{"data":{"id":12930,"title":"The Lost Generation: Issue #10","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/12930-The-Lost-Generation-Issue-10","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/12930","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/12930","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"The Lost Generation","images":[{"id":248,"name":"TonyaOrielSerial_FI_1_Crop.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/f2lyrm83u0tc8r\/source\/TonyaOrielSerial_FI_1_Crop.jpg","alt":"","size":680902,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:26:08+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/248","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/248\/similar"}],"images_count":1,"translations":{"en_EN":"The airlock inside Nagia\u2019s hummed as it began to pressurize. Tonya got a good look at wreckage of the other airlock, the one he tried to use to board the Beacon II.\n\nThe Beacon II \u2026 she looked out the small porthole to the two halves of her ship hanging in the void. She was going to have to start thinking about a Beacon III.\n\nA panel by the inner airlock door pinged and slid open, revealing Nagia, a henchman and a pair of laser guns aimed at her.\n\n\u201cAin\u2019t this a joy,\u201d Tonya said as she put her hands up. \u201cI\u2019m a little disappointed, Nagia, jump-stalking seems beneath even you.\u201d The henchman slapped the cuffs on her without taking the suit off. She glanced over her shoulder at the henchman. \u201cYou mind switching my air supply over to the filter? Stuff ain\u2019t cheap.\u201d\n\nThe henchman glared at her for a moment.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re funny,\u201d the henchman said finally. He dragged her to a chair and snagged her cuffs to a hook in the wall.\n\n\u201cYour guys don\u2019t seem to like me too much,\u201d Tonya replied to Nagia.\n\n\u201cLem\u2019s just enthusiastic.\u201d Nagia slipped into the pilot\u2019s chair and resumed control. \u201cTurov wanted a word before we ghosted you.\u201d\n\nThe henchman, Lem, kept his weapon charged and watched her.\n\nTonya settled back in the seat, trying to get comfortable. It was going to be a long flight.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nThe other thugs on Nagia\u2019s payroll fell into a loose formation behind his ship on the way toward Kallis IX.\n\nThe system was buzzing with activity. Surveying teams and deep-orbit scan ships circled the eight other planets. Senzen Turov must have really been impressed by the primitive paintings on Oso to pull this many resources into the system. Tonya had no idea where Senzen could have gotten an orbital mining laser but there it was, surgically boring holes through the clouds of the small planet. She would love to see how Senzen could possibly explain this to any authorities who weren\u2019t under his sway. Like Oso, this was a developing system and technically off-limits to any kind of surveying and mining activity. He must be counting on the fact that the discovery of the Artemis would make any politician happily look the other way.\n\nNagia dove through the atmosphere and emerged into a blizzard. The ship rocked as it sliced through tumultuous clouds. When they finally parted, giving the first glimpse on the planet\u2019s surface, it was icy tundra as far as the eye could see. Along the horizon, cryovolcanoes pumped massive plumes of freezing magma into the air.\n\nThe ship began to descend, passing between conflicting wind patterns that even battered Nagia\u2019s sturdy ship around like a toy. She could see small teams of miners were positioned at each of the holes burrowed into the ice from the laser. They set up scanner buoys on anti-grav beds and dropped them down the shafts.\n\n\u201cAny chance Senzen could come onboard to gloat? I hate the cold.\u201d\n\nNagia laughed. Lem stuck to his earlier sentiment and just stared at her.\n\nFinally, they were on the ground. Nagia and Lem suited up and loaded Tonya into the airlock. The outer door hissed open, letting a swirl of snow and ice into the antechamber. The HUD on her suit displayed the atmosphere, some oxygen, mostly ammonia, before helpfully advising her not to attempt to take off her suit.\n\nWith a quick prod of the barrel, they all stepped outside. Lem separated and drilled holes in the ice for support hooks, keeping the ship from sliding. Any hope of overpowering Nagia on his own vanished as the rest of his crew emerged from the whiteout and surrounded her. On the plus side, they took off her cuffs.\n\nNagia constantly checked his scanner for directions as they trudged through the snow. Tonya could see light from distant laser shots bloom in the clouds. That was all she could really see anymore; the snow had built to a relentless pitch as gale winds howled. She had to turn down her external microphones.\n\nThen it stopped. Tonya, Nagia, and the rest of the thugs paused and exchanged baffled glances. Nagia shrugged and kept walking.\n\nNow that the snow had cleared, Nagia\u2019s Glas was leading them to a small mining team ahead, prepping a scan into a recently cut shaft.\n\n\u201cTurov!\u201d Nagia yelled. Senzen turned as they approached. He punched some commands into his MobiGlas before looking up. The scanners began to descend on their anti-grav platform.\n\n\u201cHey, Tonya,\u201d Senzen greeted her, almost disappointed. \u201cI\u2019m a little surprised you managed to escape the UEE so quickly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThanks for calling them, by the way.\u201d\n\n\u201cHey, I was worried what those Osoians might do to you. I thought I was helping.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll bet you did.\u201d\n\nSenzen sighed and looked at her for a few moments.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to do with you,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cI\u2019d really prefer not to kill you but you\u2019re making it awfully difficult.\u201d He paused and thought for a few more seconds. \u201cWe could put you in a stasis boot for a couple months, I guess.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou said \u2014\u201d Nagia started to protest.\n\n\u201cI told you killing her was negotiable,\u201d Senzen cut him off. \u201cRelax, you\u2019ll get paid either way.\u201d\n\nNagia shut up and stewed. Senzen turned back to Tonya and thought more. Finally he shrugged and threw his hands up.\n\n\u201cSorry, Tonya, I got nothing.\u201d He turned to Nagia. \u201cShe\u2019s all yours.\u201d\n\nThat was not good. Nagia grinned. One of the thugs grabbed her arm.\n\n\u201cWait, if you kill me, you lose your best way to find the next piece of the Artemis.\u201d Tonya wrenched herself free from the thug. He lunched forward to grab her but Senzen held him with a wave of the hand. Tonya kept going. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be curious how I found my way to Oso.\u201d\n\nTonya could tell he was. She wasn\u2019t positive that Janus had survived Nagia\u2019s attack, but it was her only card. Since it proved itself during her escape from the UEE military platform, maybe Janus had a bright idea how to get her out of this one.\n\n\u201cTalk,\u201d Senzen finally said. She knew she had piqued his curiosity, now for the final nail in the coffin.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve got Janus.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d he asked after a few moments. He couldn\u2019t hide the burning curiosity in his voice.\n\n\u201cGot a copy of the original program, then raised it through a simulation of the Artemis flight. It wasn\u2019t an exact copy but led me to Oso. We\u2019ve already discussed what the crew would have been doing on Kallis \u2026\u201d Tonya was making that part up but she knew that \u2014\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\nTonya stuttered for a second.