Fatal Error - Keith R. A. DeCandido [16]
“What happ—” Gomez started, but Corsi cut her off as she led the commander around a corner.
“Photonic grenade. Keep moving, Commander.”
Gomez nodded, blinking furiously as she picked up the pace, trusting Corsi not to let her walk into a wall.
With the hand that wasn’t guiding Gomez, Corsi held her tricorder, currently showing her a map of the caverns. She led the way with Gomez, 110 right behind, and Drew leading Hawkins behind him. Corsi moved as fast as she could without losing the others. The display also showed that the twelve Eerlikka hadn’t moved from the terminal chamber.
No, wait, she thought as the display changed, now they’re moving. And spreading out in what looks like a search pattern, which means they have no clue which way we went. Good.
She led the team around a few more corners, and then finally into a small cul-de-sac. Like the main terminal area, the walls here looked like big slabs of marble, but these were covered in dust. According to the records in the mission profile, there used to be a terminal here, but it had been consolidated into another unit.
Although the lights had remained on in much of the complex, they’d apparently been removed from this area. The only illumination was provided by the wristlamps, and whatever light was coming in from the corridor.
Switching hers off, Corsi said, “Everyone kill the wristlamps. I don’t think they have any scanning equipment, so they’ll be searching by sight.”
110 walked up to Gomez. “Are you all right, Commander?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Gomez said, blinking furiously. “This dim cavern is actually helping.” Letting out a breath, she said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.” She tapped her combadge. “Gomez to da Vinci. Five to beam up.”
Silence answered.
Oh, hell, Corsi thought. She tapped her own combadge. “Corsi to da Vinci.”
Gomez immediately whipped out her tricorder. “The combadges are functioning normally. And there’s no security measure of Ganitriul’s interfering. Which means the da Vinci can’t answer.”
Shaking her head, Corsi said, “That fits. We were ambushed—they probably were, too. If they’re not answering, they—”
“We know what it means, Commander,” Gomez said quickly. “Right now, let’s focus on what we can do.”
Corsi nodded. Gomez was right, actually. “Drew, stand guard.”
Drew nodded, gave Hawkins a quick, encouraging look, then headed out to the mouth of the cul-de-sac.
Corsi knelt down to check on Hawkins. Conveniently, Hawkins himself had been carrying the mini-medikit. She opened it and treated his wound as best she could. It would do until they got back to the da Vinci.
If they got back.
“We need to figure out how to proceed with the mission,” Gomez said.
Looking up sharply at Gomez—who looked rather sinister with the light from the tricorder shining up on her face, casting odd shadows on her pale complexion—Corsi said, “Commander, I don’t think we should be proceeding anywhere. We’re actually in a defensible position right now. There’s twelve armed Eerlikka out there, and all we’ve got are phaser rifles that are basically glorified clubs, thanks to our friend the computer—who’s already lied to us.”
“I have not lied to you intentionally, Lieutenant Commander Corsi.” The voice of Ganitriul startled Corsi, and she got to her feet and raised her phaser rifle on instinct.
Gomez, however, didn’t look at all surprised, as if disembodied voices spoke without prompting to her all the time. “You told us those were sensor ghosts that Drew picked up, Ganitriul.”
“I believed that they were—just as I believed that the current running through my dataport was safe for 110. I was in error in both cases. It is not something I am accustomed to, but it has become a regular occurrence since this invasive program was placed within me. I also know what has happened to your ship.”
“Are they okay?” Gomez asked, sounding concerned.
“They were attacked by a Pevvni ship. For some reason, the Pevvni have constructed