Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human (20 page)

Her hand-picked embarkation
crew was waiting on deck five. Each of them wore modern combat armor and carried assault rifles as well as secondary sidearm’s and grenades. The outer details and decorations of the armor had been altered to appear identical to what a typical Furnace Metals and Mining corporation security guard would wear. All personnel were present except for Doctor Xinhao. Kyle Arneson idly wandered close to Eris. He rubbed the back of his neck though he wished he was rubbing hers.

“
Gotta love the jobs we’ve picked for ourselves. Where else do you get to ride a rollercoaster down through the atmosphere of an unknown planet and hope you’re not shot at…?” said Kyle half jokingly as he glanced at Eris – he didn’t dare touch her with the crowd of officers and crew surrounding them.
I wish I could kiss her,
he thought
.

Doctor Xinhao emerged from the elevator carrying a universal backpack
that was completely filled out and full of equipment. It looked comical on the diminutive doctor. The entryway, a sliding ramp at the rear of the craft yawned wide showing the cramped interior of the shuttle craft vehicle Starlifter. There was not quite enough headroom to stand, and people had to duck as they entered the craft.

“
Right on time to make the party, Doctor - we were about to leave without you,” said Eris with mock seriousness. “Let’s get going.” As she walked inside the craft, she slung her gauss assault rifle over her shoulder and it attached it to her armored suit with an audible
snick
.

The Starlifter had a black hull the same as Sparta, and also
carried a smaller version of the null field generator. She could fly just as stealthily though not nearly as fast. There was enough space for sixteen adult sized humans to board along with their equipment in the passenger compartment. There were also seats forward for a pilot and co-pilot. They had a full complement of fifteen and it was tight with all of them sitting elbow to elbow. Kyle Arneson was stationed at the pilot’s seat in the cockpit up front. Eris made her way forward through a small passageway and sat beside him in the co-pilots chair. She watched in silence as he performed all of the pre-flight checks. “Sparta, this is Starlifter. All systems indicate green…we’re ready to dust off,” said Kyle. All of deck five was one giant airlock - the interior air had been slowly voided to equalize pressure with the vacuum of space outside the ship. The clamshell exit from the aft section of deck five had slowly opened and the black void lay beyond. The hazy atmosphere of the planet Furnace rotated slowly below. Stars glittered brightly as pinpoints of light surrounding the world. Eris saw Saephan’s visage appear above the lit control panel of the cockpit.

“Starlifter, you are cleared to depart. Pleasant journeys!
Will keep Sparta safe until you return.” The massive face of the Orvod had split into a wide grin. Four rows of sharp incisors were clearly evident.

“Roger that, Chief
; we’ll see you when we get back,” said Kyle as he took the control yoke and delicately edged the vehicle outside the hull of the Sparta. The anti-gravity thrusters quickly propelled the craft into a trajectory that would take the vehicle down to the surface of the planet Furnace within thirty minutes.

Back in the CIC, Chief Engineer Hasephrey Saephan leaned against the railing showing the holographic display of the
large rocky planet one hundred thousand kilometers distant. The vast amount of iron ore throughout the crust gave the planet a red hue and the black back-drop of space made it appear to be a rugged crimson jewel floating in the void. The Orvod was too massive to fit into the Captain’s chair. Kizzara had rotated her seat around and was facing him. Once the Starlifter had reached a distance of ten kilometers from the ship, she spoke.

“Orders, Chief?”
Kizzara’s ears were pointing forward. She was wearing custom made plasteel armor that fit well over her lithe frame. Her tail was encapsulated as well – it did not move as it would normally.

“Let’s skim hydrogen from nearby gas giant.
Time to refuel jump-drive tanks, yes?” He beamed at the Evene pilot as he scratched his neck.

“
Just so
,” said Kizz as she input the course in the navigation computer and turned the Sparta around.