\n\n\u201cHuh?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Tonya,\u201d Senzen repeated. \u201cEven if it\u2019s true, you\u2019re using it to angle for something else. Maybe in the past, I would\u2019ve entertained the notion, assuming that I would be able to anticipate your inevitable double-cross. But not this time, I\u2019m not biting.\u201d\n\nTonya was quiet. This was really bad. Her mind raced, scrambling for some alternative.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll regret this, Senzen,\u201d was all she could come up with, and that stumbled out of her mouth like a bad VidStar line-reading.\n\n\u201cYeah, maybe, but I\u2019ll trust my scans,\u201d Senzen tapped the MobiGlas, nodded to Nagia and turned away. The pirate took a step toward her, drawing his gun. Tonya grabbed Senzen and turned him around as a shield.\n\nNagia and the other thugs started laughing.\n\n\u201cTonya, really,\u201d Senzen said. \u201cWhat is this going to do?\u201d\n\n\u201cShut up.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou should listen to him, T.\u201d Nagia charged his gun. The rest of the thugs spread out to cut off any escape. \u201cYou got no weapon and nowhere to go.\u201d\n\nThey were wrong, there was somewhere to go.\n\nTonya grabbed Senzen\u2019s MobiGlas, shoved him toward Nagia and jumped into the shaft.\n\nShe tumbled through free-fall for several seconds before slamming into one of the Scanner\u2019s Anti-Grav beds. Her hands scrambled for something to hold onto as her body slid off the edge.\n\nHer fingers locked around a handle a nanosecond before she fell. Tonya looked up. She could see forms gathered around the edge looking down. Even over the wind, she could hear Senzen yelling.\n\nThe platform kept descending, auto-compensators adjusted for the new mass. She pulled herself up and looked around. Flashes from the scanners echoed off into the layers upon layers of ice. She could see a network of gaps, cross-crossing off into the distance.\n\nA laser shot zipped past her. Tonya could see forms start rappelling down the shaft, complaining along the way.\n\nAnother shot hit the platform itself. The whole thing lurched to the side and struggled to rebalance itself. Tonya could see one of the gaps in the wall a few meters below, wide enough to squeeze through. She checked Senzen\u2019s MobiGlas. It still had the controls for the AG platform open.\n\nShe slowed the platform and jumped into the gap moments before another volley of shots punched through the platform. The system finally gave up and clattered down, disappearing into the darkness.\n\nTonya squeezed her way through the narrow fissure in the ice. A little further ahead, she could see it intersect with a larger cave system. A yelp echoed through the gap behind her. Someone swung past the opening, cursing.\n\nShe dropped into the tunnel and looked around. A few thousand meters away, a beam from the orbital laser burned through the surface and illuminated the entire area.\n\nTonya checked Senzen\u2019s Glas. Beyond the control screen for the dead AG platform, a program was creating a composite from the multiple scans going on around the planet. Anomalies in the ice were being isolated and catalogued, but it also gave a rough map of the tunnel systems that had formed under the ice.\n\nShe knew the map would be invaluable, but Nagia had found Senzen through the Glas so she had to assume they could do it still. So she had a choice, use the map but allow Nagia to track her or go blind and maybe wander into a sinkhole.\n\nThe sound of scrambling from the hole in the ceiling expedited her decision. She kept it on and took off running.\n\nShe heard someone slip through the hole in the ceiling and slam into the tunnel.\n\n\u201cTonya!\u201d Senzen yelled, angrier than she\u2019d ever heard him. He snapped off a shot. It went wide and melted a hole in the wall.\n\nThe underground went dark as the orbital laser\u2019s shot faded away. Tonya flipped on her headlights and kept running. She checked the Glas to make sure she wasn\u2019t about to run off a chasm.\n\nShe ran and skidded through the warped corridors. Senzen\u2019s footfalls echoed behind her.\n\nTonya glanced back; from the bouncing lights on his head Senzen was about thirty meters back and she could vaguely see the flickers of light from Nagia\u2019s crew through the ice walls. They were having a tougher time adjusting to the slick floors.\n\nSenzen\u2019s Glas began to hum softly. She checked it while she ran. One of the anomalies isolated by the scans was coming up. That\u2019s when she hit a wall.\n\nThe impact took her clean off her feet. She slammed into the ground and skidded for a few meters. Her vision blurred momentarily. The Glas slid further down the passage. By the time she got her bearings, Senzen was already standing over her.\n\n\u201cDammit, Tonya \u2026\u201d he gasped, trying to catch his breath. He raised the gun.\n\nThe orbital laser punched another hole in the surface and seared its way down, bathing the mirrored tunnel in light. That\u2019s when Tonya saw it, locked in the ice behind Senzen.\n\nSenzen could see the awe in her face. He was hesitant at first but took a step back and turned to see what she was looking at.\n\nIt was a body. Fixed in the ice, mid-motion. Bathed in the reflected laser-light, it looked surreal. Whatever it was, it looked like it was flash-frozen, maybe caught in one of the cryovolcano eruptions. But whatever the situation, from its posture and closed eyes, it looked like it was waiting, expecting it.\n\nTonya stood, completely forgetting the threat of Senzen, and crossed over to it. It was human or human-ish. Anatomically, there was a head, two arms, two legs. The skin was a light grey, almost marble-like pallor. A dark, almost black, network of lines ran under the skin. They almost looked like paths of circuitry, running in tandem with the nervous system. They could have been tattoos. Tonya didn\u2019t know.\n\nShe had no idea what she was looking at.\n\nSenzen stepped up beside her, slack-jawed as well.\n\n\u201cLook at the clothes,\u201d he murmured with a nod of his head.\n\nTonya leaned in close. In the dark frayed remnants of the shirt, a word was faintly stenciled.\n\nKenlo.\n\nTonya\u2019s heart skipped a beat. She could have cried in amazement. Almost seven hundred years later, she was looking at a crewmember of the Artemis.\n\nSuddenly, a seismic charge surged through the tunnel, shaking it violently. Tonya and Senzen slid around, trying to keep their balance. Just as quickly, it stopped. They looked at each other. Another tremor hit, more violent than the last.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not good,\u201d Senzen said quietly.\n\n\u201cYou think blasting holes in the planet with an orbital laser might not have been the best idea?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get this out of here.\u201d Senzen jumped on his comms. \u201cNagia, where are you?\u201d Silence. \u201cNagia!\u201d\n\nTonya tried to keep herself upright. She watched massive seams crack and spread throughout the ice. Blocks started to shift and collapse further down the tunnel.\n\n\u201cThis whole place is coming down,\u201d Tonya said. A laser blast went off.\n\nSenzen wasn\u2019t paying attention. He was shooting around Kenlo\u2019s body, trying to blast him free. It wasn\u2019t working.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t just stand there, help me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe need to get out of here.\u201d Tonya could barely believe what she was saying. Everything she had worked for. An unparalleled achievement was only meters away. It was glory, a legacy frozen in ice. But really, it was death. They couldn\u2019t get to it, couldn\u2019t carry it. It would only take them with it. She was starting to see that.