Instantly, Nise opened fire. But it was too late. The Koffren that Iyulik had immobilized behind them had been standing still. This one was alerted and on the move, running and zigzagging, and Nicole knew there was no way Nise could take it down in time. “Back!” she snapped, skidding to a halt and reversing direction. “Into the control room!”
And even as they backed hurriedly through the door, the Koffren swiveled a black tube Nicole hadn’t noticed off his shoulder and into firing position.
A greenfire weapon.
And then the door slid shut in front of her, cutting off her view. “Seal it!” she snapped, stepping back out of the way.
Five seconds and eight spider gun shots later, the door was sealed. For now, anyway. Touching Nise on the arm, Nicole turned and hurried back to the smaller teleport room.
“So what now?” Sam bit out. “We saw it all. There’s a Koffren with a greenfire weapon out there.”
“Yeah, thanks for the tip,” Nicole said. “So much for all of them being eight decks up waiting to jump on Jeff’s team.”
“We knew the Shipmasters were preparing the teleport room,” the Koffren who’d called himself Justice said, his voice mocking. “We didn’t know which entry point would be chosen, so we guarded both.”
“Yes, you’re all so smart,” Nicole said, looking around. The Thii could escape back the way they’d come, but from Nise’s description the air ducts were way too narrow for her and Sam.
But if the Wisp in there would follow her orders …
She hurried back into the control room. “Wisp, can you send a message to another Wisp?” she asked, taking its arm. “It should be nearby, close to the teleport room.”
There was a moment of silence. No, the Wisp said.
Nicole hissed out a curse. One of the Q1 Wisps, still under Shipmaster control.
Still, if she could get Ryit to cooperate, maybe she could still pull this off. Cambria was out there nearby, sent ahead by Jeff to escort her back to Q4 whenever she was ready to retreat. If Cambria could get into the big teleport room and immobilize the Koffren, she could still get away.
But it was already too late. There was a terrific crash against the control room door, as if someone had thrown himself bodily against it, and as the boom faded away she could hear two or three different voices. The Koffren planning to ambush Jeff had made it down here way faster than she’d expected, and were clearly determined to get to her.
Cursing again, she hurried back to the smaller teleport room. “Ryit, how many charges are there in those greenfire guns?”
“Don’t tell her,” Justice bit out. “Let her fear they will soon cut their way inside and deliver her destruction.”
Nicole clenched her teeth. She didn’t have time for this crap. “Ryit—”
“You don’t have to say,” Iyulik spoke up. “Just hold up the appropriate number of fingers.”
Nicole looked at Justice, belatedly remembering that the spider shot on his helmet had effectively blinded him. Iyulik was right: it was time for a bluff. “Three?” she said. “Good—that’s what I thought.”
“Shipmaster, your life is forfeit!” the Koffren thundered, straining uselessly against the spider goo. “Aiding and consorting with the enemy—”
“Oh, stuff it,” Nicole said scornfully. “He didn’t say anything. But thanks for confirming my guess.”
Justice made a final lunge and subsided. “You are dead,” he snarled.
“Yeah, and you can stuff that, too,” Nicole said, running the numbers quickly through her head. The Koffren had stolen six greenfire weapons, which at three shots each meant they’d started with eighteen total. They’d spent nine of them killing the Wisps that had been guarding Trake and Bungie, leaving another nine. Back in Q3 she’d seen how relatively little damage the Shipmaster’s shot had done to the corridor wall, and the walls and doors around the teleport section looked a lot thicker and tougher than that.
Bottom line: the Koffren weren’t getting in here any time soon.
On the other hand, the door wouldn’t last forever, either. The tool lockers scattered all over the ship held a variety of cutting tools, and even if the Koffren couldn’t figure out how to use them the Shipmasters probably could. She’d bought them some breathing space, but it was hardly time to kick back and relax.
“You have a plan,” Nise said quietly. It was a statement, not a question.
Nicole looked around. The Fyrantha’s teleport room …
“Actually, I do,” she said over her shoulder as she headed back into the control room. “Watch them. I’ll be right back.”
The Wisp was standing where she’d left it. She stepped up to it and took its arm. Can you teleport me from here to some other point inside the Fyrantha? she thought toward it. To our hive in Q4, or even into the Q4 arena?
