Pegasus in Chains (RF VI), Chapter 10
Spoiler Alert: This is a new entry into the Reckless Faith series. The prologue may be found here: https://devonai.wordpress.com/2021/10/26/reckless-faith-vi-prologue/
The Exotic Spice Hotel & Resort used to be the fanciest place to stay in Saffron Canyon City. Tucked behind a huge garden, replete with fountains, flora from other worlds, and a carousel, it offered the finest in luxury accommodations to be found in the city, and arguably anywhere on Vastus, while still making available less expensive rooms for those that wanted to experience its opulence, but without demanding a Prince’s ransom. After the disaster, it was the perfect place for Jinro Praxis to make his home, as leader of his people.
Like much of the city, the hotel had become badly contaminated with radioactive dust, prior to the planetary government installing the energy shield. Known only to Praxis and his followers, any basement area remained habitable, and they had taken up residence there. Other than storage, the underground sections also contained the employee quarters, the Starship Suite, and most importantly, access to the air circulation system, which still functioned just fine and kept contaminants away from their living areas.
The Starship Suite was an anomaly in the hotel. Built at the request of someone who was evidently extremely wealthy, it didn’t match the classical style of the rest of the hotel at all; instead, it was meant to resemble a modern, and well-appointed, starship. Praxis could only guess that whatever patron convinced the owner to add it wanted the experience of living on a ship, but without the hassle of maintaining it. Its most curious feature was that there was a fully-functioning airlock at its entrance, including a decontamination feature, making it even safer than the rest of the basement area. It was for that reason that Praxis lived there, and allowed his top lieutenants and concubines to occupy the spare bedrooms. It was one of those lieutenants, a native Vastusian by the name of Rikky, who woke him up that morning, paging him from the intercom in the airlock. Praxis growled and flopped out of bed while his lover of choice for that night rolled over and put a pillow over her head.
He pressed a key on the console on his night stand. “It’s early.”
“I’m sorry, my lord, but this is urgent.”
“Fine. Proceed with decontamination and enter.”
Looking at the clock, he decided he might as well begin his day, since Rikky wasn’t in the habit of waking him up for situations he didn’t have to deal with right away. He pulled on his clothes and boots, grabbed his gun belt, and holstered his pistol. He emerged into the lounge area of the suite and found two more of his concubines there, chatting in front of the fireplace.
“Have you been up all night?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Yes, dear,” one of them replied.
“And you had the fire going the whole time?”
“No, we just lit it about an hour ago.”
He eyed her warily. “I hope so. You know how difficult it is to get fuel for it. Would you mind wrapping it up? I need to meet with Rikky.”
“That can’t be good.”
“It probably isn’t.”
The women grabbed a pair of empty glasses and headed into the kitchen. Praxis walked over and closed the valve to the fireplace. One wouldn’t find that on a starship, of course, but it was still a nice feature. Though getting the gaseous fuel it used into Saffron City was expensive, he couldn’t blame his companions for using it. The suite did get chilly this time of year. He waited by the interior airlock door until it opened, admitting Rikky.
“My apologies, again,” he said.
“Don’t worry about it. Can I get you anything?”
Rikky eyed the doorway to his bedroom longingly. “No, thank you.”
Praxis gestured toward the lounge area, and the men found some chairs and sat down. Rikky had been the maintenance man at the hotel before the disaster, and an engineer in the Vastus Defense Fleet prior to that. Praxis had met him at a meeting of Shining Beacon several years ago, though he wasn’t there looking for membership, but instead to try to negotiate protection for his handyman business. It was then that Praxis realized he could be an asset to his organization, even if Rikky had no interest in the religious side of it. So he hired him to help maintain the hotel, and over time he realized that the younger man’s military background would also make him valuable as a lieutenant. Even more, Praxis now considered him a friend.
“So, what’s going on?”
“Bear Squad went to investigate a proximity alarm at the center last night, and never returned. I accompanied Wolf Squad out to find them, and we did. They’ve all been killed, just south of the building. It was a combination of plasma and projectile fire. We retrieved their arm bands and weapons and returned immediately, though we didn’t have enough spare drivers for all of their vehicles.”
“Shit. Sounds like it wasn’t the typical scavengers this time.”
“I don’t think so. We did sweep the area and didn’t find any bodies or blood, other than our own. Whoever did this had some training.”
He stroked the stubble on his chin. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about yet, as far as the sanctuary being defiled or looted. Anyone hoping to retrieve anything of value from there will need heavy equipment, brought in by ship or large vehicles, neither of which would escape the notice of the government. If it was the government itself, you and Wolf Squad would have been killed, too. So I’m guessing well-prepared scouts, with little intel, discovering the truth of the research center. There is nothing there but death.”
“Or enlightenment, if they happen to believe the same thing as your flock.”
