Chapter 25

"So what was that thing?" demanded Ivan Vorpatril, once they had been returned to their cell.

Anny glanced at the door through which Ines Da Silva had just left after a short but heated exchange. She really is one of them. How could I have been so stupid? She glanced back at Paulo, who was huddled in the corner. What had Da Silva said to him while they were gone? The poor kid had been lied to so many times he probably didn't know which end was up.

"Anny?" prompted Vorpatril.

"Oh. Well, I'm guessing that it's an MPDC, sir: a Mobile Planetary Defense Center."

Vorpatril frowned. "And that is…? I can't recall ever discussing anything like that during all my years in Ops."

"Not surprising, sir. It's not something Barrayar has ever considered using. The only reason I know anything is because of a course I took in my junior year at the Academy about the theory of planetary assault and defense. The instructor was very thorough."

"So it some sort of huge war machine then? For defending a planet against an attack from space?"

"Yes, sir. But this is all theoretical; there has never been an all-out assault on a major planet in the history of the nexus."

"We tried to take Escobar…"

"Yes, sir, but despite Escobar's importance in our neighborhood, it's not really considered a major planet in military terms. I'm talking about worlds like Earth, Eta Ceta, and Beta Colony. Long established worlds with major industry and large military potentials."

"Ah, the really big ones."

"Yes, and there are differing theories about how to defend a world. The vast majority of worlds have the same doctrine as Barrayar: the best defense is a strong fleet supplemented by powerful space defenses around the wormhole exits. But there is a competing doctrine—or maybe I should say a complementary doctrine since there's no reason you can't do both—which calls for powerful defenses built on the planet itself."

"That would be incredibly expensive," said Vorpatril. "Even the most powerful weapons only have an effective range of a few hundred kilometers against a well-shielded ship. You'd need hundreds of installations to cover the whole planet!"

"Yes sir. That's why most worlds rely on space-based defenses. Still, ground based defenses do have some advantages. Power plants and vital machinery can be deeply buried with only the weapons mounts above the surface and these can be bigger and better shielded than anything you could put on a ship. Ton for ton and mark for mark, ground defenses can seriously outclass even the largest warships. Attacking defenses like that could be extremely costly. And, having ground defenses means that you aren't facing capitulation if your fleet is defeated. That's what happened to the Komarrans once Admiral Vorkosigan took out their space defenses."

"But that thing we saw out there wasn't all that big! As big as a capital ship, maybe, but not much more."

"Well, that's where we get into all the theory, sir," said Anny, trying to remember what she'd learned in that class. "To launch an attack against a really heavily defended world—and we do know that Earth has installations like that and probably Eta Ceta and Beta Colony as well—the best way is to find a weak spot in the coverage, some place where only one or two defense installations can fire at you, and then use your warships to destroy them with orbital fire. You'll probably lose a half-dozen battleships doing it, but once it's done, you've got a blind spot, a place you can land troops safely. From there, it becomes a land campaign. The invading troops will try to take out more of the defense installations from the ground. As each installation falls, the warships in space can dominate more and more of the surface. Eventually you can take the whole planet that way—at least in theory."

"Where does that thing, that MPDC, come into it? And why the hell do the EnBees have one here?"

"That's the other side of the coin, sir. The defensive side. If an enemy has carved out a beachhead on your planet, how do you drive them off again? Even if you've got a big powerful army, how do you attack the invaders beyond the coverage of your remaining planetary defenses? As soon as you get beyond their range, the enemy warships can blast your ground troops from space."

"Ah, so that thing can move along with your ground army and give you coverage against spaceships!" exclaimed Vorpatril.

"Yes, sir, exactly. In theory, you'd have multiple such units which would drive back the enemy space ships as your ground forces drove back the enemy armies. It would be warfare on a scale that no one has ever actually seen. All just theory, like I said."

"And so the EnBees propose to drive that thing into Araxa. Do you think they could do it?"

Anny shrugged. "Hard to say. I don't know anything about its actual capabilities. But the whole idea of the MPDC is that they can successfully engage capital ships. Against the cruisers and lighter ships that have been left here… It could probably cut through them like a hot knife through butter. I doubt the commanders of those ships would even try to engage it."

"But when the heavy units we have out at the wormhole hear what's going on, they'll come back!"