\n\nSenzen\u2019s gun chimed at full charge. Another massive jolt of the planet unleashed jets of gas and steam into the tunnel.\n\nTonya staggered around trying to keep her balance and stepped in a puddle. The place was thawing.\n\n\u201cThe laser tapped the core, we gotta go now!\u201d She grabbed his arm and tried pulling him away. Senzen flung Tonya off him. She hit the ground, skidding.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with you, Tonya?\u201d he said, almost maniacally. Senzen kept firing until the gun needed to pause for a recharge. \u201cThis is the discovery of the century. This is everything. I would be a moron to let it slip away.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou gotta let it go.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet it go?!\u201d He shook his head. \u201cLET IT GO?\u201d He was consumed, hammering at the ice with the butt of the gun and ripping away chunks with his hands.\n\nThe floor cracked suddenly and gave way. Senzen disappeared in a flash of steam down in the dark abyss of the planet.\n\nTonya stared at the void, momentarily stunned. When she looked up, she realized that the last quake also cracked Kenlo\u2019s body from its icy tomb. It lay thawing on its side.\n\nMaybe she could get it. She might be able to carry it to the surface. Those thoughts tumbled past her rational reasoning and paraded the visions of glory and legacy in front of her again. All she had to do was jump across the chasm that claimed Senzen \u2026\n\nTonya realized that Kenlo was looking at her. His eyes, a pale shade of blue, were focused directly on her. He looked surprised, amazed. The same way she must have looked when she first saw him. His lips weakly formed a single word.\n\n\u201cRun.\u201d\n\nHis eyes closed. The body settled.\n\nLeaving him behind, Tonya ran.\n\nTonya almost ran on autopilot through the collapsing tunnels and shifting fissures. Her mind was numb to what she had just experienced. She barely remembered climbing onto the surface and flagging down one of the miner transports.\n\nIt wasn\u2019t until the transport had lifted off Kallis IX, watching the tumultuous clouds churn and shift from space, that she even tried to comprehend what had happened.\n\nFor once, she had no clue.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nEarth, Sol System\n\n2 months later SET\n\nMelvin Hartley, Jr. shuffled eagerly through the lobby of the museum. Duster and mop in hand, he was on the hunt for any speck of dirt or dust that had escaped his vigorous cleaning.\n\nA clock chimed. Hartley cleared his throat and gave the room one last appraising look. He put the cleaning instruments in the closet and checked his suit in the nearby mirror.\n\n\u201cVery fine, indeed,\u201d he said, flashing his trademark showman smile. He wheeled and strode proudly to the front door. His shoes squeaked on the marble floor.\n\nHe pressed a button by the entrance. A banner automatically unfurled just inside the entrance reading, \u201cThe Artemis; A New Discovery. Presented by Shubin Interstellar.\u201d\n\nHe smiled as he read for the thousandth time, then unlocked the doors.\n\nA mob waited outside. Adults, children, reporters, members of the scientific community waited eagerly to press through the entrance and file to the ticket window.\n\nTonya watched Hartley sell tickets. She had worked out an arrangement with Gavin Arlington to display the Artemis artifact from Stanton at Hartley\u2019s museum.\n\nHartley saw her in the crowd. His eyes welled with tears. He nodded to her.\n\nTonya smiled and nodded back.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nKallis System\n\n2 weeks later SET\n\nThe two halves of the Beacon II floated in space. Tonya watched the wreckage from the cockpit of the Beacon III, thankfully covered through her liberal insurance policy.\n\nThe trail was dead. She had gone back to Kallis IX to scan for Kenlo or any other sign of the Artemis, but came up empty. When she gave her final report to Arlington, she didn\u2019t even mention the body. He wouldn\u2019t believe her. No one would. She hardly believed it, herself.\n\nIt just meant that she\u2019d have to be creative, keep searching for any other clues. They had to be out there and she wasn\u2019t going to stop looking.\n\nA message popped up on one of her screens. Transfer complete. Tonya sat back in the chair and waited.\n\n\u201cHello Tonya,\u201d Janus said over the speakers.\n\n\u201cWelcome back.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you.\u201d Pause. \u201cDo you have a course in mind?\u201d\n\n\u201cSure do.\u201d Tonya plotted it in the NavDrive.\n\n\u201cUnderstood.\u201d Janus said. The systems started to activate, then paused. \u201cWould you like to fly?\u201d\n\nTonya thought for a moment.\n\n\u201cNah, you go ahead.\u201d\n\nTHE END","de_DE":"Die Luftschleuse in Nagia's brummte, als sie anfing, Druck aufzubauen. Tonya warf einen guten Blick auf die Tr\u00fcmmer der anderen Luftschleuse, mit der er versuchte, die Beacon II zu besteigen.\n\nDas Leuchtfeuer II.... schaute sie aus dem kleinen Bullauge zu den beiden H\u00e4lften ihres Schiffes, die im Hohlraum hingen. Sie musste anfangen, \u00fcber ein Beacon III nachzudenken.\n\nEin Panel an der inneren Luftschleusent\u00fcr schob sich auf und schob sich auf und enth\u00fcllte Nagia, einen Handlanger und ein Paar Laserwaffen, die auf sie gerichtet waren.\n\n\"Ist das nicht eine Freude\", sagte Tonya, als sie ihre H\u00e4nde hochhob. \"Ich bin ein wenig entt\u00e4uscht, Nagia, das Springen scheint sogar unter dir zu liegen.\" Der Handlanger schlug ihr die Handschellen an, ohne den Anzug auszuziehen. Sie blickte \u00fcber ihre Schulter auf den Handlanger. \"Macht es dir was aus, meine Luftzufuhr auf den Filter umzustellen? Das Zeug ist nicht billig.\"\n\nDer Handlanger starrte sie f\u00fcr einen Moment an.\n\n\"Ich finde dich nicht lustig\", sagte der Handlanger schlie\u00dflich. Er schleppte sie zu einem Stuhl und h\u00e4ngte ihre Handschellen an einen Haken in der Wand.\n\n\"Deine Jungs scheinen mich nicht besonders zu m\u00f6gen\", antwortete Tonya auf Nagia.\n\n\"Lem ist einfach begeistert.\" Nagia schl\u00fcpfte in den Stuhl des Piloten und nahm die Kontrolle wieder auf. \"Turov wollte kurz mit dir reden, bevor wir dich gejagt haben.\"\n\nDer Handlanger Lem hielt seine Waffe auf und beobachtete sie.\n\nTonya setzte sich wieder auf den Sitz und versuchte, es sich bequem zu machen. Es sollte ein langer Flug werden.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nDie anderen Schl\u00e4ger auf Nagias Gehaltsliste fielen in eine lose Formation hinter seinem Schiff auf dem Weg nach Kallis IX.\n\nDas System war voller Aktivit\u00e4t. Vermessungsteams und Deep-Orbit-Scan-Schiffe umkreisten die acht anderen Planeten. Senzen Turov muss von den primitiven Gem\u00e4lden auf Oso wirklich beeindruckt gewesen sein, um so viele Ressourcen in das System zu holen. Tonya hatte keine Ahnung, woher Senzen einen Orbital-Mining-Laser h\u00e4tte bekommen k\u00f6nnen, aber da war er, chirurgisch gebohrte L\u00f6cher durch die Wolken des kleinen Planeten. Sie w\u00fcrde gerne sehen, wie Senzen dies den Beh\u00f6rden erkl\u00e4ren k\u00f6nnte, die nicht unter seinem Einfluss standen. Wie Oso war dies ein sich entwickelndes System und technisch unbegrenzt f\u00fcr jede Art von Vermessung und Bergbau. Er muss sich darauf verlassen k\u00f6nnen, dass die Entdeckung der Artemis dazu f\u00fchren w\u00fcrde, dass jeder Politiker gerne in die andere Richtung schaut.\n\nNagia tauchte durch die Atmosph\u00e4re und tauchte zu einem Schneesturm auf. Das Schiff schaukelte, als es durch tumultartige Wolken schnitt. Als sie sich schlie\u00dflich trennten und den ersten Blick auf die Oberfl\u00e4che des Planeten gewannen, war es eisige Tundra, so weit das Auge reichte. Entlang des Horizonts pumpen Kryovulkane massive Federn aus gefrierendem Magma in die Luft.