Tech Planet (Project NightStorm Book 2) Page 4

  "As I said I knew you were coming here and I know the reason. Marcus is an old acquaintance, he did a lot of work for the company when he was last here."

  "Then you know Marcus is in trouble?" Arri said.

  "Yes, I have seen the medical reports, what they took from him. Well, it's like taking an arm or leg from a biological person. Once Marcus had integrated the device into his cybernetics it became part of him."

  "Executive Walker do you know what the device does, Marcus was a little vague although he did provide a specification."

  "It was an enhancer, a device that upgraded his speed, agility, and strength. Over time I think he found new features as more of the technology yielded its secrets to him. I am not sure how he came to take it from here, its something he shouldn't have done."

  "The technology is also protected by the NDA?" Arri asked.

  "Yes, somehow Marcus managed to get it past the scanners here. The reason for the NDA is to stop people like you showing up."

  "Understand this, I will help my friend, choose your words carefully," Arri said, tensing his muscles as his hand moved to rest on the grip of his gun.

  "Captain Arri the damage is done, Marcus was a colleague, perhaps even a friend. I have a vast amount of respect for him."

  Arri relaxed a little, "What is it you brought me here for?"

  "This planet is controlled by a council of corporations of which I lead my companies side. Recently members of my team have decided to break away from tradition and change one of the fundamental trade deals we have with the other corps.

  "This would be very bad for business and could result in lost harvests, riots among the scavengers. It will lead to a time of chaos which will reach back to my chairman. Most likely I will be retired and this is something I will not tolerate." Walker paused for a moment relaxing his hands.

  "I know of your specialist skills and have a use for them. The woman who leads the opposition to my position has a memory I need. Take it from her and I can use it to, umm let's say persuade her to change her mind."

  "Interesting but what's in this for me?" Arri asked.

  "I will get you all the permits you need to pass around Behemothic unhindered to remove any technology you find back to your ship. Now that is worth a great deal, without my help you will be hounded at every stage and life would be a lot more difficult."

  "When do you need this done by?"

  "The vote is in three days I will need the memory by the morning of the day of the vote. Interested?"

  "OK I will help you," Arri said.

  "Excellent," Walker said pulling a small envelope from the folds of his robe, he placed it on the table. He then made a series of gestures in front of his body. "In the pack I have included for you the specifics of the memory needed, the name of the councillor involved and security arrangements. I have mailed you the temporary passes needed to go beyond the protection wall. This is a dangerous world try not to get yourself killed."

  Arri followed the technician back to his team, "did I just make a deal with a devil?" the thought played in his mind over and over again.

  "Everything OK?" March asked.

  "Fine, did our guide make it?"

  "I am right here," Echo said, she had changed her outfit, still the same figure-hugging tightness but now if different shades of grey, it almost seemed like a metal-based camouflage design.

  "Where to next?" Arri asked.

  "I have transport, a home away from home," Echo smiled, "I think you're going to like it."

  Arri stood looking at Echo's transport, it had wheels on top of which was a rather dirty looking boxy design body. Large metal bull bars sat below a curved glass window. Echo pulled a handle on the side of the box and a door popped open.

  The inside was surprisingly clean and well kept, almost as if the outside was just for appearances. Four beds lined the back walls of the transport, covered with fine silk sheets. A well-kept cooking area and shower unit towards the middle while comfortable looking chairs and a spacious walkway towards the front.

  "You can put your gear in the overhead compartments. Galdan I don't really have a place for that armour but there is a small locker by the foot of the bed where you might be able to get a few bits in," Echo said.

  Galdan's smile was hidden by the large armoured helmet he was wearing. He had no trouble fitting through the door of the transport.

  "You wanted to go track down your friend, let's do that first," Arri said.

  "There are still twelve hours of daylight so we should make good time to the last known location," Echo said, jumping into a seat right at the front of the transport and grabbing a large steering wheel.

  6

  The Town Outside

  The transport thundered to a complete stop, jarring its occupants around in the process. The reason for the sudden halt in progress was the gate to the town of Law, it stood tall and foreboding built of twisted metal and like the rest of the planet glowed with neon colours that the residents seemed to favour.

  A thick wall connected to the gate on either side protecting the town's occupants from the monsters that frequently rose from the depths of the planet disturbed by the technology harvest.

  "Welcome to Law one of the nicest places on to live on the surface of Behemothic. It has top of the range entertainment and comfortable sleeping quarters," Echo said.

  "How do we get past the gates?" Arri asked.

  "Bribe the guards or send them your permit, simple really."

  Arri connected to the local area wide network, and with a few swipes of his finger sent a copy of his permit.

  "Look, I've never seen a lightning storm quite like that," March said, "its as if each bolt sets off a chain reaction that leaps from the sky to the ground then back up in a slightly different colour."

  "You don't want to get caught up in one of those, they produce massive amounts of energy," Echo said.

  "Do they happened often?" Galdan asked, his agile mind trying to calculate first the number of strikes and then the amount of energy involved.