No.
Why not? You teleport people billions of miles away, don’t you?
The teleport system can send and receive from distant places. It cannot teleport objects or beings within the Fyrantha itself.
Nicole chewed at her lip. Her whole escape plan from this little trip depended on the Wisps being able to send her back to Q4. If they couldn’t, this day was going to end very badly.
Unless …
You were ordered to send Sam back to Earth? she asked.
Yes.
Good. On my command, you’ll teleport him to Philadelphia, to the same spot where he was when he was taken.
I cannot guarantee the same spot.
Nicole rolled her eyes. Then just somewhere in Philadelphia, she said. Once you’ve left him there, you’ll immediately come back. Can you do that?
Yes.
Good. Get ready to do so.
She stepped into the doorway. “Sam? Get in the middle of the room. You’re going home.”
“What?” Sam asked, frowning.
“You heard me. The Wisp here is going to take you back to Philly.”
“But—”
“It’s what you always wanted, right?” Nicole cut him off. “Fine. So get your butt to the middle of the room and get ready. Wisp? Come here.”
“But I assumed—I mean—”
“You assumed you were going to be screwed again,” Nicole said as the Wisp glided past her. “Yeah, I know. Wisp? Pick him up and take him back to Earth.”
Obediently, the Wisp glided past her. Sam watched it approach, a mass of conflicting emotions chasing each other across his face. “I never—”
“I’ll say good-bye for you,” Nicole promised, backing up into the doorway between the teleport and control rooms and throwing a quick look at the consoles. The pattern of lights seemed mostly stationary at the moment. Presumably, that was about to change. She looked back to see the Wisp step behind Sam and wrap its arms around him. “Go,” she said, watching them out of the corner of her eye as she turned her main attention back to the consoles.
She wondered if there would be a flash. There wasn’t. She wondered if there would be a bang or hiss or sizzle. Nothing. No light, no sound. The Wisp spread its butterfly wings, and the two of them simply vanished.
The monitor lights on the consoles, on the other hand, went crazy.
Really crazy. Suddenly everything seemed to be in motion: lights flicking on and off, lines of lights forming patterns, then dissolving and reforming into new patterns, numerical displays sweeping through numbers faster than she could keep track of them.
Mentally, she counted out the seconds, wondering how long it would take. Her hazy memory of her trip from Philly to the Fyrantha would suggest that it had taken several minutes.
“Your companions will still die,” Justice snarled into the silence. “The Koffren will attack, and they will die. Then you will be alone.”
“How many Koffren would that be, exactly?” Nicole asked absently, her eyes and mind still on the teleport controls.
Justice snorted. “You wish to know our numbers.”
Nicole shrugged. “Don’t see why that’s a problem. We’re all dead, anyway, remember? I figure there’s maybe six of you. Sorry—four of you. Forgot we killed two.”
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him once again furiously strain at the spider goo. A corner of it seemed on the edge of coming loose—
And was again sealed as Iyulik casually fired another spider shot across the Koffren’s chest. He spat out a word that Nicole’s translator ignored, and then subsided. “There are more than enough of us for your companions,” he said.
“They attack now,” Ryit murmured.
Abruptly, the light show again froze in place. Twenty-eight seconds, by Nicole’s count. A lot less than she’d thought it would be. “I hope they have fun,” she said, restarting her count. She reached five; then, the skittering light pattern resumed. “Well, I’ve got you, plus the three Koffren—maybe four by now?—in the other teleport room. That and the number Jeff’s seeing right now should give us a good count of your total numbers.”
“How many last breaths do you expect us to give him, that he’ll be able to whisper that number to you?”
“Lots of last breaths, probably,” Nicole said. “Jeff and the others aren’t there.”
“What?” Ryit demanded. “Of course they are. We watched them enter Q1.”
“Sure,” Nicole agreed. “You saw the whole force gather just inside the crosswise heat-transfer duct from Q3, get their equipment organized, then head in behind the drones. Probably also heard them talking to each other as they moved.”
“Shipmaster?” Justice prompted, a dark threat to his voice. “Shipmaster?”
Ryit made a strange sound, half throat-clearing, half whimper. “They aren’t there,” he said. “The drones … the human intruders are no longer following them.”
