Hellsky (Hunter-Killer #3)

Chapter 11 - Short Fuse

"What you got?"

"Some kind of pulse. Come see for yourself."

"Captain?"

"Authorised."

"Be with you in a ripple."

A few minutes later, Capicza appeared in her little tunnel. He was a couple of years older than her, but he didn't look it. Short and skinny, the young man was well-built for clambering around in the guts of Brekka's war machines. He shuffled along to join her, turning his eyes to the same point on the wall.

"Alright, what am I looking at?" he asked.

"Just wait." Ivy pointed. "Right there. When the next pulse comes, watch for it."

Capicza nodded, his clean-shaven face a picture of discomfort. Evidently he didn't much care for being this close to the thing. But he watched and he waited, and when the pulse came again, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Watching Lords," he breathed.

"This thing's generating the vibrations," Ivy said into the comm. "Must be some kind of power source inside it. Low level – you'd probably need to stick a seismic right on top of it to register anything."

"Capicza, confirm?" Kenyatta replied.

"Confirmed, ma'am," he replied. "Some kind of light pulsing beneath the surface in time with the tremor."

"Hold your positions," Kenyatta advised them quickly. "If that thing is sending out tremors – even minor ones – We need to get a full spectrum scanner rigged out there before you go digging any deeper. We don't know how stable that part of the cavern is."

"My torch is almost dry anyway," Ivy answered, "I'm coming in for a recharge and I'll take a scanner back with me, copy?"

"Copy that, Shanklin. I'll have a fresh pack charged and waiting for you," Kenyatta replied. "Capicza – hold your position. Copy?"

"Don't have to tell me twice, ma'am," Capicza replied, shooting Ivy a nervous look. "Hurry back, eh?"

"Just don't touch anything," she replied, clapping him on the shoulder before shimmying back out of the crevice she'd cut for herself.

"On my way, ma'am," she called. "See you in a few." Slotting the bulk of the cutter into place against the small of her back, she pivoted within her harness, giving the taut guideline an experimental pull.

Then she took a deep breath and launched herself across the chasm. Even with the protective netting below, she couldn't swallow down the gut-churning sensation of wheeling across empty space, the plateau rushing towards her with frightening speed.

A burly female Blackwater guard was waiting to catch her when she landed. She thudded into the woman's armoured body with a grunt; strong arms clamped around her to stop her momentum dead.

"Safe!" the guard barked to the nearby operators.

"Nice catch," Ivy remarked as the attending technicians unhooked her from the heavy duty work harness.

"Living the dream," the woman replied dryly, releasing her. Ivy chuckled and set off towards the main encampment.

Outside the main command tent she saw Kelso deep in conversation with two of his officers, and they looked serious enough that she decided not to bother with pleasantries for now. Walking past, she ducked through the tent flap and into the makeshift command centre for the expedition.

The tent was almost fifty feet long, filled with a rotating duty shift of engineers, technicians, scientists and guards. Temporary computing stations whined in the intense head, their coolant systems battling against Rychter's unforgiving environment.