***
Over the next half hour, the team continued a sweep of the facility, chasing off or killing all the hostile wildlife they encountered. However, one worrying
fact was becoming clear.
"No bodies," Fiona mused, resting her feet on the control panel. "I thought there was supposed to be over seventy people working here."
"Seventy four," Chris replied over the comm. "And they're not just hiding. We've seen blood and traces of battle. You'd think that
at least one of them would have been killed and left behind."
"Yeah, well, I've checked about every security camera in the place, and I'm not seeing a trace of anyone," Noriko muttered.
"What about some sort of fire suppression system?" Fiona asked. "That burning building doesn't look like it's going to calm down any
time soon."
"Oh, right. Good point." Fiona gave the comm panel a look.
"You mean you didn't check?"
"It slipped my mind, okay?" the Cast protested. "Anyway, it looks like I found some sort of firedrones. Launching them now." Outside, Amy
looked up at the sight of a dozen bulky disc-shaped objects emerged from the roof of the main building, moving towards the destroyed building and beginning to
hose it down with chemicals.
At another seat in the control room, Skuld finished looking over a map. "I found the transporter room," she reported. "Chris, Ben, you're
not too far from it. Take the second corridor on the left, six doors down."
"Roger that," Chris replied, moving a little faster. They'd actually passed the room earlier, but the hallways lacked almost anything that they
could use to tell them apart, not even signs on the doors.
Ben tabbed the door control and stepped inside, sweeping his rifle across it. "Well," he said, looking around the somewhat large room, based around
the bulky transporter in the center, "I'm not seeing much in the way of damage."
His friend nodded in agreement, moving over to the transporters control panel. "Well, all the lights are green, no error messages or anything else jumping
out at me." He glanced back over at Ben. "No visible reason for it not connecting to the global grid."
"So, hook it back up," he suggested. Chris shrugged and tapped a few buttons, then frowned as the control panel responded with an error noise.
"Come on..." he grumbled, tapping a few more buttons. "At least tell me why you don't want to behave." A moment later he tabbed his
radio. "Hey 'Riko, I've got a question for you about Ragolian transporters."
"Shoot."
"Error three two nine?"
"Um... I've had that one before. Another connection already active, disconnect and try again. But the only place that thing can connect to is the
global net."
"Maybe they put in the wrong data and hit something else," Skuld offered. "Mind you, I can't imagine what... outside Pioneer, the global
grid is pretty much the only one in operation."
Chris tabbed the menu buttons, scrolling through. "Let's see, here we go, network connections." He looked at it for a minute, then turned to Ben
and shrugged. "It's a big list of numbers and I don't have a clue what it means."
He chuckled slightly, then moved over to take a look. "Noriko, you got anything there that'll translate this number to a location?"
"Just a second... okay, go." Ben rattled off a twenty-seven digit number and waited. About a minute later, Norikos voice came back. "That
can't be right...."
"'Riko?" Optimal's voice asked.
"According to this, the transporter is connected to a receiving station five kilometers north, and... seven hundred meters down?"
"It goes underground?" Chris asked.
"Way underground," Ben added. "What in the hell is going on here?"
***
"So they teleported down to some underground cavern?" Fiona asked. Everyone had gathered in Duskwalkers cargo bay, with the exception of Noriko, who
had remained in the facilities control room.
"That, or into rock," Chris noted. "But given that there was a designated recieving platform down there, I'd guess the later. The military
and the Hunters couldn't beam down from Pioneer because the transporter can only be connected to one network at a time, and they'd set up the one here
and the one underground as a two-transporter network."
"So when the monsters attacked, they went to beam out and ended up underground." She glanced over at Amy. "Would that be deliberate?"
"It'd take time to disconnect from that mini-network and reconnect to the global grid," the Hunter replied. "When you've got about
seventy people screaming and trying to get to safety, they probably figured any port in a storm."
The younger girl shrugged. "Okay, that makes sense. But then, why didn't we know about it? I'd have thought the people sponsoring this place
would've mentioned it to the Hunters Guild."
