environmentally secure, harder than steel, and able to withstand practically anything except a point-blank energy beam, they'd originally been intended as combat armor for extreme field conditions. However, they were too clumsy and slow for that, so the fleet inherited them as go anywhere, do anything suits. Everyone else on the pinnace seemed to be moving easily and confidently within the suits' limits. Silence felt as though he'd been dripped in congealing tar.
Sweat was beading on his face, but he couldn't lift his armored arm high enough to wipe at it. He shouldn't be feeling so hot. The pinnace's life-support systems automatically maintained a comfortable interior temperature. But you couldn't think about the impossible heat outside and not feel something, even if it was only in the mind. The six marines were trying to pass a bottle of something back and forth, and spilling most of it as they overcompensated for the suits' servomechanisms. Silence couldn't help wishing they'd pass the damn thing his way, but he couldn't ask. It would look bad. Weak. It was important he appear strong and confident before his men. Particularly, after what happened the last time he led an away team down to a planet.
He made himself look away. Stelmach was sitting by himself, a quiet, nondescript man, anonymous as any civil servant, staring straight ahead, clearly wishing he was somewhere else. Anywhere else. Frost was frowning slightly, her eyes far away. Times like this were what she lived for. This and the promise of a little mayhem. Gehenna Base promised a fascinating deductive problem and the possibility of killing something. Any happier, and she'd probably explode. It occurred to Silence that she might be studying what was going on outside the pinnace. Therefore, he patched into the ship's exterior sensors through his comm implant, so he could see, too.
His eyes were immediately filled with roaring flames as the pinnace bulkheads appeared to become transparent where he looked. And no matter where he looked, there was always fire. Now and again he thought he caught a glimpse of the dark, hard-baked surface far below, always burning, somehow never completely consumed. There was nothing else. Nothing lived there anymore, as far as anyone knew, and the only surviving structures were deep underground. That would have been the most sensible place for the Base, too, but Lionstone had insisted it be constructed above ground. It was a matter of principle; to show the Empire could build and preserve a Base right there in the heart of hell, where no one else could. The Base should still be intact, behind its force Screen. And if the Screen was still up, the Base personnel ought to be intact, too. The Screen could stand up to anything this world could throw at it. And even if the Screen had fallen, for whatever reason, the Base had been constructed specifically to withstand Gehenna's heat. Silence tried to feel optimistic, but it was hard work. Gehenna was an unforgiving world, waiting always for the smallest mistake or oversight.
'Coming in for landing, Captain,' said Cross. 'Hold on to your seat belt. It's been a while since I had to land a ship here.'
Silence cut off the sensor input, and the pinnace's walls snapped back into being around him. He felt hotter than ever. He realized the others had turned as far in their seats as their suits would allow to look at him, waiting for some last and hopefully reassuring word from him. He took a deep breath, and when he spoke his voice was calm and casual as usual.
'We are landing, people. Power up all systems, and get ready to put on your helmets. Remember, a hard suit can keep you alive for up to a week down here if necessary, but even so take things carefully. Keep your eyes open and watch everyone else's back as well as your own. This place will kill you if you give it the slightest opening. And watch the readings on your energy crystals; hard suits soak up a lot of power, even when you're standing still.
'The moment we're down, the Investigator will exit the craft first. She'll make an immediate assessment of the situation and decide whether the mission can proceed. Assuming we haven't dropped into an actual war zone, the marines will disembark next and set up a defensive perimeter. Then Cross, Stelmach, and I will bring up the rear. Remember, people, this is a rescue mission, not an invasion. You shoot anyone you don't absolutely have to, and I am going to be really annoyed with you. I want survivors with answers, not bodies with holes in. All right, that's it. Secure helmets. Cross, take us in.'
