Fringe Attack, page 9
part #2 of Delta Fringe Series
“You were in love with her, weren’t you?” I whisper. Next to me, Markov shifts.
Red’s eyes flash back up to mine. In the brightness, I notice he has light emerald eyes that betray his emotion. “I’m sorry, Brenna.”
I wave my free hand. “I know you weren’t the reason my parents separated. You don’t need to apologize.”
“No, I’m not the reason, but I could’ve been.” He takes a deep breath. “I fell in love with her when she was still married. I loved you and her too much to cause a painful family breakup, so I took the promotion farthest away from her.”
I look around the near-empty cavern. “And here we are again.” I think about all the miners I knew, and although I can’t remember Red, I now know why I trusted him today. I trace my flashlight along the metal wreckage again, trying to figure out how all these things going through my head fit together.
I pause my light at the end of one of the legs of strangled metal. I kneel down get a closer look. “Red, look at this.” Throughout the metal are braided bio-wires. The soft, partly organic wiring used in AI brains for certain ship systems.
Red lets out a low whistle. “That’s how they could trust the tech to dig by itself. They gave it a brain.”
“And if these machines had a brain, then something could’ve gone wrong with it.” Markov finishes our thought.
A noise down the tunnel has all of us freezing in place. Red and I turn off our flashlights leaving us in thick darkness. I strain my hearing to figure out what we heard. Soon I hear voices, and my skin goes cold and my heart races.
I feel a rough hand grasp for mine. Red tugs me toward the back wall. I grab Markov’s hand, and we follow blindly after Red. He knows these mines, so I trust he knows a way out of here. In the blackness I’m afraid my heart is beating so loudly they’ll hear it.
11
Heart of the Mine
We stay quiet, walking single file holding hands down the tunnel. Minutes feel like hours before I feel the cool breeze of a tunnel entrance. We take several more turns before Red lets go of my hand and turns his flashlight back on.
“You two all right?” His concerned face is shadowed in the downturned flashlight. He frowns at the mask hanging around my neck.
Markov keeps a tight grip on my hand. I’m shaking so I don’t mind. “We’re all right for now. But that was probably the galactic troops looking for us. We can’t run from them forever. What are we going to do?”
Red runs a hand down his tired face. “I don’t know. But for your mom’s sake there’s no way I’m going to let these guys get to you.”
I feel like a rock is suddenly sitting on my chest. I reach out and grasp Red’s shirt and pull him close. “Red, Mars Colony and my mom were both mentioned on the flash drive I cut out of the dead captain. He lost his life as well as most of his crew to keep the research safe.” I take a deep breath of thick mine air. “With that and what we’ve seen today, my mom’s death wasn’t an accident, was it?” My voice is louder than I intend, and I wince as I listen for approaching footsteps.
Red has gone quiet too. After a few seconds he must decide we’re safe for now, because he unhooks my hand from his shirt and holds it between his two rough ones. “Brenna, I’ve never believed your mom’s death was an accident. She was too smart. There’s no way, even if she was trying to save a miner’s life, would she put herself in a position to leave you behind.” Tears run down his face, leaving dirt streaks behind.
I grit my jaw to keep from crying. I just nod, not trusting my voice. Markov squeezes my other hand, which reminds me of the predicament we’re in. “It might be related to all of this. So I need to solve whatever this is first. Maybe it will lead to the truth about my mom.”
“Are you sure you want to take it that far, Brenna? The galactic forces are everywhere and corrupt. You won’t know whom to trust. And the truth might be dangerous for you.”
I raise my chin. “We don’t know for sure the two issues are connected. Right now, let’s just figure out how to get out of here without being seen.”
“Bren, what about our crates up in the other cavern? Aren’t they going to suspect we’re down here? We’re supposed to be in the actual mine.”
“Good question.” I pull my hands back from both Markov and Red. I take my pack off and check my data cube. No service it flashes. Good. “They can’t find us electronically, so I’m hoping you have a plan, Red.”
“If that was them we just heard down the tunnel, we need a reason to be in this area. And I have just the situation.” His eyes twinkle as he turns and hurries down another tunnel. Markov and I hasten to keep up.
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” I ask as loudly as I dare.
He doesn’t answer.
“Because not only do we have to explain what we’re doing in this area of the mine, we have to explain why you took us down here instead of our whoever was supposed to.”
Red suddenly stops and turns so I almost crash into him. He’s grinning. “Yes, and I have the perfect idea. When I found out they selected you for this investigation I already started plans into motion. Come on, hurry.” And he heads back down the tunnel.
I hurry after him, frowning to myself. “That’s another thing I can’t figure out. Why do you think they picked me? Do you think it’s because they think mom told me something?”
His body is in profile ahead of me, his flashlight playing back and forth on the floor of the tunnel. I see him shake his head.
“No, they don’t know your mom the way I did. I don’t think it would cross their minds that she would’ve given you anything other than a miner education.”
“But I’ve proven myself in other investigations, they know I’m more than a coroner’s apprentice now.”
