The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #4, Retribution (17 page)

As she ran she fired two quick shots. The rounds found their marks and the two soldiers farther out staggered back. Cat had been careful to target the Modos and not the Suhtii symbiot. Deprived of their Modos passenger the Suhtii typical dropped their weapons and sought cover.

As Cat was firing she heard Private Stone engage the final hostile. It took him four rapidly fired rounds to take the soldier down but when he did Cat was relieved to see the Suhtii had received only the slightest of flesh wounds.

"All right!" Cat yelled. "Let's move out! I've got another squad moving in from the south. We need to get a move on or we'll be doing this again."

As Private Stone picked Debbu up Cat scanned the surrounding area one last time. This had been a beautiful neighborhood once but no more. The homes showed signs of well-manicured lawns and flower beds both most were marred by pieces of shrapnel and fire damage.

Cat toggled her AI. "Cal... Anything coming our way?"

"
Negative Admiral although I am receiving telemetry from the Honey Dipper. They are in route, fully cloaked and fifteen minutes out
.
” 

Cat opened a channel to the
Honey Dipper
. "Ricky, I hear you are planning on paying me a visit here in Harromog."

"Why Madam Admiral...
,
” her friend said over the comm. "Has someone spoiled my surprise? Here I was planning on sneaking up all stealth-like and such."

"As much as I appreciate a surprise I'm afraid we have a situation here. We have a wounded Naan and a need to get somewhere quickly without drawing too much attention."

"Understood Cat... We're not traveling at top speed because we are trying to maintain a cloak. Do you want me to drop the cloak and make better speed?"

"That's probably a good idea. We have soldiers coming up from the south. I'd just as soon avoid tangling with them if we can."

***

Ricky Valen nudged the nose of the
Honey Dipper
down. He and Honey had picked up The Admiral's party a few minutes before. The shuttle had come in hot but quickly recloaked the moment they had picked up the Admiral and her party.

The observatory at JasNair was just below them now. It sat on a bluff above the city. Scans of the area indicated it was abandoned. The facility itself was untouched by the fighting that had ravaged much of the city below. Sensors even indicated an active power source. Debbu confirmed the observatory had its own solar array that stored energy in a subterranean array of ceramic super-capacitors.   

"Touchdown in one minute, Madam Admiral," Ricky said over his shoulder.

Honey unclasped her safety harness. Ricky knew she wore it more to remind him that he needed to strap-in rather than any need of her own.

“I’
m going to check on our patient
.
”

The patient in question was a Naan named Debbu. Honey had immediately hooked him into the med-bay when he boarded the shuttle. The advanced systems expertly tweaked the work that Admiral Kimbridg
e’
s nanites had begun. The result would hopefully be fully fused bone rather than just a supporting scaffold.

Honey worked her way back to the cocoon-like seat that served as the shuttles miniature med-bay. Cat was sitting next to the injured professor talking quietly.

Cat looked up and smiled
.“
Our friend here is just about healed. The medical nanites have been fully reprogrammed for Naanac physiology and are moving at light-speed. Five more minutes and he should be good to take on a marathon
.
”

Debbu made a deep burping sound that Cat had learned was laughter
.“I’
m not sure what type of animals these marathons are, but I assure you,
I’
d be more likely to turn around and run the other way
!
”

“
Trust me, my frie
n
d
,
you would not be the first
,
” Cat said.

There was a slight bumping sound as the shuttle settled on the lawn just outside the main entrance of the observatory.

“
Looks like we are here
,
” Honey said
.“
Do we know what w
e’
re looking for when we get into the building
?
”

Debbu began to work his way out of the med-bay cocoon. Cat placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. She and Honey then worked together to disconnect the various sensors that had adhered to his skin. When they had them cleared away, they helped him stand.

“
This is most amazing
!
” the Naanac professor chortled
.“
I feel as good as ne
w
… better than as good as new. Oh, how my people could benefit from a relationship with your Coalition
!
”

“
If we want that to happen, we better find a way to save this planet. And that, ladies and gentlemen, means we need to find what we came all this way to find
.
”

Chapter Fourtee
n
–
The Observatory...

The lobby of the JasNair observatory looked like it could have been the lobby on any modern office building in New Tokyo on Earth. It was pristine, open and sported a refreshing mix of live plants and artwork. A computer-based reception kiosk stood in the center of the room. Cat, Debbu, Ricky, Honey and Private Stone approached the chest-high console.

Debbu looked around and smiled. All was just as he had remembered it. His family had been regular patrons of JasNair since it opened to the public some twenty cycles ago. There was a sense of freedom looking at the stars. Stars that were denied to most of his race. A chance to dream of going places and seeing things beyond comprehension. For most of his life he had been content with the dream but no
w
… now in the face of what was going on he knew that he would be content with dreams no longer.