He picked up his helmet from his lap, a featureless steel helm that fitted perfectly onto his shoulder yoke. There was a moment of utter darkness as the suit's connections linked up and then the helmet's sensors kicked in, patching into his comm implant to give his eyes a 360 degree view. It was as though his helmet had suddenly disappeared, though he could still feel its weight on his shoulders. The rest of his team looked blind in their blank helmets, which made Cross at the controls look particularly worrying. And then the pinnace slammed down onto the planet's surface and skidded along, barely slowing. Silence and the others clung desperately to the arms of their seats, only their heavy-duty seat harnesses keeping them from being flung into the aisle or smashed against the walls. The ship shook them back and forth and then lurched to a sudden halt as though it had hit something.
Silence hit his seat harness release with a steel fist and rose jerkily to his feet, the whine of servomechanisms loud in his ears as they translated his body movements into suit responses. He stomped down the aisle to the inner air-lock door, where Frost was already waiting for him. Her suit bore the colors of her uniform, just as his did, but he would have known it was her anyway. Only Frost could have got to the door that fast. Most of the marines were still trying to get out of their seats. Silence waited for Cross's raised hand and then hit the inner door release. The door hissed open, Frost stepped inside the air lock, and the door closed behind her. There was a pause, and then Frost's voice sounded calmly in his ear.
'Outer door open, stepping out onto the surface.' Another pause. 'No problems, all clear. No sign of anything but dirt and flames. Not unlike walking into a crematorium, actually. Come on in; the inferno's lovely this time of year.'
Silence smiled despite himself, opened the inner air-lock door, and waved the marines past him. It didn't take long for everyone to cycle through, and Silence stepped out onto the surface of Gehenna with only the slightest of hesitations. At first, all he could see was the flames. A blazing sea of scarlet and gold, leaping high up into the air. Vague shadows moved in the fire around him, and then the hard suit's computer enhancements kicked in, boosting the helm's sensor images until the shadows came into sharper focus as members of his team. He looked down and could only just make out the ground he was standing on. It was baked black, broken apart here and there with deep crevices from which flames belched forth in sudden jets, mixing with the constant glow around him. The temperature readings were unbelievable.
'Captain, this is Cross.' The Comm Officer's voice sounded loudly in his ear. 'If you're ready, I'll get us moving. I've locked onto the beacon; the Base is only a few minutes' walk from here.'
'Of course,' said Silence. 'Good piloting, Cross. Lead the way. Everyone else, power up your weapon systems; but remember what I said about unnecessary firing. I'm all for making a dramatic entrance, but I don't want to end up accidentally killing the very people we're here to rescue. Are you listening to me, Investigator?'
'Relax,' said Frost. 'I only kill people who need killing.'
'I'm sure we're all very relieved to hear that, Investigator,' said Cross dryly. 'Pay attention please, everyone. Follow me in single file, your hand on the shoulder of the person in front of you. Take your time and don't get distracted. It's only too easy to get lost here. If you do lose contact with the team, your suit will automatically lock onto the pinnace's beacon. Go back there and stay put till we get back. Have I forgotten anything. Captain?'
'No,' said Silence. 'You're doing fine. Carry on.'
He waited patiently while the team formed itself into a single line, and then he put his hand on Stelmach's shoulder in front of him. He could see his steel gauntlet resting on Stelmach's shoulder, but he couldn't feel it. As the line moved off, he realized what Cross had meant about how easy it would be to get lost. Inside the hard suit, the only sense he had left was his sight. The only sound on Gehenna was the constant roar of the flames. He'd automatically turned that down to protect his ears and hear his teammates over the comm. The hard suit cut him off completely from the world. It had to, to protect him.
He trudged on after Stelmach, and the fires raged impotently around him. Sweat was dripping off him again, despite the cool air circulating inside the armor. Time passed slowly, with no landmarks to show any progress. Cross had said the Base was only a few minutes away. Surely, it had been that much already? Or had Cross lost his bearings and begun to lead them in a huge blind circle? He hadn't thought to check the time before they started. The answer suggested itself almost immediately, and Silence was glad the others couldn't see him blushing. He switched the comm to the emergency channel, and the Base's beacon sounded out, loud and reassuring. His sensors placed the Base straight ahead, in what would have been plain sight on any other world. He stared hard into the flames, pushing the computer enhancements to their limits, and a huge dark shape slowly formed before
