August 1998 Story

[Airtube Leading to Power Generator, G3 on Lost Point Map]

The lighting in the tunnel is not much better than that provided by the eternal night beyond the walls of curved plastiglass. This corridor--like most in Lost Point--is flooded ankle-deep with murky water.

[Syzygy Detecting Alarms/Defenses: 60 (base) + 20 (skill x 10) + 10 (INTUITION modifier) = 90%; Rolled: 44]

"I don't see any security devices, other than a lock on the door," mumbles Syzygy through his spacesuit radio.

T'Klkk searches every direction for any sign of opposition while Syzygy sets to work on the simple mechanical lock barring entry to the power generator.

Urugg pauses to speculate. "Have either of you wondered why the real Dakka would end up here anyway? That still bugs me. There's nothing we know of in First Landing that he couldn't get elsewhere--as far as money, a secure hiding place or anything else. Besides the out-of-the-way location, First Landing doesn't have many other attractions if you're a super-criminal setting up shop."

[Syzygy Opening Locks: 50 (base) + 20 (skill x 10) - 20 (lock level x 10) + 10 (INTUITION modifier) = 60%; Rolled: 07]

Syzygy smiles at his success. "See, Kare's not the only one who can pass through a lock like butter!"

The power generator room's floor is slightly elevated--and therefore dry. Three airlocks, in the west, north and east walls, apparently give access to the outside world, but the dust alone testifies that none of these airlocks has been touched for months--if not years.

A pre-fab nuclear reactor unit sits in the middle of the otherwise quite empty room. The complex network of tubes and casings measures little more than 2 m x 2 m, with a height of 1.5 m. A 50 cm wide tube extends below the unit into the ground an unknown distance. Although obviously not intended to power an installation as large as Lost Point, the power unit has apparently functioned quite well--and shows no signs of tampering.

"Well," says Syzygy. "How should we do this? The quiet way. . ." He pulls out a readied pack of explosives. ". . .or the loud way?"

Urugg places a paw on Syzygy's arm. "No. No explosives. There are good people living here. We want to disarm the inviso-goons--not destroy the outpost's only source of power."

Syzygy puts his kaboomite away. His tone is suddenly quite sober. "Yes. I couldn't agree with you more." He then produces his techkit. "The quiet way, then."

Having convinced herself that the coast is clear, T'Klkk advances. "Self-T'Klkk shall assist you."

[Syzygy Sabotaging Machinery (same as Repairing): 40 (base) + 20 (skill x 10) + 10 (LOGIC modifier) = 70%; Rolled: 70]

It is not the simple task it seemed, but at last Syzygy and T'Klkk succeed in deactivating the device.

What little lighting there was goes black. Syzygy and T'Klkk each bring to life a hand-held flashlight. Urugg first turns on the flashlight mounted on his spacesuit helmet, and then turns on a second flashlight that he holds in his hand. The four yellow beams cast wide circles of light on the room's spacious walls, eventually groping their way back to the door the team came in through.

T'Klkk motions Urugg and Syzygy back to the airtube. "Six degrees of haste are now expedient!"

[Urugg INTUITION: 78; Rolled: 09]

But Urugg stops his two Vrusk companions as they make their first step out into the flooded hallway.

"Hey, wha--" begins Syzygy.

"Look," whispers Urugg. "The ripples gliding towards us. There's something up ahead trudging through the water."

Syzygy focuses his compound vision as far as it can reach down the long air tunnel. "I don't see anything."

T'Klkk's voice carries more dread than an angel of death. "Exactly. You don't."

Syzygy hears the grim tone of T'Klkk's voice and even his buoyant nature becomes steeled with resolve. The splashing of the water in the darkness triggers a latent Vrusk fear of water and its aquatic dangers. It is curious how the unseen can be even more intimidating than the seen.

"Um. . .say, that's scary," is all the levity he can muster. Obviously the natives are on to their ploy, and the Lost Pointers' fancy suits would be more than a match for Syzygy's team's limited firepower.

Syzygy's hand feels for his gyrojet pistol. He checks to make sure the barium rounds are still loaded and ready, in case the mood gets ugly and the invisible must be made visible.

"Fall back," orders T'Klkk in a clicking whisper. "We have eight degrees of tactical disadvantage here. If we step back into the power generator room, we can put the room's door between us and our attackers. Syzygy should have time to re-lock it, while Urugg and I search for something to further secure--"

"No!" clicks Syzygy with new-found defiance. "We've been running and getting kicked for too long. It's time to think outside the circle, and up the ante a little."

