“You interrupted me! I was saying that it was a common mineral in the Hodierna galaxy.”
“Then how is it a component in our ship?”
“Ours is synthetic,” Ana-Zhi said.
I felt a headache coming on. “Okay, so we need this mimonite stuff in order to fab a part. Right?”
“Right,” Ana-Zhi said.
I turned to Chiraine. “And it’s supposedly common in this part of the universe?”
“Yes. The reason I even knew about it was because the Sky Reavers particularly favored artwork carved from Cassandra Stone.”
“So…?”
“So, there’s a good chance there’s some right over our heads in Roan Andessa.”
“Are you serious?”
“Perfectly.”
Now we had two reasons to go into Roan Andessa: the mimonite we needed to get the ship’s power weave functioning normally, and Chiraine’s crazy theory that there might be a sentient Rhya wardship parked somewhere in the ruined city that lay 600 meters above us.
But we had one very good reason not to venture up to Roan Andessa: the Mayir.
It had been at least twelve hours since the Mayir had arrived here in the Nymorean system. Qualt had said it himself. They were going to come looking for the Vostok and the Kryrk.
But how exactly?
I sounded it out with Ana-Zhi while Chiraine went to get some food.
“Well, we know that they have a carrier—probably a Hammerhead-class—and twelve fighters, which would be either stingrays or skipjacks. I’d bet on them being stingrays. The MCP are partial to stingrays.”
“That’s reasonable,” I said.
“The carrier would have a bunch of landers and shuttles, of course. At least one dropship, but maybe more.”
“But if they were running a tactical op down here on Roan Andessa, they’d use the stingrays, right?”
“Depends. If they wanted to deploy ground forces they’d land a few dropships.”
We talked through the possibilities. The stingrays were one-man fighters. That meant twelve Mayir pilots—if they deployed the entire squadron on Roan Andessa.
“That isn’t likely,” Ana-Zhi said. “They’d hold five or six fighters in reserve—to guard the carrier. Even if there was no identified threat here in the Nymorean system. It’s standard procedure.”
“Okay, what about fireteams?” I asked. “They could just use the fighters for reconnaissance and then drop some boots on the ground.”
“Doubtful,” Ana-Zhi said. “Honestly, I think the more likely scenario is that they kit one of the fighters out with an RDS scanner and see if there’s anything in Roan Andessa that shouldn’t be there.”
“Like us?”
“We wouldn’t show up on the RDS. You know that.”
I did know that, but it only made me feel slightly more assured.
On the one hand, there could be one or more six or eight man teams—with aerial support—combing the ruins for us. On the other hand, we couldn’t stay in this subterranean cave forever.
“Let’s go for it,” I said. “I’ll do a smash and grab. Just me. It will be safer that way.”
Ana-Zhi shook her head. “It don’t work that way. There’s too much that could go wrong on a solo mission. We both go up. Besides, I’m the one who has been up there before.”
I argued with her for a minute or so, but only half-heartedly. Ana-Zhi was right. It was a lot safer if we both went, and she had led the team during the previous incursion.
That meant Chiraine would stay on the ship. Normally, the person on the ship would be running a scan for the remote team, and directing the ops. But we needed to run blind. No data or comm signature. And no beacons.
When she got back, I outlined the plan. Ana-Zhi and I would take the sled within 100 meters of the top of the Well of Forever, and then climb the remaining distance ourselves—just in case someone was scanning for a z-field. We’d then try to find something with a bit of mimonite in it.
“Your best bet is a statue or a carving,” Chiraine said. “It’s too dangerous to use a crux scanner, so you’ll have to check the composition manually.”
While we were up there, we’d look around for a Rhya wardship. However, I wasn’t exactly sure what we would do if we found one. That might require a little improvisation.
While Ana-Zhi and I packed up the sled and outfitted ourselves, Chiraine scoured the science station for the lowest-tech testing kit she could find.
We managed to find some climbing gear and even a few late-model jetpacks.
“Are these things even safe?” I asked, as I slung one over my shoulders.
“Safer than falling,” Ana-Zhi muttered.
Chiraine handed me the test kit and explained how to use it. “How long will you be gone?”
“It will take us a few hours to get up there, a few hours to look around, and a few hours to get back,” Ana-Zhi said. “Let’s say eight hours for the mission. Feel free to start freaking out if we are not back before then.”
“Great,” Chiraine said. “I’ll do that.”
“Don’t let Qualt out, and maybe see if you can KB the comm system and figure out how to shut everything down,” Ana-Zhi told the younger woman. “The longer that remains activated, the more danger we’re in.”
“I’ll do my best.”
As we turned to the airlock, Chiraine took my hand. “Jannigan, be careful.”
I nodded.
“I need you back here safe and sound. And so does your father.”
“Will do.”
“Good. As long as we understand each other.” She planted a chaste farewell kiss on my cheek as Ana-Zhi smirked at me.
Weird. I still didn’t understand what Chiraine’s deal was. But right now I had more important things to focus on.
We eased the sled out of the launch tube and into the cool, damp cave air of the Well of Forever. It was time go climbing.
The first five hundred meters were easy as pie. Even though the vertical shaft we ascended was narrow and twisting in places, it was a straight shot up. While Ana-Zhi steered the sled, I had to keep my eyes locked on the altimeter. We decided not to chance using any micro drones even though they were extremely low-power devices. There were other ways they could be tracked, so
