The girl was crying now. Apparently, a WitchWalker without her followers was mostly just a hot mess. Doctor Voss was giving her a dose of tough love. More confident now in the Warbot sentry, I disconnected and allowed Ada to place it back into active sentry mode.

  “Banshee Actual to Prowler.”

  The use of combat call signs automatically put me into a different mindset. Halos’ voice came through my headset clear as if he were standing beside me.

  “We have a problem, Boss. Multiple problems. Packer is on the way down to your location.”

  “SitRep?”

  There was a pause, too long of a pause. “It’s Bayou, sir, she’s down.”

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY

  “My God!” Gi shared the feeling. The gym looked like a slaughterhouse. The steel gray walls were painted with blood. Deborah Riggs’ blood. She was already in medical; the bots were working on her, but they all knew it wasn’t looking good.

  A severed arm lay against one wall. An arm covered in scales with a curved claw at one end.

  “The lieutenant didn’t go down without a fight,” Bishop said.

  Gi had helped drag her near lifeless body out less than an hour ago. He’d failed her, and that stung. He knew that the Army captain was with Bayou in the medical bay. What he didn’t know was who was running the ship. Honestly, though, that was now secondary to finding this Furie.

  Dark purple blood smears ran across the wall and toward a smaller maintenance hatch. The security contingent was much larger now, many fill-ins from Red-7 as well as the Space Marines. They were all armed, and nerves were on edge. How in the hell had she put up such a fight? Gi wondered. He touched the crossed swords now on his back. Bayou had been unarmed, yet she was still alive.

  “Halo and Xero are handling the bridge. We got this, Sarge,” Bishop said, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s time to do some ship cleaning.”

  They’d given orders for all non-essential personnel to lock themselves in their cabins. That might not help much, but they had no intention of losing anyone else today. Gi moved that thought from his mind., Riggs wasn’t gone. He tapped his comms link.

  “Xero, you must find a way to locate this creature.”

  “Sergeant Gi, they seem to be able to mirror the ambient temperature around them. IR is no good, and I have yet to see any other aspects that would allow our sensors to pick up on its movements. They engineered these things for stealth.”

  And combat, Gi thought. “Copy that. Then watch all video feeds, no one should be moving except us.”

  “Yeah, about that,” she said. “You are about to have some additional help.”

  The TriCraft settled into the docking cradle, and the ramp was already coming down. I hit the deck just ahead of Sumo and we both raced to medical. My heart was pounding, and I was in a cold sweat that had nothing to do with our narrow escape from Maine. The landing bay and corridors were ominously empty, and I knew why.

  Still in my heavy suit, my footfalls echoed like thunder as I charged down the hall and slid into the sterile, white room. Jordan Hauk turned his face toward me in surprise. The man looked as tired as I was. Just beyond, I could see the limp form of Deb. Her face was ashen. Blood covered much of the trauma bed and the surrounding floor as the surgical bots worked. The same bed I’d been in a few weeks earlier also fighting for my life. I moved closer to the bed. Her abdomen had a large open gash. The ceiling mounted surgical bot was busy doing something inside the wound. She’d been in her workout gear, an LSU sweatshirt now shredded along with the skin beneath. I touched her leg, the only part of her that didn’t seem to be injured.

  “How’s she doing?” It was a stupid question. I could see the damage; I even understood what most of the obscure readouts meant.

  Hauk just shook his head. He and Deb had once been close, and now he was here with her. “All we’ve been through and then one of those things can cause this much damage.” He turned to look past me, toward the door.

  “Voss, get in here,” I said to the other person coming in. I took her by the shoulder, she looked less comfortable than I’d ever seen her. “Where’s the witch?”

  “Your pilot… he, he took her to holding. The Wraith will stay there,” she answered. A note of uncertainty colored her words.

  Fucking creature better stay there, I thought. “Are you really a doctor?”

  She looked to the bed and slowly nodded. “Not a trauma specialist, but I can help.”

  The medical bots were good, but like all AI-based systems, they lacked the intuition of a human surgeon and were obviously devoid of any humanity.

  “Save her!” I said, handing her a tube of the stolen Anadium. I tapped the medicine and nodded. She got the message.

  “Hauk, this is Doctor Voss, she’s going to help Deb.”

  Dami began scrubbing up at the nearby sink and donning the PPG. I gave a signal to Sumo, who had perched himself on the window to peer into the treatment room where his friend lay. “Come on, big guy. Let’s go do what we do best.”

  Captain Packer led the quiet woman into the small brig and locked the door to the cell. He was vaguely aware something else was in the room with him, but the Wraith had calmed the man into forgetting that it was even there.

  The place seemed deserted. Of course, no one had needed to be locked up, but the Korean sergeant had been basing his security detail from this wing. He didn’t know if he was supposed to stay with the girl or not. “I’m a pilot, not a prison guard.” The girl with Kovach instructions had been brief, but he’d gotten most of it. Checking in with the bridge crew, he let them know where he was, and he’d be up to relieve the helmsman shortly, but he had to finish securing the dropship first. He also wanted to make sure nothing else had hitched a ride up this time and take care of one more thing. He shook his head as he walked back toward the landing bay.

