12

The next morning, I woke and listened to X-37 updating me on the status of the fleet as I got squared away. Captain Younger, the acting admiral of the fleet, had deployed in the lagrangian point between Macabre and the fourth planet from the local star.

“I’ve also observed that your morning ritual is significantly less focused on your personal security than it was before your final encounter with Vice Admiral Nebs,” X-37 said.

 “Are you saying I’m getting soft?” I asked.  There had been a reason for me to roll out of bed like I was about to be attacked, but I couldn’t remember what it was. I still checked my environment and remained as situationally aware as possible, always understanding that anything could happen.

But I felt safer than I ever had. Why? I thought it was because I belonged with the people of Xad and Wallach and my friends.

I hoped I didn’t let them down.

“Elise and the rest of the team are waiting for you in the launch bay,” X-37 said.

“I’m on my way.”

We loaded into our archangel gear a short time after I arrived. Elise harassed me for being late, but she seemed to be in a good mood. When I had snapped into my Archangel, I viewed the rest of my team: Elise, Path, Horvath, Carrie, and Ayers. Tom stayed on the ship in a command-and-control function, while the Wallach and Xad soldiers we’d borrowed waited as a reaction force if needed.

They didn’t have archangel gear, only the heavy-duty search and rescue equipment provided by Captain Younger. I hope they didn’t have to test it on the harsh surface of Macabre.

“I’m launching the probe,” Tom advised. “Make yourself comfortable but be ready. There may be a narrow window of opportunity once the process begins.”

“Your mechanic is correct,” Ayers said. “The vault will rise to the surface of the lava for a short time, then descend to a cavern far below the surface. That’s the secret to its long-term survival.”

“Good to know. Not that I’m excited about getting trapped miles below the surface of the volcanic planet,” I said.

“You have a way with words,” Elise said. “And you tell me to think before I speak. Can someone else give our pep talk?”

“Fine. How’s this for a pep talk? Everyone get on the shuttle,” I said. “Carrie will pilot, Elise is the back-up pilot.”

 “Why can’t I fly the shuttle?” Elise asked.

“You can’t pilot the ship and be on the away team. If we get to where you’re flying, then something has gone wrong.” I reviewed the plan and checked on Tom regarding the status of the drone.

“It struck the surface and disappeared. Jelly can’t get any further readings on it,” Tom said. “We won’t know if it worked until the vault rises to the surface.”

“Understood,” I said. “We’ll maintain a high orbit in the shuttle until you give us the go ahead.”

 Once we were all loaded up, and we’d completed our safety checks, Carrie flew the shuttle into position. We waited for almost half an hour.

“And… it seems Doctor Ayers was telling the truth,” Tom said. “I’m sending you images of the vault. It’s emerging from the lava field and seems to be opening. I suggest you move quickly.”

I watched the viewscreen, amazed at what I was seeing. The vault was more like a mobile base in the shape of a sphere. There was no instrumentation, and there were no portholes on the lava ship, but once it was on the surface, it began to open.

The first thing that happened was the unfolding of a foundation. My gut instinct was that they were using advanced alloys and shielding technology that rivaled anything found on a starship. How they powered it to maintain a constant defense was a mystery, but there it was.

Once the giant pontoon-boat-like foundation had been put out, the center of it opened up into what looked like a landing strip with retaining walls all around the edges to keep lava from spilling onto the open area.

“That looks big, but I think when we get down there it will feel small,” Elise said

“A good portion of the vault is still below the surface, much like the whole of any oceangoing vessel on a normal planet,” Ayers said. “Time is of the essence. I recommend that you land, get what you came for, and then have us pick you up in the shuttle.”

“Carrie is the only one who’s staying on the shuttle. I will need your expertise, and passwords, when we land,” I said.

“There are no passwords at this point. No one could access it if they didn’t have control of the drone, so further security measures are redundant,” Ayers said.

“Right, and the Union never does anything that’s redundant,” I said.

Elise moved closer to Ayers, the helmet of her archangel armor open since we were still on the shuttle. “There aren’t any surprises down there, are there?”

Ayers looked away embarrassed. He covered his mistake, but we all saw what had transpired.

“There’s something else, isn’t there, Doctor Ayers?” Elise asked. “You wouldn’t want us to get hurt, would you?”

Eventually, Ayers looked her in the eyes. “No one would’ve been hurt. You just wouldn’t have been able to get inside. You would’ve returned to the shuttle and we would’ve left.”

“Without the codes to save my family?” I asked, keeping my voice as dry and sharp as a blade.

“There is a way to retrieve the contents of the vault without going inside. You merely need access to the control panel, and I would’ve walked you through it remotely,” Ayers said. “That’s still an option if you’re interested.”

I shook my head, leaning toward him. “We came all this way, so we might as well have it all.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.” He closed his archangel helmet.  “We might as well do this.”

I waited until I was sure the doctor didn’t have any other surprises to hit us with, then gave Carrie the signal. “Take us down. The moment we’re off the ship, get some altitude. I don’t want the shuttle damaged by the environment.”

“Can-do, Reaper,” Carrie said. Moments later, we were shooting down to the upper atmosphere.

“Doctor, how are you going to open the vault?” Elise asked.

Ayers hesitated, but then spilled it. “The important parts of the vault can only be accessed with my DNA or the DNA of Nebs.”

I leaned back, regarding the scene with satisfaction. “When I’m right, I’m right.”

“You didn’t know it would require my DNA,” Ayers countered.

“I knew it would be something.”

 “We are on final approach,” Carrie said. “Be ready to deploy. Touching down in five, four, three, two, one, now.”

