“Queen, you can set the target on the drone through the control board,” Morales said. “You should be able to locate it on the map.”

  “Give me a second,” West said, looking through the menus. “Here it is.” She tapped the board and a green light appeared mixed with their blue.”

  “Tap on it and then tap on the badge,” Morales said.

  “How does it know how to get there?” Joseph asked.

  “The network link includes the same schematic we’re looking at,” Morales replied while West linked the two marks. “All of the dragonflies are fully mapped.” He glanced down at his remote and tapped the screen. The module door slid open to let the dragonfly out. “There she goes,” he said as it took off down the passageway.

  Joseph watched it on the display. “It’s moving fast,” he said, tracking it through a long, straight passageway toward the bow. Sykes and Madani came out of the armory with rifles in tow, heading for the door and out. Their marks moved with them, much slower than the drone. “Can we get a feed from it?”

  “Passing it to the primary,” Morales said.

  It appeared on the main display in a small box over the corner of the schematic. It was racing through empty corridors, heading for a service stairwell closer to the bow. It managed to navigate the different passages without hesitation, only slowing when it reached the stairwell door to wait for it to open. Then it zipped up the stairs, circling quickly to reach Deck Eight, pausing again for the door to open. It sprinted through, down one corridor, taking a left and going along another passageway, turning right and approaching the blue mark signifying Grant’s badge. It came around the corner a couple of meters ahead of the badge, revealing a man in a white lab coat. He froze at the drone’s approach, a look of nervous fear on his face.

  “Pietro?” Alesso said, recognizing her brother immediately.

  “Does the Dragonfly have a speaker?” Joseph asked.

  “Si. It’s active, Prime.”

  “Pietro, this is Guardian Prime Cross. What are you doing out here?”

  “I…I just needed to walk. I…I needed some air.”

  “Prime, may I?” Alesso asked.

  “Go ahead,” Joseph said.

  “Pietro, don’t give me that bullshit,” she said. “You’ve always been a terrible liar. What are you doing out there?”

  “Serafina? Uh…I’m…uh…”

  “There are two Guardians headed to your position to shoot you, Pietro. It’s a good idea for you to come clean if you want to live.”

  “What? You’d let them kill me?”

  “You’re trespassing without authorization,” Joseph said, playing along. “It’s not her call. It’s mine.”

  “I’m sorry, Prime. Victoria said she needed a sample, whether your captain agreed with her or not. She just said to keep you busy for a while if you noticed anyone was out of place.”

  “What?” Alesso said. “Pietro, where is she?”

  Joseph’s chest tightened, jaw clenching. He didn’t need Pietro to answer the question. He already knew where she was.

  “Captain Grant,” he said.

  “I heard, Prime,” Grant replied. “Suit up. We’re out of time.”

  46

  Grant

  Pioneer. Bridge. 11.12.2052. 2130 hours.

  “Prime, get your pilots to the hangar,” Tyson said. “I want them launched, ASAP.”

  “Aye aye, sir,” Joseph replied. “West. Turani. You’re up.”

  “Commander Siraj, ping Oslo’s team, tell him we need to adjust the timetable. He needs to get his people suited up right now. I want the equipment deployed yesterday.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” Siraj said from the station where Kaminski had been seated hours earlier.

  Tyson pivoted the command station seat, looking at the feeds from the two spacesuits Oslo had rigged for surveillance. There was no sign of Rose outside the alien object. Where was she?

  “Prime, you won’t have comms to the other teams through your spacesuit. I’ll relay messages between you, your pilots, and Oslo’s team.”

  “Copy that, Captain,” Joseph said. “We’re heading for the armory now. I’ll ping you when we’re back online.”

  “Make it quick.”

  Tyson disconnected the commlink to the Guardian module, turning his chair to look up at the primary display again. It was split in two, half devoted to a view of the alien ship from the spacesuit feeds, the other half showing him Oslo’s engineers, suddenly moving double-time in the workshop, rushing to assemble the last two powerpacks.

