Tactical Error Read Online Free Page B

buildings. The massive metal door opened at their approach,
revealing a long, steep ramp descending into the depths. Lenna watched with
interest as they descended beneath the relatively thin lens of ice that filled
the shallow, valley floor, down within the rock itself. Even the Union knew
better than to build something that might be expected to last for centuries in
the ice itself, which had a disconcerting habit of moving and cracking, as well
as simply accumulating and then disappearing altogether over long periods of
time.
    They arrived at last in a type of underground garage, where some two dozen
hover tanks were parked, with empty stalls for several more. The ceiling seemed
a little low, at least to Lenna. She thought that she would have felt just a
little nervous in trying to guide a tank through this enclosed space, since the
machines had no wheels and were obliged to float about a meter off the ground.
There seemed to be about three meters of clearance over the roofs of the parked
tanks. Considering how massive they were, that was cutting it just a little close.
    Her own tank settled to the floor and the main hatch began to fold down,
although the two soldiers remained seated in the forward cabin. The leader
turned to look at her.
    “This is patrol depot three,” he explained briefly. “We
have to go back out on duty, so we’ll just let you out here. The tram
station is through that passage on the far side of the chamber.”
    “We’re on the eastern perimeter?” Lenna asked, sending
Bill on through the narrow hatch.
    He nodded. “This is the main complex, of course. Hangars for the
supply ships and the mock wolves are on the far side of the western
ridge.”
    Lenna was so surprised by that unexpected lead that she almost forgot to
tender the appropriate thanks and farewells as she followed Bill out the hatch.
The tank rose and moved away, accelerating up the long ramp back to the
surface. Lenna hardly even noticed as she walked absently across the garage
toward the tram station, while Bill followed loyally behind.
    Things seemed to be going about as well as she had any right to expect.
First she was delivered right inside the base itself, without the need to bluff
her way through security, and then she was given the lead she needed to begin
her search. Apparently the vague hints were perfectly true. The Union was
developing a new form of missile or automated fighter that employed highspeed
artificial intelligence to outfly the Starwolves, a highly advanced
variant of the old Wolfhound missiles that had been used to limited effect in
the past.
    “Get a move on,” Bill told her softly. “You might attract
attention to yourself, shuffling about like that.”
    “All right. You just keep your shell on,” Lenna answered softly.
“What’s your problem? You have a short in your patience
chip?”
    “What do we do now?” he asked, his usual practical and unperturbed
self.
    “Now we establish our cover,” she said, directing Bill into the
first of the two compartments of the tram. “First we turn up the
personnel sections and requisition ourselves an apartment where I can leave
this arctic gear, and then we begin having a look about. If things continue
to... Hello!”
    “Hello,” Bill answered pleasantly.
    “Oh, debug yourself!” Lenna snapped, waving him away
impatiently. She had been bent over the control panel in the front of the
compartment, where the operator could select from between some three dozen tram
routes. There was a very extensive map of both the passenger and heavier cargo
tram routes. “Why, just look at this map. This place must be as large as
a city. And a fairly large city, at that.”
    “Many places to look,” Bill remarked innocently.
     
    Maeken Kea stood at the window of the observation deck, watching the loading
of the cutter that would take her back to Vannkarn. The ship looked small and
lonely in the immense, underground bay now that the fleet was under way, just
as this