Marduk breaks and dashes into the cockpit, raising the comms.
"How did Hammer escape?"
"They foind a way through. They;d been trying for weeks," says Sequel. "Dallas? Heavy sentinel activity has been reported in this area."
"That doesn't mean anything," says Dallas. "We're far out, of course there are lots of Sentinels. It's like saying the Machine City has lots of sentinels. We're running quiet enough."
"Hammer escaped at adjunct 37 quadrant three in sector A7," says Marduk. "That is near one of my old broadcast points."
---
Philo path is heading across the water
"that/is/some/thing/you/should/ne/ver/for/get/a/bout," says the Hunter, after Klez speaks.
But that is not something he can expand upon, as a moment later he bursts, violently, into flames.
No, the boat does not seem to burn... strange.
Well, there is plenty of water around. But splashing it on him makes no difference.
The corpse slumps forwards onto the base of the boat.
"How many times, Mors? His code is unreadable!" And indeed, it's the same corrupt nonsense now as it always is. It's not a lifeform, or an object, or an anything-at-all. It is simply an impossibility, and it does not interface with anything correctly.
"Yeah, good for you, Marduk," says Dallas.
"Dallas, that broadcast point was the one I was using when we first spotted the incoming cipher key at the airport. The System crashed that party, remember? The point was traced. It's been unusable for three months."
Klez just stares at the scorched corpse, his mouth agape.
"Keep...keep rowing," Klez says to Heph and Berserker. Klez will check him, to make sure that he is indeed dead.
Does he still have the assault rifle or the needle gun on him? I have a feeling that this isn't a coincidence, we may need the weapon soon, and the needle gun...well, Klez was interested in perhaps putting it to Zion use.
He does, yes, underneath the body.
No hostiles visible. It's a small lake, btw. You will reach the shore in a few seconds.
---
"They never abandon a hot broadcast point," says Marduk. "Part of their entire strategy is to deny us good positions to pirate. And there is no way Hammer can have got out that way without the Sentinels seeing it. So they either left it alone- which is effectively impossible- or they've re-assigned the Sentinels inside the last day. Probably the last few hours."
"So?"
"Dallas, there's never normally heavy Sentinel activity here. They don't for us this far out."
"Like I said, it doesn't mean anything."
In both ships at this point, the proximity alarm blares out.
"Ok..." says Dallas, "that might mean something."