Transcendent (9781311909442) (26 page)

“Uh, hi,” Krys said when he stopped in front
of the two standing guard outside the makeshift city hall. “I’m
Krys Evans, here to see Lieutenant Riggs.”

One of them turned and motioned to the door.
Krys offered him a smile he didn’t feel and walked between them and
into the building. He made his way to Shelby’s office and knocked
on the door before sticking his head in through the open doorway.
“Hi,” he said. “What’s up?”

Shelby’s answering glare made him suspect
that he’d pay dearly for that sixth minute when he’d told her only
five. He turned and saw another man in a uniform rise from the
chair he’d been sitting in. “Krys Evans?” he asked.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

“I understand you’re a native of Venus?”

Krys glanced at Shelby. She wore an
expressionless mask before blinking and turning her attention to
the army officer. “I am. I’m sorry, are you Captain Rosk?”

“That is correct. Tell me, Mr. Evans, how is
it you came to be here?”

“I was born here,” Krys said.

The captain’s lip twitched at his answer.
Krys knew it wasn’t a smile he was fighting. “I meant more
recently.”

“I was out in the forest when the troops
came,” Krys said. It was the same story he and Shelby had agreed
upon for his records. Technically what he said was true; the
problem was all the omissions that were truth mixed with the truth.
“I was camping and exploring. A patrol of soldiers found me and
brought me back.”

“I see. And are you aware of a discrepancy
involving your alleged identity?”

“Alleged? I am Krys Evans,” Krys insisted.
“And I’m getting tired of people suggesting I’m not.”

“So you are aware then,” he stated.

Krys nodded.

“And without proper genetic identification
methods available during your youth here, we have no means of
proving you are who you say you are.”

“I don’t see why that’s such a big deal, but
okay.”

“It is a big deal, Mr. Evans. We should all
be striving to be as open and honest as possible. Duplicity and
subterfuge are the weapons of cowards and traitors. There is a
zero-tolerance policy in place for such things.”

“Glad I’m not lying then,” Krys said.

The lines at the corners of Captain Rosk’s
eyes deepened for a moment. “You were out in the wilderness. Were
you alone?”

Krys turned to Shelby. “What’s going on
here? I went through this years ago, didn’t I?”

“Answer the questions,” Shelby demanded.

Captain Rosk seconded her order. “Mr. Evans,
I am the ranking officer in this region. Given the growing troubles
that have occurred on Venus, it has been placed under martial law.
You would do well to remember your place. Now tell me, were you
alone?”

“Yes!” Krys snapped back at him. He forced
his anger down and added, “The rest of my family was killed.”

“Families have no place in the modern
world,” Rosk lectured. “They’re outdated and weak. They don’t
foster education or responsibility. You might consider this a favor
that was done to you.”

“A favor?” Krys repeated. He caught Shelby
glaring at him out of the corner of his eye and managed to keep
himself from leaping on the captain and trying to pound his face
in. Barely.

“Indeed,” Rosk said, unaware of how much
he’d angered Krys. “What happened next in your young life?”

Krys studied the officer, looking for flaws
he could pick on. The captain was young too, but he looked a little
older than Shelby. “I showed that I was better at fixing the broken
equipment around here than anyone left. Then when the other
maintenance tech was killed by rebels, I—”

“They aren’t rebels,” Rosk sneered.
“Cowardly terrorists. These misguided fools are only bringing pain
down upon themselves.”

“Um, okay,” Krys mumbled, too stunned by the
man’s vehemence to come up with a witty response. “Well, they
killed him and Lieutenant Riggs needed my expertise. Rather than
send me away, she arranged to have my education requirements met
here.”

He stared at Krys a long moment and then
turned to Shelby. “I see. Is this one hundred percent accurate,
Lieutenant?”

“It is,” Shelby said. “He’s passed all
boards and has been granted full citizen status. Mr. Evans has as
many rights now as you or I do, Captain.”

Rosk snorted. “Under normal situations,
perhaps. With martial rule instituted, I think not. In fact, I have
orders for both of you to head to the starport.”

“Both of us?” Krys asked.

