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Lyra’s tone was clinical, devoid of emotion.

  Judith’s voice filtered over the Link. Something in her tone told Nerishka that the woman knew exactly what she should be expecting.

  Lyra replied tonelessly.

  Judith replied, her voice now hollow and edged with a tremor. Nerishka recognized it—dread.

  said Dresden.

  Kelem asked and the group snickered at that, but from the underlying tension, the banter was intended to help keep everyone calmer.

  It didn’t.

  LEADS

  STELLAR DATE: 10.14.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)

  LOCATION: Greshan Settlement

  REGION: Xerxes, Ayra System (Independent)

  The team split up into pairs and proceeded to inspect the first two buildings. Nerishka remained with Dresden who took the larger structure to their right.

 

  suggested Nerishka.

  Dresden reached the door and palmed the lock, surprising both of them when it slid open. Nerishka commented over the team’s comms.

  reported Kelem.

  Dresden stepped inside first, pistol held high, tracking back and forth across the room. Then he relaxed and straightened, but only slightly.

  Nerishka nodded and headed down the corridor that ran the length of the boxlike building. The home—because that’s what the structure appeared to be—was made of rectangular portable modules that could be placed together to create whatever layout was required, convenient for adding more space as time went.

  They’d stepped into a room decorated with a family in mind. Five low plush-cushioned wooden sofas occupied the right of the room, draped with rugs and littered with toys and puzzles. A few mismatched shoes were scattered on the colorful tapestry rug on the floor within the formation. Two slices of tree-trunks masqueraded as coffee tables, half a meter high and coated with a honey-colored glaze.

  To their left sat an irregular shaped dining room table, continuing the theme of honey colored wood, its chairs covered in colorful, overstuffed seats. Beyond the dining area sat a good-sized kitchen, counters littered with open bottles and moldy pieces of bread.

  As Nerishka drifted through the room, the common theme of mugs with their contents covered in mold, plates with uneaten food coated in a light green fur, flies buzzing around open jars along the kitchen counters. Someone had attempted a PB&J and had left the job half done. The sight brought a lump to Nerishka’s throat.

  She walked stiffly through the living room, angling toward the left where a small hallway led to three rooms further down and an open doorway to her immediate right. She paused on the threshold of a small office.

  Three maps covered the back wall, and shelving filled with boxes was to her left. The right wall contained a large window, throwing light onto the large desk in the middle of the floor. And upon the man who sat in the chair, facing Nerishka.

  came Dresden’s voice, along with those of Kelem and Judith on the team Link.

  Dresden’s footsteps echoed behind her as he drew up at her shoulder. She didn’t turn to face him, just studied the dead man who sat so very still at his desk. He appeared to have been working on something and had fallen on his face, then died in that position. Nerishka pointed at the surface of the desk.

  Lyra spoke up.

  Nerishka walked closer to the man and peered at the paperwork in front of him. They appeared to be maps of Greshan and the area surrounding the settlement—perhaps the entire farm property. He was lying on something—another map maybe?—and it was ripped away, leaving only the corner of whatever was taken.

  Nerishka pointed at the torn sheet.

  Dresden said, his forehead creasing in a frown.

  Nerishka shrugged.

  She leaned closer to the corpse, and studied his face, glad for the respirator. She didn’t want to contemplate the odor that would have filled this home. The man’s eyes were open, glazed over with blood that had dried days ago. His fist was clenched tightly and Nerishka frowned, leaning close to him.

  Dresden warned, glaring at her when she glanced back up at him.

  Lifting a pen from the desk, she inserted it into his closed fist and pushed open the rotting fingers one at a time. A small shard of metal lay on his palm and Nerishka picked it up. But before she got a chance to study it, Kelem’s voice came on the team Link.

  Dresden turned and hurried out of the building, Nerishka following as she slid the shard into her pocket. she muttered on the Link. But nobody replied.

  Nerishka hurried out into the glaring sunlight and followed Dresden down the wide street. The other two had gathered at the far end of a small alley that ran between two buildings to a clearing beyond.

  She’d just reached them when Dresden said,

  Nerishka skirted the huddle and stopped in her tracks, staring at a twenty-meter crater.

  asked Judith, staring around them.

  Lyra replied to the team.

  Nerishka circled the depression and studied the area around it.

  Lyra confirmed, plotting the various footprints on Nerishka’s HUD, overlaying it on a map of the immediate area, including the crater.

  Dresden said with a low grunt.

  said Lyra.

  Nerishka frowned.

  said Nerishka.

  Lyra expanded the map to include the entire settlement, overlaying the multiple footprints as they tracked through the streets.

  said Dresden.

  Nerishka nodded slowly.

  Lyra said.

  Nerishka asked Lyra, a suspicion forming in her mind.

 

  Nerishka nodded, one eye on the team as they worked their way through the settlement. They appeared tense, wary, as though expecting something to jump them at any second. Lyra sent her a comforting rush of emotion.

