Citizen X - BP01 Read online

  "Whatever," Sydnee said. "The cave is also about twenty-five degrees cooler than the outside temperature and a lot drier because it's always raining on that planet. I need your answers now. If you don't want to go, I'll find someone else."

  "As I said before, I'm in," MacDonald said.

  "I'm in," Weems said.

  Sydnee looked at Caruthers with anticipation written all over her face.

  "I'm thinking, I'm thinking."

  "I understand if you'd rather not go. You'll have to be fully suited up in your personal armor every time you leave either the cave or one of the ships, and while the cave is much cooler than outside, it's still hot and humid. I can ask Lieutenant Bateman to go instead."

  "Bateman? There's no way he'd go voluntarily. He'd have to leave the love of his life behind. His girlfriend works in Engineering. Oh, alright, I'm in also. At least it'll be something different to do."

  * * *

  As the tug neared the planet, Sydnee said, "Sgt. Morales, you'd better strap yourself to the bulkhead during reentry and landing, just in case."

  "Aye, Lieutenant."

  Morales, as the lowest-ranked member of the group, was naturally the one without a seat, but he wasn't uncomfortable. He had rolled out a piece of anti-gravity cloth and floated a dozen centimeters above the deck during the entire three-hour trip, using his backpack for a backrest. Sydnee occupied the pilot chair while Weems rode as co-pilot. MacDonald and Caruthers occupied the two rearward-facing jump seats behind the pilot seats.

  To hide their return to the planet, Sydnee entered orbit on the far side. She continued dropping the small ship lower and lower as they approached the sinkhole location to ensure they couldn't be observed by line-of-sight tracking equipment. They were at treetop level by the time they reached the site of the original camp.

  "There it is," Sydnee said. It was too dark to see anything through the tug's windows, but sensors provided a clear image of the ground contours on the monitors. "It looks like it's expanded a bit more. I've selected another clearing nearby for the tug."

  "Are we supposed to dig this out by ourselves?" Caruthers asked. "I thought we'd have Marines to help with this phase."

  "The cave is about twenty-five kilometers from here. Once I make contact with them, I can arrange to pick a few up to help with the recovery."

  Once positioned over a nearby clearing barely large enough to accommodate the ship, Sydnee slowly reduced power to the oh-gee engine and the ship began to settle.

  As the ship touched down on the ground, Sydnee said, "I checked the ship configuration database while on the Perry. We won't be able to use the magnetic skids to lift the ship because of the Dakinium skin. The designers included annulus fasteners, like those used on cargo containers, at eight key points for lifting the ship. Any one of them can be used to lift a fully loaded MAT without damaging it so we only have to dig down, uncover one, and hook up. But two connection points might be better if we factor in the weight of the dirt covering the ship.

  "I wouldn't recommend going outside until daybreak, but if you must, stay close to the ship. There are a lot of dangerous creatures out there. And remember, keep your armor sealed at all times."

  "Why don't we start work tonight?" Caruthers said. "We can set up portable work lights and get a jump on the effort."

  "We're only five kilometers from the rebel camp. They'd be able to see the glow from the lights and might come to investigate. "

  "Oh, right."

  "It's less than an hour to dawn here," MacDonald said, "even though the GST time is 2021."

  "Yes," Weems said, "Let's relax a little and formulate a plan while we wait for the sun to rise. Syd, how far down is the Mat, and how much dirt is covering it?"

  "I haven't been here since since the first days on the planet, so I don't know if it's fallen farther, but the top surface was about ten meters down. I imagine there's at least a meter of dirt on top. It was almost completely hidden just after the collapse, and dirt was continuing to fall from the sidewalls. At least the dirt should be fairly loose because it had to crumble to fall in."

  "Unless it fell in large chunks," Caruthers said.

  "Assuming that the MAT is buried under a meter of dirt—" Weems said, "in fact we probably should assume two meters— and that we don't know its angle or position, finding those annuli could be difficult."

  "Yes," Sydney said, "Since they're made of Dakinium, like the frame and sheathing of the hull, a magnetometer won't give us a reading. Dakinium soaks up most energy directed at it."

