Stowaway

by Z D Dean

  Satisfied that the SSILF was operating properly, Zade quickly skimmed through the rest of the profile. Because most of the profile was simply code, Zade almost closed it before realizing that everything was encrypted. Curious about the encryption Zade located the protocol section and, like the rest of the file, saw that it was encrypted.

  “Mur, these SSILF seem to be vastly more intricate than the others and all of their coding is encrypted.” Zade said through his interface.

  “Apologies security officer. As an artificial intelligence I can create SSILF that are more complex than you can as a simple class two individual. I can unencrypt them if you’d like, but it wouldn’t be complete until after you disembarked.”

  “Well look at the big brain on you. No need for the jab at me or my species. Don’t worry about unencrypting them if they can operate like the others.”

  “They will operate flawlessly and successfully complete their mission.”

  “Well thanks for fabricating these early. I like the paint job.”

  Zade worked his way through the remaining three SSILF, running their diagnostics and calibration, and ensuring they functioned properly. After the fourth SSILF completed the diagnostics program Zade put the team on standby and headed to his lab to prepare his kit. His standard kit still included basic field supplies, railgun and sidearm, but learning from past missions, Zade added grenades. His standard kit now included two smoke grenades and two thermobaric grenades. The smoke grenades included a red signal grenade, and a smokescreen grenade. The newly developed smokescreen grenade was meant to be thrown directly up, as it reached a height of fifteen feet it would detonate creating an impenetrable fifty-foot circular cloud. With his thermal vision modification and implant Zade would be able to navigate out of it, but any creature without such advantages would be blind.

  Zade was particularly proud of the thermobaric grenades. He designed them after seeing the effectiveness of his excaliber rounds. Zade had to throw these grenades short, because while in flight the grenade would orient itself in the direction it was being thrown. Just before impact with the ground the grenade would release nine sub-munitions that would land in a thirty-foot circle around the target area. All munitions would then detonate, instantly raising both the pressure and temperature inside the circle to conditions similar to the core of a star. After detonation the explosives were designed to continue burning at their initial temperature for an additional thirty seconds. The initial explosion would vaporize anything exposed to it, the follow-on burn would bake anything between ground level and bedrock. These grenades were the very essence of scorched earth policy. Although Zade had never physically tested them, computer simulations guaranteed that they were absolute in their lethality. Unable to shake his schooling as an artillery officer on earth, Zade designed the grenades with collateral damage considerations. Because the grenades were directional, the only effect on bystanders just outside the grenade radius, would be a slight overpressure that had the potential to knock them down.

  Zade was taking his improved standard kit with the addition his newly created buzz saws. After having trouble cutting through some of the denser vegetation during his mission with Axis, Zade developed a more modern take on the machete. The buzz saw looked like a brush saw, minus the blade, with a horizontal handle that had a six-foot-long cable coming out of the end of it. On the end of the cable opposite the handle was a metal ball. There were two posts on the handle, one was connected to the power source, located in the handle. The other was connected to the tether. When powered on, the ball on the end of the tether would act as a ground. Current would be sent through the frame of the saw, arc across the gap, where the blade would traditionally be located, to the ground tether. Zade hoped that the high temperature arc could be used to cut through obstacles.

  With only minutes left until landing, after finishing his weapons function check Zade dawned his new kit, grabbed the buzz saws and headed into the cargo bay. Jorloss had already made his way into the cargo bay and was sleeping on one of the storage containers located by the rear ramp. Zade brought the SSILF out of standby as he headed over towards Jorloss.

  “Do you have any means of self-defense?” He asked

  “I appreciate your concern, but I am a scientist. By definition I am a noncombatant.”

  “Although I don’t agree with your sentiment, I could understand the argument if we were going into standard combat operations. But in case you didn’t notice, we are going up against wildlife, and they don’t care if you’re a scientist or not.” Zade retorted in a slightly angrier tone than he wanted.

  “Well than you and your robots better be sharp.”

