Outcasts, page 9
Which ‘Vadam had elected to do early, before the shell of orbital mines had been completely cleared from above N’ba, over the objections of both Varo’dai and ‘Talot. Unconvinced that the UNSC would be interested enough in the myth of the Guardian killer to send its own expedition to N’ba, neither kaidon had seen the necessity of risking an insertion through even a sparse shell of mines—until the Sword of Harmony’s sensor operators had detected the tau surge of a vessel arriving from slipspace. After that, they had not been able to launch a preliminary landing party quickly enough.
At the moment, ‘Vadam was watching a tiny fleck of silver, dead center at the base of the tel. Dancing in the heat shimmer and too small to have a distinctive shape, it kept vanishing beneath the mirage and reappearing just a little bit larger. For a time, ‘Vadam had suspected it was a trick of heat and light, but as it slowly grew to the size of a fingertip, he began to think it was real.
“I cannot be the only one who sees that,” ‘Vadam said.
“The gray shape coming toward us?” Olabisi Varo’dai replied. “I see it too.”
“How can you know which way it is traveling?” ‘Talot asked. “It is barely visible.”
Along with Crei ‘Ayomuu and twenty warriors, the two kaidons were standing with ‘Vadam on the gravelly rim, discussing the scanner-absorbing crater through their helmet voicemitters, trying to decide whether its strange properties posed a danger to their Phantoms. Rather than their actual gold kaidon armor, Varo’dai and ‘Talot wore ranger-commander harnesses, which had the advantage of being the appropriate color for their rank, while utilizing its EVA capabilities to protect them from N’ba’s fierce heat. ‘Vadam wore his Arbiter’s harness, with a climate-controlling techsuit and HUD-capable goggles beneath the actual armor. ‘Ayomuu remained in his stylized Oath Warden’s armor, having assured ‘Vadam that despite its conspicuous purple color and spiked shoulder pauldrons, it was far more practical than the standard ranger harness being offered in its place.
Varo’dai leaned forward and peered around ‘Vadam to address ‘Talot. “It has been growing brighter and larger for five centals. And it has stayed between us and the center of the tel for three centals. It is coming toward us.”
“You have been watching it for five centals?” ‘Vadam asked. “Truly?”
“Perhaps even six. I thought I was imagining it at first.”
“Impressive,” ‘Vadam said. Clearly, Varo’dai’s eyesight was better than ‘Talot’s… and his own. “Summon a navigator. There may be a way to use the object to determine indirectly how far we are from the tel.”
Varo’dai tipped her helmet to one side. The color-shifting cycle of the mirage and the scanner-absorbing properties of the crater floor were not the formation’s only strange attributes. The dusty slopes of the tel had defeated every kind of range-finding instrument they had available. The ranging signal simply went out and never returned, and optical triangulation always yielded an answer of infinite. The only method left was indirect calculation—though it was hard to imagine that succeeding either. The only constant about the object was that it seemed to be coming toward them.
‘Vadam spread his hands. “It will hurt nothing to try.”
“As you command,” Varo’dai said.
She turned away from the tel and looked back toward their landing site, a bench of rocky red ground that separated the crater’s outside wall from the base of a looming mountain. The group’s three Phantoms sat in a triangle formation about fifty paces across, half-hidden by jagged red boulders and tufts of yellow spike brush as tall as most Sangheili. She used her helmet comm to relay ‘Vadam’s order and was told the navigator would be along as soon as she collected her instruments.
Fifty paces beyond the Phantoms, a large seam cave ran diagonally up the face of a chalky cliff ringing the base of the looming mountain. ‘Vadam knew two Feldokran sentries were posted inside the cave, but they were not visible—perhaps because they had retreated deeper into the darkness, where their night vision would not be compromised by N’ba’s ambient light.
Atop the chalky cliff were five Varo rangers, hiding among the rocks and keeping watch on the mountain above. Its slopes were naturally terraced, rising in a succession of red cliff faces and brush-edged benches that seemed to continue forever, until they finally vanished into N’ba’s ever-present blanket of low brown clouds.