“It’s going to be choppy for the next twenty minutes,” barked Kyle’s voice through the comm link. The nitrogen and sulfur dioxide atmosphere coupled with the high pressure of two hundred thousand Pascal’s meant no humanoid could survive without an environment suit, or pressurized combat suit, on the surface of Furnace. It also meant that vehicles had a rough time flying through the dense pea-soup atmosphere. Kyle was a superb pilot however, and true to his word, the bumps and jostles that rocked the craft ceased after eighteen minutes and ten seconds.

“Platinum City on scope
…destination is zeroed in – eta twenty-three minutes.” Kyle’s voice was slightly distorted by a mechanical hum from the internal comm link.

In the aft section of the Starlifter, f
ifteen people were crammed together sitting on pressure seats side-by-side with one another. All of them wore full combat armor, and carried assault rifles save for Lia Xinhao and Eli Bowman, who only carried small laser pistols. The teams’ helmets were fully extended and in use. Considered standard procedure when approaching a potentially hostile landing zone on a world where the atmosphere was toxic, everyone had rebreather equipment integrated into their combat suits. No one in the Starlifter had spoken during the time it had taken to disembark from the Sparta to enter the atmosphere of the planet. The executive officer spoke on comm link with his gruff voice.

“Hey Doc, you don’t want a gauss rifle?” asked
Arnav Malik with a smile. “We have a spare weapon in the arms locker.” Seated in the middle of his squad of eight, Malik leaned forward with his hands on his knees smiling at the doctor seated directly across from him. Between Eli Bowman and Sev Tariv, Doctor Xinhao sat on the port side of the Starlifter passenger compartment. She smiled back at Arnav and shook her head, saying nothing. She was carrying a large backback full of medical equipment, instead of the heavy weapons, grenades and extra clips of ammo each marine carried.

“Ok
ay…just thought you’d want something with a little more
oomph
than that little laser pistol on your hip.” He grinned. “You might need something a little bigger if we get into a nasty fight.” Several of his men laughed while the female soldier’s faces were blank and expressionless.

“The lady doesn’t want another weapon. Perhaps you should keep your opinions to yourself
Arnav Malik,” said Sev Tariv. The long fingers and thumbs of each hand played with the barrel of his weapon in a rhythmic pattern. Tension in the small craft suddenly increased ten-fold.

Sergeant
Garcia, one of the marines, leaned over to Sergeant Dulac, touched helmet to helmet and whispered, “
Who shoved a stick up his ass?
” Dulac grimaced as she whispered back, “
Forget about it, all K’Tosk are born like that.
”

T’sell T’savri, in her guise as Trafelle Talani, attempted to calm the tense atmosphere. She carried a sniper gauss rifle attached to the weapons harness on her back. “Gentlemen, save it for the Alliance. You will have plenty of targets in the next few hours…if everything goes to hell.
We are a team…start acting like it.”

Eli spoke up, “I’d rather Doctor Xinhao be carrying her medical supplies than a gauss assault rifle…you know…in case any of us get shot.” Eli wasn’t wearing any heavy equipment
either. Captain Monroe had insisted he carry a pistol…even though he wasn’t a very good shot. His talents lay
elsewhere
. Everyone on board the Sparta knew he had mental powers and were all a little wary, though respectful, of him. Still, a small current of nervousness existed among the crew as such abilities were extremely rare throughout the Republic. Perhaps only one person in a thousand had any true talent – and people didn’t trust espers. The cabin became quiet until they finally reached the surface of Furnace.

As
Starlifter touched down on the ground, updraft from the antigravity impellers caused clouds of dust to swirl around the vehicle forming half a dozen mini whirlwinds. The metallic ramp at the rear of the craft opened and Alpha team hustled outside. The gravity was slightly higher than one gee earth standard but it wasn’t a problem - though the twice normal atmospheric pressure made moving feel sluggish, almost like swimming in water. The sub-maintenance tunnel airlock loomed thirty meters distant. The light from the trinary suns cast odd shadows from the sharp rocks and edges that lined the landing zone. The atmospheric haze had a definite red shade. Visibility was reduced to a maximum of roughly one hundred meters. Heat haze due to the high surface temperature distorted everyone’s vision. The blurred shimmering effect could be reduced with computerized refraction adjustment, but only so far. Anyone staying out in the blistering heat for more than two hours would definitely be in trouble as far as their suits were concerned.