  Zade reluctantly walked back to the SSILF and waited for the ramp to open. Jorloss’ attitude reminded him of a chaplain he had had to interact with on his second deployment. The bible thumping noncombatant felt the need to tag along on every patrol Zade led that deployment. The guy was a huge inconvenience; he packed way too much stuff and managed to get in the way at every turn. One time during a particularly long firefight the noncombatant stood up and tried to talk the enemy machine gunner into submission, Zade got blood all over his truck driving his body back to base after the fight. From that point on Zade held to a strict non-noncombatant policy.

  When the two-minute countdown clock displayed in his field of vision, Zade pulled up the external conditions of the ship. After ensuring that they would not be blinded by friction heat, Zade dropped the ramp. Still in flight, he walked to the edge of the ramp and began orienting himself to the terrain zipping past below him. With thirty-seconds left on the clock, the ship had slowed enough for Zade to positively identify the objective and the landing zone.

  Just before the ship touched down Zade sent the SSILF out to establish a far security perimeter. He followed close behind, so he could complete a quick sweep of the area and establish near security. The landing zone, although bigger than the objective, was barely large enough to fit the ship. Foliage crowded the ship on either side, and the nose was pushed into the underbrush to accommodate the open cargo ramp. Zade had to step into the tree line to avoid being crushed by the descending ship.

  Concealed by the undergrowth Zade watched, amused, as the slightly agitated Jorloss frantically searched for the security team. He stepped out of the underbrush, forced to cut his entertainment short, when Samix appeared in the cargo bay. He walked up the ramp, towards Samix, while he quickly confirmed that the far security team didn’t have any issues.

  “Sorry I didn’t respond to your messages, I was sleeping. I was up for a long time after we talked in your room, and I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.” She said as he approached

  “No worries, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. You’re the captain.”

  “I know but I want to. I mean…” She started but was quickly cut off.

  “Let’s not do this now in front of the crew. Not sure where this is going but you have a reputation to maintain as captain, and I would like to maintain some semblance of propriety. Either way this is neither the time nor the place.” Zade whispered, leaning in close so only Samix and himself could hear.

  “Thanks.” She whispered before stepping back and addressing Jorloss and Zade together.

  “Alright guys, this should be an easy one. Stay safe; Jorloss I need you back here, you’re the only medical officer aboard, Zade I want a rematch.” She said smiling.

  Mumbling to himself, Jorloss grabbed his pack and headed to the foot of the ramp. Obviously confused as to how the team would make it through the dense jungle to the objective, he paced back and forth along the length of the ramp looking for someplace to enter. While Jorloss was preoccupied at the foot of the ramp, Samix quickly embraced Zade and gave him a peck on the cheek.

  “Seriously, stay safe. Something feels wrong about this one. I will be monitoring everything from the command deck, if you need me.” She whispered before again stepping back.

  While absent mindedly fiddling with the straps o
f his assault pack, Zade gave Samix a smile than turned to join Jorloss at the foot of the ramp. Stepping forward to interrupt Jorloss’ pacing, Zade took off his pack and began unhooking the buzz saws attached to the back of it. After explaining how they worked, he handed Jorloss one and fired his up for a demonstration. With the ground off the ramp and on the jungle floor, Zade took a swing at the vegetation in front of him. Expecting the resistance associated with using an actual machete, Zade’s swing was slightly overpowered, cutting through all of the vegetation in front of him and a small tree to his right. The tree, larger than a sapling but smaller than a telephone pole, fell with a clang on top of the ship.

  Abashed Zade quickly threw the tree off the ship and returned his attention to Jorloss. He was just waiting, face unreadable, for Zade to start the northward trek. Glancing over his shoulder one last time before entering the din of the jungle, Zade could see that Samix had already receded into the ship, presumably to the command deck. The first fifty feet of the march required extensive clearing, but the jungle loosened once they were away from the edge. In the heart of the jungle, the upper canopy blocked out almost all of the sunlight which prevented any undergrowth from springing up. The two members of the expedition party marched in an uncomfortable silence until Jorloss spoke up.

  “So, what’s going on between you and the captain?” He asked accusingly.