  "Most energy?" MacDonald said, "What kind of energy doesn't it soak up?"

  "I know that visible light in the four-hundred to seven-hundred-nanometer range is reflected back. I don't know what else it doesn't eat, but I read that it absorbs microwaves, x-rays, and gamma rays."

  "Interesting," Weems said. "What does it do with the energy it absorbs, Syd?"

  "I don't know if it stores it somehow or dissipates it, but I read that as energy excites the atoms, the molecular strength increases, making it more resistant to force."

  "So the more you try to alter it through the release of energy, the stronger it becomes?"

  "Exactly."

  "No wonder lasers and plasma torches have no effect. The material is actually fighting back when you attempt to damage it."

  "Yes, that's the way I understand it."

  "So what's the plan after we recover the MAT? Just sit back and wait out the inevitable?"

  "I've been trying to think of a way we can help the Perry. I have an idea, but I have to think on it a bit more. It might be construed as being in violation of the orders I received from the Captain."

  "If it helps the Perry survive a fight with the rebel ship and saves our shipmates," Weems said, "a court-martial would be worth it. Besides, what's the worst they can do, sentence you to the Perry? If the idea is sound, relinquish command to me and I'll do it."

  "Let me think on it a little more. Hey, it looks like it's getting light outside."

  "Great," Caruthers said. "By the time we get our armor on, it should be light enough to see without needing portable lights."

  Within thirty minutes, the group had left the tug and they were on their way to the sinkhole clearing. It was getting light quickly, but they walked in darkness beneath a canopy of leaves that blocked most light until they reached the clearing.

  "I think we have a problem, Syd," Weems said as they arrayed themselves along the shore of the small lake in front of them. Water lapped at their feet.

  "But that was empty when we got here, wasn't it?" MacDonald asked.

  "Probably not," Sydnee said. "The ground contour radar doesn't see water."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ~ Mar. 13th, 2285 ~

  "Great," Caruthers said. "A difficult job just became almost impossible. We didn't bring any portable pumps, and I left my swim fins back on Earth."

  "Perhaps not so impossible," Sydnee said with a smile. "It might actually help."

  "Help? How could it possibly help for the MAT to be submerged at the bottom of a twenty-meter-deep lake?"

  "Look at the physics. We have a submerged craft filled with trapped air. That gives it a certain amount of buoyancy. It's not like a shipwreck where water has filled the craft and displaced the air. Perhaps the only reason the MAT isn't already floating on the surface is that the extra weight of the dirt on top is holding it down."

  "Yeah, that's right," Weems said. "It has to have a certain amount of buoyancy, and that has to assist our efforts to get it raised."

  "But it's still twenty meters down, buried beneath a meter or more of dirt," Caruthers said.

  "That's twenty meters to the bottom," Sydnee said. "The top should only be about ten to twelve meters down."

  "And the dirt? Do you know how much wet dirt weighs? You have to add the weight of the dirt and the weight of the water it absorbed. We're going to break our backs shoveling the dirt off the MAT."

  "Dirt has a certain buoyancy
underwater also. And we don't have to shovel it off. We might be able to simply kick it out of the way. This isn't a tragedy; it's a cause for celebration. We might be out of here in hours instead of days."

  "I'll believe it when I see it."

  "Then let's get started so you can become a believer," Syd said. "First, let me download the images of the MAT that I got from the Perry's database into everyone's helmet storage. You can call them up and study them when you have a few minutes. They'll help us locate the annulus rings."

  The download took only a few minutes. Once everyone could see the diagram with the fasteners, they had a better understanding of what had to be done.

  Holding up a three-meter aluminum pole she had been carrying, Sydnee said, "I brought these poles along to help us probe the depth of the dirt, but now we can use them to stir the dirt out of the way and feel for an annulus once we determine where the edge of the MAT is located. When we find one, we dig it out enough to get a rope on it. When we have two located, we'll fasten a cable to each and bring the tug over. As soon as the cable is hooked onto the tug, we lift the MAT free."