  “Captain,” Siraj said. “Oslo reports it’ll take fifteen minutes to rush the final two packs to completion, but he’ll have part of his team start carrying them to the airlock right away.”

  “Thank you, Commander,” Tyson replied. He could see some of Oslo’s crew breaking off and grabbing the devices. “See if you can help them out by lowering the gravity along the route.”

  “Aye aye, sir,” Siraj replied. “Petty officer Lail, adjust gravity on deck sixteen, corridor…9A to 14A. Point six.”

  “Aye aye, ma’am,” Lail said from the most forward station. “Lowering gravity to point six, deck sixteen corridor 9A to 14A.”

  “That should make the devices a little easier to move,” Tyson said, pleased with himself for thinking about the ship in terms of space and not the sea. He returned his attention to the camera feeds, leaning forward and gripping the edge of the command station in anger as a spacesuit appeared on top of the alien rock. “There she is.”

  He watched Rose use the suit’s jets to move parallel to the rock, out past the edge before jetting downward toward the open hole in the side of it. He tapped on the control board, switching to the list of networked suits. There was only one on it.

  “Doctor Rose,” he said, activating the comm. “Your activity is unauthorized. Return to the nearest airlock immediately.”

  “I’m sorry, Captain,” Rose replied. “I really am. I need a sample of the alien membrane. It’s too important to ignore.”

  “You have no authority to be out there,” Tyson said. “The Guardians are on the way. Stay where you are and wait for their arrival.”

  “No. I’m going in, Tyson. I’m getting a sample, and I’m bringing it back to the lab.”

  “I can’t let you do that, Victoria.”

  “You don’t have much choice right now, do you? If you knew what I know, you would understand.” She disconnected the comm from her end. Then she vanished from the network altogether. “Siraj, she’s gone.”

  “She must have shut off the radio, sir,” Siraj replied.

  “She can do that at her end?”

  “The designers probably didn’t plan for anyone wearing a suit to want to be in radio silence.”

  Tyson watched Rose pivot toward one of the spacesuits and wave. Then she turned back to the opening in the alien object, jagged from the explosives the Guardians had used to make it. She jumped toward it, firing her suits jets and vanishing into the black.

  “Damn it,” Tyson said. “She’s inside. Where’s Prime?”

  “It’s at least two minutes from the Guardian module to the airlock,” Siraj replied. “Another five to put on their suits. They should be able to make it to the object in a couple of minutes once they’re outside.”

  “I want every other airlock on the ship on lockdown,” Tyson said. “If she comes out of that thing, I don’t want her getting back inside without an escort.”

  “Aye aye, sir,” Siraj said, relaying more specific commands to the bridge crew before speaking to him again. “We might not be able to stop her from getting back in through the forward hangar if we open it to let the Bayonets out.”

  “We can’t hold them back. I’m not leaving Joseph hanging out to dry again.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Tyson leaned back in the command seat, doing his best to stay patient. His eyes remained glued to the feeds on the alien object, watching for Rose to emerge.

  A minute passed. Another.

  “Captain Grant,” Joseph said. “This is Prime.”

  He was ahead of schedule. “Prime, Doctor Rose is inside the alien vessel. You need to get her out of there.”

  “Aye aye, Captain. What about the plan?”

  “Oslo is bringing the equipment up now. He’ll have the thruster ready for you by the time you retrieve Rose.”

  “Copy that, sir. I may not be able to find Rose in there. The material absorbs light.”

  “Understood, Prime. Do your best, but not at the expense of getting the object off the ship. She made her bed by entering.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Captain, forward airlock nine is opening,” Siraj reported.

  “Give me the feed from Prime’s helmet,” he replied.

  “Aye aye, sir,” Ensign Kaminski said, Joseph’s feed joining the others on the primary display.

