"Unless your smart androids advance themselves to the next level. Do they have the ability to reproduce?"
"At the moment, we don't think so, but we aren't certain."
"Forty thousand ships is a significant force. What defense do you have to pit against them?"
Harris chuckled. "The people in this room and maybe three ships."
Milos stared.
Tawn added, "Our government forces have more than us, but not enough to take on that size of fleet. We're trying to come up with a way to combat them now. Nothing other than keeping away so far."
Gandy said, "They have a signal they broadcast that plays havoc with our sensors. We can't detect anything other than visual. And once you're in visual range, you're also in weapons range."
"I see. Perhaps the Grindle can provide answers."
"The Grindle? This ship?"
"Yes."
Harris shook his head. "If we can adapt the weapon, we might be able to make use of that, but I think Doc said our sensors are based on your technologies from way back. We built most of those off of the tech found in this complex. If that Hoya signal interferes with our sensors, it's likely to do the same with yours."
Harris walked from the room and opened a comm. "Colonel, we have news. We managed to get into the underwater complex here at Midelon and discovered a ship, as well as three Burrell who were in stasis pods. We pulled one of them out and have been questioning him for the last hour or so. Anything new on your end?"
"Yes. There are about forty thousand warships parked in orbit above us. Baxter Rumford is demanding our surrender. She claims if we go peacefully we'll be spared. If we resist, we'll be destroyed. We don't have the defenses to take on forty thousand ships. Would you have any alternatives for us?"
"What are her surrender terms?"
"We'll be transported to another planet. She wants the Retreat as her base. She likes the domes."
"What about logistics? She drops you somewhere, can you feed yourselves?"
"That hasn't been discussed."
"Can I suggest that if you take this offer, insist on being sent to Farmingdale. They have plenty of food and should have it in abundance now that they can't deliver it to Domicile. Weather there is good, so you won't need immediate shelter."
"I'll push for that if we choose to accept. I'm heading to a meeting to discuss this right now."
"Don't try to fight her, Colonel. It would not end well for any of you."
"No force of more than fifty Biomarines have ever surrendered. Taking any kind of deal will be a tough sell. I'm walking into the meeting now. Comm me back in twenty minutes and I'll have the results."
Harris slowly walked back into the room with the others. "Bax caught them at the Retreat before they could set off the bosons. She has her entire fleet in orbit there now, demanding a surrender."
"Wow. This is bad."
"She told the colonel she'd be willing to relocate the lot of them. She wants the Retreat for her new base."
"As she should. That's the best defended world in this sector. Has the colonel agreed?"
"It's being discussed right now. Told him to take the deal and to push for Farmingdale as a drop point. It has the food to support them."
Milos asked, "This is the force you were speaking of? They are attacking your worlds?"
"One of them. It's a planet that's well defended from a smaller force, but not something that size. It has armored shelter, railgun defenses, and is self-sustaining on both food and power."
Tawn said, "Not only that, it has extensive labs down on the surface and a ship factory in orbit. Did she get the Hailstorm?"
"Don't know. Didn't ask. Not certain it matters at this point."
"What about the remaining Earther fleet?"
"I would have to assume those will all be turned over to her."
"This is gigantic. An epic fail on our part for not protecting them. We should have pushed for the colonel to use the bosons. Now she has the planet, the Biomarines, the Earthers, a ship factory, and boson bombs. How could it get any worse?"
Twenty minutes later, Harris reopened the comm to the colonel. "What's the decision?"
"We're leaving. She agreed to our suggestion of Farmingdale. She's giving us a month's worth of MREs from our stockpile to get us started. The nine hundred remaining Earthers are being taken to Viochan."
"The Hailstorm?"
"She's parked safely away in open space. I'm sending you the coordinates to collect her. Our newest ship was to float off the line in two days. That entire factory is being handed over fully intact. With her bot force, she'll be able to turn out a new ship every week without blinking an eye. Down on the surface here she'll have all the equipment she needs to continue expanding her force. I'm not certain we can recover from this one."
Tawn asked, "Can you patch us through to her?"
"Hold on..."
A smug image of Baxter Rumford displayed on the comm wall of the room. "Hello, morons."
Tawn said, "Why are you doing all this?"
Bax smirked. "Are you kidding? You gave us the opportunity. How could I refuse when you laid it all out at our feet?"
"Our feet?"
Bax gestured. "Another person entered the view. "Our feet. Mine and those of my partner. I believe you know him? Maximus Croft."
The newly resigned president of Domicile smiled. "Gruberg, Freely, I suppose I should be thanking you. Your assistance has been all too kind."
Tawn stood with a stunned look on her face.
Harris said, "So you've been working for Croft all this time? That explains a lot. And yet leaves a lot to be explained. How?"
Bax grinned. "Maximus has had this planned for almost a decade. Not this specifically, but the taking over of New Earth and then Domicile. He was approached by a group of powerful Earthers who were looking to rid themselves of the emperor and his line of succession. Max would be made the new emperor, with power shared by a ruling council.
