Larry Niven - The Moon Maze Game

“Yes. I saw one of the packages,” Scotty said. “I don’t know a lot about things like that, but I don’t think they’re bluffing.”

“Scotty,” Piering said. “I’ll head up the team. What we need to do is send you a data feed. You save it on a PDA, and hand-inject it into the surveillance system. We have to believe they’ve compromised the security, turned it to their own use.”

“Can’t you kill the power?” Scotty said.

“We’re also assuming that they have backup,” Kendra said. “McCauley’s shop could rig batteries pretty easily-”

“McCauley?” Scotty asked. “Toby? What’s he got to do with this?”

“Well,” Kendra said. “We believe that he’s cooperating with the Frost brothers.”

Ali’s eyes widened. “The Kikayan? I’ve seen him.”

“Jesus Christ,” Scotty said. “We’ve got traitors inside, traitors outside-”

“We’re going to deal with that,” Kendra said. “But you need to get to 115-H. Can you?”

“We’ll have to move through the interstits,” Darla said. “If we can’t find a way through the bubbles.”

“We need to get going,” Scotty said.

They generated a glowing, floating map of the dome. “Here we are. We have one more level to go, and I think we can get there within the protected pathways. We’ll lose the advantage of knowing where the pirates are, but as of right now… we’re clear.”

“Then let’s get moving,” Angelique said.

“Ah…,” Maud said. “Can I find the potty first?”

“I think we all need to take five,” Wayne said. “But just five. There’s a restroom hidden right over there.” He pointed. If you squinted just right, the rocks composed a familiar crescent moon. They broke off to take care of their needs. Scotty sat heavily, next to Ali.

“I am so sorry about all of this,” Ali said. “It’s my fault. Asako’s death is my fault.”

“No,” Sharmela said. “She wanted to be a hero. She wanted a chance to die like a hero… instead of dying for nothing. If we honor her, we must also honor her choices.”

When the third-level airlock door slid open, the Moresnot pirates discovered Asako’s pod. “What the hell happened here?” Miller, the big bodybuilder demanded.

Carlyle speculated. “I reckon she must have tried to leave the dome. This contraption of hers didn’t hold up.”

“Hope the warranty’s still good.” Gallop tapped his communicator. “Shotz. We found the body of the Japanese woman.”

“In her environment pod?” That damaged voice.

“Yes.”

“I want you to get the information from her radio. Pass the word to shift to alternate frequency Bravo in three minutes. I believe our quarry is communicating on a local network. If they make the mistake of using the same frequencies, we want to be able to capitalize on the error.”

In Heinlein base’s nerve center, Kendra watched the dome map carefully, interrupted as her assistant turned to her. “Kendra… if this is a stalemate, they win. What’s their endgame?”

“President for Life Kikaya abdicates,” Kendra said. “And a new government is quickly recognized. Diplomatic and economic pressure is put on us to allow Moresnot to leave. Remember: Kikaya invested in this base. If he leaves, his successors control that investment.”

Foxworthy blinked. “Could that happen? Could they just walk? The woman Asako died! They can’t just…”

“They might,” Kendra said. “We have to stop it, and the best way of doing that is to free the boy before his father steps down.”

“What’s happening in Kikaya?”

“Hard to say,” Kendra said. “There isn’t much news coming out. I just don’t know.”

Foxworthy cupped his ear. “Just heard that McCauley is on his way. What do you have in mind?”

A pause, then Kendra said: “Pain.”

The gamers were making their way through a central corridor, looking out through the windows at the cross-hatching of ladders and walkways linking the bubbles.

“I’m just a little worried about the dome integrity. I wish you could see air.” Scotty said.

Wayne snorted. “Ever been to London?”

“This is 102,” Angelique said. “One-oh-three is one level down, and we should be able to get there.”

“Was this a part of the game?” Scotty asked.

“The bubble, yes, but not this walkway. You’ll notice that this hasn’t been made up H. G. Wells style.”

“What’s on the other side?” Scotty asked.

Darla’s smile was strained. “That would be telling, big guy.”

Scotty shook his head. “You guys are frickin’ crazy. All right. Let’s go.”

They cracked the door open, and then stared, agog.

The room was an impossibly vast junkyard. The walls seemed kilometers distant, the ceiling as high as the sky.

Scotty whistled. “What in the hell do we have here?”

The room was filled with technology, but the technology was alien. Martian war machines, walkers recognizable from plates in science fiction novels and theatrical films. And other odd equipment, of a strangely organic design.

Wayne matched Scotty’s whistle. “This… looks like a museum.”

“Yes. I think that the mythology was one of the entire Wells oeuvre.”

“ War of the Worlds?”

“Yes. Somehow, the Martians and the Lunies were at war, once upon a time.”

They walked between the rows of giant machines, the ceiling impossibly high above them, brushing the stalactites of a major cave system.

Sharmela climbed up one of the walkers, waved her hands right through the metal. “Holograms. There’s some power in this room.”

Mickey frowned. “How many ways are there to get down to the aquifer?”

“Why?”

“I want to arrange a little surprise for our friends. Something to slow them down a bit.”

Maud seemed to glow with pride. “Mickey. How you talk.”

As Toby McCauley’s shuttle pulled in, and he emerged, he was met by two security men.

“What’s this all about?”

Piering smiled. “Just additional precautions, what with everything going on.”

“Right,” Toby said, sounding rather unconvinced.

They moved through a series of walkways and elevators to a low-ceilinged conference room. And there he was told to sit, and wait. He shifted uncomfortably. Getting nervous. Then the door opened, and Kendra and Max Piering entered.

“Toby.”

“Sheila Monster. What’s this all about?”

“I was hoping that you could help us, Toby. Remember three years back when Thomas Frost said you were with him when your computer was accessed?”

He tensed a bit. “Yes?”

“We were thinking that that was just a little too neat. Too coincidental.”

“I don’t understand,” Toby said.

“You shall,” Kendra said. “Piering?”

Piering stood up. His hands flew over a keyboard at the side of the room. “We began to wonder about the Frost brothers, after it became clear that this entire affair was connected to the Republic of Kikaya.”

McCauley blinked. “How?”

“The target seems to have been Prince Ali, heir to the throne. The Brothers Frost…”

“Their parents were Kikayan, I think. I see.” He seemed both nervous and attentive, as if on the edge of an admission, or perhaps seeking an escape route.

“We began to wonder how they funded the operation. We realized that if they had been responsible for the earlier industrial espionage, and perhaps others that went undiscovered, they could have amassed sufficient funds to mount this.”

“Is there any proof?”

Piering gave a small nod. “We have reason to believe that while Thomas Frost was keeping you occupied, his brother was gaining access to your shop terminal.”