Still Falling: Book 1: Solstice 31 Saga (2 page)

CHAPTER TWO

Escape and Evasion

“Barcus was in shock. This narrative sheds a whole new light on the Solstice 31 Incident. It is clear that he did not destroy the Ventura. Please note: The new hostile environment survival modules in this highly customized AI had never been tested.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team. 26630113

<<<>>>

“Mr. Barcus, sir. We must go. Now.” The spider AI woke him from his shock and despair. It had an edge of urgency in its voice.

The sun was almost down, and the freezing wind was picking up. It just occurred to him that it was way below freezing. In his standard coveralls that he wore inside the maintenance suit,he'd die o
f
exposur
e
soon.

Maybe he'd just stay. Here with her.

He lowered Chen to the ground beneath an overhang of shale and began to pile rocks around her and finally upon her. He closed her eyes and gently kissed her forehead before he covered her face. Finished, he finally stepped back. Tears were freezing on his face.

“Sir, please. We must go.” The suit had already docked inside the EM. It had lowered its belly and slid open the hatch. It was positioning directly above Barcus as he began to stand. When he was fully on his feet, it lowered directly over him, through the hatch, like lowering a jar onto a beetle. All he had to do was step up and in. He hesitated. The maintenance suit was like a huge black robot that the Emergency Module’s artificial intelligence program could control. It was already secured inside.

The six seats in the EM made it feel like the van his parents had when he was a kid. The interior was completely white - until the HD3D-Display activated. Then it seemed like he was in a convertible with the top down - virtual displays in every direction.

The EM was already moving as the hatch closed. The relatively smooth movement over such rocky terrain was impressive for a ground-based transport. He watched the Shuttle Transport Unit fade into the mountain.

Barcus slumped into the driver seat as more displays activated. He held his face in his hands as the full impact of what has happened sank in. Despair filled him as the adrenaline faded from his blood. The Emergency Module moved easily across the jagged ridge. The lights inside the module had dimmed while he sobbed.

The night sky was full of unfamiliar stars as the clouds thinned. He leaned back and strapped in without thinking. The module was equipped with a full 5-point harness. The cliff to his right convinced him it was a good idea. The EM picked up the pace as soon as he was strapped in. Not as smooth now, but moving at a breakneck speed.

“Barcus?” It was a young woman’s voice. She sounded upset. Afraid. “Are you okay?”

“Who are you? Where are you?” Barcus began scanning the displays, looking for comm traffic geolocation. “Where are you?”

“Barcus, it's me, Em.” Slowly he realized that it was the AI in the Emergency Module, Em. “I'm worried about you, Barcus. Are you injured? There's so much blood. Inside the STU, we didn’t give you a med-scan. Was any of the blood yours?”

Barcus slammed his hand down on the console and screamed, “NO!” He was unaware if he was answering Em's question or venting because he knew he was still alone. The voice seemed so real. So human. So much emotion. “No. It fucking wasn't mine. It was Chen's. I had on the fucking EVA maintenance suit. It’s like armor…” He saw bits of debris burning down from the sky above. “They're all dead, okay? I was in the damned suit...” He looked at the sky, debris burning in.

“Barcus, I'm so sorry.” She genuinely sounded sad, sincerely sorry for him.

“Look, Em. I know you are in survival mode. I know you are designed to help me in every way, even mentally. But seriously? You sound like... Fuck it.” He turned the chair back toward the main console. “Em, I need a status. Anything you got. Start with the terrain. Where the hell are we going?”

Immediately, the display enhanced, augmented with night vision, thermal overlay, planned path indicator trail and many other visuals. The night sky had annotations in the display regarding SAT positions and functions. It showed they were weapons platforms as well as comm-SATs and weather monitors.

A smaller 3D map of the local area showed where they were going. There was a cave on the next peak with a direct line of sight to the Shuttle Transport Unit where they could hide and observe. They could get there reasonably quick.

“Barcus, I didn't mean to offend you. Based on your profile, I thought that this persona would be the easiest for you to live with...in the long run.”

Barcus stilled. The meaning of her words sank in.

“We are on our own. I have no indications of other survivors. But if they are smart, they will maintain radio silence and only perform passive scans. Like us.” Barcus could have sworn she was about to start crying.

