"You're certain?" Rekha asked an hour later. She'd spent what felt like half a lifetime crying in Venjie's arms. When she'd come out of it, she'd escaped to the hygiene closet to splash her face and try to process. Ten minutes hadn't been long enough. Ten years probably wouldn't be either.
"Rekha. For the fourth time, yes." Venjie's brow was arched. "Do whatever you need to do. We have work to get on with, remember?"
Says the woman who didn't have to put an anchor in someone else's head for the first time.
You're absolutely certain you want this? Rekha asked with psi this time, to drive her point home. Aside from privacy issues, I've never done this. You really want me messing around in your head? I could make a mistake. I could hurt you.
Venjie flinched, then looked at Alandris' green-riddled features. "Rekha, you're wasting time doubting yourself. If you can get past cerebral shielding from kilometers away delicately enough not to hurt me, you can put an anchor in my head to let us communicate with the same finesse."
Alandris nodded, wiped snot from her nose.
Rekha's own sinuses pulsed with congestion. She had a headache. What if the infection ma-
"Rekha! Do it!"
Very well.
That soft spot for killing, it was also where the anchor needed to be placed. She should have mentioned this. No. No more time for delaying and wondering. She'd committed. Do it. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and slid deeper into Venjie's mind. Carefully, gently, with absolute determination to not hurt Venjie, Rekha focused on the soft spot.
A trainer had explained that it felt different for each psionic. The anchor was unique to them. The trainer had imagined installing a comms unit in their target. Another liked the concept of leaving parrots. A former teammate had enjoyed the offensiveness of alarm sirens.
Rekha planted a saffron crocus. They didn't simply produce the famously expensive spice. The flowers were lovely. Maybe Rekha could buy a few bulbs and grow saffron herself once she got off this planet. She could find a job as ship chef on a luxury liner or something. She smiled at the little plant taking root in Venjie's mind and retreated.
Venjie's eyes flew open. "I feel it!"
The trainer had also said that each recipient felt the anchors differently. It was largely affected by the psionic who placed it there. Some said it was a hot needle winding and twisting its painful way through their mind. A heavy weight. A dull pulsing. A frightening presence. A strange waft of air. No one ever enjoyed it.
"It's…" Venjie struggled to describe.
Rekha looked at the scanner's readouts. The dragon seemed as far away as it was going to get.
"It's… smooth."
"Smooth?" rasped Alandris.
Venjie shrugged, darted a quick glance at Rekha that she pretended not to see. "I mean, it has a sweetness to it, like Rekha's voice. Out loud and," a gesture at her head. "In here. But there's a solidness to it too. And… it's smooth. Like silk, but it doesn't feel like a blanket. It's a small thing."
Venjie kept talking, trying to describe what she felt and with every spoken word there was a psi-echo that pulsed in Rekha's head. Tangled emotions layered heavily on her own. Her mind and heart filled until she felt ready to burst. Too much!
How? How to reduce all this broadcast? She couldn't stop or reduce it at the source; that would defeat the whole purpose of the anchor. Had to find a fix in her own head. Only hear direct thoughts! That's it. Only direct thoughts allowed. She imagined a valve between her mind and Venjie's. It only opened for direct thoughts.
Slowly, the emotions stopped layering. The words stopped echoing. Only her own remained.
Rekha?
"Sorry. It was… a lot. I… I had to reduce it."
You can hear me?
"Yes, Remus."
Alandris snorted. "Glad the anchor is working."
What? She opened her eyes.
It's working, Rekha! Venjie's mouth wasn't moving. You did it.
Light, that was strange to hear someone in her head when she wasn't the one holding open the psi-channel. It'd been so long since she'd been around other psionics. There was the old voice, of course, but this was someone she knew and cared about. It was different, warmer, better. Homesickness tried to worm its way up her throat. She shoved it down. Priorities. Find the cure.
"It'll be nice not to rely on the shoddy comms." Rekha allowed.
Alandris closed her eyes and shook her head. Her lips moved in an annoyed, but soundless mutter.
