Armada base at all; the moon appeared to have disappeared.”

“Precisely.” The view in the central tank changed to show Cemenid—a bloated gas giant almost half again as large as Jagabis, with a violent atmosphere that appeared orange in Hintubet’s red light. Three visible moons were ringed in green, plus a dark patch in the cloudscape. The image became grainy as the view zoomed in to focus on the dark patch. “This scar in Cemenid’s atmosphere does not appear in any navigational records; the fact that you did not notice it suggests that it is no longer visible at all.”

“Are you suggesting ...?” Roche began.

“That the image here”—B’shan pointed at the dark patch in the central tank—”is the impact site of the moon which was once the home to Geyten Base.”

Roche glanced at the Kesh: his expression was serious. “The whole
moon
—?”

“Disturbed from orbit and sent into the atmosphere.” B’shan changed the view again, this time to one showing wreckage in orbit around the gas giant. “We have discovered a large number of fragments corresponding to plate- armor commonly used to protect prowling mines from major impacts. It’s my opinion that at least two were conscripted by the pilot of the tug on his way through the innermost dark-body halo. They are massive enough to shatter a small moon, or to deflect it from a stable orbit. Furthermore, their security is light and their AIs are simple to reprogram.”

Roche pictured the prowling mines—each larger by a significant factor than Galine Four itself—barreling down on the unprepared Armada base. At that speed, little would have stopped them. The base personnel would hardly have had time to evacuate, let alone save any valuable military hardware. The destruction of the base had, once again, been conducted with chilling efficiency.

B’shan added: “We suspect that this incident is related to the ambush of the Armada battalion sent to investigate the distress call broadcast by Guhr Outpost sixteen days earlier. The Marines had been in the system for a week, as best we can tell, but disappeared around that time.”

Roche nodded. That made sense. It fit in with the little COE Intelligence had told them, anyway.

“So where did the tug go from there?” she prompted.

“Actually, it probably wasn’t there at all. Once the mines had been reprogrammed, there would have been no need for its pilot to have been present. That explains why, only a short time after communication with the base was lost, it caused an alert at Aro Spaceport when it tried to land without authorization.”

“I can’t believe they’d let it land after everything that had just happened,” said Haid.

“They didn’t. Port authorities destroyed it when it refused to respond to a third warning.”

Roche frowned. “They destroyed it?”

B’shan nodded. “But the pilot was no longer on board. His tactics were uncanny: he was never where anyone expected him to be, always one step ahead. He skipped from
Daybreak
to the tug when there was only the slightest chance that Guhr Outpost might have guessed he was aboard; then, barely after the authorities on Aro had learned about events at Voloras and Cemenid, he’d already left the tug and sent it to act as a distraction while he went about his real business.”

“Which was what?” Haid said.

“While Aro Spaceport mopped up the debris of the tug—believing they had destroyed the threat to the system with it—the pilot was using two prowling mines and the resources they contained to set up the next stage of his attack. It must have been during this time that he built the gas-guns and the targeters left behind in the derelicts; he certainly would have been hard-pressed to do it later.”

“That makes sense,” Roche said. “It also gave Aro Spaceport time to let their guard down.”

“It would seem so.” B’shan called up a map of the orbits around the major moon of Jagabis. “What he appears to have done in the end is to bring one of the prowlers into close Aro orbit by swinging it past Jagabis on a tight, elliptical orbit that kept it well out of view until the last minute. Then, once it was in place, it fired cutting lasers onto Emptage City, shattering the dome. It also used a flotilla of scavenger drones to attack the ships docked at the midpoint of the orbital tower. At the same time, the second ship came in by a different route and severed the orbital tower entirely.”

“How?” said Haid.

“Simply by colliding with it,” said B’shan, “and wrenching it out of its moorings.”

Roche concentrated to follow the icons moving through the main screen. “The aftershocks of the collision would have destroyed any ships still attached to the tower. Hence the derelicts.”

“And the added angular momentum would have carried much of the tower into a higher orbit, where it appears to have been cut into fragments. These fragments served as windmill-style devices designed to keep interlopers away. The cable is very thin and hard to detect; the end of each spinning segment was moving fast enough to cut a ship in two.”

“And that’s what happened to the outriggers,” Haid said.

“So it appears,” said B’shan. “We subsequently cleaned out the upper orbits of the windmills before you arrived, but there wasn’t much we could do about the gas-guns. We balked at destroying the derelicts entirely, for fear of destroying evidence, but didn’t want to risk our observers by sending them in to deactivate the traps one by one,”

Hearing that, Roche thought of Mavalhin: he would have been grateful to be relieved of that duty, she was sure. Although cowardice wasn’t exactly his style, neither was bravery.