Again, Justice tried to break free of his restraints. Again, all it bought him was another spider shot from Iyulik. Nicole’s mental count reached twenty-nine—
As quietly as he’d disappeared, the Wisp was back.
Nicole nodded to herself as the Wisp’s wings folded back in place. So each trip to Earth took about half a minute. It would still be tricky, but it should work.
She hoped.
“I imagine Jeff’s having a good laugh right now,” she said, beckoning the Wisp and the two Thii toward the control room. The aliens moved obediently toward her, stepping past and continuing on into the control room. Nise paused at the entrance, keeping his eyes and spider gun watchfully on Ryit and the Koffren.
The Wisp didn’t follow. Nicole gestured again, got the same nonresponse, and walked over to it. She took its arm—I need you to take me to Earth, she thought toward it. Can you do that?
I have been given no such instructions.
You just took another human there, she reminded it. This is just an extension of that same order.
The Wisp was silent a moment. You are the Fyrantha’s Protector?
I am.
You can give orders to the Fyrantha?
Nicole considered. She hadn’t exactly told the ship where to go, or what to do when it got there. On the other hand, she had given orders to open doors and turn off the water flow in the Q1 arena. Close enough. Yes.
Then I will accept your request as part of my orders.
Good, Nicole said. Here’s what you’re going to do. You’ll take me to Earth. Then you’ll bring me back; but you’ll bring me back to the other teleport receiver room, the one on the other side of the control room. Can you do that?
You wish to leave the Fyrantha, travel to Earth, then immediately return?
Yes, but I want to return to the other teleport receiver room.
I understand.
Good, Nicole said. Can you do that?
I can. Are you ready to proceed?
In a moment, Nicole said. I first need a moment to instruct my allies.
She released its arm and stepped into the control room. “Do you have a plan for your escape?” Nise asked, sounding a little anxious. “We can leave through the air duct, but you won’t fit in there.”
“I know,” Nicole said, keeping her voice down. The last thing she could afford was Ryit and the Koffren eavesdropping. “Here’s what we’re going to do.” She pointed out at the Wisp. “The Wisp is going to take me back to Earth, then bring me right back here, only to the other teleport room. Now, the indicator lights in here will go crazy during—”
“A moment,” Iyulik interrupted, his voice suddenly stiff. “You wish to go in there? The place where even now our enemies try to break into this room?”
“Right, except that they’ll be so focused on the door they’re trying to break into that they won’t even notice I’m there,” Nicole told him. At least she hoped that was how it would play out. “Anyway. The lights in here will go crazy twice, once while we’re heading to Earth, the other time when we’re on our way back. Understand? Lights mostly stationary, then flashing like crazy, stationary, flashing, stationary.”
“What if they see you?” Iyulik persisted.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have a little insurance,” Nicole said. “Or you will, anyway.”
She stepped over to the nearest console and crouched down in front of it. Four twists of quick-release bolts later she had the protective screen off, exposing the maze of electronics behind it. “As soon as the second flashing part is over—and make sure it’s really over—get into each of these consoles and pull out one or two of these small blocks.” She touched a rectifier simplex and pantomimed pulling it out. “Dump all of them in one of your empty food bags, climb back into the vent, and then get back to Jeff in Q4 as fast as you can.”
“This is a dangerous plan,” Nise said. “Not just for you personally, but for the entire war effort.”
War effort. The words sent a shiver up Nicole’s back. But he was right. They really were engaged in a war here.
“Protector?” Ryit called from the teleport room. “Where are you? What are you doing?”
“I can’t say I’m thrilled by it myself,” Nicole admitted. “But unless you have a better plan for getting me out of here, I think we’re stuck with this one.” She jabbed a finger toward the teleport room. “Let’s get to it.”
“Very well,” Nise said, still sounding unhappy.
“Protector?” Ryit called again.
“What?” Nicole called back. “No—never mind. I’m not talking to you right now.” She raised her eyebrows. “You two ready?”
Nise and Iyulik exchanged looks. “Yes,” Nise said.
“Good.” Nicole beckoned to the Wisp. “It’s time. Come with me.”