“What about my colony?” Shelby rose out of
her chair and leaned on her knuckles on her desk. “I can’t just
leave it unsupervised!”

“I have been appointed acting commander in
your absence, Lieutenant. You are to gather your basic necessities
and head out immediately.”

“Wait a minute,” Krys protested as thoughts
of his friends ran through his head. He remembered a couple of
incomplete projects he kept around for emergency excuses and said,
“I’ve got—”

“Immediately,” Captain Rosk growled.

“Come on, Mr. Evans,” Shelby seethed in
barely controlled anger. She walked around her desk and grabbed
Krys by the elbow so she could pull him after her out the door.

Krys let her pull him, confused and worried
at the same time. She silenced him with a quick look and then
tugged him out the door and past the two guards. She let go of his
arm and continued walking towards her house. “Krys, can I trust you
to meet me at the garage in fifteen minutes, or do I need to
chaperone you?”

“So much for being a citizen,” he
muttered.

“Knock it off!” she hissed.

“Fine, fifteen minutes.”

Shelby nodded. “Just necessities,” she
reminded him.

“Do you have any idea what this is about?”
he wondered.

She stared at him for a moment and then her
eyes glanced away and back. She shook her head. “I don’t, but I’m
not worried.”

He nodded. “Good. See you in fifteen.”

She offered him a smile and turned away. He
watched her take her first steps and then turned to take his own.
She didn’t need to be worried. He was doing enough of it for both
of them.

“This is Omega Platoon, Second Armored
Brigade,” Lily broadcast to Settlement Delta-22. “Captain Lily
Strain speaking. Please confirm.”

Several seconds passed without response.
“Sunshine, run diagnostics on communications system.”

“Communication system operating within
nominal parameters.”

“Sunshine, scan Settlement Delta-22 and
verify power and transmission and reception capabilities.”

“I am unable to confirm reception and
transmission capabilities,” the biomech stated. “Power readings
within Settlement Delta-22 detected.”

“I guess that’ll have to do,” Lily said.
“Open Omega comm channel.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Omega Platoon, arm weapons,” she announced.
“Confirm threats before engaging. Do not, I repeat, do not endanger
civilians. First Squad will enter first. Second Squad, secure
perimeter of the colony. Third and Fourth, standby for repair and
resupply actions.”

Lily paused a moment to take a breath.
“Omega, move in.”

The biomechs and tanks moved forward as one.
Inside of a few seconds, Kray’s scout biomech pulled away and left
the others behind. The two light tanks pulled and streaked to
opposite sides to flank and establish a perimeter around the small
town. The medium tanks followed behind them and then the remaining
biomechs made up the van of the platoon. Lily and Jessa moved ahead
of Alex and Ela.

“Lieutenant Blain, conduct an aerial pass as
soon as you’re in range,” Lily ordered.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kray responded a moment later.
He paused a few seconds before announcing, “Coming in range in ten
seconds.”

“Proceed,” she confirmed. “Sunshine, route
all appropriate comm chatter to me without interruption.”

“Acknowledged.”

Lily watched through the biomech’s eyes as
the scout biomech extended its wings and thruster nozzles from its
back. A moment later, Kray’s robot leaned forward and jumped into
the air. Hot gas exploded out of the back and propelled him up into
the air in an arc. He sailed over the colony and landed out of
sight on the far side of the village.

Lily’s topographical map flickered as it
received the updated line of sight data from Kray’s scouting
mission. The changes were minimal; only a few carts and vehicles
seemed to have been moved.

“No sign of the colonists,” Kray announced
over the comm channel.

“Confirmed,” she said with a frown. Was the
entire colony hiding? They were walking through fields of wheat and
beans, doing the best to minimize the damage. Most of it had been
harvested but some plots remained. Plots that should have been
tended to. As it was, the sun was halfway beneath the horizon.

“Second Squad in position,” First Sergeant
Bidaro announced. Her tank squad reported to him, which made her
platoon a mixed platoon of armor. Most biomech platoons had two
full squads of biomechs. Rather than being upset by the disparity,
Lily had found ways to use the variety to her advantage in the
simulator missions. As a result, the tankers respected her more for
it.

