Renegade Peace: An Intergalactic Space Opera Adventure (Renegade Star Book 16) Page 2

  A second later, my father’s hands gripped my sides and pulled me off the floor. He swung me onto the back of his neck. “What say we get our boy home?” he asked, spinning us both around.

  I laughed, suddenly full of energy, and when I looked down and saw my father, I knew I could do anything.

  2

  “You sure you want to do this, Doc?”

  I adjusted the beam of my light to shine down inside the break in the wall and into the darkness beyond. The gap was plenty wide, but most of it was blocked by a small mountain of broken wall.

  Dr. Dressler had been adamant that there was an important data cache somewhere in Earth’s core. Problem was, large portions of the silver city had been destroyed. I had my doubts on whether this data cache had survived, but Dressler had insisted we send a couple of teams to investigate. Her hunches were usually right, so I didn’t see the harm.

  “Of course, Captain. As I mentioned before, the base files for Project Reclamation will be there. I believe the data may help with our current problem. From what I was able to decipher from Gaia’s fractured memories, this area is important to the final terraforming phase.”

  By “problem,” she meant the impending Celestial threat hanging over our heads. All of the Alliance was gearing up for our enemy to launch one final attack. Thanks to Mareses and the Precursors, half of the Celestial attack fleet had been decimated in one battle. Faced with that kind of power, they had left to lick their wounds, retreating to places unknown to regroup.

  I didn’t know how long it would be until they hit us with their remaining forces. Given our knowledge of the race, they wanted to erase us from the cosmos. Permanently. That being said, I had my doubts about whether spelunking in the ruins left in Earth’s core was the best use of our time. Still, we were already here and the doctor seemed convinced, so I decided it was at least worth checking out.

  I regarded the slim hole. “There isn’t a spot big enough for us to fit through in the suits.” Without hesitation, the doctor went to remove her helmet. I reached out and put a hand on Dressler’s shoulder. “Hold it. The suits stay on.”

  “Well how else do you expect to get inside? There’s too much debris.”

  “Just let me check in with Abby and see if they’re having better luck.”

  It didn’t take long for Abigail to respond to my hail with an update in the negative.

  “Nothing yet, Jace. It’s a mess down here. So far we haven’t been able to get past the wreckage. How are things on your end?”

  I paused, taking a moment to peer down the open shaft. “Not sure yet. There’s a break in the wall, but it’s not on any of the maps Gaia had. We’re going to take a look. Just need to find a way in.”

  “Sir, I believe I may have a solution,” Sigmond broke in over the comm.

  My ears perked up at the news. “Oh yeah, Siggy? And what’s that?”

  “Other teams are encountering similar obstacles, which is hindering progress.”

  “While that’s quite the revelation, Siggy,” I replied. “I don’t see how it helps.”

  “I was getting to that, sir,” said the Cognitive. “The drones are making better headway cleaning up the debris in the main core. If you wish, I can send a vessel to each team to help.”

  “Yeah, I think that’ll do,” I replied.

  “Stand by. Deploying drones now.”

  “Okay, Abby. Sounds like help is on the way. Keep me updated.”

  There was a slight pause from Abigail’s side. No doubt she would have preferred to come with us, but it would’ve been a waste of time to wait. “Just be careful. We need you both.”

  “Woman, I don’t plan on dying today or any other day. You just worry about keeping Freddie in one piece for Petra. Can’t have the groom missing the wedding, can we?”

  I could almost hear the smile in her voice. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. He’ll be there.”

  With that, Abigail ended the transmission, leaving me and Dressler with no choice but to wait for Sigmond’s drone. Since the doctor wasn’t much on small talk, I didn’t interrupt when she pulled out a pad to do a little work. I didn’t blame her for squeezing in the extra time—every second counted.

  That’s why it took me by surprise when she looked up, her helmet’s light falling across my visor in a jerky movement. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

  I stared back, confused. “What is?”

  “The wedding, Captain. Despite our current… situation, it’s good to remember what we’re fighting for.”

  Folding my arms, I leaned against the nearby wall and regarded her, genuinely surprised. “Really? I would have thought you’d find it a waste of resources and time.”

  She shook her head, making the light beam dance across the ruined corridor. “I suppose I would have thought as much before, but I’ve come to realize the importance of morale during times of heavy stress, particularly wartime. The wedding might be an indulgence, but it may very well be the last one we allow ourselves. And that, to me, seems worth the effort.”

  I smiled, even though she couldn’t see it under my helmet’s visor. “You make a good point, Doc. But what about you?”

  “Me?”

  “Will there be wedding bells in your future?”

  She started to answer, but then hesitated. “I don’t… I don’t know. I suppose that will depend on the outcome of this war, don’t you think?”

  The question was meant to tease, but I could see she was serious. Unsure of how to reply to the idea of her and Alphonse tying the knot, I cleared my throat and turned my attention back to the gap.

  Sigmond’s drone arriving saved me from having to come up with anything. We moved out of its way and watched in silence as mechanical arms slid out and began hauling the biggest chunks out of the way.

