“Sir, can I ask a question?” Kiaan said.

  “What is it?”

  “Where are we going?”

  “We need to get back to the Deliverance.”

  “Sir, I know. I mean. We lost our transport. How are we going to get there?”

  Caleb hadn’t thought about it. There were so many other things to worry about. “What do you suggest?”

  “This used to be a city, filled with people. They must have vehicles?”

  “There’s a craft of some kind right outside,” Dante said.

  “If we could reach it,” Paige said.

  “You think we should take a look around first?” Caleb asked.

  Kiaan nodded. “I don’t mean to step out of line, sir. But, if we go on foot, it’ll take days to get back to the ship. Maybe even weeks. You saw the mountains we crossed over.”

  “Not to mention the trife,” Paige said.

  “If Metro is in immediate danger, getting there a week from now isn’t going to help,” Kiaan continued. “We could go for the ship we saw, but that’s also risky. We don’t know how to control their craft, and making a quick getaway would be unlikely.”

  “Agreed,” Caleb said. “On all points. But, we have no way of knowing if this ship has anything we can use, and we also have no idea how many of those bots might be patrolling it. Not to mention there may already be Inahri here, and we don’t know if they’re friendly.”

  “Don’t forget about Valentine,” Dante said.

  “How could anyone forget about Valentine?” Caleb replied. “She might already be talking to them and telling them about the energy unit.”

  “Maybe they’ll plant a bolt in her rear.”

  “She would heal from it.”

  “It would still hurt for awhile .”

  Caleb smirked. “Here’s to hoping. But we need more than hope.” He tapped on his helmet, trying to think. “We saw part of the ship during the Guardian Intellect’s storytime. The Axon, Rex, had a lab near the center of the ship, where the energy unit was placed.”

  “On this deck?” Dante asked.

  “Who knows. We’re flying blind right now.” Caleb closed his eyes, trying to remember what they had seen. So many corridors and so many rooms, and they all looked similar. “We’ll head for the center, and see what we find on the way.”

  “Won’t any hangar be on the outer perimeter,” Paige asked.

  “Normally I would agree, but considering the Inahri seem to have mastered teleportation, that’s not a given. If we find the lab, we might be able to stumble through their systems well enough to at least get a map or something.”

  “That’s a long-shot, Sarge,” Dante said.

  “Tell me about it. But it’s the only shot I can think of. We’re not exactly in our element here. If this were an operation against a terrorist cell, once we took out the bad guys, I’d be searching for data on potential targets. There’s at least some correlation here. Paige, you’ve got point. The rest of you, stay alert. I don’t want anyone else dying on my watch.”

  Caleb tapped the teleporter controls one more time to ensure it would stay active. Then they moved toward the wall in front of the device, which spread into an oblong opening at their approach. Paige went out first, her alien weapon leveled and ready to fire. The dark alloy corridor seemed to stretch out forever.

  “Maybe walking would be faster after all,” Dante said.

  Chapter 3

  Caleb had gone through the teleporters twice now, and he was still only barely able to believe they were real. It seemed like magic to step onto a glass platform, watch a bright flash and wind up somewhere else quicker than he could blink. It seemed like a trick. A sleight of hand. That it wasn’t a trick reminded him how far in over their heads they were, and how low their odds of survival were. Not only was this planet hostile, but the entire universe was more populated and more hostile than he’d ever imagined.

  The teleporters seemed almost bland in comparison. Caleb had seen enough action in the last two weeks to last ten lifetimes. He would have given anything for the rest of this one to settle down into something nearing normalcy.

  But he would settle for another teleporter.

  The corridor they were traveling felt endless. The Guardians spent half an hour moving along it, setting a brisk pace so they could be as far away from the room they had landed in as possible. They had no idea if the Inahri could track their movements so they kept their eyes peeled between the corridor ahead and their tacticals, watching for the combat network to pick up anything out of the ordinary and relay it to the group.

  Fortunately, the way forward remained clear. There were no robots in the corridor, and the Inahri didn’t appear behind them. It was a welcome break, though the lack of confrontation made Caleb wary. There were too many unknown variables surrounding the city-ship. The Inahri, the robots, the trife, Valentine. Guardian said it was the only one of its kind, but what if there were more of the Basic Intellects? The dark, faceless artificial intelligences had the technology to make them hallucinate. While they did have the anti-Intellect gun, it would only take one neural disruptor to stop them dead in their tracks, and the enemy didn’t need line of sight to affect them.

  Caleb felt both surrounded and alone, his senses on full alert with every step he took. He assumed there were rooms on both sides of the corridor, but the alien metal hid the passages from anyone who didn’t know they were there. It kept the Guardians moving straight, continuing along the passageway in search of anything that would help them better understand the city-ship or give them a quicker way back to Metro.

  Information was their ally.

  Time was their enemy.

  They didn’t have enough of either.

  The end of the corridor came into view as a slightly sloped, dark wall. The edge of the city, or at least the edge of what they were calling Deck One. There was more to it beneath them, subdecks leading to other parts of the city, beneath the channels and structures they had seen on their way to the central spire. Caleb imagined there had to be more passages there, probably an entire network of tunnels like the inner maze of an anthill. He smirked at the thought. This place did remind him of an anthill. Did the Inahri live like ants? Or was that the Axon culture at play?

