The Plague Forge [ARC] by Jason M. Hough

headache. Too many pieces were moving at once. Too many variables, points of possible failure. She hated the feeling of not being in total control of a situation. More than that, she hated not having the luxury to analyze and plan. She lacked Skyler’s ability to act purely on instinct and never look back. It was a characteristic he shared with Neil Platz, and she knew it was the reason she felt incomplete when he wasn’t around.
    Of course, it was also the reason she often felt infuriated when he was.
    The Helios set down shortly after dark on a landing pad beside a dry lake. Tania found the location on her slate’s map and, when switched to historical view, saw that there had once been a man-made body of water here, created by a dam. A hundred or so years ago the water had dried up, either by choice or due to a shift in climate. Hydroelectric power had all but vanished in the face of much cheaper and more flexible thorium reactors, so it made sense that the dam had simply been shut off. The lake had once again become a stream.
    However, the electrical infrastructure in place would still have been useful, and what Pablo had spotted on the infrared turned out to be a large complex with an array of thorium reactors inside. The units predated miniature versions but were nonetheless reliable enough that electricity still flowed despite a lack of supervision for the last seven years or so.
    Tania studied all this from the tiny porthole window on the aircraft’s door. She longed to go outside, to stretch her legs and look around, but unsealing the cabin now would mean she’d be in her spacesuit for the duration of the trip and they still had no idea how much farther the search would take them.
    So she remained inside, and watched. Since landing she’d turned all the lights off in her cabin, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness outside. The buildings were simple cube-shaped affairs with metal stairwells and catwalks attached to the outside. Each was identical from the last, save for one that was roughly half the size of the others, and had windows. An office, she guessed.
    For five long minutes the immunes remained in the cockpit, studying the immediate area for movement or sound after the engines finally went quiet.
    “All quiet,” Vanessa said. “We’re going out.”
    “Okay,” Tania replied. “I’ll keep an eye from here and let you know if I see anything.”
    A few seconds later she saw the pair walk out toward the reactor complex. They carried their assault rifles casually. Vanessa took the lead and walked purposefully to a metal box the size of a refrigerator a few meters away from the landing pad. Pablo followed, constantly turning to scan the area around them.
    “Cover me,” Vanessa said.
    Pablo walked a circuit around the charging station while Vanessa tried to open it.
    “It’s locked,” she said after a short pause.
    “Shoot it open?” Tania asked. She wondered if they’d brought any explosives, but then thought that might damage the unit.
    “Too risky.”
    “Might be a key in that office,” Pablo said.
    Vanessa stood and looked toward the smallest of the six buildings. “We’ll try that first. You okay, Tania?”
    “Yes,” she said despite a growing anxiety. She didn’t want to voice it, afraid she’d sound weak. Who cares? she told herself. You are weak. You’re stuck inside here, isolated and helpless. “Actually, no. Wait.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I …” She swallowed. “I’d feel better if you stayed with the aircraft, Vanessa. God forbid anything happens out there, but if it does, you’re the only way any of us are getting home.”
    The pair walked back to Tania’s window so they could see her. “If anything happens out there,” Vanessa said patiently, “we’re better off handling it as a team. But … you don’t look convinced.”
    “I’m trying.”
    “Okay,” Vanessa said. “I explained this to Pablo already but you should know, too. If something