Janus Arrival: Journey's End: Janus Paradisi, #4

151AA

Paradisi Planetary System

Tenebra

Chapter 1

TO THE MINES

Tenebra Orbit, 151AA

Paradisi Planetary System

The ground vehicle bumped its way across Tenebra’s rough surface.

Katya Ulyanov hated the pungent tang of sulfur compounds that leaked in from the outside atmosphere and clung to the transport’s stark interior. Until she adjusted her breather mask the harsh, sour taste with an undertone of rotten eggs had irritated her throat. Welcome to Tenebra!

She looked around at her four companions.

Director Angel Flores sat stony-faced, staring into the middle distance, her Asiatic-Hispanic features revealing nothing.

The two JCorp agents, SAS Trooper ‘Taff’ Davies and SEAL Sgt. Hassan Singh, slouched in their seats.

Commander Reach sat hunched over in the seat next to Katya’s, giving every appearance of surrendering to defeat.

The meeting in the dome had gone badly.

At first, Graversen had played his part well. The military governor, General Rana Corvina, sent the medical team to study the cryo-amnesia records held at a nearby base.

Then the worm turned.

Graversen accused Reach of murder and mutiny, demanding Corvina provide troops to seize SS Challenge. Reach’s anger boiled over: he was subdued by a rifle-butt.

There was worse to come. Corvina handed Dextra Justice to the civilian governor, Seo Rajtar, as a plaything. An enraged Commander Reach was powerless to intervene, as were the disarmed and outnumbered Jakes.

After Graversen left to join the boarding party, Corvina revealed that the Challenge’s human cargo would become slave laborers and medical experimentation subjects. Corvina sent the rest of the landing party, Katya and the other four, to the mines.

Yes, it went badly. It needs fixing. And fast.

Should be easy. Escape from the armed guards, find a way to survive in Tenebra’s poison air, somehow contact the Challenge and rendezvous with an evac team. Should be easy. Hah!

She looked at the commander again. His head hung low. He was either deep in thought or in a fog of despair.

The loss of Dextra must be crippling...

Katya felt the need for action to shake off this containment. She looked around for some opportunity to escape.

The prisoners were in the rear compartment of the transport. Facing them were seated two Tenebran guards in black exoskeleton armor. Their tags advertised their names as Izard Hart and Jack Waxman. Each had a rifle resting across his knees. Occasional head movements suggested they were in private conversation via their suits’ intercoms.

The driver was in the forward compartment. The connecting door was closed.

On each side of the compartment was a sliding door.

She was measuring the distance when she felt Commander Reach tapping her thigh with his finger. It was too rhythmical to be caused by random buffeting. Katya turned to scowl at him, forgetting the mask obscuring her face. Something about his manner changed her attitude. She realized he was trying to communicate.

The commander gave a small nod toward the front of the compartment, then another toward its side. She shook her head a little and shrugged to show she did not understand.

He repeated the actions. She got it. He was indicating the guards and one of the exits.

She leaned forward, turning her head as if to listen, hoping he would realize she needed more info.

He ran his finger across her thigh, tracing a straight line, then a curve, then a cross. She did not get it. She watched his hand as he repeated the action. DX? It took her a moment.

Dextra!

He wanted her to distract the guards while he escaped to go and rescue Dextra Justice from the dome.

Katya had assessed the guards’ armor during the interrogation in the dome’s conference room. Hard, black plates linked by what looked like armored mesh at the wearers’ joints. Bare fists would be useless.

She shook her head slightly. This was unwise. He had to wait.

He leaned back, inhaling deeply to expand his chest and raise his shoulders. It made him look bigger, a male demonstration of authority. She glanced at the other occupants. No one else seemed to have noticed, certainly not the inattentive guards.

The plan was crazy. Surprise and speed might beat any intervention from the driver, but the two armored and weaponed guards facing them would be more than enough to overcome.

Katya curled her upper body, squirming a little, trying to convey reluctance.

