Salvage Merc One: The Daedalus System (7 page)

Mgurn turned on all external lights, illuminating the seascape in stark contrast. In front of us was the occluded shape of something very large. We approached it at close to full speed until Mgurn cut the throttle and let our momentum take us the rest of the way. It was a mountain, no doubt about it. An undersea mountain, sure, but still a mountain.

It was easy to tell it had once been above the surface. The ruins of ancient buildings dotted the sides of the mountain. Most were only stone foundations or slabs of old concrete, but some still had partial walls intact. We could see the outlines of roads that wound around the mountain. But that was all we saw.

Mgurn circled the mountain several times before he brought us to a full stop, turned in his seat, and shrugged his shoulders.

“I did not see an iron door,” Mgurn said. “Did you?”

“No,” I said. It was the only word I could manage without losing my cool. I said it again just test that I could. “No.”

“Navigation?” Mgurn called out. “Is this the correct destination?”

“You have arrived,” a voice announced. “But you are far from your destination.”

“Oh my,” Mgurn said. “That is not the navigation system AI.”

He was dead on about that. It was not the voice of the navigation system AI.

“Naked Snake Lady,” I muttered and clamped my mouth shut before I could screech.

“Hello, Miss Horne,” Mgurn said. “My name is—”

“Irrelevant,” Naked Snake Lady said.

“That was rude,” Mgurn responded quietly. “Polite introductions are never irrelevant.”

We waited, but she said nothing more.

“There must be a door here somewhere,” Mgurn said. “The logs clearly stated there was a door. We saw it.”

“Keep looking,” I struggled to say. I wanted to crawl right out of my skin. “Find it or get us out of here. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

“Joe, stop making that noise,” Mgurn said. “Please.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” I continued. The lid was off and I couldn’t put it back on. “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

Mgurn covered the sides of his head with two hands and worked the controls with the others. He got the ship moving again and brought it in closer to the mountain. It was close enough that we could see the silt start to billow up as we passed.

“There! Eeeeeeeeeee! Back!” I snapped. “Eeeeeeeeeee!”

Mgurn slowed and brought us back around. I pointed with both hooves at a spot on the mountain that had moved. I know it had. It wasn’t just silt shifting, but something bulky.

“Well, will you look at that?” Mgurn said as the bulky something began to unwind. “Our view was blocked. Such a simple answer.”

A memory flashed in my brain, and I gasped. I knew what we were about to see when the thing was done unfurling itself.

“Nope! Eeeeeeeee!” I screeched. “Nope, nope, nope! Eeeeeeeeeee!”

Mgurn didn’t respond, just started working the controls to get us as far away from the shape as fast as possible. He probably would have anyway, but the appearance of a giant mouth filled with more sharp teeth than could be counted was probably the main selling point for getting the fo away from the mountain.

He aimed our nose for the surface and hit the thrusters. We didn’t budge.

The sound of heavy impacts echoed through the ship, followed by every klaxon hooked up to a speaker.

“It has attached itself to us,” Mgurn announced.

His voice was surprisingly calm. Or maybe that was my interpretation since he just wasn’t screeching like a banshee. I was busy doing that. It’s all about perspective.

Mgurn started to increase power to the thrusters, but a horrible wrenching noise put an end to that.

“You have arrived,” the navigation system stated, no longer the voice of the Naked Snake Lady. “You are now at your destination.”

The ship was whipped back around to face the mountain. In front of us was the iron door, slowly being revealed as the huge shape swam its body off the mountainside. Before either of us could comment, not that I had much to say beyond Eeeeeeeeeee!, the ship was flung straight at the door.

Mgurn shoved all hands against the console in front of him. I did the same with my hooves as the door raced at us. Or we raced at it. Whatever.

It opened wide, and we were both blinded by a red light that hurt to look at. Yet we couldn’t look away.