"Yes, sir, but by then the EnBees will have that thing in Araxa. An attack from space against the MPDC would require firepower that would reduce the city to a lake of boiling lava. The whole population could be wiped out. I doubt… I doubt that the Alliance commanders would be willing to do that."

"Damn," hissed Vorpatril. "You're probably right. And with a bunch of hostages—like us—they might be forced to negotiate. But if they had that thing, why didn't they use it before now?"

"It looked like it was still under construction. They probably shipped it here in pieces when the troubles started and they've been putting it together since then. That general said it was nearly ready."

"Yeah."

"Of course, once our ground armies can concentrate again, we could take it out from the ground—an MPDC has limited ground combat capability, at least in comparison to its anti-ship weaponry—but the battle would still probably destroy the city. Our best bet…" Anny faltered.

"What? What's our best bet?"

"The 61st, sir. Stop that thing before it can get to Araxa. From what the EnBee told us, I'm guessing we are still on Tamborete. They'd have to fight their way through the 61st before they could go on to Araxa"

"Could the 61st stop them?"

"I… I don't know, sir. That brigade we saw there, it's powerful, but it was mostly light armored vehicles, no heavy tanks at all. And a lot of them looked to be personnel carriers; that would indicate infantry not wearing battle armor. The Regiment could hurt them badly—if they were ready. But if they are scattered all over the island as the EnBee general said…" Anny frowned and clenched her fists. Her tactical analysis of the situation was not good. And the guilt she felt about the fact that the Regiment was in even more danger—her friends and comrades were in danger—because they were out looking for her, made it all the worse. "If they were hit without warning, things could get pretty bad. But if they had warning… with warning, we could make the EnBees pay in blood for every meter between here and Araxa!"

Vorpatril nodded and then said in Russian: "Then we're going to have to find some way to warn them."

[Scene Break]

"There! Do you see that?" Alby pointed at a comconsole display that showed a large three-dimensional image of Novo Paveo. Thousands of colored lines crisscrossed the planet in an orbital Gordian Knot.

"What? I don't see anything," said Lieutenant Commander Dars Langsda. The mercenary intel officer had been Alby's almost constant companion for the last two days. He wasn't sure who had pulled what strings to get the man down here. Fetherbay and Hopkins certainly knew he was here at 61st HQ, but no one had said a thing about it. The Colonel had even gotten them a space to work, away from everyone else. Alby suspected it was to keep them out of sight of that ImpSec colonel who was still prowling about. ImpSec could be useful, but they had their own agenda and you never knew what it was. His agenda was to get Anny back!

"Right there, Dars!" He stabbed his finger into the holo image. "There! And there and there, too, for that matter, but this is the one that counts." His finger darted around the display and then came back to where it had started: hovering over the island of Tamborete.

"There's nothing there, Alby!"

"Exactly! Nothing at all!"

Langsda shook his head. "Well, it's wonderful nothing, Alby, but why should I care?"

"Because there shouldn't be any nothings! Not after fifty years! There could only be nothing if there were something!"

"Alby, throttle back a bit and tell me what the hell you're talking about!"

Alby sighed and then took a deep breath. Yeah, sometimes his brain got way ahead of his mouth. "Okay, sorry. But look, we've got orbital traffic control data stretching back almost fifty years, right back to when the planet was first settled. That's what all these colored lines show. Every cargo carrier, colony ship, shuttle or barge that's ever landed on the planet. We've got high density areas like around Araxa and the other large towns, as you'd expect," he pointed to spots where the lines were so dense you couldn't see through them. "But even the less densely populated areas still get traffic from time to time, even these tiny islands which only have villages."

"With all these thousands of islands, shuttles would be the best way to get around," nodded Langsda.

"But look at Tamborete! There's almost nothing! A few landings in Milagres over the years, but nothing in proportion to its population. If it got just average traffic, there should still be hundreds of landings, but there's only a handful."

"So you're suggesting…?"

"The data was erased! Or never recorded. A high security zone where traffic officially doesn't exist! There are six other areas like that on the planet—including that place where the Cetagandans found the big underground base!"

Langsda was silent for a long moment but then slowly began to nod. "So you think there is a major base here, on Tamborete?"