Varo’dai’s navigator emerged from her Phantom carrying a long tube and a satchel, then climbed to the rim of the crater. She acknowledged ‘Talot with a helmet dip, which he failed to return, then turned to ‘Vadam.
“Arbiter of all Sangheili, I am Lyess Varo’dai.” She had the same surname as her kaidon—Varo—because she was of the same clan, and the same suffix—dai—because she was also a swordmaster in the short-path method of combat. “Kaidon Varo’dai has told me what you desire. I must warn you that any answer I can provide will be wildly imprecise. Even if I am able to use triangulation, the object is moving, and without knowing its velocity—”
“Do what you can,” ‘Vadam said. “Anything you can tell us is more than we know.”
“As you command.”
Lyess opened her satchel, then mounted the long tube—an optical range finder—horizontally on a telescoping monopod and began to scan the mirage. It took about a cental for her to focus on the approaching object, which had grown to the apparent size of a knuckle. It continued to dance and hide in the heat shimmer, making its shape difficult to discern, and its brightness appeared to have stabilized at a whitish silver.
After only a moment, Lyess let out a raspy breath and replaced the range finder with a monocular. After finding the object in the lens, she let out another breath, then peered over the top of the instrument for too long. Finally, she rocked her helmet from one side to the other and began to return her instruments to the satchel.
‘Vadam looked to Varo’dai for an explanation, and the kaidon in turn looked to Lyess.
“Well?” Varo’dai asked. “What did you discover?”
“Nothing.” Lyess closed the satchel fasteners. “The range-finder reading was infinite.”
“Yet that is something,” ‘Vadam said. “Now we know the interference comes from the mirage, not the tel.”
Lyess turned her helmet to face him, but she made no reply, and he had the feeling that his attempt at encouragement had fallen flat. Devoted realists by training and necessity, Varo rangers were not known for optimistic dispositions.
“What about the monocular?” ‘Vadam asked.
“Nothing with that either. I was hoping to discern what the object truly is. If I could estimate a size, that would give me something to work with.”
“And?”
“The light is too refracted. I could tell that it is block shaped rather than rounded, and that it is doubling in apparent size every ten centals. But that alone tells us nothing.”
“Enough of this time-wasting,” ‘Talot said. “I will send a pair of Ghosts ahead to scout.”
“And expose our presence?” Varo’dai said.
“Was it not you who said it is coming toward us?” asked ‘Ayomuu. “That would suggest whatever this thing is, it already knows we are here.”
“So it would,” ‘Vadam said. Given the difficulties imaging anything inside the crater—either visually or electronically—he was not entirely confident ‘Talot’s scouts would succeed… or even survive. But better to risk two warriors than all of them. “Very well, Ghe. Summon your Ghosts.”
“As you command,” ‘Talot said.
He turned toward the Talot warriors standing on the rim next to him and sent a pair down to retrieve the vehicles. ‘Vadam continued to watch the mirage-filled crater, studying the mysterious object in the vain hope it would assume enough of a shape to suggest exactly what it was. As it grew to the apparent size of an eyeball, it stopped vanishing into the heat distortion and began thinning into a rectangle that sometimes appeared to be floating atop the lake of shimmering light and other times pushing through it.
After observing this for long moments in silence, ‘Talot finally asked, “Did the World Registry not say that N’ba is uninhabited?”
“Abandoned,” Varo’dai replied. “There was a civilization here once. Otherwise, how could there be all these tels?”
“Abandoned… uninhabited.” ‘Ayomuu’s tone was dismissive. “What is the difference? Either way, the Registry was wrong. If no one lives on N’ba now, what then is that thing coming toward us?”
“That is what Ghe’s scouts are going to tell us, is it not?” Varo’dai turned and looked down the small slope toward ‘Talot’s Phantom, where there was no sign of Ghosts being mounted. “If they are ever ready.”
