Читать книгу To The Stars - Назар Валерьевич Валеев - Страница 17

The Armaon, altering its course, accelerated toward the designated system at full cruise speed. The pursuers, as if having guessed their intention, likewise adjusted their trajectories to intercept before the ship could lose itself among the asteroids.

As a precaution, everyone donned protective suits equipped with emergency oxygen reserves. The Tiavran ships had already drawn close enough that the Armaon and its two Rionian escorts were well within weapons range, yet no one fired.

Arma activated the defense shields and pushed the main engines to maximum power. The two escort cruisers followed suit. Realizing that their prey might slip away, the Tiavrans opened fire with all batteries. Deadly vortices of explosions blossomed in dark crimson bursts against the escorts’ shields, nearly tearing through their defenses.

In response came a blinding cascade of fire from the heavy, multi-tiered turrets of the unmanned Rionian cruisers. They swung around to meet the attackers head-on and wiped out more than half of the Tiavran fleet. They had no time for a second salvo. The conical Tiavran ships, resembling enormous atomic drills, riddled both escorts with pinpoint fire. Their reactors and power cores went critical, flooding the void with two brilliant, soundless flashes before the shattered hulls slowly drifted apart into lifeless debris.

«We’ll have to head into the asteroid belt», Maarv said tensely. «It’s the only way to shake them off.»

Everyone had been prepared for the inevitable loss of the escort, yet it was a bitter moment all the same.

«According to my calculations», Arma said evenly, «our maneuverability exceeds that of the enemy vessels, and our firepower is significantly greater. The key is not to let them get too close.»

«There are too many of them», Maarv replied, steering the Armaon toward the asteroids with a steady hand. «Arma, take over control and guide us toward the nearest planet. The instruments show traces of an atmosphere – if we can reach it, the Tiavrans won’t be able to follow. Their ships aren’t built for atmospheric flight.»

«Ha! Would you look at that?» Draam exclaimed. «Less than half of them dared to follow us into the belt!»

Barely had he said it when several enemy ships collided with a massive black fragment drifting on an erratic course. The rest chose to fall back and rejoin the main group – and who could blame them?

Only the flawless precision of Arma’s calculations, as she took full control of the navigation and tracked every large fragment’s trajectory along their path, allowed them to move safely through this stony inferno.

Arma was literally carving their way forward through the deadly jungle of asteroids, blasting apart the dangerously close boulders and pushing others aside with her defensive field.

Even so, several fragments struck the ship, tearing open part of the nose and the port side, making the crew endure a few rather unpleasant moments.

But the inner hull held firm, and the Armaon, descending into the dense layers of atmosphere, began a slow and cautious approach toward the planet below.

«Once, this lifeless planet was inhabited», Arma said. «Judging by the terrain, it must have been long ago – perhaps a thousand years. A surface analysis of the atmosphere shows no traces of radiation, so it wasn’t a nuclear war that destroyed it. More likely, it was chemical in nature. If anyone’s curious, we can take soil samples.»

Everyone turned to the screen, where Arma was transmitting images from the hyper-optical lenses. At first it was hard to make out anything distinct, but as they looked closer, the shapes began to reveal themselves – the remnants of what had once been a vast city.

Mostly, only the rooftops were visible, the upper floors of buildings protruding just a few meters above the surface, while enormous fractures and blurred craters in several areas spoke of the slow, relentless work of time. Over the centuries the city had been buried beneath layers of earth, sand, and debris.

«It’ll take at least two days to restore the energy reserves and repair the hull breaches», Arma reported. Then, slipping into John’s manner of speech, she added, «After that, I’ll be ready to charge through endless hordes of enemies again, fighting valiantly and sparing not my own circuits.»

Draam took the controls and guided the Armaon lower, leveling out roughly a hundred meters above the surface.

He frowned at the strange, rather unpleasant vegetation below – patches of dark yellow and rusty brown interspersed with thick, vine-like growths in shades of deep green and sand.

Arma was telling Kane that, although the atmosphere was composed mostly of oxygen, it contained elevated levels of several substances that sounded distinctly unsettling to him and was, at best, only marginally fit for breathing.

«The closer to the ground, the better the air», Arma informed them. «The sparse vegetation generates a faint cushion of oxygen. It’s advisable to use the suits.»

«Quite creepy here», Kane muttered to Draam beside him, who seemed to share the feeling, as did the rest of the crew, staring in grim silence at the bleak, unsettling landscape.

Kane pointed ahead toward a small rise. «How about that spot?»

Draam carefully surveyed the terrain, studying the detailed perimeter analysis that Arma had thoughtfully brought up on several screens.

At last, Draam guided the Armaon toward a sturdy-looking monolithic structure, surprisingly well preserved. Several tall floors rose above the ground, each no less than five meters high.

«I’m not too keen on landing all the way up top», Draam announced. «Let’s take the floor just below it. But first, it could use a bit of cleaning.»

He activated Armaon’s heavy side guns, and with a few bursts of heavy fire cut a massive tunnel straight through the building’s thick walls, tearing apart the giant tree-like vines that had wrapped around them. All that remained was to guide the ship carefully into the freshly cleared opening and set it down on the cleared space.