Red’s pace slows. “Yes, but I think whoever caused your mom’s death thinks they got away with it. There has to be another reason they selected you for this investigation.”
“Maybe they think you know something because of the child who survived? Maybe they think he said something to you?” Markov offers from behind me.
Red doesn’t slow down but I can see his jaw flex in the dim light. His expression is angry. “A child? There was a child on that science vessel?”
“Yes, the couriers who delivered the drive had a son. They happened to be aboard when the Tempest was attacked.”
Red practically growls in front of me, his pace quickening. “The news made it sound like the two incidents were separate.”
“Nope. I pulled them out of the pods myself.”
A string of imaginative and colorful miners’ curse words stream out of Red. I laugh, and he curses even more, with a few apologies to me mixed in. I grin as I remember my mom constantly threatening the miners what she would do if they kept cursing in front of me. They would laugh but then apologize in respect to her. And me. My chest tightens as her memory rips through my emotions.
Emotions. I stop in my tracks, forcing Markov to swerve off to my right to avoid running into me. I bend over, hands on my knees, and take a deep breath to clear my head.
“You all right Brenna?” Red steps quickly back toward me.
“Emotions, Red. That’s the problem.” I hang my head. “I should’ve seen it sooner.”
“Seen what Bren?” Markov asks as both he and Red stare down at me in the eerie light.
“That the problem with this illegal research is these AI brains in the drilling machines are developing emotions. Somehow it caused them to malfunction. That’s why there are so many experiments.”
“How would developing emotions cause malfunctions?” asks Markov.
“I’m not sure, but I’ve heard it’s a common problem with AI tech. When a starship AI starts developing too many emotions it can’t handle or understand them like humans do. It kind of makes the AI go crazy, and then the captain has to reboot the AI systems. Or the newer ships have kill switch safeties in order to prevent emotions. But for some reason I think these scientists want the drilling AIs to have some sort of emotion.” I stand back up and place my palms on the cool, rough stone wall.
Red snaps his fingers. “They’re trying to get the AIs trained to be able to sense the minerals, sort of like us long-timers do. They want to be able to duplicate our sixth sense to make the machines more efficient.”
“But they couldn’t control it.” I turn toward Red. He has the light dimmed so we aren’t blinded in the small space. “That’s why they had to use an attack. They had to blast the AI machines out of the drilling holes. They sent charges up after the AI, killed it, and dragged the machine back down the hole. They used the attack to cover the sound of the blasting.”
“Phobo’s dust, Brenna. So that means they must need the data drive to figure out how to fix their machines. Or-” He stops with his mouth gaping opening, a terrified expression on his face as he looks over at me.
“Red? Or what?” I ask impatiently.
“Since they can’t get to the data drive that the galactic security has, they’re going to try to get your copy.”
“And why would they think I have a copy? And if I did, why would I have the only copy?” My heart races but I try to keep my face expressionless. How does everyone suspect I have a copy? “These people have got to have many of these data drives out there. Wouldn’t that make better businesses sense?”
“We need to get up to the mine, now,” is all Red says. He whips around and hurries up the tunnel.
Once again, Markov and I hurry after him, not sure where he’s going or why he wouldn’t answer my question. Now I’m starting to wonder if maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Dad and Derek tried to warn me there were more people involved than we originally suspected. And it had been hours since I last heard from them. They could’ve encoded the whole thing by now but wouldn’t be able to reach me down here in the mines.
I stumble a few times as my mind races to work the problem. I’m not paying enough attention to my footing when I eventually start hearing the low thrum of machinery. I place the tips of my fingers along the wall as I walk and feel the vibrations. The familiar feeling calms me and brings me back to my childhood where I could tell where I was in the Mars mine just by the sounds and vibrations.
When I’m pretty sure we’re just about to the main mining operation I pull on Red’s sleeve until he stops. He’s panting slightly and irritated that I’ve stopped. But I face him squarely and ignore his sour expression.
“Where in the mine will can I get service to my tablet?” I pull my tablet out of my pack. “I need to know if they’ve unencrypted the data yet. It might help us know who to avoid once we enter the mine.” I point ahead of us.
Red rubs the back of his neck as he answers. “There’s a comm relay on this side of the mine, near the entrance. But it’s out in the open in the main cavern.”
“But we have to go in there anyway, right? That’s your plan, right? To get us in there and looking around like we were there the whole time?”
He looks down at his boots. “You’re better off around other people. Whoever is after you won’t do anything in public.”
“You don’t know that. They’ve attacked several asteroids already. And left many dead.”
“Yes, but you’re still safer among a crowd than down here where they could just make you disappear. I need you to be careful of who you trust.”
“Kind of an odd statement coming from you.” I get in his face. “You want me to trust you. But you weren’t even supposed to be our guide, and somehow you managed to lead us away from the docks unnoticed. Away from the crowds.” I watch his hardened expression crack.
“I understand. But I still need you to be careful of who you trust.”
I cover my head with my hands and pace in a small circle. “That doesn’t help, Red.”
