A Night Without Stars (66 page)

“We have acquisition, Liberty two-six-seven-four,” flight com's voice came through level and calm, lush in its own professionalism. “Welcome back.”

“Put the prime minister on,” she replied. “Now.”

“Please repeat, Liberty two-six-seven-four?”

“Confirming request. Get the prime minister. I have a message for him.”

It didn't take much imagination to picture the flight center with technicians at their consoles, trying hard not to look around, keeping their expressions neutral.
Do your work. Always concentrate on the mission data, no matter what the crisis.
Every minute of every day of every endless year of training hammered that home. And now this flight had come along, and nothing was the same anymore.

“This is Prime Minister Adolphus.”

“Sir, astronaut Ry Evine has been in contact. He's with the Warrior Angel and Paula.” She heard it, actually heard it over the radio—a commotion in the flight center, people calling out in shock.
Delores will have them all weeding the launch pads for a decade!

“Where are they?” Adolphus asked.

“They say they've found the
Viscount,
sir. And sir, they supplied me with proof of identity. They say that their opening offer to you was to use the machine in the basement; that if you heard that, you'll know it's them, that this is genuine.”

She paused, waiting without taking a breath.

“That's a yes, Major Em Yulei. Only they would know that. You were talking to the Warrior Angel's group.”

It took her entire willpower not to gasp in relief. “Sir, they gave me the coordinate for the
Sziu,
but I can't confirm it visually; the location is in the night side. They ask for the
Pericato
to intercept it immediately. Ry said if we wait for visual confirmation, the Fallers' atom bombs could destroy the
Viscount,
sir.”

“Give Major Danny the
Sziu
's position and bearing immediately. He is to intercept at once; authorization ZZ57AA to use maximum force. Repeat, ZZ57AA. Please confirm.”

“Roger, sir. Authorization ZZ57AA.”

“Do it.”

Anala flicked switches on the communications panel and called the
Pericato
before it passed out of contact range.

Somewhere amid the all-engulfing dark, the marine ship changed course and went full steam ahead. Flight com seemed to forget their standard mission format: supplying endless capsule housekeeping procedures. Instead it was Adolphus who stayed online.

“Did they say what they were doing at the
Viscount
?” the prime minister asked as the capsule cleared the Lamaran coast just east of Port Chana.

“No, sir. Just that it has machines that can stop the Apocalypse.”

“And are they all there?”

“I only talked to Major Evine. He indicated he was in a group.”

“I see. You are to be commended, Major Em Yulei. You have carried out your duty in the finest tradition of the Astronaut Regiment.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“When you orbit Lukarticar again, will you be able to see the
Sziu
?”

“I hope so, sir.”
If it is where Ry said it is. If that was Ry. If…

“Excellent. I need comprehensive updates, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And try and find out exactly what the Warrior Angel is doing.”

“I understand.”

It was another orbit that took an eternity, stretching her nerves far worse than waiting for the flight readiness exam results. The capsule seemed to crawl leisurely over the center of Lamaran, then traversed the entire length of Nilsson Sound, which was channeling a fierce storm directly inland. She lost contact with flight com (after they'd managed to get in a final twelve minutes of systems maintenance) just as she reached the edge of the Fire Archipelago. Then it was a long communication blackout as the Liberty curved lazily above the north pole and carried on over the Eastath Ocean, skirting well to the west of Fanrith before soaring across Tonari's fjord-notched coast—both far beyond reach of any ground station. Then finally she was over the south pole again.

“So that went well,” Ry said. “Our drone caught the
Pericato
altering course.”

“Adolphus accepted your proof without question,” she said.

“Thank you, Anala. I know this was difficult for you.”

“Ry, why is the Warrior Angel talking to the prime minister? And what
is
the machine in the basement? What's going on?”

“The negotiations were a contingency plan, that's all, in case the Fallers win. They haven't even started talking, not really.”