"Yes! We know the EnBees were setting this place up as a major military outpost for future conquests. But they wanted to keep the scale of it a secret. So they had a few minor military installations out in the open, like you'd expect to find on any planet for self-defense. But the major bases, the real bases, they wanted to keep secret. So any ships landing at them, the ones bringing in the construction equipment and supplies, those would be classified. They wouldn't want any records of hundreds of ships landing in out-of-the-way spots because it would be too suspicious. But they never thought about what the lack of those records might show over a long time. Here look." He manipulated the controls and the majority of the colored lines vanished. "If we just break this down into five year segments, the missing flights are hardly noticeable. But fifty years all at once…"

"Yeah, yeah, I see it now," said Langsda. "But the EnBees probably never looked at it like this. Damn fine work, Alby."

"Thanks," said Alby. But then he frowned. "So this is good, but what, exactly, does it get us?"

"Well, it gives us good leads to finding all of their major bases on the planet, which is an amazing stroke right there. But as for finding Vorpatril and Payne… well, I think we can assume that they are still here on Tamborete. Whatever the EnBees want them for, there wouldn't be much point in shipping them anywhere else if they've got a big base here already. They would have to at least consider the possibility that we've got some means to track them and why endanger a second base if they didn't have to?"

"True. Good point. So they are here, somewhere on this island. But where? We've searched the town with a fine-toothed comb. And our sappers have done seismic scans of over half of the rest of the island. They're doing more right now."

Langsda shook his head. "Seismic scans can be beaten with the right equipment, Alby. It's expensive so you'd probably not bother for small installations. But for something big… I wouldn't trust the reports your sappers have produced. No offense."

"None taken. We've been learning the hard way that the EnBees have put a lot of effort into this operation. So what do we do?"

Langsda scratched at his ear. "Well, there is another technique: gravitic scanning. A ship in orbit can make multiple passes over a region and by comparing the tiny variations in the gravitational pull it receives, it's possible to build up an image of the underground structure. Less dense rock—or voids—will show up. Even that can be beaten by using anti-grav equipment, but only for small areas. The energy expenditure to mask a large base would be too big for normal shielding to hide."

"Do any of the Dendarii ships have the equipment to do that?" asked Alby. He was pretty certain the Barrayaran ships still in orbit did not.

"I'll check, but I think so. The Dendarii specialize in rescue operations and good data is the key. Give me a minute." He went to use his own secure communications.

Alby leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted and only kept going thanks to coffee and other stimulants. But they were making progress! He felt really pleased with what he'd accomplished. If there were really bases in all those locations then they stood the chance of giving the EnBees a real bloody nose. But that won't necessarily get Anny back. He felt a little guilty that he was making the rescue of his friend a higher priority than winning the war—but only a little. Rescuing Anny would surely help win the war, too!

Langsda returned and said: "They'll get on it right away. But they warned that anything they come up with won't show much detail."

"Better than nothing." He turned back to his comconsole and brought up a detailed image of the island of Tamborete. After all this time, he knew the place like the back of his hand. But we need more information on what's beneath the surface! Where could they find such information? Would any detailed studies have been done in the past? There must have been something; the EnBees wouldn't have built a base here without some sort of preliminary studies to go on. But where…?

An idea struck him and he started typing. The planetary information network had been badly damaged during the civil war, but it had been partially repaired in recent months. He wasn't surprised or disappointed when he wasn't able to get all the way through to where he wanted to go. But he'd managed to verify that what he wanted at least existed. But he couldn't get in electronically. Go there in person? Tempting, but he didn't want to leave his post and he wasn't sure he'd be able to accomplish what was needed even if he did go. I've got a team now, he reminded himself. Make use of it! He typed in a new combination and almost immediately Lady Vorpatril appeared on the screen.

"Lieutenant Vorsworth?" she said breathlessly. "Have you found something?"

"We are making some significant progress, my lady. But I was wondering if you could help me out?"

[Scene Break]

Tej looked at the entrance to the imposing, classical-style building and then started up the steps. The deeply engraved letters on the pediment almost said 'Geology'. Almost, because the last two letters had been melted away; by a plasma arc, she assumed. The University of Araxa had been spared the worst of the fighting during the civil war, but not spared entirely. Several of the administration buildings were just piles of rubble even now. Fortunately, the geology department hadn't offended anyone enough to bring destruction down on it.

