Андреа Хёст - The Starfighter Invitation

" Cross quickly down into it, then stop short of that first cross-passage ," Nina said. " Once there, we can shield before and behind us and then review our options. "

Trying to limit overuse of shields without becoming overconfident, we headed into a maze of intersections, ignoring doors, always seeking a passage down. Drifting liquid was replaced by a vast miscellany of items ranging from the mundane to the incalculable. Mugs. A jacket shaped for someone tall, narrow and probably humanoid. Silvery objects, all linked together into a snaking amoeba. The majority of doors were closed, but occasionally we passed one that had stopped short of sliding fully shut. Living quarters for very tall people.

" I’m beginning to suspect this place is called Mary Celeste," Silent commented, once we were around five levels down.

" Everything left where it floats, but there are no bodies ," Arlen agreed. " But perhaps it is that they evacuated. "

" And then didn’t come back? " Nina sounded worried. " Despite the crater, most of this place seems intact, so why was it abandoned? "

" T-virus in the air system ," I suggested, less lightly than I’d intended. The prospect of space zombies was not entertaining just now.

" Whoever they were, they had Spartan tastes ," Silent commented, ignoring zombie prospects. " I’ve seen the occasional script or symbol—directional signs, I assume—but no decorative work, or advertising, or anything of that sort. "

" Military vessel? " I said.

" It could be, " Nina said. " Although we may very well be surrounded by a kaleidoscope on a spectrum we can’t see. Or scent decorations. We should remember that this isn’t a human vessel. "

" Bio, though. Lan-using Bios, in Earth’s system, before the rise of The Synergis ." Silent caught at a floating object and displayed a four-fingered work glove. " Perhaps it was humans who put that crater in this place. "

" The Cycogs definitely skip over the time between Now and The Synergis ," I agreed. " Maybe we’re going to get a big dose of major plotline along with our retrieval mission. Who shattered the moon, who drowned the Earth, all that. "

" I’ve yet to see much of a main plotline outside 'get stronger lan' ," Silent said. " The whole steal a spaceship sub-plot seems fatally flawed by navigation issues. "

" Maybe it kicks off once we’re out of the starter system ," I said. " I think this is all still the newbie zone ."

" And the true plot is to prove oneself, is it not? " Arlen said, with a laugh that held a hopeful note. " We only wait to be invited ."

I glanced at Nina, who had to be the obvious choice for any Starfighter Invitation, but she was focused on the latest ramp.

" Less light on the next level ," she said. " How are the other teams progressing? "

" Four airlocks open now ," Silent reported. " And two additional elevators on the move—one much better oiled than ours. The teams who reached the bottom of the crater travelled down a narrower shaft than ours, and have found an internal airlock that’s brought them out at roughly the same level as us . There’s no-one immediately nearby, but we’re not comfortably out ahead anymore. "

" Any teams working together? "

" Some. The fight around the first airlock turned ugly, but other groups are cooperating. "

We were debating whether to risk turning on our suit lights in the darker lower reaches when Silent abruptly stopped speaking, then said: " Watch this feed ."

The serried ranks of hydroponic racks revealed the location. What was happening was far from clear thanks to the massed globules of floating liquid, but the sounds the players were making told their own stories. Shouts, shrieks, sudden silence.

" Did anyone see it clearly? " Nina asked.

" I think there was more than one ," I said, hesitantly.

" It is as if the water itself was attacking them ," Arlen said.

" No, there was something with a little more shape ," Silent said. " But it moved very fluidly—like an octopus with fewer tentacles. "

" What were they doing before that happened? " I asked.

" Fooling about ," Silent said, after a pause for consultation with Amelia. " Playing with the floating liquid. There was a long lead-up to the attack, where one of the group was convinced something was moving among the racks, circling them. They didn’t believe her. "

" Sound might have been the draw, but lights are still too big a risk ," Nina said, turning her attention back to the darkened ramp ahead.

" Agreed ," Silent said, with the hint of a sigh. " But before we go down, swap out air supplies. It’s a little early, I know, but we don’t want to be messing about in that gloom. "

" Dio ," I said over our private link, as we all turned to obey. " Does this Challenge have any pain muting? "

[[None to speak of.]]

" If—if one of those things gets me, so that I can’t fight it off, is there anything I can do to make it less…less awful? "

[[You are always able to Evacuate. It’s in the command list.]] No judgment in Dio’s tone, just practicality.

" Okay ." I checked, and there was indeed an [Evacuate] command. I’d seen it before, but assumed that meant the Renba would scurry off to a safe distance. " That does what exactly? "

[[You abandon your current modal unit and are transferred to the Renba. You would not be able to rejoin the Challenge after that, of course.]]

My body was a ship I could leap out of at any time. I almost laughed at the image, or out of relief, but caught myself and choked it off into a strangled puff of air.

" Thanks, Dio ," I said instead. " That’s good to know ."

[[Our purpose is not to traumatise Bios,"]] Dio said.

" Just pull our strings, and watch us die? "

[[Exactly that,]] Dio said.

Te sounded sad. I wondered how many Bios Ydionessel had lost. Valued transport? Beloved pets?

Friends?

" Do you think they could have been Type Fours? " I asked. " Been, um, Ah Ma Ani? "

" That’s the extra-tall species? " Silent paused, a vague outline in the dark. " Ceiling’s are high enough. I didn’t notice how many fingers the Ah Ma Ani had ."

That seemed a non sequitur until I remembered the glove he’d found.

" They looked so gentle and slow-moving ," I said, remembering those I’d seen on Mars. " Hard to imagine them fighting anyone. "

" Unless the Cycogs start filling in detail, we don’t know what really happened to our system ," Nina said. " It would advantage them to present The Synergis as a peacemaking force among warring Bios ."

" Perhaps it is an ark, and the tall ones come to us for help ," Arlen suggested.

" Or it’s all made up ," I said, with a faint sigh. Deciding how I felt about The Synergis wasn’t made any easier by the Cycogs' games with truth.

" Ready to move on? " Silent asked.

A touch reluctantly, I collected my sled. The last four levels had been near-lightless, and we’d had to navigate by touch, blocks of shadow, and the fact that the layout of each floor seemed to repeat. The crossing had been uneventful, but achingly tense, and we’d celebrated a return to dim light by pausing in a bare side room, pulling the sliding door closed and just breathing for a while.