Merkiaari Wars: 01 - Hard Duty (32 page)

“I know what you mean. I dreamed about it again last night.”

“Me too,” Brenda admitted though she had not been aware of James awakening. “Did you get a few hours?”

“Ummm, about four or five… minutes.”

“Yeah.”

Jutka led the way up into higher elevations until they reached a kind of plateau. A cliff-like wall of rock, the beginning of the mountain proper was a sheer barrier before them, but the so-called path did continue by turning hard right and following the base of the cliff. The plateau was a small flattish outcropping of rock with large boulders seemingly scattered around at random. Appearances can be deceiving however.

“We must wait a few moments to be recognised,” Jutka said and sat upon a boulder with the aid of her friends. She was very old for a Shan and was tired.

“I do not see the Keep, Elder,” Bernard said looking around. “Are we close?”

“Very,” Jutka said dryly and her companions dropped their jaws in amusement. “You will see it soon, do not be concern—”

A rumbling split the air and the cliff opened. Brenda watched in amazement as a huge section of rock slowly slid into the ground revealing a lighted passage that ran deep into the mountain’s bones. Jutka rose to her feet and led them to the welcoming committee just now approaching from within the Keep. There was a moment of confusion as Jutka’s companions moved ahead with the Shan equivalent of
The Box
. The newcomers were outfitted with earpieces and pickups so Brenda and her team might understand them.

“Honoured Elder,” a Shan from the new group said. “Welcome to Kachina Twelve.”

Twelve? Brenda blinked in amazement. The opening in the mountain was huge with the passage disappearing into the distance hinting at the size of this place. How many Keeps could there possibly be?

Jutka introduced Brenda and the others then introduced the leader of the newcomers. “—and this is Tei’Kerttu. She has the honour of being Tei for Kachina Twelve.”

“Honoured,” Brenda said with a bow.

“A very great honour,” Bindar said.

“Honoured,”

“—noured Tei,” James said.

“Honoured to meet you Tei, I have many questions,” Bernard said.

“Welcome, welcome all,” Tei’Kerttu said in reply. “Your wish, Elder?”

“Our new friends have many questions about our past, Kerttu. I want you to show them what a Keep is, what it does, and how that is achieved.”

“At your command,” Tei’Kerttu said with a bow.

Jutka turned away and addressed herself to James. “I will leave you with Kerttu. She will see to your needs and your return to my home.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

Jutka and her escort left then and Tei’Kerttu took charge of Brenda and her friends. They were ushered inside in order to close up the mountain. Kerttu explained that the Keeps were always sealed to prevent detection. They should only be opened in an emergency, but an elder’s word was law and this was a special circumstance.

Brenda followed Kerttu into the mountain listening to her explanations of what they saw. In a spare moment between questions, she asked what she had been wondering about.

“How many Keeps are there?” Brenda said. “I mean, this is Kachina Twelve. Is there a Kachina Thirteen or even a Kachina Twenty?”

Kerttu hesitated but her elder’s words had been specific. “There is a Kachina Twenty,” she admitted reluctantly. “There are hundreds of Keeps on Child of Harmony, and hundreds more on Homeworld. Some are even larger than Kachina Twelve, not many to be sure, but some. Forgive me for not saying more, but I am not comfortable discussing this.”

“We understand Tei,” James said and the others murmured agreement. “If we had such places, we too would keep the information secret. You have my word of honour that I will not reveal what I see here,” he said and the others were quick to agree.

Brenda was not sure they should agree to that actually. They were here to learn about the Shan and report to the President and the Council. Swearing not to reveal what they learned was a little too much like disloyalty for her peace of mind. Unfortunately, it was obvious she would learn nothing further if she did not agree.

“You have my word, Tei,” Brenda said a little late and felt guilty for saying it.

“I thank you,” Kerttu said, “but I will not reveal anything that might compromise Keep security or their locations.”

James was a little put out by that, but Brenda actually felt happier with the problem out of the way. If Kerttu did not reveal any secrets, she did not have to worry about reporting what she did reveal.

They had to stop briefly when they reached a huge vault door. Kerttu was required to input some kind of code to open it. The door reminded Brenda of an airlock from the outside, but when it opened she realised no air lock was ever built so strong. It was designed like a cork. It was round and stepped down in diameter with the largest size outer most.

“That is the biggest blast door I have ever seen!” Sheryl said in awe. “How heavy is it?”

“I do not know,” Kerttu said in surprise. “I am a warrior not an engineer, but I am sure I could find out for you.”

“No, that’s all right.” Sheryl said as the door completed swinging open.

Kerttu led them inside and the door slowly swung closed with a hiss of compression seals. “This is a vacuum chamber. If ever the door is attacked, it is hoped the lack of atmosphere in here will prevent the shock being transmitted to the inner door.”

“It has never been put to the test?”

“A prototype was tested in the outer belt where it was bombarded by the fleet. The results seem to indicate the inner door can resist a ten-megatonne detonation but only as long as this chamber remains uncompromised. Should the outer door succumb, there are two more of these chambers to breach before the Keep itself is breached.”

Sheryl was an engineer chosen to join the contact team to evaluate the Shan’s technical knowledge. If anyone was qualified to judge the effectiveness of the Keep’s defences, it was she.

“An impressive system, Tei, but have you hardened the Keep against other forms of attack?”

“Such as?”

“Were this on an Alliance world I would expect to see shields, heavy weapon emplacements, and perhaps even nano assemblers.”

