Susan Gwyndel cocked her head. Then she shrugged. Either way, it still looked amorphous.
Alpha group had been assigned to shipment duty for the day. All the various crates, cargoes and packages in the huge hanger were to be kept in the Supercomputer for safekeeping. Some were en route to another secure area, others were to be kept there indefinitely, but all were highly sensitive. Both figuratively and literally.
Beside Susan, Ril al'Tana checked the clipboard she was carrying. "Shipment number 2548087. Says here that it's top secret. Shipped in from Salan, and en route to Crasus."
"What is it?" Kavi asked.
Ril raised an eyebrow. "Prototype Mechanized Armour model MA-45382D. Codename, Darkling."
"What will they think of next," Nick Connelly murmured. His hand went up to his goggles.
"No need," Ril said without looking up. "I've got the specs right here." She flipped the page, and read through the next one quickly. "Woah. Talk about firepower."
"Meaning?" Nar il'Wathi asked.
"That eight tons of machinery packs seven and a half tons of weapons systems. Laser targeting, enhanced optic sights, plasma cannons, Gauss rifles, particle cannons," Ril's other eyebrow went up, "missile arrays ranging from old miniaturized Hammerheads to the latest versions of Battlelords. And it even packs a couple of thermonuclear warheads."
Peter Xandi whistled in amazement. "Any idea why they want that much firepower?"
"Strangely enough, these meticulously detailed spec sheets have no mention about the purpose of this machine. All it tells us is that this would be extremely dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands."
"Obviously," Kathy Demarco said. "In any case, ours is not to reason why. How long are we supposed to look after it?"
"Eight days. Another Guardian group stationed in Crasus will come then, to pick it up."
"Does it have security systems of its own?" Crysta Xandi asked.
Ril checked the design specs. "Plenty. Three voice-recognition codes to get in, plus retinal scan and passcard. Two more voice codes to start it up, and one last one to actually get it moving anywhere. In addition, to pilot the thing, you've to use a neurohelmet. And if the brain scans don't match up, the suit won't move."
"Convenient," Nick said. He looked around. "By the way, where's Sarah?"
"She said she had something to do," Susan supplied. "Something about that bomb from Karpan. Prime Jennings is with her."
"Pity," Kavi said. "The Prime could have told us one very important answer to a very important question."
"Which is?"
"Where are we gonna put that thing?"
There was silence for a while. Nick scratched his head. "Good question."
"And Prime Jennings told us that we had carte blanche to do whatever we want to it," Kathy mused.
"I think the hanger's out," Peter said. "Too many people can get in and out."
"On the other hand," Kavi said, "a secure room with armed guards in front would be as good as saying 'Treasure Here'."
"So what we have to do," Susan said thoughtfully, "is to hide this in the last place anyone would look."
"Either that," Crysta said, "or place it such that those who see it don't know what it really is."
"And that is?" Ril countered.
"I have no idea. But it's a nice suggestion, don't you agree?"
"Crysta," Peter said wearily, "next time, if you can't think of anything intelligent to say, please don't."
Crysta shrugged, unperturbed. "Thanks for the advice. By the way, what's this I hear about you getting a reprimand?"
"Merely a formality. 'Unneccesary endangerment of property', so says the charge sheet. Remember the Karpan incident?"
"Obviously," Kavi grunted.
"Well, the data crane I piloted to save Susan was powered by fuel cells which I cannibalized from the other cranes. And even then, I couldn't really top up the fuel. So by the time everything was over, the data crane was just about running on empty."
"That clears one thing up," Nick said. "Now for the more immediate problem. What to do with the Darkling?"
Kathy thought for awhile. "I think there's an old storeroom near here. Nobody ever goes there, and finding anything in it is practically impossible."
"It's as good as any." Nar grimaced. "Now the problem is getting it there."
"Not a problem, Nar," Ril assured him. She turned to the draped mechanized armour, and cleared her throat. "Darkling, Command Authorization FD47283, codeword Hermes."
The mechanized armour gave a shuddering whine, and powered up. The cloth draping it fell away, and the group could finally see just what Darkling looked like.
Nick made a thoughtful sound. "Looks like something I saw once, in an old vidtape. It was an animated show. They called it an Invid Enforcer."
Kathy let loose a deprecating sound. "Nick, I think you're too old to be watching cartoons. An ancient one, at that!"
"What's wrong with liking history?" Nick asked with mock hurt.
Susan ignored both of them. The Darkling was around fifteen feet tall, and had a sort of crab-like look. It was bipedal, and its two arms were pincers. In addition, it was bristling with weapons.
The thing gave another shudder, and slowly started to lift off the ground.
"Anti-gravity system," Ril explained. "Now it's easier to move around."
"How did you know all this?" Nick asked.
"Like you, I have a curious streak in me, and I like getting information. Unlike you, I get my information legally."
"Ouch."