“We detected several transmissions from that region shortly after we arrived,” she said. “Did your observers detect them also?”

B’shan waved a hand and the screen filled with Sol command hieroglyphics. “They appear to be in some sort of code. We’ve had no luck cracking it, though.”

“We also picked up another one from a different source, this time in plain text via tightbeam.”

B’shan nodded. “The source of that transmission is in the vicinity of the Kukumat-Murukan double planet. We believe it to be either a decoy or an entirely innocent message not meant for our ears.”

She raised an eyebrow. “A decoy? Why?”

“Because there have been no attacks since the destruction of Emptage City shortly before the closing of the solar envelope surrounding this system. It is tempting to assume that the person responsible has escaped.”

“So why are you hiding out here?” said Haid.

“Cautionary measures,” said Rufo softly. “It would be foolish to assume that we are safe until we have proof.”

Roche leaned forward, addressing B’shan. “You said it might be an innocent message. From whom?”

“Other survivors, like us, who are also trying to avoid detection. Until we are able to leave this system, we are all denied the option of escape; better to wait until rescue arrives than to advertise our presence.”

“What other survivors?” Roche pressed. “The base on Mok was supposed to be empty.”

B’shan shrugged. ‘The source of the transmission has only been approximately pinned down. It is ‘near’ Mok in the sense that it is within an area several million kilometers across containing the double planet. It may have come from a lone outrigger drifting past, on its way elsewhere.”

Roche granted him that. “And what about the Gauntlet? You must have seen it arrive.”

B’shan glanced at Rufo. “The quark breeders entered the system twenty-one days ago.”

“Do you know who brought them?”

“If we did, then we might at least know who to expect when rescue arrives,” said Rufo.

“They entered the system from deep space,” explained B’shan, “and aerobraked in the sun’s atmosphere. Aro Spaceport was under attack at that point, so by the time we knew they were present they were already in position. From that point, the process was rapid: within twenty hours, the Gauntlet was activated and the system enclosed.”

Rufo looked up, and spoke softly: “We assumed it to be you, at first—that you were a vanguard for a much larger recovery operation.”

Roche nodded, uncomfortably aware of the unspoken questions behind his words: Who sent you? How much longer do we have to wait?
Will
we be rescued at all?

She could say nothing to allay his fears, but she had to say something. “Perhaps between the two of us we can build a more conclusive picture of what’s going on here.”

“I hope so,” said Rufo, with a slight smile. “Anything you can add would be appreciated.”

“You’ve been very open with your own data,” said Roche. “I guess it’s time I returned the favor.”

Before she could begin, however, the Box spoke up:

She frowned.

Conscious of Rufo and the two Kesh waiting for her to continue, she raised a hand. “One second,” she said, then, to the Box:

said the Box.

Roche asked.

Roche nodded to herself.

I CAN’T, Haid sent back. I ONLY HAVE A TEXT LINK, REMEMBER?

SO WHO’S GOING TO DO THE TALKING?

She returned to the opulent brightness of Rufo’s office. He and the two Kesh officers were watching her expectantly, B’shan still standing while Shak’ni watched her with ill-concealed suspicion. Roche wondered belatedly if the latter could read minds—then discarded the thought. If Maii couldn’t use her epsense abilities in Palasian System, no reave could.

“I apologize for that,” she said aloud.

“Talking to your crew?” Rufo asked.

“That’s correct. Something arose that required my attention.”

“Nothing too serious, I trust?”

“Crossing the Gauntlet appears to have been more stressful than I realized. We’ve discovered fractures on our anchor drive housing that will require maintenance before we leave. We can repair the damage ourselves, of course, but it would be much easier—and quicker—if we had access to a dry dock.”

“Our facilities here are fully equipped,” Rufo said. “You are welcome to use them.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose—”

“Think nothing of it,” the scientist interjected. “I am happy to offer whatever services I can, free of charge. In return, when your drive is repaired you might consider taking some of my crew with you when you leave Palasian System.”

“When the time comes, we’ll take as many as we can.” Roche smiled inwardly; he had risen to the bait with very little prompting on her part. “I suggest, then, that Ameidio and I view your facilities to determine if they’re suitable. My information officer can fill you in on our discoveries so far, and evaluate them in the light of what you’ve shown us. That would not only save time but would also ensure that the most appropriate talents at our disposal are put to the task.”

“That makes sense.” Rufo beamed at her. “But please, do not put yourself down. It takes great skill to command a vessel of war for the Commonwealth of Empires.”

She returned his smile, although his flattery felt forced, and opened the connection to the Box. Ana Vereine
.>

everything
that’s decided at this meeting, so make sure I have a recording available for later.>