\n\nDas Schiff begann zu sinken und bewegte sich zwischen widerspr\u00fcchlichen Windmustern, die sogar Nagias robustes Schiff wie ein Spielzeug zerschlugen. Sie konnte sehen, dass kleine Teams von Bergleuten an jedem der L\u00f6cher positioniert waren, die vom Laser in das Eis gegraben wurden. Sie stellten Scannerbojen auf Anti-Gravitationsbetten auf und lie\u00dfen sie in die Sch\u00e4chte fallen.\n\n\"Besteht die M\u00f6glichkeit, dass Senzen an Bord kommt, um sich zu freuen? Ich hasse die K\u00e4lte.\"\n\nNagia lachte. Lem blieb bei seinem fr\u00fcheren Gef\u00fchl und starrte sie nur an.\n\nSchlie\u00dflich lagen sie auf dem Boden. Nagia und Lem stellten sich auf und luden Tonya in die Luftschleuse. Die Au\u00dfent\u00fcr zischte auf und lie\u00df einen Schnee- und Eiswirbel in die Vorkammer fallen. Das HUD auf ihrem Anzug zeigte die Atmosph\u00e4re, etwas Sauerstoff, meist Ammoniak, bevor es ihr half, nicht zu versuchen, ihren Anzug auszuziehen.\n\nMit einem schnellen Sto\u00df des Laufes traten sie alle nach drau\u00dfen. Lem getrennt und gebohrt L\u00f6cher in das Eis f\u00fcr St\u00fctzhaken, damit das Schiff nicht rutscht. Jede Hoffnung, Nagia allein zu \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigen, verschwand, als der Rest seiner Crew aus dem Whiteout auftauchte und sie umgab. Auf der anderen Seite nahmen sie ihr die Handschellen ab.\n\nNagia \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte st\u00e4ndig seinen Scanner nach Richtungen, w\u00e4hrend sie sich durch den Schnee schleppten. Tonya konnte Licht aus fernen Laseraufnahmen in den Wolken bl\u00fchen sehen. Das war alles, was sie wirklich sehen konnte; der Schnee hatte sich zu einem unerbittlichen Tonfall entwickelt, als Sturmwinde heulten. Sie musste ihre externen Mikrofone leiser stellen.\n\nDann h\u00f6rte es auf. Tonya, Nagia und der Rest der Schl\u00e4ger hielten inne und tauschten verbl\u00fcffende Blicke aus. Nagia zuckte mit den Achseln und ging weiter.\n\nNun, da der Schnee ger\u00e4umt war, f\u00fchrte Nagia's Glas sie zu einem kleinen Minenteam vor ihnen und bereitete einen Scan in einen k\u00fcrzlich geschnittenen Schacht vor.\n\n\" Turov!\" schrie Nagia. Senzen drehte sich um, als sie sich n\u00e4herten. Er schlug einige Befehle in sein MobiGlas, bevor er aufblickte. Die Scanner begannen, auf ihre Anti-Gravitationsplattform zu steigen.\n\n\"Hey, Tonya\", Senzen begr\u00fc\u00dfte sie, fast entt\u00e4uscht. \"Ich bin ein wenig \u00fcberrascht, dass du es geschafft hast, der UEE so schnell zu entkommen.\"\n\n\"Danke, dass du sie \u00fcbrigens angerufen hast.\"\n\n\"Hey, ich war besorgt, was diese Osoianer mit dir machen k\u00f6nnten. Ich dachte, ich w\u00fcrde helfen.\"\n\n\"Ich wette, das hast du.\"\n\nSenzen seufzte und sah sie f\u00fcr einen Moment an.\n\n\"Ich wei\u00df nicht, was wir mit dir machen sollen\", sagte er und sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf. \"Ich w\u00fcrde es wirklich vorziehen, dich nicht zu t\u00f6ten, aber du machst es mir sehr schwer.\" Er hielt inne und dachte noch ein paar Sekunden nach. \"Wir k\u00f6nnten dich f\u00fcr ein paar Monate in einen Stasis-Stiefel stecken, sch\u00e4tze ich.\"\n\n\"Du hast gesagt -\" Nagia begann zu protestieren.\n\n\"Ich habe dir gesagt, dass es verhandelbar ist, sie zu t\u00f6ten\", unterbrach Senzen ihn. \"Entspann dich, du wirst so oder so bezahlt.\"\n\nNagia h\u00e4lt die Klappe und schmort. Senzen wandte sich wieder Tonya zu und dachte weiter. Schlie\u00dflich zuckte er mit den Achseln und warf seine H\u00e4nde hoch.\n\n\"Tut mir leid, Tonya, ich habe nichts.\" Er wandte sich an Nagia. \"Sie geh\u00f6rt ganz dir.\"\n\nDas war nicht gut. Nagia grinste. Einer der Schl\u00e4ger packte ihren Arm.\n\n\"Warte, wenn du mich t\u00f6test, verlierst du deinen besten Weg, um das n\u00e4chste St\u00fcck der Artemis zu finden.\" Tonya riss sich von dem Schl\u00e4ger los. Er a\u00df nach vorne, um sie zu greifen, aber Senzen hielt ihn mit einer Handbewegung fest. Tonya machte weiter. \"Du musst neugierig sein, wie ich den Weg zu Oso gefunden habe.\"\n\nTonya konnte erkennen, dass er es war. Sie war sich nicht sicher, ob Janus Nagias Angriff \u00fcberlebt hatte, aber es war ihre einzige Karte. Da es sich bei ihrer Flucht von der UEE-Milit\u00e4rplattform bew\u00e4hrt hat, hatte Janus vielleicht eine gute Idee, wie man sie aus dieser herausbekommt.\n\n\"Reden\", sagte Senzen schlie\u00dflich. Sie wusste, dass sie seine Neugierde geweckt hatte, jetzt f\u00fcr den letzten Nagel im Sarg.\n\n\"Ich habe Janus.\"\n\n\"Wie?\" fragte er nach ein paar Augenblicken. Er konnte die brennende Neugierde in seiner Stimme nicht verbergen.\n\n\"Ich habe eine Kopie des Originalprogramms, dann habe ich es durch eine Simulation des Artemis-Fluges angehoben. Es war keine genaue Kopie, sondern f\u00fchrte mich zu Oso. Wir haben bereits besprochen, was die Crew auf Kallis gemacht h\u00e4tte....\" Tonya hat diesen Teil erfunden, aber sie wusste das -\n\n\" Nein.\"\n\nTonya stotterte f\u00fcr eine Sekunde.\n\n\" Huh?\"\n\n\"Nein, Tonya\", wiederholte Senzen. \"Selbst wenn es wahr ist, benutzt du es, um nach etwas anderem zu suchen. Vielleicht h\u00e4tte ich in der Vergangenheit den Gedanken gehegt, vorausgesetzt, dass ich in der Lage w\u00e4re, dein unvermeidliches Doppelspiel zu antizipieren. Aber diesmal nicht, ich bei\u00dfe nicht.\"\n\nTonya war still. Das war wirklich schlimm. Ihr Verstand raste und k\u00e4mpfte um eine Alternative.\n\n\"Das wirst du bereuen, Senzen\", das war alles, was sie sich ausdenken konnte, und das stolperte aus ihrem Mund wie eine schlechte VidStar-Zeilenlesung.\n\n\"Ja, vielleicht, aber ich vertraue meinen Scans\", klopfte Senzen auf das MobiGlas, nickte Nagia zu und wandte sich ab. Der Pirat machte einen Schritt auf sie zu und zog seine Waffe. Tonya packte Senzen und drehte ihn als Schild um.\n\nNagia und die anderen Schl\u00e4ger fingen an zu lachen.\n\n\"Tonya, wirklich\", sagte Senzen. \"Was soll das bewirken?\"\n\n\"Halt die Klappe.\"\n\n\"Du solltest auf ihn h\u00f6ren, T.\" Nagia lud seine Waffe. Der Rest der Schl\u00e4ger breitete sich aus, um jede Flucht zu verhindern. \"Du hast keine Waffe und kannst nirgendwo hin.\"\n\nSie lagen falsch, es gab einen Ort, an den man gehen konnte.\n\nTonya packte Senzens MobiGlas, schob ihn in Richtung Nagia und sprang in den Schacht.\n\nSie st\u00fcrzte einige Sekunden lang durch den freien Fall, bevor sie in eines der Anti-Grav-Betten des Scanners stie\u00df. Ihre H\u00e4nde kletterten nach etwas zum Festhalten, als ihr K\u00f6rper von der Kante glitt.\n\nIhre Finger schlossen sich eine Nanosekunde lang um einen Griff, bevor sie fiel. Tonya sah auf. Sie konnte Formen sehen, die sich um den Rand herum sammelten und nach unten blickten. Selbst bei Wind h\u00f6rte sie Senzen schreien.\n\nDie Plattform senkte sich weiter ab, die Autokompensatoren wurden an die neue Masse angepasst. Sie zog sich hoch und sah sich um. Blitze von den Scannern hallten in die Schichten auf Eisschichten zur\u00fcck. Sie konnte ein Netzwerk von L\u00fccken sehen, die sich in die Ferne kreuzen.\n\nEin Laserschuss fuhr an ihr vorbei. Tonya konnte sehen, wie Formen anfingen, sich den Schacht hinunterzulaufen und sich auf dem Weg beschwerten.\n\nEin weiterer Schuss traf die Plattform selbst. Das Ganze taumelte zur Seite und k\u00e4mpfte darum, sich wieder ins Gleichgewicht zu bringen. Tonya konnte eine der L\u00fccken in der Wand ein paar Meter tiefer sehen, breit genug, um sich durchzudr\u00fccken. Sie \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte Senzens MobiGlas. Es hatte noch die Steuerung f\u00fcr die AG-Plattform offen.\n\nSie verlangsamte die Plattform und sprang in die L\u00fccke, bevor ein weiterer Salve von Sch\u00fcssen durch die Plattform stie\u00df. Das System gab schlie\u00dflich auf und ratterte nach unten und verschwand in der Dunkelheit.