Confusing darkness was the initial impression. The ship's monitor had been lightening the scene as much as possible, and even then it appeared near to black. Having just emerged from the bright interior of the Viper their eyes could only make out the stars and the few base lights that were visible over the hill.
Kirrik stood still on top of their ship, where its artificial gravity still made its presence felt. It was only a few minutes before he was satisfied that he could at least guess at the terrain. Marchero still could not see anything other than the lights.
Kirrik took from the bag a short, stubby cylinder with a small box on its side.. Pressing a button on it caused it to telescope out until it was about four feet long. He then pulled the box away, revealing a fine filament one end of which was attached to the rod. The box clipped onto ship. The rod went into a power harpoon. Pointing it at the ground Kirrik fired, fixed a suit clip to the filament, and pulled himself off down the slide.
Marchero followed reluctantly. Left to the asteroid's gravity progress would have painfully slow, if indeed it was sufficient to overcome the friction between the filament and the clip. She could not see the fine wire in front of her, and often flailed around trying to grasp it so as to pull herself along. There was no clear reference point with which to judge distance.
It may have been because she was moving closer, or her eyes were starting to find some light to make use of, but she began to make out the shape of Kirrik standing at the bottom. With a point to make for she moved forward with greater confidence, and was soon standing beside him at the base.
The rod Kirrik had fired was stuck firmly into the rock. Both of them undid the suit clips from the wire and re-attached them to the rod. Another button on the exposed end and the box still attached to the Viper came free and was brought back as it reeled in the filament. Kirrik took another cylinder from his bag, this one without a filament box on it. He clipped the box onto it, so the rod in the ground was joined to the new one he had just taken. The new one was fired it towards the hill. The first time the rod returned to him. He aimed a little lower, and fired again. This attempt was successful, and clipping his suit to the filament he moved off.
Marchero followed slowly, often accidentally pushing herself away from the ground only to be brought up by the attachment to the wire. It was fifteen minutes before she had reached the end, and she slowly sat down on the ground to rest from her exertions. Once again Kirrik released and reeled in the filament, bringing the original rod with it.
This process was repeated four times before the nearest building was reached. Marchero was exhausted, and Kirrik had to rest for a few moments.
"See any way in?" he asked Marchero over the suit's very short range radio.
"Wait a minute, will you?" she replied, leaning against the wall. She stayed there for five minutes while Kirrik examined the side of the building.
"Over there," he gestured eventually, indicating a marginally darker patch on the wall. Close inspection revealed it to be a window. With no lights on the inside there was no hint as to what lay beyond it.
The reason there was a window in a place with so little light and so little to look out on was a minor mystery itself. Marchero suggested that it might be an office, as some people found that being able to look out was a psychological boost, even under these conditions. Kirrik cautiously shone a torch through it. There was a room on the other side. Perhaps it had been an office once, but it was bare now.
Another device from the bag was a probe. Tiny wires burned through the window, sampling the atmosphere on the other side without allowing it to escape.
"Standard air mixture, nine-ninety millibars pressure, eighteen degrees Celsius temperature," he announced. "We'll go in here."
The next piece of sophisticated gadgetry was a pouch containing a plasFibre tent. Kirrik sealed it to the window, and they both climbed inside. A small hole drilled through the window let air into the tent until it looked like an over-inflated balloon. Using a high-power laser cutter the window was soon removed, and they scrambled through it into the building. Kirrik fixed the window back in place, sealed the hole, and as a further precaution covered it with another plasFibre layer.
They removed the suits in the welcome one G environment, folding them into packs that could easily be carried on their backs.
"Time to find out what's beyond the door," Kirrik said.
The door was unlocked, and opened onto a dimly lit empty grey corridor. Neither direction looked particularly distinguished, but from the outside the main complex had lain to the right. Kirrik shrugged and set off that way, Marchero tagging along behind him.
They moved along many more corridors, heading in the direction they guessed was the heart of the base as they passed from one interconnected building to another. They had met no-one in the first three, the dim lighting suggesting that it was "night time" there.
The fourth building was more brightly lit, and they began to move with greater caution. The corridors were often replaced with open areas, an empty canteen and a couple of recreation rooms.
One of these rec rooms had a separate section behind a glass wall. Randomly scattered around it were comfortable chairs, and in one of them was slouched a human man, apparently asleep. A book lay on the floor beside him.
Kirrik watched the man for some time, peering around a corner. He didn't move, and his eyes appeared closed. Eventually Kirrik left his cover and slowly walked into the room, motioning for Marchero to remain hidden. He crossed the room without the man in the chair moving. At the far side he signalled to Marchero to re-join him.
When they were both safely out of side Kirrik peered back around the corner.
"What are you waiting for?" Marchero hissed at him.
"Making sure he's not waiting until we're out of site before raising an alarm," he whispered. "Keep an eye on the other direction."
After five minutes Kirrik quietly said "Right, let's move. I can't afford to keep watch all night."
"How much longer is all night?"
"I haven't a clue. Tell me if you see a clock."
The fifth building was equipped as a sports hall and gymnasium, and was empty.
At the entrance to the sixth voices could be heard, and the frequent tramp of feet. "So much for night," Marchero murmured.
"I think we're coming to the central areas," Kirrik pointed out to her. "They're probably running a shift system with different habitats on night at different times. Let's have a peek at them."
Crouched behind the door he watched the movement outside. In ten minutes about thirty people passed by, mostly humans but there were five humanoid aliens of varying species. They were all dressed differently except for a dark green waistcoat with a curious emblem on it, a star flash with an arrow through the centre.
From inside his clothing Kirrik withdrew an odd collection of rods and levers. He spent a few minutes screwing them together to produce an undersized looking crossbow. Marchero regarded it curiously.
"Very handy little thing, this," he told her. "Almost silent, no power cells or explosives to be detected by the sensors and no energy discharge to alert them either. Unrecognisable to the untrained eye when it's in pieces, too."
"That's official equipment, is it?" Marchero asked him.
Kirrik laughed shortly. "Unofficially."
He waited until the corridor was empty apart from one person, and casually shot them in the head with the crossbow. He jumped out into the corridor to pull the body out of site before anyone came looking.