"Because underground exploration and travel is heavily restricted," Optimal said as he removed his blasters main focusing coil. "You've seen
the beasts up here. Well, the one's underground tend to be worse. The deeper you go, the worse it gets." He studied the coil, then looked over at
Fiona. "As deep as they are, it'd be safer to sit in the middle of a forest, no armor or weapons, setting off air horns and fireworks. And that's
if it were trained Hunters going underground."
The girl binked, then shivered. "Well, that's a fun thought. So whatever they found down there, they couldn't legally do anything about?"
"Pretty much," Noriko said from a speaker. "They couldn't even get another transporter to handle movement between there and here. A full
transporter would raise a lot of question. So guess how many spare parts are missing from storage?"
Skuld gave the speaker a look. "Don't tell me they jury-rigged a transporter from spare parts."
"Well, I've got to say something," she replied bluntly. The human woman groaned, taking off her glasses.
"Of all the stupid, brain-dead, just plain insane ideas..."
"They must have had certain times scheduled," Amy guessed. "They'd only connect with the transporter in the cave at pre-planned intervals,
reduce the chance of someone trying to beam down from Pioneer and getting bounced back."
"And if anyone did notice the first few times, they'd claim it was maintenance or something," Ben added. "Too many times and people would
look, but downtime's expected with technology."
"So..." Chris said, leaning against the wall. "Why are they still down there?"
"Made from spare parts," Skuld muttered. "Seventy people in maybe ten minutes? Something on the other side must've broken."
"But the platform up here is still connected to it," Fiona said. "So it's not completely broken. Just enough to keep them from beaming
out."
"We brought transporter parts," Optimal said. "Just in case it was a transporter problem. We teleport down, fix that one, bring them back
up."
"Slight problem," Skuld said. "You remember Icarus?"
"A ranger, right? I think I met him last year."
"Ten months back, he ended up underground to rescue some people that were running from Wolves. He was charged. It was all legal technicalities, and the
case was dismissed in court, but still... I don't feel like having to appear before a Judge anytime soon."
Amy sighed, blowing her hair up out of her face. "I'll get on the comm, call the Guild leaders and see if we can get approval. You guys figure out who
gets to do some cave hopping."
"And get some extra guns prepped," Optimal noted, moving over to a large crate and popping the seals. "Not to mention medical gear. Given why
they went down there, and the fact they're underground, there's gonna be wounded. And dead."
"Three man team?" Chris said.
"Works for me," Amy said as she headed for the stairs.
"Six of you... think I saw a die somewhere around here," Fiona noted, heading for the stairs as well. Chris and Ben went over to the hidden weapons
locker, while Skuld joined Optimal at the crates.
***
"I'm not sulking," Optimal muttered. Across the transporter room, Noriko, Amy and Ben ignored him while checking their gear.
"Please," Skuld said. "If you had a mouth, you'd be pouting."
"And like you don't want to go down there?" he responded as she checked the transporter controls. "You're as trigger happy as I am,
maybe more." He grumbled under his breath. "I so wanted to try out my new chaingun..."
"Aw, poor baby," she grinned. "Sure, I'd love to go down, but I've got over ways to fill the time. You have a one-command mind
sometimes, you know that?" Optimal didn't answer as she finished with the controls. "Okay guys, we're all set here. You?"
"Ready," Ben said, adjusting the backpack one more time. "It's a good chance radio signals won't get through, and the connection on the
other end already seems damaged, so we might not make contact right away. We'll handle that before we start searching."
"Okay." The three took up positions on the platform, their weapons ready. "Hear from you soon," she said, powering it up. A green light
engulfed the trio, fading away and taking them with it.
"Guys, can you hear me?" Skuld asked, only to get nothing but silence back. "Dammit, we expected it, but it still sucks..."
***
Ben brought his rifle up, running the flashlight attached across the poorly lit cavern. "I'm seeing a lot of broken lights," he noted.
"Smashed in the panic?"