\n\nTonya dr\u00fcckte sich durch die schmale Spalte im Eis. Etwas weiter vorne konnte sie sehen, wie es sich mit einem gr\u00f6\u00dferen H\u00f6hlensystem \u00fcberschneidet. Ein Schrei hallte durch die L\u00fccke hinter ihr. Jemand schwang sich an der \u00d6ffnung vorbei und fluchte.\n\nSie fiel in den Tunnel und sah sich um. Ein paar tausend Meter entfernt brannte ein Strahl des Orbitallasers durch die Oberfl\u00e4che und beleuchtete die gesamte Fl\u00e4che.\n\nTonya hat Senzen's Glas \u00fcberpr\u00fcft. Jenseits des Kontrollbildschirms f\u00fcr die tote AG-Plattform erstellte ein Programm ein Composite aus den mehreren Scans, die auf dem Planeten ablaufen. Anomalien im Eis wurden isoliert und katalogisiert, aber es gab auch eine grobe Karte der Tunnelsysteme, die sich unter dem Eis gebildet hatten.\n\nSie wusste, dass die Karte von unsch\u00e4tzbarem Wert sein w\u00fcrde, aber Nagia hatte Senzen durch das Glas gefunden, also musste sie annehmen, dass sie es noch schaffen w\u00fcrden. Also hatte sie die Wahl, benutze die Karte, aber lass Nagia sie verfolgen oder werde blind und wandere vielleicht in ein Erdloch.\n\nDas Ger\u00e4usch des Kletterns aus dem Loch in der Decke beschleunigte ihre Entscheidung. Sie hielt ihn an und rannte davon.\n\nSie h\u00f6rte, wie jemand durch das Loch in der Decke schl\u00fcpfte und in den Tunnel schlug.\n\n\" Tonya!\" Senzen schrie, w\u00fctender, als sie ihn je geh\u00f6rt hatte. Er schoss einen Schuss ab. Es ging weit und schmolz ein Loch in der Wand.\n\nDer Untergrund wurde dunkel, als der Schuss des Orbitallasers verblasste. Tonya schaltete ihre Scheinwerfer ein und lief weiter. Sie \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte das Glas, um sicherzustellen, dass sie nicht vor einem Abgrund davonlaufen w\u00fcrde.\n\nSie rannte und rutschte durch die verzerrten G\u00e4nge. Senzens Schritte hallten hinter ihr wider.\n\nTonya blickte zur\u00fcck; von den h\u00fcpfenden Lichtern auf seinem Kopf war Senzen etwa drei\u00dfig Meter zur\u00fcck und sie konnte vage das Lichtflackern von Nagias Crew durch die Eisw\u00e4nde sehen. Sie hatten es schwerer, sich an die glatten B\u00f6den anzupassen.\n\nDas Senzener Glas begann leise zu brummen. Sie \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte es, w\u00e4hrend sie rannte. Eine der Anomalien, die durch die Scans isoliert wurden, kam auf. Das war, als sie gegen eine Wand stie\u00df.\n\nDer Aufprall nahm ihr die F\u00fc\u00dfe ab. Sie knallte in den Boden und rutschte f\u00fcr ein paar Meter. Ihre Sicht verschwamm kurzzeitig. Das Glas rutschte weiter den Gang hinunter. Als sie sich orientierte, stand Senzen bereits \u00fcber ihr.\n\n\"Verdammt, Tonya...\" keuchte er und versuchte, Luft zu holen. Er hob die Waffe.\n\nDer Orbitallaser stie\u00df ein weiteres Loch in die Oberfl\u00e4che und brannte sich den Weg nach unten und tauchte den gespiegelten Tunnel in Licht. Da sah Tonya es, eingeschlossen im Eis hinter Senzen.\n\nSenzen konnte die Ehrfurcht in ihrem Gesicht sehen. Er war anfangs z\u00f6gerlich, trat aber einen Schritt zur\u00fcck und drehte sich um, um zu sehen, was sie ansah.\n\nEs war ein K\u00f6rper. Fixiert im Eis, in der Mitte der Bewegung. Im reflektierten Laserlicht gebadet, sah es surreal aus. Was auch immer es war, es sah aus, als w\u00e4re es schockgefroren, vielleicht gefangen in einem der Kryovulkanausbr\u00fcche. Aber egal in welcher Situation, aus der Haltung und den geschlossenen Augen, sah es so aus, als w\u00fcrde es warten und es erwarten.\n\nTonya stand auf, verga\u00df v\u00f6llig die Bedrohung durch Senzen und ging zu ihm hin\u00fcber. Es war menschlich oder menschen\u00e4hnlich. Anatomisch gesehen gab es einen Kopf, zwei Arme, zwei Beine. Die Haut war eine hellgraue, fast marmorartige Bl\u00e4sse. Ein dunkles, fast schwarzes Liniennetz verlief unter der Haut. Sie sahen fast wie Schaltwege aus, die mit dem Nervensystem zusammenlaufen. Es k\u00f6nnten Tattoos gewesen sein. Tonya wusste es nicht.\n\nSie hatte keine Ahnung, was sie da sah.\n\nSenzen trat neben sie, auch mit schlaffen Kiefern.\n\n\"Schau dir die Kleidung an\", murmelte er mit einem Kopfnicken.\n\nTonya lehnte sich nah heran. In den dunkel ausgefransten \u00dcberresten des Hemdes war ein Wort schwach schabloniert.\n\nKenlo.\n\nTonya's Herz hat einen Schlag \u00fcbersprungen. Sie h\u00e4tte vor Erstaunen weinen k\u00f6nnen. Fast siebenhundert Jahre sp\u00e4ter sah sie sich ein Crewmitglied der Artemis an.\n\nPl\u00f6tzlich schoss eine seismische Ladung durch den Tunnel und sch\u00fcttelte ihn heftig. Tonya und Senzen rutschten herum und versuchten, ihr Gleichgewicht zu halten. Genauso schnell h\u00f6rte es auf. Sie sahen sich gegenseitig an. Ein weiteres Zittern, heftiger als das letzte.\n\n\"Das ist nicht gut\", sagte Senzen leise.\n\n\"Du denkst, Sprengl\u00f6cher auf dem Planeten mit einem Orbitallaser w\u00e4ren nicht die beste Idee gewesen?\"\n\n\"Wir m\u00fcssen das hier wegbringen.\" Senzen sprang auf seinen Funk. \"Nagia, wo bist du?\" Stille. \" Nagia!\"\n\nTonya versuchte, sich aufrecht zu halten. Sie beobachtete, wie massive N\u00e4hte knackten und sich \u00fcber das Eis verteilten. Die Bl\u00f6cke begannen sich zu verschieben und weiter unten im Tunnel zusammenzubrechen.\n\n\"Dieser ganze Ort kommt herunter\", sagte Tonya. Eine Laserexplosion ging los.\n\nSenzen hat nicht aufgepasst. Er schoss um Kenlos K\u00f6rper herum und versuchte, ihn zu befreien. Es hat nicht funktioniert.\n\n\"Steh nicht nur da rum, hilf mir.\"\n\n\"Wir m\u00fcssen hier raus.\" Tonya konnte kaum glauben, was sie sagte. Alles, wof\u00fcr sie gearbeitet hatte. Eine beispiellose Leistung war nur wenige Meter entfernt. Es war Herrlichkeit, ein Erbe, das im Eis eingefroren war. Aber wirklich, es war der Tod. Sie konnten es nicht erreichen, nicht tragen. Es w\u00fcrde sie nur mitnehmen. Sie fing an, das zu verstehen.\n\nSenzens Waffe ert\u00f6nte bei voller Ladung. Ein weiterer massiver Ruck des Planeten l\u00f6ste Gas- und Dampfstrahlen in den Tunnel aus.\n\nTonya taumelte herum und versuchte, ihr Gleichgewicht zu halten und trat in eine Pf\u00fctze. Der Ort taute auf.\n\n\"Der Laser hat den Kern angezapft, wir m\u00fcssen jetzt los!\" Sie packte seinen Arm und versuchte, ihn wegzuziehen. Senzen warf Tonya von ihm weg. Sie schlug auf den Boden und schleuderte.\n\n\"Was ist los mit dir, Tonya?\", sagte er, fast verr\u00fcckt. Senzen feuerte weiter, bis die Waffe eine Pause zum Aufladen einlegte. \"Das ist die Entdeckung des Jahrhunderts. Das ist alles. Ich w\u00e4re ein Schwachkopf, wenn ich ihn entwischen lassen w\u00fcrde.\"\n\n\"Du musst es aufgeben.\"\n\n\"Lass es gut sein?!\" Er sch\u00fcttelte den Kopf. \" LASST ES LOS?\" Er wurde verzehrt, h\u00e4mmerte mit dem Kolben der Waffe auf das Eis und riss mit den H\u00e4nden St\u00fccke weg.\n\nDer Boden brach pl\u00f6tzlich zusammen und gab nach. Senzen verschwand in einem Dampfsto\u00df nach unten in den dunklen Abgrund des Planeten.\n\nTonya starrte auf die Leere, kurzzeitig fassungslos. Als sie aufblickte, wurde ihr klar, dass das letzte Beben auch Kenlos K\u00f6rper aus seinem eisigen Grab zerrissen hatte. Er lag tauend auf seiner Seite.\n\nVielleicht k\u00f6nnte sie es bekommen. Sie k\u00f6nnte in der Lage sein, es an die Oberfl\u00e4che zu tragen. Diese Gedanken fielen an ihrer rationalen Argumentation vorbei und f\u00fchrten die Visionen von Ruhm und Verm\u00e4chtnis wieder vor sich her. Alles, was sie tun musste, war, \u00fcber den Abgrund zu springen, der Senzen beanspruchte....\n\nTonya wurde klar, dass Kenlo sie ansah. Seine Augen, ein blasser Blauton, waren direkt auf sie gerichtet. Er sah \u00fcberrascht und erstaunt aus. So wie sie wohl ausgesehen haben muss, als sie ihn zum ersten Mal sah. Seine Lippen bildeten schwach ein einziges Wort.\n\n\" Lauf.\"\n\nSeine Augen schlossen sich. Der K\u00f6rper lie\u00df sich nieder.