  “We’ll send a Marine to secure the brig, but that’s all we can spare. Get your ass up here to the pilot’s chair ASAP,” Halo said. “You are acting Captain until and unless Prowler decides to stay.”

  Holy fuck, Packer thought. He acknowledged the order and went to secure his dropship first. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. Jesus, things on this shit was changing too fast to keep up with. Truthfully, he had no interest in being in charge. He enjoyed flying, that was all he’d ever wanted to do, and now he had the most complicated airship in the world to drive around.

  He glanced across the hangar bay at recovered fragment of wreckage the Marines had been trapped in, using it as a lifeboat. Beside it, a mirror twin of his dropship sat. It had some damage; some shielding was missing, and a starboard side hatch wouldn’t make an airtight seal, but he’d been aboard and done a nominal systems check. She could be made ready to fly, and it would be nice to have a backup, but at some point, he had to train another pilot or two. They were too reliant on him, even he knew that.

  The Space Force pilot did a quick walk around of his own TriCraft. He felt the sharp angles and the smooth black shielding. It always amazed him how it felt. It retained no residual heat, nor was it cold. It almost seemed to not be there. Although he’d flown the thing for years, it still felt odd to him. Odd and alien. He held his service weapon at low ready as he checked over every inch to make sure none of the critters from below had made the ride up this time. Nothing but the loading dock ever touched the ground, but just the sheer number of mutant monsters down there tonight had given him the willies, so had that weird girl, for that matter.

  He paid close attention to the cargo holds, deep cavernous containers that lined much of the underbelly of the ship. The three repulser engines took up relatively little space for such a large craft. Satisfied he didn’t have any external stow-aways, he made his way up the ramp. He needed to do the same thing in here, but first he had to deal with something.

  “What in the fuck am I supposed to do with that?”

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-ONE

  The cramped quarters were too small for all of them. Carol looked at the thing her son had built and laughed. He was so much like his father, just the good parts of the man, she hoped. The parts she’d fallen for so many years ago. Lux hadn’t told her much about what went on down below, but she knew Xero had been there and the strange-looking drone had helped. Now the goofy little bot he was calling Rex was bumping into the walls and scaring Junie.

  Carol understood the lockdown was related to whatever had gone on but got the distinct feeling that her son was trying to protect her. He didn’t want his own mother to know he’d been in any danger. She knew she wasn’t a great mom, but that didn’t seem like the behavior of a child his age. Most boys loved telling their mom scary stories of all the dangerous stuff they had done. Again, she was struck by how much more mature he seemed since Last Day. She pulled him close and for just a second, he leaned into her and let her have her moment. Then he got busy chasing the puppy around the deck on hands and knees.

  “I love you, Lux.”

  He looked up at her and smiled. “I know, Mom. Love you more.”

  That was what she lived for now. She could put up with the cramped quarters, bad food, and constant sense of mild motion sickness as long as they were safe. She’d felt what she thought was the dropship landing several times and wondered if Joe was back onboard. Her multiple calls to Lieutenant Riggs had routed directly to the woman’s link address message box. Carol knew she was busy and had an entire ship to run. Even so, it wasn’t her nature to not be in the loop, but she was trying to accept that she was a guest here.

  Something heavy hit a wall farther down the corridor; the impact reverberated through the metal-composite walls. Fear flashed across Lux’s face before he looked to his mother and forced a smile. He pulled the puppy close and keyed in a sequence on his controller. The bot he insisted on calling Rex floated forward and seemed to take on a more menacing posture. The sound came again, this time more like footsteps.

  Carol’s heart caught in her throat as she tried to think of a way to protect her son. Something she’d been totally unable to do up to now. She stood placing her body between Lux and the hatchway, which suddenly slid open.

  “Hi, you!”

  Sumo barked once as the captain walked in as far as he could in the bulky battle suit. Seeing him like this again made Carol recall all they had been through together. She rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck. They kissed briefly.

  “I’m really damn glad to see you, Joe.”

  “Just checking in. You guys okay?”

  Carol nodded, and Lux made eye contact with Joe and gave a single nod. There was a story to be told there, but both guys knew now was not the time. Kovach knelt down and stroked the little brown and black dog affectionately. Turning his head slightly and pointing at the heavily modified maintenance droid, he asked, “And who is this?”

  “It’s Rex,” Lux said, pride obvious in his voice.

  “Hello, Rex,” Kovach said before stepping back.

  “He can’t talk yet. I couldn’t find a voice modulation box.”

  “I can talk to him,” Kovach said.

  He allowed Ada to query the bot and then got a rapid-fire firsthand account of what the bot and Lux had been through.

  Looking back up at the boy he shook his head. “Wow!”

  “What, wow what?” Carol demanded. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

  “Something is loose on the ship,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. Kovach caught the look Lux was giving him and decided not to elaborate on her son’s role in it to this point. “Deb was attacked and badly injured.”

  “Oh, God!”