"I was to get close to the emperor. He would be liberated from his life. The council would step in to take control, purging the emperor's line before crowning me the new Empress of New Earth. From there, I would rebuild the fleet using titanium from Eden while Max saw to it that Domicile defenses were further weakened.
"When the Earther fleet was sufficient in strength, we would come in, force a surrender of Domicile, and the two empires would finally be joined under a single government, a government run by Max and me. The Denzee were a surprise, and the Hoya, but the end result is working out as we planned. And just to be all cute and coupley and annoying, our new empire will be named for us. Maximus and Baxter... or Maxter. Welcome. You are all now citizens of the Maxter Empire."
Tawn scowled. "We aren't part of it. And just so you know, we'll be working to dethrone you."
Bax smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that. I look forward to your utter defeat by my hand. And nice move with blocking me again from Midelon. Although it won't matter."
"You had the place to yourself. Why'd you leave it?"
"I'll admit to that being a foolish move. Let's just say I was so overjoyed with my good fortune that I made a few missteps. Those won't matter in the end, however."
"We can still save Domicile and squash your grand scheme, you know."
"And how could you possibly do that."
"By shutting down the boson field. It’d take you ten years to reach the nearest colony from the Retreat. You wouldn't see Domicile during your lifetime."
"You wouldn't do that. You'd be dooming yourselves to life on Midelon."
Harris chuckled. "We would, but we're OK with that. So even with that big stolen fleet, it appears you have the weak hand here."
"We'll see about that."
The comm closed.
"I don't think she liked that."
Tawn nodded. "Wasn't meant for her to like. I did see a little twitch go through her body right before she closed that link. She knows we could do it."
"We’ll at least w
ait until the colonel and the others are safely on Farmingdale, right?"
"I think we have to. I don't think it would go well for our friends if they're trapped at the Retreat with her. She's spiteful and would want revenge."
— Chapter 8 —
* * *
Harris opened the comm to the colonel. "I would take her deal, Colonel. Get everyone to Farmingdale and let us handle this from here."
"She's already accepted. We have one hour to gather as much as we can take with us. No weapons are allowed. Only clothes and food."
Harris turned to Milos. "If we shut down the field, can we start it back up?"
"Restart is a lengthy process, a process I do not have the knowledge to enact. My people have a single team of scientists who have the necessary knowledge. Am I correct in assuming the Retreat is a colony near the edge of boson space?"
"It is."
"Can you bring up a map of this sector?"
Harris worked at the holo-station, bringing up a nav map. "The gold back-color shows the extent of the field."
"An adjustment of five degrees in this orientation would move the Retreat outside the boson field. Given the distance to the edge, it would take just over four years for their ships to once again take advantage of it with a jump."
"Can we do this?"
"Possibly. There is a room on this island that contains the broadcast generators."
"We've been there."
"Each of those generators contributes to the size and shape of the field. Taking a single unit offline may have the effect you desire."
"May?"
"There is also the issue of how do we take that unit offline, and exactly which unit is it we would need to do that to? AI, reference the display before me. Can the boson field be adjusted by shutting down a single broadcast unit? And if so, which one?"
"I must apologize, I do not have the data required for evaluating such a request. Broadcast matters may only be queried from the broadcast console."
Harris asked, "Where's the broadcast console? We didn't see a console."
"The broadcast console is available as you enter the generator room. You must request it as it is a holo-display."
"Is there an AI attached to the broadcast room console?"
"Yes."
Harris nodded. "I think we just found our way to shut the Retreat out from the boson field."
Tawn said, "Now we just have to wait for Bax to drop everyone at Farmingdale."
A comm came in from Idiot. "Sir, I have an evaluation of the Burrell ship available."
"Hold on. Gandy, you, Trish, and Garvis watch our friend here. Sharvie, how about logging into the security system of this vessel. See what you can do with it. See if there’s anything in there to guard against or that we could exploit. Tawn, come with me."
The Biomarines moved to an adjacent room, where they closed the door. "Idiot, go ahead with your eval."
"We will begin with the drive system. Our system is adaptable, with only modest changes to the operating software. However, we will need to construct and add the mast to the tail of the ship. In addition, the jump fuel generation system will have to be added. With our current assets, if the proper materials can be gathered, this process would take six days, four hours."
"Put together a list of the needed materials. We can get started on building the mast and any other parts of the system we'll need. I'd rather not touch the Bangor at the moment, seeing as how that's our only gunship. What else you got?"
"The Burrell shielding offers no opportunity for improvement over ours. In fact, we are already as much as 15 percent beyond the armor of the Grindle when it comes to stopping power."
"Weapons?"
"The laser cannon can be adapted to the Bangor. The cannon-head itself, along with a multidirectional turret, would be mounted outside the current hull. The systems to make it function will require one-third of the cabin space."
"That's a big cut. Any way to mount the entire thing on the outside as a single unit? Something we can add armor over to harden?"