  “Nothing and how are you going to take that tone with the guy protecting you from the things that go bump in the night?”

  “All I’m saying is that Samix and I have been friends my whole life and I’ve never seen the captain look at a guy the way she was looking at you earlier. Plus, I hooked into the cargo bay cameras as soon as I stepped out of the ship, so I saw the little peck on the cheek. Whatever you did to get her attention, if you’re toying with her and hurt her, I’ll make sure you don’t make it to any more planets.”

  The bravado and sincerity in the threat kept Zade quiet for a few hundred meters. Distance during which Zade really looked hard at what was driving him. The whole concept of compartmentalization was now shot, since everyone wanted to talk about his personal business. Was he driven by loneliness? Was he driven by adventure? Was he driven by an actual interest derived from common ground? Zade settled on the last before he responded to Jorloss.

  “Look Kermit, I may be a godless heathen bastard, but I’m truly interested in Samix. No toying, no ulterior motives.”

  “Good enough for me. Who is this Kermit?” Jorloss replied, mood visibly improving.

  Both men completely disregarded noise discipline as they finished the movement to the objective. Trading jokes and talking about the women of their respective species as they walked. As they neared the objective the first thing that Zade noticed was the delicious sweet smell in the air that seemed to be growing more pungent the closer they got to the patch of plants. Like the first fifty feet of the movement, the last fifty feet was exposed to sunlight from the clearing and required the use of the buzz saws to get through. Once they broke through Jorloss set to work.

  Based on what Jorloss said during the briefing, Zade didn’t expect to be on the objective very long. Jorloss simply had to collect some soil samples and a couple of plants to take to his lab aboard the ship, where he would conduct further testing. With Jorloss on his hands and knees playing in the dirt, Zade conducted a quick patrol around the edge of the patch, looking for any signs of danger. With no apparent threats present, he took up position near Jorloss and waited for him to complete his work.

  A tingle on the back of his neck caused Zade to check the SSILF feeds. Usually when his sixth sense tingled, it meant that a threat was near. As the far security perimeter, the SSILF should have eyes on a threat before Zade could positively identify anything. As he began looking through the SSILF feeds, he could see that the robots were on the move. While watching he could see that the SSILF had teamed up and were now oriented in pairs to the north and south of the objective, but they were still moving. Never removing his attention from the feeds, he informed Jorloss about what was happening.

  Jorloss stood and began to watch the feeds as well, both men anxiously wondering what the SSILF were up to. The robots were moving through dense jungle, and as they continued an image of two men began to resolve. Wherever they were, they had clearly identified a threat, and based on the targeting reticles trained on both men, had identified them as a threat to the team. Zade tried to clean up the image and zoom in on the larger man. He was wearing a combat vest that Zade recognized but couldn’t place. It finally hit him, as he cleared the SSILF feeds from his vision. He recognized the vest because it was his, the SSILF were preparing to engage both him and Jorloss.

  Zade shouted a warning and dove to the ground as the SSILF opened fire. Jorloss heard Zade’s warning, but not being a combat veteran didn’t take cover fast enough to avoid injury. On his way to the ground a round ripped through his left elbow severing his arm. Luckily Jorloss had chosen a small recession to work in, so both men had a minute amount of cover. Surrounded and outgunned Zade immediately threw up the smokescreen. The SSILF, like him, would be able to see through it, but he hoped it would confuse them enough to allow him an edge.

  In the split second following the initial volley, Zade could hear Jorloss’ garbled screams coming from somewhere behind him. More than anything he wanted to help is fallen comrade but he knew, if he didn’t first neutralize the threat, there would be no need to patch up his friend. As he gingerly peaked over the surrounding berms Zade could see that the SSILF had caught each other in a crossfire. One in the south team was completely disabled, laying in a heap, and another must have had its legs taken out, because it was firing from the prone position.

  “Jorloss, Jorloss I need you to focus. Do you know how to use a tourniquet?” Zade said as he detached his first aid pouch and tossed it in the direction of Jorloss’ screaming.

  “Yes.” Was all Jorloss could manage through gritted teeth.

