Haywire (36 page)

Sighing, Hofstadter reached into one of his coat pockets and withdrew a small flashlight, then removed a video camera from another. Once both items were in his hands and pointed forward, he approached the broken wall.

“
This is Doctor Sheldon Hofstadter,” he said, projecting his voice down to his recorder, “and I am about to enter a previously unknown area of Groesbeck site M-04. This area was discovered and… uh, opened… by the Titan known as Artemis. She has requested that I enter the area and look for items of interest to her… cause. I am entering now.”

Shawn and Artemis watched as Hofstadter stepped over broken concrete and entered the shadowy chamber beyond. After that they had to depend on his recitation to know what was happening.

“
There is an immediate turn to the left,” he said, his words echoing in the narrow space, “and ahead of me are several large machines whose purpose is unknown. A large rack of metal containers sits next to them. I also see what appears to be a storage unit and attendant controls. It… yes, it is indeed a storage unit, but… Oh dear. There’s a passcode lock on it. I don’t have the code, and the good doctor thoughtlessly didn’t leave it scrawled on the wall next to it. I’m not–”

“
Is it alphanumeric, Doc?” Artemis asked, raising her voice to be heard.

“
Eh? No. It’s numeric only, not that that helps me. Very well, let us see if logic and some much needed good fortune can’t do the trick. I’ll try this…”

A harsh beep rolled out of the dark space.

“
Well, of course it wouldn’t be the first one I tried, now would it? Let’s try this one…”

Another beep sounded, and then another, and then another. Shawn prepared himself for a lengthy stay when a bright ding suddenly peeled out of the darkness, followed by Hofstadter laughing.

“
Eureka!” the doctor said. “Lady Luck has smiled upon us today.”

Curious, Shawn asked, “What was the code?”

“
The university room number where Groesbeck once taught Gabrielle Harris,” he replied, his voice triumphant. “I thought that since this site was in her home, it would only follow that she would shape his thinking. Really, it was luck more than anything, but… still, good show, old man.”

Shawn could practically hear the doctor patting himself on the back, and he didn’t blame him.

“
Now let’s see what we have in here… There is some sort of carrying case, quite large in size, and next to it is a data tablet. And… well, that appears to be all. Other than these beastly machines, I see nothing else of note. I’ll have to bring in more gear to uncover exactly what all this is for.”

“
It’s okay, Doc,” Artemis said. “Just bring us what you have.”

From the sound of it the doctor had a difficult time getting the case and tablet removed from the storage unit. He huffed and puffed enough to knock over a house made of bricks, but eventually he struggled out of the darkness with a large metal case in both hands and a tablet sticking out of the pants waistband at his hip.

“
Oof!” He sat the case down. “Would either of you care to see if you can open that, of would you rather not risk it?”

Artemis reached forward slowly. Her fingers hovered over the case’s latch for only a second before she committed herself and pressed the unlock button. Shawn expected her to cry out again, but instead the top of the case opened without fanfare. He was glad for that missed bit of drama.

“
What’s in the case?” he asked.

Artemis parted the case lid further apart. Inside it was a small metal container held safely in place by padded braces. It was ten centimeters long, four centimeters in diameter, and a red button sat in a recessed area at one end. A white gas was viewable through clear panels running from end to end around its circumference.

Artemis gingerly reached in and withdrew it. The canister was so small in her hand, so unassuming. If that was really what they’d been searching for, Shawn was a little disappointed. He’d expected a weapon capable of killing a Titan to be more… more.

“
It has an explosive charge in it,” she said as she brought the canister up to eye level and peered into it. “A grenade. Nice.”

“
Apparently it is called Zeus,” Hofstadter said as he read from the tablet he’d brought out. “Groesbeck began work on the Titan nanites and their anti-agent at the same time. His Titan research was done on Callisto, while for safety concerns the anti-agent was developed here via remote processes. His notes indicate he was successful in developing the anti-agent, but he was hesitant to divulge that information to the military powers that be, afraid they would use it as a way of bending the Titans to their will once the Hezrin were dealt with. As a sword of Damocles, if you will. The time stamp on this entry indicates he was killed only a week after the canister was manufactured.”

Artemis sighed and leaned against a counter next to her. It groaned and bent under her weight. “Dammit. So thi-i-is is it? We can’t make more?”

“
Possibly,” Hofstadter replied, pointing at an entry on the tablet. “The discovery process was the hard part, as is always the case. Manufacturing it should be rather straightforward. So long as the requisite materials are still viable, there’s no reason we couldn’t– “

Artemis held up a gauntleted hand. “Yeah, alright, good. Why don’t you go-o-o back and check on all that. If we can make more, then I want more. I want ev-everything you can give me. Alright? What we have here just isn’t going to be enough.”

“
Enough for what?” Hofstadter asked. His eyes hardened, and his mouth set in a frown. “I’ve avoided questions long enough. What is all this abo–”

Shawn deflected the doctor by stepping next to him and patting his shoulder. “It’s about saving the human race, Doc. Those little ticks you’ve been noticing from Artemis? Well, more Titans are coming, and they make her stuttering seem like nothing. The best thing you can do is start those machines back up and give us the weapons we need to stop them.”

“
Yes,” Artemis said, “because we wo-wo-won’t get a second chance at this.”

“
And while you do that,” Shawn said, “I’m going to contact my dad and see how mom’s doing. Then I’ll let Agent Delgado know what we’ve found. After that we can figure out just what to do next.”

The look on Artemis’s face said she’d started formulating a plan long before a word had passed his lips. He hoped it would be a good one.

“
Captain, we’ve established an outer Mars orbit,” the
Culper
’s helmsman said, “and our false IFF is broadcasting. To anyone who cares to look, we’re a merc ship waiting for work.”

