Searching
"...and that is the basic gist of it." The Reverend Mother said to the assembled techs. And everyone else who was listening, which was most of the Clergy. "Most of you saw what happened. We are committed now."
As if we were not before? Zacharias' mental voice was sad, but calm. He was at the hospital. Sheila's departure had shaken up a lot of the staff who had gotten used to having the MOA around to help at all hours. They would adapt and Sheila was safer where she was. Not to mention the mothers would need her there. This should help things.
I volunteer to liaison. Jesselle said before anyone else could. A murmur of disapproval came and she wilted mentally. She is my mom!
Jesselle. The Reverend Mother said calmly and Jesselle made a sad noise. She needs to be clear minded. I will see about trying to find a way for you, Jay and Zacharias to visit, but we can do no more. She has far larger concerns. And if she is distracted...
I know. The girl was crying. I... I just... Someone physical was hugging her and she subsided. I miss her. She said sadly.
And she misses you. The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. But if there is one thing Janet knows, it is duty.
She knows. A new voice silence everything for a moment and then many voices were exclaiming in joy as Juliet V-54's mental voice sounded in their minds for the first time in a long time. Since she had taken service with the Oracle. I... I feel...
Easy! Do not stress her! The Reverend Mother commanded and everyone calmed. Juliet? How are you doing? Here, among the Clergy, she did not use the numbers. Juliet was unique. There were others with the same name, but none had the same mental feel.
Not so good. Juliet said sadly. The Reverend Mother and the others sent energy across the connection and the other was eased. I... Thank you... It was... hard. I...
We know. The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. Do not push too hard, girl. You will recover in time. We never intended you to go as long as you have without contact. There is much you cannot answer, so we will not press. This was a command and she felt the acknowledgement of the entire Clergy. But... Can you tell us anything?
Eighteen women taken from four colonies. Forty three male bodies missing. Juliet's mental voice was stronger now. The Oracle cannot see them. She is not sure why. She can see them until they enter the ship, but then... They vanish. The ship is a black spot as well.
Tell her to be careful! The Reverend Mother snapped. They must have some kind of powers. They must. Who knows what kind or if they might detect her. Juliet gulped and the Reverend Mother continued. We cannot lose her. Not now.
Agreed. Juliet said with a soft sigh. I... am glad to be back.
You will need rest. The Reverend Mother said quietly, calming. We will ward you while you sleep. The others tried, did they not?
They tried. Juliet replied softly. But... I couldn't... Not with them. Trust was nearly impossible to forge for anyone who had merged with the Clergy. Not with anyone else. They simply couldn't. Which was a upside for spies.
Oh, Juliet... The Reverend Mother said sadly. I am sorry. Rest now, sister. Welcome home. The massed minds of the Clergy pulled Juliet in and soothed her into slumber. Her gratitude was palpable as she was eased, then she was gone, back to wherever the Oracle had hidden. But she would recover. The Reverend Mother smiled, but it was melancholy. Jesselle, we need you and your dad in the hospital.
You will not like this, but I am going to say it anyway. Jesselle said firmly. You will need bait for whatever trap you set. I offer.
No! The Reverend Mother was hardly the only mind to exclaim in fear and shock. Most of the Clergy voiced the denial. We do not know what criteria they use, if any to select their abductees. They would just as likely kill you as take you.
It has to be a girl. Jesselle said reasonably. And she has to be of child bearing age.
Perhaps. The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. But you are not on the list.
Reverend Mother... Jesselle protested.
I am being pragmatic. The Reverend Mother retorted. Your mother is probably the single most powerful psi in the Solar System. She has some insanely powerful and violent friends. Our alliance with her and the others is new and fragile. Jeopardizing you, as perfect as you may seem to be the part, is not going to happen. You are not going into danger. Do I make myself clear?
I want to serve. Jesselle said weakly.
You are not even seventeen. The Reverend Mother's mental tone moderated. Jesselle, you do serve. You are needed. Never doubt that. A number of others reinforced her reassurance and the girl relaxed. I understand your wish to get out and do something. I do. But do not run headlong into this. Please? She begged and the girl acquiesced. We will talk, Jesselle. I will find a way for you to visit your mom, even if just virtual. But not this.
I will hold you to that. Jesselle said fiercely. But I still think I am the best choice.
Think all you want. The Reverend Mother replied. If I have to lock you in stun cuffs, strap you into a straitjacket and then seal you into a cell, I will. Do not doubt that. You putting yourself into the boys' hands would not end well. I am no Oracle and I know that.
Yes, Ma'am. Jesselle's mental voice was resigned, but there was no rebellion in it. For now.
We will talk, Jesselle. The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. I do understand. She gave herself a mental shake and changed focus. Do we know where the attack took place?
Only one outpost met all the criteria and it's coms went offline an hour ago. The response from the analysts was instant. Special Forces team 34-Zeta is en route now.