\n\nTonya lie\u00df ihn zur\u00fcck und rannte weg.\n\nTonya lief fast mit dem Autopiloten durch die zusammenbrechenden Tunnel und die beweglichen Risse. Ihr Verstand war taub gegen\u00fcber dem, was sie gerade erlebt hatte. Sie erinnerte sich kaum daran, auf die Oberfl\u00e4che zu klettern und einen der Bergbautransporte herunterzufahren.\n\nErst als der Transport von Kallis IX abgehoben war und die tumultartigen Wolken sich w\u00e4lzen und aus dem Raum verlagern sah, versuchte sie sogar zu verstehen, was passiert war.\n\nAusnahmsweise einmal hatte sie keine Ahnung.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nErde, Sol-System\n\n2 Monate sp\u00e4ter SET\n\n\n\nMelvin Hartley, Jr. mischte eifrig durch die Lobby des Museums. Staubwedel und Mopp in der Hand, er war auf der Jagd nach jedem Fleck Schmutz oder Staub, der seiner gr\u00fcndlichen Reinigung entgangen war.\n\nEine Uhr l\u00e4utete. Hartley r\u00e4usperte sich und gab dem Raum einen letzten begutachtenden Blick. Er legte die Reinigungsinstrumente in den Schrank und \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte seinen Anzug im nahegelegenen Spiegel.\n\n\"In der Tat sehr gut\", sagte er und zeigte seinem typischen Schausteller ein L\u00e4cheln. Er fuhr auf R\u00e4dern und ging stolz zur Haust\u00fcr. Seine Schuhe quietschten auf dem Marmorboden.\n\nEr dr\u00fcckte einen Knopf am Eingang. Ein Banner entfaltete sich automatisch direkt im Eingangsbereich mit der Aufschrift \"The Artemis; A New Discovery\". Pr\u00e4sentiert von Shubin Interstellar.\"\n\nEr l\u00e4chelte, als er zum tausendsten Mal las, und \u00f6ffnete dann die T\u00fcren.\n\nEin Mob wartete drau\u00dfen. Erwachsene, Kinder, Reporter, Mitglieder der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft warteten sehns\u00fcchtig darauf, durch den Eingang zu dr\u00fccken und an die Kasse zu gehen.\n\nTonya sah zu, wie Hartley Tickets verkaufte. Sie hatte mit Gavin Arlington eine Vereinbarung getroffen, um das Artemis-Artefakt von Stanton im Hartley's Museum auszustellen.\n\nHartley sah sie in der Menge. Seine Augen waren voller Tr\u00e4nen. Er nickte ihr zu.\n\nTonya l\u00e4chelte und nickte zur\u00fcck.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nKallis-System\n\n2 Wochen sp\u00e4ter SET\n\n\n\nDie beiden H\u00e4lften des Leuchtfeuers II schwebten im Raum. Tonya beobachtete das Wrack aus dem Cockpit der Beacon III, zum Gl\u00fcck durch ihre liberale Versicherungspolice abgedeckt.\n\nDie Spur war tot. Sie war zur\u00fcck nach Kallis IX gegangen, um nach Kenlo oder einem anderen Zeichen der Artemis zu suchen, kam aber leer heraus. Als sie ihren Abschlussbericht an Arlington \u00fcbergab, erw\u00e4hnte sie die Leiche nicht einmal. Er w\u00fcrde ihr nicht glauben. Niemand w\u00fcrde das tun. Sie glaubte es selbst kaum.\n\nEs bedeutete nur, dass sie kreativ sein musste, weiter nach anderen Hinweisen suchen musste. Sie mussten da drau\u00dfen sein und sie wollte nicht aufh\u00f6ren zu suchen.\n\nEine Nachricht erschien auf einem ihrer Bildschirme. \u00dcbertragung abgeschlossen. Tonya lehnte sich auf dem Stuhl zur\u00fcck und wartete.\n\n\"Hallo Tonya\", sagte Janus \u00fcber die Lautsprecher.\n\n\" Willkommen zur\u00fcck.\"\n\n\" Danke.\" Pause. \"Hast du einen Kurs im Sinn?\"\n\n\"Sicher doch.\" Tonya hat es im NavDrive aufgezeichnet.\n\n\" Verstanden.\" sagte Janus. Die Systeme begannen zu aktivieren und pausierten dann. \"M\u00f6chtest du fliegen?\"\n\nTonya dachte einen Moment nach.\n\n\"Nee, mach schon.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDAS ENDE","zh_CN":"The airlock inside Nagia\u2019s hummed as it began to pressurize. Tonya got a good look at wreckage of the other airlock, the one he tried to use to board the Beacon II.\n\nThe Beacon II \u2026 she looked out the small porthole to the two halves of her ship hanging in the void. She was going to have to start thinking about a Beacon III.\n\nA panel by the inner airlock door pinged and slid open, revealing Nagia, a henchman and a pair of laser guns aimed at her.\n\n\u201cAin\u2019t this a joy,\u201d Tonya said as she put her hands up. \u201cI\u2019m a little disappointed, Nagia, jump-stalking seems beneath even you.\u201d The henchman slapped the cuffs on her without taking the suit off. She glanced over her shoulder at the henchman. \u201cYou mind switching my air supply over to the filter? Stuff ain\u2019t cheap.\u201d\n\nThe henchman glared at her for a moment.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re funny,\u201d the henchman said finally. He dragged her to a chair and snagged her cuffs to a hook in the wall.\n\n\u201cYour guys don\u2019t seem to like me too much,\u201d Tonya replied to Nagia.\n\n\u201cLem\u2019s just enthusiastic.\u201d Nagia slipped into the pilot\u2019s chair and resumed control. \u201cTurov wanted a word before we ghosted you.\u201d\n\nThe henchman, Lem, kept his weapon charged and watched her.\n\nTonya settled back in the seat, trying to get comfortable. It was going to be a long flight.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nThe other thugs on Nagia\u2019s payroll fell into a loose formation behind his ship on the way toward Kallis IX.\n\nThe system was buzzing with activity. Surveying teams and deep-orbit scan ships circled the eight other planets. Senzen Turov must have really been impressed by the primitive paintings on Oso to pull this many resources into the system. Tonya had no idea where Senzen could have gotten an orbital mining laser but there it was, surgically boring holes through the clouds of the small planet. She would love to see how Senzen could possibly explain this to any authorities who weren\u2019t under his sway. Like Oso, this was a developing system and technically off-limits to any kind of surveying and mining activity. He must be counting on the fact that the discovery of the Artemis would make any politician happily look the other way.\n\nNagia dove through the atmosphere and emerged into a blizzard. The ship rocked as it sliced through tumultuous clouds. When they finally parted, giving the first glimpse on the planet\u2019s surface, it was icy tundra as far as the eye could see. Along the horizon, cryovolcanoes pumped massive plumes of freezing magma into the air.\n\nThe ship began to descend, passing between conflicting wind patterns that even battered Nagia\u2019s sturdy ship around like a toy. She could see small teams of miners were positioned at each of the holes burrowed into the ice from the laser. They set up scanner buoys on anti-grav beds and dropped them down the shafts.\n\n\u201cAny chance Senzen could come onboard to gloat? I hate the cold.\u201d\n\nNagia laughed. Lem stuck to his earlier sentiment and just stared at her.\n\nFinally, they were on the ground. Nagia and Lem suited up and loaded Tonya into the airlock. The outer door hissed open, letting a swirl of snow and ice into the antechamber. The HUD on her suit displayed the atmosphere, some oxygen, mostly ammonia, before helpfully advising her not to attempt to take off her suit.\n\nWith a quick prod of the barrel, they all stepped outside. Lem separated and drilled holes in the ice for support hooks, keeping the ship from sliding. Any hope of overpowering Nagia on his own vanished as the rest of his crew emerged from the whiteout and surrounded her. On the plus side, they took off her cuffs.\n\nNagia constantly checked his scanner for directions as they trudged through the snow. Tonya could see light from distant laser shots bloom in the clouds. That was all she could really see anymore; the snow had built to a relentless pitch as gale winds howled. She had to turn down her external microphones.\n\nThen it stopped. Tonya, Nagia, and the rest of the thugs paused and exchanged baffled glances. Nagia shrugged and kept walking.\n\nNow that the snow had cleared, Nagia\u2019s Glas was leading them to a small mining team ahead, prepping a scan into a recently cut shaft.