"Most likely - oh hey," Amy said. "Got a body." She knelt down next to the corpse. "Looks like he bled out." She ran her light
back towards the transporter. "Plenty of blood on his shirt, not much of a trail."
Ben knelt down next to her, nodding at a pile of bandages a few feet away. "He must have tried to hold it all in, then gave out from the stress of
teleporting." A rush of air caught his attention, bringing his rifle up towards an opening. "Just wind."
"This far down?" Noriko wondered as she studied the transporter. Jury-rigged didn't do it justice. There wasn't even a full platform (The
large sheet of solid conductive metal being near indestructible and hardly needing a spare part), wiring ran across and around it, most notably around a
section of burnt cables and ruined focusing crystals. "Ah, here we go..."
Ben unbuckled his backpack and lowered it to the floor. "Well, let's get started."
***
"Hey Fiona," Skuld said with a grin, leaning into the kitchen. "Got a few spare minutes?"
"Sure," Fiona replied as she finished cleaning. "What's up?"
"How'd you like to get some time on the surface?" she grinned, drawing a surprised look from the older girl.
"But it's too-"
"Dangerous, yeah. We did clear out the area," she pointed out, already heading back out the hallway to the cargo bay stairs. Fiona followed, a
curious expression on her face. "Plus, Amy brought a few extra toys for you," she added as she hopped down the steps two at a time before jogging
over to a sealed crate.
"Extra toys?" Fiona asked as Skuld popped the crate to reveal a handful of rifles, pistols and a slightly bulky looking bodysuit.
"This is a Frame," the Hunter said, holding up the suit. "A wonderful device that is a bizarre mixture of energy shielding, nanotech and some
other stuff I don't have the first clue how to explain. Now, it may not look like much, but when worn, it can alter its appearance and shape to suit the
will of the wearer. All of us, except Chris and Ben, are wearing them."
"Huh," she said, looking over Skulds somewhat odd looking military-style outfit. As near as she could tell, it looked like cloth. "So why
aren't they wearing them?"
"Because it's hard for off-worlders to buy them, and they're too stubborn to borrow them. Still, these rank among some of the galaxies best
personal protection gear." She held it out. "Try it on," she offered with a grin.
Smiling back, Fiona took the suit and stepped behind some crates. "Do I need to take off my other clothes, or...?"
"Well, I'd keep the underwear on," Skuld laughed. Fiona blushed slightly as she unbuttoned her blouse, ducking out of sight. Skuld kept watch for
a few minutes before the other girl stepped back out, holding the baggy suit in place. "Okay then, I know it doesn't look like much now, but we can
work with it. Fix an image in your head of what you'd like the suit to look like. Nothing too fancy, I'd suggest, and try not to let your mind
wander... that can lead to embarrassing results sometimes."
"...Uh-huh..." she replied as Skuld turned her attention to a small datapad mounted on Fionas left forearm.
"Okay... it's got a design set, modifying it to work, and it's ready." She tapped a button and stepped back. Fiona yelped as the suit began
to move and shift around her, conforming to her curves a lot better, shifting in color, density and composition. After nearly thirty seconds, it calmed down to
reveal a somewhat tight blue bodysuit under a leather jacket lined with pockets.
Fiona stretched slightly, studying how it felt with a surprised look on her face. "I'm impressed," she said after a moment. "Given what it
felt like beforehand, I didn't expect it to be this comfortable."
"Most people don't," Skuld answered, before taking a pistol from the crate. "This is a PS-9A Photon pulse pistol," she said in a no
nonsense voice. "Every hunter is assigned one as one of their first weapons when they join the Guild. Compared to most of the equipment you've seen us
use, this is a relatively weak weapon, but it is still a weapon capable of killing a person. While you have this, remember the most important rule. Never point
it at someone unless you plan on using it."
Fiona shivered slightly at that. "Never aim it at friends, and always handle it like it's loaded," Skuld continued. "If you can't accept
those rules, then you won't step foot off this ship." The other girl looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Good girl," she
chuckled, handing her the pistol. "Now, let's show you how to use that thing properly."
