Impulse, page 23
part #12 of First Colony Series
Isaac turned and walked to the storage containers. They were kept away from the work area so their captors could keep track of the equipment they were using. The soldiers eyed him suspiciously.
“I got the wrong thing. I need to put these back and get the right ones,” Isaac said.
One of the soldiers stared at him.
“You can go ask them if you don’t believe me,” Isaac said and nodded his head toward the scientists.
“Move quickly,” the soldier said.
Isaac hastened toward the equipment area and started opening various containers. Franklin had told him to pay attention. How was he going to do that with his movements restricted to running errands here or assisting the scientists directly? He shouldn’t have let Curtis get to him like that. He’d lost control, and that was stupid. Isaac glanced at his wrist computer and then looked around. Koukax was about twenty meters away, speaking to his second in command. Isaac looked back at his wrist computer and enabled the small microphone hidden inside it. He increased the sensitivity and then had the AI filter out ambient noise.
“I don’t trust them either, Strovax,” Koukax said.
Isaac started recording the conversation.
“They haven’t searched this far, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“If they reach us, we’ll cut our losses and leave.”
“Empty-handed? No.”
“Of course not,” Koukax said. “Mustn’t let the others know. The search will be abandoned if they think the hostages are dead.”
“What about Deasira?”
“She’ll be the first one they test. They’ll do as I say.”
Strovax lifted his gaze, and Isaac quickly squatted down. He heard one of the soldiers tell him to hurry up.
Isaac scrambled to the other side of a stack of containers and stood up. “Almost got it,” he said to the soldier.
He opened another container and angled his wrist computer toward Koukax.
“Don’t worry about the factions. When we control this cure, we’ll seize power over all the Konus. The colonists won’t go to war for this. Warlord Tritix will deny involvement.”
“The colonists will require irrefutable proof, but we need to return undetected and then create more of the cure.”
“And as our numbers swell, command of all the Konus will be ours,” Koukax said.
Isaac heard the soldier stomping toward him so he grabbed a field kit and hastily closed the container, nearly running out of there. The soldier glared at Isaac as he walked by.
He now had proof that Koukax wasn’t going to let them go. He was going to kill most of them, and those that he didn’t would never go home again. Isaac had known their time was limited, but he had no idea just how quickly it was running out. He needed to tell Agent Franklin, but the soldiers were watching them closely, and he couldn’t risk it right then. He needed to wait a bit for them to relax, but he didn’t have long. They needed to find a way to escape, or at the very least, send out a signal to the CDF.
“Good, Isaac, the cleaning wipes from the field kits are just what I needed,” Dr. Townsend said and gestured toward his work area.
Isaac walked over and began helping the scientist.
24
Connor looked at Shuno. “Would they call for backup?”
“Doubtful. There would be no communication until the operation was completed,” Shuno said.
Connor glanced at Noah, who gave him a small nod. Noah had been accessing the comms logs captured by the monitoring stations secretly deployed around Renoya. All communications from the Konus city were being monitored by the CDF and the Colonial Intelligence Bureau. He’d given Noah access to query the data but didn’t tell anyone else about it. Shuno had agreed to help them, but there were limits to how much of their capabilities Connor was willing to share with the soldier.
“So, it’s either a rogue operation or some kind of black ops,” Diaz said. “Either way, in order to reduce the risk of being discovered, they’re not going to communicate with anyone on the outside.”
Connor nodded. “Makes sense, and it gives all groups involved deniability until everything shakes out.”
Diaz looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “This doesn’t narrow down the search at all.”
“They wouldn’t have traveled east of Shetrian. That would take them toward colonial territory,” Connor said. “The tunnels where they found the rover makes it appear they’re heading west of the city.”
“CDF has been searching that area since the attack,” Noah said.
“They wouldn’t have gone that way,” Shuno said.
“Why not?” Diaz asked.
“Because your soldiers would have tracked them down. They had help from the Mekaal, so they would have sent a few teams to lay false trails.”
Diaz placed his hands on his hips and swore.
Connor crossed his arms and stared at the map on the holoscreen. “The search perimeter would extend twenty kilometers beyond the city, and then they’d extend it outward each day they hadn’t been found. They might have been able to guess the response time. Either way, they had a significant head start.”
“So, where do we search?” Diaz asked.
The Hercules was flying south toward Shetrian, but they hadn’t decided on an area to search. Connor didn’t want to interfere with the efforts already underway.
“How would they have traveled?” Noah asked. “The method they use for traveling would give us an idea of how far they could have gotten.”
“Ground transportation is most likely, but they might have stayed on foot to avoid detection,” Connor replied.
“So, no gliders. That does narrow it down some,” Noah said.
Shuno peered at the map for a few moments and then looked at Connor. “If this were my operation, I would take my prisoners in the direction you’d be least likely to search first. This area here,” he said and gestured toward a region north of the city.
Diaz frowned. “North? But there isn’t anything there. Wouldn’t they go south so they could make it back to Renoya as quickly as possible?”
“Not necessarily. They don’t need to return to Renoya at all,” Connor replied.
“What? They’re going to stay out there in the middle of nowhere until we give up?”