Then all we can do is wait. The Reverend Mother said sourly. The worst part. Okay. Back to tasks, everyone. Jesselle... meet me in the hospital's chapel. She was striding there as she spoke. Which means... She snapped. Stop packing. The surveillance feeds were generally passive, but she had been worried about Jesselle. The girl was far too much like her mom.
Yes, Ma'am. The girl's mental tone was defeated.
Jesselle, it is not your fault. The Reverend Mother said gently. Actually... meet me at the main elevator. We need to talk. Zacharias?
I will tend Jay. The response came immediately. Try to keep her from doing anything too stupid, please.
Zacharias... The Reverend Mother bit back a chuckle as she made her way to the elevator and waited. I am a cleric, not a goddess. She is a teenager. 'Stupid' is part of the definition of being a teenager.
"There are times when I really, really hate this mental stuff." Jesselle was not -quite- pouting as she stepped out of the residential wing. She slumped as the Reverend Mother laid a hand on her arm.
"I do understand, Jesselle." The Reverend Mother said gently. "How do you think I feel? I was always out doing things. Now I can't." Jesselle stared at her and the Reverend Mother nodded. "My boys are killing and eating people. I want to be out there stopping them. And I can't."
Jesselle stared at the older woman and then her brave front collapsed and tears started to fall. The Reverend Mother pulled her in and held her as she sobbed.
"Come on, girl..." The Reverend Mother started off, leading towards a small chapel set aside for such situations. "Let's talk."
Titan
"I never thought she would be a good priest, but she is acting the part." Janet mused as she left her vision and lay in her pool. "Scary thing is, Jesselle would make good bait."
She could not hear the mental communication that the Clergy used, so she had been determined to check up on their new 'allies'. Everything seemed to check out. But that made her nervous. Spies did not just change their allegiances so easily. Yes, the Clergy was in a bad place currently. Yes, they had few choices. No, Janet was not about to trust them. Btu every vision she had looked at said the same. The Clergy were playing straight with the Lotus. For now anyway.
"They would never agree." Natalie E-12 said from where she sat beside the Oracle, monitoring the med readouts.
The others had put Juliet V-54 to bed and gone back to work. There was a lot to do. Oracle's needs took priority, but they had been underutilized with so many here and had begged to be given other duties. After some lively debate, they had been given the task to sort through the data that the passive recorders all over the moon accumulated. It was... a lot of information and would keep the women busy for a long, long time. Which was good. Oracle only needed a couple of them at a time and they had been bored out of their minds. Now, they had tasks they were suited for and tended Oracle as well. Oracle liked it. They didn't pester her as much and there was useful information in the masses of data that the recorders snagged. Finding it though...
"Yeah." Janet slowly arced her right arm about ten centimeters out of the pool and then laid it back. It felt... good to stretch.
"Any pain?" Natalie E-12 asked quietly, her eyes on the readouts that showed Janet's vitals.
"Not there." Janet said with a sigh. "Shoulder and collarbone still." She would hurt for a long, long time. It wasn't every day that a human held the power to wipe out all life in Solar System. She had paid for holding said power. Only the prodigious medical skill of the Oracles of Saturn had saved her life and she would be a long time recovering even with their care. "I won't even try the back or neck."
"Good." Natalie said with a grimace. The one time Oracle had tried to move her back, the pain had knocked her out for almost eight hours. The spine made a great conduit for energy. "Still no luck with the dark ship? Or that girl you had a partial trace on?"
"Cindy S-79." Oracle said with a sigh. "I cannot get a grip on her again. Wife and mother. Husband killed in the attack. Son...after..." She closed her eyes. Seeing the pitiful remnants had hurt her badly.
"I still do not understand why they are doing this." Natalie E-12 said with a gulp. "If they need protein, there are easier, more efficient ways."
"I cannot understand it myself." Oracle admitted. "I cannot get a good look at them in any of my visions. I can see Serene when she was captured and imprisoned. I can see what the Corpus did to her. I can...almost see René. But the others? I can't." She would have shaken her head, but it was strapped down to keep her from doing so. It...wasn't good for her to do that. "Which is really annoying."
"And you couldn't see Serene when she was tested..." Natalie E-12 mused. She might be young, but there was nothing wrong with her mind. "These must be connected somehow."
"Yeah." Janet groused. "It is almost certainly something to do with Banshee, but the Tenno all get closemouthed when I ask. Hmmm..." She paused. "Maybe I should 'look'?"
"If this all took place in the database, what would you see?" Natalie E-12 asked reasonably. All of Oracle's attendants had clearance to most of the information Oracle herself had access to. None would ever leave her side. She had argued, but all had demanded compulsions be placed in their minds to keep them from betraying Oracle and the others on Titan had reluctantly agreed. It still felt wrong to Oracle.
