And if that wasn't problem enough, since Shannon's World was officially Quarantined, it was under constant guard by an orbiting Imperial starcruiser, with orders to open fire on anyone or anything unauthorized. Hopefully, the rebels had a way around that.
'Hold on to your seats, everyone,' said Finlay. 'If everyone else is on schedule, things should start getting interesting right about now.'
They all strapped themselves into their safety webbing and watched the viewscreen intently. For a moment that seemed to stretch forever, nothing happened. The Imperial starcruiser hung in orbit, not all that far away, blind to the rebels' presence, huge and intimidating and bristling with gun turrets. And then a great golden Hadenman ship dropped out of hyperspace right on top of it. Vast and magnificent, it dwarfed the starcruiser like a killer whale next to a minnow. It opened fire with all its guns, and the Imperial craft's force shields flared and spit, on the brink of overloading. The Hadenman ship then turned and moved gracefully away, and the starcruiser set off after it, grimly determined to deny Shannon's World to the old Enemies of Humanity. And as the Empire ship began its wild-goose chase, the converted cargo ship dropped silently out of orbit and headed down toward Haceldama, the Field of Blood, and the horrors that awaited them there.
For long moments everything was still and quiet, and the rebels began to relax. But then they plunged into the atmosphere, and the ground-based defenses opened up on them, hammering at the small craft's shields. The massed disrupter cannon maintained a steady barrage, shaking the small ship like a dog shakes a rat. Finlay ranted and swore, stabbing at the sensor panels trying to boost the cloaking systems as best he could while his webbing swung back and forth. But something down below had seen through the Hadenman technology, even though that was supposed to be impossible. The cargo ship rocked violently as deadly energies streamed around its shields, probing for weak spots. The rebels clung to their crash webbing as Finlay wedged himself against the control panels and fought to guide their descent. The lights snapped off for a moment, replaced by the sullen red glow of emergency lighting.
'What the hell happened to the cloaking device?' shouted Toby.
'According to the systems, it's still working,' said Finlay. 'But it didn't exactly come with a guarantee, you know.'
'Now he tells us,' said Flynn.
The ship lurched to one side. The emergency lights flickered.
'Outer shields just went down,' Finlay said calmly. 'Systems now running at 70 percent efficiency. Anyone know any good prayers?'
'Can't we shoot back at them?' said Toby.
'We don't have any guns,' said Evangeline. 'There wasn't any room, with all the extra Hadenman systems. Didn't you listen when they were briefing us?'
'Obviously not closely enough,' said Toby. 'I suppose escape pods are out of the question, too?'
'Think about it,' said Finlay. 'If this ship can't survive with all its shields, how long do you think an escape pod would last?'
'I think I'm about to be sick,' said Toby. 'Or have a really loud panic attack.'
'Try for the attack,' said Flynn. 'Less messy.'
One of the control panels exploded into flames. Finlay flinched back from the heat. The cargo ship dropped like a stone before backup systems cut in. An alarm sounded, harsh and strident, until Finlay hit the off switch. They already knew they were in trouble. The flames were leaping higher. Smoke began to fill the cabin. Evangeline released herself from her crash webbing, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and trained it on the fire. The wallowing craft threw her this way and that, making her task almost impossible. Finlay fought for control with the surviving instrumentation. At the back, Flynn was quietly getting it all on film.
And then the barrage stopped, as suddenly as it began, and all was quiet, save for the crackling of the flames. Evangeline quickly snuffed them out as the craft righted itself, and then she stood and listened, braced for more attacks. Finlay studied his panels, then let his breath out in a long slow sigh.
'They've stopped. We must have fallen below their programmed response limits. People, I'd say we just got very lucky.'
'How bad's the damage?' said Julian.
'Could be worse,' said Finlay. 'Nothing major's gone down. We can still land and take off safely. Assuming the ground defenses only fire at craft coming down, and not those leaving. But you should stay in your crash webbing anyway, people. Landing's liable to be a bit bumpy.'
'Check for comm traffic,' said Giles. Finlay nodded, and bent over the comm panels. It only took him a few moments to eliminate the comm signals from the departing starcruiser, and concentrate on the planet below. The comm computers ran up and down the frequencies, and found nothing.
'Not a damned thing,' said Finlay. 'No one's talking to anyone down there. The whole planet's silent.'
Giles nodded slowly. 'Try the sensors. Check for life-forms.'
Finlay moved over to the sensor panels, waving away smoke that drifted in front of his face. The sensors were right next to the panels that had blown up, and they'd suffered some smoke and fire damage themselves. He ran a quick diagnostic, and frowned. Forty-three percent efficiency. Not good. Limited range, and even more limited information. He set the sensors for the widest remaining range, and then watched the displays with a deepening scowl.
'I'm getting… something,' he said finally. 'But don't ask me what. I'm getting readings, but they don't make any sense. I can't tell whether they're life-forms or not. The computers can't find anything in their records to compare them with. Which is supposed to be impossible.'
'Aliens?' said Giles.
'Unknown,' said Finlay. 'But I don't think so. Even the most alien life-forms should conform to some established pattern. This is something completely new. Whatever these readings are, they're swamping the sensors. If there are any humans down there, the sensors aren't sensitive enough anymore to pull them out of all the noise.'
'Or there could be no one left,' said Evangeline. 'Harker's been down there for months now. Anything could have happened to him.'
'Think positively,' said Julian. 'What about his ship's beacon, Finlay?'
'That's still there,' said Finlay. 'I'm locked on to it, loud and clear. Should be able to put down right next to it.'
'Well that's something,' said Toby. 'Anyone think to bring any beads or trinkets for the natives?'
'There aren't any natives,' said Julian. 'Never were. Shannon's World was a dead rock floating in space before it was terraformed. There are no indigenous lifeforms. They would have got in the way of Shannon's carefully crafted dream. Whatever's down there now, it isn't natural.'
'You're a real cheerful sort,' said Toby. 'You know that?'
'Shut up, Shreck,' said Giles. 'Finlay, put us down. Fast as you can. That starcruiser isn't going to stay distracted forever.'
Julian cleared his throat. 'I came on this mission at the last moment. Do we have time for a quick briefing on what we can expect to find dirtside? I know the basics, but, well… Field of Blood doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.'
'Think positively,' said Toby.
'Shut up,' said Giles.
'There isn't that much real information,' Finlay said quickly. 'Only one man ever got off this planet alive after whatever happened happened. He renamed it Haceldama, before he died. Whatever he saw down there destroyed his mind. He wanted to die, to escape from what he'd seen.'
'I have a copy of the man's original statement,' Toby said diffidently. 'Just the relevant points. He tended to ramble. I acquired the tape from a colleague, for a purely nominal price, which I'm sure the underground will take care of. Once they find out about it. Shall I run the tape?'
'Run it,' said Giles. 'It might stop some of us from getting cocky.'
Toby nodded to Flynn, who accessed the ship's comm channels through his camera, and then had the camera run the tape in its memory banks. The main viewscreen shimmered, and the bright blue planet below was replaced by a man's face, wild-eyed and sweating, and so painfully thin that the bones of his face seemed to be pushing out against his skin. His mouth trembled and his face twitched. He'd been strapped to his chair, apparently as much to
