Part 21 (2/2)
”Things have changed since we last met.”
”Not for me. The Ashrai are still dead, and the Empire machines are still burrowing away, tearing through the trees' roots so they can be felled and harvested. The rape of the planet goes on, day by day.”
Silence sighed wearily. ”Ten years of solitude haven't done much to change your arguments. You didn't listen then and you probably won't now, but I'll try again anyway, for old times' sake. The Empire needs the metals it takes from Unseeli. Each tree that's felled can provide enough heavy metals to power a stars.h.i.+p for a year. We even use the outer metals to make s.h.i.+ps' hulls and engine casings. It's only Unseeli's metals that made our recent expansion possible. But Unseeli is the only place where these metals can be easily found, and we've become dependent on them. Without the regular supply s.h.i.+ps these trees make possible, half our colonies would starve or suffocate or fall apart from lack of some essential need. Millions would die, the Empire would collapse, and humanity would fall back into barbarism inside a generation.”
”To the Ashrai, we are barbarians,” said Carrion.
Silence shook his head impatiently. ”None of that matters anymore. It's past. I need your help, Sean.
Something's happened at Base Thirteen.”
Carrion looked at him steadily. ”The last time we met I called the Ashrai to arms and led them against the Empire. I led them into battle for the sake of their world, and you butchered them. You maimed and slaughtered until you grew bored, and then you retreated into orbit and burned everything that lived.”
Silence didn't look away. ”It was necessary.”
”The Ashrai . . .”
”Didn't stand a chance. Rebels never do.”
”And you expect me to help you now? After everything that's happened, you expect me to help the Empire?”
”I could get you Pardoned.”
”I doubt that.”
Silence smiled coldly. ”Don't flatter yourself, Sean. You're not that important, or a bounty hunter would have taken your head years ago. No, you're just another deserter who went native on some backwater planet. No one cares about you anymore. I can get you Pardoned, and I can take you off-planet. Take you anywhere you want to go. You could start again, start over with a clean record. Think about it. You wouldn't even have to call yourself Carrion any more.”
”Why not, Captain? It's who I am.” Carrion shook his head slowly, and sank back in his chair. ”Thank you for the offer, Captain, but no.”
”No? Think what I'm offering you! You can't want to stay here on your own . . .”
”Can't I? I've found peace here.”
”What peace? The peace of the dead, of the cemetery?”
”The peace of the forest, Captain. You never did understand what you were destroying. The Ashrai and the trees were linked more closely than you ever knew. The trees are alive. I've seen branches sway when no wind blows, and heard voices on the wind and in the mists. The Ashrai are dead, but they are not gone. There's a harmony, a strength that holds the trees together, and I'm a part of it.” The outlaw's voice fell to a whisper. ”Leave me alone, John. Please.”
”I can't, Sean. I need you.”
”Why, Captain? Why does it always have to be me?”
”Because you're the best.”
”Thank you, Captain.”
Silence turned away from the bitterness in Carrion's voice, and rose to his feet. ”Up you get, Carrion. It's a long way back to Base Thirteen, and we've a lot to discuss on the way.”
Carrion looked up at him. ”Are you so sure I'll help you?”
”Of course. You're my friend. And it's not as if you have anything else to do, is it?”
CHAPTER FIVE.
Ghost in the Machine The esper Diana Vertue leaned back in her seat and glared moodily at the pinnace monitors. The Al was still trying to make some sense out of the garbled responses it was receiving from inside Base Thirteen, but as far as Diana could tell, it was getting nowhere fast. She supposed it was an encouraging sign that anything at all was coming through, but in her opinion the responses were nothing more than random data from a damaged computer. She had suggested as much to Odin, but the AI ignored her. She was only an esper, and therefore the AI didn't have to listen to her if it didn't want to. Even an Artificial Intelligence rated higher than an esper.
Diana sighed, and stretched out her legs as best she could in the cramped confines of the cabin. She'd expected many things of her first official mission on an alien world, but boredom wasn't one of them.
She'd almost reached the point where she would have welcomed the two marines back on board, just to have someone to talk to. At least they had something to do, even if it was only keeping a lookout and second-guessing the Security system. All she had to do was sit and watch the computer talking to itself, and wait for something to go wrong. Not that there was a whole lot she could do if it did. She sighed again, heavily, and indulged herself in a pout. It wasn't fair. She hadn't been allowed to do anything ever since they touched down on this miserable planet. She ached for something new to happen-up to and including a major catastrophe-just so long as she got to see a little action. Anything would be better than this.
Well, almost anything. She hadn't forgotten what had happened the last time she opened up her esp, on the way down. There was something here on Unseeli with them, and to h.e.l.l with what the sensors said.
And whatever it was, it was dangerous. She'd sensed a rage and a force beyond anything she'd ever encountered before, something so powerful it almost burned out her mind just looking at it. she'd kept her esp damped down ever since, and had no intention of raising it again, no matter how bored she got. She frowned slightly, unhappy at the direction her thoughts were taking, but unable to ignore them either.
Captain Silence had known what the attacking force was, even if what he'd said had made no sense.
When he got back, she'd get some answers out of him one way or another. She could always run a quick scan on him. In and out, so fast he'd never notice. But of course she couldn't. Just thinking about it was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat. The Empire conditioned its espers very carefully from childhood on, to ensure they'd never abuse their abilities. Except in the service of the Empire, of course.
”Investigator Frost to pinnace. Acknowledge, and confirm your situation.”
Diana sat up straight as the Investigator's cold, calm voice sounded in her comm implant. ”This is esper Vertue. The pinnace is still secure. Nothing's happened since you left. Where are you?”
”About two miles east of the landing field, map reference Alpha Tango eighty-eight. Has the Captain returned yet?”
”No, Investigator. He hasn't contacted us, and we haven't been able to raise him. Something down here is affecting the comm system; it only works when it feels like it.”
”I had hoped the Captain would be there, but we can proceed without him. This is an official log entry; Unseeli, Day One, 1543 hours. I have discovered what appears to be an alien s.p.a.ce vessel, crashed some two miles east of Base Thirteen. The s.h.i.+p has suffered extensive damage, and there is as yet no sign of any pilot or other crew.”
”An alien s.h.i.+p?” said Diana excitedly as Frost paused. ”What type is it? What species?”
There was another pause, but when Frost spoke again, her voice was calm and measured. ”Unknown, esper.”
Diana stared blankly at the comm panels, her mind racing. s.p.a.ce-traveling aliens were rare, even out here on the Rim, but a new, unknown species! This was the kind of thing careers were made on. A sudden thought struck her.
”Investigator, could this be a representative of the species who originally created the metal forest?”
”Possible, but unlikely. Any species intelligent enough to genegineer the trees would surely be able to land a s.h.i.+p without cras.h.i.+ng it. Listen carefully, esper. You're going to have to leave the pinnace. I need you here, with me, to examine this s.h.i.+p. The marines will accompany you, to ensure your safety.”
”You mean, leave the pinnace unguarded?” said Diana.
”The pinnace can look after itself. Odin, go to full battle readiness. Acknowledge.”
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