“Trans lunar comm charges may apply. Continue?” She tapped her comms unit.

  The world goes to hell, and the damn telecom billing system still works. “Yes,” she confirmed, keying in her access pin.

  “Hi, you.”

  Xero smiled. She’d missed this guy.

  “Hey, Valyn, how’s life on Luna?”

  “Better than Earth right now. Where are you calling me from? Not getting a source ID,” he said.

  She’d disabled all the identifiers on the comms array. Not that she didn’t trust Valyn, but because he was inside the Gateway military compound, and those walls have ears.

  “I’m in a bunker,” she lied. She wanted to tell him the truth, but it was his boss that had ordered Riggs to surrender the ship. She couldn’t put him in the middle of that fight. “Look, I need some help.”

  Valyn Orric’s current role in the military was not why he was important to Xero. Their past started much earlier and under circumstances that most would never even guess. She trusted him…had trusted him with her very life. Trust was something that had to be earned with her. It never came easily.

  “I’m probably not going to be much good. The admiral has me jumping through hoops trying to track down some of these rogue units. Military COC has gone to hell.”

  “COC?” she asked.

  “Chain of command.” She heard him yelling orders to someone, then his focus returned. “Sorry about that, what do you have?”

  Xero described the physical dimensions of the data cube, crystal thing, then gave her friend the much more important digital specs.

  “You sure? It’s written in Virex-C? That language isn’t even in the wild. High-level shit with built in multi-layered encryption.”

  “You’ve used it?”

  “I can’t discuss that.”

  She knew he had before, down at Lackland Air Base in Texas. Same place she’d been taken to when the shit went down.

  “Virex-C has some very specific advantages,” he said. “Advantages that also limit its applications.”

  This wasn’t news to her but was more part of how Valyn thought. His mental process was linear, while hers was more chaotic. Both had their advantages.

  “It’s most often used for very high-end simulations. The code is very tight, efficient but flexible in adapting quickly to changes in input or new data. They did a lot with simulated lifeform testing. Near fully autonomous operation because it integrates so cleanly into the command pipeline between interface, processors, and hardware. You know, like on the terraforming probes they sent out to the outer systems’ moons years ago. The things have to operate off the chain for years. The time lags on the comms would prevent them from efficiently being controlled back here or on Earth.”

  “So, it’s a niche programming language?” she asked.

  “Very,” he answered. “Look, Xero, I must run but let’s catch up. I need to know more about what’s going on and how you’re coping.”

  She knew he was being genuine. No way he would blow her off unless someone was breathing down his neck. The conversation was likely straying way too close for his NDA and security clearances.

  “One other question,” she said, not wanting to let the opportunity escape. “Any idea why a doctor would have this?”

  Valyn was obviously busy with someone else again but soon asked her, “What kind of doctor?”

  She hesitated before answering, “Biogeneticist”

  “Like, the genetic mutants that are being reported all over the globe? What have you gotten yourself into, Xero?”

  “I’m trying to find out, and this data cube might hold the answers.”

  She heard Valyn moving, sounds of other people nearby, then relative quiet. “Okay, listen, and you didn’t hear this from me, but Virex-C is something different.”

  “Different how?”

  “It’s an artifact language,” he answered.

  She was aware of the term but wasn’t sure of the context. “That means…”

  “Right,” he responded. “It has no origination point, no evolution. It sprang into the computer lexicon fully formed, and no one has ever taken ownership.”

  “Like bitcoin?”

  “No… well, yeah, kinda,” he admitted. “It’s also never had one single bug patch or upgrade, nor any vulnerabilities discovered. It’s an anomaly in the programming world mainly because it came out fully formed and nearly perfect. If your doctor was using this, it’s because he was highly placed and doing some deep-cover shit.”

  Xero had run into other artifact bits of code. Most often it was found to have originated with various AI systems that had the ability to upgrade there own code. Over time they tended to develop programming languages that were distinctly inhuman.