To demonstrate his point, Syzygy raises his hand--producing a two kilo stachel of tornadium D-19, wired to a radio detonator. Without waiting for a response, he hurls the satchel just in front of the nearest edge of the on-coming ripples. The satchel lands with a KER-PLUNK and sinks into the dark water. His hand then reaches over to the improvised radio unit that Kare had rigged from the trashed construction robots.

His voice rises so that it can be heard for several meters down the hallway: "I wouldn't come any closer, 'friends.' I've just planted a ten kilo charge at your feet--and if you try to fish around for it, so help me Chrysalis, I'll blow the living shit out of all of you!"

Syzygy's voice seeps with anger, remembering the blows these invisible goons dealt him so recently. "We're here to help you, dammit. And I'm not about to let you kill us before we do it. Now show yourselves or I'll be forced to remove you from the situation!"

As Syzygy's defiant words echo down Lost Point's metal halls, Urugg turns briefly to the Vrusk, dark eyes wide with shock. "Syzygy, NO!"

With a single cat-like movement, Urugg shrugs off his kit bag and the needle rifle slung across his shoulder. The same fluid motion bleeds into a leap which carries the yazirian down into the water. Urugg crouches a moment, one arm popping his suit's helmet seal while the other works free the needle pistol holstered at his side.

Shaking his mane out, he spins to cast both helmet and pistol in the direction of the hatch behind him. The light from his helmet lamp plays crazily over the walls as it sails backward. Wary of the invisible figures up the hallway, he whirls about quickly. To the surprise of all, he begins sloshing carelessly forward into the darkness--shouting to everyone and no one as he draws and casts aside his stunstick. "We can't let this end this way! These are decent people!"

He pauses a moment, eyeing the patterns of ripples ahead. "Lost Pointers! We didn't come here to steal from you, attack you, or hurt your loved ones! We breathe the same air, share your dreams of living in freedom! But you must let us help you!"

Urugg's low-light irises widen in the gloom. "The First Landers say you are criminals, thieves, saboteurs. You say you are not, and I believe you. We should be helping each other, not fighting. What good will it do if you drive us off but suffer, yourselves? How many people can you afford to lose in useless violence?" Urugg pauses a moment, gulping the thin air of the derelict colony.

"You say you just want to live free--but your people are dying. I took a chance and helped a poor Yazirian woman who hides in First Landing's park domes and lives on scraps and handouts. Simeonne Ariel had suffered so badly from the air here that she couldn't even remember her full name. Do you want your women, your children to meet the same end? Take a chance, like I did with Cimmy, and let us help you!"

"Or--choose violence, and prove the First Landers right. Maybe you are just a bunch of thieves and butchers. If you are, then strike me down! I've thrown aside my weapons. Either way, this confrontation ends here!"

Unaccustomed to the thin air, Urugg hunches forward, panting heavily in an instinctive attempt to get normal levels of oxygen into his slowly starving lungs. His head feels light from the thin, stale air. I must be mad, he thinks briefly. But Syzygy was right back in that filthy living pod. Thieves they might be, but these desperate colonists have suffered too much already. I will not add to their misery, even if it means. . .oblivion.

There is a slight electric crackle as a solitary armored figure conjures itself out of nothingness. Another follows. . .and another. . .and another, until eight armored men stand within three meters of Urugg. The dim yellow glow of Syzygy and T'Klkk's flashlights gleams ominously on the long blades protruding from the wrists of the armored men.

Syzygy's chitonous joints lock as he studies the situation through his compound eyes--eyes burning with enough madness to confirm that his threat was real indeed. The Vrusk glances down but an instant at the radio transmitter in his gloved palm. Yes, he says to himself, I will set off the detonator--even if it kills the three of us!

The only sound is that of distant dripping water.

A singled armored figure tilts its alloy head slightly, considering the words that have been spoken.

[Urugg Persuasion: 10 (base) + 30 (skill x 10) + 5 (PERSONALITY modifier) = 45%; Rolled. . .]

[Lost Point Government Center, H6 on Lost Point Map]

"Why did the lights go out?" demands Zane in the darkness.

Kyran marches to a nearby wall panel, his armored feet clacking on the steel floor with every step. "We've lost power!"

"Does that mean we're going to lose life support, too?" continues Zane.

Kyran hesitates. "The life support generators have backup parabatteries that should kick in if there's a major power outage."