“Do you still have your model of the space shuttle Atlantis?”
I stumble backwards into Markov. “How do you know about that?”
Markov wraps a protective arm around my shoulders as I stare down this miner who I want to trust, but who keeps saying the most shocking things.
“I know about it because I brought it up from Earth for you. You were young, so I don’t expect you to remember. And I don’t expect you to trust me just because of the space shuttle or because I knew your mother. Right now you need to rely on your instincts alone, Brenna. I would be hypocritical if I insisted on you trusting me just because.” He looks quickly toward the main cavern. “But right now you need to trust me or we’re going to be in a whole lot of danger.”
I squint and watch his steady gaze and rhythmic neck pulse. “How are we going to explain being with you down in the cavern?”
He grins. “Won’t need to. Everyone knows your reputation of not being afraid to go wherever or do whatever it takes to finish an investigation.”
My jaw goes slack. I look at Markov who’s biting his lip trying not to laugh.
“Seriously guys? This is what people think of me?”
“You spaced the entire bridge on the Valiant to put out an electrical fire. You searched the Tempest and found the crew after the whole security team of Delta had already investigated, and,” Markov holds up three fingers, “don’t forget about the whole putting yourself in danger to save all those security personnel when the station breached thing. Do you think your father would’ve allowed you to do any of that if you had asked first?” Markov is fully grinning now.
I find myself looking to Red for support. But he’s actually doubled over laughing.
I stomp my foot in irritation. “Seriously, guys?”
When Red calms himself, he stands up straight and claps me on the shoulder. “You are most definitely just like your mother. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
My ego slightly bruised, I follow Red toward the main cavern.
At the entrance he turns toward me. “You two go right and find the comm antenna. There are plugins all along the wall near it. Plug your tablet in and find out what your dad and friend know. If you see any galactic troops coming toward you, walk along the same wall, around those machines at the edge of the hole. They can’t follow you near the dig. You still remember how to stay out of trouble near the abyss?” He looks narrowly at me.
“Of course. Then where will we meet up again? We need to figure out what to do about what we saw down there.”
“We?” he scoffs. “I just needed to show you what I had found.” He shakes his head. “I’m not really sure what to do next.”
“I do. Move.” Markov hisses from behind us.
I look up to see galactic troops piling into the main cavern from the far side. If I’m going to try to talk to Derek, I have to do it now.
I slip around the rock wall, trying to blend in behind the miners working this side of the cavern. Most of them are carrying supplies amongst the uniformed troops, probably from one of the supply ships we landed with. They have a tall stack of crates near the comm line, so I slip behind them with Markov right behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see Red slipping into the crowd of miners, easily blending in. I’m suddenly self-conscience with my newly pressed pants and dress shirt, I thought would impress the officers. I hunch my shoulders and head toward the wall and plug my tablet in with an earpiece so no one hears my transmission.
Derek picks up right away. “Bren? You all right? What’s going on over there? I thought I’d hear from you sooner.”
“I’m all right,” I whisper. “I need to know if you were able to get any more information on who I need to avoid over here. Now.”
Derek’s eyes widen. “We’ve got most of it now, but none of the commanders listed in the data are in this quadrant. And it only lists pirate ships and a few couriers.”
“So Mr. Creepy commander isn’t one of them?” I look around quickly to see if anyone heard me over the machinery noise. So far no one is heading our way.
“No, but it doesn’t mean you should trust him.”
“Oh, I won’t. If he’s not guilty of this, he’s guilty of something.” I look up to see the troops slowly pressing through the crowd. “Send me the names of any of the private couriers involved.”
“All right. I sent it. Now tell me what’s going on over there.” His brown eyes are drilling into me, and I smile. He’s always able to help keep me calm.
“We’ve figured out what they’re after, and why they’re attacking the asteroids, but I still need to figure out who.”
“Seriously? What did you find?” Derek leans forward, his face filling the whole screen.
Just then, I feel a pain in my arm, and I look up into Markov’s terrified face as he pulls me away from the wall. I pull the plug out just before it breaks and shove it into my pack as Markov drags me toward the drilling hole and the large, metal monsters.
12
Trapped
I chance a peek backward as Markov drags me along and watch as a clump of troops has just come around the wall where we were just standing. They haven’t noticed us yet. I twist in Markov’s grasp and motion for him to follow me.
I run toward the wall and turn the corner sharply at the same time I grab onto the emergency railing and allow my momentum to take me around the corner. I slide around the rock wall, holding onto the railing as I stare down into the black depths of the mine.
Markov’s momentum is more than mine because of his larger build, and he ends up toppling into me, which forces me toward the edge. I grab desperately for a better grip on the railing before I fall off into the deep pit. Shooting pain goes up my elbows as I catch myself right before I go over. I look up to see Markov has managed to stop himself with his feet braced against the lower railing right before the ledge. His face is a mask of horror as he sees me dangling.
I take a deep breath and start coughing. The oxygen mask is saturated with dust. Figures it would give out now that I’m hanging hundreds of meters over a giant hole.