"Good point." Oracle said with a sigh. "Okay... I'll try again..." She relaxed into her pool and let the myriad futures and pasts in her mind take hold of her.
A scene of horror
"Holy... Profit..."
The team leader of Corpus Special Forces recon team 34-Zeta was no rookie. He was a survivor of fights with all kinds and sorts. His team had fought Grineer, Infested and other Company forces on occasion. They had even tried to fight Tenno a time or two. That... had not been fun. But, strictly speaking, the team's job was not to fight. Their job was to get in, get information and get out, preferably without anyone the wiser. That was their job and they were good at it. They had crept into Grineer bases, Infested hives and Company facilities by the score.
But none of them had ever seen anything like this.
The signs were clear. The inhabitants of the tiny outpost that had once served as an adjunct relay for communications hadn't had any idea that an attack was coming. The Grineer wouldn't have been subtle. They would have been detected far enough away for the personnel to flee. Infested... might have been more problematic but... They wouldn't have... left anything behind. Living or dead, it was all biomass to the sort of sentient biological monstrosities. What was left...
"No life readings, Lead." The point reported. His team was on track. He was glad. He was shaken to his core. Which was likely the whole idea. "What... What did this?"
"Humans." The team leader said, staring around at the bodies that had been posed for the next arrival to see. "Feral humans." He shook his head. "At least...that is what the Clergy says. I don't know. These are not acting like humans." He snarled at himself. "Spread out! See what we can find." The med tech moved to start scanning the... bodies. What was left of them. "Humans have done horrors." He said quietly. "But this...? This was intended to unsettle us. Make us afraid."
"It is working." The med tech said as he finished his scans. "I wondered at the high level of anti-nausea meds the Clergy recommended. Now I know." He shook his head. "Lead... Just like the others. No females."
"There were... three older women and one little girl here." The team lead said with a sigh. "As isolated as this place was, the policy to keep families together worked against them. One little boy..." He nodded to a small mound near one wall. "Damn them. We need to stop this! Stop this hard!"
"No argument here." The med tech said savagely. Then he shook his head. "No foreign DNA traces. Sealed suits?"
"How did they bite if the suits were sealed?" The team leader asked with a gulp. The med tech swallowed hard and nodded. "Set your scans for anything out of the ordinary. It will take longer but... This is not going to be in our databanks. We will need every scrap of intel we can get." The med tech nodded and a pair of Ospreys started circling the area, scanning every last corner of the abattoir that had once been a landing bay. "I will check the command consoles. You check medical."
"Yes, sir." The medic darted off and the team leader stepped away from the horror with more haste that was truly warranted. Nothing lived here now. There were no threats. But the psychological impact... That was the point, he knew. But it was working.
"Lead, we have a problem." The voice of the point was tight and the team leader felt his guts clench.
"Go." He commanded.
"The automated reproduction machinery is gone." The point man reported an the team leader felt his guts fall out of his stomach. "Completely gone. The computers too. The room has been stripped bare."
"Oh my god..." The team leader said with a swallow. "They are trying to make more of themselves."
"Yeah." The point was hushed, even more than normal for the quiet man. "Com room is completely trashed."
"Right." The team leader said savagely. "Get back to the ship with every scan. Get the word out, we need..."
"Lead!" The voice of his second in command cut him off. "Life signs!" In less disciplined beings, a frenzied babble might have answered him. "Not , I say again, not in the secure room. I think... in one of the ducts."
"The ducts?" The team lead snapped. "Everyone, converge on second's position. Med, be ready for a casualty. But... This may be a trap." He warned as he hurried his own steps.
"I don't think so, lead..." The second in command sounded... strained and then the team lead was there, footsteps pounding from all around as the other team members converged. A body lay against one wall. He had fallen against the wall and was... wedged. A tool lay on the floor, and it's end was smeared.
"Get a scan on that!" The team lead said quickly. The med tech nodded. "Two? Where?"
"Behind him." The Sniper said softly. "Lead... listen..." All noise stopped as the team froze in place. An out of place noise... A little girl's sobs sounded.
"Gotta be a trap."The point said firmly. "No way they left a girl. No way."
"One way to find out." The team lead took hold of the corpse and his second in command did as well. The point aimed his Tetra and they gave a yank. The body was stuck tight.
"GO AWAY!" The scream had them all freezing. "Monsters! Go away! Daadddy!" She screamed loud and long. "Leave him alone!"
"We are here to help." The team lead called. There was no response.
"If it is the right girl..." The med tech said into the sudden silence. "Her name is Mary L-65. She is seven." He nodded to the body. "Biochip ID says this was her dad."
"If." The team leader sighed. "See if you can get an Osprey around for a look." The med tech's posture was dubious, but he nodded. "Is your name Mary L-65?" The team leader called. There was no response again and he sighed deeper.
"We are going to need some help here..."