Connor frowned. He didn’t like what he’d already guessed. He glanced at Lenora, and she could see it on his face.
Diaz inhaled explosively. “They’re going to kill the hostages. Once they get what they came for, the hostages are as good as dead. That’s what you’re afraid to tell me.”
Connor clamped down on his anger. It wouldn’t help Diaz at all if he didn’t remain focused.
“We won’t let it come to that,” Connor said. “I think Shuno is right. North of the city is our best bet.”
Diaz’s eyebrows pushed forward, and he stared at the holoscreen intently.
“If they’re using suppressors, then finding them by their comlinks is going to be next to impossible. Maybe we should have search and rescue focus their operations north of the city,” Noah said.
Connor shook his head. “No, they need to follow standard operating procedures in case we’re wrong. But we can search using the equipment on the ship. We’ve got sensors capable of mapping the ground. A few tweaks and we can adjust those sensors to detect life forms or even groups of life forms.”
Noah nodded and his eyes widened in understanding.
“We can have the sensors search for ryklars, in addition to Ovarrow and humans,” Lenora said.
“Let’s get it ready,” Noah said and walked over to Lenora. “We need to define the search patterns to ‘alert on.’ Otherwise, we’ll get a lot of garbage alerts.”
Diaz walked away from them.
Shuno looked at Connor. “There aren’t a lot of ryklars in the area.”
“No, there aren’t, but if I wanted to add another layer of security, I’d bring a few of them along to keep anyone from escaping,” Connor replied.
Shuno looked at Connor for a few moments. “An effective strategy.”
Connor got the impression that Shuno wanted to ask him something. The Konus commander had hinted at the decreasing numbers of the ryklar population. “We’re relocating them.”
Shuno blinked several times. “Where?”
Urret turned toward Connor. “Relocating what?”
“The ryklars. We’ve found a world in another universe where the ryklars can live without crossing paths with any of us,” Connor said.
Shuno and Urret exchanged glances. “You didn’t know about this?” Shuno asked him.
“No, I had no knowledge of this,” Urret replied.
The two Ovarrow looked at Connor. “The High Commissioner and Warlord know about it. We’ve kept the operation secret for the past two years, but as the ryklar population numbers went down, we knew it was a matter of time before others would notice.”
“What gives you the right to do this?” Shuno asked.
Connor thought for a few moments. Urret looked as if he were reserving judgment, but Shuno acted as if he’d been betrayed. “Maybe we don’t have the right, but we certainly have the ability. The ryklars are apex predators that exhibit many primitive sentient attributes. Our scientists believe they will eventually evolve, but this wouldn’t happen for hundreds of thousands of years. Their best chance to achieve their full potential is on a world of their own without any interference from us.” Connor paused for a moment. “Including your people.”
“You had no right to do this,” Shuno said.
“And you have no right to keep them enslaved. They were part of a strategy for a war that you no longer need to worry about. They’re a solution from another world, and they have no place here.”
“You had our support?” Urret asked.
Connor nodded. “We considered a lot of solutions. We could have kept using the deterrent signals to keep the ryklars at bay, but they would still be under the control of the signals. We also could have culled their numbers, which wasn’t a solution we wanted to pursue. The most peaceful solution, and the one that was best for everyone, was to relocate the ryklars to their own world.”
“Why reveal this now?” Urret asked.
Shuno simply stared at him.
“Shuno already suspected we were involved in the declining ryklar population.”
“So, it’s no longer a secret?” Shuno asked.
“You can tell whoever you want. We’re still going to proceed with the program because it’s the right thing to do. Maybe one day you’ll understand that,” Connor said.
Shuno considered this for a few moments and then said, “You’ve given me much to think about. I appreciate you sharing this information with me.”
The Konus commander returned to his squad and sat down. His response had been more than Connor hoped for. Maybe he’d underestimated the Konus. Perhaps there were some who could be more reasonable.
25
Isaac watched as Dr. Rostova spoke with Deasira, who’d regained consciousness a short while ago. She lay on a cot near the work area. Three Konus soldiers stood guard nearby, but Isaac noticed that two more were patrolling past the area. He’d been noting the times to get an idea of when the next patrol would come by. Every thirty minutes, two more soldiers would walk a circuitous route by their work area. He’d nearly panicked when it first started happening. Koukax was going to kill them and leave enough remains to convince colonial search and rescue teams that they’d all died.
Isaac tried to inform Agent Franklin of what he’d learned, but the timing had never been right, not even for a quick conversation. He needed to come up with another way to send the information to the CIB agent. Koukax was periodically pulling scientists aside to question them individually. With so many captors watching them, there was very little Isaac could do. The situation was wearing on his nerves, and he had to do something.
Ella came to stand next to him at one of the folding tables, checking the list of test samples against the list on her personal holoscreen.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Isaac shook his head a little. “Something is going on. I need to tell Franklin.”
“What is it?” Ella asked.
Isaac considered not telling her for about half a second before deciding it would be foolish not to. “We don’t have much time. They’re going to make it appear as if we’ve all been killed and then take some of the others with them to wherever they’re going from here.”
