Part 1 (1/2)
The Trilisk Supersedure.
by Michael McCloskey.
For my family.
Special thanks to Maarten Hofman and Howard Lyon.
Prologue.
Jack DeVries scanned the alien landscape from the overhang that concealed his tiny stars.h.i.+p. Chigran Callnir Four looked like a combination of a rocky highland and a jungle. He saw heavy vegetation, or at least things that resembled trees and plants, though they apparently didn't shed leaves or branches since they grew out of gaps in the naked red rocks nearby with no sign of detritus.
DeVries didn't know anything about the planet except that it was one of the open worlds, meaning it could have picked up a settlement or two, provided there wasn't some deadly menace hiding among the rocks. DeVries didn't care much one way or the other. He just had to hang low for a few Earth Standard Months until the s.p.a.ce force gave up searching for him. And whatever might be out there, he figured he was probably deadlier.
The last operation had been a messy one. He'd gotten away with the AI core just as planned. The only snag had been that he'd had to kill fifty-seven citizens to do it. Eight of them with his bare hands. DeVries did not look particularly strong or threatening, but that just added to his effectiveness.
DeVries slipped a water sensor out of his Veer skinsuit and gave the horizon a quick go over. He frowned. Nothing special out there, but at least he detected a large water source within three kilometers. There was also a speckling of water on the readings in his PV, which could be smaller pools or creatures largely composed of water. From his experience, they looked like Terran-sized collections of water, but he could not be sure.
He pocketed the scanner and made his way down the rocky hillside. A h.o.m.ogenous batch of plants dotted the way. Each had a thick trunk emerging from the rocks, which split into three branches, then each of those split again into three more until finally sprouting out into a flower or complex leaf that looked like a patch of green hair.
The plentiful plant stalks eased his descent, providing him with dozens of ready handles to steady him as he scrambled down the sharp rocks. Each of the stalks originated from a deep fissure in the rock along with ten or twenty others. If he did fall, he felt his suit would protect him as long as he didn't smash his head.
I wonder if the lack of acc.u.mulated leaves or branches on the ground is because something eats it all. But then I'd expect to see a bed of dung.
He peered into a hole where many stalks emerged. It was too dark to see inside.
Maybe the rain washes everything down these holes. Oh well. What do I care?
A red ribbon wrapped around a plant just ahead caught his attention. The strip of color s.h.i.+fted. DeVries struggled to resolve the image. The creature was half red and half diaphanous, resembling a snake or eel. Its translucent parts made it hard to see as it s.h.i.+fted position, fooling the eyes. It was much larger than it first appeared. DeVries was instantly wary.
He pulled out a light plastic dagger and altered course.
No point in messing with it unless it's coming after me.
The creature flowed to the top of its plant, then rose up even higher. Its upper body waved half a meter into the air as DeVries sidetracked it. He couldn't see any eyes or a mouth, but obviously it had detected his approach.
Danger display? Or is it just curious?
He could not help but compare it to similar creatures he knew about: large snakes and eels. He thought of constriction and poison. He considered drawing the stunner, but instead he simply kept moving steadily, climbing to one side. DeVries knew he had at least one thing going for him: whatever that thing's natural prey was, chances were he did not match its appearance or behavior. That meant the feeding action of the animal most likely would not trigger on him.
Unless that thing just eats everything that moves.
The tense moment pa.s.sed as he put several stalks between himself and the creature. It relaxed back into its previous pose, wrapped lazily around a plant or two. DeVries left the thing behind as he slipped the rest of the way down from the formation that concealed his s.h.i.+p. Then the ground angled back up again, toward the side of the next long, rocky hill. A line of vegetation limited his view down toward the valley he had examined from above. The water source was higher, between two hills.
He walked up the draw, remaining wary. He hopped from rock to rock trying to avoid the plants and thus hopefully the fauna as well. A cliff rose on his right, starting as a small cleft in the rock then rising meter after meter until it was a sheer rocky barrier.
DeVries found a cave entrance in the side of the cliff. When he stopped to examine it, he quickly noticed the entrance had been carved smooth. A ceramic grating of an odd design blocked the way. The grating had about a dozen strong vertical bars, with about eight centimeters of s.p.a.ce between each one. The bars were only about four centimeters wide, but very deep. The openings extended about thirty centimeters to the far side. He resisted the urge to try and stick his arm through one. The other side was dark, and he didn't feel like finding out what danger might lurk there.
DeVries grunted. Apparently, the water wasn't his alone.
Unless whoever made this is long fallen to dust. Could be a ruin.
He accessed his scanner over his link. Without taking the device out of his pack, the scanner had a limited range, but DeVries just wanted to check for nearby danger. The scanner picked up some anomalies ahead. DeVries carefully cleared a rise of spiky rock and tried again.
Lifeforms. Humans. Now he was sure.
Can't be the s.p.a.ce force. This has to be colonists. Out here in the middle of nowhere? Oh, of course. They must be here for the water, same as me.
DeVries took stock of his gear. He had two weapons: a PSG stunner and a Veer Industries plastic knife. A laughable a.r.s.enal by his standards, but of course he had had to keep a low profile to escape. He squeezed the knife in his iron grip, as if flexing his need to kill. He felt half inclined to carve on whomever he found one by one just to pa.s.s the time. But he was curious, too, so he decided to talk it out first.
He put away his knife but loosened the clasp holding his stunner in place. Then he climbed a little farther. The wall on his right had a tunnel carved into it. There was a spot for another of the ceramic grates, but the grate had been pulled out and set to one side. He would have to crouch a bit, but the tunnel was clearly pa.s.sable for Terrans. It had rough red walls with gaps where the rock had split and cracked. DeVries walked into the tunnel.
He heard voices. The urgent rhythm of the hissed whispers told him they had detected him.
”I come in peace,” he called out. ”I am only one man.” His voice echoed ahead. He estimated there must be many chambers and pa.s.sageways.
”Please leave us be. We're not with the s.p.a.ce force,” replied someone.
DeVries's heart rate increased.
How could they possibly know I'm concerned about the s.p.a.ce force? They can't.
He took a few more steps forward. The outside light filtered in through another of the large gratings in the ceiling of a small, square room. The far side had a low wall built around its corner, which made DeVries think of a well. Four men in robes stood by the wall with blue plastic containers. Two of the men wore reddish robes, the color of the rocks outside, and two of them wore yellow. DeVries had to double check that they were men, wondering if two of them might be women. But they all looked male. Three had short, dark hair. One was bald. The robes made them appear simple, but he reminded himself they could have any kind of equipment under the plain coverings.
”What makes you think I care about the s.p.a.ce force?” asked DeVries. His voice was calm, soothing even. He knew most people found his appearance nonthreatening.
”You're their enemy, correct? You're from the UED?”
”No. What makes you think the UED would be here? Oh. You've been cut off, haven't you? United Earth Defiance lost the war.”
”That does not concern us. But we have seen UED forces here recently.”
”Really?”
”A squadron of marines. We a.s.sumed you were one of them.”
Wow. Small universe. At least it seems that way when everyone flocks to rocky planets in the habitable zone.
”I'm a free agent,” DeVries said carefully. ”How about yourselves?”
”We're here for an amazing denizen of this world, the Konuan.”
”Never heard of it. Is it valuable? You're hunters?”
”The Konuan. They used to live here by the thousands. Maybe the millions. They created a city here. The water you must have detected is from one of their cisterns.”
”What happened to them?”