\n\n\u201cTurov!\u201d Nagia yelled. Senzen turned as they approached. He punched some commands into his MobiGlas before looking up. The scanners began to descend on their anti-grav platform.\n\n\u201cHey, Tonya,\u201d Senzen greeted her, almost disappointed. \u201cI\u2019m a little surprised you managed to escape the UEE so quickly.\u201d\n\n\u201cThanks for calling them, by the way.\u201d\n\n\u201cHey, I was worried what those Osoians might do to you. I thought I was helping.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll bet you did.\u201d\n\nSenzen sighed and looked at her for a few moments.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know what we\u2019re going to do with you,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cI\u2019d really prefer not to kill you but you\u2019re making it awfully difficult.\u201d He paused and thought for a few more seconds. \u201cWe could put you in a stasis boot for a couple months, I guess.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou said \u2014\u201d Nagia started to protest.\n\n\u201cI told you killing her was negotiable,\u201d Senzen cut him off. \u201cRelax, you\u2019ll get paid either way.\u201d\n\nNagia shut up and stewed. Senzen turned back to Tonya and thought more. Finally he shrugged and threw his hands up.\n\n\u201cSorry, Tonya, I got nothing.\u201d He turned to Nagia. \u201cShe\u2019s all yours.\u201d\n\nThat was not good. Nagia grinned. One of the thugs grabbed her arm.\n\n\u201cWait, if you kill me, you lose your best way to find the next piece of the Artemis.\u201d Tonya wrenched herself free from the thug. He lunched forward to grab her but Senzen held him with a wave of the hand. Tonya kept going. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be curious how I found my way to Oso.\u201d\n\nTonya could tell he was. She wasn\u2019t positive that Janus had survived Nagia\u2019s attack, but it was her only card. Since it proved itself during her escape from the UEE military platform, maybe Janus had a bright idea how to get her out of this one.\n\n\u201cTalk,\u201d Senzen finally said. She knew she had piqued his curiosity, now for the final nail in the coffin.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve got Janus.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d he asked after a few moments. He couldn\u2019t hide the burning curiosity in his voice.\n\n\u201cGot a copy of the original program, then raised it through a simulation of the Artemis flight. It wasn\u2019t an exact copy but led me to Oso. We\u2019ve already discussed what the crew would have been doing on Kallis \u2026\u201d Tonya was making that part up but she knew that \u2014\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\nTonya stuttered for a second.\n\n\u201cHuh?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, Tonya,\u201d Senzen repeated. \u201cEven if it\u2019s true, you\u2019re using it to angle for something else. Maybe in the past, I would\u2019ve entertained the notion, assuming that I would be able to anticipate your inevitable double-cross. But not this time, I\u2019m not biting.\u201d\n\nTonya was quiet. This was really bad. Her mind raced, scrambling for some alternative.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019ll regret this, Senzen,\u201d was all she could come up with, and that stumbled out of her mouth like a bad VidStar line-reading.\n\n\u201cYeah, maybe, but I\u2019ll trust my scans,\u201d Senzen tapped the MobiGlas, nodded to Nagia and turned away. The pirate took a step toward her, drawing his gun. Tonya grabbed Senzen and turned him around as a shield.\n\nNagia and the other thugs started laughing.\n\n\u201cTonya, really,\u201d Senzen said. \u201cWhat is this going to do?\u201d\n\n\u201cShut up.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou should listen to him, T.\u201d Nagia charged his gun. The rest of the thugs spread out to cut off any escape. \u201cYou got no weapon and nowhere to go.\u201d\n\nThey were wrong, there was somewhere to go.\n\nTonya grabbed Senzen\u2019s MobiGlas, shoved him toward Nagia and jumped into the shaft.\n\nShe tumbled through free-fall for several seconds before slamming into one of the Scanner\u2019s Anti-Grav beds. Her hands scrambled for something to hold onto as her body slid off the edge.\n\nHer fingers locked around a handle a nanosecond before she fell. Tonya looked up. She could see forms gathered around the edge looking down. Even over the wind, she could hear Senzen yelling.\n\nThe platform kept descending, auto-compensators adjusted for the new mass. She pulled herself up and looked around. Flashes from the scanners echoed off into the layers upon layers of ice. She could see a network of gaps, cross-crossing off into the distance.\n\nA laser shot zipped past her. Tonya could see forms start rappelling down the shaft, complaining along the way.\n\nAnother shot hit the platform itself. The whole thing lurched to the side and struggled to rebalance itself. Tonya could see one of the gaps in the wall a few meters below, wide enough to squeeze through. She checked Senzen\u2019s MobiGlas. It still had the controls for the AG platform open.\n\nShe slowed the platform and jumped into the gap moments before another volley of shots punched through the platform. The system finally gave up and clattered down, disappearing into the darkness.\n\nTonya squeezed her way through the narrow fissure in the ice. A little further ahead, she could see it intersect with a larger cave system. A yelp echoed through the gap behind her. Someone swung past the opening, cursing.\n\nShe dropped into the tunnel and looked around. A few thousand meters away, a beam from the orbital laser burned through the surface and illuminated the entire area.\n\nTonya checked Senzen\u2019s Glas. Beyond the control screen for the dead AG platform, a program was creating a composite from the multiple scans going on around the planet. Anomalies in the ice were being isolated and catalogued, but it also gave a rough map of the tunnel systems that had formed under the ice.\n\nShe knew the map would be invaluable, but Nagia had found Senzen through the Glas so she had to assume they could do it still. So she had a choice, use the map but allow Nagia to track her or go blind and maybe wander into a sinkhole.\n\nThe sound of scrambling from the hole in the ceiling expedited her decision. She kept it on and took off running.\n\nShe heard someone slip through the hole in the ceiling and slam into the tunnel.\n\n\u201cTonya!\u201d Senzen yelled, angrier than she\u2019d ever heard him. He snapped off a shot. It went wide and melted a hole in the wall.\n\nThe underground went dark as the orbital laser\u2019s shot faded away. Tonya flipped on her headlights and kept running. She checked the Glas to make sure she wasn\u2019t about to run off a chasm.\n\nShe ran and skidded through the warped corridors. Senzen\u2019s footfalls echoed behind her.\n\nTonya glanced back; from the bouncing lights on his head Senzen was about thirty meters back and she could vaguely see the flickers of light from Nagia\u2019s crew through the ice walls. They were having a tougher time adjusting to the slick floors.\n\nSenzen\u2019s Glas began to hum softly. She checked it while she ran. One of the anomalies isolated by the scans was coming up. That\u2019s when she hit a wall.\n\nThe impact took her clean off her feet. She slammed into the ground and skidded for a few meters. Her vision blurred momentarily. The Glas slid further down the passage. By the time she got her bearings, Senzen was already standing over her.\n\n\u201cDammit, Tonya \u2026\u201d he gasped, trying to catch his breath. He raised the gun.\n\nThe orbital laser punched another hole in the surface and seared its way down, bathing the mirrored tunnel in light. That\u2019s when Tonya saw it, locked in the ice behind Senzen.