<Where should I place it?>
<At the base of that central structure, I suppose,> Jasmine instructed. <If any component in here has tendrils connecting to other parts of the ship, it will be that. I’ll trace the signal to see where it leads.>
Kira put the box in position.
Bits of rock tried to rise up over it, but the rock disintegrated into particles as soon as it made contact with the tuned shield around the device.
<It’s still so weird to see the rock move like that,> she said to Jasmine.
<I wish we had a safe way to study this lifeform. It’s a unique wonder.>
<It is. The murdery impulses are a major problem, though.>
<I can’t disagree with that.> Jasmine paused. <Hmm.>
Kira sighed. <I have come to associate that vocalization with bad things.>
<Well, it’s not good.> Jasmine was quiet for another three seconds. <Rather, there is some good news. The tracer signal Leon’s team likened to ‘poison’ does work. I’ve been able to trace the network conduits linking this node to the rest of the ship. Unfortunately, it doesn’t connect to the core operating module that controls the defenses.>
<I thought we were just going to this one so we could send a message to the Raven?>
<Yes, though I had hoped we might get lucky. The worse news is that this node doesn’t connect to the communications systems, either.>
Kira’s blood pressure rose. <Then what the fok does it do?!>
<I’m working on that. Nothing about this ship is as predicted. I need a few more minutes—there’s a lot of data to process.>
<So, we’re trapped and still have no way to communicate.>
<Maybe.>
Kira walked in a small circle and took a slow breath. <Completing this mission is my first priority, but it does concern me that we keep getting deeper into this ship. We’ve already been in here longer than I anticipated, and at this point, I honestly don’t know how we’re going to get back out in time—assuming we do get the equipment in place.>
Jasmine didn’t reply.
<This is the part where you’re supposed to tell me everything is going to be okay,> Kira prompted, but the AI was clearly distracted.
<Oh, I didn’t expect that,> Jasmine said at last.
<I really can’t handle any more vague statements right now.>
<I have made a significant discovery about how this ship operates and extrapolated that to an explanation for the Trols’ behavior as a race,> the AI explained.
Kira stopped pacing. <Go on…>
<In the Guard’s attempts to understand the structure, we have been approaching it like a ship. For that matter, we have been thinking about the Trols as individuals with their own motivations, as we observed with Nox and Reya.
<In reality, though, this ship operates like an organism, not a mechanical ship—except the nervous system is disaggregated in a way I have never encountered before. I had expected there to be one core that controlled everything, but instead there appears to be a node for each major function. I now believe that the Trol ‘pits’ are incubators for the specialized systems. It is where the beings learn to blend together into one voice.>
<Shite, so calling them a ‘nest’ wasn’t far off… it’s a nursery,> Kira realized.
<Yes, I believe that would be an apt analogy.>
Kira crossed her arms. <But what about all the evil shite going on? Possessing Kaen, Chancellor Hale, the plot with the Robus…>
<That’s what I was trying to figure out. Those actions don’t fit with the collective design of a craft such as this. I was quiet for so long because I was running through the scenarios of why that may be. This ship’s design demands a cohesive community to operate it, but none of the pieces on this ship are talking to each other. We have observed strong individualist tendencies at odds with the collective.>
Kira wanted to scream at the AI for taking so long to explain. <What did you figure out?!>
<This group has gone rogue.>
That was it? The big explanation?
Kira shook her head. <What in the stars are you talking about?>
<It explains everything,> Jasmine replied. <A group within the Trols decided they wanted individual expression. A scouting party set out to learn and grow—precisely what Nox explained to you. They settled upon Valta, a world rich in the valteron they needed to propagate. When Tarans settled in the Elvar Trinary, it was a chance to spread beyond Valta. They began growing new nurseries to increase their numbers, launching a plan that would maximize the cultivation of the negative emotional energy they needed to make them stronger.
<However, they weren’t alone in their interest to break away from the rest of the collective. They needed to get a signal to their collaborators back home, wherever that may be, and relay that they had a foothold into the rest of the galaxy. This ship may have been waiting hundreds or thousands of years to receive that message. So, the Trols in Gaelon built the massive transmitter we observed. We had assumed it was pointed inward toward Empire space, but I believe we had it backwards all along.>
Kira allowed the words to sink in. <It’s only been a month since then. If it was broadcasting into deep space, how the fok did the ship get here so quickly?>
<We have no understanding of the propulsion system on this craft. It is entirely possible that it has some form of jump tech that works in a different way to ours. It did appear seemingly out of nowhere, after all—that is consistent with subspace travel.>
<Well, shite. Huh.> Kira uncrossed her arms and stared up at the rock node. <So, in theory, once we take out this ship, we’ll be done with the rogue Trols.>
<Presumably. If there were others, I’d expect those carrier slots in the cylinders to be full. The fact that this ship is empty indicates that they pooled their resources and set out to grow their numbers.>
<Right, hence the plot with taking over the Elvar Trinary. But… who are the other Trols?>
<I can offer no insight into that,> the AI replied.