“Eli,
get that airlock open! Arneson, once we’re clear, get Omega to Long Junction ASAP,” ordered Eris. As Eris left the Starlifter, she waited near to the craft for the ramp to close. Once it was finished, she banged her fist on the hull twice.

“We’re clear, you can take off now,” she said forcefully.
As she stepped away, the fifty metric ton vehicle lifted straight up and soon became a small blur and then was lost to sight.

“Captain, I have the airlock cycled. I also
took care of the security cameras that were pointing this way. There were only three of them,” said Eli with a crooked grin. “They’re now showing an endless loop of the past fifteen hours.” The entrance to the airlock wasn’t far away; a brisk trot had the team assembled in ten seconds. A large four meter wide circular iris door was completely recessed into the airlock mechanism. Glowpanels revealed the rectangular space inside – there was enough room to accommodate at least thirty personnel. Another iris door at the far end was closed, with a nearby panel showing red.

“
Everyone, inside now!” barked Eris to her team. T’sell T’savri, Sev Tariv, Eli Bowman and Lia Xinhao all scrambled inside with weapons drawn. As Eris entered, Eli
interfaced
with the airlock computer and the outer iris door closed with a swooshing sound. Air began to cycle into the airlock and a minute later, the light on the far panel switched to amber and the interior iris door opened with a metallic whisper. With Eris leading her team, they moved down the circular tunnel at a walking pace. All of them continued to keep their suits sealed and helmets in place even though there was breathable atmosphere surrounding them. The tunnel angled down into the ground by five degrees; Alpha Squad was headed in a northern direction.

Eris had planned to inform her team of T’sell’s identity. She did not want to keep them in the dark any longer and she would have to inform her other officers as well soon enough.
Eris turned to face her squad. “Sev, Lia, listen up.” Her voice was calm.
I have to tell them now
. “I want you to know that Trafelle Talani is not really her real name – it’s a cover. Her actual name is T’sell T’savri, and she is a Zari who works as an agent for Dominic Gray.” She heard a gasp from Lia Xinhao, but Sev Tariv displayed no emotion. The Zari woman was motionless. If she had suspected her Captain would inform others of her true position, she didn’t betray any hint of it.

“Is this true Trafelle?” Lia seemed bewildered and confused.

“Yes, it is,” T’sell replied calmly.

“
What possible reason would you have to conceal your true name?” Lia seemed the most perturbed by the disclosure.

“I am an operative working directly for Dominic Gray…my line of work requires clandestine activity and anonymity. My facial sub-dermal implants allow me to alter my facial structure and skin color.” She stated the facts in a monotone voice.

“I’ve been given assurances by both T’sell and Dominic Gray that she is dedicated to the missions set before us…and I believe them. I trust each of you with this information because I feel you are entitled to know the truth,” said Eris. “This is uncommon knowledge that the rest of the crew is not prepared to learn…yet.” Eli turned to face both Sev and Lia.

“I already knew about it…” Eli said nonchalantly. Lia arched an eyebrow at him as she replied to Eris.

“I believe you have the best intentions of the crew at heart, Captain. If you say something, I trust you,” added Lia as she looked from Eris to T’sell T’savri. “T’sell, it really doesn’t matter what I believe, but if the Captain trusts you that’s good enough for me.”
Sev Tariv was silent and said nothing as he adjusted Eli’s Valdren scanner. Eris thought that was at least slightly peculiar
.

“I am not receiving any readings from the scann
ing device,” said Sev Tariv with a flat tone while looking at the hand-held tracker. “We will need to be within five kilometers or less to get a return signal,” Sev indicated sullenly. Wearing full combat helmets the team was communicating via suit comm links. Their signals were encrypted, so in the unlikely event their conversations were picked up, no listener would be able to make any sense of them; it would sound like static.