  "Depends on the season," Echo shrugged, "just so happens you arrived at the start of the storms."

  "Bad timing," Arri said, he too was drawn to the light show.

  The transport started to move, Echo applied pressure to the foot peddle accelerator, inching forward as the gates swung open. The transports steering took a lot of effort, most of the time she could point it in a straight line and get to her destination, parking however gave her a good workout.

  "Rule one, don't start a fight, banter and provocation its part and parcel of this town. Rule two don't agree to anything, your word is your bond and you could end up in a contract to harvest for the next several years. Stick by me and we should be fine," Echo said.

  The temperature had cooled considerably in the few hours they had been riding the transport.

  "So is this world completely made of metal?" March asked.

  "I heard once that the drilled a mile down and all they found was the machine," Echo said.

  "Where does the green come from?" Galdan said, "I noticed large patches, is that the right word, let's go with it. Patches of vegetation on the way here."

  "Weeds, we humans brought it with us, on our boots in our clothes, the pets paws," Echo said.

  "Life finds a way," Arri said.

  "Important features of this town, if I can direct your attention over there, you will find the weaponsmith finest creator of weapons this side of the great gap. Up ahead the Finders bar, yeah drinks are not bad and very reasonably priced, I have spent some good nights in there. And finally our rooms for the night at the Outside shot hotel," Echo said.

  "Let's check in, scout out the place gather intel say meet at the bar in two hours?" Arri said.

  The hotel had a small round entrance door directly below the large neon letters of the name Outside Shot. The walls were scarred with small dark patches, which look to Arri like scorch marks from electrical strikes. Looking up at the roofs of the buildings he
noticed that each had several lightning rods.

  "I guess no place is immune to the storms," Arri said as his friends disappeared one by one through the entrance. He realised something as the final person vanished they were all carrying packs of gear, clothing changes, forward planning he suppressed an internal chuckle.

  The hotel's lobby was tiny, he had to slouch his shoulders to avoid touching the roof. The walls followed a pattern of ridges and dips, re-purposed from shipping containers. Arri joined the queue for check-in directly behind Echo.

  "The beds are comfortable," Echo said.

  "New guy, give me a hand," Tidal looked at Johns making a beckoning gesture.

  "This ship is pretty neat, moves well in combat and were those the latest fusion cannons I felt firing earlier?" Johns said.

  "They were, how did you know?"

  "They create a slightly different vibration to the older models, I felt it in the hull as they fired."

  Tidal rubbed at his chin making a large dark patch as he did so.

  "My bunk used to be next to a cannon, you get to know the feel of it when it goes off. Especially if your captain likes to mark the start of the day with a cannon salute."

  "Well my young friend, welcome to engineering, the powerhouse of the ship," Tidal said.

  "I took a look at the plans for the Outrider before agreeing to join, its quite a ship."

  "Yes it is, and currently only has the problem of a damaged core, making it about as useful as a floating caravan. We need to get it online or we are stuck here."

  "Do you have a way to fix it?"

  "I think so," Tidal said, "we need to seal the crack created during the explosion by filling the gap with nano repairers. If we can find a substance hard enough for the bots to repair with, it should hold us long enough to get home, then all we need to do is get a replacement core."

  "You make it sound simple," Johns said, his mind already interfaced with the overlay, data streaming from all sources available. Tracking the status of the engine and searching the space station for any suitable material.

  Tidal pulled a panel out from below the core exposing the damaged side. Carefully he eased himself under the broken engine. In his hands, he held a small probe, every twenty centimetres or so he would take a measurement.

  "The rest of the core is in pretty good condition, considering the hit it took," Johns said, "judging from the data you are getting."

  "Doesn't look too bad from down here."

  "Any thoughts on what caused this?"

  "No, it's a strange one," Tidal said, "the crack appear during or just after we entered the other space. My understanding is time should be frozen there so for this to happen, so no idea."

  The Outrider shuddered slightly, moving as the space station shifted in its orbit. High above Tidals head, damaged by the earlier explosion part of the engine housing started to work loose.

  "Programming is more my area, the physics of fast travel was not something I've ever tried to get my head around. How about you?" Johns said.

  "Physics was part of the course I studied, lots of Mat-" A large metal rod worked its way free and crashed down past the core directly into Tidal, he let out a low moan.

  "Tidal?" Johns quickly called the underside camera to look at, displaying the results in his overlay. "Emergency in engineering, Doctor I need your help," Johns hurled the SOS through cyberspace. While at the same time dropping to his knees. He could see the large metal rod pinning Tidal through his chest to the floor and he could see the blood. Scrambling to his feet he looked up in the direction the rod had fallen. It was reachable and with enough force it could be pulled from Tidal's chest.

  "What's the problem?" the doctor asked, as Johns pointed directly at the now motionless legs of Tidal. Twenty seconds later the doctor appeared, face flushed from sprinting the length of the ship.

  "We need to cut the rod close to his chest then pull him out from under that thing," the Doc pointed at the engine core.