  The airlock opened in front of Joseph and his Guardians, revealing empty space beyond. Unlike Joseph’s first journey outside, he handled the exit more smoothly this time. Reaching up and back with his hand to maglock it onto the hull, he used his jets to push himself straight up, releasing the ship as he climbed. When he reached the top of Pioneer, he pushed himself forward, bringing his feet down smoothly on the hull.

  Siraj leaned over and looked back at Tyson, impressed by the maneuver.

  The rest of the Guardians mimicked it, some with better luck than others. None of them lost control completely. They all made it to the top of the ship, running along the hull toward the crevasse where the alien object had come to rest.

  “We’re en route, Captain,” Joseph announced. “ETA, two minutes.”

  “Can you get there any faster?” Tyson asked. Rose still hadn’t come back out. Without a tether or the ability to see through the unnatural darkness, it would be easy for her to become lost inside.

  “Yes, sir,” Joseph replied.

  The camera feed showed Joseph lifting his feet from the hull and firing his jets to turn his body flat like Superman as he flew less than a meter above Pioneer’s surface. The combination of zero-g and vertical thrust helped him build velocity, carrying him quickly across the top of the starship as if he were a starfighter.

  He angled sideways, hanging over the crevasse before ducking down into it. The alien object came into view ahead, Joseph approaching in a hurry. He had covered two minutes running in only twenty seconds, but now he was coming in too hot to land easily.

  “Prime, you need to slow your approach,” Siraj said.

  “Copy that. On it,” Joseph replied.

  He used the jets to flip himself over, still firing them to decelerate as he neared the object. Tyson picked him up in the spacesuit feeds, blasts of compressed air escaping his pack to slow him down. It was an impressive maneuver, but it was also risky. He was burning through all of his oxygen to get there and wouldn’t have much left to breathe by the time the mission was complete. Then again if he didn’t make it off the alien rock before it jettisoned into space he might prefer suffocation.

  Joseph came at the object feet-first, slowing dramatically as he reached it, his feet hitting the side and bending as he absorbed what was left of his velocity. He changed direction, pushing downward toward the deck, managing to drop and catch himself with his gloves, somersaulting and coming down on his feet, magboots activating and sticking him to the hull.

  “Captain, I’ve reached the object,” Joseph said, slightly short of breath. “The Guardians will be along shortly.”

  “Copy that, Prime,” Tyson replied. “Commander, what’s the status of the other teams?”

  “The Bayonets should be joining you in the next few minutes,” Siraj replied. “And Oslo’s team is approaching the ravine now. ETA ninety seconds.”

  “Copy that,” Joseph said. “I’m placing the tether and going in.”

  Tyson split his attention between the spacesuit feeds and Joseph’s, watching from three angles as the leader of the Guardians maglocked a line to the hull. It spooled out behind him as he entered the hole in the alien object and disappeared inside.

  47

  Cross

  Alien Object. Interior. 11.12.2052. 2150 hours.

  “I’m in,” Joseph said, even though he knew Captain Grant was watching his activity from his feed. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to find Doctor Rose in here.”

  “She wants a sample of the membrane,” Grant replied. “She’ll be looking for it. If you know where it is...”

  Joseph looked down at the spool of line running out behind him. They didn’t have the equipment to rig it to reel him in, only to help give him a guideline back out of the object. It changed angles as he moved, which he used to orient himself in the alien darkness. The membrane was toward what he was calling the front of the interior, so he turned ninety degrees and activated his jets to begin pushing that way.

  He checked the helmet’s HUD. His race to the object had already cost him nearly half his oxygen supply, cutting his overall estimated time until he ran out of air to a few hours. It should be more than enough.

  “Prime, Oslo’s team is dropping in now,” Commander Siraj said. “They’re going to begin placing the powerpacks. I’ll let you know when they’re done.”

  “Copy that, Commander,” Joseph replied.

  He continued ahead, wondering how he was going to find Doctor Rose in this blackness. Without being able to call out to her, without being able to see her, locating her in this place was like digging for a needle in a haystack. They could pass within a couple of meters of one another and he might never know it.