The commander nodded openly.

I’d really advise against this, but you’re in charge. I’d do the same for Zag. Good luck.

She nodded back at him.

Holding down her little finger with her thumb, she raised a hand to her ear and rubbed it with three fingers outstretched. You’d better get this, Commander. On a count of three. There’s no second chance and it’s my ass on the line.

He nodded.

She lowered her head, a slow nod. Then a second time. She tensed. The commander tensed. Katya slow-nodded a third time.

She sprang like a cat from her seated position the length of the compartment and bundled into the nearest guard, Izard Hart. She jammed her knee between his spread legs and head-butted him, dislodging his face mask. He slammed back against the wall. Her knee screamed with pain and a flock of fireflies burst into a spinning confusion behind her eyes. As she suspected, this armor was iron solid.

Hart scrabbled for his mask with one hand and his rifle with the other, thrashing about with his legs. He was not as stunned as she hoped he would be.

The other guard recovered quickly from his surprise and rammed his rifle butt against her side. She bent with the blow as best she could but was still entangled in Hart’s legs. Katya lost her balance and fell heavily onto the metal flooring. Waxman raised his rifle again, preparing to slam the butt into her face.

She struggled violently, trying in vain to disengage her legs so she could respond, move away, or block the blow. It was useless.

From somewhere, Commander Reach appeared, charging for the door next to Waxman. The guard was in his way. Not for long.

He slammed into Waxman with his shoulder, knocking him off-balance. The guard staggered to one side, losing interest in Katya for a moment, giving her a chance to recover. She untangled herself in an instant and rolled away. The commander was through the door and gone.

Hassan and Taff had overcome their surprise; they were on their feet and moving forward in support. Both guards aimed their weapons at them. They were still too far away to grab or knock away the rifles. The Jakes froze.

Katya, taking advantage of the guards’ attention slipping away from her, tensed to leap from the floor. Hart was too sharp. He turned his rifle toward her. The revolt was over.

An alarm sounded. The clean air was leaching away as the foul Tenebran atmosphere seeped in.

The driver’s voice sounded over a speaker, demanding to know what was happening.

Hart closed the exit door with one hand and called out. Panic over, Jons. Keep going.

They gestured to the seating with their rifles. The other JCorpers sat. Katya raised her hands, rose elegantly, and returned to her place, faking a limp. It was always good to show vulnerability, to give the opposition a false sense of superiority.

Hart unfastened his mask and gestured to his comrade to do likewise. Gonna pay for that, bitch, when we reach the mines. Gonna pay real bad. I got lotsa friends there.

His comrade was more subdued. We’re gonna have to report this.

Yeah, but we’ll get our story straight first. Forget the lost one. If the poison air don’t get him, the ogres will. Stay alert. Think about when we arrive. He nodded toward Katya. You too, blondie. Think about after we arrive. It’ll cheer you up. He licked his lips. "It’s already cheering me up."

She gave no reaction. Katya was thinking about what these ‘ogres’ could be. Some native beast named after terrifying creatures from children’s stories? Her briefing had said there were no large or hostile creatures on Tenebra. She decided to dismiss it as some scare story invented to encourage the civilians to stay in the nice, safe settlement.

The guards sat further apart to make harder targets and covered the prisoners with their rifles. They were now as alert as they should have been earlier. There would be no second attempt without casualties.

Good luck, Commander. If you take on any more of these guys, you’ll need all the luck in the world. All the luck in all the worlds, plural.

The vehicle continued its trundling way toward the mines. The guards held their silence for a long while.

Waxman finally spoke. You know we’re gonna get whipped for letting that guy escape?

Been thinking ’bout that. Maybe we could just say we volted him. Hart patted the odd weapon cradled in his arms. He fell under the wheels and we left him for the ogres to eat?

What? Ogres really do eat people? I heard so, but I dunno...

Well, we volted him and he fell under the wheels. No point dragging in a pile of pulp. He patted his weapon again.

