Logos (Link Book Three), page 8
“We are Hiphol!” they echoed.
Luke raised an eyebrow, but they just stared forward as the high-pressure water burned the day’s efforts off their skin.
“We are Hiphol.” The woman bumped him with her elbow.
I will never say it.
Scout mouthed something, but no words escaped, and the water stopped. The guard dropped the hose and walked off, a cocky gait to his step. Soon they were alone.
“What the hell was that?” Luke asked them.
“Scout, what are you doing here?” a man groaned.
“Baker!” Scout hugged him. “This is Luke. Luke, meet Carol, Baker, Dawson, Rami, and Klem.”
They were all equally malnourished and haunted. “Hi.”
“This is Mom’s husband,” Scout said.
“Luke Dalton?” Baker asked.
“That’s me.”
Carol gathered their sopping clothes and started wringing them out. Luke helped, distributing the jumpsuits back to their owners. He slipped into his, glad it was clean even if it was still wet.
“You didn’t answer Baker’s question.” Klem grabbed Scout’s shoulder. He was older, but in good shape. His beard was white, and his hollow eyes gleamed with intelligence.
“Lilly mentioned a time we can speak freely,” Luke said.
“After dinner.” Dawson, a thin man who could have been thirty or fifty, led them to the room over.
Other people were already seated, and they gaped when they noticed the pair of newcomers. They were probably coached by Lilly to stay calm, since they couldn’t let the Hiphol know they’d snuck into the mines. The instant the enemy realized they’d been breached, things would change for the worse, if that was possible.
Tables were lined in five rows, and he quickly counted fifty-one humans, including their group. Either some had died, or they hadn’t returned from their day in the pits. The lights were dim, and two white Hiphol robots entered, pushing rolling carts. They left the carts and ventured off. Before Luke took a seat, Lilly came into the room, looking frazzled.
Luke’s detachment withered to nothing. He suddenly longed for her touch, to tell her all the things he hadn’t been able to since failing her during the war. Would Lilly ever forgive him for betraying the Diplomats, for taking the easy road and working the mines on Mars? For… Callie.
Everyone sitting at the first table rose to spoon a ration of slop out of the buckets delivered by the robots, then reclaimed their previous posting. Eventually, Luke followed Klem’s lead, and Lilly joined him in line.
“Are you okay?” Lilly asked him. That his wife was more worried about him than herself spoke volumes.
“Never been better,” he said.
“Same old Luke.”
“Are they watching?” Luke peered around the room, searching for evidence of surveillance.
“Yes. Maybe. We wait until we’re in the bunk room. I’ve tested it, even going so far as to say a few harsh words, and no one’s confronted us,” she whispered.
When it was his turn, Luke dug a spoon into the barrel and dropped two heaping piles onto his cracked plate. It smelled awful, and he poked at it, wondering if the pink stuff was meat. If so, he didn’t want to see what kind of animal it came from.
Scout yawned while eating, staying quiet as instructed. It was obvious the kid had a million things to say to his friends, and vice versa, but they respected Lilly’s rules. He took in the room, which didn’t match the Hiphol structures he was used to. Instead of bright white, the walls were dark, almost like the Locus control rooms. Light seemed to reject the place, and the small fixtures in the ceiling constantly flickered with fluctuating power. That didn’t surprise him, since they were in the middle of an asteroid belt, where giant chunks of rocks were connected via corridors and energy fields.
Luke assumed the mining operation would be far more lucrative and effective if they just used machines to do the heavy lifting, but that wasn’t the purpose of Zenoh. It was obvious in the way the guards tormented the workers, humiliating them with the hose and forcing them to repeat that line. We are Hiphol. Luke promised himself he’d never say it. This place existed to break captives.
The food was bland, but probably had enough nutrients to keep them alive, so he ate with fervor, finishing before Scout, which said a lot. The kid set his dull utensil down and bobbed his leg in anticipation of their reunion. Once the robots returned to drag the carts out, the mood changed.