  "Doctor we have to be really careful, cutting down there could damage the core further maybe kill us all," Johns rubbed at the sides of his head, his breathing had accelerated since the accident.

  "Can you pull it out from above?"

  "Yes, can Tidal survive that?"

  "He has a chance, I can't risk the entire ship by blowing us all up," the Doc said.

  Placing the floating stretcher below Tidals boots, the doctor was ready to pull as soon as Johns unpin the engineer's chest. Johns took hold of the rod with both hands, it was slightly warm, a strange thing to notice. He pulled with all his strength, he heard a sickening crack as the rod came free.

  The doctor had hold of Tidal's legs and with a single move, got him neatly onto the floating stretcher. He clamped his hands down on the now blood pumping hole.

  "Johns put pressure here," he transferred his life-saving duty over to the new guy, as he guided the stretcher the length of the ship to medical.

  "Its a rather nice weapon don't you think?" the lady that spoke wore a thick leather body suit, black for the most part but with silver highlights. When she moved blue traces of electric flowed over the surface of her clothing.

  Arri turned the gun over in his hands, testing its weight feeling the sturdiness of the metal, the contours of the grip.

  "Holds twenty-one bullets and it just so happens we are having a special on those, buy one get one free," she had a deep voice hinting of an age greater than she appeared.

  "It's fully mechanical?" Arri asked.

  "Yes, a retro design, printed on the station above so you know its created to perfection."

  "I'll take two and six extra magazines, two hundred and fifty-two bullets in total, and if you could set the magazines for me."

  "Give me a moment to complete your order," her eyes were hidden behind glass tinted shades.

  "How did you end up running this store?"

  "Now that's a story hun. When I was young I worked for an old corporation, they had found these dead AI tech worlds, needed people to explore and I wanted adventure. I signed an agreement to travel for a couple of years. Was put in suspended animation to get here."

  "An old way to travel," Arri said.

  "Well hun, it was a long time ago. The problem was by the time we got here the corporation had been taken over, asset stripped. We were at the mercy of market forces. A few of us came down to the surface to carve out a life, selling to the tech scavengers helping with the harvest. Others tried to head home probably still sleeping their way across the universe."

  "That will be 11 bars," she said placing a bag on the counter in front of her. Arri reached into his deep jacket pocket and pulled out the required money, running his thumb along each bar as he did so to check its value.

  The currency of the surface world had been expensive, the exchange rate from credits to bars was harsh. There was however no choice as electronic payments didn't work.

  "Would you like one of our cleaning kits, our oil is the best money can buy."

  "How much?"

  "Free for you hun, let's call it a customer loyalty reward. Remember Jane's Handcannons the next time you need quality weapons," she fixed him with her award-winning customer care smile.

  "Thank you."

  The bag Jane had provided was a simple carryall, the guns each came with there own quality finished container complete with catch opener. Instead of using the handles he put his hand around the bottle of the bag and clutched it to his side.

  The tech planets atmosphere felt thick almost like walking through and breathing heavy dust, the chemicals in his blood converted the gas substance into the oxygen mix his body needed. Arri kept reaching up to touch his face to wipe away the grime he felt was there. He pushed his hand out in a wave to March.

  "Did you get anything nice?" Arri asked.

  "That store has a lot of stuff, I got us some rations, a couple of bottles of soda. I know Echo has recycled water but this is better," said March.

  "Find anything out about this pl
ace?"

  "A bit, these so-called dungeons have been found all over the planet and seem to hold large caches of alien technology. The theory is this was set up by someone or something long ago. It can take years to strip them bare. This planet is so big new dungeons are found all the time."

  "Why would Echo's friend go back to a looted one?" Arri asked.

  "No idea, the guy in the shop did say there are passages back into the planet itself from them so maybe they are going deeper finding more tech."

  "OK let's get out of the street I found it easy to breathe inside, the air seemed less heavy."

  "Heavy?" March said.

  "Doesn't it feel thick to you, heavy to breathe in?"

  "I hadn't noticed until you just said it. Oh great now I can't stop thinking about it."

  7

  Law One

  They stood at the entrance to Law One, green lightning danced in the distance a stark contrast to the grey metal of the ground. The air felt heavy electrified, with a palpable static producing a tingling feeling on exposed skin.

  "I didn't think it was going to be so big," Arri said looking up, straining his neck.

  The giant circular door was open slightly creating an ellipse of darkness where the gap arose.

  "Its like one of the seals of hell has been opened, inviting us into the darkness beyond," Galdan said, the sheen on his armour had dulled considerably since exposure to the planet's environment.

  "We better get inside it looks like that storm is moving closer, we really don't want to get caught out here if it hits," Echo said.

  They passed the threshold entering into the dungeon, the light of the star didn't make it too far into the tunnel leaving only darkness beyond the entrance. March reached into her backpack and pulled a small round ball from within. She gave it a shake waking up the chemicals inside. It began to glow a pale light blue, dropping the pack, she put her now free hand under the first containing the orb and cast the device up into the air.