Katya’s attention fell on the short rifle. She took the time to reassess the impression of the weapons she had gained while being held at gunpoint in the conference room. The rear section looked standard for a rifle: shoulder stock, trigger within a thin metal guard, a switch that was probably a safety catch, a downward projecting ammunition holder...

The eighteen-inch barrel was unfamiliar. Around its length spiraled a coil: a velocity-enhancing, electromagnetic something? From the muzzle projected a short spike that narrowed toward the tip; the end of the barrel carried a short, widening funnel made of metallic mesh.

Waxman nodded. Yeah. Volted and pulped. That’ll just be cut rations and extra duty hours.

Hart turned his gaze to Katya, his lips curling in a mockery of a smile. No need to worry about rations. I know where we can get extra.

He leaned forward and jabbed a finger at her. Hey, blondie. You’ll be wanting water. You’ll be wanting food. Can’t work if you’re starving and all dried-out. No work means no rations. You’ll have to come to me on your knees and beg for them. And we’ll see what happens next. He laughed, the cruelty in his voice echoing the brutality of his words.

For a moment she was back in the desert camp on Earth, hearing the laughter of rapists and murderers. She smelled flames. Blood pounded in her ears like a rapid sequence of explosions. Every muscle in her body tensed.

Hart spotted her changed position and aimed his weapon directly at her. Freeze, blondie. Hell, man. This bitch really needs taking down.

Okay, but leave it now. We’re almost at the mines. It can wait. Waxman nodded at the view through the corrosion-etched window.

Yeah. Hart wiped his mouth on his sleeve. It can wait.

Through the yellow-stained glass, Katya saw the mountain’s dark, looming bulk towering over them. She forced herself to relax.

Yes, it can wait... until I am ready.

Chapter 2

CONTACT LOST

Zag Bishop sat in SS Challenge’s Mission Control Center alongside the Senior Comms Officer, Jessica Hilton. They orbited one hundred sixty miles above the planet’s overheated dust surface.

He had watched the Vanguard landing craft descend and armored Tenebran soldiers boarding it. They were firm but not aggressive as they removed the party’s comms and weapons. They used a device that blanked-out the craft’s internal surveillance cameras. The Tenebrans clearly wanted Challenge blind to proceedings planetside.

Maybe it’s for genuine security reasons. The Tenebrans know nothing about us, except we claim to be the colonist fleet’s eleventh ship arriving a hundred-fifty years after the first ten ships without explanation. Okay, maybe that’d make me want to be careful, too.

Try calling again.

Jessica gave him a sympathetic smile. She was one of the few aboard who wore eye makeup. He found he quite liked the throwback to an earlier time. Zag had heard she was popular among the crew: he could see why. But his thoughts were focused on the women in the landing party. He could not decide whether he worried more about Angel or Katya.

Jessica hailed the surface installation. "SS Challenge to Tenebra Station. We have lost contact with our landing party. Please report their status."

"Tenebra Station to Challenge. Basic security measures. All is stable. Don’t flood this channel with trivia. Maintain radio silence."

The surface communications operator broke contact.

Jessica turned to Zag with a grim expression. She shrugged. Nothing I can do.

He nodded to her. It’s okay. Thanks. Let me know of any developments.

Zag checked the time and commed his people. We’re moving to Orange status. Lucy One and Lucy Two on advanced standby.

He turned to another bank of screens. One showed a long-range line of sight scan of the surface. The ship would pass over the horizon within a few minutes, losing even that fragile link to the surface.

Those long-range views had shown the landing party shepherded at gunpoint across the red-brown sands of the Tenebran Badlands and into the waiting ground vehicles. The sturdy military transports mounted the great ridge separating the Badlands from a cluster of buildings, the only settlement Challenge had discovered. They headed down toward the main structure, a huge dome that probably housed the residential and administration center.

Then the signal broke up. The ship passed over the horizon. There would be no more long-range scans until it rose above the horizon once more.