I was somewhat pleased to hear that Mgurn had joined me in my screeching as the ship crossed the door’s threshold, and we were plunged into inky blackness.

Seven

The blackness lasted for all of a millisecond.

The ship exploded into the Daedalus System like a bat out of a watery, gripped by a sea monster, hell. Mgurn slammed a fist on the control console, and the view screen dimmed, keeping us from going blind by the harsh glare of the bright red star that sat directly in front of us.

“Logging location of quantum planet,” Mgurn stated. “I have the coordinates locked into the navigation system in case we need to return on autopilot.”

“That means we have to go back through that door,” I replied then shook my head. “Hey! No more screeching! Cool.”

“Yes, I am pleasantly aware of that fact, Joe,” Mgurn responded. “And, yes, we will have to go back through that door and into the water once again. I hope you do not obsess over that.”

“What? Me? Nah,” I said. “I’m too happy to be back in space instead of under that nasty ocean. We can deal with my bull panic when the time comes.”

“I look forward to it,” Mgurn said. He looked at me and gave me his best “I’m humoring Joe” smile. Then the smile turned legitimate. “Joe! Look at your hands!”

I glanced down and almost wept with joy. My hands were my hands once again. No more bull hooves.

“Holy foing crud!” I exclaimed and wiggled my fingers. “Oh, man, does this feel good!”

“I understand,” Mgurn said. “It’s like when an adolescent Leforian emerges from its pupal stage and—”

“Nope,” I said. “Do not ruin my moment with any story about pupal stages.”

Mgurn nodded and went quiet. He didn’t look offended. I think he was just happy that I wasn’t screeching anymore.

I fiddled with the scanners and furrowed my brow at the readings the ship received.

“There’s nothing here,” I said. “That star? Not here. All these planets? Not here. Not according to the scanners.”

“I was afraid of that,” Mgurn said. “Going through that door and coming out a quantum planet could create havoc with our scanners. The ship will need to acclimate itself to this system before we will be able to get any accurate readings.”

“Or any readings at all,” I said. “Right now we got nada, buddy.”

“I suggest we find a stationary position and observe the system with our eyes instead of the scanners,” Mgurn said.

“Not much choice,” I said. “Park us and let’s have a looksee.”

Mgurn flew us away from the quantum planet, as well as away from the bright red star. I was thankful for that because that big old sun was giving me one hell of a headache.

The Daedalus System was huge. It took us an hour to get to a spot that looked like it was out of the path of the ever-orbiting planets. Some of them moved like normal planets, appearing to be stuck in place, moving too slow for the human, or Leforian, eye to make out. But others whizzed by like comets. Whizzing planets are never a good thing when you are in a spaceship that is a fraction of their size.

“I’ll keep thrusters primed,” Mgurn said as we watched a planet zoom by so fast it was barely trackable. “Just in case.”

“Good call,” I said and started studying the system.

Planets everywhere, of all types and sizes. Huge gas planets, small gas planets. Water planets, desert planets, rust-colored planets. Planets made of molten rock that looked like they’d just been birthed from the cosmos. Planets of the darkest ebony, only visible because they were a black spot against the others that orbited behind them. Even a planet that I swear was all polka dots.

“Where do we start?” Mgurn asked.

“That’s the question,” I said. “Any hints from that old myth you were telling me?”

“No,” Mgurn said. “The labyrinth of myth had a distinct entrance. Everyone knew about it. I believe it even had a concession stand, in case someone felt the need for snacks and a drink as they walked inside to meet their fate.”

“You’re foing with me,” I said.

He shrugged. “That is how the story goes.”

“There has to be a way to know which planet to start with,” I mused. “Which one is the entrance? What would a planet look like if it was the entrance to a labyrinth?”

“Perhaps we are past that point?” Mgurn said. “I mean, we did just go through a giant door. That could have been the entrance, and now we are already in the labyrinth.”