As the door closed, the mining community formed a line, leaving through a side exit. Beyond were bunks, three high. They were neatly made, each with a frayed blanket and a ratty pillow stretched over the lumpy mattress.
“Tell me everything,” Lilly demanded. The group gathered in a circle around Luke, Scout, and Lilly.
“Take a seat,” Luke told them. “This is a long story, and I know how tired you are.” He hadn’t worked that hard since a tank on Mars had ruptured, forcing the crew to spend two full days suited up and manually replacing the canister. Then he’d been able to take a week off after, resting in his comfortable apartment, unlike now.
They sat, some climbing to the top bunks, others getting onto the floor.
“You first,” Luke said.
Lilly blew at a loose strand of hair, and it brought back a memory of their too-brief honeymoon. He envisioned her from another time, with sunlight on her smiling face. Reality returned and she coughed uncontrollably. Klem offered her a napkin, and she coughed again, this time putting blood on the cloth.
He’d ask her about that later, without a captive audience.
“The Hiphol came to Ethos. Their robots, the same kind that bring our meals, found us in the city.” She looked at Scout. “Not all, but close.”
“Momma Sara and Patch made it too,” Scout told her.
“Good.” Lilly’s eyes were distant. “We traveled on the starship for two months. Every day, they’d make us say we were Hiphol, or we didn’t eat. It took us a few days to understand what they were after. Some of us fought it for a while, but…the defiance didn’t last long. You have to understand we were starving.”
“The Hiphol?”
She nodded. “They aren’t what you think.”
“How so?”
“The Hiphol aren’t one race to study and conquer. They’ve amassed over a dozen alien races. I don’t know where it began, but Earth is next.”
Luke shook his head. “No. They want Ethos.”
Lilly smiled sadly. “That’s wrong. They want the Sun Colonies. You can’t beat them, Luke.”
He let it sink in. “What about those winged guys? I saw them in the patrol ships.”
“Odiox. They were the third race absorbed into the Hiphol. From what I gather, it happened a couple hundred years ago,” she said.
“Who started it?” Luke asked.
“That’s still a mystery. I’ve only seen one or two.”
Klem scratched his beard. “I’ve met a couple. Arrogant bunch. They visit the mines occasionally to check on the operation. One of them made me kneel and repeat that stupid mantra.”
“Did you say it?” Scout inquired.
“Yep. Faster than I’d like. I ain’t too proud to tell ‘em what they want.” Klem gazed at his hands.
Luke held back in case they were overheard. “You came straight to the mines?”
“No. We were on Ivoth for a week. They took us through the various Cadres, and Lark got the idea to join one of them. She figured if they were bound for Ethos, she might be able to help.”
“How is… Kennedy?”
Lilly’s smile became genuine. “Before this, incredible. She’s a beautiful, strong young woman, and she has your dark sense of humor.”
His little girl was in her twenties and had snuck on board an enemy warship bound for Ethos. It didn’t seem possible.
“I thought you were dead. The Deniers stole a wormhole device from Dr. Abimbola,” he said.
“Who?” Baker asked.
“Back then, he wasn’t famous, but in the last fifteen years, his name is plastered on everything. He’s also become good friends with the Diplomats. Henry Abimbola is the reason I ever left the Sun Colonies bound for Ethos.”
“The Link was used?” Carol asked.
“Yeah.”
“By whom?”
“I assume it was the Hiphol,” Luke said. “Wait, Henry’s parents are supposed to be here.”
The door opened, and a final group entered, bedraggled and wet. A man that could have been Henry, only two decades older, staggered in.
Luke got to his feet. “Mr. Abimbola?”
“Who are you?” he grumbled.
“I’m Luke Dalton. I’m… friends with your son.” Luke gazed around. “Is your wife here?”
Henry’s father lowered his chin to his chest. “She died last month.”
“I’m so sorry,” Luke told him.
“Don’t be. Wherever she is, is far better now.” Mr. Abimbola sank to a bunk. “Is Henry still building machines?”
“You could say that.” Luke sat beside the older man. “He made me promise to bring you back.”