  Something clanked, maybe a hatch. Xero wasn’t sure if it was on his end of the call or hers. “Look for a logarithmic extract, normally a long sequence before the holographic header. Programmers learned to write a backdoor in just because the language was so secure, they often forgot their keys and locked themselves out.”

  The call ended, and Xero sat back on the bed to eat her dinner. The cube held secrets, and she was one step closer to figuring them out. The clang came again, much closer this time. Definitely here on the ship… not on the moon.

  CHAPTER

  SIXTY-THREE

  “Halo is driving the ship. Whose bright idea was that?”

  The Korean smiled; unlike his fellow team members, he didn’t seem to enjoy putting the others down.

  “Jenkins is a good man and an even better soldier,” Gi said. “Besides, Halo has asked Captain Packer to take the helm as soon as he can. By the way, sir, I am very much happy to see you again, Kovach.”

  “Same, brother,” I said, wondering if Packer did what I asked before heading to the bridge. The Space Force pilot had been integral to everything so far, but I had a hard time seeing him in a position of leadership. Even though he had the rank, the pilot admitted he was just a glorified bus driver. I didn’t need officers who felt compelled to follow any order a superior officer might issue. Unless, of course, it was me issuing the order… then I wanted it followed without question, but then again, I’m no officer. Well, except on this ship for some damn reason. You know, it’s damn hard being this crazy.

  “So why is this lizard so hard to kill, Sergeant?”

  “Something about this Furie feels different, sir… smarter, more…”

  “Durable?” I offered.

  Gi nodded and gave a slight laugh. “That’s a very good way of phrasing it. Different from the ones we fought in the tunnels or in Texas, although that had to be the batch it came from.”

  I had been having much the same feeling. Not just about the Furies but everything we’d been fighting. It was like they were getting better, adapting to us as the enemy.

  “So, any idea how Bayou injured it, and shouldn’t that make it easier to locate?”

  “Riggs is tough and obviously capable, but none of the injuries seem to have slowed this creature down so far. Xero was working on a way to track it, but now she’s locked out of her primary lab until we locate it, so we’re on our own.”

  “Copy that, Sergeant.” They were both following Sumo as he followed the creature’s scent. The husky’s super-sensitive nose was naturally good, but like his handler, many of the dog’s natural abilities had been enhanced.

  Gi had already been through this section multiple times but remained silent. The Furie had bested him twice before, he would not be so arrogant as to think it couldn’t happen again.

  “Jesus Christ,” I said rounding a corner and seeing the biggest fucking Marine I’d ever laid eyes on. “That’s a good way to get dead, Corporal.”

  “Koog, sir. Sorry I was late to the party. Your man, Bishop, sent me this way.”

  I eyed the way the kid held the short-barreled tactical rifle. It was a standard Marine issue Silka LS8, the matte gray finish with the twin snouts where the barrels ended made it handy in close quarter fighting. “Not sure that toy is going to take one of these things down, Koog. They’re bigger than you even and thickly armored.”

  “I read the brief, sir. The one from you and Captain Hauk. I got it covered.” He flipped the receiver upside down so I could see that the standard issue magazine with 7.62 jacketed rounds had been replaced with Armorlite AX cutters. An ammo that had been exclusively designed for fighting against armored infantry, it had also been outlawed a decade earlier.

  “Holy fuck, the Jarhead came to kick ass,” I said to Gi. “How much of that do you have stashed away?”

  “Probably not enough, sir, but a few cases were in the piece of the ship you saved.”

  I liked this kid. Not only was he big, but he also seemed smart, which in my encounters, was rare for a Jarhead. “Well, join the party then, Koog. Welcome to Banshee Team 1. I’m Prowler, and that’s Sumo on point. Handle rear guard for us, Son.”

  “Yes, Captain,” the oversized Marine said, falling in behind us as if he had done this a million times.

  “Question, Gi, how do we know we’re only looking for one?”