She led the way back into the teleport room. Silently, she pointed the Wisp to the center of the room. It glided into position, and she backed into its arms. She felt the familiar paralysis, saw peripherally that it had opened its wings …
The teleport room vanished into a complete and utter blackness.
On her first trip, Nicole had been screaming-crazy terrified. The fact that she’d been paralyzed and unable to give voice to that scream had only made it worse.
This time, with the Wisps and their characteristics far more familiar, she could almost enjoy the ride. There was a certain peace inherent in the blackness, especially in contrast to the violence and strife aboard the Fyrantha. Automatically, she found herself counting off the seconds again, wondering if she would reach the same number as before or if the fact that she was doing the traveling would change her perception of the time any. She vaguely remembered one of her teachers talking about that, with someone called Einstein.
And then, suddenly, the blackness lifted.
She was back.
It was nighttime, the Philadelphia streets quiet and mostly deserted, the streetlights blazing. A thin layer of snow lay along the sides of the pavement, and with a shock she realized that while she’d been on the Fyrantha she’d completely lost track of the seasons back home. The air was cold, and she knew that if she could breathe properly she’d be able to see her breath.
She’d always hated the cold of winter. The cold, the short days, the misery of standing watch for one of Trake’s schemes. Now, though, it was almost with nostalgia that she took in the muted sounds of the city she’d grown up with.
She’d never really understood Sam’s and Bungie’s passion for getting back here. Now, in this single moment, she could almost sympathize. For all its faults and dangers and frustrations, Philly and Earth were still home.
Then, as suddenly as it had disappeared, the blackness returned.
Philly was gone. Earth was gone. She was on her way back to the Fyrantha.
And if she’d been wrong about the Koffren in the larger teleport room, she was going to be in serious trouble. She counted out the seconds—twenty-seven of them this time—and the black again lifted and she was back.
She’d expected to find herself looking at two or more Koffren, grouped angrily around the control room door as they tried to break in. But the door in front of her was intact, and there was no one standing there. Had they given up and gone away?
Belatedly, her brain caught up with her. She and the Wisp had arrived facing the exit door. The control room door, and any associated Koffren, were on the other side of the room.
The Wisp opened its arms. Holding her breath, Nicole turned around and peeked gingerly around the Wisp’s side as it refolded its wings.
They were there, all right. Not the two or three Koffren she’d expected, but five of the massive aliens. They were hunched over a cutting torch one of them had taken from an equipment closet, poking and prodding and trying to figure out how it worked.
Nicole let out her breath in a silent sigh. It had worked. She was back, and the Koffren had completely missed her return.
But the moment of grace wouldn’t last long. With the ambush of Jeff’s supposed invasion now over and done with, the rest of the Koffren could be charging through the door in front of her at any time.
She touched the Wisp’s arm. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Protector.
With a final careful look at the Koffren, Nicole crossed the room and slipped out the door.
The corridor outside the teleport room was deserted. If she hurried, she should have a clear path back to Q3 and then to safety in Q4.
Only with all the confusion that Sam’s drug had pumped into her, she had no idea how to get there.
She hurried to the next cross-corridor, painfully aware that she also didn’t know which direction the incoming Koffren would be coming from. Fortunately, the cross-corridor was also deserted. “Cambria?” she called softly. “Cambria? Come here, please. I need you. Cambria?”
No answer. She stood still, her heart thudding, trying to listen for ominous footsteps. She’d looked over Q1’s section layout a little back when she was learning everything she could about the ship, but most of that knowledge had gone vague in her mind. If she mixed up the sector names, she could end up going the completely wrong direction. Worse, without Cambria she would have no safe way of crossing either of the heat-transfer ducts, whether to Q3 or Q2.
She’d been lucky with the teleport room Wisp, talking it out of the Shipmasters’ control. But she couldn’t count on pulling that off a second time.
That was a problem she needed to deal with.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement as a figure came around the corner. She tensed, then relaxed as she recognized Cambria. “Come here,” she ordered, beckoning.
The Wisp was already on its way. It reached Nicole, and Nicole took its arm. We need to get back to Q4, she told it. You know the way, right?
Of course, Cambria replied. Come. I will guide you.
The approaching Koffren footsteps were audible as Nicole and the Wisp headed toward Q3 and safety.