“Why the hell did we leave the shuttle? It could still fly,” Barcus said.

“I believe they tracked it down and might find it. Our best chance of survival, long-term, is to evacuate from here and monitor. Chen is dead.” The EM sounded upset, and then continued.

“There is a ship coming this way. ETA is four minutes. Hang on.” Just then, Em jumped into a deep ravine. Its long legs absorbed most of the impact. She backed under a slight overhang and settled, not moving. Only a small strip of the sky was visible above.

Passive sensors were on full high speed and recording as the ship flashed over them.

Barcus found himself holding his breath.

“Is there any way to tell if they have seen us?” he asked in a hushed tone.

“I don't believe they have seen us or the Shuttle Transport Unit.” Em paused, “Barcus, do you mind if I call him Stu? I usually call him Stu.”

Barcus barked in laughter. The question was so unexpected. And then he strangled on a sob, covering his mouth. He remembered that Chen called it Stu as well. “Yes, Em. Let's call him Stu.” He knew he was losing it. He put his face in his hands again.

“They are coming back around,” Em said with concern in her voice. The display showed a 3D terrain map indicating their position in the ravine and the STU's position on the ledge. The ship was loud, hovering now, but not directly visible.

“There isn't enough room on the ledge for them to land.” Search lights scanned the cliffs.

Suddenly, the HUD presented a view in a window as if it were flying up along the cliff face and rising fast.

“Em, what am I seeing here? We are not moving,” Barcus asked, pointing at the window.

“I have deployed a remote BUG. A Briggs, Udvar, Green surveillance drone. It will provide video and audio surveillance. It cannot move too quickly. BUGs are only the size of a tiny insect and almost impossible to detect, even with active scans,” Em, explained.

It seemed to take forever to clear the edge of the ravine. Search lights were scanning back and forth on the rocks. The lights scanned a few meters away from Chen's cairn. The search light never touched it. There was already a little snow drift obscuring the pile. All tracks and signs of their passing were gone.

The ship’s engines began to roar again, and it moved off. The BUG watched it go. It had clear markings - PT-137.

“Colonists?” Barcus asked.

“It appears so,” Em replied.

CHAPTER THREE

To Fall or Not to Fall

“Forensic analysis indicates that this Emergency Module was in possession of some very highly classified
Briggs, Udvar, Green, surveillance drone
s. Commonly known as BUGs. None of these units were recovered. No hardware provenance is available.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.

<<<>>>

Em stayed in the ravine for another hour.

“Barcus, I think we should leave some surveillance BUGs behind and move.” Em began to rise from her hiding place. The EM switched to the local view. Barcus had fallen silent. The display had been focused on the Chen's cairn for the last hour.

“Em, should I just leave her there?”

“For now. We have to go,” Em replied.

The EM’s display came alive with windows of the BUG’s views, RF monitors, 3D maps, systems statuses and passive scan screens. They begin to distract Barcus as Em slowly climbed out.

“Em? This one looks like an old style GPS.” He pointed to a specific screen.

Em replied, “Yes, Barcus, their SATs supply Global Positioning System location information, which I can use passively. I am currently attempting to correlate positioning with maps I created based on images collected during our orbit and descent. There is also a lot of comm traffic, but it is encrypted... Once I get enough BUGs deployed, we may be able to triangulate passively transmission sources. I will have to find out if they can sense our Radio Frequency if I try to communicate with the BUGs before we risk it.”

“How many SATs do they have? Can you tell?” Barcus was studying another display. He looked up as they cleared the edge of the ravine on the other side. The display sky showed markers and other meta-data regarding the SATs in his night sky. “Do you think it's a risk, moving within view of the SATs?”

“My external temperature is the same as the rock around us. No thermal signatures. There is heavy cloud cover now. Perhaps a storm front.” Em was all business as she continued to brief Barcus on the information she had. She was in Escape and Evasion mode now. Before dawn, they would reach a cavern one peak over from where they were, in which they could hole up and reassess.

“Em, I am looking at the specs of your BUGs. Impressive. How many do we have?” The view screen had an image of the tiny insect-like device in a large window.