\n\nSenzen could see the awe in her face. He was hesitant at first but took a step back and turned to see what she was looking at.\n\nIt was a body. Fixed in the ice, mid-motion. Bathed in the reflected laser-light, it looked surreal. Whatever it was, it looked like it was flash-frozen, maybe caught in one of the cryovolcano eruptions. But whatever the situation, from its posture and closed eyes, it looked like it was waiting, expecting it.\n\nTonya stood, completely forgetting the threat of Senzen, and crossed over to it. It was human or human-ish. Anatomically, there was a head, two arms, two legs. The skin was a light grey, almost marble-like pallor. A dark, almost black, network of lines ran under the skin. They almost looked like paths of circuitry, running in tandem with the nervous system. They could have been tattoos. Tonya didn\u2019t know.\n\nShe had no idea what she was looking at.\n\nSenzen stepped up beside her, slack-jawed as well.\n\n\u201cLook at the clothes,\u201d he murmured with a nod of his head.\n\nTonya leaned in close. In the dark frayed remnants of the shirt, a word was faintly stenciled.\n\nKenlo.\n\nTonya\u2019s heart skipped a beat. She could have cried in amazement. Almost seven hundred years later, she was looking at a crewmember of the Artemis.\n\nSuddenly, a seismic charge surged through the tunnel, shaking it violently. Tonya and Senzen slid around, trying to keep their balance. Just as quickly, it stopped. They looked at each other. Another tremor hit, more violent than the last.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s not good,\u201d Senzen said quietly.\n\n\u201cYou think blasting holes in the planet with an orbital laser might not have been the best idea?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get this out of here.\u201d Senzen jumped on his comms. \u201cNagia, where are you?\u201d Silence. \u201cNagia!\u201d\n\nTonya tried to keep herself upright. She watched massive seams crack and spread throughout the ice. Blocks started to shift and collapse further down the tunnel.\n\n\u201cThis whole place is coming down,\u201d Tonya said. A laser blast went off.\n\nSenzen wasn\u2019t paying attention. He was shooting around Kenlo\u2019s body, trying to blast him free. It wasn\u2019t working.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t just stand there, help me.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe need to get out of here.\u201d Tonya could barely believe what she was saying. Everything she had worked for. An unparalleled achievement was only meters away. It was glory, a legacy frozen in ice. But really, it was death. They couldn\u2019t get to it, couldn\u2019t carry it. It would only take them with it. She was starting to see that.\n\nSenzen\u2019s gun chimed at full charge. Another massive jolt of the planet unleashed jets of gas and steam into the tunnel.\n\nTonya staggered around trying to keep her balance and stepped in a puddle. The place was thawing.\n\n\u201cThe laser tapped the core, we gotta go now!\u201d She grabbed his arm and tried pulling him away. Senzen flung Tonya off him. She hit the ground, skidding.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with you, Tonya?\u201d he said, almost maniacally. Senzen kept firing until the gun needed to pause for a recharge. \u201cThis is the discovery of the century. This is everything. I would be a moron to let it slip away.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou gotta let it go.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet it go?!\u201d He shook his head. \u201cLET IT GO?\u201d He was consumed, hammering at the ice with the butt of the gun and ripping away chunks with his hands.\n\nThe floor cracked suddenly and gave way. Senzen disappeared in a flash of steam down in the dark abyss of the planet.\n\nTonya stared at the void, momentarily stunned. When she looked up, she realized that the last quake also cracked Kenlo\u2019s body from its icy tomb. It lay thawing on its side.\n\nMaybe she could get it. She might be able to carry it to the surface. Those thoughts tumbled past her rational reasoning and paraded the visions of glory and legacy in front of her again. All she had to do was jump across the chasm that claimed Senzen \u2026\n\nTonya realized that Kenlo was looking at her. His eyes, a pale shade of blue, were focused directly on her. He looked surprised, amazed. The same way she must have looked when she first saw him. His lips weakly formed a single word.\n\n\u201cRun.\u201d\n\nHis eyes closed. The body settled.\n\nLeaving him behind, Tonya ran.\n\nTonya almost ran on autopilot through the collapsing tunnels and shifting fissures. Her mind was numb to what she had just experienced. She barely remembered climbing onto the surface and flagging down one of the miner transports.\n\nIt wasn\u2019t until the transport had lifted off Kallis IX, watching the tumultuous clouds churn and shift from space, that she even tried to comprehend what had happened.\n\nFor once, she had no clue.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nEarth, Sol System\n\n2 months later SET\n\nMelvin Hartley, Jr. shuffled eagerly through the lobby of the museum. Duster and mop in hand, he was on the hunt for any speck of dirt or dust that had escaped his vigorous cleaning.\n\nA clock chimed. Hartley cleared his throat and gave the room one last appraising look. He put the cleaning instruments in the closet and checked his suit in the nearby mirror.\n\n\u201cVery fine, indeed,\u201d he said, flashing his trademark showman smile. He wheeled and strode proudly to the front door. His shoes squeaked on the marble floor.\n\nHe pressed a button by the entrance. A banner automatically unfurled just inside the entrance reading, \u201cThe Artemis; A New Discovery. Presented by Shubin Interstellar.\u201d\n\nHe smiled as he read for the thousandth time, then unlocked the doors.\n\nA mob waited outside. Adults, children, reporters, members of the scientific community waited eagerly to press through the entrance and file to the ticket window.\n\nTonya watched Hartley sell tickets. She had worked out an arrangement with Gavin Arlington to display the Artemis artifact from Stanton at Hartley\u2019s museum.\n\nHartley saw her in the crowd. His eyes welled with tears. He nodded to her.\n\nTonya smiled and nodded back.\n\n\n* * * *\n\n\nKallis System\n\n2 weeks later SET\n\nThe two halves of the Beacon II floated in space. Tonya watched the wreckage from the cockpit of the Beacon III, thankfully covered through her liberal insurance policy.\n\nThe trail was dead. She had gone back to Kallis IX to scan for Kenlo or any other sign of the Artemis, but came up empty. When she gave her final report to Arlington, she didn\u2019t even mention the body. He wouldn\u2019t believe her. No one would. She hardly believed it, herself.\n\nIt just meant that she\u2019d have to be creative, keep searching for any other clues. They had to be out there and she wasn\u2019t going to stop looking.\n\nA message popped up on one of her screens. Transfer complete. Tonya sat back in the chair and waited.\n\n\u201cHello Tonya,\u201d Janus said over the speakers.\n\n\u201cWelcome back.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you.\u201d Pause. \u201cDo you have a course in mind?\u201d\n\n\u201cSure do.\u201d Tonya plotted it in the NavDrive.\n\n\u201cUnderstood.\u201d Janus said. The systems started to activate, then paused. \u201cWould you like to fly?\u201d\n\nTonya thought for a moment.\n\n\u201cNah, you go ahead.\u201d\n\nTHE END"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":111,"created_at":"2013-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"13 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-08 03:56:51","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":12929,"next_id":12931}}