“Good job, tankers,” Lily announced. “First
Squad entering the outer edge of the village in five seconds.”

Lily and Jessa split up and proceeded down
two of the main roads of the village. Lily twisted and searched,
scanning the buildings that she towered over as she passed. A few
houses reached to second stories that rivaled Sunshine’s height,
but for the most part only the harvest storage bins and the garages
were able to compete with the height of the biomechs.

“Jess, secure the town hall,” Lily ordered.
“I’m moving to the garage. Hawkins and Case, move to town center
for reinforcement. Blain, mobile patrol of town perimeter.”

Amid the confirmations coming across her
comms, Lily moved to the south towards the large garage the colony
used to house their various vehicles. Aside from the missing
people, everything looked normal as Sunshine’s plodding metal feet
closed the distance. She saw harvesters and transporters, as well
as a variety of other vehicles. Sunshine’s scanners picked out the
vehicles faster than her eyes could and identified and categorized
them.

“Captain Strain.” Sunshine’s voice broke
through her concentration as she worked on figuring out what was
nagging at her.

“Lily,” Lily mumbled. “Call me Lily,
Sunshine. It’s faster and more natural for me to react to. Now go
ahead, maybe you can tell me what’s bothering me.”

“Lily,” Sunshine confirmed. “The mobile
armor units are missing from the garage, as are four of the large
crop transporter vehicles registered to Settlement Delta-22.”

Lily felt her body jerk as she tensed up her
hands. Sunshine’s arms shifted and rose; the lifelike robotic
fingers of her left hand even curled into a fist. “Of course!” Lily
hissed. “Open Omega comms!”

“Acknowledged.”

“Omega Platoon, stand ready for attack! The
tanks are missing from the garage. Repeat, the tanks are missing
from the garage.”

“Captain,” Jessa’s voice filtered through
the comm channel, “the town hall has been abandoned. No life signs
inside.”

Lily ground her teeth. “Where are they?” she
whispered.

“Lily?” Sunshine asked.

“Disregard, Sunshine,” she snapped. “Squad
Three, proceed to town and begin a building by building sweep.
Squad Four, standby.”

Lily waited as her platoon shifted to follow
her orders. She turned her biomech and started moving through the
town. She made her way to the crop storage facility and confirmed
that it was all but empty. She turned away, afraid to believe the
theory that was forming in the back of her head. Squad Three was
moving through the small village, groups of four soldiers stopping
at each building and investigating it before moving on. It only
took a few moments until the first grisly reports started coming
in.

“Captain,” Staff Sergeant Mallory said. “All
civilians are DOA. Repeat, we’re finding nothing but bodies,
ma’am.”

Lily heard her breath hiss in and out of the
mask, passing the hot air in and out of it. She tried to swallow
past the dryness in her throat but wasn’t able to. She choked and
cleared her throat, only then finding her voice. “Confirmed,
Sergeant. Keep searching.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Before Lily could begin to consider the
implications of the discovery, Lieutenant Blain announced a new
discovery. “Captain, I found something you might want to see. Due
east of the village, eight hundred yards into the apple
orchard.”

“What’ve you got?” she asked as she turned
her biomech to the east and started walking.

“When I did my flyby, I noticed a bare spot
in the orchard. I just checked it out. A large section of the trees
have been torn out and stacked up around it.”

Lily’s eyelid twitched. Stacked wood and a
clearing? Sounded like a perfect defensive position. Get her people
tied up in the town and then launch an attack while they were
confused. She scowled. Not her first mission, no way!

“First Squad, fall out. Converge on apple
orchard. Move!” she barked and kicked her biomech into a run. She
focused on scouring through her maps and sensors, looking for
threats, and forced herself to ignore the exhilarating feedback
from Sunshine as the massive war machine stretched its muscles and
showed her what it could do.

The four heavier biomechs converged on where
the scout towered over the field of upturned dirt. Lily looked
around and confirmed that the trees had been stacked to provide
walls between the man-made clearing and the town, but there were no
other defensive fortifications around it. Nor were there any
defenders.

“What is this?” she wondered aloud.
“Sunshine, can you scan the ground?”