The ramp at the back of the shuttle opened, and I saw nothing but heat waves and splashing lava for a few seconds. The shuttle rotated until the deck of the Union lava ship was visible.

I went first, jumping down and doing a quick check for traps or other dangers.

“All clear. This place has one door in the center of the deck,” I said. “Bring Ayers and let’s get this done.”

“On the way,” Elise said.

Moments later, Elise and Horvath escorted Doctor Ayers down the shuttle ramp. The moment they were clear, Carrie lifted off and climbed for altitude.

I leaned close to the door, examining the nearly invisible seam around the edges, then searched for a locking mechanism. The entrance was barely recognizable as a door despite being in the center of the dome-shaped vault. There was no way I was getting in this one without help.

The deck of the Union facility shifted sideways, sliding across some change in the lava sea around us. Horvath and Ayers stumbled, but Elise was there to balance them, using one hand to steady the Wallach soldier and pick up the scientists where he had fallen to one knee with the other.

Below the ash-gray clouds above us, the shuttle circled at an altitude safe from a shoulder-fired surface-to-air rocket. This gave me more insight into Carrie as a soldier. She was following her training, most likely. Being reliable and brave was important to the men and women of Wallach.

Elise and the others gathered around me. “Made it,” she said.

“Ayers, you’re up. Get this door open,” I said.

He hesitated for a count of three, nodded, and stepped close to the portal. Seconds later he had located a small pinhole off to one side that I wouldn’t have found even if I’d known what to look for.

“What are you waiting for?” I asked. “Every second we stand here is dangerous. Open the door.”

He looked embarrassed. “I need a small knife or a needle.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.

“I’m not going to pick the lock, Reaper. I need to cut myself. This will operate on my DNA,” he said.

Horvath pulled a long combat knife from the leg of his Archangel armor. Doctor Ayers flinched even though he was safe in his own gear.

“That seems excessive. I was hoping somebody had a small tool I could use to prick my finger,” Ayers said, removing his gauntlets.

“When did we teach him to take those off? They are triple-sealed to maintain ballistic integrity, protection from the environment, and to maintain internal temperatures,” Elise asked on our private channel. “Huge pain in the backside to deal with.”

“Quickly please,” Ayers said. “You wouldn’t believe how hot the air is.”

X-37 answered. “He was not instructed and should not have any skill at using the gear. My analysis suggests that it is a good thing we took the weapons off of his unit. Doctor Ayers has been holding back. He is trying to hustle us, Reaper Cain.”

I stepped forward, not wanting the man to realize we detected another layer of his dishonesty, then fished a small cigar knife from the storage compartment in my Archangel armor. “Use this, but I’ll need it back. Not that I’m excited about trimming a cigar with something you bled on.”

“All it took was a mission to Macabre for us to learn what makes a Reaper squeamish,” Ayers said. He accepted the knife, drew a small line across one of his fingertips, and milked the wound to produce a bead of blood. Next, he pushed it against the pinhole, and we all watched the blood disappear.

Fewer than twenty meters from the edge of the platform, lava geysered into the air without warning. It shot a hundred meters above us then fell back toward the planet, creating an arc over the Union lava ship. Glowing red and gold mist rained down on us.

Ayers put back on the Archangel gauntlets so quickly it seemed like he had never taken them off. Despite the soft look of the superheated magma, when it struck my helmet it sounded like fist-sized hail.

The door to the wall started to open but stopped when the melted rock splattered across its surface.

“What the hell?” I grunted.

“It’s protecting itself,” Ayers said. “The vault wouldn’t survive long in this environment if we hadn’t designed it well. Be patient and it will open. It knows I’m here.”

“Creepy.” Elise made a sound over the commlink Ayers couldn’t hear.

Unaware of our opinions, Ayers composed himself.

“Doctor Ayers seems extraordinarily calm given our prior observations of his behavior,” X-37 said.

“Yeah. I think you’re right. He’s trying to pull a fast one,” I said.

“My analyses are usually accurate,” X-37 said. “I should add that it is equally likely that he is unstable and could revert back to any number of behavioral templates at any time.”

“That doesn’t make me feel good,” I said, then switched to the main channel. “I’ll go first. Elise, bring up the rear. Horvath, stay at the door to make sure it doesn’t close.”

“How am I going to do that?” Horvath asked.

“You’ll figure something out.” I moved into the small space and began searching it with the enhanced power of the Archangel optics but also my cybernetic eye. X-37 processed images as fast as possible, giving me concise updates as I moved.

“There are seven steep stairwells circumventing the interior, suggesting the vault can operate upside-down if needed. Lighting is set to emergency power levels. I’m increasing your optical sensitivity. Motion detection is null, but please remain vigilant, Reaper Cain.”

I took a stairwell descending along the wall into the bowels of the vault. It was only one room lit by red, low power emergency lighting.

“Freaky,” Elise said. “Not on my list of places to visit often.”

The floor shifted. It was like being on an ocean-going vessel but more subdued because of the consistency of what we were floating on. I heard the lava ship bump against something large.

“What was that, Ayers?” I demanded.

“Not everything remains molten when exposed to the surface atmosphere. Everything is continually melting and solidifying,” he said.

Something rocked the entire ship to one side, forcing us all to fight to stay on our feet.

“We are safe for now,” Ayers said. “The ship was made to withstand this environment. That was another geyser.”

“Where are the codes?” I asked.

Ayers led me to one side of the vault where there were several small workstations. “I will need to disconnect these properly and transfer data to a single unit, then we can take it with us. Once we are back on your ship, the codes will be easy to retrieve with or without me. However, I recommend you don’t leave me here or kill me even though my value will diminish once you have these in your possession.”

OceanofPDF.com