Judas Unchained

“If you haven’t got the velocity high enough you’re supposed to veer off and go around,” Wilson said. He found the manual release for the cockpit canopy on the first hyperglider, and twisted it. The transparent bubble hinged up smoothly. Wilson bent over the rim. “Here we go.”

Adam’s e-butler reported the hyperglider’s pilot array had just come on-line. He held Oscar’s gaze uncompromisingly for a moment, then ducked into the office at the back of the hangar. The air inside was musty after being sealed up for so long; every surface had a damp chill to it. Some of the metal items even had a slight coating of condensation.

The desktop array came on as soon as he touched the power stud. Even better, its programs and files didn’t have encrypted access. He started to pull up the general information.

“Adam,” Kieran called on an encrypted link, “we’ve found the jeeps they use for towing the hypergliders over to Stakeout Canyon. Talk about wind resistant, they look like bubbles. I think they’ve got anchors, too.”

“Good. See if they’ve got a service log. We’ll take the two with the best record.”

“Will do. Uh, aren’t we taking three hypergliders?”

“I’ll talk to you guys about that in a minute.”

“Okay. They all need fueling up anyway. Jamas is going to track down the main diesel tank.”

Adam found a file containing the Grand Triad Adventures introduction to hypergliding, and gave his e-butler a list of the specific information he wanted extracted. “What about the drilling equipment they use to tether the gliders?” he asked Kieran.

“Not here. I’ll scout around when I’ve sorted out the jeeps.”

“Right.” A standard itinerary popped up into Adam’s virtual vision. “Damn, we’re going to have to be quick. They normally leave for Stakeout Canyon at noon. That gives the crews time to position the hypergliders in the evening and get clear while it’s still light.”

“We’ll manage it.”

Adam’s e-butler had pulled out several sections from the introduction now. He skimmed through them until he found the files on skill memory. The implant was done in a room off the side of the office. He opened the door and found what looked like the kind of waiting area you’d get in a modestly successful legal firm. The exception was the five comfortable leather couches arranged along the back wall, each with its own sophisticated array. A dark mold was starting to spread out of the edges of the slightly damp leather; the first living organism they’d seen since they arrived on the wet desert. He checked the power reserves on the arrays.

“I’ve found the skill memory implanters,” he told the others as he came back into the hangar.

Five of the hypergliders had been opened. Wilson was sitting in the cockpit of one, his hands resting on the console i-spots. Below and behind him the wing buds flexed as if something inside them wanted to be birthed.

“Well done,” Wilson said.

“Not quite. There’s a slight problem. The humidity back there is even worse than in here. It’s screwed up some of the array connections. I’m really only happy with one of the systems. You’ll have to go one at a time. I’ll settle Oscar in first.”

“Okay,” Wilson said.

Oscar’s stony expression was unreadable.

“How’s it going out here?” Adam asked.

“We’re running through the preflight checklists,” Oscar told Adam quietly. “So far all five seem operational.”

Anna walked past, hauling a thick superconductor cable that she plugged into a socket on the second hyperglider. “They’re going to need charging before we take them out. The secondary power supply is okay, but they can’t fly on that. We need the main cells charged; the electromuscle and plyplastic have a lot of work to do.”

“I think the town generator was in the first building we came past,” Adam said. “Oh, and we need to leave soonest. The drive to Stakeout Canyon from here normally takes a good six hours. Then we have to plant the tether anchors.”

Wilson stood up in the cockpit. “Let’s get on with it, then.”

“We need tether cables for the hypergliders as well,” Anna said. “They must be around here somewhere.”

“You two sort that out,” Adam said. “I’ll get Oscar up to speed on the joys of hypergliding.”

“There’s plenty to go around,” Anna said. She was grinning as she gestured around the hangar. “Fancy joining us?”

“Not at my age and weight, thank you.”

Wilson clambered down out of the cockpit. He zipped up the front of his fleece. “Keep an eye on the checklists for me, please.”

“Will do,” Adam promised.

Oscar looked along the row of couches in the rear room. One of them had its array activated; green LEDs were shining on the front of the unit. He gave a snort of disgust. “Water damage my ass!”

“We still need them to get the hyperglider ready for you.”

“This is wrong. The odds are completely against me getting up there intact.”

“So tell me which one of them is the Starflyer agent?”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Exactly. Lie back on the couch.”

Oscar did as he was told. He rested his wrists on the i-spots. “Interfaced,” he said.