Zane studies his wristband toxy-rad gauge, which for some time has been glowing red. The Human medic's voice rings with sincere concern. "Kyran, I don't think the backup power is working. We're steadily dropping in both oxygen and temperature in here."

Kyran's voice suddenly bursts with a shout. "If this is the work of your friends, I will personally see that they are all killed!"

"We can't worry about that right now," says Zane. "We've got an emergency on our hands! These people won't last through another drop in oxygen."

"Well, what are you going to do? Move everyone to First Landing?"

"There isn't time for that," replies Zane, popping the seal on his spacesuit helmet. He had been considering removing his suit for some time, in hopes of looking more Human to these people. Now it is a necessity.

With rapid motions, Zane removes a heavy tank from his suit and kneels next to one of the more weakened Yazirians. "I've got eighteen hours of oxygen in this suit. These people need it more than I do."

Zane twists a cup-shaped plastic attachment to a hose on the oxygen tank and presses the cup to the Yazirian's lips. He then passes from mouth to mouth, distributing brief doses of oxygen at a panicked pace.

What am I doing? thinks Zane. I can't keep all of these people from suffocating with a single oxgyen hose. This is hopeless!

But then he hears a gasp behind him. Zane turns to see that Kyran, too, has removed his helmet. Funny, this is the first time Zane has seen the man's face: bushy black eyebrows with enkempt beard to match, scarred leather skin. Apparently the armored suits are also self-contained pressure suits, for Kyran has pulled a hose from his armor and is feeding the sick masses with the suit's precious oxygen supply.

Zane sacrifices a valuable second to consult his toxy-rad gauge. "Oxygen levels are still dropping!"

"Contact your friends!" orders Kyran. "Tell them to do whatever they must to get our power back. We will not die!

"I've tried that. They're not responding!"

Kyran stops. . .and lets out a sigh of resignation. "Well, then. There is only one solution. The monorail tube is pressurized not by us, but by First Landing. There we will find the breathing air that my people need. Unfortunately, the tunnel is also monitored and controlled by First Landing. Once my people enter the tube, they're as good as sold out to First Landing."

Zane considers Kyran's words. "Kyran, our utmost priority is to keep these people alive."

Kyran bows his head in defeat. "So be it."

[Life Support Section, H8 on Lost Point Map]

Three flashlight beams scan the room and its four exits.

"The lights are out," says Taanik's voice in the darkness. "Let's hope that means that T'Klkk, Syzygy and Urugg succeeded in their mission."

"I don't like this," says Kare. "The power generator isn't very far from here. The others should be back by now."

Tork grits his fangs. "You can bet that we've got the inviso-goons' attention this time. I hope our away mission didn't run into them."

Kare double checks her automatic rifle. "If they did, the goons are sure to make this their next stop."

"That's why we need a diversion," says Taanik. "The goons know we're in this general area. If we sent the two operational construction bots out walking towards First Landing, the goons might think we're trying to escape--and head off following them."

"Hmm," considers Tork. "We also have to consider that we need to get Spider out of here, but we don't have a spacesuit for him. Taanik, how much air is left in your oxygen tank?"

"About 18 hours. Why?"

"All right, that means 9 hours for two people. How fast can these robots move?"

"They're pretty heavy," says Taanik. "Over clear terrain, they could probably do about eighteen kilometers an hour. On the rough terrain out there, I'd say maybe fourteen and a half kilometers and hour." [i.e. 30 meters/turn on clear terrain (yellow), 24 meters/turn on broken terrain (orange) and 6 meters/turn on mountain terrain (brown)]

Tork consults the map of Metrosphere. "Every hexagon on this map represents one kilometer, so First Landing is about 15 kilometers away from here by the most direct route. This means these robots could journey to First Landing in about an hour. The nearest robot mine to the north is about 8 kilometers away. There's an inactive mine just 5 km southeast, assuming the tunnel on this map is still clear. There's also another robot mine about 20 kilometers due east."

"What did you have in mind?" asks Taanik.

"Well, I'm not sure. But you can control these robots better than anyone else on our team. Each robot has a cargo section big enough to hold Spider, if he curled into a ball like a cat. And Taanik, since you're a Dralasite, you could fit in with him as well if you did some careful shape-shifting around his body. Now these cargo sections look fairly air-tight, so the two of you could last about nine hours one the oxygen remaining in your spacesuit."