  “We don’t. Since none of us have any clue on how it got aboard, we can’t definitively rule out more. Nor can we say there aren’t other different creatures aboard.”

  Well, that was a scary as fuck thing to say.

  Ten minutes later, Sumo was facing a solid wall looking as frustrated as I was. Between not finding this goddamn thing and worrying about my XO, Riggs, being under the care of Voss, who I still had no idea if I could trust, I wasn’t having a great day… and then it got worse.

  “When you coming to see me, Sport?”

  “Pops, really, every fucking time I’m in the middle of something dangerous you call.”

  “Language, boy, your mom doesn’t need to hear her baby talk like that.”

  “Mom died, Dad, remember?” I subvocalized. I pointed to a set of rooms we’d only given a cursory check to because it was just one big open space.

  “Of course I remember, don’t be an asshole, Joe. When are you coming to see me?”

  I wondered briefly if ‘Never’ was an acceptable answer. “I’m off-world again, Pops.” I knew he was aware of that. The former colonel had lo-jacked my damn brain. He always knew where I was, and if I was right, also knew what I was doing which, yeah… think about that. Your dad can literally see through your eyes and knows everything you are up to anytime he wants. I quickly determined I probably was hunting the wrong monster.

  Sumo went rigid, then looked back at the three of us as if to say, ‘What the fuck are you idiots waiting on, shoot something.’

  Gi fanned us out in a narrow arc. We had overlapping fields of fire, but still had no target. “Ada, run spectral analysis full sweep.” She knew to do this automatically, but I needed something to say.

  “So, you know how the guys at work are always bragging about their kids?” My dad started ignoring the fact that I was in a combat situation. “You know, Tim says little Debbie made the all-star team. Or that asshole Shirer who acts like his boy will win the next X-prize for engineering when he can’t even tie his goddamn shoes.”

  I muttered a mild acknowledgement knowing my dad hadn’t worked in an actual office in years.

  “So, what in the fuck am I supposed to say? Who can I brag on? I mean, let’s face it, you were always a bit of an underachiever, but your mom always said, ‘We must love him anyway.’ “

  “Contact, left,” Koog said, laying into a darkened corner with a line of fire that stitched up the wall and produced a bright purple gout of blood.

  Holy shit, the damn thing is nearly invisible. “Sumo, hunt!” I yelled. The blood trail was already thinning as I tracked it up the wall and across part of the ceiling bracing.

  “Good shooting, Koog, how did you see it?”

  “Lidar scan, sir. Standard issue on my HUD.”

  Well, shit, that made sense. Up here they would need to know exactly how far solid objects were. The lidar had the ability to peer through less dense materials revealing what was underneath.

  “It’s headed for the vent tubes!” Gi yelled before bringing his Mark-4 up and firing.” Again, I saw specks of blood where the rounds hit home, but most of the creature was still hard to make out.

  Back in the corridor, I tracked left with the dog, the other two went right.

  “At the gun range? Hit anything yet?” Dad asked.

  I eyed my counter and realized I hadn’t even fired.

  “Nope! Just here for show, Dad.”

  I tracked the conduit back to where it narrowed and branched out into pipes too small for the creature. No exit here. I turned to rejoin Gi and Koog. “Something on your mind today, Pops?”

  “Hearing a rumor that Admiral Reese has declared you and Banshee squad to be traitors. Renegades who have illegally taken possession of an Alliance monolith-class carrier.”

  “Filthy gossip,” I answered. “Reese is a doddering old fool from what I hear.”

  “Ha! Don’t fall for it, kid. He’s a snake, but don’t count him out. He will make you pay for disobeying direct orders.”

  “You were on the call, Pops.”

  “Oh, yeah, the one where you told the acting War Commander to ummm… let me see if I can remember. Oh, yeah, you called him a ‘washed-up Twat’ and told him to “Go fuck himself!”

  “Well, it sounds worse when you say it but yep. And we didn’t steal anything. We happened to find a mothballed cruiser that no one was using and decided to turn it into a forward operating base. We needed the high ground. Total transparency. I wasn’t even among the living at the time, so my participation was minimal.”