“Good point,” I said. “That means each of these planets is now a possible way to go. Do we go left or right? Straight or back? This is a maze, so we had better choose wisely, or we’ll end up lost forever.”

“A labyrinth is not technically a maze,” Mgurn said. “It usually has one entrance that is also the exit. A maze usually has an entrance and an exit with many dead ends and false turns. A labyrinth could be considered an elaborate path that winds around itself until you reach the center.”

“Is that the center?” I asked as I pointed at the bright red star. “I really hope that’s not the center.”

“As do I,” Mgurn said. “But it is a reasonable assumption that what stands at the center of this system would be the center of the labyrinth. Even if we are speaking of a metaphorical labyrinth.”

We went silent and stared for a long time.

“Okay, let’s think this through,” I said. “We have already entered the labyrinth. We are on the path. We just have to follow it. But how? Which planet do we choose?”

“Perhaps we can choose any of them,” Mgurn said. “We have entered the labyrinth and now all we must do is move forward.”

“So how the hell is this a trial?” I asked. “Did the suckers that had to walk the labyrinth in the myth only have to worry about dying from boredom? Because this seems pretty damn easy to me.”

“Oh, no, there were tests and traps and many evils that could be found along the path of the labyrinth,” Mgurn said. “Just like in your vision.”

“My vision!” I exclaimed and smacked my forehead. It hurt, but I was so happy I had a normal hand to smack myself with that I didn’t care. “My vision told me where to start!”

“What was the first part of your vision?” Mgurn asked. “Was it the ring of fire?”

“Yeah,” I said. “So let’s go find a fire planet.”

“No, I do not think so,” Mgurn replied. “When you described it, you said you were standing in a ring of fire with nothing but black outside it. That does not sound like a fire planet. Quite the opposite.”

Mgurn engaged the thrusters and pointed us at the nearest planet that looked like pure ebony.

“We shall check out this planet first,” he announced like he was a tour guide. “Then proceed to the next one if we do not find a ring of fire.”

“And if we do find a ring of fire? Then what?” I asked. “My vision jumped me from place to place. It never showed me what I was supposed to do.”

“What
we
are supposed to do,” Mgurn said. “I am your assistant, and I will assist you in completing this quest.”

“Yeah, I got that, Mgurn,” I said. “I was speaking generally.”

“No, you were speaking specifically,” Mgurn said.

“Okay, whatever, I don’t want to argue,” I snapped.

“That is a good sign,” Mgurn said. “Perhaps that means your bullness is receding.”

“Or it means I’m exhausted and don’t want to play word games with you,” I snapped some more.

We reached the ebony planet and both gulped at its size. It was one of the largest planets I had ever seen. We weren’t even close to reaching its outer atmosphere before it filled the entire view screen. I wasn’t even sure it had an outer atmosphere.

As if reading my mind, Mgurn said, “Airless. Absolutely zero atmosphere.”

“Then it can’t be our planet,” I said. “Fire needs air.”

“We should scout closer,” Mgurn said. “It would be wise of us to thoroughly search the planet before dismissing it. It is best to be sure rather than have to backtrack later because we missed something.”

“Then take us in close, and let’s see what there is to see,” I said.

He did, we did, there was nothing. We searched the entire planet, or as much as we could, and didn’t find any trace of a ring of fire. By the time we left the planet’s vicinity, I could feel myself getting grumpy again. My hands also throbbed, but I sat on them, afraid to look and see what transformation may have been happening all over again.

“Next planet,” Mgurn said as he took us dangerously close to the path of one of the faster orbiters. “Not nearly as large which means it will take less time to search.”

The blackness of the planet wasn’t as deep ebony as the other one. It had a charcoal quality to it. A hint of gray that lay just beneath the surface.

“Go to the north pole,” I said. A feeling had come over me and I wanted to explore it. “Or whatever serves as north for this planet.”