***
"Testing, testing... you guys hearing this?" Ben asked into the transporters communication panel.
"Loud and clear," Optimals voice responded. "I was starting to worry about you guys."
"Yeah, this thing's just a piece of crap," he said, looking down at the machine in disgust. "We had to replace more of it then we thought,
and then some extra just because we didn't trust what was left."
Optimal chuckled. "Well, that's fun. So, anything special we need to know about?"
"Well, we've found one body, badge identifies him as one Rupert Tammen. Noriko mentioned he was a biologist in the personnel files we got. The
transporter itself is in a relatively small cavern, one tunnel leading out. We haven't explored very far along it, but no sign of any other bodies.
We're going to head out now."
"Okay then, I'll let the others know... you sure you don't need any help?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager. Ben laughed.
"Sorry man, but we're all doing fine down here." He smirked at the grumbling that came over the comm. "So far man, you haven't missed
much."
"Yeah, well that won't last," he promised. "Good luck to you. You know where to find me."
"You got it," he said, closing the channel.
***
The pulses smacked against the tree, about a foot above a simple spray painted target. Fiona growled, lowering the pistol. "I keep doing that," she
muttered. "I'm sighting it just like you showed me-"
"Aiming is only half the issue," Skuld said. "Observe." She removed the power cell from her pistol and aimed it at the tree, before pulling
the trigger. "That's how I fire. Here's how you do it." This time, when she pulled the trigger, her wrist jerked slightly as muscles in her
forearm and wrist tensed. The end result was the pistol aiming slightly higher then originally expected. "There's the main problem. You're tensing
the muscles when you pull the trigger. That's not entirely a bad thing - do it right and it helps with recoil, but right now..."
"It's pulling the gun up," she realized. "So if I stop doing that..." Skuld nodded and watched as Fiona raised her pistol again in the
two-handed stance the Hunter had taught her. When she pulled the trigger this time, the pistol jerked up ever so slightly, the photon pulse striking in the top
half of the target. "Well, it's better," she said, lowering the weapon. "It could be better but..."
"But," Skuld said, "you're getting the hang of it and that's what matters." The girl nodded in agreement.
***
"Okay, I'm gonna say it," Noriko said after they'd passed through about six small caverns, finding nothing but a light system set up by the
research facility. "Shouldn't there be people down here? Or baring that, big hungry monsters, thus explaining the lack of people."
"Maybe they're not hungry anymore," Ben quipped, moving towards the next tunnel. "Seventy or so people is a nice, filling meal."
"Oh ick," Amy responded. "That's just want I needed to hear."
"Sorry," he said, taking point. "Just slipped out." He moved down the tunnel, the torch on his rifle sweeping across the floor and walls.
"Guess this place is starting to get to me. A little too used to being in the exact opposite of this place."
"Nothing as far as the eye can see?" Amy smiled. "The solid gleam of the stars, gems in the void? Sounds like the view from Pioneer, back when
we were coming to Ragol."
"Before my time," Noriko said. "I came online two years after the destruction of Pioneer One. Franky, I don't see the appeal."
"You don't see the appeal of space?" she asked. "The sea of stars? Worlds and cultures beyond imagination?"
Noriko shrugged. "Plenty to explore and see here. The rest of the universe can look after itself."
Ben glanced over his shoulder. "And what about the rest of the universe that comes to you?
"Oh, you guys are an important part of Ragols culture," she grinned. "Thus, all is good."
"Oh, well, that's all good then," he said, before pausing. "What in the world?" The two girls looked at him as he raised his torch to
highlight a odd marking running down the wall in a relatively straight line. About as wide as his thumb, it was a strange dull red color. "What is
that?" he asked, reaching out to touch it, before jerking his finger away like it was burnt. "It's flesh!" he exclaimed, a slightly sickened
look on his face.
Behind him, Noriko and Amy looked at each other in horror.
