"We're in the bunker, Corp," Lawrence said.
"Good, now get down here to us."
Lawrence's HUD flicked up the plans for bunker three. Section four was at the end of a side corridor eighty meters away. They started walking toward it "You reckon this is some kind of hazing?" Lawrence asked. He'd switched off his radio, using the armor's external speaker on low volume.
"Not sure," Colin murmured back. "You reckon the corp would pull that kind of stunt?"
"Dunno. He might want to see how we react."
"If he'd just tell us why he wants us."
"Maybe he's been captured."
"Oh, come on!"
"Well, it's possible. Why else is he being..."
Lawrence's armor microphone picked up a scuffling sound. His motion detector registered a fast airwave wash down the main corridor directly behind him. Both of them spun around, assuming a low crouch position, weapons searching for a target. The i-i scoured the walls and floor on high resolution, revealing nothing.
"What the fuck..."
Lawrence switched to the secure suit band. "Corp, is there anyone else in this bunker with us?"
"Nobody's been authorized by the AS, why?"
"Somebody moving around out here."
"Just a minute."
Lawrence and Colin straightened up, keeping their weapons ready.
"Could have been the machinery switching on," Colin said. "No telling what effect it'll have on the sensors."
"The AS should filter it"
"I've checked with our people in the control center," Ntoko said. "Everyone's accounted for. The local AS is relaying camera images to my suit. I can see you two, but there's no one else in here."
"We thought it might be the machinery glitching our sensors," Lawrence said.
"Okay. Keep a watch. And put your i-i's to medium resolution; high-rez produces some weird effects."
"Roger. With you in a minute."
They made the side corridor without further incident and started down. The door at the end was open. Lawrence couldn't see anyone inside, just another big chamber full of black-and-silver machinery, the kind of towering mechanical exhibition that could have come straight out of a steamship's engine room. Thin gases were leaking from pipes; the general noise level rose with every step closer.
An armor-suited figure appeared in the door. "Hi, lads," Meaney called. He raised his arm to wave. Something moved behind him, eclipsing one of the ceiling lights.
"Down!" Lawrence screamed. He and Colin thrust their weapons forward. A target circle flashed across his HUD.
Meaney froze, framing his suit in the doorway. His gauntleted hand suddenly made a move for the carbine holstered on his waist. The dark swirl bobbed about behind him, sliding away from the light. Then it was gone, slithering into the intestinal tangle of pipes and valves.
"Behind you!" Colin yelled.
"What—" Meaney was turning, his carbine half out of the holster. The other two were racing toward him, the AS angling their muscle skeletons so they were leaning forward at a sharp angle, providing a degree of balance in the low gravity.
"Where'd it go?"
"In there, in that gap."
Lawrence jumped up cautiously, gun held out in front, pointing into the metallic crevice ready to fire as his helmet sensors rose up level. The i-i's green tinge revealed a gap that was nothing but a dusky jumble of twisting pipes and looping cables. Infrared showed some of the pipes glowing pink.
He relaxed his trigger finger as he landed on his heels. "Shit! Missed it." His HUD display was registering a high heart rate. Adrenaline hummed eagerly in his ears. This was all way too elaborate for a hazing. He tried to concentrate on his training for unknown territory. Be suspicious. Always.
"What the fuck are you two doing?" Meaney demanded.
"Didn't you see it, for Christ's sake?" Colin said. "It was right behind you. Are your sensors screwed or something?"
Meaney's carbine waved around at the cliff of chemical-processing equipment. "What was behind me?"
"I don't know. Something up there."
"Where?"
"Jesus, what's wrong with your sensors?" Colin asked.
"Nothing's fucking wrong with them."
"Then you must have seen it."
"Seen fucking what?"
Ntoko emerged down an aisle formed by the hulking stacks of machinery. He was holding his scatter pistol ready in his right hand. "Okay, what do you two keensters think you keep seeing?"
"I'm not sure, Corp," Lawrence admitted. "We saw something moving about behind Meaney."
"My sensors didn't track anything," Meaney said.
"Something?" Ntoko said. "A person or a robot?"
"Well, it was up there, and smallish," Lawrence said, trying to recall the shady image.
"It didn't move like a robot," Colin said. "It was fast."
"Could have been a rat," Ntoko said.
"A rat?" Lawrence asked. "Why would Kaba import rats, especially to Floyd? They don't contribute anything valid to the ecology."