<I guess it doesn’t matter.> Kira shook her head. <Back to the critical items now. Assuming this ship is controlled by a group of rogue Trols, and none of them want to play nice—which may be why the ship’s parts aren’t talking to each other—that doesn’t help us access the systems we need to access.>
<No, it doesn’t,> Jasmine agreed. <I probably shouldn’t have even brought this up now. It’s not relevant to our mission.>
<Actually, it’s given me the beginning of an idea.>
<Please share, because I don’t have a suggestion for how to proceed.>
<Were you able to identify what this node is responsible for?> Kira asked. <If it’s not communications, then…?>
<Structural control.>
<Meaning?>
<I believe this node is what’s controlling the internal movements of the corridors.>
Kira laughed. <Oh, shite, really? That makes it way easier! I was about to suggest some crazy convoluted thing with hacks, tricks, and whatever other nonsense.>
<Okay, so what do you have in mind?>
Kira smiled. <All we need to do is tell this node exactly where we want to go.>
CHAPTER 18
“Status!” Kaen ordered.
“No word from Kira or the Raven, sir,” the comm tech reported.
“I have detected no friendly signal within the alien ship,” Rianne added.
She should have been in touch by now. Kaen shifted in his seat.
Infiltrating any enemy compound always came with the risk that communications would be lost inside. Usually, there was some means to counter the interference. The device Kyle had designed should have allowed Kira to tap into the alien ship’s own communications array, but clearly something had gone wrong.
“Can you reach her telepathically?” Kaen asked Jason.
The Agent shook his head. “I’ve been trying, but the entire planet-ship is clouded with some sort of telepathic interference. I can’t pick her out from the din.”
Kaen groa
ned inwardly. With the communications blackout and no other sign, they had no way of knowing if Kira would be able to complete her mission, or even know if she was alive. Kaen only had his faith that she wouldn’t give up.
Regardless of his concern for her safety, they were out of time. The Trol ship would be visible in the Elvar Trinary within five minutes. Even if Kira were to make her exit at that moment, an explosion wouldn’t happen until it was well within visual range.
“Send the override order to the shield generators in the Elvar Trinary,” he instructed.
“Sent,” the comm tech confirmed.
Kaen slumped in his seat. “Now we wait.”
— — —
A warning flashed across Ellen’s computer monitor.
Is this it? She’d been waiting for the moment of truth—what, exactly, the Guard’s ‘visual disturbance’ would be with their alleged ‘test’. The warning about an offworld signal tapping into the control module for the shields indicated that she was about to find out.
She hit the comm on her desk. “Trisha, did you get the alert?”
“Yeah, the data packet is still downloading. It should be live in two minutes.”
“I’ll meet you in Ops Central.”
She jogged down the hall past the bullpen of cubicles to the bank of windows on the far wall, which overlooked the courtyard between the Mysaran government building and MTech headquarters. More importantly for the present, it offered a clear view of the sky through the top of the translucent biodome.
It was twilight, and the stars were beginning to show alongside two of Mysar’s three moons. The deep blue sky had a slight haziness to it from a nearby windstorm, but otherwise was perfectly clear.
“Anything yet?” Trisha asked, coming up behind her.
“No. I’m not even sure what to look for.”
“Maybe it will be nothing.”
Ellen shook her head. “I doubt that. The fact that they gave a warning at all means it will be significant. If anything, those kinds of announcements downplay the reality.”
Trisha crossed her arms. “Well, we distributed our press release about the ‘test’. I just sent an alert to the news networks that it was about to begin. It should be on every screen momentarily.”
Ellen peered down at the massive reader board above the MTech lobby entrance. Sure enough, there was a red crawler along the bottom of the viewscreen stating that a planetary shield test was in progress.
Murmurs of surprise sounded around the room.
She returned her gaze upward in time to see an opaque spot in the upper atmosphere above the city, which was slowly growing. It spread across the shield like a pool of paint flowing around a sphere. Wherever it covered, the light dimmed only a small measure, but the stars and moons were completely obscured.
“I was expecting some flickering!” Trisha exclaimed. “This…”
“I know why the Guard is doing it, but I don’t know how we explain this to the public.” Ellen shook her head.
“Why block out the night sky?”
“Well, on the one hand, they’re doing us a favor by hiding the planet-ship from view of the people on the surface. Dealing with the handful of people in the spaceport above the shield is way easier.”
“That’s true.” Trisha nodded. “But you think there’s another reason?”
“Yeah, the real reason. They’ve been evasive about how, exactly, they intend to take down that absurdly big ship. Whatever weapon they have that’s capable of that level of destruction, they don’t want anyone to know what it is—or that they even have it. If no one sees it, it’s hearsay.”
“I guess we’ll need to keep our mouths shut, too.”
Ellen released a long breath. “Sometimes it’s a burden, having more information than anyone else and needing to keep it to yourself. Personally, though, I’d rather keep a secret and know the truth than blindly follow on the outside.”