***
Over the next half hour, the team continued a sweep of the facility, chasing off or killing all the hostile wildlife they encountered. However, one worrying
fact was becoming clear.
"No bodies," Fiona mused, resting her feet on the control panel. "I thought there was supposed to be over seventy people working here."
"Seventy four," Chris replied over the comm. "And they're not just hiding. We've seen blood and traces of battle. You'd think that
at least one of them would have been killed and left behind."
"Yeah, well, I've checked about every security camera in the place, and I'm not seeing a trace of anyone," Noriko muttered.
"What about some sort of fire suppression system?" Fiona asked. "That burning building doesn't look like it's going to calm down any
time soon."
"Oh, right. Good point." Fiona gave the comm panel a look.
"You mean you didn't check?"
"It slipped my mind, okay?" the Cast protested. "Anyway, it looks like I found some sort of firedrones. Launching them now." Outside, Amy
looked up at the sight of a dozen bulky disc-shaped objects emerged from the roof of the main building, moving towards the destroyed building and beginning to
hose it down with chemicals.
At another seat in the control room, Skuld finished looking over a map. "I found the transporter room," she reported. "Chris, Ben, you're
not too far from it. Take the second corridor on the left, six doors down."
"Roger that," Chris replied, moving a little faster. They'd actually passed the room earlier, but the hallways lacked almost anything that they
could use to tell them apart, not even signs on the doors.
Ben tabbed the door control and stepped inside, sweeping his rifle across it. "Well," he said, looking around the somewhat large room, based around
the bulky transporter in the center, "I'm not seeing much in the way of damage."
His friend nodded in agreement, moving over to the transporters control panel. "Well, all the lights are green, no error messages or anything else jumping
out at me." He glanced back over at Ben. "No visible reason for it not connecting to the global grid."
"So, hook it back up," he suggested. Chris shrugged and tapped a few buttons, then frowned as the control panel responded with an error noise.
"Come on..." he grumbled, tapping a few more buttons. "At least tell me why you don't want to behave." A moment later he tabbed his
radio. "Hey 'Riko, I've got a question for you about Ragolian transporters."
"Shoot."
"Error three two nine?"
"Um... I've had that one before. Another connection already active, disconnect and try again. But the only place that thing can connect to is the
global net."
"Maybe they put in the wrong data and hit something else," Skuld offered. "Mind you, I can't imagine what... outside Pioneer, the global
grid is pretty much the only one in operation."
Chris tabbed the menu buttons, scrolling through. "Let's see, here we go, network connections." He looked at it for a minute, then turned to Ben
and shrugged. "It's a big list of numbers and I don't have a clue what it means."
He chuckled slightly, then moved over to take a look. "Noriko, you got anything there that'll translate this number to a location?"
"Just a second... okay, go." Ben rattled off a twenty-seven digit number and waited. About a minute later, Norikos voice came back. "That
can't be right...."
"'Riko?" Optimal's voice asked.
"According to this, the transporter is connected to a receiving station five kilometers north, and... seven hundred meters down?"
"It goes underground?" Chris asked.
"Way underground," Ben added. "What in the hell is going on here?"
***
"So they teleported down to some underground cavern?" Fiona asked. Everyone had gathered in Duskwalkers cargo bay, with the exception of Noriko, who
had remained in the facilities control room.
"That, or into rock," Chris noted. "But given that there was a designated recieving platform down there, I'd guess the later. The military
and the Hunters couldn't beam down from Pioneer because the transporter can only be connected to one network at a time, and they'd set up the one here
and the one underground as a two-transporter network."
"So when the monsters attacked, they went to beam out and ended up underground." She glanced over at Amy. "Would that be deliberate?"
"It'd take time to disconnect from that mini-network and reconnect to the global grid," the Hunter replied. "When you've got about
seventy people screaming and trying to get to safety, they probably figured any port in a storm."
The younger girl shrugged. "Okay, that makes sense. But then, why didn't we know about it? I'd have thought the people sponsoring this place
would've mentioned it to the Hunters Guild."