"I'm heading to the prawn. I'll try Path 'A' first." Path 'A', one of three plans they had come up with for Rekha getting to the mountain. 'A' was the most direct and went for the closest tunnel opening. As long as the dragon didn't show up, and she didn't fall into a lava lake, she'd get to the alien base in under an hour.
The moment she was alone, her mind gated back to those comforting moments in Venjie's embrace. Light, the woman had called her "sweetheart"! After everything Rekha had said about anchors, her abilities, and the monstrous things she'd done, Venjie had hugged her, comforted her, been angry for her. She'd said she thought Rekha was the most trustworthy person she knew.
A tickle in the back of her throat had her clearing it. The tickle laughed into a cough that took her hands off the prawn controls for fear of accidentally hitting the boosters and landing her in a lavapool.
Damn this disease! She didn't have time to waste coughing or mooning over how it'd been the pinnacle of wonderful being embraced by Venjie and hearing her say sweet things in her ear. Or wonder at how Venjie had described the anchor. She didn't hate it. It didn't hurt her. Was she lying? Or was it truly possible to create an anchor that didn't cause disruption? Was all of the pain and awfulness that her trainers had described avoidable? Did they know it and do it anyway?
Anger thrummed hot under her skin. They probably did know. They knew there were ways to be gentle and chose not to be. Damn the military's insistence on hating everyone! A delicate flower was as effective as a light-forsaken knife, but they preferred the knife.
Brittle rock sank under a heavy landing. "Too much boost, Sharma." She berated herself. "You're letting your emotions get in the way again."
Refocused, she hopped over a lavaflow, pushed away a shark. She was in an open plain of barely hardened lava. The brittle rock continued threatening to break under each step.
"Don't linger. Don't get distracted," became Rekha's mantra.
Great care was given to every step taken. Psi constantly reached out, feeling for dragons. She shuddered at the idea that there was more than one.
"Focus. You have a destination. You need to reach it in one piece." She was almost across the open field. The mountain loomed only a few scant meters away.
There was a rumble in the waters, a broadcast of territorial aggression. What? Where? From her right. The dragon. Caution now a luxury, she boosted the remaining distance to a tall spire. The mountain was covered in them, looking like the whole thing was a giant, dripping candle, turned upside down. Hopefully, they would give some cover.
The spire exploded. She yelped and hit the boosters again. A fireball smashed into the rocks behind her. A moment later, she punched them again, dodging laterally. For twenty minutes, she danced up the mountain while fireballs rained down on her. Rage broadcasted from the dragon. It wanted to destroy the metal fish. It needed to destroy it. It was a threat, one that would find its eggs and hurt them.
Was it ancient enough to remember that? Was it a parent of the lost egg? Or was it something like genetic memory? She shuddered and dodged another fireball. Whatever the reason, the fact that the dragon could put cause and effect together meant it was intelligent. Getting back to the habitat was going to require stealth and patience. But first, she had to make it to the tunnel. It was only a few meters ahead.
Red lights screamed about the boosters needing to cycle down and recharge. The tunnel mouth was right there! She could make it! She hit the boosters again, but nothing happened. They'd automatically shut down. Five minutes to recharge. The dragon was circling back; she only had a minute. What to do?
The grappling hook. Instead of a drill attachment, one of the exosuit's arms ended in a three-pronged hook. She aimed up and fired. The hook shot toward the ledge above the tunnel, fell, and caught as the dragon was diving at her, arm outstretched, claws ready to crush her little prawn.
She hit retract. With a lurch, the prawn was yanked up. Below her, rock went flying, and the dragon howled in frustration. She released the hook, let the prawn slide down and run into the tunnel. More rock exploded, caused a cave-in, completely blocking the tunnel entrance.
Denied fury billowed in the water. More and more attacks caused more rocks to fall. Light, it could cause the whole mountain to collapse! Can't stop. Keep going. She pushed the prawn to its fastest pace, dodging falling rock, hopping over glowing lava, until she burst into a giant space dominated by a massive cubic structure. The precursor base.