As far as Tenebra was concerned, Challenge was deaf and blind.

Just the way the Tenebrans wanted it to be.

Zag knew better.

JCorp’s technical wizard, Peter Cobb, had installed monitoring devices in Jane, the robot captured from the Janua Space Station. Reach had handed it over to Corvina and it obediently stayed close to her. Zag could witness everything happening in its vicinity.

When triggered by Jessica, a transmitter in Jane’s head fired a burst of compressed and encrypted recordings that bounced off the single Tenebran communications satellite. Challenge could monitor them even when the ship was over the horizon. But only so far over it. There were painful stretches of time when they orbited into true comms darkness beyond the range of the bounced signals.

Zag knew everything that happened before Jane went with Corvina to the base.

His anger and frustration grew as Graversen’s treachery and callousness ramped up. Zag’s backup plan was ready to roll but he could not launch it until the ship was secured against the turncoat’s planned assault by Tenebran forces. He slammed a fist against the console. Zag was surprised by how much it hurt. He stared at it, addressing his thoughts to the aching hand.

Damn that man! Graversen never gives up. I swear he’ll never reach New Eden. I told Reach we should airlock or cryo-freeze the bastard.

He commed his team leaders, who were watching Jane’s feed in a nearby conference room. "Stand by, everyone. We can’t launch the extraction until we know Challenge is safe. Work up some combat assessments. For up here and down there."

He did not bother to subvocalize. Jessica and the other Reacher comms crew heard his words and his fury. She patted his hand and gave him a grim smile. I’m sure you’ll succeed.

Zag wished he was as certain. He did not like what he had seen on the feed: a psychopathic Graversen behaving true to form, a power-mad military governor, troopers with heavy armor and advanced weaponry... Worse, he now faced combat in two places, one in space and another on the planet’s surface. Zag reluctantly recognized the ship’s security took priority: extracting the landing party came second.

On the planet, Jane left the cells area and followed Corvina along the hallways to the loading bay. Systems aboard Challenge monitored her location and her surroundings as she boarded a land vehicle and rode across the sands with the general to the base.

Jessica, get the base’s location. We might lose the signal when Jane gets inside.

She nodded her confirmation.

Thanks, keep the feed active. Keep me informed.

He subvocalized a call to Peter. I want you to make a couple of edits real fast before we show the recordings to the crew.

His next call was to all Founder command officers and key Reachers. He wanted them all to see what was happening on Tenebra.

* * *

Zag showed the edited recording to a gathering of ship’s section chiefs and supervisors, with shipwide screenings in all assembly areas and duty rooms for the entire crew to view. There was outrage and total hostility toward Graversen. Any support the man once had was lost.

So that’s a huge win already. One bloodless battle won, two bloody conflicts coming up.

Zag stood and broke through the hubbub generated by those present in the conference room and over the ship’s speakers by those viewing from around the Challenge. Do I have your support in defending you and your sleeping families against the experimentation and mining slavery plans of this foul regime Graversen has allied with?

It was not a magnificent call to action, but they were angry already. He needed no great speech to stir the flames. He heard the calls of unanimous agreement.

"Thank you. I’ll come to some of you later to ask for the resources we’ll need. But right now, I swear to you they will not take this ship!"

Now that’s more like an inspiring slogan!

Zag felt pleased with himself. Tamsin Bird, ship’s security officer, approached him as the others filed out.

We’ve had our differences in the past... she began.

Differences? She conspired with Graversen to take over the ship, peppered me with Taser barbs till I nearly died, then took Angel hostage and threatened to kill her. Yeah, differences.

We have. Zag tried to sound neutral, even showing an ironic version of his trademark lopsided grin. He had to put the past behind him for now. He had to focus on the bigger picture.

She made a slicing movement with her hand in the space between them. But what Mads is cooperating with is beyond all decency. I believe he’s gone... She paused. "Let’s say living