  Once she acquired her sample she would try to leave. Would she be able to find her way out? He looked over his shoulder. The exit was gone, the limited light outside absorbed. That immediately answered his question.

  “Prime,” Grant said. “West and Turani have arrived at the forward hangar.”

  “Copy that, Captain,” he replied. “No sign of Rose yet. I wish she hadn’t cut off her comm.”

  “Me too, Prime. It was a stupid thing for her to do.”

  “What do you think she’s thinking, sir?”

  “I think she’s blinded by her curiosity and her desire to solve the equation that brought her here. I believe she means well, but going over my head and getting herself killed isn’t going to help anyone. It’s already putting you at further risk. I understand she’s under directives from the UN, and I’m hesitant to cross the line on their jurisdiction, but I can’t allow this kind of cowboy bullshit on my ship.”

  Joseph smiled at the statement; it revealed more about Captain Grant than he expected. And he was sure Grant would prefer to make the same statement to Rose, given the chance.

  “I also don’t want her to die out there,” Grant continued. “Her skills can be useful where we’re going.”

  “Copy that. I’ll find her, sir.”

  Joseph increased his velocity forward, maintaining control of his speed so he would still be able to stop before hitting the membrane. Something about this whole scene was wrong, and it took him a moment to realize what it was. Considering the detonations from the grenades, there should have been globs of the oily goop floating all over the inside of the object. There had been when he evacuated earlier but there was no sign of it now. Where had it all gone?

  The object was able to maneuver in space without apparent thrusters. Did the membrane have anything to do with that? Were the pieces able to pull themselves back together? He swallowed hard at the thought. He never believed the alien entity that attacked him was truly dead..

  This was one time he wasn’t happy to be right.

  “Engineering is placing the packs,” Siraj announced. “Oslo is on his way to the airlock with the thruster assembly.”

  “Copy that, Commander.” Joseph didn’t have a lot of time to find Rose before Oslo was ready for him, but there was little he could do to speed up his search. He didn’t want to wind up floating through the gloom directly into a repaired and operational mouthful of teeth.

  The membrane came into view a moment later. He pushed a burst of air from each of his jets to slow his approach. “Captain, do you see this?” he asked, heart thudding.

  “Copy that, Prime,” Grant replied, his own voice tense.

  The membrane was active, rippling in waves like a whirlpool leading back toward the center. There was no sign of any damage to the material. No evidence the Guardians had blasted it with a dozen explosives.

  “Captain,” Doctor Rose said suddenly over the comm, weak and terrified. “Help me.”

  “Rose,” Joseph said, fingering the controls to his jets, sending him along the wall, following the movement of the ripples. “This is Guardian Prime Cross. I’m inside the alien object with you. Where are you?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “It’s got me. Help. Please.”

  It’s got me.

  The words radiated along Joseph’s spine, and he triggered his jets again, more recklessly this time, gaining velocity as he crossed along the front of the membrane.

  “Prime, Bayonets are out,” Grant said. “Oslo is nearing your position.”

  Joseph didn’t respond. He barely heard the Captain through the pounding in his ears. He was focused and under control, but his blood was pumping wildly, adrenaline spiking. It wasn’t about hiding his fear. . It was about controlling it and using it to his advantage.

  He swept across the membrane, grabbing his rifle from his back with his right hand while operating the jets with his left. The oily goop ignored him. No spikes. No voices. It appeared to go after a single victim at a time, and it already had Rose.

  But where?

  What if he shot it?

  He wedged his rifle against his body to absorb the kick, squeezing the trigger. He didn’t need good aim—the whole wall was the target—his rounds sinking into the membrane. The ripples changed at the impact points, swirling around the slugs. Other than that, the rounds didn’t seem to distract it. Or really bother it at all.

  He needed something more powerful, and after his last visit he had brought it. This AR had a grenade launcher beneath the main barrel, a magazine of six round grenades feeding into it. He couldn’t use them yet, not at close range and not with Rose nearby. But he was ready for when he could.