"So you want me and Spider to get inside one of these construction bots and head out onto the open moon surface."

"That's what I was thinking," says Tork. "You'll want to take the second robot with you, in case you run into any trouble. The only problem is, I don't know where the best place is for you to go. Spider's definitely going to be a hunted man if you return to First Landing. Then again, maybe you can find a way to sneak into First Landing and hide. I know it's a dangerous assignment, Taanik--but you're about the only guy on our team that can pull it off."

"All right then," says Taanik. "I'll do it."

"Make sure you take one of my radio transmitters with you," says Kare. "You'll be able to use it to communicate with us, and also to control both construction robots."

Taanik looks at the broken Human they had chased all the way to Lost Point. "Well, Spider. Are you ready?"

The Human shrugs. "Might as well."

[Monorail Station, I6 on Lost Point Map]

Zane and Kyran help the first few dozen Lost Point citizens to the unlit monorail station, assisting or carrying the sick as necessary.

To their surprise, the tunnel hatch opens by itself, letting in a flood of twenty four anthropomorphic security robots--each holding a shimmering black rifle.

The hologram of First Landing's chief director lights up amid the robots.

"Mr. Streel," says Zane with surprise.

"You have done well," compliments the First Landing director. "I have known about these poor creatures for some time, but I could do nothing for them. Now, however, things have changed on Metrosphere, and the time has finally come for them to join the rest of us in First Landing."

The twenty-four androids are already at work, herding the sick masses into the monorail train like cattle. One of the weaker Lost Point citizens collapses. A robot responds immediately, dragging the fallen victim along like a piece of broken down machinery.

"Hey! Be careful!" protests Zane. "A lot of these people are in critical condition. Mr. Streel--"

"Your work here is done," snaps the Lost Point director with unexpected impatience. These people will be cared for. Now, go find the rest of your team. Tell them that my orders are to return at once to First Landing."

Zane is somewhat confused at his boss's sudden rude manner. He looks at the weakened Humans and Yazirians, many of them near death, as they are crammed like cargo into the confines of the monorail train.

"What's going on here?"

The hologram vanishes without bothering to reply.

[Life Support Section, H8 on Lost Point Map]

With Taanik, Spider and the construction bots gone, Kare and Tork are left to fend for themselves in the life support room.

"The others still aren't back," says Kare. "This is looking worse by the minute."

Tork glances over the life support equipment for the last time. "This stuff hasn't been working since the power went out. It looks like there's no use even trying to sabotage it."

"Right," says Kare. "I can see this system has a backup parabattery, but the battery has leaked itself dry. It's useless. Still, I wouldn't put it past the Lost Point stooges to draw the conclusion that the malfunction is our fault. And if that's the case, they're probably on their way as we speak."

The room is suddenly filled with a constant hum, followed by several clicks. The lights come to life with a loud buzzing sound, flooding the room with blinding white.

Kare's eyes adjust quickly, but Tork--with his light-sensitive Yazirian pupils--is still blinded.

"Wha--" begins Tork, shielding his eyes.

"Power's back," replies Kare as she looks around cautiously.

Tork blinks through the tears, popping open his helmet and putting his sungoggles back in place. "So whatever our strike team did just got un-done."

Kare nods. "And my money says the bad guys stop here next."

Kare and Tork crouch behind the life support equipment. Kare readies her rifle and pulls out her knife. Tork checks his grenades for readiness, and then lays his automatic rifle on his right shoulder while he grips his automatic pistol with his left hand.

Minutes of silence pass. . .interrupted by the inevitable sound of the north door being opened.

There is a long pause as the door stands open.

"What's going on?" whispers Kare.

"Shh, listen." replies Tork. "Do you hear that? Footsteps--in this room. The invisible soldiers, they're here."

Kare goes to her belt. "Then I say we wish them well with a few wide-range grenades."

Tork considers this carefully. "Agreed. On three. One. . .Two. . ."

"Team-mates! Hold your fire!" orders the familiar Vrusk voice of T'Klkk.

Eight armored men slip into visibility as T'Klkk enters the room, followed by Urugg and Syzygy.

"What happened?" demands Tork.

Urugg speaks up. "We came to an understanding. We all know there's bad stuff going on in First Landing right now. We've agreed that the last thing both of us need is more enemies. The Lost Point men have offered us free leave--with their best wishes. Once we find out for sure what's going on with Dakka Syte, we may need each other's help."

"Sounds good to me," says Tork. "Let's find Zane and get out of here."