“Well, it’s not likely we would
have picked up any kind of signal from the Initiator the moment we began looking,” added Eris without a hint of sarcasm. “Keep moving down this tunnel. We have very good maps courtesy of Dominic Gray, let’s start using them.”

“Eli, can you interface with any computers nearby and let us know what the Alliance is doing?” Eris asked
in a matter of fact voice.

“Uh…no, I have to actually be able to see a computer to do that. And there aren’t any nearby.”
Eli craned his head up and looked all around. “Maybe later?” Eris nodded and the team continued.

As her team
descended down the sloping maintenance tunnel, lit irregularly by amber glowpanels, they became silent. The oppressive walls seemed to close in the further they traveled, though Eli knew it was an optical illusion. Following Eris’s lead, they made a right at the first cross passage they came to. Each connecting tunnel was round with a diameter of six meters, bored out by giant fusion powered digging machines that melted the rock walls facing travelers into a smooth surface. Cracks and splits in the tunnel wall, which were seen every now and then, had been sealed with plasteel, making for a seamless and smooth surface. The maintenance tunnel floor was a flat grid of plasteel making for a sure walking surface. Every ten meters, they came upon cross-shafts that were smaller versions of the tunnel they were walking in. These smaller passages were sealed off by airtight iris doors. The main shafts were all pressurized at this location; they could have taken off their helmets and breathed a normal mix of nitrogen and oxygen if they had wanted to – but Eris decided to keep them on for now. Sev Tariv was the only non-human in the group, but K’Tosk had almost exactly the same breathing requirements as humans. He continued to hold the Valdren tracking device between his thumbs and fingers of his left hand. His gauss assault rifle was firmly attached to the back of his armored suit and out of the way. As usual the engineer was silent.

“This should lead us deeper into the complex of
mining tunnel shafts; we’re still at least two kilometers from the outpost proper. I’d like to scout the outer maintenance passages first before we’re forced to head to Platinum City,” said Eris to her squad. Alpha team all appeared to be wearing miner’s armor – protection that was standard gear worn by those sentients that worked the mines of this planet. A dozen mining outfits had operations scattered all over the planet, but their suits indicated they were security guards working for the largest mining company in the quadrant – Furnace Mining and Metals. The insignia of FMM, two crossed shovels on a black and green circular patch, adorned all of their combat suits. To anyone looking at them, they would assume that Alpha squad worked for FMM and wouldn’t suspect anything out of place. Eli paused and brought up a holographic display indicating their exact location on a miniature three dimensional map. The map was projected from a panel on his left arm.

“
Maybe we should head deeper down. There’s an elevator shaft about…three hundred and fifty meters to our north east. If we take the next cross tunnel to the right, go about eighty meters and then head left, we should hit it soon.” Eli explained.

“No,
we won’t try that yet - I want to scout more of this upper level first. Let’s speed things up a bit and pick up our pace. We’ll continue looking along this z axis height for at least another thirty minutes. Let’s head down this way…” Eris pointed with her gauss rifle to the east and began jogging. Alpha team continued on for at least five hundred meters through ill-lit and unused mining maintenance tunnels, long un-used and occasionally veering down a few side passages that went only short distances before coming to a dead-end.

Lieutenant Arneson’s visage appeared in Eris’s helmet
HUD or ‘heads up display’ on her interior faceplate. “Captain, I’ve deposited the package and am returning to rendezvous point Charlie Five,” said Kyle.
Good, he’s dropped off Omega Team,
thought Eris. “Roger that…keep me apprised if the situation changes,” she replied.
And keep safe, she thought silently
. There were no glowpanels illuminating the tunnel within at least ten meters. Ultravision sensors in each of her crew’s helmets allowed them to see, even in total darkness. After exploring tunnels for twenty-six minutes with negative readings and several twists and turns, T’sell T’savri spoke as they passed through an area of darkness.