Chương 424: Book 7 - Chapter 20 - Breach

Cinnamon was so pleased that we liked the baking that she gave Sharron and me each a couple of large takeaway bags full of goodies. They were so large that when I clutched mine to my chest, I actually had a problem seeing the corridor as we headed back to the Kodiak. Even with the bag obscuring my view, I wasn't willing to put it down or let someone else carry it. These deserts were a treasure, and I wouldn't let anyone else have them.

As we stepped out onto the landing pad and headed to the transport, a message rang out through the command network. [Boss, we have an issue,] Heavy said. [Why does every message I receive from you guys start that way?] I groaned. [Can't you just call to say hi, and see how I'm doing?] [Because the command network is used for business and we've been so busy fighting Antithesis lately that we haven't had time for anything but work,] Heavy replied. [But if you want… Hey Boss, how's your day going? Did you sleep well?] [Enough with the sarcasm,] I grumbled. [So what's the problem?] [Something triggered the sensor net, several somethings actually,] Heavy said. [The Gene Tender is trying to break out?] I asked. [Actually, it seems to be the opposite; Several large entities entered the perimeter from the south. The response team reached the alert location within a minute and caught sight of something disappearing into the depths. Our aquatic team is currently heading to the area to investigate.] [What?] I exclaimed, pulling up the command network and checking the alerts. There were a whole slew of emergency alerts, all from the last two minutes. I quickly scrolled through the data and tried to parse what I was reading. [There were three of them? Really?] [According to the sensors, along with half a dozen smaller signals. We only caught sight of one of them, though,] Heavy replied. [Are you sure they weren't native wildlife? Like the… whatchamacalits from Issi's books. Whorls,] I asked. [Whales,] Heavy said.

[And I'm pretty sure, since that book is all about extinct creatures.] [Right… In that case we can probably cross them off the list of possibilities,] I replied. [Have we informed the rest of the taskforce yet?] [We don't have to; we've been forwarding them our data ever since we made contact,] Heavy said. [Good. Ask Spooky to start moving the Strato Carrier towards that location. If they did pick up a couple of Antitheses crossing the perimeter, and they were as large as the sensors seem to indicate, we may need the firepower,] I said. [We're already on the way, and we'll be on location in a few minutes,] Heavy replied. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. [Thanks, Heavy. I'll meet you there,] I said, before cutting the connection.

I turned towards Sharron, intending to tell her about the situation, but I found her standing to one side, staring blankly into space. I considered poking her, then realized that she might be on the comms, receiving the same news I just did. So I waited patiently, fiddling with my package of pastries. After a minute or so, her eyes refocused, and she looked down at me.

"We have a problem," she said.

"I'm aware. I talked to Heavy. Were you told it looked like whatever penetrated the perimeter was coming in, not out?" I asked.

"Yeah, the Twins are already organizing a strike force. They're concerned if these Antithesis are allowed to connect with the Gene Tender we could have an Antithesis Bloom on our hands," Sharron explained. I cocked my head to the side.

"A Bloom?"

"That's what they call it when several major aquatic Antithesis hives gather and start pumping out so many lesser models, and they completely strip the local area of life. It's extremely dangerous because the Antithesis can grow exponentially if they're allowed to get going," Sharron said.

"Apparently, it's the term they used for when an aquatic environment got disrupted and algae began growing out of control, choking out the environment. Seems like a pretty apt description, eh?"

"I would have just called it an outbreak, like every other time the Antithesis attacked," I grumbled, before hefting my bag and heading out onto the landing area. Since my hands were full, I sent a message to the pilot and had them open the hatch so I could board with my precious cargo. Once the pastries were securely fastened to the bench, I turned back to Sharron.

"I've got a spare suit of armor stashed in here for emergencies," I said.

"Do you need to swing by the shore to pick yours up?"

"That's not necessary," she replied, reaching up and tapping her upper arm. I raised an eyebrow, glanced at the part of her arm she'd tapped, then back at her face.

"Oooookkaaaaayyyyy… Did you upgrade your jacket to be as strong as your armor?" I asked.

"Not my jacket--what's under it," Sharron grumbled as she rolled her shoulder out of the leather jacket she was wearing and held out her arm so I could see a thick metal armbrace clamped around her upper arm.

"I think you're missing a few pieces," I muttered. Sharron gave me a hard look, then threw her coat into the corner and tapped the armbrace a couple times. As soon as she did, the surface of what I'd assumed was a solid metal piece lit up like some sort of terminal and started displaying what looked like some sort of alien language. After a couple seconds a holographic outline of Sharron's armor surrounded her.

The holographic mechanical tentacles flailed for a minute, flashing red whenever they intersected anything, until the entire thing fit into the narrow confines of the Kodiaks' interior. When it was finally happy, there was a blinding flash, and when my eyes recovered, Sharron was standing in her armor. It was the same dark blue-green color that I remembered, but this suit seemed to be even more sleek than the previous form-fitting version.

It had six tentacles sprouting from the upper back, four with some sort of ranged weapon, and two with blades. Although they were obviously technological, they moved far more fluidly than they had before.

"Tada! Take a little Spatial storage, mix in some failsafe logic, and add a little bit of style, and you too can carry your armor wherever you go!" she exclaimed proudly.

"Wait… then what was that armor you had on the beach? The bigger version?" I asked.

"That was my assault armor, for when I went out to fight on the front lines. Far more armor and firepower, built to stand up to the heavier Antithesis models we were facing on Mars. This is my standard armor, which I kept on me at all times in case of an Antithesis surprise attack," she explained.

"You had a full suit of armor with you at all times?" I asked in surprise.

"What Class is it?"

"Class IV, with a few upgrades," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not sure what I find more frightening, the fact that you can compact all that armor into that tiny little thing on your arm, or the fact that you had to buy an even heavier suit of armor, because Class IV armor wasn't good enough," I said.

"You fought the Antithesis that were on Phobos, didn't you? You should have some idea of what we were fighting up there," Sharron replied.

"I did," I replied slowly, "but I'm beginning to believe that we got lucky, and most of the stronger models must have died when Phobos broke up or the fragments crashed, because if they hadn't things would have been much worse."

"I'm sure you would have figured out a way to deal with it, one way or another," she replied.

"Maybe…" I muttered.

"Stop doubting yourself," Sharron said.

"You dealt with what the Antithesis threw at you, and even if the stronger models didn't perish in the crash, I'm confident you would have dealt with them too."

"It's possible, but honestly, at this point, I don't want to find out, because having Antithesis that powerful on Earth would be asking for trouble," I muttered.

"Let's get going. The longer we let the Gene Tender run around and gather followers, the better chance it'll cook something horrible up for us to deal with, and I don't want to give it that chance."

"In that case, let's go," Sharron replied.

"We've got some hunting to do."