Ella was quiet for a few moments. She inhaled deeply and breathed out slowly. “They’ll keep Dr. Rostova and Townsend alive for sure. And Deasira. You heard them say this?”
Isaac nodded. “I think Franklin has a plan, but I can’t get near him.”
Ella lifted one of the sample trays and tilted her head to the side as if she were having trouble reading the label. “I can tell him.”
Isaac hesitated.
“I have to go by where he is anyway.” She raised her chin toward the sample trays.
He didn’t want to put her in any more danger than she was already in, but he had no other choice.
“Okay,” he said quietly.
“What are you going to do?”
“I need to find a way to stall them.”
“They’re about to create the first batch of serum,” Ella said.
Isaac’s eyebrows raised. “That’s why they brought Deasira here. They’re going to test it on her.”
The breath hitched in Ella’s throat. “I have to go,” she said. Beautiful dark eyes looked into his, and his pulse quickened. “Be careful,” she whispered and walked away.
He had to focus, but his mind kept racing. The serum was going to be ready and then tested on Deasira. Proof that it worked could be measured in the hormone levels taken from the test subject—from Deasira. She was the only female Ovarrow here. The increased hormone levels weren’t enough to prove that the serum worked, but he doubted Koukax would wait for irrefutable proof. That was why he’d keep some of them alive.
Isaac had to do something. The centrifuges had to spin through multiple cycles, so he pretended to drop something and squatted behind the table out of view. He used his wrist computer to remotely access the centrifuges’ control systems and brought up the options. If he did this, he’d delay the serum’s completion, but it wasn’t enough. They could just make more.
He inserted a cleaning cycle into the job queue, which would heat the inside and destroy the serum. He then increased the priority so that cycle went to the top of the queue. Next, he accessed the computer systems that Dr. Townsend was using to modify the proteins that would affect the hormone levels in female Ovarrow and thought about just deleting all the data. That would buy them some time, but Koukax might execute one of them as a result. He needed to sabotage the cure, and… his eyes widened. Buying them more time wasn’t enough. He needed to get a signal out to the CDF, and to do that, he needed to bring down the suppression field that blocked their comlinks. He couldn’t sneak away, but he could cause a distraction that would give him some time for a head start. Sabotaging the cure would put them all in danger, but he didn’t have a choice. And discussing his plan with everyone else wasn’t an option.
Isaac stood up. There were several tables with lab equipment on them and groups of people gathered around. He saw Ella about twenty meters away. She was speaking to Agent Franklin. If Isaac could have found a way to tell the CIB agent what he was going to do, he would have. This would likely get him killed, but Koukax was going to kill them anyway.
A high-pitched whine came from the centrifuges, and then a red ring appeared around the outside to indicate a cleaning cycle had begun.
Isaac copied Dr. Townsend’s formula to his wrist computer and then deleted it from the scientist’s computer. The centrifuges were already gathering the attention of those nearby.
Agent Franklin looked at Isaac and their eyes locked. Isaac inclined his chin. Then he spun around and ran.
26
Connor watched as Diaz set his tri-barreled shotgun back into its case. For what they were going to do, an AR-74 was a better option. Diaz closed the case and stroked his fingertips across the top in an admiring caress.
Sergeant Tui was speaking to his squad. The CDF soldiers were all wearing their combat suits. There wasn’t an extra for Connor to wear, so he had to stick with an MPS. He wouldn’t be first into a firefight, but at least he wouldn’t be without any protection.
Diaz wore an MPS as well. When activated into protect mode, it became dark gray, and the onboard computer systems controlled the reactionary smart fabrics to repel incoming objects. It could give them slightly better than minimal protection from an Ovarrow plasma rifle. But this equipment was all they had, and remaining in the safety of the ship wasn’t an option. Connor had gone into battle with less.
Once they’d decided on the search grid, the ship flew south at a rapid speed. Those who would be deployed on the ground were armed and wore whatever protection they had.
Lenora, Noah, Kara, and the other non-combatants would remain aboard the ship. They had set up multiple workstations where scan data was being routed to their holoscreens.
Connor turned back toward Diaz. Sometimes, the waiting and anticipating could be just as bad as any high-risk operation they’d undertaken together. But this wasn’t just another operation. Try as he might, Connor couldn’t avoid thinking of how he’d have reacted if it were Lauren or Ethan who’d been kidnapped. He didn’t want to think about it, and it wouldn’t help his friend if he allowed his own dark fears to distract him.
Diaz checked his AR-74 and then set it down next to him. He shook his head and sighed, peering over at Lenora and the set of holoscreens.
“Damn it,” Diaz said quietly. He looked at Connor and shrugged, trying to dismiss what he’d said.
Connor nodded. “We’ll find him.”
“I know. I know we will,” Diaz replied. He shook his head. “Isaac sometimes was one of those kids that just flew under the radar. He didn’t upset things and kinda just went along with everything. He was always reliable. Then at around sixteen or seventeen, it all changed. He argued a lot more. Started getting into trouble. I tried to take a firm hand with him. Give him the tough love I thought he needed, but looking back, I’m not sure whether it helped. I might’ve made it worse.”
