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lunitariaprimeYaka's vessel returned to normal spatial geometry with ease, the worldlet that had often been compared to the icy outer dwarf planet Pluto looming before it.
"Dead silence, Yaka."
Her companion's voice was analytical, Yaka's hearing caught a note of something that made her eye track to her companion's location.
"A mining colony in total comms silence? That's not a mining colony anymore."
Her companion responded after a moment.
"No," came her voice, and there was a tone in it that Yaka could not remember hearing before.
She raised the temperature of the tank by a few degrees celsius.
"I want a deadman hooked to an orbital drone," came Yaka's terse request.
Her companion nodded.
"Drone programmed and ready. It will release Code Red for Eris within three minutes of comm traffic die-off."
"Launch drone."
"Drone launched and ready."
Her companion turned towards her.
"Yaka, I don't like this. Even during full shutdown there should be some kind of traffic, even if it's just PA traffic. The whole mining colony is dark. I'm not even showing any live power sources down there."
She looked back, "I am in complete agreement. Bring us in for low-alt scans, and I want full spec this time. If I have to go out there and bang on a door, I will, but only if I am sure what's on the other side of it."
Her companion chuckled.
"With full atmo, they'd hear that knock through most of the complex, Yaka."
Yaka laughed a little.
"That is the idea."
The craft drew closer, the sensor arrays training eyes across the spectra of the mine.
Two of them stared at something fixedly and Yaka's companion spoke up.
"We're getting a few very strong IR readings, from one of the lower levels. A couple of large... blobs."
"Could they be the refinery or connected to mining operations," came Yaka's questioning voice.
There was now a distinct tone in her companion's voice this time, and she spoke a little haltingly from it.
Dread.
"Not unless they're storing molten lead in central corridor A5, and in Storage 5C and 4K. None of those locations should have anything in them larger or warmer than packs of standard supplies. More. There's.... motion down there, a lot of motion. Pattern analysis... No. Not within a mile of transhumanoid norms, not even the Neo-Ocs. Yaka, it looks like a very advanced Crawl."
THe response was immediate, and spoken softly.
"Code Red. Activate beacon and ready weapons - attach detailed sensor data to drone transmission and initiate Red Flash at the standard interval, five minutes."
"Dataset attached and processing. Drone ready. Nanoplague alert in T minus five minutes... Mark."
Yaka took a breath, let it out.
"Block all incoming from Eris, code all transmissions as compromised."
Her companion responded after a moment. "Already done."
They waited.
"Dead silence, Yaka."
Her companion's voice was analytical, Yaka's hearing caught a note of something that made her eye track to her companion's location.
"A mining colony in total comms silence? That's not a mining colony anymore."
Her companion responded after a moment.
"No," came her voice, and there was a tone in it that Yaka could not remember hearing before.
She raised the temperature of the tank by a few degrees celsius.
"I want a deadman hooked to an orbital drone," came Yaka's terse request.
Her companion nodded.
"Drone programmed and ready. It will release Code Red for Eris within three minutes of comm traffic die-off."
"Launch drone."
"Drone launched and ready."
Her companion turned towards her.
"Yaka, I don't like this. Even during full shutdown there should be some kind of traffic, even if it's just PA traffic. The whole mining colony is dark. I'm not even showing any live power sources down there."
She looked back, "I am in complete agreement. Bring us in for low-alt scans, and I want full spec this time. If I have to go out there and bang on a door, I will, but only if I am sure what's on the other side of it."
Her companion chuckled.
"With full atmo, they'd hear that knock through most of the complex, Yaka."
Yaka laughed a little.
"That is the idea."
The craft drew closer, the sensor arrays training eyes across the spectra of the mine.
Two of them stared at something fixedly and Yaka's companion spoke up.
"We're getting a few very strong IR readings, from one of the lower levels. A couple of large... blobs."
"Could they be the refinery or connected to mining operations," came Yaka's questioning voice.
There was now a distinct tone in her companion's voice this time, and she spoke a little haltingly from it.
Dread.
"Not unless they're storing molten lead in central corridor A5, and in Storage 5C and 4K. None of those locations should have anything in them larger or warmer than packs of standard supplies. More. There's.... motion down there, a lot of motion. Pattern analysis... No. Not within a mile of transhumanoid norms, not even the Neo-Ocs. Yaka, it looks like a very advanced Crawl."
THe response was immediate, and spoken softly.
"Code Red. Activate beacon and ready weapons - attach detailed sensor data to drone transmission and initiate Red Flash at the standard interval, five minutes."
"Dataset attached and processing. Drone ready. Nanoplague alert in T minus five minutes... Mark."
Yaka took a breath, let it out.
"Block all incoming from Eris, code all transmissions as compromised."
Her companion responded after a moment. "Already done."
They waited.
