"Yeah, that stuff. They case it in spheres of high-impact gla.s.s so n.o.body opens one by mistake. Missile-dumped; subbies go brittle from atmospheric friction so when they hit, the s.h.i.t inside goes everywhere. Real fast stuff, spreads like h.e.l.l."

"But what would these things need with a bioweap?"

The question had already crossed Ridgeway's mind. "Dunno," he knelt closer to the device, hoping to divine some clue as to its origin. "Doesn't figure it came off the Ascension. They set out to build worlds, not scorch 'em."

"Maybe these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were planning a homecoming surprise if the neighbors upstairs ever came knocking."

Ridgeway tried to imagine the scenario. You're miles underground with a mining operation overhead. Could you hear the drilling through that much rock? He glanced back towards the main cavern. Maybe so, maybe you know something's coming but you don't know what. Maybe friends, maybe friends of the guys you ate.

He thought about his own protocol. Stuck in a box with unknown inbounds, his eyes fixed once more on the cube, you hope for the best and stick a claymore at the door.

As he looked at what by all logic was one h.e.l.l of a claymore, a ghastly image entered his mind. By now a couple thousand Marines would be on the surface along with thousands of civvies and Rimmer regulars. Something like UVX, if this was a bio weapon, could cut them down like wheat. Who could guess how the s.h.i.t might spread.

"Buggar me, Majah" Taz snarled as he lowered the magnum pistol. "We're not trained for b.l.o.o.d.y bio. Let's stuff some grenades in it and haul a.s.s, let it eat the whole sodding Hive for all we care."

"Can't," Ridgeway shook his head. "If we knew it was a direct-contact agent, maybe. But if this s.h.i.t is airborne transmissive, the whole cave becomes a Hot Zone. Maybe beyond. We can't take that chance."

Taz shrugged, then knelt by Ridgeway. "What if we're on the wrong track, Majah? What if it isn't a weapon?"

"What are you thinking?"

"You've seen these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, they're like b.l.o.o.d.y hermit crabs, all cobbled together from junk parts, right?"

Ridgeway nodded his concurrance. "So what are you thinking?"

Taz crouched a little lower, his voice strained with discomfort. "What if some of the parts these things are made of were sc.r.a.pped from humans, from the crew?"

Ridgeway was surprised that Taz had come to a similar point of a.n.a.lysis. Humans cloned spare parts all the time, replacement organs and limbs a commonplace occurrance. But those parts were grown to be indistinguishable from original equipment. Grafting across species added a huge level of complexity. Still, Ridgeway thought, with nanotechnology in the mix, anything seemed possible.

"That's what I'm on about," Taz muttered, picking up on Ridgeway's rapid glances about the area. "Cryogenic s.h.i.t, little blinky lights on each test tube. This isn't some big batch all made of the same stuff, it's individual samples of DNA, a b.l.o.o.d.y spare parts farm so they can go on cannibalizing people for parts and eating the leftovers."

The snake in Ridgeway's gut pushed its way up his throat on a rising column of bile. He quickly scanned one side of the cube, making a rough tally of rows and columns. Eighteen, maybe twenty vials to a row, about the same in height. Somewhere over six thousand individual test tubes racked and stacked. Accounting for losses, that added up to most of the empty cryotubes in the Ascension. The odds were too great for coincidence.

Ridgeway stood rapidly. "It goes with us."

Taz holstered his pistol and walked around the device like a mover who eyeballed a piano. With a deep squat he wrapped his plated arms around the steel frame and grabbed the larger metal rails. With a groan he dead-lifted the refrigerator-sized collection of gla.s.s and steel.

"Remind me again why I joined the Marines." Taz hissed through clenched teeth.

Ridgeway patted him in the back as he stepped to the lead. "If you wanted to sit on your a.s.s you shoulda joined the Air Force."

Taz only grunted as he plodded after Ridgeway. The duo had barely covered three strides when Darcy's voice exploded on the Com.

"I don't know what you just did guys, but it got everybody's attention. You've got inbounds from Lima, Mary and Romeo and they're all moving fast. It's about to hit the fan boys. I'm going loud."

CHAPTER 33.