Kerttu was interested. Her ears were pricked forward and her nose was twitching as if she scented something on the wind worth her time. “Weapons we have, but I do not know what shields and nano assemblers are. You must explain these things to me.”

“I would be honoured to do so, but to understand my discipline you would need to study for many orbits. Let me see if I can simplify what I mean,” Sheryl said with a frown. “Nano technology is simply the use of microscopic robot machines to perform pre-programmed tasks. We use them for all kinds of things from performing intricate surgery to building components for an Alliance dreadnought. In your case, you could use them to repair damage to the door the instant it was detected by the nanites. If set up properly, they can be used to reverse the damage even as it is occurring, which would increase the life of the defence this door represents.”

Kerttu’s nose was twitching and it was obvious how pleased she would be to have nanotech to enhance her defences. “And the shield?”

“That is both easier and harder to explain. Shields are three fold. First is the physical armour to withstand impact forces, but you have that. Alliance armour is designed to resist energy weapons as well. The surface of the armour should be as reflective as possible to deflect the beams, and finally we have shield generators, which produce extremely intense magnetic forces using the jump vanes of a ship to deflect charged particles. Shields are best used on spacecraft, but they can be adapted to work in a planetary environment… after a fashion. They are rarely used in atmosphere, and to be blunt Tei, I would not recommend doing so.”

“Why not?”

“Because, should the unthinkable occur, the generators could be destroyed liberating all the energy they have stored. Aboard ship there are ejection mechanisms and blow out panels to reduce damage, but within your mountain here it would be a disaster.”

“Dangerous indeed, Sheryl.” Kerttu said. “More dangerous than it is worth surely?”

“Not aboard a warship going into harms way, Tei. A ship without shields would be easy meat for the Merkiaari.”

“Our fleet does not have these shields, but the Murderers will not find them easy.”

“I did not mean to imply—” Sheryl began as she realised that her comments could be taken as a condemnation of Shan defences.

Tei’Kerttu’s ears twitched. “Be at ease. I have heard the Alliance will help us in many ways if we join.”

“That’s true,” James said as the inner door opened and they progressed further into the Keep. “You have done wonders here, but with the help of the Alliance I believe you will create many more.”

Brenda smiled at James’s eloquence. He had come a long way from the shy professor of history she had known back in Oxford. Somehow, James had become the unofficial leader of their group and he was good at the job.

Kerttu escorted them through each of the blast doors and vacuum chambers and into a lift that went down deep below the mountain. Brenda stepped out of the lift and into the Keep proper. It was truly huge just as she had guessed. Sub-level one was the equivalent of twenty stories below the main entrance, a very long way, but there were ten more levels containing living areas, workshops, hydroponics, schools, weapon storage, life support, kitchens… everything needed for the Shan to live separated from the surface for years.

“Each level is hardened against penetration by the Murderers and can survive independently of the others for as many as four turnings.”

“Only four days?” Sheryl said in disapproval.

Kerttu’s ears flattened to her skull at Sheryl’s tone. “That is the maximum time we estimate it would take the Murderers to find and kill everyone on a single level. If we cannot re-take the infested level in four days, my people would be dead and more life support capacity would be pointless.”

Brenda moved to the safety railing that edged the walkway and looked over into the abyss. The floor was so far down it was almost out of sight. She thought she could see water shimmering down there, but could not be sure. She counted the levels down and came up with all ten, but the visible sections were as nothing compared with the areas hidden in the depths of the mountain.

In the roof of the cavern were huge lights, but most were unlit, the orange glow coming from those that were powered was just enough to see the details. In the centre was a huge round pillar gleaming metallically; it reached from the roof all the way down into the depths.

“What is that?” Brenda said pointing.

Kerttu joined her at the rail. “The core; power generation, water recycling, and primary life support. My control room is there and of course the security centre including barracks and weapons storage.”

James moved to the railing beside her and leaned over the edge. “I assume you have enough weapons for all your people Tei.”

“There are weapons caches on each level, but all my people carry their own. Everyone knows they are to bring their beamers with them when the time comes.”

“So it is true,” Bernard said. “You do train all your people to fight.”

“It’s true. Only cubs below the age of five orbits and those too old do not fight.”

“The central area is too open,” Sheryl said. “A bad weakness in the Keep’s design. It provides a possible access for Merki wishing to move from one level to another.”

Kerttu dropped her jaw in a grin. “Any Merki showing itself would die instantly. The core is the most heavily guarded section. Do not be fooled by what you see here. The Keep is on power down. When fully activated these walkways can be sealed off—see the shutters?”

Brenda looked up at the overhead. Along the edge of the walkways were heavy looking blast shields that could drop down just beyond the railing she was leaning against. The effect would be like adding a steel wall along the walkway to create a corridor with no other exit from the level but the lift.

“If the shutters are breached the Merki will find themselves under fire from every quarter by automatic weaponry controlled by security.”

Brenda squinted at the walls trying to make out details. They were too far away to be sure, but she could see dozens of hatches that she assumed housed beamers and other weapons designed to protect the Shan. Brenda nudged James when she noticed the others drifting away to follow Kerttu, and he left the rail to join them.

Brenda took one last look at the cavern before trotting to catch up.

* * *

Fortress Command, Kachina Twelve, Child of Harmony

It was a small thing at first; a barely detectable blip on a display in the heart of a heavy fang that had alarms wailing. Moments later, the alarm was silenced when the ship was blown to pieces by capital ship missiles.

The destruction of
Vasuk
was noticed, and the Shan fleet turned to investigate. It took the destruction of another heavy fang for the horrible truth to dawn.

The Murderers had returned.