  "You make it sound so easy," Caruthers said.

  "Yeah, I like to think positive."

  "Me too. I'm positive it's not going to be that easy."

  Sydnee chuckled. "We'll see. Let's give it a go. Who wants to be first?" When no one spoke up, she said, "Okay, I'm first."

  "I'm second," MacDonald said. "We'll show these big, strong men how it's done, Syd."

  "I'll go third," Morales volunteered.

  "Fourth," Weems chimed in.

  "I'll take clean-up position," Caruthers said, "if the big, strong women aren't able to find their annulus with a pole and both hands."

  Sydnee stepped into the water with two ropes tied around her waist. One rope was for attaching to an annulus, and the other was her safety line. As soon as she stepped over the edge of the hole, she began to sink slowly towards the bottom. The water was as dark and murky as the swamps they'd traversed when withdrawing after the attack on the rebel camp, but the armor's sensors helped considerably. They projected outlines on the SimWindow faceplate so she at least had an idea where the sinkhole's walls were located.

  When Sydnee touched down, she announced it on Com 1, "It's pretty murky, as you know, and the ground beneath my feet is really soft. It's like the muck in the bogs. I'm beginning my probe."

  After about ten minutes of carefully feeling her way along, Sydnee's pole sank deeper than expected.

  "I've found an edge. I don't know which edge it is, but I'm going to work my way along it in a southerly direction until I find a corner."

  To allow maximum useful interior space, the MAT was shaped like a big, square brick with rounded corners. Stubby wings could be extended out from the body to help improve stability in atmo operations, and were automatically retracted when the ship's power systems were shut down. The annuli were located near the corners of the craft.

  It took a half hour for Sydnee to feel her way along and find a corner of the ship, pushing the pole into the muck until she met resistance or the pole went deeper than it should. It took another half hour for her to dig down and find the annulus, then tie a cord around it.

  "Okay, one down," Sydnee said. "Pull me up."

  As Sydnee's helmet cleared the surface, she said, "It's nice to see daylight again. It's like working in a dark closet down there."

  Weems extended his hand to help her out, but just as they were about to make contact, Sydnee was suddenly jerked backwards into the water. The hand she had extended to Weems was the last thing they saw as a froth of bubbles appeared on the surface.

  "Syd," MacDonald shouted on Com 1, "What's happened?"

  "Something's grabbed me and is trying to eat me," Sydnee shouted back. "I think it's a Lampaxa Vorheridine. I'm trying to get to one of my knives, but it's wrapped itself around me and my arms aren't free."

  Without a word, Morales grabbed a line and tied it around his waist. He pulled a knife from the scabbard on his left leg and jumped in where Sydnee had disappeared. A second later he felt the creature beneath his feet, then felt its jaws clamp on his right leg. The next thing he felt was Lt. MacDonald landing on top of him.

  Weems and Caruthers watched as the froth of bubbles grew ever wider and the water on the surface swirled in irregular patterns. On Com1, they could hear the heavy breathing of their three comrades, as well as the grunts, yells, and strings of cuss and curse words as the three fought the creature. Then, finally, the noise abated and the bubbles began to dissipate.

  "If there's anyone left up there, will you pull us up?" Weems and Caruthers heard. They pulled on the lines attached to Sydnee and Morales, and four tightly intertwined bodies appeared at the surface. It took all of their strength to drag the bundle ashore.

  "Are you okay, Syd?" Weems asked.

  "I think so. I'll know for sure when you get this thing off me."

  "You okay, Kel?" he asked Lt. MacDonald.

  "When you get us unwrapped, you can tell me."

  "How about you, Sergeant?"

  "I think so, sir, but for a while there it felt like Saturday night in the barrio. I think this thing is dead, but its teeth are still locked on my leg."

  Starting from the tail, Weems and Caruthers were able to slowly untwine the creature from Sydnee, MacDonald, and Morales, but not before it showed that it wasn't quite dead at least three times.