Townsend nodded but kept his eyes locked straight ahead. All of his attention was focused on the pale red planet before him. Hidden somewhere on its surface was the source of all his troubles, and he ached to find it and scratch it out of existence.

“
Captain Townsend to Major Hill,” he said, pressing his ear comm. “Major Hill, report in.”

Several seconds later a voice said, “Hill here, Captain.”

“
Major, are you’re people ready to drop when I give the word?”

“
Yes, Sir.”

“
And are they ready to do what they couldn’t before?”

“
Absolutely, Sir. I don’t have as many people as I did before, but now we’ll have the room and freedom to break out the big guns. Either we come back with our prize, or we don’t come back at all.”

“
I was thinking the same thing, Major.” A dark chuckle rumbled in Townsend’s throat. “Be ready. Townsend out.” As soon as he closed his channel, the captain tilted his head toward Petty Officer Sanchez. “Comms, anything from Mars?”

“
No, Sir, so far…” The radio operator stopped and looked at his display with rapt attention, then said, “Sir, we have an incoming encrypted transmission from Bellona. Its codes check out.”

Townsend’s stomach filled with equal amounts of dread and aggression. “Put it through.”

The overhead speakers crackled to life. “Wendigo to
Culper
, come in
Culper
.”

“
Culper
here,” Townsend replied. “Report.”

“
Sir, I’m at the southern docking area of Bellona. Agent Delgado and seven others have just passed through security and are on their way into the city. They didn’t trip any alarms, so I can only assume they’re unarmed. It’s possible they have a cache of weapons here though.”

“
And are the Titans among them, Wendigo? They’re probably well covered, but from all accounts you can’t mistake their size.”

“
Negative. Everyone I see looks normal.”

The captain grunted. He hadn’t expected they would split up. Still, a target in the hand was worth two in the bush. “Okay. Continue to surveil the targets and report back as the situation changes. I’m sending our people down now.
Culper
out.”

As the static faded away, the captain again activated his ear comm. “Major, Agent Delgado and his team have been spotted entering Bellona, so you are cleared to launch. The Titans aren’t with them, but hopefully they aren’t far. When the opportunity arises, take them all out. Scorch the earth.”

“
Consider it burnt, Sir.”

Less than a minute later a shuttle launched from the
Culper
’s starboard shuttlebay, and with it went all of the captain’s bloody hopes.

When Puerto de la Sombra exploded, none were left to mourn it, and the agents of its destruction already had their sights set on their next target. The dreadnaught’s engines throbbed like a dying star, surging it through space to the nearest conduit. On the other side of the wormhole was a civilian space station, with Uranus in the distance. The station was blown out of the sky before the people aboard it even knew they were under attack.

An Alliance naval base in orbit around Titania, Uranus’s largest moon, scrambled their forces, but the small carrier group and two dozen fighters never had a chance. The dreadnaught’s cannons were too numerous and unyielding. When a score of Titans launched themselves into the base, the screams that followed were terrible, yet mercifully brief.

The fires over Titania still glowed as the dreadnaught passed through another conduit and appeared next to Splendor, a commercial spaceport halfway between Mercury and Venus. Splendor was nearly as large as the Minerva Terminus, with twenty-five ships docked against its various arms. Within moments the death toll was in the thousands. The dreadnaught fired continually, blasting apart everything that came within reach, and it only became more horrifying when Titans tore into the station and laid waste to those not fast enough to escape the slaughter.

A dark laugh filled the bridge of the alien ship when it steered toward the conduit that would lead them finally to their quarry. Thanatos stood at the front of the cavernous bridge, his fists clenched and his eyes burning like volcanic caldrons. The spikes that rippled across his back brought a smile to his grim lips.

“
I’m-m-m coming for you, my little northern star,” he said. “You’re the only person who can stand in my way, and when I find you, you above al-l-l-ll others will suffer.”

More laughter peeled through the bridge, and then other voices joined his, all of them ravenous for blood, fire, and pain.

As Alex stepped off the elevator, the first thing that hit him was the stench of old sweat, rotted meat, and air recycled to the point it tasted like aluminum foil in his mouth. It was terrible, but he should have expected it. Nethers weren’t pleasant places to be.

Getting his SWAT team through it was another matter entirely. Every eye was drawn to them, not that he could blame the nether’s residents. A group of armed people in black uniforms wasn’t something they saw every day. On the plus side, no one tried to accost them or get in their way either, so they made good time getting to the Groesbeck site. When they crossed the dilapidated house’s threshold they found Shawn stacking canisters and tying them together with nylon ropes.

“
You’ve been busy,” Alex said.

Shawn pulled a knot tight and smiled. The expression covered his face like a cheap suit. “Artemis is in the basement. We’ve made all the Zeus we can, so she’s finishing up the last of the containers.”

“
Good. She figure out a plan yet?”

“
I think she has something in mind. You?”

Alex wasn’t sure how to respond to that, how much he should divulge out in the open, so he erred on the side of caution. “A few thoughts have rolled through my mind. We’ll see how they pan out. On a completely unrelated note, your father sends his love.”

“
I know.” Shawn dropped to his haunches and looked down at his armored shoulders and arms. “How much did you… Does he know? About me, I mean?”

Alex shook his head. “Not so far as I know. It wasn’t my place to tell him. When he saw your mother she took up most of his attention. He just wanted to know if you were okay, and I figured a ‘Yes’ wasn’t a total lie. It’ll serve for now. Alicia will know how to handle it.”

Standing back up, Shawn said, “Thank you for taking care of her,” then turned to Agent Roe. “You too. She’d probably be dead right now if it wasn’t for you. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”