There were no guards here, although there had been some at the main university gates. Her diplomatic ID had gotten her through with no real trouble, and the escort that Admiral Quinn had loaned her had probably helped the gate guard to make up his mind, too. The fellow had seemed rather surprised. The doors to the building swung open easily, revealing a cool and stately entrance lobby with marble columns and strange lumps of rock standing on pedestals all around the perimeter. There was no one at all around; the whole campus had seemed almost deserted. Did they still even hold classes? She found a directory on the wall and after a few moments of searching found her quarry on the third floor.

The lifts were not working so she and her escort took the stairs. When they reached the third floor, they turned down a long hallway and eventually found the room number listed on the directory. But the door was locked. She knocked, but there was no answer. Damn. She had deliberately not called ahead, thinking that a surprise appearance might yield more results than allowing them to know she was coming in advance. So much for that approach. She'd have to call and try and set up an appointment. But time was so short! She banged on the door one more time before turning away in frustration.

"Dr. Timpora isn't in on Thursdays," said a voice. "Can I help you with something, senhorita?"

She looked down the hall; a man had emerged from one of the other doors. He was elderly, with a thick mustache and chin beard, streaked with gray, and almost no hair on his head at all. He wore an archaic set of glasses and a white lab coat. He smiled at her.

"Oh," said Tej. "It would be wonderful if you could help me, Mr…?"

"Henri. Abel Henri. And you are?"

"Tejaswini Arqua, but you can call me Tej, Mr. Henri. It's easier." She smiled back at him.

"Indeed. You're from off-world?"

"Yes."

"You speak our language very well, Tej."

"Thank you. I studied it on the way here."

"Not many would make the effort. Most rely on those translators." He glanced at her escort, but when she made no move to introduce him, Henri looked back at her. "How can I help you?"

"I was looking for some information on the geology of Novo Paveo. I was hoping you might have some."

Henri laughed. "Well, yes, that is what we do here. But what would you need with that?"

"Call it a hobby. I was looking for some detailed information on the island of Tamborete. It's an island about a hundred kilometers from…"

"I know where it is." The man's smile had faded and he looked at her suspiciously. "But why are you interested in that place?"

"Just a hobby, as I said. Do you have any information, please?" She smiled and stepped closer. She'd worn a fairly daring outfit in hopes that it might prove useful. "I'd be so grateful if you could help me, Mr. Henri. Or are you Professor Henri? Or Doctor Henri?"

The man snorted. "No, just Abel Henri. No professor or doctor for me!"

"What is it you do here, Mr. Henri?"

"Oh everything, I suppose. All the things that everyone needs but no one else wants to do. Been here almost forty years; right from the beginning."

"That sounds terribly important. You must know where everything is!"

"It is important—but none of those high and mighty doctors and professors will admit it, of course. None of them could accomplish a damn thing without me." The man's annoyance was clear in his voice. "But what did you want again?"

"Geological information on Tamborete. As much as you have. You do have information, don't you, Mr. Henri?"

"Oh, I'm sure I've got something. Come with me." He led them through the door he'd first come out of, into a small cluttered office, but then he went on, through another door, into a dimly lit room that was much larger and piled to the ceiling with files, boxes and all manner of other things that Tej couldn't begin to identify.

"Of course, I could have been a doctor if I'd really wanted to," Henri continued, as he walked. "I was in the doctoral program when I came here, under old Pistore. But I liked the field work more than the damn paper writing. Just never got around to finishing up. Never really regretted it, except when these young snots with the letters after their names think they're so damn smart. Bah! Twits couldn't find their asses with both hands if I wasn't here to help them. Begging your pardon." He stopped in front of a bank of metal cabinets with lots and lots of drawers. "What were you looking for again?"

"Tamborete."

"Oh yes. Let me see…" He walked down the row a few meters and then pulled open a drawer, which was very wide and very deep, but only eight or ten centimeters high. To Tej's amazement, it was filled with enormous flimsies, actual printed documents.

"Don't you have electronic files?" she asked.