  I shifted from one foot to the other, feeling both eager and a little anxious. It wasn’t that I was nervous, exactly, but neither was I keen to have a repeat of the last time we came down here.

  Remembering the horde of trilobites that had nearly taken us out, I had to suppress a chill. Not long after that, Leif and his people had come crashing into the core through the largest slip tunnel any of us had ever seen. At least at the time.

  The result had been a lot of destruction, most of which was still evident to this day, even despite Sigmond’s clean-up efforts.

  “Ready, Captain?” Dr. Dressler’s voice cut into my musings and pulled my attention back to the task at hand. The nearby drone had made enough space for us to get through and Dressler motioned toward the newly made opening. “Shall we continue?”

  Inside, we found most of the continuing hallway had largely remained intact. It stretched on, unobstructed and empty, until we came to a turn. It only went to the left, which certainly made things easier.

  “We aren’t far from one of the designated coordinates,” remarked Dressler.

  “Good,” I grunted. “You said you’re looking for Project Reclamation files. What are you hoping to find?”

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But we’re out of options. Without the Precursors to help, I thought it best to explore other ideas. Some of the data led me to believe the final phase of Project Reclamation may prove helpful to the cause.”

  With the full suits on, it was hard to converse like normal. “Helpful how? If this last phase of it is anything like the others, I don’t see how it’ll help us with a war against a bunch of genocidal monsters. More domes, animals, and plants aren’t going to stop the Celestials. Not even close.”

  Something like a snicker came over the comm. “I assure you, this will have nothing to do with domes or animals. I haven’t given you any details because I don’t know everything yet. However, I can say that some of the fragments I put together mentioned a substantial energy source. My hope is that whatever it is, we might be able to redistribute the power supply for other means.”

  I considered that for a moment, imagining an oversized pulse cannon wreaking havoc on Celestial force
s. “Let’s hope you’re right, Doc. At this point it’s going to take nothing less than a minor miracle to win.” After a short pause, I continued. “It’ll be nice to be in control of Project Reclamation for a change. I’m tired of almost dying every time we hit a new phase or activating this shit accidentally.”

  Dressler responded with a quick snort.

  Before I could say something else, she stopped and held out her pad. “Aha. We’re almost there. Just around the corner and we’ll be in a larger alcove. After that it is murky. Gaia’s memories were too damaged to be accurate.”

  “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” I handed the pad back and started forward again. “Lack of information hasn’t stopped us before.”

  “Perhaps not, though it has caused us significant trouble. Need I remind you of the trilobites?”

  “No,” I said, giving a hard shake of my head. “I’m still pissed they took my boot.”

  “Just be glad it wasn’t your foot,” she said, stoic. “Here we are.”

  We had rounded the last bend and now stood in a wide open area with the drone still following faithfully behind us. Without the more confined space of the hallway to contain our helmet lights, they were lost in the chasm before us. I immediately went tense until my visor adjusted. Even then it didn’t give me more than a few meters of visibility.

  A set of pillars loomed ahead, and now I couldn’t help but think of the trilobite swarm Dressler had disabled. “Sigmond, can you have the drone do a sweep of the area? I don’t want any surprises.”

  “One moment,” he replied.

  Dressler and I moved aside to let the little craft through. It slid out into the open in a smooth motion. I didn’t see any outward indication that it was doing anything, but my Heads Up Display updated as the scan rendered.

  “Scan complete,” announced Sigmond. “The area is empty, but I do detect a terminal at the far side.”

  “I don’t understand,” Dressler murmured. “According to the data we’ve managed to recover from Gaia, there should be something here. I suppose we should inspect the terminal.” She adjusted the satchel at her side and looked at me expectantly.

  Usually the doctor didn’t bother to wait for my go ahead, so the gesture both pleased me and took me aback.

  “Alright, Siggy. Keep your watch drone on alert. If anything changes, I want to know.”

  The Cognitive was quick to reply, his voice calm as usual. “Of course, Captain. Please proceed with caution.”

  I moved forward, my steps careful. Dressler kept pace with me, her small form sticking close. I didn’t blame her. We’d both seen enough to be wary of what might be hiding from us.

  It didn’t take long to reach the terminal. The small station sat quiet and dark, making me doubt whether or not it even had power. As soon as she was within arm’s reach, Dressler reached out to touch it.

  Before I could stop her, she was pulling off her suit glove. “MaryAnn, what the hell?”

  She didn’t even pause. “If it works the same as the other eternal tech, I’ll need to touch it directly. Otherwise we came here for nothing.”

  “Captain Hughes. If I may interrupt?”

  I grunted. “Go ahead, Siggy.”

  “The drone has not detected any issues with the atmosphere. It is perfectly safe for Dr. Dressler and yourself to remove your suits.”

  “Go ahead, Doc. I’ll keep mine on, all the same.”

  She let out a little snort and touched the terminal once more. At once it came to life, a bright glow emitting from various sections.

  Dressler made a hmm sound. I knew better than to interrupt and ask anything. She didn’t make me wait long anyway.

  “This terminal is not connected to any other networks,” she announced. The tone of her voice told me this was a good thing, but I didn’t know why.

  “Isn’t that bad?”