“I’m with you there.”
“Ma’am?” a tech said from one of the nearby cubicles. “Daily News has someone on the line asking to do an interview about this shield test.”
Ellen smiled at Trisha. “Why don’t you take this one?”
“I don’t know…”
“It should come from a local. If they interview me, it might make them more suspicious.”
Trisha sighed and nodded. “All right.”
“Come on, let’s jot down some talking points.”
— — —
Kira frowned at the code running through her mind. <Okay, so maybe telling the node where we want it to take us wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped.>
Whenever she watched Kyle and Nia work on a hack, they’d made it look easy. As an AI, Jasmine had innate skill in computer-related endeavors, but the Trols’ programming language was as alien as their lifeform.
<We might need to try something else,> Kira suggested.
<No, you’re right. This is the best strategy. I know there’s a way we can tell this ship to move this node to where we need to be, or at least how to open a pathway right to it.>
They’d already been working on it for fifteen minutes. The clock was ticking down too quickly.
<Jasmine—>
<Wait, I’ve got it!> the AI exclaimed. <Watch this magic.>
The ground trembled, and a hole appeared five meters to the left. Descending into the depth was a perfectly formed spiral staircase, made of the same stone-like material that was present throughout the ship.
Kira gaped at the creation. <You’re amazing! I’d ask you how you did it, but I don’t think I want to know.>
<Take the gift and go! The program is still running, and it will open a path for us back to the shuttle, too.>
<That’s a long way up now.>
<But it won’t be. I have programmed the bottom of the cylinder to lower to the level of the core. It should be a straight run for us, and then we can fly out.>
<Hindsight, and all that. We never could have hacked it remotely. They could override my commands at any time, though. We need to hurry. Kyle and Nia can keep it active for us once they get remote access.>
<Can you? Keep it open, I mean?>
<Not without an additional processor. Your mind is amazing, Kira, but it doesn’t have the resources for an ongoing hack like that.>
<Understood. What about the device?> She looked down at the box still resting on the ground by the column.
<I’m using it to temporarily keep the doorway open. Leave it.>
Without further delay, Kira raced down the stairs.
After the equivalent of twenty stories, her legs were burning, despite her augmentations. Rapid healing or not, she suspected she’d be feeling all the running around tomorrow.
She descended another fifteen stories before she finally spotted the bottom. To her right, she saw a surprisingly straight tunnel that faded into darkness.
<That’ll be our exit,> Jasmine explained. <Head left. We’re almost there.>
Kira ran in the indicated direction, her movements feeling odd over the flat ground, after spending so much time on the stairs.
<How deep are we now?>
<Don’t think about that. We have our exit plan,> Jasmine replied.
The left path led through a corridor with a ceiling curving above her fifteen meters up, transitioning into rippled walls. The floor was the same spongy covering of interwoven fibers that she’d encountered in the depths of the ship, and it gave extra bounce to her step as she ran.
After half a kilometer, the broad passageway flared outward into a chamber that dwarfed the others.
<This is the core,> Jasmine stated as Kira entered.
A central column of rock rose in the center of the chamber, adorned by what looked like petals of a blooming flower, crafted from the same stone. It towered at least a kilometer high, but Kira couldn’t get a clear reading on the top.
<This node is connected to the rest of the s
hip,> Jasmine explained. <Communications, defenses—we can get it all from here.>
<So, we patch in, and then Kyle and Nia will keep it locked down while we escape?>
<That’s the plan.>
<Okay, tell me where I hook this up.> Kira pulled the main module from her bag.
She jogged toward the central column, listening for any enemies that may be lurking in the shadows. In a space so large, anyone could be watching her without her knowledge.
The fibrous groundcover thickened closer to the column, and Kira was soon sinking in, up to the middle of her shins. Thanks to the field around her suit, the fibers moved from her path with every step. Without that, though, she feared it would be able to swallow her up in moments.
<Put it in physical contact with one of the data conduits. That will give a backup connection in case the wireless interface fails.>
<How do I use this tracer thing to find it?> Kira asked.
<I’ll add a visual overlay for you. This might be a little… disorienting.>
Kira’s vision distorted in a pixelated flash. When it cleared, there was an eerie purple glow to the environmental features around her. Some spots were bright, and others were almost black.
<What is this?>
<Electromagnetic field overlay. The brighter the spot, the more energy is running through it. You see that conduit in the central column?>
Kira nodded. It stood out from the others, both in brightness and thickness. <That’s this node’s primary connection with the rest of the ship, isn’t it?>
<That’s my best guess, anyway,> Jasmine said. <We’ll know right away if it works or not.>
Kira slogged through the moss-like fibers toward the part of the bright conduit that appeared to be closest to the surface. When she reached out her hand, it sank into the bed of flexible fibers and then touched stone underneath.
<Can you dim the visual overlay? I need to look at this,> she requested.
The purple faded from her vision.
Sure enough, the conduit she needed to access was deep within the column, without any discernable access point. <Are you sure we need a physical connection?>