"What? Oh, not for the detailed surveys. The government confiscated all of that years and years ago. Security, they said. Bah, security for what? But they never knew we had these. Old Pistore insisted on paper back-ups for everything. He was kind of old-fashioned, but in this case he was right. I remember how annoyed I was when he gave me the job of printing all these out! Took close to a year. Couldn't see the sense of it at the time, but he was right. Barely got it all done before those idiots came and purged the electronic files. Heh. All right, Tamborete, you say." He pulled out a dozen sheets and then looked vainly for somewhere to lay them out. "Need to clean this place up," he muttered.

"Why didn't you just scan these all back into electronic formats?" asked the Dendarii escort, speaking for the first time.

"No one ever said they wanted it done," shrugged Henri. "And I've got too damn much work as it is without making more for myself. Come on, we can use the conference room." They went back out into the hallway and down a few doors to a very typical conference room. The large table allowed them to spread out the flimsies. Tej looked them over and recognized the outline of Tamborete, but the information on them didn't mean anything to her.

"Can I take scans of these, Mr. Henri?" She glanced at the Dendarii, who nodded. If the answer was no, then Mr. Henri was going to be taking a little nap. But the man just shrugged.

"Suit yourself."

"Thank you." One by one they laid out the sheets and recorded them with their computer pads. They both did it, taking no chances that they'd miss something. It only took a few minutes and Tej sighed in satisfaction. They'd done it! She'd done it! "Thank you, Mr. Henry," she said again. "These will be very helpful."

"I hope so," he replied. "But now you can do something for me in repayment."

"Uh, what?" she asked uneasily.

"Tell me why you really want these?" Tej stiffened and the Dendarii was on full alert. "Hobby? Don't make me laugh!"

What to say? Just stun the man and leave? She was quite sure that is what her guard wanted to do. But the man had been so kind… "Yes, you are right," she said. "The truth is that a… friend of mine likes to explore caves. He went exploring on Tamborete a few days ago and we haven't heard anything from him since. We're afraid he's gotten himself lost and I was hoping that these might help us find him."

Henri looked very thoughtful. "Caves, eh? Well, there are a lot of them on Tamborete." He pulled out one of the sheets. "There's a large, empty magma chamber under the dormant volcano on the north side of the island." He pointed to a spot on the sheet. "And there are dozens of old lava tubes running all over the place." His finger traces along a number of pathways. "You might try checking there." He looked into her eyes. "Good luck, senhorita."

Tej smiled and then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Mr. Henri."

They said good-bye and quickly left the building. "Okay," she said. "Let's get this to Alby right away!"

[Scene Break]

Jer Naddel slumped down into the chair in the mess hall with a groan. He was exhausted after another day of searching. Searching for the enemy base. Searching for Anny. His frustration, the frustration of everyone, was growing day by day. Looking at a map of the island and knowing that they had over five thousand, troopers, militia, sappers, and various other people involved in the search, it was easy to wonder why they hadn't found anything. But when you actually got out there, you quickly realized just how big the island was. A couple of thousand square kilometers and it was incredible just how many hiding places there were in each and every one of them.

And nearly all of the searchers' efforts were completely pointless anyway. Only a limited number of them had the sophisticated sensors needed to look beneath the surface. Everyone else was just beating the bushes in the absurd hope of finding a door with a Secret Base Entrance sign hanging on it. Or Anny and Vorpatril tied up in the closet of some farmer's shack out in the forest. Nothing like that had happened, of course.

But they weren't about to give up. He certainly wasn't anyway. Alby had called him a few times with keep your chin up! encouragements and the more useful news that he was making some progress from his end and that he was sure that Anny was still somewhere on the island.

So every day he went out again and searched. They would find her! No other outcome was acceptable.

He forced himself to eat, even though the food seemed utterly tasteless. Had to keep his energy up. He finished and took his tray back.

"Hey Naddel!" said a familiar voice. "Don't look so glum. We'll get your tail back for you! But why worry? You've got frills to choose from with that militia company of yours!"

Jer had gotten used to Vorkerkas' needling over the months and he never let it get to him, but this time he nearly lost it. He dropped his tray and turned with fists clenched and a fury building up inside him.

But to his astonishment, one of the other officers sitting with Vorkerkas, one of his usual buddies, suddenly stood up, looking nearly as angry as Jer felt. "Adrien! For once in your life, will you keep your stupid mouth shut?"