A sharp whine ripped through the air over Ridgeway's head, a rifle's deep thunderclap hot on its heels. Somewhere behind the evacuating Marines, a spherical tank burst in a huge ball of vapor that ignited half a heartbeat later. Flame rolled across the Hive floor.

With a burning wall at his back, Ridgeway's entire focus turned forward. His CAR snapped through a three-point sweep as he jogged at an urgent pace, providing constant cover for Taz as they closed on the skid.

Three more rounds from the railgun struck points around the Hive, each one punctuated by a shuddering explosion. Columns of black smoke rose to the ceiling.

Ridgeway sidestepped at a bottleneck and motioned for Taz to pa.s.s. As he did, a new set of tremors rattled through the floor, beating out a thunderous rhythm. From the sound of things, the sniper was carving a line of destruction to bar pursuit.

Kick some a.s.s, girl. The thought had barely crossed his mind when he realized that something was missing between the storming drumbeats. No whine, no thunderclap.

That isn't Darcy.

Ridgeway planted hard and torqued his upper body as the ma.s.sive shape smashed through an intervening line of machinery. It came on like a rhino, crushing everything in its path. Streamers of flame trailed from its enormous legs.

Bigfoot.

Ridgeway's eyes went wide at the sheer size of the behemoth. The d.a.m.n thing was p.i.s.sed enough to run right through the fire.

Two grenades jumped from Ridgeway's rifle on pure reflex. The volatile munitions slammed barely an arm's length apart on the front of the uneven metal sphere.

The creature's torso rocked back for an instant, then rebounded with elastic acceleration. Through the growing pall of smoke, Ridgeway could see that two gaping holes had little affect on its mobility. The floor shook with renewed violence as Bigfoot charged.

"Go, go, go!" Ridgeway screamed as he aimed at the closest of Bigfoot's knees. The first grenade flew wide but the next two struck home. The joint splintered in a burst of metal and plastic. As the creature's full weight came down, the shattered limb snapped. Bigfoot pitched forward and crashed to the floor, bulldozing a trench of metal and rock.

Ridgeway had no false illusions of trying to finish it off. At best he'd bought a good head start.

Just stay down for a minute.

Bigfoot thrashed for barely twenty seconds before it hauled itself up on five remaining legs. Still connected by strands of sinew, the shattered limb swung wildly with every stride. Twice, the creature tripped on its own broken limb, allowing Ridgeway to add to his precarious lead.

The advantage was short-lived. Bigfoot's violent gait caused the final strands of fascia to tear away and the drum-sized severed limb fell to the wayside. The creature surged forward with new-found speed.

A freight-train rumble closed from behind and Ridgeway threw himself into a flat dive as a ma.s.sive leg slammed down, hurling fragments of shattered stone in every direction. The Marine rolled frantically as impacts trailed with a piledriver's ferocity. Ridgeway scuttled across a stream of nanites and felt his hands slip out from beneath him.

ohs.h.i.t.

Ridgeway's senses exploded as something slammed him into the floor. The TAC skittered and broke into discordant lines that coalesced into the silhouette of an oak tree growing from his own chest. The curse on his lips hung unspoken, abandoned by airless lungs.

The huge blur leaned back and lifted the wire-splayed stump of its shattered leg from the chest of the p.r.o.ne Marine. The underside of the sphere clamsh.e.l.led opened to reveal a cl.u.s.ter of cold gla.s.s lenses. Moving only the stump, Bigfoot a.s.sessed the amputation with mechanical detachment, as though noting for the first moment that half of the limb had been lost.

Ridgeway seized the apparent confusion and extended an empty right hand towards the exposed inner surface. A stream of liquid fire lanced out from his forearm and filled the compartment. The hatch slammed shut as the great ma.s.s staggered backward.

Ridgeway sucked for air as he rolled to his feet and launched his body over a section of pipe that ran parallel to the floor. As close as his own shadow, an intact foot crushed the plumbing into the floor.

Ground equipment squealed as another dark shape scrambled rapidly in Ridgeway's direction. A third silhouette bore in from above as Bigfoot wheeled back from its last charge. Motion closed from every side.