“We have 1,600 total, but they are usually deployed in pairs. They take about three to seven hours to recharge fully in the sun. So they can swap duty to recharge. All 1,600 fit in a container the size of a deck of cards. They were Chen's idea. She was a survival specialist.” Em sounded sad. “Chen made a hobby of modifications. She replaced all my leg joints with the new plasteel. They never get hot. Many upgrades improved my abilities greatly. My overland speed has been increased by 85%. Chen did lots of software upgrades as well. The latest AI with custom modules. More comm strength. Less power consumption. Better lens optics. Even better survival rations.”

“Do we have any weapons?” Barcus knew weapons were supposed to be kept in the armory, but many of the best, most experienced pilots always kept some checked out

“Yes. We have a Colt AR-79 rifle and a Glock 93 handgun. There are 10 mags of caseless for each. Also, over the last two years, she installed an embedded, 10mm BMG caseless long range projectile weapon. It's forward facing and good to about 5,000 meters. Auto-fed with 1,000 rounds in inventory. I also have two standard 5mm caseless auto feeders that are sound suppressed and have 5,000 rounds each. Ammo is compatible with the AR-79.”

They finally reached the mouth of the cavern. The opening was low and wide. The cavern was dry and had a high ceiling. Em backed into the darkness and settled down with a view of the shelf where the STU crouched, barely visible, blending into the mountain.

Snow began falling heavier before the sun rose. Em reported a cold front coming through and severe weather behind it. In three hours, the snow had already begun to drift and fill the spaces behind and beside the STU. Chen's cairn had disappeared completely shrouded in snow.

Barcus fell asleep, oblivious to the snow that blew sideways. Em slowly reclined the command chair beneath him. She watched the STU. More BUGs were deployed to occupy two other peaks.

Night fell as the blizzard continued. Barcus continued to sleep.

“Barcus. Wake Up.” The sound of Em's voice was urgent. His seat had returned to upright from its earlier reclined position. The HUD was showing the view from one of the BUGs that were stationed on the opposite ledge near the STU.

Barcus was still shaking off the grog. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Six hours and 47 minutes. I was worried.”

“Barcus, I don't think they have seen the STU, even though he is right there. With the snow, he looks like part of the mountain.”

The snow continued to fall. Without the wind this time.

“Em, are we going to be able to get off this mountain?”

“Yes, we will.”

You sound awfully certain of yourself, Barcus thought.

“We will wait a few hours and go. I have a course planned for moving south,” Em said.

“Open the hatch, Em,” Barcus ordered.

“Why? It's -11 Celsius out there.” Em sounded concerned.

“Just fucking open it,” he barked.

The hatch opened, and he dropped through to the uneven ground.

He could feel the cold now. The wind cut through his clothes like they were not there.

He walked to the mouth of the cave and stood at the edge of the precipice.

Just another step and it would be over.

“What are we going to do, Em?” The realization and despair were back in his voice.

Em took it as an actual question and replied. “Initially, we need to get away from the landing site. I am sure they will be searching for it when the weather clears. We will begin, as we have, with standard escape and evasion. We will find a secluded spot to hide for a while as we collect more data. We still have no idea what happened. We need to know.”

“We need to know who these people are.” Barcus saw in his HUD a list appear labeled “Priority Tasks” where these items appeared.

“Barcus?” Em's voice was very serious.

“Yes, Em.”

“I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe. I promise.”

Barcus smiled.
Chen did a great job on this AI.

“Thanks, Em. I know you will.”

Barcus looked deep into the ravine before him.

It would be so easy.

“They're all dead, Em. Over 2,000 people. All dead. All my friends, everyone I know or care about. Gone...”

So easy.

“Barcus, I'd like to brief you on our current inventory and priority needs, starting with warmer clothes,” Em said.

His hands and feet were already numb. He began to turn toward the EM when he slipped on the icy rocks. He started to pitch over the edge.

Something clamped down hard on his flailing arm before he could fall to his death. Turning his head, he looked into black so dark that it was like a hole in reality.

It was his maintenance suit.

Em must have brought it out on remote.

Barcus knew it had saved him. But he didn't mention it as he was set down farther back from the edge. The suit positioned itself between him and oblivion. It seemed to be a living thing just then, a powerful predator almost.

Then the suit opened without a pause, and the tool returned. The feeling was gone. Realizing how cold he was, he climbed in.