“And you agreed?”
Luke hesitated, then nodded.
“You’re either a liar or a fool.” He lay down and pulled a blanket over him, turning to face the wall.
“Can’t I be both?” Luke asked.
For a second, he thought the old man was crying, but it quickly became clear he was laughing. Soon others joined him, and even Lilly seemed amused. One thing was obvious: they were broken, but even a shattered vase could be glued together.
TWO
The dropship landed in the sand, and Jane confirmed that the coordinates matched the location found in Command.
“Are you sure we should have gone without permission?” Lois asked.
“Nope.” Jane stepped off the ship, using her hand as a visor against the bright orb in the sky. The dunes went on forever, waves of them undulating to the horizon. Ethos was a wonderful planet, with so much to offer. She would have loved it, had an alien fleet not been coming for them.
“Thank you for inviting me,” Curtis Singh said, stepping behind her.
Jane had nearly asked Sanya to help, but given Sanya’s recent promotion and hectic schedule, she’d opted to bring Lois instead. She hoped no one noticed their absence. Since Henry hadn’t made the trip yet, she wanted to get the lay of the land.
Something about the Locus programming these particular coordinates into Command felt important, and she couldn’t shake the sensation she was needed here. Jane didn’t always follow her gut, which was why she’d stayed in a nice condo doing a safe job for the last decade instead of chasing her dreams. It was time to grow.
They wore armored suits, but only carried the visor attachments, rather than helmets. Jane slipped hers on, linking the HUD to her personal Slab. She discovered Dr. Singh’s signature and connected, then did the same with Lois.
The soldier carried a T-51N and slung the strap around her shoulder when the dropship’s ramp sealed shut. Lois flipped her visor on and scanned the horizon. “I can’t be late for my posting. I’m training the ground troops in four hours.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t be. We’re going to do a quick investigation, then go to camp.” Where Jane had a million tasks on her to-do list. Running a colony of that many people wasn’t a simple job, but with Memory’s new mayor backing her up, she had more time to deal with problems.
Jane blinked through the HUD commands and viewed the dot on the map. Three kilometers down, they’d find something left by the Locus. What was it, and why hadn’t the Hiphol discovered it during their time on Ethos? The Hiphol had managed to make entire cities invisible, which spoke to their capabilities.
She walked into the sand and sank past her ankles. Any substantial stroll in the dunes would take an astronomical amount of effort. Her legs were already tired from that morning’s run, but she was closing in on the goal of completing the Mars canyon simulation. Jane figured that if she finished it, she could do anything. It made her look at life differently. If you concentrated and put the work in, you could accomplish incredible objectives.
“There’s nothing but sand.” Lois touched a spiky plant with her glove.
Curtis surveyed the landscape, talking to himself.
“Maybe Henry’s right. We’ll have to excavate the entire—” Jane’s breath caught as a sinkhole appeared. She rose with the collapse, her body quickly enveloped by sand. It pushed in from all directions, threatening to suffocate her, until it spat her out far below. For a brief moment, Jane floated in the air, then dropped like a sack of potatoes, landing hard with a whoosh of air flying out of her lungs.
Jane rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding Curtis, and Lois spilled in, landing on the anthropologist. She stayed there for a second, their visors almost touching. Lois groaned and slid off the doctor to stare at the hole above them.
“I’ll call for help,” Lois said after regaining her voice. “…It’s not working.”
Jane tried, to no avail. The HUD flashed, then turned off. She removed the visor, banged it on her palm, and checked again, but it stayed down. “There must be interference close by.”
“Great, just great!” Lois tossed her visor, sending it soaring across the dark cavern. Sunlight shone through the opening in the ground, but the room was otherwise covered in shadows.
Jane picked it up. “It might come in handy.”
Lois snatched the device. “Cal’s going to kill me if I’m late.”
“Look at the bright side,” Jane said. “We found a way in.”
“I’d be happier to find a way out.”
Curtis walked ahead, leaving the lit area. “Someone created this.”