"Because underground exploration and travel is heavily restricted," Optimal said as he removed his blasters main focusing coil. "You've seen
the beasts up here. Well, the one's underground tend to be worse. The deeper you go, the worse it gets." He studied the coil, then looked over at
Fiona. "As deep as they are, it'd be safer to sit in the middle of a forest, no armor or weapons, setting off air horns and fireworks. And that's
if it were trained Hunters going underground."
The girl binked, then shivered. "Well, that's a fun thought. So whatever they found down there, they couldn't legally do anything about?"
"Pretty much," Noriko said from a speaker. "They couldn't even get another transporter to handle movement between there and here. A full
transporter would raise a lot of question. So guess how many spare parts are missing from storage?"
Skuld gave the speaker a look. "Don't tell me they jury-rigged a transporter from spare parts."
"Well, I've got to say something," she replied bluntly. The human woman groaned, taking off her glasses.
"Of all the stupid, brain-dead, just plain insane ideas..."
"They must have had certain times scheduled," Amy guessed. "They'd only connect with the transporter in the cave at pre-planned intervals,
reduce the chance of someone trying to beam down from Pioneer and getting bounced back."
"And if anyone did notice the first few times, they'd claim it was maintenance or something," Ben added. "Too many times and people would
look, but downtime's expected with technology."
"So..." Chris said, leaning against the wall. "Why are they still down there?"
"Made from spare parts," Skuld muttered. "Seventy people in maybe ten minutes? Something on the other side must've broken."
"But the platform up here is still connected to it," Fiona said. "So it's not completely broken. Just enough to keep them from beaming
out."
"We brought transporter parts," Optimal said. "Just in case it was a transporter problem. We teleport down, fix that one, bring them back
up."
"Slight problem," Skuld said. "You remember Icarus?"
"A ranger, right? I think I met him last year."
"Ten months back, he ended up underground to rescue some people that were running from Wolves. He was charged. It was all legal technicalities, and the
case was dismissed in court, but still... I don't feel like having to appear before a Judge anytime soon."
Amy sighed, blowing her hair up out of her face. "I'll get on the comm, call the Guild leaders and see if we can get approval. You guys figure out who
gets to do some cave hopping."
"And get some extra guns prepped," Optimal noted, moving over to a large crate and popping the seals. "Not to mention medical gear. Given why
they went down there, and the fact they're underground, there's gonna be wounded. And dead."
"Three man team?" Chris said.
"Works for me," Amy said as she headed for the stairs.
"Six of you... think I saw a die somewhere around here," Fiona noted, heading for the stairs as well. Chris and Ben went over to the hidden weapons
locker, while Skuld joined Optimal at the crates.
***
"I'm not sulking," Optimal muttered. Across the transporter room, Noriko, Amy and Ben ignored him while checking their gear.
"Please," Skuld said. "If you had a mouth, you'd be pouting."
"And like you don't want to go down there?" he responded as she checked the transporter controls. "You're as trigger happy as I am,
maybe more." He grumbled under his breath. "I so wanted to try out my new chaingun..."
"Aw, poor baby," she grinned. "Sure, I'd love to go down, but I've got over ways to fill the time. You have a one-command mind
sometimes, you know that?" Optimal didn't answer as she finished with the controls. "Okay guys, we're all set here. You?"
"Ready," Ben said, adjusting the backpack one more time. "It's a good chance radio signals won't get through, and the connection on the
other end already seems damaged, so we might not make contact right away. We'll handle that before we start searching."
"Okay." The three took up positions on the platform, their weapons ready. "Hear from you soon," she said, powering it up. A green light
engulfed the trio, fading away and taking them with it.
"Guys, can you hear me?" Skuld asked, only to get nothing but silence back. "Dammit, we expected it, but it still sucks..."
***
Ben brought his rifle up, running the flashlight attached across the poorly lit cavern. "I'm seeing a lot of broken lights," he noted.
"Smashed in the panic?"