  On the third time, Morales plunged his double-edged blade into an area ten centimeters behind its head and rocked it back and forth a few times until the head was almost severed from the body. The trunk was almost a half-meter thick at that point, and it took some doing to severe all the nerves. When the jaws relaxed, he pulled it off his leg and stood up. "Man, I wouldn't want to meet one of those things when I wasn't wearing my armor. A person wouldn't stand a chance."

  "You know it," MacDonald said. "Even with the armor, I don't know if one person could handle it. I was beginning to think that the three of us were overmatched. " Turning to Sydnee, she said, "You called this thing a Lampaxa Vorheridine. You've seen one before?"

  "Yeah, one of them tried to eat PFC Riley while we were trying to elude the rebels. It took three to subdue it, just like today. It's delicious, by the way, if we haven't punctured its poison sac. It tastes like pork sausage."

  "You ate one of these things?" Caruthers said, making a face as he stretched it out on the shore to its full twelve-meter length.

  "Well, not by myself. The platoon ate one. Everyone came back for seconds and thirds."

  "But it's a snake."

  "Sort of. But it tastes good and we have to save the emergency food packs for emergencies. We'll take it with us to the cave when we go. Sergeant Booth did a great job with the other one."

  Caruthers made another face and then sighed. "I may regret my decision to come here if I have to eat snake at every meal."

  "There're lots of other things to eat," Morales said. "We found a squid-like creature that was good, and there're tons of larva and grub worms everywhere."

  "Okay, enough. If you want me to be able to help, stop making me sick."

  Syd and the others were all grinning behind their helmets. Teasing Caruthers provided a sort of release from the tension of the deadly struggle with the creature.

  "Okay, who's next?" Syd asked. "I think Morales and MacDonald should sit this dance out."

  "I'll go," Weems said, then hesitated. "Uh, do you think there are any more of those things down there, Syd?"

  "I'd say no, but I can't know for sure. Just remember to stay calm. In two encounters, the creatures haven't been able to bite through the armor."

  "Oh, that's reassuring."

  Syd smiled. "You'll be okay. I tied the one rope to the annulus I found. From the feel, I'd have to say that it's the larboard bow annulus. Follow the rope down and when you reach the bottom, walk about three meters to the right before you start probing for the edge, then just follow along until you find the corner."
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  "Got it. Wish me luck."

  "Luck, Jerry," she said as she tied the two ropes around his waist.

  Weems jumped in, followed the tied rope down to the MAT, then walked to the right and began his probing. It only took twenty minutes to find the corner and then another half hour to locate and tie a rope around the annulus.

  Weems had carried on a nervous conversation almost the entire time he was underwater, but as he finished tying the rope on the annulus, he felt something coil around his body and he began screaming.

  Sydnee and Morales quickly grabbed ropes and tied them around their waists, but as they prepared to jump in, Weems said, "Hold it," between huffs and puffs. "Everything is okay. I got wrapped up in my safety line and thought it was one of those monsters attacking me. Sorry."

  In ten more minutes, Weems was ashore and breathing normally. "I'd rather face an armada of Raider destroyers in a scout ship than have one of those things attack me. I've always had a thing about snakes."

  "Well, you did good," Sydnee said. "We have the two annuli marked and now it's just a matter of attaching the cable and we can lift it out. Why don't we grab some breakfast first? We're way ahead of schedule. "

  "Sounds good to me," Weems said. "I need a cup of coffee and a reason to get out of this tin man suit for a while."

  It took all five of them to pick up the Lampaxa Vorheridine and carry it back to the tug, where it was secured to the two oversized oh-gee sleds on the hull that had thankfully not been needed for ferrying dirt.

  The cramped cockpit of the tug wasn't an ideal mess, but it did allow them to remove their armor during breakfast. They dined in the padded bodysuits worn under the armor. Afterwards, the group returned to the sinkhole to complete their mission. Morales took on the task of replacing the ropes with lifting cables and had everything hooked up in less than thirty minutes. Weems left to get the tug as Morales was pulled from the water-filled sinkhole.

  In twenty minutes, the tug was hovering overhead. The lifting cable was attached to the hook on its keel and Weems took up the slack slowly, then began adding power to lift the MAT.