He approached the kiosk. He had been afraid that like most of the city it would be without power. He placed a webbed hand on the display and recited his name. A short whistling sound was emitted from the unit as his biometric signature was acknowledged. He uttered a short phrase that he had memorized as a child. A phrase he had thought he would never utter again until he passed it on to his children. A phrase that the kiosk had been waiting to hear since the day it was built.

“
Free at last. Free at last. Free at last
.
”

At first nothing happened, but then a second short whistle sounded. Debbu responded immediately with a single word.

“Five.”

The lights flickered, and a scraping sound could be heard from the back of the lobby.

“
We have to hurry
,
” Debbu said, quickly
.“
I told the system that there were five of us that wanted to enter the vault room. It will hold that door open for only a brief moment before closing it again. If anyone should enter this facility before we get through it the door will seal automatically for a day as a security precaution
.
”

“
Then le
t’
s move
,
” Cat said, as she moved toward the opening at a quick pace. She was not being as reckless as it might seem to an outside observer. Her sensor net was fully deployed including microscopic self-propelled ENOs. In addition her reaction time was orders of magnitude faster than the others. Not that she would need it. Her ENOs had already informed her that the room on the other side of the hidden door was some type of turbo-lift.

As the last of them entered the door close
d
… more quietly this time.

The design of the turbo-lift was vaguely reminiscent of those found on the
Bluefin
which had been Captain Running Strea
m’
s ship.

“
This lift looks like a Modos design
,
” Cat observed out loud.

“
Indeed, it is
,
” Debbu confirmed as he entered an encrypted destination code into the control panel
.“
We have been working with the Modos Liberation Front since the day after our world was annexed forcibly by the Syndicate. Much of what you are about to see is the result of that collaboration
.
”

Cat and the others shifted their weight as the turbo-lift began to accelerate downward.

“
I do
n’
t understand
,
” Private Stone said, from behind his now fully-sealed and combat-ready battle armor
.“
If you and the MLF have been working together for so long, why is it you never tried to free yourselves before
?
”

The professor looked at the imposing soldier clad as he was in his seemingly impervious armor.
How to answer one so young
? He sighed and finally responded simply.

“
Oh, we hav
e,
in our own little way
s
… but it is really just a matter of physics and accounting. Bigger guns make bigger hole
s—
and they have always had more of the bigger guns
.
”

“
Until now
,
” Stone finished.

“
Until now
,
” Debbu agreed.

Cat silently prayed to the
Creator
that they were right.

The turbo-lift slowed and began traveling horizontally. Ca
t’
s sensors showed they had traveled about two thousand meters straight down and were now heading due south. The lift finally slowed and stopped after they had covered another kilometer. The door opened to a dark and foreboding chasm.

“
Computer! Lights
!
” Debbu ordered.

Immediately the room they were about to enter was illuminated with a wall-mounted OLED lighting system that provided a slightly redder light than humans were used too but which was consistent with what Naanac received. Off to the right side was a series of computer and communication systems. The left side was filled with storage nooks that seemed to be filled with odd bits of equipment and spare parts.

Debbu made his way over to the equipment nooks and removed a small device. It appeared to be some type of optical interface like what might be used on a high-grade laboratory microscope

“
This little guy will allow us to optically decode the message we receive. I
t’
s a holographic interferometer. It will give us a three-dimensional frequency distribution pattern that we will be able to use to read the disarm code when it comes in
.
”

Cat looked over the device in question
.“
It fits into that console over on the right. How do we generate the disarm code
?
”

Debbu fitted the unit into a slot designed to accommodate it in the computer console. Immediately the system lit up. He flipped a series of toggles and a series of soft sounds began to emanate from the system.

“
Right, the
n
… A signal has been sent to a receiver on our largest moon. A super computer, buried deep below the surface and hidden from prying Modos eyes, is calculating the current decryption key based on an atomic clock and an algorithm that we paid dearly to acquire. The key will be transmitted shortly, but will only be good for a little while
.
”

Ricky, who had been remarkably quiet up to this point, looked between Honey and Cat.

“
What doe
s‘
good for a little whil
e
’ mean
?
”

Debbu made a deep croaking sound
.“
I
t’
s hard to say. The key has a temporal component which is why the atomic clock is used but even the best clock drifts over time. When the system was setup many years ago, the key was good for about a day. Now i
t’
s certainly less than that, but how much less would be impossible to say
.
”

“
Can we assume bad things will happen if the key fails
?
” Ricky said.

Debbu croaked again.

“
I think
,
” Honey translated
,“
that we better assume tha
t’
s true
.
”