Gargantuan cables stretched from mountain to cube, holding it aloft over a lake of bubbling lava. A few fish darted about. Nothing overly dangerous. She checked the boosters. One minute left.
I'm inside the mountain, she reported to Alandris.
Inside?! Venjie shot back. Is there a base?
Venjie? What, oh, right, the anchor. Yes.
We can't read you on sensors, came Alandris' addition.
Alandris? Venjie gasped. I can hear you too!
Two voices in her head. She felt giddy. How long had it been since she'd felt a group?
I expect that Rekha could have given us a three-way channel at any time. This isn't the time to discuss it. Rekha, we saw the dragon's sudden movement. Was it attacking you? Are you injured? Is the prawn damaged?
Yes. No. And… she paused to check readouts. No. Green to go.
I see a c-
A warper stole her attention. It was a dozen meters away, facing her. Could it detect her sickness within the prawn? It started making a beeline in her direction before she finished the thought. Okay. Time to see how much work it was to fight a warper. She raised the grappling hook and readied the other arm.
Rekha? Venjie prodded.
Warper. It's coming at me.
At least it was an easy target. The hook hit it dead in the chest, latched on, yanked it close enough for the other arm to attack. She swung the drill bit into its neck. Green goo spun into the water, and the warper shrieked and writhed. Its metal pincers swung wildly at the prawn. Plasteel sparked.
She reached into the robot with psi and started kicking at its mechanical organs. A warp field blurred behind it. She let go, and it darted backwards and vanished.
I scared it off. Prawn is a little scratched, otherwise no damage.
Red gods, wh-
Well done. Alandris spoke over Venjie's concern. Do you see an entrance to the facility?
She peered around. Was that a green shimmer?
Maybe. Checking. She made sure boosters were ready and launched herself atop a cable. It didn't even register the prawn's weight. She walked down the massive cable until she could make out what appeared to be an entrance. Another boost got her to the lip. Looked like an energy field of some sort. A stasis field like the moonpool used?
She lifted an arm to it, and it slid through without a hitch. The rest of the prawn followed. Water dripped down the glass, and sensors registered a breathable atmosphere.
A metal crab scuttled by.
I'm in.
Take it slow.
Be careful!
There was a hallway leading in, tall and wide enough for the prawn. No need to get out. She did open the hatch for a little fresh air. And it was fresh. It didn't have the usual recycled metal aftertaste that habitat air did. Nice. No unusual sounds either. Metal crabs doing their thing and the general hum of electronics. Temp was pleasant as well, a little cool. Ambient temperature was several degrees below Alterran norms. Had the aliens liked it cold? Were their environmental systems more efficient than Alterran? Or was it that they had so much energy available that it didn't matter how much they burned to keep the habitat luxuriously cool?
Her path was lined with the usual harsh architecture, all straight lines and harsh edges, relieved by strange designs and backlit with green glow. A metal crab on the wall paused to assess her arrival, then moved on. The path gave her an option of going through an arch or continuing down ramps. She shrugged and went down.
Path branched. I took the one going down.
I wish I could be there too. Venjie sighed. What are you seeing?
Same kind of thing we've seen before. Tall, ornate walls. Green lighting. Mechanical crabs. Long h- whoa. Rekha stopped the prawn. There was an archway, protected by a forcefield, a dozen meters ahead.
What?
There's a forcefield. She drew closer. Something moved beside her. She readied herself to defend or run. From the floor, a pedestal rose. On it was a green, glowing cube.
A what? Venjie asked.
Had she said that aloud? A green cube appeared. I'm going to scan it. She used psi to get the scanner hovering in front of the cube. Results would take a couple minutes. She tried to forward them to her crew. No signal. She read off what she had and went to the archway. Beside it was a large pedestal, just like the one in front of the island base, and like Venjie had described, a panel opened, revealing the shape of a tablet.
It's like you said about the island base. This needs a tablet.
We can fab one. Venjie said excitedly.
