A Whore at Dread Harbor Ch. 09

"Before we continue," Corani said, her eyes changing to an inscrutable yellow. "What do you think of the mercenaries I hired?"

Deckard took another hit off his cigarette, more to hide his frown than to savor the taste. His face was illuminated with orange light.

"...They're good. Damn good. The team's response to the threat was immediate and effective. You couldn't have picked a better group to send in there on their own." He exhaled, letting the smoke hang above his head like a budding thunderstorm. "-But you never should have sent them alone in the first place."

The Catian's face was grim as Deckard continued. "The second month's report begins to paint a grimmer picture. Captain Rezov succeeded in powering on the station's main battery, at which point his squad was inundated by a flood of creatures rising up from beneath them in the C&C center. So far as I can tell, they were never able to effectively identify where exactly they were coming from, only that they were in a near-constant firefight from then on."

Deckard's face tightened. He rubbed his false thumb and forefinger together in grim habit. "The next three weeks are just a series of battle reports. So far as I can tell, the Captain kept good hold over his men. Despite the danger, he did not report a single casualty while he still remained in contact with the second squad. They were pressed hard, and three of his men suffered minor wounds, but for the most part they were able to maintain unit cohesion."

"I hired the best." Corani said, a note of defensiveness entering her voice. She had read the report long before he had; she knew what was coming next.

"I don't doubt it." Deckard said, small consolation in the aftermath.

"The final week's report does concern me, however. Lieutenant Krelka sent it under duress, that much is clear. After it became clear that their position in the C&C hub was no longer tenable, the Captain ordered a temporary retreat back to the hangar hub to regroup and reevaluate the situation. The Lieutenant soon lost contact with the Captain and his squad somewhere in the tram tunnels on the way back."

Decker stared at Corani. Corani stared at Deckard. They both knew how the report ended.

"His last transmission to the her was mostly static, but the Lieutenant did make out the phrase: 'we are being hunted.'"

The Catian betrayed no expression, but Deckard knew it was merely a front. He continued regardless with the briefing. "The Lieutenant began an immediate rescue operation, leaving behind a skeleton crew to make sure that the geneticist and her entourage remained safe on the ship. That is the end of the second month's transmission."

"You summed it up nicely." She said, regarding him with her flickering eyes. "What is your assessment?"

Deckard let out a hum. "The Lieutenant failed to rescue the Captain, that much is certain. Had they merely suffered heavy casualties, the survivors would have likely pulled back and regrouped. At a minimum, whoever remained in the hangar bay are either dead or somehow trapped. If things got as dire as this report seems to indicate, they would have otherwise sent a distress call or fled in the ship."

"You underestimate a Loupian's pride." Corani said. "They swore a blood oath of loyalty to me. "

"And you overestimate the value of honor when it comes to facing the Goblins." Deckard replied. "... But you may be right. We need to account for the fact that this is a trained squad, with decades of camaraderie and an emotional attachment to one another. They likely would have not wanted to leave their fellow soldiers behind."

He took a drag off his cigarette. "-But that still does not explain the lack of updates. At best, their communications have been damaged. But the Captain's final transmission is disconcerting, to say the least."

"How bad do you think it is, Deckard?"

"Truthfully?" Deckard shook his head. "More likely than not they're all dead. We should only linger as long as is necessary to confirm that there's no survivors. We can inform the GFP about this rogue Goblin station discreetly once we are free of the station. Till then?" He shrugged. "We treat this like we treated Dread Harbor: we watch each other's backs, we take no chances, and we minimize risk to ourselves first and foremost. We're walking into a tragedy, little mouse. Best not to make ourselves its final act."

Corani sighed. She looked depressed, but thankfully no tears built in her cheeks this time. Maybe his little story had raised her spirits after all.

"If there is anyone left on that base-" She began

"We will get them back safely." Deckard promised. "You have my word."

Corani sat for a long moment in silence, then let out a slow nod. "Very well." She said, "Then I suppose there's nothing left to say. Bring us into range, let's see what manner of misfortune we are dealing with."

* * *

The bulky curves of Deliverance swooped down on the bleak moon like a boxy vulture settling upon a chalky carcass. Deckard brought her in slow, using impulse thrusters only to drift lazily down towards the surface. The moon had no atmosphere, but the gravity still brought a discomforting sluggishness to his flight controls.

There, nestled in a ancient impact crater miles wide, lurked the Zeta Moonbase. Blissfully intact. Waiting for them like an inviting tomb.

Deckard brought them in low, unconcerned for the moment of immediate danger. There was little to no chance that there were any station defenses to speak of. Neither the Goblins nor the original manufacturers had intended this place to be a fortress.

When they entered the perimeter of the crater itself, Deliverance did a few circles around the main hubs. Corani pointed out the cockpit glass when they passed the shipping hub. "Look: there's Hangar Bay B."