With the help of the anti-gravity system (and a lot of grunting and pushing) the Darkling was finally transported to the storeroom.
"Dusty," Peter commented. "What's in here, anyway?"
"Test datadisks," Kathy answered.
"What, ours?"
"More or less. Did you think they made it so inaccessible for nothing?"
Ril gave another command, and the Darkling settled to the ground. Now, in the gloom, it looked like nothing more than another heap of datadisks.
"So now they can't get it out without a lot of difficulty and commotion," Nar observed.
"Correct," Kavi agreed. "But how are we supposed to get it out?"
"We'll answer that when the time comes," Kathy said. "For now, at least it's safe."
Susan had her doubts, however. "What if someone finds out a way to get it out quietly?"
"They can't," Kathy said. "They'd need a portable portal generator to do that."
"Well... I guess so."
"Call me paranoid," Susan confided to Nar three days later, "but I just don't really feel easy with it just sitting there, ripe for the taking."
Nar shook his head. "I don't think it's paranoid either. Nobody really knows what renegade groups will do now to get the upper hand. I'm staying here to guard Darkling."
"So you don't believe in what Kavi said just now."
"What do you mean?"
"You know, having people guard something is as good as announcing its value."
Nar laughed. "No, I believe in that. Which is why I'm not here to guard this thing."
Susan felt confused. "But you just said-"
"I said I'm not here to guard this thing. Instead, I was just feeling bored, and I felt like walking around in this general area."
Susan grinned. "I see. So did I."
They stood around in silence for a while. Finally Susan spoke up. "You know, I still don't understand something."
"What's that?"
"About Nick. And how is it all of you seem to know him. When we first met, that is."
Nar looked away, into the distance. "Nick..... well, he did some stuff for us. For all his lack of social proficiency, he does have considerable business sense."
"Eh?"
"What I mean is, he looks for people who need help, and then he offers them his services."
"And in return?"
Nar gave a lopsided grin. "In return, he wants our undying friendship."
"That's a steep price."
"Tell me about it. In fact, I think only you and Kathy didn't solicit his services before that gathering after Professor Wong's class. And I'm not too sure about Kathy."
Susan cleared her throat. "Uh.... so what did Nick do for you?"
Nar looked faintly panicky for a moment. "I'd rather not say."
"Does it have something to do with those huge goggles of his?"
"In a way. You see, Nick told me that the goggles were just a convenient computer. Something like a laptop. But when he wants to do more serious stuff, he finds a larger computer, and starts hacking. In our case, it was mainly altering records."
"Interesting." Susan cast around for another suitable topic of conversation. "What do you think the others are doing right now?"
"You know what? I have no idea."
Sarah Descan shrugged. "He left a while ago. Said he was going to check on the Darkling."
Kathy looked faintly perturbed. "Do you think he knows where to find it?"
"I'm sure Susan and Nar will tell him," Ril said.
"That's what I was afraid of. We weren't supposed to go in there, you know."
Nick stared at Kathy for a long while. "Kathy," he finally said, "why do you always leave information like that for last?"
"Mainly because if I told you before, my idea wouldn't get carried out at all."
Nick opened his mouth to retort, then thought better of it.
"Why did you call us here?" Peter asked Sarah.
"I wanted you to take a look at this." She turned her laptop screen around, so it faced the others.
The logo displayed on the screen was large, colourful, fancy, and ominous.
"Typical renegades," Kavi grunted. "The motto appears to say 'For Freedom'."
"But?" Nick asked, sensing more to come.
"Look at the design there. There, in the center. They form letters, don't you see?"
Nick squinted. "Lessee.... 'U'... 'S'... 'E'... 'R'... uh oh."
"'Users Out'," Ril said grimly. "Now we know."
"Where did you get that?" Peter asked.
"Found it on the bomb from Karpan," Sarah said. "Talk about advertising. Each microchip in the timing device had a logo."
Peter leaned closer to the screen. "Looks familiar, somehow. I think I've seen this somewhere before...."
Kathy, meanwhile, had been counting. "Where's Crysta?"
"She said she had to go," Peter said, peering at the logo. "Now where have I seen this befo-"
There was a sudden thin whine in the air. All of them looked up. Just as suddenly as it started, the sound ended.
Nick said the word for all of them: "Huh?"
Just then, Crysta ran into the room. "What was that noise? It sounded so familiar...."
"Hi, sis," Peter greeted her. "Care to take a look at this?"
Reluctantly Crysta did so. "I still want to know what that noise wa-" She cut off in midsentence, and stared at the logo on the screen.
Peter walked over to her. "Sis? You okay?"
"Wha....." Crysta shook her head. "Where the hell did you get that?"
Sarah told her.
"Oh my god....." Crysta looked as though she was on the verge of fainting. "I'd hoped never to see that again. And now....."
"Now," Nick said bluntly, "you have to. What is it?"
Crysta closed her eyes. Her face was pale. "It's something to do with the first time I met you."
