by Charles Case
“How go things?” Ren furrowed her eyebrows as she turned to look at him. “What century are you from?”
He gave a chuckle. “Sorry. Just a little on edge. Do we have any new info on what’s happening on Rush?”
“Well,” Mara blew out a breath, “after seeing the video Brast was kind enough to send along with his men, we started hacking every satellite over Rush to try and get a better picture. Pull up the map, Ren.”
Ren opened a window with a topographical map of Rush’s main continent. Three red dots appeared.
“This is the path Gwen Lieu is taking.” Mara pointed to the first dot close to the coastline. “She started here at a mining facility. Basically burned the thing to the ground, and killed everyone there. Satellite imagery shows that she had a huge section of the ground dug up, but after a while, they abandoned the whole area and left.”
“Dug it up?” Corbin cocked his head. “Were they looking for something?”
“We don't know.” Ren pulled up another window with overhead views of the site. Corbin saw a huge hole about a quarter mile from the mine. It looked like a gigantic dog had tried to bury a bone, but gave up halfway through. “We did some scans of the area, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. Although, if she is looking for a structure that’s made of the same material as this bunker, we wouldn't see it anyway.”
Mara nodded, then pointed to the second dot. “This one we didn't know about until Brast gave us his info. It was a much quieter invasion, taking place in the middle of a mega-farm’s field. They landed, spent a few hours digging another hole, then packed up and left. The farm manager and a couple of his security guys never clocked out, but their disappearance didn't raise any flags with the authorities either. Evidently, they are known for partying after work, so no one thought anything of them not coming home.
“This third one,” she continued, pointing out the last dot, “you already saw the video. It was the first urban center she and her army hit; the town was a complete loss. No survivors as far as we can tell. The government on Rush is keeping it quiet while they try and figure out what the hell is happening.”
“I assume there’s a dig site there, as well?”
Ren nodded, pulling up more photos. A huge site about four hundred yards across that used to contain a city block was nothing but a crater of fresh-turned dirt. “We actually got some video of them digging this one. After the military was called in, they began watching the place closely. This is sped up by a factor of ten.”
She played a video taken from a satellite. The overhead view showed thousands of stone golems tearing into the buildings, then the streets, and finally the earth itself. In half an hour of sped-up time they had completed the hole with nothing but their hands. Then they backed off as one, loaded into ships, and took off.
“Once they’re airborne, we can't track them,” Ren said, turning to Corbin. “Either they have some kind of stealth, or more likely, Gwen still knows how to subvert any tech so they don't show up.”
“She could do that?” Corbin asked. “How is that even possible?”
Ren looked at him like he was an idiot, but when he didn't catch on, she sighed and gave in. “Corbin, what do you think I’ve been doing?”
“Right, but you have a man on the inside. Lore is the one who can get you past the firewalls.” Corbin felt he needed to defend his ignorance after her look.
“That’s true,” Ren conceded, “but Gwen Lieu is a genius. She’s the one who wrote the programming we all use for encryption in the first place. She was a huge reason the colonies are as successful as they are. Her work is the bedrock the entire Lieu Corp is based on. She was the one who first recognized the metal’s potential and how to use it, along with being essential to the network we all use for communication. Hell, she probably just used her admin password and logged into the system.”
“Oh.” Corbin felt his face redden a little. “I didn't know that.”
“Obviously, but don't let it get you down.” Ren slapped him on the shoulder. “William Lieu covered most of that up when she ran off and took credit for it himself. If there is one thing we can count on, it’s William being a douche canoe.”
Corbin gave her a smile. “That’s the truth. So, we don't know what they are looking for, or why, but do we know where they most likely will try next?”
Mara shook her head. “No. So far the spots seem to be random, but if that’s the case, then why not work in a grid pattern? Gwen Lieu is too smart to just try spots at random. She must have a plan, or a map, or something leading her to these spots. We just don't have a clue what it is.”
Corbin thought quietly for a minute, trying to work it out using his surveyor’s logic. Why would he start digging holes if he didn't know where to dig? He wouldn't.
“Ren, can you tell me if the holes are all the same relative size?” Corbin asked as something occurred to him.
“Sure, give me a minute.” She began typing and taking measurements. After a few seconds she pulled up a chart with the data. “It looks like they’re close, but not close enough that I would call them the same. The first one is the shallowest, followed by the second, but it’s about fifteen percent deeper than the first. The third one is about the same deepness as the first, but its bottom is thirty percent larger than either of the first two and it’s oblong in shape.”
“Like they got down to where they wanted but missed the target, so they had to dig in one direction until they found it?” Corbin guessed.
“I suppose you could look at it that way. Why?” Ren asked, not seeing the pattern.
“I think they were digging for something in particular,” Corbin squinted at the photo of the last hole, “and they found it. But what if what they were looking for was really small? We assume it would be big, because the hole is big, but what if they didn't know the exact spot so they had to search a little?”
“That’s possible, but how can we tell what they were looking for?” Ren zoomed in the photo, and Corbin was surprised at the resolution. She got down to where he could see the rough details on each golem, but any closer and the image became a blurred mess. “We don't have the resolution to pick anything more than a person out. These aren’t the military-grade satellites, they didn't have a chance to get them into position before the golems were gone.”
