Judas Unchained

“There was so much damage,” Stig confessed. “More than I thought.”

“Millions have died on the Commonwealth worlds over the last weeks, and millions more during the first invasion. The navy has developed weapons which are strong enough to damage a star; the radiation emission alone can wipe out the biosphere of an H-congruous planet a hundred million kilometers away. The unisphere is alive with rumors that Nigel Sheldon has something even more powerful than that; something which destroyed Hell’s Gateway where the navy’s finest failed completely. Judged against that scale, a single fuel air bomb that generated a few hundred casualties is insignificant. Yet at the same time you accomplished so much.”

“I don’t see it that way. I walked through the ruins; there were so many people with shattered lives. Dreaming heavens, I could smell burnt flesh.”

“You stalled the Starflyer on the other side of the gateway. That was crucial. Vital. Without that interruption to its plans, I would be dying on a world three hundred light-years away, it would already be closer to its starship, and the planet would be unable to extract its revenge. Look at the whole picture, Stig, focusing on individual actions is only going to cause you doubt and worry. Your thoughts should embrace a collective strategy. The Guardians of Selfhood are back on target again, in no small part thanks to you.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Ask the Paris team or Cat’s Claws if you doubt me. We were the ones who had almost given up hope until you wrecked its plans. You allowed us to get so close, Stig, I could actually feel it again, all that arrogance and malice spilling out into the ether. If we’d had a few minutes longer we could have exterminated it there and then. As it is, we forced it back onto our schedule. So don’t ever allow your resolve to desert you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Stig focused hard on the road, a tight smile curling his lips up. The ancient concrete surface was cracked and worn here, covered with an intricate lacework of black tar where bots and laborers had filled in the holes. The armored car’s wheels thrummed over the ridges as it raced under the bright arches; they were spaced so close together now they’d transformed Highway One into a psychedelic tunnel.

“Contact with Adam,” Keely reported. “He’s asking for you, sir. Heavy interference, we’ve got a badly behaved ionosphere tonight.”

“Let’s hear it,” Bradley said.

Static wailed through the low interior of the armored car. “Bradley?” Adam called.

“I’m here, Adam.”

“I’ve got a problem.”

“How bad?”

“The worst. Your signal is breaking…”

“What. Is. Your. Problem?”

“Found four crates that were sabotaged. We lost a Volvo as well.”

Something like a small electric charge fired down Stig’s spine. Adam’s trouble could mean only one thing. Stig automatically checked his wing mirror. The truck carrying the big Raiel alien was five vehicles back, while the armored car carrying Cat’s Claws and the Paris team was the second in line. He started working out which of his people would have the easiest shot.

“Are you sure?” Bradley asked. The signal whistled sharply. “Are you sure?” Bradley repeated urgently.

“Definite. It was done on the Carbon Goose…Only opportunity.”

“Is there enough equipment intact to complete the planet’s revenge?”

“Yeah. If we get there. Paula and I convinced it…one of the navy people with us. Has to be…it out, no other…Any information about them from your people…work it out. Paula seriously ill…medical kit should cope…can’t help me much.”

“Dreaming heavens,” Bradley muttered quietly. “I never expected it to get this close to us. Not now.”

“We can’t go back and help them,” Stig said. “We don’t have time.” He thumped the wheel with one hand.

“Adam is asking for information,” Bradley said. “We’ll give him as much as we can.”

“What if there’s more than one of them? What if there’s a Starflyer agent with us as well?”

“That’s not good,” Olwen said from the back of the armored car. “These machines are well protected. We’d have to put them in front of our heavy-caliber weapons. Then there’s their suits to break.”

“They’d have to take care of their own,” Stig said. “Any kind of firefight at that level would destroy the rest of our vehicles.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Bradley said. “For the Starflyer to plant one agent among us would require considerable effort. The people who joined us at Narrabri station were essentially thrown together by accident. For the Starflyer to infiltrate two agents among us under these circumstances is beyond possibility.”

“You think they’re in Adam’s team?” Stig asked. “He said the sabotage happened on your Carbon Goose flight.”

“If that’s what Adam believes, we must trust him.”

“Absolutely.” Stig didn’t even have to think about it. A communications icon popped up into his virtual vision, a group link from Alic Hogan. He allowed the call through.

“We all picked up that transmission,” Alic said. “I expect you’re debating if you can trust us.”