Niall’s hand, I tell him I’m here. Then I stare at the screen behind him. It’s twelve thirty so I have half an hour. His name is at the top: Niall S. Radcliff. I don’t know what the S stands for. Huh. Does that mean I’m a bad girlfriend? I shake my head and concentrate, accessing the Q-net.
And am surrounded by medical programs. No surprise given my location. Although tempted to read through Niall’s medical file, I worm into my perceptive cluster. I focus on Niall. He died during surgery. Did he fly in the Q-net during that time like I did? Perhaps he’s lost and can’t get back to his body. But the Q-net’s as vast as the Milky Way Galaxy…well that’s how it feels to me. How can I—
NOT HERE, the Q-net says.
My relief wars with shock over the Q-net communicating with me again. I’d been hoping that other time was just a fluke, or my overactive imagination kicking in. My first impulse is to disentangle, but I pause. Within the Q-net is a massive amount of information. There are surface programs that will search through it, but I suspect asking the Q-net directly might yield better results. Although I have to admit, it’s either the craziest thing I’ve contemplated—on par with asking the bureau which drawer my socks are in—or the scariest.
What are the Hostile Life Forms? I ask.
HERE. The Q-net deposits a file in the cluster.
I don’t waste time thinking about why or how that worked. Instead, I check the file. It’s one of Lan’s. And not just any one, but the one reporting on her translations of the alien symbols. It was one of the missing files from Planet Xinji that Jarren deleted. Yet here it is and it’s complete. Amusement flows over me. It’s official, I’m going crazy. Not only is the Q-net interacting with me, I’m imagining it has emotions. Beau enters the cluster. I’m here.
Giggles threaten to unhinge me over him echoing the Q-net.
He notices the file. What’s this?
I wait a beat.
Stars! Where did you find this?
In the Q-net.
Not funny, Ara. Getting this file is huge.
I know. The Q-net gave it to me.
Silence. How?
I asked.
Beau sighs. We’ll worry about it later. Right now, we need to figure out the power situation so it doesn’t happen again.
I agree. We worm through the base’s maintenance programs. Beau shows me the wiring schematic and how the power is distributed throughout the base. At first, they appear normal, but I look closer. Jarren’s fingerprints are all over. And it appears—
Stars!
What did you find? Beau asks.
Jarren wormed the base’s power programs. He’s the one who turned off all the lights in the archeology lab. And…
There’s an and?
Unfortunately. He’s programmed the entire base’s power to turn off in stages.
Stages?
Yes. Starting at the stairwell, more labs will lose power each night until the entire base goes completely dark.
When?
In four days.
Seventeen
2522:240
Four days until we lose all power? Beau asks, his thoughts shrill with panic.
That’s what Jarren’s worm shows.
Why do it in stages?
My guess is so it appears to be a glitch and not outright sabotage.
Can you stop it?
Can I? I scan the threads of his worm. It’s super complex and woven in deep. I’m not sure. And if I do, it will alert Jarren that we found it.
Don’t touch it. We need to report to Radcliff.
All right. Where’s he at?
On the way to the infirmary. I’ll meet you both there.
We disentangle. Niall’s hand is now in both of mine and I’m pressing it to my heart, which is thumping hard enough for the vibrations to reach my fingertips. I relax my death grip on Niall, but don’t let go, then I sit on the edge of his bed.
“You’re not going to believe this,” I say to Niall. Talking aloud helps organize my frightened and chaotic thoughts. “Jarren, the murdering looter, is planning on killing us all. He’s going to use the shadow-blobs to do his murdering for him. Why now? Good question. He knows we escaped his blockade and that DES is searching for him. Jarren wants this planet without us on it. Probably to use the Warriors. And time’s running out.”
“Time’s running out for what?” Radcliff asks as he enters the room.
I explain what Beau and I learned. Radcliff’s expression darkens. It promises pain to anyone stupid enough to cross him. I’m glad it’s not aimed at me.
“Why wait?” he asks.
“He’s either sadistic or he’s hoping we’re too busy fighting HoLFs to notice he wormed the power.”
“How hard was