Too many-- The fringe of a gravitic field knocked Ridgeway to the floor as the skid hurtled past on his right. Metal crumpled as the heavy barge plowed into Bigfoot with horrific force. The nose of the floating skid climbed up across the creature's torso, the gravitic cushion peeling strips from the creature's side. A second leg crumpled under its own exaggerated weight and Bigfoot fell.

The skid wheeled about and Ridgeway could see Monster wrestle the controls with one good hand as he brought the craft to a hover. Taz lay p.r.o.ne on the deck, arm outstretched. "C'mon Majah!"

In a thunderous return, Bigfoot's mangled form rose from the floor. Ridgeway bolted up the side of the crumpled sh.e.l.l and launched himself from the apex. Carbon-clad hands met in a vise-like grasp as the skid lurched skyward. A powerful heave yanked him up over the rail and he sprawled across the deck.

Metal shrieked as a picket line of spiked legs, each the size of a man's arm, curled over the port rail. Sharp tips left pockmark holes across the duraluminum skin. In a blur of motion, a centipedal ma.s.s curled up and over the flattened rail. Mismatched legs bristled along both sides, fanning back from a lamprey-mouth carpeted with drill bits and grinders.

Fighting the sudden weight, Monster struggled to counter the sharp portside list. Warning buzzers howled as the skid slewed wickedly into a yawing, downward spiral.

The creature slammed into Monster's back and pinned him against the console. A torrent of machine shop squeals filled the air as the lamprey's maw sealed itself flat against the big Marine.

Ridgeway's voice boomed over the maelstrom. "Down!"

Taz dropped to the deck beneath a sudden lance of covalent fire. White-hot metal sprayed as round after disruptive round tore a chasm through the writhing invader. Ridgeway screamed in rage as the wound gaped wide, then peeled apart.

For a moment the headless body clung to the skid as black fluids vomited from the severed neck. At least a dozen legs kept a deathless grip that dragged the skid from the air. Suddenly the portside rail tore away with a squeal and the body tumbled from sight, ripping floor plates and skirting as it fell.

Monster lay motionless on the deck, the curved lamprey head still affixed to his back. Ridgeway heard the continued chatter of drill bits and threw his shoulder into the vibrating ma.s.s of metal. Armored fists pounded the forward edge, crushing metal with every blow.

In a sudden lurch the head peeled free and swung up like a heavy car hood. Whirring carbide bits chewed the air scant inches from Ridgeway's facemask, slinging specks of blood and carbon.

The skid clipped a tower and Ridgeway was thrown to one side. The maniacal head skidded across the deck, cutters still spinning madly. Eyes wide with adrenaline, Ridgeway threw a brutal kick that drove the b.l.o.o.d.y cuisinart through the gap in the rail.

His chest heaving, he scrabbled to the p.r.o.ne Monster. The shock of what he saw stole what little breath remained in Ridgeway's lungs.

Frayed carbon fiber edged the gaping hole where Monster's armor had finally given out. Shards of broken blades and chipped plating wallowed in the blood that ran from the wound in thick rivulets. With Monster's TAC long disabled, Ridgeway had no way to know if the sergeant was dead or alive.

The skid nosed up and settled into a wobbling hover, Taz braced at the controls. Ridgeway met his gaze and flicked a thumb toward the ceiling. The engine revved in reply, climbing quickly. Ridgeway sagged against a metal framework, thankful for the growing separation from the Hive floor.

He tracked down to the gla.s.s cylinders that shone with a soft emerald glow. Magnetic latches had kept a solid grip on the cargo throughout the roller-coaster ride. As far as Ridgeway could see, no trace of green splattered the deck.

With a groan Ridgeway stood to his feet. The haze of pain that radiated from his battered chest was so severe that his stomach threatened to eject whatever acids it contained across the inside of his helmet. Searching for one good breath of air, Ridgeway rocked his head back. As he did, his gaze swung up to the ceiling overhead.

The Spider stormed across the top of the Hive, zigzagging the inverted cityscape with an abandon that defied its great bulk. Muzzle flash sparkled from its forelimb and wild fluorescent streaks rained down from overhead. Several rounds thudded into the skid where the unmistakable flare of covalence burned craters in the deck.