  “She’s in med bay, and you should know Damiana is helping treat her.”

  “Oh, good, you brought her back. She didn’t shoot you this time?”

  He was glad there didn’t seem to be any real resentment there. “Not yet, but the day isn’t over.” He moved back toward the door before going serious again. “Carol, have you ever fired a gun?”

  She shook her head.

  He then looked at the bot. “Lux, what software programs did you load?” Ada could have told him, but he was interested in what the kid had selected as opposed to what was already on the memory units.

  Lux quickly went through the list. Kovach was surprised to see it included several newly created defensive command files as well as some that Xero had apparently uploaded to aid in defense.

  “That’s good. Really impressive, Lux.” He wanted to ask him what had made him take on the project, but right now he was just glad the boy had. The drone looked more like a floating collection of obsolete parts, but it worked and had helped them fight back a Furie. That was saying something.

  “We need to get it better quipped and also teach you a few things as well,” Kovach said before looking at Carol. “If it’s okay with your mom, of course.”

  Lux grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

  “You guys stay here and seal the hatch. I’ll be back when it’s safe.” With that, the man went back to warrior mode, quickly exiting.

  “Prowler,” Carol whispered, remembering his combat call sign as he disappeared again.

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-TWO

  After several hours Xero had left the bridge and was finally resting in her quarters. The all too close encounter with the creature had shaken her placid demeanor to its core. Now, hearing that it critically injured the lieutenant just made her decision to shelter in place that much easier. Of course, for a tireless workaholic like she was, that didn’t mean doing nothing. Deb had given her the quarters originally slated for the incoming ship’s engineer. It was a two-room suite unlike nearly all the other quarters. One entire side was filled with actual books, books on everything from hydroponics to theoretical magnetic containment vessels.

  She wasn’t reading one of the books today. Instead, she was running an output test on the black data cube Kovach had given her. She’d slowly been working her way in, unlocking the thing’s secrets layer by layer. It impressed her, which wasn’t easy to do. The encryption method was so simple and yet so multilayered, like a digital Matryoshka doll, the Russian toy with smaller and smaller dolls all nested inside one another.

  It had taken her a solid week to determine it was a type of storage device. She had used several more days in determining the programming involved, and now she was free to work on the encryption. Back home, she would have spent the time building a virtual sandbox and making a copy of the original. Here, that wasn’t an option. For one thing, she didn’t have the equipment, and secondly, every workstation was tied into the ship. All she had was her small personal terminal to use, and it lacked computational horsepower. As much as she wanted to move faster, she simply couldn’t risk any other phantom code getting loose in the ship’s AI.

  Nothing about the data seemed malicious, but she was cautious to the point of paranoid by nature. You didn’t use a storage medium like this for just anything. It was a puzzle, and like any good code-slasher, Xero loved the challenge. So far, what she knew was the cube transmitted data using an algorithm that rapidly alternated frequencies. Not traditional WiFi or Bluetooth, nothing as primitive as old radio-based signals No, this thing used an ultrafast connection that literally altered the resonant frequency of the air molecules to exchange information on a near quantum level. She’d played around with a very rudimentary version a few years back and been impressed but estimated it was at least a decade away from any real time applications. She’d been wrong.

  She was two layers deep on the encryption but now facing a potentially more destructive key. If she input the incorrect information, it might lock her out completely, and she could see there was a data-burn executable behind that digital block. If triggered, all data in the crystalline lattice would be not just erased, but overwritten hundreds of thousands of times.

  “Go big or go home. Right?” she said aloud.

  She had run her own proprietary decryption application and felt good about the next step, but in reality, it was always just a guess. Nothing about this thing had been straightforward, why would she believe this would? Her finger was poised over the key, then suddenly, she stopped.

  Sitting back in the chair, she stared at the object. Picking it up, she marveled at how it captured the light on its faceted surface. She’d mapped out every one of those facets and calculated all the dimensions of each. Something about this felt almost too easy, despite how challenging it had been up to now. This step felt less genuine. It was a trap, a dead-end, or even worse. No, this would require a different, much more nuanced approach. What until now had felt like a game, now seemed like something much more. Whatever was on this cube was important, that fact alone made it dangerous.

  “Think, Xero, think.”

  She used the small food synthesizer in the cabin’s galley. She felt sure it had been installed covertly at some point by an engineer who felt his time was too valuable to head to the mess hall. She programmed in the food she wanted, grilled tofu and wasabi over egg noodles, slid the compacted protein pack into the receiver, and sat back. The technology of these things intrigued her. She knew bio manufacturing had probably made more advances in the last half century than any other industry. Still, the ability for the coffeemaker-sized machine to build foods up from the molecular level just using a generic bit of organic matter and water was damned impressive.

  She moved the data cube around in her other hand while she thought. This was impressive, too. It was miles ahead of anything she’d seen, and she’d seen it all. Or thought she had. She hated calling for help, but she was stuck. There was one person she could call. Xero knew that she probably shouldn’t, it was not anything Riggs would have permitted, but getting the comms system working again had been her job, why not take advantage of it?