"Most likely - oh hey," Amy said. "Got a body." She knelt down next to the corpse. "Looks like he bled out." She ran her light
back towards the transporter. "Plenty of blood on his shirt, not much of a trail."
Ben knelt down next to her, nodding at a pile of bandages a few feet away. "He must have tried to hold it all in, then gave out from the stress of
teleporting." A rush of air caught his attention, bringing his rifle up towards an opening. "Just wind."
"This far down?" Noriko wondered as she studied the transporter. Jury-rigged didn't do it justice. There wasn't even a full platform (The
large sheet of solid conductive metal being near indestructible and hardly needing a spare part), wiring ran across and around it, most notably around a
section of burnt cables and ruined focusing crystals. "Ah, here we go..."
Ben unbuckled his backpack and lowered it to the floor. "Well, let's get started."
***
"Hey Fiona," Skuld said with a grin, leaning into the kitchen. "Got a few spare minutes?"
"Sure," Fiona replied as she finished cleaning. "What's up?"
"How'd you like to get some time on the surface?" she grinned, drawing a surprised look from the older girl.
"But it's too-"
"Dangerous, yeah. We did clear out the area," she pointed out, already heading back out the hallway to the cargo bay stairs. Fiona followed, a
curious expression on her face. "Plus, Amy brought a few extra toys for you," she added as she hopped down the steps two at a time before jogging
over to a sealed crate.
"Extra toys?" Fiona asked as Skuld popped the crate to reveal a handful of rifles, pistols and a slightly bulky looking bodysuit.
"This is a Frame," the Hunter said, holding up the suit. "A wonderful device that is a bizarre mixture of energy shielding, nanotech and some
other stuff I don't have the first clue how to explain. Now, it may not look like much, but when worn, it can alter its appearance and shape to suit the
will of the wearer. All of us, except Chris and Ben, are wearing them."
"Huh," she said, looking over Skulds somewhat odd looking military-style outfit. As near as she could tell, it looked like cloth. "So why
aren't they wearing them?"
"Because it's hard for off-worlders to buy them, and they're too stubborn to borrow them. Still, these rank among some of the galaxies best
personal protection gear." She held it out. "Try it on," she offered with a grin.
Smiling back, Fiona took the suit and stepped behind some crates. "Do I need to take off my other clothes, or...?"
"Well, I'd keep the underwear on," Skuld laughed. Fiona blushed slightly as she unbuttoned her blouse, ducking out of sight. Skuld kept watch for
a few minutes before the other girl stepped back out, holding the baggy suit in place. "Okay then, I know it doesn't look like much now, but we can
work with it. Fix an image in your head of what you'd like the suit to look like. Nothing too fancy, I'd suggest, and try not to let your mind
wander... that can lead to embarrassing results sometimes."
"...Uh-huh..." she replied as Skuld turned her attention to a small datapad mounted on Fionas left forearm.
"Okay... it's got a design set, modifying it to work, and it's ready." She tapped a button and stepped back. Fiona yelped as the suit began
to move and shift around her, conforming to her curves a lot better, shifting in color, density and composition. After nearly thirty seconds, it calmed down to
reveal a somewhat tight blue bodysuit under a leather jacket lined with pockets.
Fiona stretched slightly, studying how it felt with a surprised look on her face. "I'm impressed," she said after a moment. "Given what it
felt like beforehand, I didn't expect it to be this comfortable."
"Most people don't," Skuld answered, before taking a pistol from the crate. "This is a PS-9A Photon pulse pistol," she said in a no
nonsense voice. "Every hunter is assigned one as one of their first weapons when they join the Guild. Compared to most of the equipment you've seen us
use, this is a relatively weak weapon, but it is still a weapon capable of killing a person. While you have this, remember the most important rule. Never point
it at someone unless you plan on using it."
Fiona shivered slightly at that. "Never aim it at friends, and always handle it like it's loaded," Skuld continued. "If you can't accept
those rules, then you won't step foot off this ship." The other girl looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Good girl," she
chuckled, handing her the pistol. "Now, let's show you how to use that thing properly."