  “I tossed you my fucking first aid kit. Tourniquet which ever limb was hit, tighten it until the bleeding fucking stops, then get Samix on god damned voice communications. She needs to know what the hell is going on. I have to deal with these fuckers, or they’ll smoke us both.” The adrenaline of the ambush threw Zade back into his combat lexicon.

  After giving his instructions, Zade sprang into action. The first priority was the two SSILF to the north, they were the closest and they had fire superiority. He slid to the north facing berm and rolled onto his back. Prepping one of the new therm grenades, Zade pulled up the northern SSILFs’ feeds and stuck his hand up. He could see the clear red signature of his arm, which appeared to be just over fifty feet away, meaning that he had to land the grenade between twenty and fifty feet from his position. With a deep breath he tossed the grenade over his head and watched to see where it landed on the SSILF feed. The blinding flash, deafening boom and fact that both SSILF feeds went dark meant that he nailed them.

  Moving back to the center of the depression, he could see that the lone remaining SSILF had not moved and was still blindly firing at their position. The SSILF was targeting their current location which was near the western end of the hole. Zade slowly crawled to the far end of the depression, ensuring that no part of his body silhouetted above the berm. As he passed Jorloss he could see that the scientist was missing the lower portion of his left arm but was able to staunch the bleeding. The scientist had taken on the same washed out pallor as he did when Zade first scared him and seemed to be unresponsive.

  Shit, he’s going into shock.

  Zade didn’t have time to help him out, so he continued to the eastern side of their location. Slowly he peaked his head over the berm. The SSILF was still blindly firing at Zade’s previous location. Initially Zade planned on using his last grenade, but the SSILF had positioned itself directly in front of the path the team cut through the dense jungle. The grenade would make the area impassable. Jorloss’ condition, meant that Zade would have to carry him back to the
ship. Meaning he had neither the time to bushwhack through the dense jungle, nor the additional arm required to carry the scientist and cut a new path. Zade was left with only the option to engage with his rifle. Slowly Zade raised the rifle to the top of the berm and settled his targeting reticle on the SSILF’s chest. As he squeezed the trigger, nothing happened. Retreating back behind the relative safety of the berm, Zade turned the rifle to examine its display. It read, “Administrative Lock,” making the rifle nothing more than a paper weight. The only entity authorized to administer a weapons lock was Mur. The mastermind of this attack was now clear, but the purpose was still a mystery.

  Zade tossed the rifle aside and frantically began trying to figure out how he would handle the remaining enemy. Grenades were out of the question, and his sidearm was too small to do any damage. As he let his hands fall to his sides in near resignation, Zade felt the handle of his buzz saw. It would be a bold move, but he was in a drastic situation. Zade grabbed the buzz saw and launched himself, out of the depression, towards the remaining SSILF. As he closed the distance, Zade could see the arc flickering on and off. Every time the ground lost contact the arc would stop. When he was almost on top of the oblivious SSILF Zade made his move, swinging the buzz saw down into the robot’s torso. The force of the swing lifted the ground into the air, and the buzz saw harmlessly struck the SSILF’s shoulder. As soon as the ground landed, the arc fired and Zade ripped it back out of the SSILF, leaving a molten gash from sternum to shoulder. Preparing for another strike, Zade slid his right foot onto the tether to ensure he would maintain an arc. His next swings took the SSILF’s left arm, right arm, and head in quick succession.

  With the remaining threat neutralized, Zade headed back to help Jorloss. Upon inspection of the injury, Zade could see a black ichor oozing through the stump below the tourniquet. This black fluid was clearly Jorloss’ equivalent of blood, and the growing pool on the ground meant that he had lost more than he could afford to lose. The first thing Zade did was tighten the tourniquet completely stopping the blood loss, then he began trying to wake Jorloss up. Water, a sharp slap, nothing was working. Zade reached for his first aid kit, and broke open smelling salts. Unsure if they would bring Jorloss back to consciousness after blood loss, or even whether Jorloss had a nose, Zade began waving them in front of the scientist’s face. With a gasp Jorloss’ bulbous green eyes flew open.