Prophets

Like a dolphin, or a submarine, he had a nose; the terminal end of a muscular bullet-shaped body that narrowed to a blunt point at the top—or the front, depending on how Bill was oriented. The muscles on his body defined three lobes that were symmetrical around Bill’s long axis, a subtle bump that was emphasized by mottled cobalt blue stripes that followed the length of Bill’s body, darkening the farther they traveled from his “nose.”

Each bump supported a complex fin that was nearly a meter long and half that wide. Above, or in front, of the fin, each lobe supported a trio of black pits near Bill’s nose, each about the size of Mallory’s fist.

The “squid” part of the typical description was even further removed from actuality. Bill’s body did end in appendages that could be called tentacles, but probably had more in common with an elephant’s trunk. Three muscular limbs emerged seamlessly out of the lobes of Bill’s body, mottled blue, continuing the striping of his body.

Each limb split into three long fingers about a third of the way down its length. The “fingers” were boneless and flexible, and could deform their shape. If Bill needed to propel himself in the open ocean, he could hold his trio of limbs together and flatten those “fingers” to form a tail fin that would be even more reminiscent of a dolphin.

Mosasa continued introducing the mercenaries for the benefit of the scientific team. Mallory kept his attention on Dorner, wondering if she was the reason that Mosasa placed such an emphasis on Fitzpatrick’s alias. If she knew who he was, though, she didn’t give any visible sign. She gave Fitzpatrick’s introduction no more attention that she’d given the rest of the mercenaries.

As Mosasa went on, Mallory noticed that only Parvi was given the benefit of a title, “Captain,” formalizing a chain of command that was already apparent. Also, from Mosasa’s introductions, Fitzpatrick and Nickolai were the only members of the military half of the team that didn’t have set roles on the ship itself. Parvi was the pilot, Wahid was the copilot and navigator, Kugara was comm, countermeasures, and Information Warfare.

With Nickolai, Mallory shared the somewhat generic role of “security,” which meant little in-flight, unless they were boarded or the members of science team were a lot more rowdy than they looked.

“Welcome aboard the Eclipse,” Mosasa addressed them. He gestured toward the dais where a holo display appeared showing a blunt-nosed brick of a cargo ship, taller than it was wide. Mosasa noticed Mallory’s surprise and said, “As Mr. Fitzpatrick pointed out to me earlier, some explanations are in order. As we are en route to our tach-point, it seems a good time to provide some.”

“Like why the fuck the secondary rendezvous point became a free-fire zone?” Wahid muttered.

Mosasa pretended not to hear Wahid and gestured to the holo display, which was now replaying footage of a familiar-looking hangar. The light-enhanced view showed a tach-ship of considerably more recent vintage than the Eclipse taxiing out to the landing pad outside the doors. “This was the Vanguard , a ship that the military among you should remember. It was the latest design, up to date on all surveillance countermeasures, and housed a tach-drive that was easily the most advanced Paralian design available.”

Mosasa’s use of the past tense was just sinking in when two bright streaks cut across the holo display. One streak entered the open door of the hangar; the second buried itself in the Vanguard amidships, directly in front of the drive section. The display whited out for a fraction of a second while the camera adjusted itself to more visible frequencies. When the scene was comprehensible again, the hangar glowed from an internal conflagration, and the Vanguard itself was little more than a skeletal framework holding in its own burning remains.

“The Vanguard served its purpose.”

The cold way Mosasa said it made Mallory more aware than ever that he faced something that was only an approximation of a human being.

Mosasa continued. “Elements within the Caliphate would have presented an obstacle in assembling this mission. To limit the exposure of the scientific team, and the readying of the Eclipse, it was prudent to provide them with somewhat more visible targets.”

“You hired us as fucking decoys?” Wahid didn’t mutter this time.

“Only one role among several. We are about to depart known territory, and I expect that we will need your skills in a more conventional manner as the mission progresses.”

The holo had shifted to an orbital view of Samhain, the village was intact, and Mallory could see Wahid’s aircar approaching the site.

Mallory looked back at the others, trying to gauge their reactions. He had no clue as to what Nickolai and Bill might be thinking. Kugara and Parvi weren’t showing anything overtly, but he noticed Parvi was not looking directly at the holo where the Vanguard burned. He wondered if she had thought of that as her ship, and if Mosasa had clued her in to his misdirection.

The human members of the science team were a little less reserved. Both the linguist, Dr. Pak, and the data analyst Tsoravitch appeared visibly shocked at the display. The older pair, Dorner and Brody, were less visibly upset, but Dorner was slowly shaking her head.

“We have a significant measure of how seriously the Caliphate is taking our expedition.” On the holo, buildings began to explode.