Deckard's face tightened as he stared at the dark exterior of the hubs. The power was out, the whole place looked like an abandoned relic. "The blast doors are closed." He said, eyeing the metal plating covering the hangar entrance with suspicion.

"Why?" Corani asked.

Deckard sighed as he banked the Deliverance left, "A thousand different reasons come to mind. None of them are good."

"Hangar Bay C is open, at least." She said, peering into the interior of the deserted hangar directly below their objective.

Deckard let out a contemplative hum. "At a minimum we can bring the ship in from there. It will make extractions a lot easier if there are survivors, for sure. But I'm worried how out in the open we will be."

"-As opposed to taking a cruise around the station on impulse drives?" Corani asked, a hint of sarcasm entering her tone.

"If they know we are here, they know we are here." Deckard retorted, flicking her wrist with his finger from across the flight console. "But they don't know where we're coming from. If we make a more discrete insertion elsewhere, leave behind the ship and go in through an airlock, we might buy ourselves some time before they can muster an attack."

"-- But also leave behind valuable resources, and deprive us of an easy escape route." Corani said, her flat tone indicating she clearly didn't like the idea.

"Every option will have its downsides, little mouse." Deckard said, pivoting the ship in a lazy turn around the station. "Let's keep looking, maybe a better opportunity will present itself."

They swept past the C&C Hub, spotting nothing unusual during the cursory sweep. Deckard pointed Corani to a particular airlock. "See that? On the schematic that's a two minute walk to the control room. We could have this entire base powered on in a matter of minutes. We'd have security feeds, bulkhead door access-"

"As well as every Goblin monstrosity in the place aware of exactly where we are." She said, nibbling on her bottom lip. "The report did say that the attacks were coming from an unspecified place beneath them in the C&C hub."

Deckard nodded. "It's high risk, high reward. This route is the quickest way for us to figure out what's going on in the facility, and likely the quickest way for us to figure out what happened to your crew. Assuming we are fast about it, We can gain the maximum amount of intelligence in the minimum amount of time."

The Catian let out a low sigh. "-At the cost of losing all element of surprise, and working under a strict deadline."

Deckard shrugged. "In theory we can head out back the way we came, but that's just delaying the inevitable. At that point, the Goblins know for a fact that we're here, and will be looking for us."

Corani let out a huff of air. "Goddess, why can't things ever just be easy?"

Deckard let out a humorless chuckle. He didn't want to let on to the gnawing fear working its way through his guts like a slithering worm. "Let's keep looking, we don't have to decide this very instant."

They came at last to the living quarters and entertainment district hub, the final point of the triangle. Power was off across the station, but they could somewhat see through the hub's solid plasti-glass windows. Peering into the interior was difficult, and what little they could see was eerie: empty halls and ghostly emporiums.

"Wait, stop!" Corani exclaimed. She pointed at a particular window in the northwest corner of the hub. "Did you see that just now?"

"See what?" Deckard said, his hackles rising. His eyes flicked across the hull of the hub, searching for hidden defenses. He readied himself to make a speedy getaway with the lumbering bulk of the Deliverance.

"There was a light just then. A blinking beam."

Deckard peered into the area she indicated. He killed the thrust on his ship, staring into the void of blackness behind the glass.

Suddenly, his saw it: The flash of red light. It was faint, almost minuscule, some kind of signaling light, maybe.

it was impossible to determine the source, only that it was blinking in regular intervals.

"I see it." Deckard said, his brow tightening.

"Do you think it's them?" She asked, a hopeful note entering her voice.

Deckard let out an unhappy grant. "Unlikely. Neither of the teams were anywhere near that part of the base when they fell out of contact."

"It's been two months, Deckard." Corani said, "They could be anywhere at this point."

"That could just as easily be the Goblins, Corani." Deckard replied. "And this place has the same issue as the C&C hub: we can't land the transport. We would have to go in by airlock."

"If that's them though," she insisted, "We could make a quick rescue, find out if they know what happened to the others, and then get out scot-free."

Deckard considered his options. There was so little he knew about the situation. Flashbacks of his drop pod insertion into Dread Harbor's superstructure ran through the back of his head on repeat.

No matter what choice he made, he knew they were taking a grave risk. There was no way of knowing what was going on inside until they made the final insertion. Till then, it was all just conjecture. Conjecture that could very well get them killed.

From here on out, every choice they made could very well be their last.

How do they enter the moon base, and what is their initial objective?

A) Land the ship in the Hangar Hub. Search Hangar B for survivors.

B) Make an airlock-insertion into the C&C Hub. Power on the station and gather intelligence.

C) Make an airlock-insertion into the Habitation Hub. Investigate the blinking light.