Vorkerkas looked stunned. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded.

"What's the matter with me? What hell is the matter with you? Like it or not, Payne is one of us! A member of the Regiment! And the Regiment takes care of its own—always! And if you can't handle that, then maybe you should put in for a transfer!" The man turned and stalked away.

"Yeah, give it a rest, would you?" said Ensign Vorledge, getting up from the table. He walked past Jer and slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Naddel, we'll find her."

In a moment, Vorkerkas was alone at his table, utterly gobsmacked.

Jet picked up his tray, put it where it belonged, and left the mess hall, a smile on his face, despite his worries.

[Scene Break]

"You didn't need to bring these here yourself, Lady Vorpatril," said Alby. The woman had arrived with only a few minutes warning and now she was in Alby's little Intel center with Lieutenant Commander Langsda and another mercenary, who had escorted her.

"I just… I just wanted to be here," she said. "I couldn't stand the thought of going home and having to sit and wait anymore. Here, it's all on here." She proffered her computer tablet and Alby took it.

"I can understand that, my lady, and thank you. So, have a seat. We've got about ten liters of coffee over there if you want some. Now, let's see what you've brought us."

"The images aren't the best," she said. "We had to scan these huge flimsies they had."

Alby hooked into the compad and transferred the files to his own computer and then put the images up on a big display screen. "Not too bad, but, huh, maybe we should have asked you to bring a geologist back, too. Not sure what all these notations and symbols mean."

"There's a key down in the corner," said Langsda, pointing.

"The man we talked to said that these were lava tunnels," said Vorpatril. She got up and traced a finger over some lines on the map.

"Okay, I see it now," said Alby, looking back and forth between the key and the areas Lady Vorpatril was pointing. "Wow, they go all over the place, don't they?" He looked closer. "Damn, there's one connected to that lump in the harbor! I bet the remains we found there weren't just some sort of small refuge! It was the end of a transport system!"

"Where does it lead?" asked Langsda.

"It leads back this way, toward Tamborete, and then… toward the extinct volcano!"

"A base under the volcano?" said Langsda, grinning. "How theatrical."

"If I'm reading this correctly," said Alby, switching images to one that showed the volcano in more detail, "there is a big empty magma chamber under it. The EnBees could have built a base down there without a lot of excavation!"

"The gravitic survey we did indicated the possibility of a void in that area," said Langsda, nodding. "But it couldn't give us anything like this level of detail. But it certainly looks as though we've found something, Alby. Between this and the traffic analysis you did, I'd bet Betan dollars that there's a base down there."

"And you think Ivan Xav is there?" asked Lady Vorpatril anxiously.

"I think there's a very good chance of it," said Alby. "The EnBees grab Lord Vorpatril and Anny at the school, take them through the utility tunnels under Milagres to the harbor. Put them on a boat that takes them to the lump. From there, they go down until they get to the lava tube and that takes them to the volcano!"

"And they destroy the entrance on the lump to prevent us from following," said Langsda. "Clever. But there's one thing: that secret way of getting about in the tube and the entrance on the lump must have been pretty useful to them. To lose it in order to snatch Vorpatril and Payne…"

"What?"

"They must put a pretty high value on those two. But I'm still not sure what that is, considering Barrayar's policy towards hostages."

"But if they are there, can we get them back?" demanded Lady Vorpatril. "You can go get them, right?"

"We are certainly going to try!" said Alby. "I guess we need to get this information to the Colonel and…"

"Alby, wait," said Langsda.

"Why?"

"Well, I understand that your duty would demand you to report this, but my mission is to recover Lord Vorpatril—and Lieutenant Payne—and I'm afraid that if you send this up the chain of command, it could well result in a major assault on that base."

"Yeah…?"

"And in such an attack I would calculate the odds of survival for the prisoners to be… not so good. Sorry to have to say it, my lady, but there it is. A base that size could have hundreds of enemy soldiers in it and sophisticated defenses. If your troopers just blasted their way in, there's no telling how the EnBees would react."

"Yeah, yeah, I can see that," said Alby, the nightmare image of Anny being gunned down by some EnBee die-hard flickered in his mind. "So what do we do?"

"The Dendarii specialize in just this sort of mission—although I can't recall anything quite like this. What we need to do is insert a small team to rescue the prisoners before any attack takes place."