What? How?
The green cube, it's an energy source. An ultra dense energy source. I think the fabricator can use part of it to create a tablet. The leftover can be converted to a battery to fit our tools. It'll last ten times as long, longer maybe!
An ultra dense energy source. She eyed the cube. Is it safe to touch?
As safe as anything else we've found.
How reassuring. She glanced at movement, immediately dismissed the crab doing something inside a wall panel. The prawn hand closed around the cube. She didn't drop dead, the prawn didn't explode, and the alien base seemed unchanged. Shrugging, she dropped the cube in storage and turned to continue exploring.
There was a blip in her HUD. Readouts were green. What flas-
Hull status flashed. A half percent drop in integrity. What? Why was the hull integrity dropping? Another half percent was shaved off the reading. She leaned forward, peering about, saw a glint of movement. One of those metal crabs? Its front leg slashed at the prawn, and another half percentile was lost.
She picked it up with psi. "Look, you, I've got a disease to cure, and your ion cubes are going to help with that. You know, the problem your creators couldn't fix?"
Little legs scrabbled in the air.
"I'd appreciate it if you tell your friends to leave me alone."
The lights atop its head waved.
She dropped it, sighed when it immediately returned to its futile attack on the prawn's leg. Psi tossed it down the hall. "I don't have time for this."
The metal crabs aren't happy I took the cube. She reported.
Are you in danger? Alandris asked.
From the crabs? No. Not unless they swarm me. With thousands.
Understood. Still. Take extra care in case something else in there decides it wants the cube back.
Aye.
Sensors didn't show any change in atmosphere. Psi didn't feel anything off. A few more crabs came for flying lessons, but otherwise, Rekha went unmolested through the rest of the base. There wasn't much to it. Another entrance slash exit on a higher level and another field-protected door. Something blue glowed from the other side. She squinted, trying to make it out, yet the field's disruption didn't yield. There was a workstation that she downloaded as much data from as she could. PDA might finish translating by the time she got back to the hab.
Think I've found everything I can. Heading back.
Understood.
Glow more intense than the wall lighting caught her eye, and she noticed a hallway she hadn't gone down before. It went down a few meters and opened up a bit, with what appeared to be a stack of ion cubes along the wall. Scanner confirmed. It was a mound of them. Why? Why a stack here? She frowned at her surroundings, noticed that the hallway she was in led into a large, empty room. Mostly empty. There was what appeared to be a pedestal in the middle of the chamber and a strange arch-like structure on the far end. It looked like the arch on the alien base island. From the hallway, she sent the scanner in, didn't learn anything new.
I found something else.
There was an excited noise from Venjie. What? Gods, I wish I was there to see!
A stack of ion cubes outside an empty room. There's nothing to explain its purpose, just a pedestal and arch like on the island by the other base.
An arch? Similar or exactly the same? Her excitement was sharp, cutting almost.
What was she getting at? I can't be certain. I'll send you the scans to compare. No signal dinged at her. The rock must be jamming the signal. You'll have to wait.
Venjie muttered under her proverbial breath. Wait, you said 'a stack of ion cubes'. Can you retrieve them?
She tried, but couldn't take a single cube. It's not coming loose. She prodded with psi, didn't feel seams or space between the cubes. When she tried to lift it, it felt like trying to move a prawn suit. I think it's a single body.
A single body? Alanris put in. Could the precursors have grown these things like bacteria in a lab?
It would lend credence to the hypothesis that this base is here to collect thermal energy. Venjie said.
If so, then they were condensing thermal energy into these structures. And basic logic said that if these were readily available, not hidden behind forcefields, then they were safe enough for anyone to access. Safe and easy to break down. Rekha struck the pile with an arm. Fractures appeared along the structure in perpendicular lines. Sensors didn't indicate an energy buildup or radiation leakage. A couple more strikes resulted in two perfect cubes tumbling from the structure to the floor. Only the crabs seemed upset. Several more strikes broke the entire thing into a jumble of perfect cubes.