‘Talot turned toward his Phantom and stood staring, then activated his helmet comm. “Where are the Ghosts? Why have you not brought them?”
A moment passed with no reply, then a pair of Ghosts appeared behind ‘Talot’s Phantom, accelerating toward the seam cave in the face of the white cliff. The drivers were either novices or suffering from head injuries, for the vehicles were wildly out of control, sporadically weaving back and forth across the ground. From his viewpoint atop the crater rim, all ‘Vadam could see of the operators were scrawny arms spread wide to grasp the control handles and battle helmets sitting atop overstuffed rucksacks.
Not Sangheili.
‘Talot’s voice sounded over the battlenet. “Wyune, Daphob! What are you—”
“Those are not your scouts,” ‘Vadam said. “They look like… humans?”
A low clatter sounded to both sides of ‘Vadam as the warriors on the crater rim began to grab weapons and start down the slope. He waved them back and spoke over the common channel.
“Hold here.” The last thing he wanted was a blind charge into a potential ambush. “Await my orders.”
As he spoke, another pair of Ghosts shot from behind the Varo Phantom and accelerated toward the cave. These operators were no better than the first two, which was all that saved them as the Varo rangers atop the cliff spun around and opened fire. Geysers of red dust filled the air, then ‘Vadam lost sight of all four vehicles. A plume of flame billowed up through the rust-colored curtain. When the rangers stopped firing a few moments later, a single smoking Ghost lay in the dirt, upside down. Whether the rider had escaped into the cave or lay trapped under the vehicle, ‘Vadam could not tell.
The rangers stepped to the edge of the cliff and peered down, their weapon muzzles sweeping back and forth as they searched for targets.
‘Vadam glanced over to ‘Talot. “What have you heard from your sentries in the cave?”
“Nothing. I am still trying to make contact.”
“You can stop trying,” ‘Vadam said, guessing the two sentries were already dead. “The raiders fled into the cave because that is where they came from.”
“The drop from the cliff top is not terrible,” Varo’dai said. “Shall I have some rangers pursue?”
“Not until we understand what is happening,” ‘Vadam replied. Noting that his own Phantom was the only one that had not yet lost its Ghosts, he commed the pilot. “Razk, what is your status?”
When Razk did not reply, one of the rangers atop the cliff reported, “Something is wrong, Arbiter. The loading ramp is closing, and your Ghosts are no longer where they were landed.”
“Go!”
Four of Varo’dai’s female rangers leapt off the cliff and landed in a forward roll. One came up on her haunches and turned to cover the cave where the surviving Ghosts had disappeared, while the second raced toward the Ghost that had been stopped by their carbine fire. The other two rangers came up running for ‘Vadam’s Phantom… which he realized they had no hope of reaching in time. The three dropships had landed in a standard triangle formation fifty paces from the cliff, and even the fastest Sangheili could not leap down and cover that distance in the time it took to raise a ramp.
The rangers were only halfway there when they stopped and dropped out of sight behind some spike brush. ‘Vadam could not see the back of the Phantom from the crater rim, but he knew the boarding ramp had already closed and there was no way to easily retake the craft. They would either have to breach the hull or override the ramp controls and then fight their way aboard, and by that time, the raiders would have disabled the craft.
“I am sorry, Arbiter,” commed one of the rangers. “We were not fast enough.”
“You did well. It was a hasty suggestion.” Conscious that he had usurped Varo’dai’s command authority by directly ordering her rangers to attempt boarding his Phantom, he turned to the kaidon. “Perhaps your rangers should inspect the two damaged Phantoms. It might tell us something about who we are dealing with.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Varo’dai replied.
As she passed the order along, ‘Talot turned to ‘Vadam and asked, “Did you not see the helmets? They looked human.”
“My impression, as well,” ‘Vadam said. “During the War of Annihilation, we saw more than enough of those helmets on human infantry.”
“I am surprised to learn that you actually saw the humans you were killing,” ‘Ayomuu said. “I was under the impression you simply immolated them from orbit.”