“Do you have all the data from the satellites?” Corbin asked, thinking about how they found metal deposits.
“Yeah.”
“What do the radioscopes show?” Corbin felt like he was on to something and leaned forward, resting his arms on the back of Ren’s chair.
She pulled up the data collected on the satellite’s spectrograph in its own window. The graph showed the average value through the whole EM spectrum from broadcast wavelength all the way down into the gamma-ray band. The sensor was used to find the specific radiation from metal deposits which were somewhere below ultraviolet but above x-ray wavelengths.
“It all looks normal to me.” Ren shrugged.
Mara saw where Corbin was going and jumped in excitedly. “Play back the video from about a minute or two from when they stopped digging and keep the graph up.”
Corbin nodded. She was following his logic.
Ren started the video over and fast-forwarded to where Mara had specified then let it play in real time. Even at the normal playback rate, the golems were working with a speed that would put a human to shame. Great clumps of dirt and rock were tossed hundreds of yards out of the hole as they worked as one unit. Corbin watched the unnerving display for a few seconds before turning his attention to the second window. The EM bands were holding relatively steady as nothing in the spectrum was really changing on average in the image. Then there was a huge spike in the lower band, right around where the metals would show up. Corbin whooped and clapped his hands. Then the spike disappeared, and his face fell.
“Where did it go?” he asked in confusion, glancing from the video to the graph and back again. “Play it again.”
> Ren did so, and this time she froze the video right when the spike happened. The image was covering a lot of ground, and because the graph only showed the average they didn't know where to look.
“Hang on, I have an idea.” Ren began fiddling with her controls and the video zoomed in. Corbin saw that the EM values changed with the image, and he knew what she was doing.
“Good idea,” he cheered her on. “Start big, and we can narrow it down.”
“Yeah,” Ren sounded irritated, “this isn’t my first time using a computer. I got this.”
Corbin felt a flush of embarrassment creep up his neck but he patted her on the shoulder and smiled. “I know. Sorry. I’m just excited.”
Ren couldn't help but smile. “Fuck, Corbin. You’re like a little kid, sometimes.”
She began moving the viewing area around the image, and when the EM value dropped she backtracked. Eventually, she had the general area, and shrunk the image again and started the process over. After two or three minutes, she was as close as possible while still maintaining a decent resolution.
“I think that’s about as good as it’s going to get.”
Mara leaned forward, trying to make out anything out of the ordinary. “Go back to when the spike disappears and play the video again.”
The video started and Corbin watched the graph while Mara watched the image.
“Right there,” Corbin said, hoping Mara caught it.
“I don't know.” She furrowed her brow. “Play it again.”
This time, Corbin watched the video. The spike happened then a few seconds later it went away again, and the golems started leaping out of the hole. Ren started it over without being asked and they watched it again. And again. On the fourth viewing, Corbin caught something.
“Wait!” He pointed at a part of the screen as Ren paused it. “What’s that?”
The golem he indicated had been pulling up chunks of dirt and mud like the rest of them, but right after the spike it stopped for a beat before reaching down and scooping something small up in its hand then making a fist around it. As soon as the fist closed, the EM value dropped back to normal. Soon after, all the golems began leaping away.
Ren started working furiously, running the video back and focusing down on the spot the golem reached for. The image was blurry, but there was a definite color difference between the mud and whatever they had uncovered. It sort of had an amber color to it, although whether that was from a coating of dirt or if the object was actually amber they couldn't tell, but the golem picked it up, and once its stone hands covered it they couldn't pick up any readings anymore.
“It looked like it was maybe,” Corbin held his fingers apart, adjusting the size while trying to put it into the proportions of the golem’s large hands. He ended up with a two-inch gap between his fingers. “Maybe this big? But if it was a chunk of the metal, then it wouldn't put up EM numbers like that. There is a variation between deposits that indicates the relative strength of the essence in them, but nothing this high.”
“Oh, no.” The dread in Leela’s voice made Corbin's skin bump with gooseflesh. “This can't be what she’s after. Oh, Corbin, we need to stop her. And we need to do it before she can wake that thing up.”
Corbin excused himself from the two women and walked a few dozen feet away, then quietly asked, “Wake what up?”
“It was a last-ditch attempt to drive off the Kubla, but it was determined that it would be far too dangerous to unleash.” She sounded like she was shaking with fear. “There was a group of us who decided to use our ability to imbue our power into the metal along with our first attempts at A.I., but the thing they made was a mindless killer. Or, it would have been if ever turned on. They ended up scattering the activation keys because they were far too powerful to try to destroy. I think Gwen knows about it, and she’s digging up the keys.”
A chill ran down Corbin's back. “How many keys were there?”
“Three.”
25
While Corbin and Leela were talking, the rebel that had taken Dianna away came jogging up, waving a hand to get his attention.
“Major, the prisoner is awake and asking for Lady Lieu. She refuses to talk to anyone else.” The man was a little breathless from his jog, reinforcing to Corbin that these were not military men and women.
