Blink: Interdiction (Book 4)

31

The three-dimensional map of Ravine spun gently on its axis under her direction, a glittering crimson array of lines that looked disarmingly calm. On it Amber could see the lines of blue and red that marked out friend and foe over the unfolding battlefield of the planet. There was a lot more red than she had expected.

Kyros was not waiting around for a peace deal to materialise, it seemed, with the remaining rebel forces moving quickly and decisively to consolidate the positions they had. More broadcasts screamed over the airwaves, exhorting Ravine's battered and exhausted population to join the fight. Some did. Others formed militias of their own to support the Beltock Dragoons, creating an almighty mess as Merlynn's officers tried to figure out which ragtag units of armed thugs they should be shooting at.

Around a quarter of the planet could be classed as enemy territory – a handful of larger towns straggling across a section of the northern hemisphere through crags and churning lava flows – where the surviving rebel army units were dug in. Attack plans were being drawn up by the colonial staff at Karpa Luna, but no-one was under any illusions. An all out assault on those regions would be a bloodbath.

Which left Amber and her comrades as the only alternative.

Kyros's hideout was just a few miles from Ravine's north pole, marked by a blotch of pulsing red on the display. She chewed a thumbnail as she examined the terrain with a critical eye before reaching forward and keying a command into the holographic interface. The globe stopped spinning and abruptly zoomed to the location she had specified.

The region formed a snaggle-toothed hell scape of sharp valleys, crags and canyons carved by long dead volcanos, once the site of several failed mining operations in the planet's early days. Abandoned and inhospitable it made for the perfect refuge from the colonial troops. Too far for a land assault, too much of a natural barrier for any kind of orbital drop; Amber had to admit that the man had chosen his position well.

"The orbital scans Merlynn gave us show a structure cut into this canyon bed," she said, rotating the display and plunging the image down into the one of the snarling valleys. Embedded into the wall at its base the building was outlined with an electric red lattice. "It's a disused magma siphon, probably been there for more than sixty years based on the modelling."

"And it digs far back into the valley wall," Darien muttered, leaning on the octagonal briefing table with both hands as he craned his neck for a closer look. "The feeder tunnels used to run to refineries to the west. There's a whole labyrinth of them in these crags."

"And how much should we be betting that Kyros is holed up in the deepest, darkest little pit that place has to offer?" Idas muttered.

Uther smirked. "I'd stake your next wage on it."

"The feeder tunnels give us ways in," Amber continued, one hand spidering across the interface to highlight the vein-like scars of red that emanated from the structure. "If we don't want to risk Blinking in blind – and I don't – we should try these."

Niamh shook her head. "They'll be guarded."

"Nothing we can't handle." Darien glanced at her. "We'll Blink past the entrance and work our way in. We can bypass any check points with short range Blinks. Amber, Uther, you're on sweeper duty. Eyes open for any security cameras and defensive measures. There'll be more than just people guarding this place.

"If they even suspect we're coming for them Kyros will run." Niamh glanced at him with a shrug. "Anyone that spots us before we box him in, we'll have to put them down fast."

"We'll do what we have to do."

Amber bit her lip, wondering how much scope there would be for any kind of non-lethal approach to this assault. In the end she pushed through the apprehension keying another command into the display to show an interior schematic of the main building.