“I did that too,” ‘Vadam said, “after I became a shipmaster. But I also fought as a foot warrior with surface units dispatched to recover sacred artifacts. I have seen thousands of those helmets… and not always fleeing in the other direction.”
“Well, there was a battle fought on N’ba,” ‘Ayomuu said. “The UNSC record of it is how the planet came to Keely Iyuska’s attention.”
“So, they are just marooned here?” ‘Talot asked. “That is what you are saying?”
“That battle was over twenty Urs cycles ago,” ‘Vadam said. “If those humans have lasted in this wasteland that long, they are not just castaways. They are soldiers. Fine ones.”
‘Vadam looked toward his Phantom and wondered what the humans were doing inside. Cowering in fear, wondering what to do now that they had been caught? Or trying to figure out how to operate the weapons and drives?
It would not be as simple as running a thumb up the touch pad that raised the ramp. Dropships were complex craft that required specialized training, and even a Sangheili who had flown the old Achoem-manufactured Phantoms early in the Covenant War would need time to study and experiment with the controls of more recent models. And if the would-be pilot had never even flown a Phantom before, the pilot’s chance of actually powering one up—much less doing it quickly—would be minuscule.
Whatever they were doing, ‘Vadam decided, he had time to be cautious and investigate. He turned to ask Varo’dai about her rangers’ findings, but she was looking back into the crater, her attention fixed on the mysterious object approaching through the mirage.
“Olabisi?” he asked. “What is it?”
“I just wanted to make sure it was still coming. And not any faster.”
‘Vadam took a moment to study the object himself. Half again as wide as the last time he looked, it was still the shape of a thin rectangle and seemed to be sliding side to side with the wavering light.
“You think it is a distraction?” ‘Vadam was beginning to wonder if it had been a little too easy to find a site to investigate. “That this raid was coordinated?”
Varo’dai dipped her helmet. “That was my fear, but I think it is just a coincidence. The… shape… is still approaching, and at the same speed. A distraction would have turned around once we discovered the attack, or accelerated.”
“Assuming it is in constant communication with the raiders.” ‘Vadam paused, watching the mirage color change from pink to orange. “I am beginning to worry that we were lured to this place.”
Varo’dai considered the possibility for a moment. “Those raiders are risking their lives to steal a few Ghosts and snatch some supplies. That hardly suggests the capability to monitor orbital reconnaissance sweeps and toy with the laws of optical physics.”
“It does seem beyond the reach of desperate thieves.” But ‘Vadam was not entirely convinced that the raiders’ presence was pure coincidence. On harsh worlds like N’ba, creatures clustered around resource caches. And a unique topological feature—a signal-absorbing crater, for example—might well be associated with such a place. “Assign someone to keep watch on the crater.”
Before Varo’dai could reply, one of the rangers inspecting the damaged Phantoms reported over the battlenet, “The pilots in both Phantoms have been killed.”
‘Vadam’s hearts clenched. He always hated to lose warriors, especially when their deaths were so utterly senseless and unnecessary. But what should he have expected? The humans marooned on N’ba had no way to know that the war was long over and that the enemies who had once sought to exterminate them would now gladly rescue them.
“It appears they were lured onto the loading ramp, then decapitated and dragged back inside.”
“Decapitated?” Varo’dai asked. “How?”
“The wounds have been sealed by heat. So, my guess is with energy swords.”
Sangheili weapons, but any species with a thumbed hand could use them, and N’ba’s battlefields had likely been strewn with them early in the war. It was growing more apparent that the humans from the cave were indeed castaways here on N’ba, and that they had survived so long by scavenging battle wreckage. That meant they were at least somewhat familiar with Sangheili technology.
‘Vadam began to worry he had been a little too hasty to dismiss the possibility of having his Phantom’s weapons turned against them. “And what is the condition of the Phantom itself?”
“The flight and targeting controls have been destroyed. And the weapons and provisions lockers have been raided.”
“These humans are nothing to fear, then,” ‘Talot said. “Just desperate for food and tools.”