  “It’s the largest surviving ship in the Space Fleet, kid, hell of an FOB.”

  “So, you think we should give it up? The one tactical advantage we’ve had since Last Day?”

  I paused as up ahead, Gi and Koog split in opposite directions, both with guns up sweeping the ceiling. Despite my new ability to multitask perfectly, my dad’s conversation was distracting me, and now was not the time for distractions.

  “Hell, no, Son, tell the fat old bastard to go fuck himself again. Times have changed, I’m just saying watch your back.”

  “Got it, watch m…”

  The impact from behind sent me flying into the far wall.

  “Baaa.c.k,” I wheezed out. My spine was again on fire, and my hands weren’t working correctly.

  “Hey, umm…yeah,” I called trying to remember my teammates’ names. I was seeing stars but sensed the Furie coming on me. Ada took over and used the suit’s servos to raise an arm to block an incoming slash. My world came back into focus in fits and starts, and then I saw the damn thing.

  "You're one... ugly motherfucker!" my dad said, obviously privy to my optical inputs or my suit’s sensors. I didn’t have time to ask which, but even more importantly, I agreed with his assessment. It was a freak of a monster. One arm raggedly torn off mid bicep and a line of wounds and old scars running across the torso. Even up close, the scaling and spikes gave it an eerie halo effect. Its edges were hard to pick out from its surroundings. I could easily see how it might have snuck onto or into the TriCraft with no one knowing. This one was somewhat different from the others we’d fought.

  My blade was in my hand, always my preferred weapon in close quarter fighting. In this case, I knew the weak spots to hit. I went for the inner thigh, and somehow the one-armed thing managed to block me while also pushing me back against the bulkhead.

  I heard incoming fire and realized Ada had signaled the two others. New wounds appeared on the scaly neck and chest, and I could see they were mostly glancing off doing no significant damage. I slashed out again and contacted a fleshy part of the beast’s midsection. The vibrasonic blade cut deep, but the pressure from the thing didn’t ease up. Suddenly, I was aware of a shape flying over me, and the Furie jerked backward.

  My first thought was Sumo, but then I realized it was the crazy ass Marine who was now attempting to put the monster in a headlock. I gave him credit for audacity but bonus points for a takedown would not win the battle. Both of us together possibly could, though. I charged in and got between the creature’s remaining arm and its body. Gi moved in, one of his swords raised high for a strike, when the Furie spun and snapped a kick into the Korean’s chest. I heard the impact and knew he probably had broken ribs, maybe even worse.

  Koog was pulling the head away and to the side but trying to keep that dangerous fucking mouth away from any of his edible body parts. Both my hands were busy pulling in the opposite direction. Sumo kept charging in for quick bites but fully understood the lethality of that claw if it got free.

  “Pull, Prowler!” Koog yelled, straining with his own near superhuman effort.

  I did and saw the thing’s neck stretch to a point I could see actual flesh beneath the scales, pink flesh, human looking flesh. Some part of the thing began to tear, then I heard, more than saw Gi’s sword slashing down through neck and across the thing’s abdomen. The fight left the beast immediately, and I watched as the Korean sagged to the deck.

  “Fuck, yeah!” the Marine yelled triumphantly, releasing the head which flopped sideways. I let go as well and let the body hit the deck with a thud.

  “That’s what you call ‘Violence of Action!’ ” Koog yelled triumphantly.

  I crawled over to check on Gi. “How did you manage that, dude? That was awesome.” I was checking his suit’s med readouts. He wasn’t talking, and his eyes were unresponsive. I knew he’d taken a massive hit. The Furie’s legs are pure muscle and hit like pile drivers. Every bit the same kinetic energy of getting hit by an autocar traveling at speed.

  “Captain?”

  I heard Koog but didn’t want to stop my triage of G-Force to turn around. “What is it?” I asked as I signaled for a medic.