«There», he said with a self-satisfied grin. «And they say I’ve no sense of comfort or interior design!»

«Good thing you started practicing on this planet», Kane replied, laughing out loud. The others joined in – the laughter coming as a welcome release after all the tension of the past hours.

«How about we sit outside for a while?» John suggested. «We could light a fire – plenty of wood around!»

All around lay scattered dry branches and torn remnants of the giant vines, which they gathered into a heap. The fire that soon flared to life gently animated the night around them, lending the place an unexpected touch of warmth and comfort. Flickers of flame danced over the Armaon’s matte hull, shimmering with mysterious, pearlescent light.

Kane and John were doing their best to stir up the weary, half-drowsy Tarion, hoping to coax out another of his fascinating stories about their world.

«All right, then», he finally gave in with a smile. «I’ll tell you a couple of bedtime stories.»

«In your system there’s another planet that could, in theory, be adapted for habitable conditions», he began. «It’s the fourth one from the Sun – the Red Planet. Beneath its surface lies a vast amount of ice, more than enough to create a stable, livable climate. Our scientists once had ambitious ideas and even concrete plans for bringing that world back to life. But to begin such a project, several major problems had to be solved first. For instance, gravity would need to be artificially increased – the planet is simply too small to hold its atmosphere and water resources for long. Eventually, they would drift away into space, as they have before, eons ago.»

«Another major issue», Tarion went on thoughtfully, «is its moons. One of them would have to be moved as far away from the Red Planet as possible, and not only because of its intense radiation. Once the planet’s gravity is strengthened, it would inevitably begin to draw that moon closer, and sooner or later that would end in disaster.»

He paused for a moment, his tone turning more reflective. «A project of such scale would require truly colossal resources, and our government decided we couldn’t afford to divert them. So, the idea was set aside, and we focused on our more immediate goals instead. On the one hand, it’s a pity – we always feel regret in cases like that. But on the other…» He smiled, looking at the humans across the fire. «I believe that, someday, you’ll be the ones to take it on.»

Still caught up in the wonder of Tarion’s story, Kane sat in thoughtful silence, turning it over in his mind imagining what Mars might one day become, if humanity ever brought the Rionians’ vision to life. His gaze drifted toward the dark landscape below their makeshift camp – and then he froze, blinking in disbelief.

Far in the distance, several fires were burning.

The others followed his gaze, staring into the darkness with the same astonishment. There was no mistaking it – those were campfires. Real ones.

«Could be some kind of intelligent life!» Draam exclaimed. «Which means we’d better keep our multi-planetary ears open – stay sharp and guard the perimeter. Arma, if you spot anything suspicious, shoot to kill! Can’t even imagine», he muttered with a shiver, «what kind of mutants could survive in a place like this…»

«Let’s get back to the ship», Maarv said, giving Arma the command to deploy a reconnaissance drone.

John stirred the burning logs, scattering the red embers across the concrete floor and smothering the fire.

Gathered in the mess hall, the friends tried to guess who – or rather what – might be out there. All eyes were fixed on the screens, watching the live feed from the drone as it flew toward those distant fires, transmitting every detail it saw.

«Only intelligent beings make fires», Kane said. «And if you noticed, the ones we saw formed the vertices of an isosceles triangle.»

«A triangle?» Maarv repeated. «What are you getting at?»

«Yes, a triangle», Kane replied. «Unlike the rest of you, I actually graduated from school not that long ago, so I still remember what one looks like. Maybe it’s some kind of signal, maybe someone’s trying to tell us or warn us about something.»

«According to Galactic Union protocol, three lights arranged in a triangle can indicate a distress call or a request for help», Draam said. «Either way, we have to check it out and find whoever lit those fires. Most likely they saw us land and since no one’s come to us yet, it could very well be a trap. Let’s not forget that.»

«Or maybe», Maarv suggested, «they’re simply afraid of us. The Armaon is a next-generation ship – most likely no one out there even recognizes it yet.»

At that moment, the drone reached a small clearing where the dying fires still smoldered. Scanning the area thoroughly, it detected footprints of various sizes and beside them, a large bundle of branches and twigs, on top of which lay something that had once, without a doubt, been clothing. Now it looked more like a heap of formless rags.

Suddenly, the transmission cut out, and contact with the drone was lost.

«Well, so much for the ‘distress signal’», Kane said with a grim smile. «Looks like they’re doing just fine and not exactly in the mood for visitors.»

Maarv scratched the back of his head, thinking. «Looks like something knocked it out. And whatever it was, it packed one hell of a punch! A reconnaissance drone isn’t a combat unit, sure, but taking one down that fast isn’t easy. And we all know that». He looked around at his friends, his expression serious. «I can’t quite figure out what’s going on out there, but it could very well be a threat. Then again, if that’s the case, why signal their presence so openly?»

«Well, night brings wisdom», Arma said. «Get some rest, all of you. We’ll start searching at first light.»

She paused, then added in John’s familiar, grumbling tone, «Fine, fine, I’ll keep watch.»