  They didn’t know anything about the Axon. Guardian had spoken of the scientist, Rex, but had never shown what it looked like. The Intellect hadn’t shown any Axon. Only humans. Unless the Axon were human? Was there a physical differentiation between the species? It seemed impossible that every intelligent life form in the universe would look like humans. Unless God really did exist?

  That idea was too much for him to wrestle with right now. He had a job to do.

  “It would be nice if we could make some actual progress,” Paige said. “I’m getting bored.”

  “You sound like Sho,” Caleb replied.

  “Who?”

  “She was one of my Vultures. Back on Earth, and then on the Deliverance.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “She died trying to kill the Intellect we called Hal. We buried her in the jungle. She was a top-notch Marine.”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” Paige said. “I hope I can live up to her memory.”

  “You’re off to a great start.”

  They spent another ten minutes walking, closing on the outer perimeter of the deck. Caleb used his ATCS to activate the lamp on his helmet, shining it into the alloy ahead. The metal seemed to thin out in response, creating a transparency and allowing them to see outside. He could see the slope of the central tower beneath them, spreading out to the rest of the city. From this angle, he got the impression that the spire would be able to break away from the larger form like it was a starship in its own right.

  “I’m still trying to get my head around all of this,” Kiaan said. “The scale of it. How can something this big have enough thrust to get out of the atmosphere.”

  “That’s why they need the energy unit,” Caleb replied. “According to David Nash, it’s power output is nearly limitless.”

  “It must have a limit if the one they came with burned up,” Dante said.

  “Which tells you how much power the Intellects used fighting the Inahri.”

  Caleb looked up from the slope, toward the distance. The clouds were still hanging over the plains. It was still raining steadily. He could see the other cities around them, hundreds of dark monoliths rising from their base. He counted the other spires, only able to see three from the position.

  “I think I found the unidentified ship,” Kiaan said.

  Caleb looked to his right. Paige had turned her helmet lamp on, and Kiaan was looking down over the city. A small, lighter-colored craft was resting in one of the channels. A human-sized figure was standing beside it, a weapon cradled in their arms. Based on their size, they were wearing armor of some kind. The helmet looked unusually large.

  The helmet shifted, the Inahri looking directly at them.

  “Lamps off!” Caleb snapped, shutting his down and backing away. Paige did the same.

  “They saw us,” Dante said.

  “We need to move.” Caleb looked to his left. The passage continued, following the rounded shape of the spire. “That way.”

  His ATCS beeped softly. He checked his tactical. It had picked up a sound behind them, at the far end of the corridor.

  “They’re coming,” he said.

  “Maybe we should stay and introduce ourselves?” Kiaan suggested.

  The statement brought Caleb back to his earlier thoughts. Maybe it was wrong to assume the Inahri were their enemies?

  He couldn’t risk losing his entire team to find out, and they had no way to form any kind of decent defense in this position.

  “No. If we’re going to confront them, we need to do it on our terms. They’re too advanced to not get every advantage against.”

  “Yes, sir,” Kiaan replied.

  The tactical zoomed out, showing four marks a klick away. They were moving fast. Too fast to be on foot, though the ATCS was able to pick them out. If the armor they had seen was like a hyper-advanced version of their SOS, it was possible they were running that quickly.

  “We don’t have much time,” he said. “We need to find somewhere to hide.”

  A teleporter. That’s all he wanted.

  Right now he’d settle for a closet.

  Chapter 4

  The Guardians ran down the passageway, following the curve. Caleb watched the tactical out of the corner of his eye. According to his ATCS, they were moving around fourteen kilometers per hour, slowed immensely by Kiaan. The Inahri were traveling at nearly triple that and would close the distance between them in less than ten minutes.

  “Wash, get Kiaan on your back,” Caleb said. “He’s too slow without armor.”

  Washington adjusted his course and speed to meet the pilot, who couldn’t hear the instructions over the comm. He was surprised when the big Marine scooped him up, easily lifting and depositing him on his back. Kiaan didn’t argue, holding on tight as the Guardians’ pace increased.

  They sprinted down the corridor, searching desperately for a doorway. The doors were part of the alloy of the city-ship, seamless and invisible, making their escape all the more challenging. Caleb kept glancing at his HUD. They had nearly doubled their speed, their feet skipping off the floor and carrying them forward at a breakneck pace. The Inahri were steady, still moving faster than they were but not gaining quite as quickly.

  “We need to find a door,” Dante said.

  “Agreed,” Caleb replied, reaching across his body to slide his replacement hand along the bulkhead as they fled. He knew the hatches worked through proximity and pressure, but his metal fingers grating across the black metal produced a screeching that almost made his teeth hurt. He went about twenty meters before he tripped something. He heard the light swish behind him and pulled to a sudden stop. The others reacted instantly, and they turned back to the newly expanded hatchway as one.

