Old War's End by JN Chaney & Matthew A. Goodwin

Author:JN Chaney & Matthew A. Goodwin [Chaney, J.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

“Stop,” I whispered, and William ceased moving faster than if he had looked into the eyes of Medusa. “I’m reading the faintest heat signature in the room at the end of the hall.”

He didn’t move as I continued to run my scanners, trying to pin down exactly what it was.

“Could just be a rat,” William suggested in a whisper. “Or whatever this planet’s version of a rat is.”

The flicker didn’t move, but there was organic tissue radiating the heat. That much was clear.

“Could be,” I said. “Get me closer.”

He inched forward, moving as silently as he could—which wasn’t silent at all. William was a great many things, but stealth wasn’t in his skill set.

As he squeaked and clomped forward, I had the feeling of wincing with every heavy footfall on the metal floor. The base, like most places that the Cultists hadn’t stolen or taken over, was new, designed by fused human/computer intelligences or pure AI and crafted largely by nanobots. So, William's one saving grace was that the freshly constructed floor panels didn’t groan and announce his presence further.

After reaching the end of the hallway, he stopped and waited beside the door as I continued to run my analysis. The flicker was still faint, but it was definitely a life sign. What was odd was that it was static. Normally, small critters, and especially the stowaways humans brought with them to any planet they inhabited, would move as they sniffed around for food or something to chew on.

This red dot on my scanner was still. Perfectly, unnaturally still.

“Something’s alive in there, but either just barely or it’s trapped,” I informed him.

“Don’t like the sound of that,” William announced in what was essentially a stage whisper obviously designed to get the attention of whatever was inside.

There was still no movement from within.

“We could wait for backup,” I suggested again.

William clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “It’s probably just a rat trapped under a desk. I’m not waiting any longer than I have to. Every inactive moment is time the enemy could be working on Extinction.”

“Fine,” I said, knowing that there was no point in arguing with him. “Opening the door now.”

After a bit more wrangling with the counterprogramming, I got the door to hiss open. William stepped in, weapon raised and ready to fire. We knew several things in a second or so. It was silent, it was still, and it was a workshop.

Benches were gathered together in the middle of the room, stacked high with components for making bombs and weapons. The walls were lined with computers and communication equipment, and there were chairs scattered all around.

“Lots of boom here,” William observed.

“You have no idea. Some of these components are ship-busters. Way beyond personal weapons.” I scanned the table and stopped, my focus going onto a single item of terrifying reputation. “Uh, Will? Those items are used to make EMPs like the one used on the Paragon,” I said, who was also scanning the room, looking for whatever had given me the life-sign readings.

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