The whole idea was crazy
. I know the government has always lied, but the scale of this deception…Adolphus and the Warrior Angel, in secret talks!
“Whatever,” Anala said weakly. She checked the capsule's orientation on the navigation panel and fired a quick burst of the reaction control thrusters, refining it. Then she aligned the sextant. “Ry, what's on the
Viscount
that'll defeat the Faller Apocalypse?”

“I've seen miracles down here, Anala. Synthesizers like mini-factories. Generators that convert mass directly into energy. Everything you need to start a new industrial world.”

“And weapons?”

“Somewhere, yes, but Paula has a plan. She thinks she can stop the Apocalypse from ever happening.”

“Who's Paula?”

“She's from the Commonwealth. That's what happened on my mission; that's what I saw: her arrival.”

“Great Giu,” she murmured. It was all so much to acknowledge. Right now she wished the capsule had another rocket stage attached—one she could fire and fly away from Bienvenido itself. Coasting out into the dark beyond, exploring the great Gulf. Maybe finding a new world, free from the disasters afflicting dear old Bienvenido.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the nixi tubes count down to zero. She gripped the handhold tight and peered along the sextant.

There! Just in the daylight outside the terminator, eighty kilometers from Lukarticar's rugged coast, a tiny white V was cutting through the rolling waves, heading purposefully southwest. Exactly where Ry had said.

The saddest whimper escaped from her lips as she snatched the binoculars from their pocket under the sextant. It took a moment to scan, but the ship leapt into her vision. Small, little more than a tiny black fleck against the pale turquoise. But
real.

“I see it! Ry, I can see the
Sziu.
” Professionalism took over. She checked the sextant. Made a note of the alignment, ready to relay the figures to Major Danny.

“Good to hear that, Liberty two-six-seven-four.”

Anala gave a bitter laugh. He knew. Knew she'd doubted, but forgave her anyway. That was the real Ry, all right. “Welcome back, Pilot Major Evine.”

“Some people are crudding hard to please!”

“You want an easy life in the Astronaut Regiment?”

“Nah, never going to happen. Sorry I missed your Commencing Countdown party.”

“I didn't have one. This mission was put together fast.”

“What? I am outraged! Every astronaut is entitled to their Commencing Countdown party.”

“I'm aware why you're disappointed.”

“Weren't you, too?”

“Possibly. Now cut the unauthorized chatter; I've got an update to give to the marines.” She studied the figures she'd made.

“Thank you.”

“Ry? The
Sziu
is making very good time. I'm not sure the
Pericato
can get within range before they make landfall.”

“Yeah. We have those numbers, too.”

Ry spent most of the morning sitting at the top end of compartment HGT54b, watching the sensor images coming in from the drones. One of the high-altitude craft was out over the ocean while the other was a hundred kilometers inland. Eight ge-eagles were circling the
Sziu
at a safe distance, providing a clear view as it battered its way through the waves. The drone sensors showed the
Pericato
making a valiant effort to intercept.

“They're not going to make it,” he said when the
Sziu
was eight kilometers from the coast. The
Pericato
was twenty-two kilometers behind, and closing fast. But not fast enough.

“Let's see if we can slow the
Sziu
down for them,” Paula said.

Ry's exovision showed him the drone altering itself. The wide slender wings that allowed it to glide at such altitude began to contract. At the same time, Paula cut the power to its fans.

When the wings had shrunk to half their operational size, the drone stalled. The nose tipped down and it began to fall. Still Paula kept the wing retraction going until just the tips were left, sticking out of the oval fuselage as fins, providing a degree of stability as it streaked down, rapidly reaching its terminal velocity of 217 kilometers per hour.

“Too bad we can't get it supersonic,” Paula said, “but the fans don't have that much thrust.”

Ry was accessing a nose camera, watching the sea twelve kilometers below. Right at the center of the image was the
Sziu.
A small gray shape, starting to expand.

“Don't forget the power cells,” Valeri said.

“The safety limiters are already offline,” Paula replied. “The smartnet will short them out at impact.”