"I've made the adjustment, although it will be 48 percent more vulnerable to a strike."
"A strike that leaves us with what we had before. I can live with that. Put that as another build that can be done without yet touching the Bangor. How about sensors? Comms?"
"Sensors are nearly identical to ours in capability, as are comms. Minor tweaks can be made to each for efficiency, but neither offer any real advantage to functionality."
Tawn asked, "So what are we gonna do with Milos? We can't just let him run free."
"We'll just have to keep an eye on him. So long as he's not allowed access to anything, I don't see him as an issue. And if we have to interact with the Burrell we're expecting at Gondol, it might be to our advantage to have treated him well."
"I can agree to that. I just wonder about the wisdom of letting him see and hear just about everything we do. If we do meet up with the Burrell and they want him back, do we want them knowing all of our business?"
"We could put him back in stasis. It’d be the easiest way to confine him."
"You have any more questions for him before we do this?"
"I have one." Harris opened the door, returning to the room with Milos. "I have a question. Is that stasis pod you came out of still usable?"
"I would suppose so. Why are you asking?"
"Well, we can't really have you walking around loose here, and we don't distrust you so much that we want to lock you up. But we could return you to stasis without using up your time being alive. That is, until we meet up with any Burrell. You could then be awakened and returned to your people."
"I understand your reasoning. Before you make your decision, I would like to say thank you for reviving me, and thank you for being candid. And also before you make an effort to return me, know that the system will reject my return for a period of at least six and a half of your days. It takes that length of time for the body to fully recover. Any attempt to return me sooner than that may result in damage to my internal organs and brain."
"So the system says you can't go back in anyway?"
"That would be correct."
Tawn shrugged. "Then I guess we have no choice but to lock you up. This ship have a brig?"
"It does. Very cramped. Would it be at all possible to be confined to my prior quarters on deck three?"
"Can the door be locked from the outside?"
"A few simple tack welds and a latch should do. Can I assume you will be feeding me?"
"We'll feed you, but it will be with Human food. Not Humans of course, just the food we eat."
"After studying your habits for years, I can safely say our digestive systems are similar. I look forward to eating what you would consider a normal diet."
"Wait. You studied us for years?"
"Yes. After accepting the assignment to come out here, I spent three years learning everything I could about Humans, your habits, and your needs. Of those tested, I scored in the ninety-ninth percentile for language compatibility."
"You do speak Earth English very well." Tawn crossed her arms. "So, after these studies, did you find you liked Humans or despised us?"
"I found your species to be similar to ours in many ways. Some of your people are mean, cruel, and vindictive. Others are compassionate and caring, willing to go out of their way to help others. Some were quick to fight while others wanted nothing of it. What I found was most Humans have each of these traits, although varying degrees of each. Even those you would consider the best among you appeared to have their moments."
"Sounds like a realistic evaluation. And just so you know, if you haven't already figured it out, you happened to get awakened by a very reasonable group of Humans. Others might have already begun to dissect your body just to see how you're put together."
Harris nodded. "What she said. Consider yourself lucky. Now, we have a lot of work to get to, so show us to your cabin. We'll check it out, and if it looks legit we'll work on locking you
in."
"If during my confinement you decide there are other questions you would like answered, I will be delighted to answer them as I can."
Milos was escorted to his old cabin. A locking latch was attached to the wall just outside and the room secured. Idiot obtained a video feed of the hall, and a monitor was set to keep an eye on their Burrell guest.
Tawn and Harris rejoined the others. "I think it's about time for a meal. We're over an hour past. Let's head up, get that taken care of, then come back down to explore. I have to think there are more secrets to be exposed down here."
Gandy asked, "Why are the three facilities on this island all separate?"
Harris shrugged as they walked toward the Bangor. "Who knows? I don't think we'll get the full truth out of our friend back there. My guess would be they didn't want Humans interacting with anything except that bunker up there. We mess with the boson field and we risk shutting it down. And this complex here I can only assume would allow them to spy on us. Sounds like the Frizoid screwed up those plans though."
"But if they're only two months away by ship, why not come back out here?"
"Priorities? Maybe we were low on their priority list. They were and still are fighting a war."
Gandy frowned. "Doesn't sound like either side really wants to win that war. Two thousand years? That's like our mess. Both want the other side to surrender, but neither side wants to fully commit to it, so they just have endless skirmishes."
"So are you volunteering to end the Burrell-Frizoid war?"
"What?"
"Maybe we could send you to each as an ambassador. You could tell them about our struggles. That might bring them to the truce table."
"I'm not going out to either of their empires. That's ludicrous."
Harris chuckled as he patted Gandy on the back. "Glad you see things my way."
Gandy glanced at Tawn, who was shaking her head. The group boarded the Bangor and were soon settling on the grass beside the bunker. Meals were had and the status of everything topside was checked.
Harris opened a comm to the Retreat. No connection was returned. A second comm was opened to Farmingdale, where a townsperson answered the incoming request.
ARMS Helm's End: (Book 7) Page 7