  “On the contrary. This system was not subject to the same decay that Gaia suffered. It’s separate. Not only that, but from what I can tell there is an independent network housed somewhere beyond this room.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” I told her. “We don’t have enough time to explore the whole place, Doc.”

  “I’m connecting the network to my pad. Be patient.”

  Patience wasn’t really my strong suit, but I let her go, her fingers flying over the pad as she worked. Dressler tended to mutter to herself when dealing with complicated tasks, but this time she sounded excited. With a final flourish, she swiped a finger over the screen, then stepped back.

  From our left came a slight hum, almost like a whine, followed by a swatch of green light a few meters up on the wall. I took a step back, motioning for Dressler to get behind me. A circle appeared, about chest high, then grew. As I was about to tell Sigmond to set the drone on it, the circle became an opening taller than me.

  A doorway.

  Dressler poked her head around for a better view, then looked at me. “Terrifying, Captain Hughes.”

  “And don’t you forget it. Siggy, why don’t you send the drone through to make sure it’s safe? We’ll follow.”

  “Good idea, sir. Standby for updated scans.”

  The drone nudged forward through the opening a second later. When nothing blasted it into little bits, I chanced going in behind it. As soon as I crossed the threshold, lights came on above me, illuminating a bright corridor.

  I whistled under my breath. “How about that? Another hallway.”

  Dressler snickered. “I told you there was more here. The data cache has to be in there.”

  “So you did. Let’s not waste time standing around then. Any idea what this place looks like?”

  “No, though I expect we’ll know it when we see it,” she replied. “If it was built at the same time as the city in the core, it could be familiar.”

  When we came to a split, Dressler pointed to a placard on the wall. “We don’t want to go left—that’s the cafeteria and living accommodations. Right will take us to the labs.”

  The text was unfamiliar and didn’t mean anything to me, but she spoke confidently. I stared at her for a second. “You can read that?”

  She looked back at me, her grin clear in the bright hallway. “Of course. You can’t?”

  I cocked my head at her in a hell no gesture. “Stop messing around and let’s get on with it. I’m not leaving here empty handed.”

  The new hallway only took us a short distance before we hit the first door. Dressler read the contents and shook her head. “Device storage.”

  On the third try, we struck pay dirt. According to the good doctor, it was a lab. At her touch, it opened to admit us. Just like before, the lights blinked on as soon as we were over the threshold. When I caught Dressler’s sharp intake of breath, my hand flew to the pistol at my side.

  She put her hand on my arm to stop me from pulling it out at the sight before us: trilobites in assembly. They were splayed out on examination tables, their parts strewn about. I recognized it as a workspace for the little buggers, but it still gave me a good jolt.

  “I don’t think any of them are in working order,” I said, taking my hand off my holster.

  “It does not appear so. However, I didn’t get a chance to study any of these as well as I would have liked. I’d like to take one back with us.”

  “Gotta say, Doc. I’m not big on the idea. What if messing with them turns them back on? The last thing we need is another horde of mechanized killers to deal with.”

  “While I understand being cautious, we did come here to obtain something. For all we know, I can program the trilobites to be of some use.”

  “Fine,” I said grudgingly. But don’t come after me if one tries to turn you into a pile of goo.”

  The drone couldn’t fit inside the lab, so she hauled the small robot out on a hovercart that had been stashed in a corner.

  That done, we moved on. It took nearly an hour, but we finally found what we were looking for.

  “Must be the place,”
I said when the door opened. Before the overhead lighting activated, we were met with a sea of blinking points. There was no mistaking that we had found the server room.

  This time, Dressler didn’t wait. She made a fast track for the terminal just inside the door and had the computer on in seconds.

  “This is it!” She didn’t quite shout, but it was close. “The corrupted files, they are all here, intact.”

  In her excitement, the doctor unsealed her helmet and let it drop to the floor, then bent over the terminal once more. After a few minutes, she stood and dragged a hand through her hair before turning to regard me with a wide smile.

  “Don’t just stand there grinning,” I said, exasperated. “Talk to me.”

  “I have an idea how the final phase will work. If I’m right, it might just give us the edge we need to win this once and for all.”

  3

  I adjusted my clothes before going into the makeshift tent that had been set up for the wedding party. Weren’t people supposed to dress up at these things? Nothing in my wardrobe could even be loosely described as formal wear.

  To be honest, my mind hadn’t been completely on the subject. After finding the servers in the ruined core, Dressler had announced that there was too much data to go through with the equipment she had. I’d left her to it after securing her word that she would make it back for Freddie’s wedding. Another team would have to go down and assist. That was fine by me, though I couldn’t help but wonder what they might find.

  Sigmond spoke over the comm in my ear. “Sir. I have the update you requested. At the moment there are 1,527 active drones in service.”

  “Those are good numbers, Siggy. Get us more. As many as you can.”

  “Of course, Captain. I will continue to update the totals as production finishes.”

  “You be sure to do that. Everything needs to run smoothly. We can’t have any hiccups. Right now, your drone facilities are critical to prevent us from getting our asses kicked.”

  “Well put, sir.”