Five kilometers altitude and the dive speed was exhilarating. Ry knew he was smiling.

Two kilometers, and individual features were becoming apparent on the
Sziu
's deck. Machinery. Crates. Human-Fallers. Beast-Fallers. Paula switched the fans back on, shoving the drone down faster.

Ry changed to the images coming from the ge-eagles. Orientation flicked to horizontal, showing the
Sziu
silhouetted against the horizon, gray smoke from its twin stacks gushing up into the clear azure sky. The drone came plunging down silently, almost too fast to follow. It struck in the middle of the ship. Two explosions, overlapping—the first a tangle of smoke and flame surging up, the second a sphere of bright light ripping outward. Debris hurtled into the air, chunks trailing filthy vapor contrails.

“Damn!” Paula exclaimed. “Missed.”

“Missed?” Florian cried out. “What do you mean? That was a perfect hit.”

“I was aiming for the mid-hold. If it had hit there, chances were good that it would have punched through the bottom of the hull and sunk them. Instead it struck the back of the superstructure. The hull is intact. That was always the risk using a drone like this. And now they're alert.”

The ge-eagles showed Ry flames and black smoke churning out of the wrecked superstructure. He groaned; the
Sziu
was still moving. “You slowed it down,” he said, but even he thought that sounded meager.

“That's what we wanted,” Kysandra said. “The marines stand a chance now.”

Three minutes after the drone strike, Ry counted five of the huge Faller-animals standing on deck, carrying their pump-action bazookas, looking vigilantly up into the sky. Eight of the blue-skinned giant human-Fallers were with them, also keeping watch on the empty sky above. Half a dozen ordinary human-Fallers fought the superstructure fire.

Ry watched the displays, checking speed and distance for the
Sziu
and the
Pericato.
“The marines will be in range in nine minutes,” he said breathlessly. He'd watched the marines prepare the Aseri missiles. Two trailers were lashed to the deck, supporting large metal tubes. Marines in parkas had unwound thick electric cables from each trailer, laying them across the deck to a small canvas shelter at the front of the superstructure, where the launch control consoles had been set up. Then hydraulics had elevated both tubes to vertical. They were ready to fire. All they needed now was to get in range.

“Uh-oh,” Florian murmured.

“What?”

“Seibears,” Florian said. “Dozens of them.”

Ry checked the feed Florian was using. He was right. Three kilometers ahead of the
Pericato,
a pack of forty seibears were spread out over a patch of water a kilometer wide. More were swimming out toward them.

“I know that's not good,” Paula said cautiously, “but I don't see what they can do to stop the
Pericato.
”

“Board it?” Kysandra suggested.

“Unlikely at that speed; they'd get swatted aside.”

“Are they carrying weapons?”

“Good question.”

Paula guided a ge-eagle down toward the mass of seibears.

“Nothing,” she said as the ge-eagle scanned the huge amphibious creatures. “But they're there for a purpose. I don't like it.”

“Maybe we should warn Major Danny?” Ry said. “That's a lot of Fallers to deal with.”

“Anala isn't due overhead for another forty minutes,” Florian said.

“We can use the drone and ge-eagles to relay a radio signal directly. Danny will probably listen to us.”

“We're missing something, I'm sure,” Paula said. “But Florian is right; we have to warn the marines.”

Ry listened to Kysandra contact Major Danny, warning him of the potential danger lurking ahead. But the marine major was proving recalcitrant. Talking directly to the Warrior Angel—trusting her—was clearly difficult for him. He didn't want to change course to take them around the seibear pack, claiming that would allow the
Sziu
to reach the shore before the missiles were in range.

As Kysandra tried to keep her exasperation in check, Ry ordered one of the ge-eagles to fly over the
Sziu
's projected landing point. “Crud!”

“What's wrong?” Paula asked.

“Look at where they're going to come ashore.”

The ge-eagle was showing a mass of seibears waiting patiently on the ice above the sea. More were lumbering toward them from the east and the west.