Praxis nodded. One thing that he appreciated about Rikky was his objectivity. Though he had felt for himself the call of the Kira’To at the building, it was not the life-changing revelation that others had experienced. He was not, and probably could not be, enthralled by the same sensation that had so captivated those in the congregation of Shining Beacon. The fact that the flock, or cult as some would call them, were being conned, had long since ceased to be a problem for Rikky. Praxis, for his part, did sincerely believe that he was building something positive here, despite some of the more destructive tendencies of his congregation. Overall, they were a stabilizing force in Saffron City, which was more than could be said for the merchants, brigands, and opportunistic nomads that sustained some sort of community after the disaster ten years ago.
“I suppose it’s possible that this group was there purely for research purposes. Any organization with enough funding to attempt it would certainly arm their people adequately for any opposition. In fact, they may well still be in the building, if they have excellent rad suits.”
Rikky looked at him smugly. “Your people would expect you to repel them, if that was the case.”
“They don’t know what they don’t know. Still, we’re forging something good here, and I’m not about to let any intruders run freely there without reprisal, regardless of what their goals may be. I want you to pull Fox Squad off of bazaar security and take both them and Wolf Squad to the center for a sweep. Obviously I don’t want you to be as reckless as Bear Squad; take your time and clear the area properly. I’ll have the acolytes take over bazaar security in the meantime.”
“Yes, lord. Do you want prisoners?”
“Of course, as long as you don’t have to take any unnecessary risks to capture them. The loss of Bear Squad is already a blow to our ability to keep the peace around here. We can’t let our numbers dwindle much more.”
Rikky nodded. “We’ll be careful. Sir, you should also consider the possibility that they were there to loot fissile materials. Having discovered the truth, they may come here next.”
“I’m less worried about that. Even if they do bribe their way past the perimeter, they’d have to have a point of contact on the inside to ensure their safety. You’re right, though. I’ll fire down a quick breakfast and head out to feel the pulse of the city. If they do have a host waiting for them, it shouldn’t be that difficult for me to find them.”
“I’ll make it happen. There is one other thing, after this morning’s engagement, we no longer have enough 7.5 by 50 to maintain a standard battle load-out for the Steedmans.”
“All that firing and they didn’t kill anyone? It sounds like we need to do some remedial marksmanship training.”
“Well, the enemy may have retrieved their dead.”
“True. Anyway, I’ll put in an order. Honestly I should have done that several weeks ago. Consolidate and redistribute the remaining ammo for now, and tell the troops to use their pistols for suppressive fire whenever possible.”
“Yes, lord.”
“You’re dismissed. Good luck.”
__________
When Evangeline opened her eyes, she could see the first rays of daylight illuminating cirrus clouds far overhead. The passing of the previous night had been painfully slow, as she hadn’t slept much, and though she felt like she might be able to snooze for a couple more hours, her time was up. She sat up, removed her helmet, and took a small sip of water from one of her canteens. Breakfast, they had already decided, would wait until a bit later.
Looking around, she saw that everyone else was already awake. Vecky, Laurent, Cane, and Helvetios were pulling security, and Marcon, Jim, Talyn, and Alsade were sitting in a circle nearby. She approached the latter group, passing her hand through her hair, and sat down.
“Good morning,” she said.
Talyn looked dead to the world. “I thought my days of sleeping in the dirt were over.”
“The combat doesn’t bother you, but a little camping trip does?”
“Lately after all the fights I’ve been in, I still ended up bathed and in a warm bed at the end of the day. And if we really were camping, we’d have a lot more booze.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. Jim, any luck with that PDA we found?”
Marcon said, “He found a report on the accident, among other things. It’s a huge file, so right now he’s reading it so he can give us an abridged version.”
“Oh, gotcha.”
Eva got up and stretched out her limbs. When she turned to the north, she noticed something about the research center and the valley that was invisible to her before. A huge plume of yellow dust was billowing out of the top of the center, rising only a few feet before the wind caught it. It was then swept down to the valley floor, where it spread out a couple hundred meters on each side of the river. The dust was blown to the east, and extended as far as her eyes could see.
“It looks like what we read about this place is true,” she said, gesturing at the plume, “that the center is still contaminating the valley and canyon.”
“Yes,” began Jim, looking up from the tablet. “That’s what the report says. The center is indeed the source of the radioactive dust, though why it continues to spread after so much time is a mystery.”
“Anything else?” asked Alsade.
“Oh my, yes. So the incident corresponds with what we learned from the message archive. The research team was experimenting with just shy of sixty kilograms of 93244, and caused an uncontrolled cascade reaction. The resulting gamma rays killed everyone in the room, and forced an evacuation. About a week later, another team was sent in with the proper protective gear to investigate. What they found was largely inconclusive, except again noting a strange parapsychological phenomenon. The bottom line is that they couldn’t figure out how to eliminate the contamination short of dropping a tac nuke on the site, which would obviously have dire ramifications for the planet.”
“And the element 93?” asked Eva.
“It was fused with the superstructure of the building. Recovering it may be impossible, even if you were to reduce the building to rubble.
“Shit.”
“Yes, I doubt we’ll find what we’re looking for there. The recommendation of the investigation team was that the government build a giant concrete sarcophagus over the entire structure, but as you can see that hasn’t happened yet. Who knows if it will ever happen?”