Jane saw what he meant. The walls were brown and had etchings on the surface, like old hieroglyphs from ancient Egypt. She ran a finger over one, noticing it was an exact replica of the marking from Caelum’s jungle Controller. She mentioned it to Curtis, who grew excited by the news.
“Fascinating. I’ve always speculated that Ethos was an important part of the Link. Why else would the Locus and Hiphol be so interested in the planet?”
“The better question is, why do they keep leaving it empty?” Lois added.
“The truth of a society is buried below the surface,” Curtis said. “In this case, I mean it quite literally.”
The cavern was approximately fifty feet high, and Jane wondered how she hadn’t been injured during the fall, until she remembered the brief floating sensation. She squinted, searching for signs of an energy field, but couldn’t see anything of note.
As she circled the cave, she spotted dozens more of the etchings, all related to Link Controllers. How many planets did it connect to, and how could they use this to their advantage with the incoming fleet?
“Is there a way up?” Lois craned her neck.
“Not that I can see.” Jane indicated a passageway across the cavern. From most angles, it appeared to be a solid wall, but when she walked to the side, the optical illusion broke. “Someone will track us when they notice the dropship missing.”
“Then we should stay put.”
“Lois, what happened to you?” Jane asked lightly. “I thought you loved adventures, or were you doing them to impress a certain soldier?”
“Luke Dalton and I are just friends,” Lois muttered. “Why are all the good ones married?” She sighed and hefted her gun. “Fine, but only for a bit. If we don’t find anything in the next hour, we’re heading up to wait for our team.”
“Deal.” Jane let the armed soldier go into the corridor first. The ceilings were high enough for a Locus to travel within, making it spacious for the group of human explorers. Curtis, like usual, marveled at everything he saw, making notes on his Slab despite it not being linked to the network.
The tunnel ended abruptly, and Jane felt her hope diminish.
Lois had other ideas. “They had these gravity wells on Caelum in the ice city.” She crouched, picking up a pebble, and tossed it into the opening. The rock floated, then lowered slowly. “Don’t overthink it.” She stepped off and hovered before dropping at an even pace.
“I’m not sure if I can…” Curtis peered past the edge, and Jane grabbed his arm, bringing him into the gravity well. He toppled, but she held on, pulling him upright as the well began to descend.
Jane suddenly understood the rush Luke and Sanya must have felt exploring on Caelum. Even Curtis seemed transfixed by the experience. He jabbed an arm out, and the well slowed, letting them off halfway down.
Lois had already exited with her gun pointed into the room. “Clear.” The beam of light moved as she did, illuminating a furnished space. Unlike the cavern above, this was filled with instruments and electronics, though none appeared to be running.
“We should have brought Will.” Jane picked up a square device with a strap connected to it. She slid it over a wrist, and it automatically tightened. The screen flashed on to reveal alien symbols. “Or Atticus.”
“It’s clearly Locus,” Dr. Singh said. “Everything matches their underground control rooms.”
“We’ve already found the four Link mechanisms on Ethos.” Lois touched a monitor, but it remained dark.
“Then this is something else.” Curtis sifted through cluttered containers on the far wall, pulling out strange components, then setting them aside.
“Let’s keep going. We haven’t even gone a half kilometer down,” Lois said. “There’s a lot more to see.”
Jane thought about wearing the alien device, then decided to remove it. Instead of leaving it behind, she pocketed the square unit and went to the elevator. She was about to step off when Lois clutched her around the waist, dragging her back.
“How did you know?” Jane panted. She’d nearly fallen to her death.
“The air… it was humming before.” Lois grabbed a useless control board and tossed it in. The equipment bounced off the walls to the bottom, then faintly clanged when it landed.
“Did you see another exit?” Curtis had a flashlight out and shone it to the corners of the room.
“There.” Jane caught sight of a fold in the wall, and another hidden door showed when she looked from the proper angle. Instead of finding steps, like the Locus rarely had, they reached a vertical tube, rungs embedded into the cylinder.