"But…"

"Let's take a closer look at these charts. There might be other ways into that place."

"We can't know what sort of changes the EnBees may have made to the layout!" protested Alby.

"True, but let's take a look anyway, why don't we?"

Alby wasn't happy with the delay, but he reluctantly agreed. Lady Vorpatril wasn't happy, either, but Langsda's warning about what could happen with a hastily planned assault won her over to his side. They spent the next few hours going over the geologic drawings. The magma chamber was sealed off and well beneath the cone of the volcano so there was no way in that way. They did locate several other lava tunnels leading from the extinct volcano but they seemed to terminate under the ocean. No other obvious entrances were found. At this point, Langsda insisted on bringing Admiral Quinn into the loop. The mercenary admiral appeared almost immediately on the screen when they called her flagship. They spent the next half-hour bringing her up to date on what they'd found.

"Excellent work, both of you—all three of you, actually; that was nicely done, too, Lady Vorpatril."

"But can you get your people in there and find Ivan Xav?" demanded Vorpatril.

"It looks like an insertion from the sea might be the most promising, ma'am," said Langsda. "If we could get people into either of these two lava tubes, they ought to be able to get inside—assuming they haven't been sealed."

"Our troopers in their battle armor can operate underwater very well," said Alby.

"But their power emission would give them away as soon as they got close," objected Langsda. "We have to assume the EnBees would watch any entrance closely." We need something stealthier."

"But once inside, they will need enough firepower to complete the mission!" objected Alby in turn.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," said Admiral Quinn soothingly. When she had their attention, she smiled.

"I believe I have exactly the man for the job."

[Scene Break]

Anny did her push-ups while trying to ignore the presence of Ines Da Silva in their cell. The woman was visiting with Paulo again. Anny had forced herself into a routine of physical training to keep up her strength—just in case the opportunity to use it arose. She glanced at Da Silva and then at the two guards with drawn shock sticks standing in the doorway and decided that, yet again, this wasn't the opportunity. There were at least two more guards out in the hallway. She feared that the opportunity would probably never come. The EnBees were being very careful with their prisoners.

Even so, she made plans in her head. She felt confident that she could take out the two in the doorway. She had forced herself to become very good at close combat and she could tell, just from the way the men carried themselves, that they weren't expecting any serious trouble. She could kill or disable them before they knew what hit them. Vorpatril had told her in a whispered conversation that he was pretty good in close combat himself, so he could knock out Da Silva while she took the first two. But the next two were the problem. They probably had stunners and at the first hint of trouble they'd just spray the whole cell and sort out friend from foe later. One advantage of non-lethal weaponry. So, she'd just wake up hours later with nothing but a headache to show for her efforts—and they'd never give her another chance again. No, if—when—she made her move, it would have to be decisive.

And she would have to make a move at some point.

The Regiment was in danger. Jer and Alby and Patric and Chris and all her friends and comrades were in terrible danger. If the EnBees launched their attack as General What's-his-name described, the 61st could be defeated in detail—annihilated. She had to get a warning out to them! But the first step in doing that was to get out of this cell, and so far she hadn't been able to do that. And even if she got out, then what? Her knowledge of the base was limited to what she'd seen on their one tour and she hadn't seen any exits. Sometimes, late at night (or she assumed it was night), when it was very quiet, she thought she could hear water, like waves lapping on a shoreline. Was there some sort of water entrance? Assuming they were still on Tamborete, it was reasonable to think they might be near the water. Could they swim out? Too many unknowns. No way to make plans until they were out of here.

"But I want to go home!" whimpered Paulo suddenly. "I miss my mama!"

"I know, I know," said Da Silva. "But it won't be much longer, I promise." The woman's visits to see Paulo had become a daily ritual. Anny wasn't sure why she didn't take him out of the cell instead of staying. Maybe she couldn't let the boy see any of the base.

"Your promises aren't worth much, Ines," said Anny, stopping her exercise and rolling over to look at the woman. "You tell lies the way other people breathe."

"You dare talk of lies!" snarled the woman. "If I told any lies, it was for the good of the people here! Your very existence is a lie! You come here claiming you bring help, but you are nothing but invaders!"