“They did the same thing at a nuclear disaster site on my home planet. Though, that wasn’t nearly as big.”
“I’m sure it was a funding issue,” said Talyn. “It was probably cheaper to install the shield emitters over the city and call it a day.”
“At least we didn’t waste our time getting the UGV from the Rastaban,” said Marcon. “Mister Jim, if you find anything else of interest, let us know. Let’s gather our things and head back to the crossroads.”
Marcon called back the security team, and everyone began to load up their rucksacks and gear. The plan had already been established: head back to the crossroads, change back into their street clothes, have breakfast, and proceed to Saffron Canyon. The hike back there was uneventful, and they made better time on the return trip by virtue of being familiar with the terrain. Once there, they gratefully shed their EVA suits and combat armor, and pulled out their choices of food items. Eva attended to her bathroom needs, having waited until her suit was already off, as did most of the others. When she, Vecky, Cane, and Talyn donned their jackets, Helvetios pointed at them.
“Are those Raptor Industries jackets?” he asked.
Eva nodded. “You’ve got a good eye. Yes, level nine. I procured one some time ago, and the crew of the Reckless Faith was kind enough to replicate several more. They can get unbearably hot when dissipating energy, but they’re a good compromise between an EVA suit and nothing at all.”
“Level nine? Those are military grade, not available on the open market. That must have set you back something awful.”
“It’s a lot easier when the previous owner is dead.”
“You are an enigma, Miss Adeler. When this is all over we need to sit down with drinks so you can tell me your story.”
“You can bet on it.”
“If you two are done with your foreplay,” said Marcon, “it’s time to move out.”
The team wolfed down the rest of whatever they were eating, and arranged themselves in the same marching order as before. The walk to the canyon would take about 45 minutes, and as the sun rose over the horizon, their path seemed easy. As usual, Alsade had one eye fixed on her PDA, scanning for radiation, but as the group progressed down the mottled road, conditions remained favorable. After half an hour, the road began to follow an increase in elevation, and soon, they found themselves with a view of the entire canyon.
Saffron Canyon City lay before them. The entire depression was filled with buildings, with its center dominated by skyscrapers. The road continued towards a dip in the canyon wall, which as they knew from satellite photos was one of only two routes into the city accessible by ground vehicles, the other being on the north reach. Barely visible in the daylight was the protective shield, glowing blue over the rim of the canyon. It did not cover the upper floors of the tallest buildings, and unsurprisingly those sections appeared to be in terrible condition. The yellow-tinged plume that was sweeping down the valley passed over the canyon and lost cohesion about a kilometer to the east.
“Why would anyone choose to remain here?” asked Vecky.
“Home is a powerful force,” replied Eva. “People don’t like to be told that where they live is now forbidden. On Terra, even official information put out by the government is met with skepticism by some. It doesn’t surprise me that an evacuation order was ignored by a significant number of residents.”
“People are stubborn,” said Marcon. “The instinct toward freedom is universal, in my experience.”
“You would get along well with the crew of the Reckless Faith.”
“Yeah? I don’t care. I follow the money. Knock off the chatter and keep moving.”
Eva might have been offended, a long time ago and a lifetime away. All she cared about now was that Marcon’s contingent was indispensable. At his urging, the team continued forward. The road twisted down along a ridgeline, and before long they reached the edge of the energy shield. A checkpoint lay before them, manned by six natives. As they approached, the guards seemed annoyed by the interruption to whatever they normally spent their time doing, but didn’t raise their weapons. Marcon gestured for everyone to form a perpendicular line, and he broke from the group to talk to them. The guards carried projectile weapons of the same type, though there was no uniformity to what they wore.
“State your business,” said the man closest to them.
“Trade,” replied Marcon.
“What do you have?”
“Does it matter?”
The man laughed. “It does if you hope to make any profit by your visit. Some goods are more valuable than others.”
“So, are you implying that you’ll deny us access if our items are too mundane?”
The guard looked at the rucksacks they were carrying. “Not at all.”
“We have several hundred rounds of 7.5 by 50.”
“Shining Beacon will definitely be interested in that. What would you care to offer for entry?”
“Element 79.”
The guard conferred with his companions. “We’ll take seventy-five pentrodo.”
Jim said, “That’s approximately 1.5 kilograms.”
“That’s more than we have,” said Eva, then softly to Marcon: “We have a combined total of one kilogram.”
Marcon turned back toward the guards. “You can have ten, or we’ll find another point of entry and you get nothing.”
“Fifty,” countered the man.
“Twenty-five.”
“Twenty. Final offer. And I don’t think the Shining Beacon would be too pleased to find out that you denied us access while we have ammo they can use.”
The unmistakable expression of cognitive dissonance passed over the man’s face. “Fine.”
Eva, Vecky, Cane, and Talyn gathered up their gold ingots, while Jim scanned the pile with his PDA.
“Right there,” said Jim.
Eva passed over the stack, and the guard gestured magnanimously ahead. “Welcome to Saffron Canyon City. I hope you brought plenty of element 53 pills.”