Rekha found half a grin tilting her mouth. I harvested more cubes.
What? How?
Easily enough. A few light taps shattered the thing into a bunch of little cubes. They obviously designed it for ease of access. I'll bring those too.
There was muttering about recklessness that she ignored. More crabs -the same crabs?- got flying lessons as she headed toward the exit. Several warpers were waiting outside. Right outside. Rekha threw a crab at one. An arm scythe casually split the thing in half.
Okay. She aimed the grappling arm, caught a warper, and dragged it inside. It flopped to the floor where she used a foot to hold it down. The grappling arm caught one scythe and ripped it from the body. Horrible screeching filled the corridor. She grit her teeth and used the scythe to hack at the rest of the body until the screeching stopped.
She aimed the hook at the second warper. A phasegate opened, and it fled. Were these things learning? She took out one, so two waited to attack? Would there be an armada the next time they attacked?
That could be tomorrow or in ten minutes. "Get a move on, Sharma." She only tarried long enough to collect the warper's remains and shove them in storage. Exiting the base.
Understood. Venjie's tone was sharp. She was angry again. Of course she was.
The tickle in the back of her throat threatened to turn into coughing, made her pause again to drink water. Would the dragon be waiting? Was the tunnel a collapsed mess? Twenty minutes later, she had her answer. The tunnel ahead was choked with fallen rock. Dammit.
The mountain tunnel I came in is collapsed. I'm going to look for another exit.
Venjie suggested directions for one of the other possible tunnels. Rekha consulted her own copy of the map and agreed.
She clunked out of the tunnel, hopped and grappled her way around the edges of the bubbling lava pool. She was nearing what looked like a cave when four warpers gated in front of her. They sped at her.
No time to think, only react. She released the grapple, hit the boosters, shot the hook toward the cave. As it was reeling her in, she used psi to get a scythe out and attack the warper that reacted the fastest. It dodged, but gave her enough time to get inside the cave. The entrance was barely large enough for the prawn. Perfect for a defense position. The warpers could only come at her one at a time.
She decimated one quickly enough. She aimed for the next, but it dodged at the last moment, and the grappling hook sped past. Before she could recall it, a scythe flashed and cut the plasteel cable. Another warper charged her. Psi wrapped the cable around an arm, and slashed at the torso with its stolen scythe.
The third warper squeezed past its prone friend. There was a deep score across the prawn's glass and warning alarms screaming before psi could drop the rope and scythe to push the warper away. Scythes cut angrily through the waters. Pain lanced through Rekha's skull. Sweat poured down her face, got into her mouth, filled it with the taste of iron.
Wait. What? She wiped at her face. Blood was smeared across her hand. Psi overload already? Must be the Kharaa's influence. Dammit!
She slammed the prawn into motion, picking up the dropped scythe with prawn hand, and making the rotors howl as she forced the scythe into the warper's chest. The thing spasmed and went still. She yanked it out and screamed at the two remaining. Warp gates appeared. They retreated.
She wanted to collapse and rest. Instead, she exchanged the prawn's broken grappling arm for a drill arm and dove into the tunnel. It twisted and looped, made her scream in frustration that devolved into coughing, but eventually let out near the base of the mountain. Open lava fields greeted her. No warpers. Did this mean they weren't smart enough to extrapolate her path? Or had they deemed her too dangerous? She hoped for the latter and looked for the dragon.
Rekha? Have you found another exit? Venjie asked.
The dragon was sitting by the first tunnel, waiting. I did. The dragon is still by the other one. I'm going to take a different path home. We can't risk it following me. She expanded the map. The three different paths they'd marked glowed in differing colors.
Be careful.
That's the plan.
She wiped sweat and blood from her face and studied her options, eventually chose Path 'C', a path that was directly opposite the dragon. There seemed to be more lava rock formations that way. Hopefully it would be enough cover to get to the edges where pillars, shelves, and alcoves gave real cover. She relayed her decision, grit her teeth, and started moving.
A/N - Happy Womens History month!