Anny knew that any debate was pointless, but her frustration was boiling to the surface and Da Silva was the only possible target. She got up from the floor and sat on her bed. "I haven't told Paulo any lies. Have I, Paulo?" The boy looked uncertainly between Anny and his teacher. "Your teacher admitted to lying in front of your whole class. Now she says that she was lying about telling lies! Are you going to believe her?"

"You're scaring him," said Da Silva.

"Me? I'm not the one holding him prisoner! Why did you bring him here, Ines? Why didn't you just send him away when he followed us into the school?"

"I did it to save his life!" snapped Da Silva.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"We… we blew up the school to cover our escape," said Da Silva, suddenly far less certain of herself. "I was afraid that Paulo would hang around and get caught in it. I saved his life!"

"You… you blew up the school?" cried Paulo.

"It was necessary. I'm sorry, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made, Paulo."

"Like all those people in the church?" said Anny sarcastically. "Have you told him you were responsible for that, too?"

The boy looked as Da Silva in horror and edged away from her.

"No one was hurt at the school! No one! The church… I didn't have anything to do with that."

"But you knew it was going to happen," said Anny. Da Silva glared at her but said nothing. She looked at Paulo, extending her arms, but the boy backed away into the corner.

"You… you blew up our school? But what about Pepe?" The boy's eyes were very wide and there were tears in them. Da Silva sucked in her breath.

"Pepe?" asked Anny.

"Our turtle! We kept him in a terrarium!" wailed the boy. "I fed him every Tuesday!"

"More sacrifices, Ines? Like the children in the church choir? How long until you need to sacrifice Paulo, too?"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Da Silva was on her feet now, fists clenched in rage. "Everything I've done was for the children! For Paulo! But you! You're just a professional killer! You kill whoever your emperor tells you to kill! And if he told you to kill Paulo, you'd do it, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?"

"I doubt very much my emperor would ever give such an order. But your boss doesn't seem to have any problem with things like that, does he?"

Da Silva snarled out a curse and stalked past her toward the door. She aimed a slap at Anny as she passed, but she easily dodged it. For one instant, she considered the idea of leaping after Da Silva, using her as a distraction to fight her way out of here. But the guards were on full alert now due to the verbal combat. No, she'd never make it. Da Silva went through the door, the guards withdrew, and it slammed shut. Damn.

"Well, that was interesting," said Vorpatril. The man had sat on his bunk through the whole exchange. "If this were a debate, I'd say you won, Anny."

"For all the good it does us!" A small sob made her turn. Paulo was still in the corner, tears streaming down his face. He was shaking. Anny went over to him and after a moment of hesitation, he flung himself into her arms and cried. It took her quite a while to settle him down, but eventually he fell asleep and she put him on her bunk. He'd been sharing the bunk with her since the first night. Vorpatril made room for her to sit on the end of his bunk.

"We're running out of time," she whispered.

"I know. For a second there, I thought you were going to try something when Da Silva was leaving. Good thing you didn't; there were two more of those goons in the corridor where you couldn't see them."

"Damn, they're being too careful."

"With the plastic spoons that come with the rations packs, we might be able to tunnel out of here in a million years or so."

"Too long. Hell! We've got to do something!"

"But what?"

"I don't know!" She sat there in frustration for a while and then decided it was probably time to go to sleep. There was nothing else to do anyway.

Just as she was about to switch back to her own bunk, the glow bulb in the ceiling flickered for an instant. That was odd; the units were self-contained… A moment later, there was a faint thud at their door. They both froze. A scraping sound came from the door.

Yes, someone was outside, but what were they doing? Anny was just going to put her ear to it when the door suddenly slid open. She lurched backwards and went into a combat stance.

A man was standing in the doorway and he was the oddest-looking fellow she'd ever seen. He had very long, gangly, arms and legs, light grayish-skin with a strange, pebbly texture, huge rib cage, and bizarrely elongated digits on his hands and feet. He was wearing only a tight set of shorts, an equipment belt, and a backpack. He looked warily at her and Vorpatril. Anny gasped when she saw two of the EnBees sprawled on the floor of the corridor outside.

"What…? Who are you?" demanded Vorpatril.

"I'm with the Dendarii Free Mercenaries," the stranger whispered. "My name is Russo Gupta, but you can call me Guppy."