“Sensors do not pick up a magnetic field, so a magnetic north is not possible,” Mgurn said. “But when I take in the planet’s orientation to its closest neighbors, I believe I can approximate a true north.”

We flew down closer, and Mgurn brought us in on a sweeping approach to what looked like the top of the planet. There was an obvious thump and jostle to the ship as we entered the planet’s atmosphere. No clouds to make it visibly known that that was what we did. But I used to be a Fleet Marine and made many a drop inside a windowless troop transport. After a couple dozen of those, you learn what a blind atmospheric entry feels like, even with dampers on the ship.

“There!” I said and pointed out the view screen. “Do you see it?”

“I do,” Mgurn said and aimed us at a far-off glow. “Sensors still do not pick anything up, though.”

“That’s why the Eight Million Gods gave us eyes, buddy,” I said.

The heavy rock that had filled my gut with dread began to lift as we got closer and closer to the glow. After half an hour, it distinguished itself as exactly what we were looking for: a ring of fire. But that wasn’t all that was distinguished.

The closer we got, the more I could see there was texture to the planet. Not mountains or valleys, nothing so dramatic, just, well, texture. The planet’s surface seemed to be made up of thousands of small bumps. Like goosebumps when you’re cold or nervous.

“Hmmm,” Mgurn said.

“Is that a bad hmmm or a good hmmm?” I asked.

“It is a puzzled hmmm,” Mgurn said.

“Puzzled because?” I asked, not quite sure I wanted the answer.

“I believe the planet’s surface is moving,” Mgurn said. “Do you see it?”

We continued to get closer to the surface, and it didn’t take long for me to see what he meant. Those bumps I saw? Not texture. Nope. They were alive. The whole planet was coated in a writhing mass of creatures. I had no idea what type of creatures, but creatures.

“Fo,” I said.

“Yes,” Mgurn agreed.

We finally reached the ring of fire, and Mgurn hovered over its center. He switched the view and the screen in front of us became a picture of what was directly underneath the ship.

“It is clear within the ring,” Mgurn said. “Should I set down?”

I hesitated for a second, looked at my hands that were no longer throbbing, and nodded.

“This is the place,” I said.

“Very well then,” Mgurn said.

He slowly landed the ship while I switched the view back to what was in front of us. I watched the far-off flames flick high into the dark sky. They leapt up to thirty meters easy. A quick estimate would have put the diameter of the ring at maybe eight or nine hundred meters. It was a big ass ring of fire.

Once settled, Mgurn went over a systems check to make sure the ship was ready for a fast take off if we needed it to be. I didn’t argue and let him take all the time he needed. I was Team Fast Take Off, for sure.

“I am ready,” Mgurn said. “The ship is ready. Are you ready, Joe?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said and stood up. “Let’s get suited up and see what there is to see.”

We made our way down to the cargo hold. After donning full environmental suits, battle armor, and shield generators, we proceeded to get all armed to the teeth.

Mgurn had four KL09 heavy pistols, one for each hand, two H16 plasma carbine multi-weapons, a double row of ion grenades, and what looked like a baseball bat strapped to his leg, before he gave me a thumbs up.

I strapped on two KL09s and took just one H16 plasma carbine multi-weapon. I didn’t have four hands, just the two. Plus, if I lost my carbine and the two KL09s on me didn’t do the trick then a second H16 probably wouldn’t be much more help and only add to my weight load. I wasn’t a two-meter-plus tall bug hound, so I needed to think about that kind of thing.

“I am opening the ramp,” Mgurn announced.

He had one hand on the button and the other three holding weapons. I brought up my H16 and aimed it at the back of the ship as the cargo ramp slowly lowered itself to the planet’s surface. The edge thumped audibly, even through my helmet, and charcoal dust plumed up into the air. We both waited for it to settle then slowly made our way down the ramp.

We had landed dead center in the ring of fire. Nothing came to greet us, nothing came out of any shadows, not that there were any shadows, to rush us and try to eat our faces.