Part 5 (2/2)

”And that squad will be right there beside you . . .” As.h.i.+ant pointed at each in turn. Then he twisted around, finger pointing at Clancy, who was trying to maintain an imperturbable expression, though his eyes danced. ”And you don't lose sight of them for one moment.”

”No sir, of course, sir,” Clancy replied, sitting up as if at attention. One of the probes zigzagged and he instantly rectified its course.

”Sir, if I may be allowed to lead the surface party,” Lieutenant Commander Semirame Kloo said, ”I'd be able to a.s.sist Lieutenant Sparrow with a speedy evacuation.”

As.h.i.+ant widened his eyes, threw both hands in the air and rose to his feet.

”You're all mad. Very well, Commander. a.s.semble a squad. Handpicked martial arts experts. I've seen the clips of how fast that queen can move the few times she has. Side arms, missile-loaded. I want to see where you intend to land! And you”-As.h.i.+ant pointed again to Thian, his finger shaking a bit-”wear body armor.”

”Yes sir.”

As.h.i.+ant glared about the room once more and then with an exasperated ”Whoosh” went through to the bridge.

'Admiral on the bridge,” was plainly heard just as the door slid shut.

Thian brought his hands together with a loud clap. ”Let's get with it, team, he said enthusiastically. ”Sam, you get into body armor too. Grm, do you have anything similar?”

Grm drew itself up to its full meter and a half. ”I am 'Dini. I need no armor against queens.”

* could throw Grm bac by myself, if I had to, Semirame said with a sniff. Then she held up her wrist com and started snapping out her orders.

”Shall i keep on with the probes:” Clancy asked.

”Please, Clancy. We ought to have a full surface scan so we can map all the Hiver installations. (Jet Lea Day up here to help, and who's that other good telekinetic on board?”

”Ylad Ivanov in the machine shop,” Thian said. ”He'll do tine it he's available.”

”He is,” Semirame said, interrupting herself. ”Thought he'd be needed. And have you picked out our landing spot?”

”Yes.” Thian pointed to one of the unused screens in the bank ranged across the bulkhead. A scene came up from some of the initial footage of their day's scanning of Arcadia.

”By a collection facility?” Semirame asked in surprise.

”Why not: That s.p.a.ce right there.” Thian put the cursor on the spot. ”Nice open s.p.a.ce tor the shuttle, good visibility. Computer, print screen five.” The hard copy rapidly extruded from the unit and he handed it to Semirame, who frowned as she scanned it. ”Copy to the Admiral's screen. I'll leave it up tor you, Clancy.”

”Thanks,” his cousin said drolly.

Then Thian flicked his fingers at Sam Weiman and (inn. ”C'mon. (Jet ready- I don't want to hang around ... in ease the Admiral has second thoughts about this.” He grinned, once more, mischievously before he turned. With a skip and hop more suited to a much younger person, Thian made his way to bis room to suit himself in the gear specified by the Admiral.

Any sign we've been noticed, Clancy? Thian asked when he felt the slight b.u.mp as the shuttle landed on Arcadia's surface. Nice 'port. ou're improving.

Thanl^ you. Clancy's tone was droll. Nary a flicker on the telltales!

Thian turned. ”Let's have a reading on the air, Mocmurra,” he said, and the woman promptly held up the peculiar device she earned. A long, thin spiral tube contained a worm of intricate, flexible coils coated with a polyamide material that turned them brown: a compact and efficient gas chromatograph.

Mocmurra grinned. ”Air's fresher than the Was.h.i.+ngton^.”

”Let's move out, men,” Commander Semirame said, touching the shuttle's hatch control as her squad instantly got to their feet. She nodded to Thian, allowing him to be first, but Grrn slipped in ahead of him and jumped deftly to the ground, the tools on the belt it wore clanking together.

”Soft,” it said as it flipped its feet through the greeny-brown ground cover that stretched beyond and over the collection facility. Tendrils from the vegetation had spilled over the wide entrance but were trimmed short of covering it.

”Keep the place tidy, don't they,” Semirame said, right at Thian's elbow as he stepped onto the surface. She gestured for her squad to spread out and around the shuttle, checking on all sides.

”All clear, sir,” her sergeant reported.

”Now what, Thian?” she asked.

”I don't quite know,” he said, looking around at the plain that extended in all directions, at the cultivated land with an occasional access alley for the workers. He took deep breaths of the air, tasting it, feeling it on his skin. ”Faint odor?”

”There is.” Semirame took another deep breath. ”Sort of ... crisp.”

”Yes, exactly,” Thian said, having been unable to find the right descriptive word for the lingering smell in the air.

It was extraordinary to be standing here, on a Hiver world, and he didn't bother to hide the slight smile of wonderment and incredulity this moment provoked. He snapped mental fingers at Rojer's jibe that he'd never be ”risked” on a personal tour.

Semirame pointed. ”Look at it move!”

Thian saw the 'Dim, cavorting over the ground cover, beaded right for the collection facility entrance, down the slope.

Semirame whistled for her squad leader's attention, but the sergeant had already allocated two men to follow the 'Dim.

Any activity, Clancy?

Not so much as a pip out of place. Admiral's m here, on your couch, eyes glued to the screen. His expression-well, I'd call it avid, I thinly. Certainly nothing's going to surprise him. What's it life?

Life any other M-typeplanet we've been on. Air has a nice crispness to it. We've fallen GC readings and Weiman's taking samples of the ground cover. Grm's on its way down the embankment to the entrance and we're following. Keep trac of me.

Just don't expect me to move all of you out of danger if you run into it. Clancy's tone was slightly sour.

YOM can come on the next excursion, Clancy.

Do I have a choice?

Thian only laughed as he started down the steep slope that led into the subsurface collection center. He was elated in a way he had never before experienced, not even when he and Kiely-Austin had penetrated the nova-seared Great Sphere and found the egg repositories intact. Even the familiar sting-pzzt that was now noticeable couldn't dampen his mood. Anyway, the body armor somewhat deadened the sensation. He hoped that it would continue to do so when they were in closer proximity to the Hivers.

Semirame had sent men trotting on ahead of the adventurous Grm, whose short legs could not match the jog trot of the marines. She gave a brisk nod of her head and then tilted it to mentally inform Thian that her advance scouts had seen nothing inside to alarm them. Thian stepped onto the approach ramp, excitement rising inside him. With his special senses, he couldn't hear, see or feel anything. No, that wasn t quite right. There was something ... a presence . . . not something truly sentient, but something alive. Some things, he corrected himself.

The ground beneath his feet had been trampled down for so long that it was now below its original level by several centimeters. In fact, if he looked closely he could see the slight ruts worn by workers that had tramped up and down it for centuries. In the depths beyond the overhang, he could see light-Semirame's scouts checking it out.

Hi Tome ”Scouts say it's all clear. Stinks a lot, like rotted vegetation,” she said with a snort.

She raised her arm to call the rest of her team forward. Sam Weiman had knelt down to scoop up more soil samples, grunting as he forced his tool to loosen the closely packed dirt. Semirame pulled down the dark-vision visor from her helmet and Thian followed her example as they moved into the facility.

The prevalent smell was indeed of slightly rotting vegetation. The odor deepened as they penetrated farther in. The flooring was clean and their boots sc.r.a.ped on a different surface. Thian leaned down to touch it.

”Some sort of plascrete,” he said.

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