Before Corbin could answer, Seena came out of the OVAL, her green suit gleaming in the light of the bunker’s walls. He was momentarily shocked at her appearance. The look of stony determination on her face made him think of the raptor Gert embodied. She jogged over to them and turned her gaze on the man.
“She’s awake?” Seena guessed.
He took a half step back at her intensity but gave a nod. “Yes ma’am. She’s asking for you.”
Seena nodded and glanced over at Corbin. “Shall we see what she has to say for herself?”
Corbin set his jaw, matching her demeanor, and with a shot of power to Leela, formed his own armor under the tux he still wore. “I’m right behind you.” As he pulled his bow tie off and dropped the jacket to the floor, he turned to the rebel. “Go inform Mara that we’re going to talk with the prisoner, if she wants to observe. Otherwise, we’ll be back in a short while.”
The rebel nodded and, turning toward Mara and Ren, nearly ran to them.
Corbin pulled the button-up shirt open and dropped it onto the jacket. Thinking of how dumb he would look trying to take the now-tight pants off, he instead gripped them by the waistband and ripped them off in one quick jerk. The shoes had basically exploded when he had activated the armor, so he simply stepped off the soles.
“That’s one way to change,” Seena smirked, starting for the temporary holding cell. “So, does that mean you didn't have any underwear on?”
Corbin chuckled. “I rarely do, these days.”
“That would sound weird if I didn't know you could cover yourself with a thought.” Her smile faded quickly, and Corbin knew she was using humor to not talk about her feelings. He guessed the steely attitude was part of the same process, so he didn't press her. She would talk when she was ready.
They made their way into the hardshell tent where Dianna was being kept. Corbin had to blink a few times to adjust to the darkness. Compared to the warm light of the bunker that came from every surface, the tent was only lit by a couple of light sources built into the roof.
A cell that was basically just a five-by-five cage with inch-thick bars had been erected. A chair had been put in the cage and Dianna, her leg restraints removed but her arms still pinned to her back, sat uncomfortably, her face placid.
When she saw Seena enter, a smile with a slightly mad look to it spread across her face. “You’ve found the power. You are just like Tis, even after all this time.”
Corbin raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Seena, whose expression hadn’t changed in the least.
“Who is Tis,” Seena’s voice was level and direct, “and why did they send you after me? Are they a rival of my father’s?”
Dianna laughed almost musically. “Your father wishes he was on the same level as Tis. He is a pretender, unlike you. You have found the secret. She promised me the secret, too. Your mother is a very generous ruler.”
Seena’s eyebrows rose. “My mother? Why are you calling her Tis?”
“Your mother died, and was born again.” Dianna was nearly frothing. “Her old name no longer suited her so she chose a new one. Tis—homage to Tisiphone of the three Furies. The punisher of murder. Your mother will avenge us all with her power.”
Seena turned away from Dianna and leaned in to speak quietly. “This woman is obviously mad. Did my mother use some sort of mind control? We saw that she was powerful, but there is no way she could be powerful enough to control all those golems and fight the Kubla when they come. I don't understand what’s going on here.”
Corbin, remembering Leela’s words, frowned. “I don't know if your mother has some sort of mind control, or if she simply has a very convincing argument, but
I think Leela knows what she’s up to.”
Seena gave him a long look and then took his hand. “Tell me.”
“There is a weapon that our people were developing as a last resort, but they decided it was far too dangerous to even attempt.” Leela said.
The sound of Gert speaking shocked Corbin at first. She was normally very quiet in these exchanges. “The Colossus? That can't be right. The keys were scattered when we realized the damage it would do.”
“The keys are what Gwen…” Corbin stopped, then decided the new name might make it easier for Seena to think of her as the enemy. “Tis has been digging up over the last week. Each of the attacks on Rush ended with them digging up a key.”
“How many do they have?” Gert asked, but the sound of her voice said she knew.
“All three,” Corbin confirmed. “She has hacked the satellite network and made her army basically invisible to scans. We need to know where the Colossus is and beat her there. Maybe we can destroy it before it’s activated.”
“It would take an incredible amount of power to destroy that thing.” Leela sounded defeated. “It was built to destroy everything. It has the ability to suck the power out of anyone or anything around it. It would steal the power right from your well as you tried to fight it. It’s unstoppable, even in its dormant state. That’s the only reason we hid it instead of destroying it. We simply couldn't.”
“There has to be a way.” Seena frowned. “Everything has a weakness.”
“If there is, we never found it.” Gert sounded less defeated than Leela, but there was still a grim tone to her voice. “To be fair, though, we didn't have much time to try, what with the war and the end of the world on our hands.”
“We’ll figure this out.” Corbin squeezed her shoulder then turned to Dianna, who had been watching them with interest. “Why did you try to attack Seena if you revere her mother so much?”
“I was doing my lady’s bidding.” Her eyes went wild with devotion. “After her golems failed to bring Lady Lieu to her, she sent me. She promised that if I was successful she would grant me powers just like she had been given.”