Nick's brow furrowed. "In the cafeteria? But-"
"No, before that."
"Oh."
"Enlighten us as to what happened," Kavi said dryly.
Crysta opened her eyes, and took a deep breath. "I can't excuse myself for what I did. I know this may shock you, but... I was once part of that renegade group."
There was silence for a while. Then Kavi said, "We've heard worse. Don't worry. Go on."
"At first, I didn't know that it was a renegade group. I just thought it was another political group dedicated to fighting oppression. Then I went on one of what the commanders called 'a business trip'..... I was thoroughly sickened. When we got back to the headquarters, I simply walked away, and never looked back."
"When was this?" Kathy asked.
"Three years ago," Peter supplied. "Crysta's been clean since then."
Crysta smiled a wan smile. "Thanks, Peter."
"When you left," Sarah began, "what was the group's strength like?"
"Like any other renegade group of its time," Crysta said. "A few shadowy leaders, some commanders, and plenty of common foot soldiers. I was merely there to boost the numbers. Even so, the group received funding from some unknown source. Plenty of funding. So much, that they could even afford..... that's it!"
"What?"
"That noise! That was a portable portal generator! The leaders of that group had custom-made one, at considerable expense. Which means.... uh oh."
The others quickly came to the same conclusion. "I think," Kavi said slowly, "that a more appropriate expression would be 'oh shit'."
"Let's go," Kathy said grimly. "I almost can't bear to think about what might have happened."
"I can guess."
Medics ran about, desperately calling for more supplies of bandages and file patches. There was an ominous coloumn of smoke near the storeroom.
Kathy caught hold of one of the medics. "What happened?" she asked.
"Blaster wound," the medic said shortly. "Very bad."
"Who?"
"Prime Jennings."
At the center of the commotion, Nar was cradling a bandaged arm to his chest. He looked like he was in shock, and thus wouldn't be in any position to answer their quesions.
The Prime, though, was being hurriedly carted off to the medbay. A large group of medics surrounded the cart, so they couldn't see what state the Prime was in.
"Tell me how this happened," Kathy asked the medic.
"I was going there when it happened. A portal suddenly appeared, then an APC rolled out of it. Someone shot a blaster in the Prime's direction, and the cadet there rushed to block the blaster beam's path. However, the Prime pushed him out of harm's way, and took the brunt of the blast. Someone then threw a smoke bomb, and I didn't see anyhting else. Besides, I was screaming for help by then."
"What about the other cadet? The human girl?"
"I didn't see anyone else."
Kathy let the medic go. "We'd better check the storeroom," she said, already walking faster.
"What about Nar?" Ril asked. "And where's Susan?"
"You go look after Nar. I'll check the Darkling armour..... ah, crap."
The medics had done a brilliant job, as it was, lighting up the inside of the storeroom. The group could see piles of datadisks.
But no mechanized armour.
Even worse, no Susan.
Which meant that both had been taken by the intruders.
There was going to be trouble for this. A lot of trouble.
Nar smiled weakly. "I've felt better."
Alpha group were now inside the medbay, holding an impromptu emergency meeting. The room was soundproofed, and they could be sure that no-one could eavesdrop.
Then again, they were sure that the armour wouldn't get stolen.
"I talked to the medic," Sarah said. "He identified the logo on the APC as the one from the bomb. Do you know their leaders?"
Crysta shrugged. "They call themselves the Triad. All I know is that there're three of them, and few have even seen their faces. Mostly, the decisions are made by the commanders. I only know one Commander Thor, and he's only one of around fifty. The decision to take the armour could've been made by anyone."
"But who could've known about the armour?"
"Everything leaves a paper trail," Nick said.
"A.... paper trail?"
"What I mean is, everything which has to be moved anywhere has to have some documentation somewhere. And it's rather easy to get it."
"From your point of view, maybe," Kavi said.
"From any competent hacker's point of view."
"So now we know the who, the how and the why," Sarah said. "Now it's time for the what now."
"They'll probably crack the codes from the safety of their lair," Ril said. "As Nick said, it's easy for any competent hacker."
"And may God help us all," Kathy murmured.
"What about trying to infiltrate the renegades?" Peter suggested.
Crysta sighed. "Peter, to infiltrate the renegades, we would first have to know where they are. And from my time with them, I know that they move around quite a bit. We have no way of knowing where they are now."
"Yes we do," Nar said.
"Eh?"
"Susan."
"Of course!" Nick exclaimed. "We home in on Susan's signal. Then we'll find out where the renegades are."
"How long will that take us?" Ril asked.
"I dunno. A day, at most. There're a lot of places they could be, you know."
"In the meantime," Sarah said, "Susan's our best chance to get the armour back. We can only hope that she made it to the renegades' lair unharmed."
"Oh, by the way, Crysta," Kathy put in. "What do the renegades call themselves?"
Crysta smiled grimly. "They call themselves the Apocalypse."
"Oh."