Adventures of the Starship Satori 4: No Plan Survives Contact by Kevin McLaughlin Read Free Book Online

noise and scuttling sounds as several more of the creatures scattered from the pool on the far side. The sound of little legs scraping on rock faded as the creatures raced away from them, and ended with a series of plopping noises - the sound of something dropping into water.
    "Wow," Andrew said.
    "How many do you think there were?" John asked.
    "I counted four splashes," Beth said.
    "No guarantees they all went into the water though," John mentioned mildly. "We'll need to keep our eyes open. I saw two inch mandibles on that thing."
    Were they predators? If so, what were they preying on? Perhaps the mandibles were only tools. Many insects on Earth used mandibles to carve things up or defend themselves rather than to tear apart prey. John found himself wishing that Linda had come along. Her insights would have been incredibly valuable here. This entire cave might be a vibrant ecosystem, hidden deep beneath the ground and somehow protected from the ravages of the ratzard blood. Which called to mind a good question.
    "Why are there no ratzards here?" John asked aloud.
    "Luck?" Andrew said.
    Beth shook her head. "We surveyed the planet from orbit. Nowhere on the surface had open water like this. It's not like these caves are closed off. Nothing is stopping the things from getting in here and fouling this water just like they did on the surface.”
    "That's what I was thinking too," John said. He looked around the cave. Those dark corners were looking more ominous than they had a few moments ago. Then with a flash he realized why the thing in the water had seemed so familiar. It looked an awful lot like a dragonfly larva. The things would scuttle around in ponds and lakes on Earth, eating whatever they came across that was smaller than themselves. They had the same sharp, dangerous look to them that the much larger alien arthropods in these pools exhibited.
    Something scuttled toward the back of the cave, knocking about some rubble as it moved quickly from one pool of shadow to another. John couldn’t see what made the noise. Whatever it was had been the barest blur of motion in the pools of shadow. But it had been a lot bigger than the foot long things they’d seen so far. Much, much larger.
    “We need to get out of here,” John hissed. He snapped his rifle up to track the dark corner where he knew something was hiding. “Right now!”
    “What is it?” Beth asked.
    “There’s something out there,” John said. “We need to get back up into the tunnels before…”
    He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, and didn’t have time to say it. Something out of nightmare exploded from the darkness toward them.

12
    C harline checked the charges . Each of them was still intact. Neither of them was tied in to her laptop or any other sort of wireless control. It ought to be impossible to hack the simple timers she’d placed on the detonators. It was possible that the AI had defenses in here that could eliminate her, however. She reached out to each timer and clicked the button that initiated the countdown. The screens lit up and began flashing numbers. In thirty minutes, the interior of the satellite was going to become a fireball.
    Ideally she would be well on her way by then, but maybe she could use that as a bargaining chip against the AI inside. If it was smart, perhaps it could be reasoned with. If it had a sense of self, then maybe she could make it afraid of being destroyed. Of death. Hey, it was working on her. Her own hands were still shaking from setting charges that she knew would kill her if she didn’t get out of here in time.
    Her hands went to the latches of her spacesuit helmet, but then she thought better of the idea. How hard would it be for the damned computer to evacuate the air from the room? Just because it was pressurized right now didn't mean it would stay that way. She needed to be careful.
    The suit was bulky, but the Naga were big. She was able to slip down the hallway from the airlock toward the