The beautiful weapon mounted on my right forearm felt a lot heavier. An accidental discharge would be catastrophic. I thought about those videos I'd watched so long ago with the stupid terrorists mishandling an RPG and blowing themselves and their terrorist buddies to hell. The difference was that an RPG wouldn't erase everyone in this room like they hadn't been there.
"That's disturbing. If I fire this thing how do I reload it?" I asked.
"You don't. When powered it will replace expended projectiles at a rate of one every twenty-three hours, approximately."
"Wait a minute, that thing is full of antimatter and it makes it?" Marty asked. "Are we sure we want to bring it with us? What if it takes a hit and the antimatter goes up?"
Kiril nodded. "A valid concern, Marty. It is one that I also had when Larenn began to use this weapon. We believe this was a weapon of one of the Elder races. Despite the evils they brought into our galaxy their material science was unparalleled. The force it would take to destroy this weapon and breach its containment would surely vaporize you, Jake. Still, I beg you to leave the Nemesis behind when you must fight near a population center. The risk is simply too great."
I was in complete agreement. The Nemesis made me incredibly nervous. I had no numbers on yield, but I expected it was at least the equivalent of a half-dozen tactical nukes attached to my right forearm.
"Thank you both. I hope that we won't need this clearing out Pluto, but if we do then we'll really need it."
Kiril nodded, stepping back while Regar stepped forward to take his place.
"Jake, I would like to accompany you. Infested planets are a Seeker specialty, after all. My life debt demands it of me."
I noticed then that he was fully geared. Not just his armor, but also the Tempest strapped to his back and what looked like a compact plasma pistol on his right hip.
I thought about it for a moment. The plan was to never set foot on Pluto. We had the big guns on Redemption and we weren't going to be shy about using them. We would cleanse the planet with fire from orbit. Why fight up close and personal when you didn't have to? Even with all that, I didn't just want to say no. Regar was an experienced fighter, and if things got hairy we could use him.
"Understand that the plan isn't to go to Pluto. We'll probably end up fighting in space. You okay with that?" I asked.
"Fighting without a solid surface under my feet isn't my favorite, but I wouldn't be First Seeker if I hadn't done it many times before. I came prepared."
"All right, then you're in."
Then it just came down to final preparations. Each of us checked the others’ gear, making sure no one had forgotten anything. Marty was in his light armor, carrying a sidearm but little else. If it came down to fighting inside the Redemption we were beyond screwed. I had my weapons and had thought seriously about bringing more Holemakers but dismissed the idea. If we had to do demolition in space I could use the Nemesis.
Minutes later the three of us were in the ship. The forward hatch closed and Marty blasted us off the planet, its harsh, rocky landscape receding quickly behind us.
Mercury was soon a mere speck, a grey dot against the sun. We were slingshotting around Sol itself, as Pluto was going to be on the other side of it by the time we got there. Marty pushed Redemption hard, getting it up to its full speed and on its final course before turning back to us.
"All right, what's the plan?” he asked. "I hope it's not just go there and shoot everything until it dies."
"Well, now that you say it, that does sound like a good plan," I said and grinned.
Marty sighed. "Seriously, though. Why didn't we make some nukes? We could've stood off and nuked the hell out of Pluto from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Regar sat back, watching the conversation without comment.
"I thought of that. It might even work, but we don't need it. You saw what happened when the potato hit Mercury. Who needs nuclear fission when you've got kinetic energy?"
"We're going to throw rocks at Pluto?" Marty asked.
"Yeah."
Regar spoke up. "It is a good plan. It's not one a Seeker would ever use, but for this it is perfect. The reason we explore Infested worlds is to seek knowledge and Artifacts from fallen civilizations. As your system's outermost planet is simply a barren rock, sterilizing it with kinetic weapons is a very valid choice. You will eliminate the majority of the infection and then it will simply be a matter of cleanup."
"We'll have to make sure we tag any promising rocks when we get closer. With the tractor beam, we should have no problem accelerating a bunch of them," I said.
"It's not as dramatic a plan as I'd hoped, but sure. Throw rocks. Then what?" Marty asked.
"You heard Regar. After the rocks do the majority of our work we come in and clean up with the guns. With luck, we'll get a big haul out of it. Lots of Nanite Clusters."
"You should be aware that with the Connahr field now encompassing Pluto again, the Ferals will be agitated. Their growth will be accelerated, and they will be attempting to leave the planet and spread out. This is what normally happens when someone envelops an existing Infestation with a Connahr field."
"Shit, does that mean we're going to see them in space?" I asked.
"It's likely, assuming the