***
"Testing, testing... you guys hearing this?" Ben asked into the transporters communication panel.
"Loud and clear," Optimals voice responded. "I was starting to worry about you guys."
"Yeah, this thing's just a piece of crap," he said, looking down at the machine in disgust. "We had to replace more of it then we thought,
and then some extra just because we didn't trust what was left."
Optimal chuckled. "Well, that's fun. So, anything special we need to know about?"
"Well, we've found one body, badge identifies him as one Rupert Tammen. Noriko mentioned he was a biologist in the personnel files we got. The
transporter itself is in a relatively small cavern, one tunnel leading out. We haven't explored very far along it, but no sign of any other bodies.
We're going to head out now."
"Okay then, I'll let the others know... you sure you don't need any help?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager. Ben laughed.
"Sorry man, but we're all doing fine down here." He smirked at the grumbling that came over the comm. "So far man, you haven't missed
much."
"Yeah, well that won't last," he promised. "Good luck to you. You know where to find me."
"You got it," he said, closing the channel.
***
The pulses smacked against the tree, about a foot above a simple spray painted target. Fiona growled, lowering the pistol. "I keep doing that," she
muttered. "I'm sighting it just like you showed me-"
"Aiming is only half the issue," Skuld said. "Observe." She removed the power cell from her pistol and aimed it at the tree, before pulling
the trigger. "That's how I fire. Here's how you do it." This time, when she pulled the trigger, her wrist jerked slightly as muscles in her
forearm and wrist tensed. The end result was the pistol aiming slightly higher then originally expected. "There's the main problem. You're tensing
the muscles when you pull the trigger. That's not entirely a bad thing - do it right and it helps with recoil, but right now..."
"It's pulling the gun up," she realized. "So if I stop doing that..." Skuld nodded and watched as Fiona raised her pistol again in the
two-handed stance the Hunter had taught her. When she pulled the trigger this time, the pistol jerked up ever so slightly, the photon pulse striking in the top
half of the target. "Well, it's better," she said, lowering the weapon. "It could be better but..."
"But," Skuld said, "you're getting the hang of it and that's what matters." The girl nodded in agreement.
***
"Okay, I'm gonna say it," Noriko said after they'd passed through about six small caverns, finding nothing but a light system set up by the
research facility. "Shouldn't there be people down here? Or baring that, big hungry monsters, thus explaining the lack of people."
"Maybe they're not hungry anymore," Ben quipped, moving towards the next tunnel. "Seventy or so people is a nice, filling meal."
"Oh ick," Amy responded. "That's just want I needed to hear."
"Sorry," he said, taking point. "Just slipped out." He moved down the tunnel, the torch on his rifle sweeping across the floor and walls.
"Guess this place is starting to get to me. A little too used to being in the exact opposite of this place."
"Nothing as far as the eye can see?" Amy smiled. "The solid gleam of the stars, gems in the void? Sounds like the view from Pioneer, back when
we were coming to Ragol."
"Before my time," Noriko said. "I came online two years after the destruction of Pioneer One. Franky, I don't see the appeal."
"You don't see the appeal of space?" she asked. "The sea of stars? Worlds and cultures beyond imagination?"
Noriko shrugged. "Plenty to explore and see here. The rest of the universe can look after itself."
Ben glanced over his shoulder. "And what about the rest of the universe that comes to you?
"Oh, you guys are an important part of Ragols culture," she grinned. "Thus, all is good."
"Oh, well, that's all good then," he said, before pausing. "What in the world?" The two girls looked at him as he raised his torch to
highlight a odd marking running down the wall in a relatively straight line. About as wide as his thumb, it was a strange dull red color. "What is
that?" he asked, reaching out to touch it, before jerking his finger away like it was burnt. "It's flesh!" he exclaimed, a slightly sickened
look on his face.
Behind him, Noriko and Amy looked at each other in horror.
***