"Hang on!" Ridgeway heard the shout as Taz slammed the throttle. The skid surged forward, gaining meager ground against the Spider's considerable speed.

Ridgeway wasn't interested in a fair race. "Darcy, on the ceiling. Nail his a.s.s."

The only reply was static that crackled on the open channel. Ridgeway spun to the bow and scanned the jagged rock along the valley entrance. His eyes were drawn to the pall of smoke that rolled from a blackened gap in the stone.

Taz shouted from the wheel of the skid, pointing frantically at a figure that crawled from the smoldering hole. The vehicle dropped abruptly, nearly slamming into the cave floor.

Ridgeway leaned over the bow, poised to hurdle the front ramp and drop to the floor below. Wind from the skid tore the dense column of smoke into whispy veils and revealed the near-limbless thing that dragged itself across the ground. Smoke, or the steam of boiled blood, rose in swirling trails from the blistered body. A charred arm reached forward and grasped rough stone to haul itself another inch. Amid the smoking ma.s.s, Ridgeway could make out an armored shoulder plate. Marine armor.

"Oh my G.o.d." Ridgeway watched in shock as the crusted hand clawed for purchase on the rock floor. Amid charred flesh a cl.u.s.ter of steel blades scratched across the unyielding surface.

"It's not her!" Ridgeway blurted as he groped absently for his rifle. "It's not Darcy."

Before his hand could close on the weapon, the skid whipped into a sharp tail slide. The engine howled over the crackle of brittle stone as the powerful gravitic cushion swept along the ground. They slid over the crawling form, adding the wet sound of crushed melon to the ruckus. The skid completed its pirouette and revealed a wide, dark slick of flattened machinery and gore.

Taz growled from the driver's seat. "Then its not alive either."

Though impressed with the quick solution, Ridgeway's gaze scoured the area. Darcy was nowhere in sight. The Marine stood frozen, his attention locked on an icon that stood out black and motionless on the TAC. The sharpshooter symbol floated silently over the open hole in the ground, a dark glyph against the rolling ebony smoke.

His throat went dry; the black marker was used only for body recovery. The tiny lifeline below the icon scrolled free of the peaks and valleys produced by a beating heart. A tremor rippled through Ridgeway's body and his legs wobbled beneath him.

An urgent shout dragged Ridgeway from his gutsick slide. The Spider's dark shape, clear of the Hive entrance, now closed with undiminished speed. Other shapes scuttled in its wake; dark, aberrant silhouettes framed against the fiery backdrop of the Hive.

Ridgeway fixed on the icon and swallowed hard. Black icon. Dead. The words barely cleared his throat. "We gotta go."

"But Majah, we can't just leave--"

Ridgeway spun face to face with Taz and stabbed a finger toward the great ship that glittered in the distance. "I said MOVE!"

A cold sickness closed like a fist around Ridgeway's guts as the barge banked and accelerated. He watched in silence as the column of smoke fell behind and faded into the all-consuming darkness.

CHAPTER 34.

St.i.tch loped down the hall like a compet.i.tor in a three-legged race, left arm draped across Merlin's shoulder. His damaged leg swung stiffly with every stride, a useless slab of lead. The nerve block deadened the pain enough to endure the jarring evac, but loss of all control in the limb and hip left him a veritable cripple.

An unfamiliar burden bounced erratically against his ribs, the device wrapped in wads of stretchy insulation torn from a CryoTube. One hazard-striped corner of the metal box poked out of the cocc.o.o.n and sc.r.a.ped along armored ribs.

Merlin gestured forward. "Break right at the next junction."

St.i.tch nodded brusquely and grunted through teeth welded by pain. Attached to Merlin like a siamese twin, he maintained the awkward stride-and-a-half gait as the two sought a route back to the turbolift, the Lobby, the way out.

The injury to his leg had ruled out a climb back up through the top of the CryoSphere. Instead, the two Marines found themselves in unknown corridors at the sphere's ground level. With luck, they would find a turbolift that could reach the Lobby floor. If not, St.i.tch would face a forty-story descent on a disintegrating femur.

Oorah.