  Nerishka called out to them.

  Kelem grunted. no? This is insane. What’s so important that you grab it, and don’t come back for the people.>

  Judith glanced over at Nerishka.

 

  Dresden spoke up, He glanced at Nerishka who nodded.

  yelled Lyra over the team Link.

  The group scattered, racing for the tree-line as fast as possible. asked Dresden.

 

  Nerishka said as the team raced through the streets and across the fields toward the jungle.

  Once they reached the dying forest, Lyra spoke up.

  The team veered to the south, following a route Lyra highlighted. At the ten-minute mark, a flash of light grew behind them, followed by a rolling thunder and a hot wind that whipped through the trees, knocking some of the sicker ones over.

  Kelem cried out.

  No one responded for a minute, then Lyra spoke up.

  Nerishka glanced at Dresden, her eyes wide.

 

  Kelem muttered.

  Dresden said, nodding slowly as the team formed up in a loose circle the, a-grav unit pulling up behind them a moment later.

  Judith muttered.

  Dresden cocked his head, a scowl visible through his faceplate.

  Kelem barked a laugh and clasped Dresden’s shoulder.

  Lyra advised.

  Nerishka replied.

  Three hours later, the team paused in a ravine to strip out of their hazsuits and hide them under a pile of rocks. Nerishka took care to place the sliver of metal she’d secured into a sealed, lead-lined container before pulling her suit off.

  The a-grav unit was running out of power, and they dismantled it and shoved it into a small cave, shouldering the equipment it had carried.

  Dresden said as they set out once more.

  Judith commented as they climbed out of the ravine, a laugh on her lips.

  Nerishka said to the woman who only shrugged in response.

 

  * * * * *

  Four hours later they were finally back in a vehicle, taking a long route around to the south-west, where they’d enter the city from the other direction.

  The official line was that eco-terrorists who supported the jungle’s re-growth had destroyed Greshan. It was a bit extreme, but from the network feeds, the public seemed to be buying it. There was a history of ecological conflict on the planet.

  Still…ecological terrorists dropping a nuke is pretty farfetched, Nerishka thought. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

  Dresden said privately to Nerishka.

 

 

  Nerishka looked into Dresden’s serious eyes and nodded in response.

  Dresden said after a few moments of silence.

  Nerishka couldn’t help gritting her teeth at the thought of how coldly calculating their adversary must be.

 

  * * * * *

  They were still within the jungle when Nerishka realized she hadn’t thanked Lyra for her work in the field.

  Nerishka said.

  the AI responded with a blush and managed to sound awkward.

  Nerishka smirked and Lyra responded with a grin.

 

  Nerishka realized the AI was right. She hadn’t slept since waking up on the Belshazzar the day it had docked at Nimrud Station.

  She took Lyra’s advice, and didn’t wake until they pulled into a different bay on the far side of Arraphka Tower from where they’d departed.

  “Have a good sleep, princess?” Judith asked with a laugh as the vehicle rolled to a stop.

  “Queen, not princess,” Nerishka winked at Judith as she slid out of the vehicle, glad to be standing on ground that wasn’t moving.

  A stack of cargo containers rested at the back of the bay, and the team stored their equipment inside, signaling cargo drones to take it back up to Nimrud and begin its transfer through a variety of shipping companies before delivering them to the safe house.

  Everyone was either tired or waking up as they rode the elevator back up to the station in silence. Nerishka nearly fell asleep twice and ended up using her nano to stim her into full wakefulness.

  As the car was slotting into the station’s transfer hub, Dresden signaled Judith and Kelem. “We’ll meet you back there. Nerishka and I have to have a chat.”

  Judith’s eyes slid to Nerishka and she gave a slight nod, while Kelem grunted. “Works for me.”

  Nerishka watched them depart first, angling toward the maglev platform before she glanced over at Dresden and saw the look in his eye.

  Great. Time to talk.

  GATES

  STELLAR DATE: 10.15.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)

  LOCATION: Nimrud Station

  REGION: Xerxes, Ayra System (Independent)

  “So, where are we going?” she asked, wondering what he was thinking, if he was pissed or worried. His expressions for those two feelings were often hard to tell apart.

  Instead, he only shrugged. “We’ve got a shitload of samples from the site, but still no real answers. We need a lab and I know a guy.”

  said Lyra, sounding hesitant as she barged into the conversation.

  “You got something?” Nerishka asked.

 

  Dresden asked.

  Lyra began, econds of the belt’s inner edge.>

  Nerishka nodded.

  Dresden chuckled, shaking his head as he stopped at the edge of the concourse they were walking through, peering out at the world of Xerxes below them.

  Nerishka shook her head.

 

  In their minds, Lyra’s avatar straightened, a smug smile on her lips.

  Nerishka groaned.

 
 

  Nerishka whispered.

  Lyra replied.