  He retreated to it and looked inside. Another corridor, this one leading across the city descended below what they were calling Deck Zero. “In here. Paige, take point.”

  “Roger,” Paige replied, slipping by him and raising the alien weapon to her shoulder to sight down the barrel.

  “Dante, left flank, keep an eye out for Intellects.”

  “Roger,” she replied, holding the anti-Intellect gun in front of her. Caleb moved to Paige’s right while Washington took up the rear with Kiaan still on his back, knife in hand. The hatch automatically closed behind him. “Do you think they’ll know we went this way?”

  “I’m betting on it,” Caleb replied. He put his hand out again, running it along the wall. “But hopefully having some metal between us will dull their sensors, just like it killed ours.”

  The marks were gone from his tactical, the barrier between them too much for the ATCS to overcome. He didn’t mind. Better blind than caught.

  They followed the passageway as it dipped downward, forty meters until Caleb discovered another door. This one led to a third corridor, a shorter passage that finished in what looked like a dead end.

  Caleb stood at the entrance, staring at the dark alloy a hundred meters away. What if it was a dead end?

  “Sergeant?” Dante said.

  “You know what I’m thinking,” he said.

  “Yes. It’s your call.”

  Caleb nodded. “Let’s chance it.” He led them down the passage toward the wall. His pulse increased as he neared it. If there was no door here…

  He reached the end, stretching his hand out to the wall.

  It didn’t open.

  “Damn it,” he said.

  A dim blue light illuminated the face of the bulkhead in strange symbols none of them could read. A beam reached out, quickly washing the front of Caleb with light. Then the whole thing shut off.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I would say it just did a biometric scan,” Dante said.

  “We don’t have clearance for this door,” he replied. “Great. Back the way we came, knuckle-up and stay alert. We just lost a chunk of our lead.”

  They ran back to the sloping corridor. Caleb’s ATCS responded the moment the alloy shrank away, allowing them through. The four marks re-appeared on his tactical. They had slowed too, unsure of where their quarry had gone. Now it seemed their sensors were active again because they suddenly sped up once more.

  “Come on!” Caleb snapped. He could hear the Inahri in the passage, their feet pounding the metal floor in a rapid cadence. He moved in position behind Washington, offering his back to protect Kiaan as they ran.

  The slope increased, dropping them further beneath the city. The air cooled with the descent, the smell becoming more musty and stale. There was little fresh air flowing through this part of the city-ship, the filters likely shut down to preserve power.

  “Faster!” Caleb barked, looking at his HUD again. They had lost a lot of ground, and the Inahri were still quicker on their feet. They were gaining and had closed within a hundred meters. Still a long distance to make an accurate shot against a moving target, but close enough to—

  Something hit Caleb in the back, sending a jolt through his armor and immediately taking it offline. His arms and legs straightened and locked, and he immediately collapsed forward, landing on his stomach and just barely avoiding a hard knock to his chin.

  The other Guardians noticed immediately, stopping and turning back. Caleb cursed, rolling sideways just in time to avoid another blast, which hit the floor beside him as a nearly invisible wave of disturbed air.

  Then Paige was shooting, firing back at the Inahri , a steady stream of bolts which stopped their attack at once. He had no idea if she was hitting them, or if her assault was causing any harm, but it bought them enough time for Washington to help him to his feet. Then he could feel the big Marine manipulating the back of the SOS, opening an access panel and tapping the emergency reset button.

  Nothing happened. The armor was dead.

  So was his replacement arm. It dragged at his side, an added weight he couldn’t manipulate, the control ring that connected it to the flesh displaying a small red LED to indicate it was out of power.

  Washington grabbed him and tugged him aside as a shot of moving air flashed past them and hit the wall, causing a spray of sparks when it did. The Inahri had identified they were wearing armor and had responded accordingly. Did that mean they were ready to fight Space Force Marines?

  Or did it mean they were accustomed to fighting one another?

  “We need a door!” Caleb shouted, loud enough for them to hear him through their helmets. “Kiaan, help me find one!”

  He moved to the side of the corridor while Kiaan dropped from Washington’s back to search the other side. Paige continued firing, keeping their attackers honest and holding them at range.

  Caleb ran forward as best he could in the dead armor, looking for an escape. He heard a shout nearby and looked in time to see Kiaan collapse. His jaw clenched, and he rushed across the corridor, glancing back the way they had come. He could see the enemy now, advancing in a well-organized fire and movement pattern. He smiled when he saw one of the white bolts from Paige’s gun hit one of the armored Inahri, but the smile vanished when he saw the weapon had little effect.

  “Fall back!” he shouted. “Fall back!”

  But there was nowhere to go. They couldn’t outrun the enemy. They couldn’t outgun the enemy. They were stuck. Hard.

  Caleb knelt beside Kiaan and put a hand on his neck. He found his pulse immediately. Kiaan was still breathing, shallow but steady. The rounds their opponents were using were meant to stun, not kill.

  He didn’t know if that was better or worse.

  He stared down at Kiaan. He wanted to lift him and get him to safety, but he couldn’t. Not with one arm. The Inahri continued to gain, moving from one hundred meters to eighty, then sixty, then forty.