by CJ Williams
“Alleyway!” I shouted, pointing to the right.
My Barbicans veered into the narrow passage between the tall buildings and mercifully, the small arms stopped tattooing my backside.
“Put me down.” I ordered, relieved to be on my own feet again.
For a moment, we seemed to have escaped the punishing resistance, but I was afraid it wouldn’t last. We shot out of the alleyway, across another main roadway and then back into a narrow backstreet. The buildings on either side were massive. The closer we got to city hall, the taller the structures. It gave us a bit of shelter, and the downtown inhabitants, probably office workers, didn’t seem to be as heavily armed. We were getting closer but I had lost another Barbican somewhere along the way.
I peered ahead. We had four more blocks to get through. Another intersecting boulevard was coming up and I started to think we might cross it without incident. That was a foolish hope.
As we darted out of the alleyway, tanks on both sides opened up. My Barbicans had their shields out but they were not up to stopping a tank shell. A round hit close by and I was flung into the air like a rag doll. When I bounced off the asphalt thoroughfare, my mind catalogued my extremities and noted that everything was still in place. The same could not be said for most of my Barbicans. I had maybe a half dozen remaining as I crossed the street into the next alleyway.
Behind me, the treads of the Grey tanks rattled against the pavement in pursuit. In front, the narrow lane filled with a new set of tracked vehicles. I thought I was dead until I saw a Barbican running beside them. My royal crest insignia was emblazoned on their metal skin. It was an armored regiment from Division Two.
“Single file!” I shouted. I veered to the right to get as close to the building as possible, leaving as much of the lane open as I could for my tanks to take aim. As one they opened fire at the pursuing Greys. I didn’t take the time to look back, but echoing explosions told the story.
Seconds later I was past the Division Two regiment and once again moving at full speed. Thankfully, I was surrounded by a new group of Barbicans, and even better, dozens of rovers had joined our ranks. They took the point, blazing away at anything in our path. Their tiny rotating feet made them impossible to target as they slowed, sped up, and darted left and right like deadly little fire plugs.
The last cross street was coming up but the alleyway beyond did not carry through to the next block. We would have to make that final dash via the main thoroughfare.
We exploded out of the alley and ran to the left onto the cross street and then back right onto the main road, racing to the steps of the city hall.
“Take out those front doors,” I ordered. I suspected the massive entrances were more solid than their ornamental appearance might indicate.
The Division Two cannons fired just as the doors opened for three dozen Greys who came pouring out. The artillery blasted right through them straight into the interior. Huge explosions rocked the inside of the building and the over-pressure blew out all the windows on the ground floor.
Reconnaissance drones buzzed right over my head as they rocketed through the remains of the front portal.
Annie! I shouted mentally. It’s me! Can you hear me?
I ran up the steps and into a vast rotunda screaming her name with my mind. I didn’t slow up and keep heading toward the back of the facility where the jail-like addition had been built onto the original structure.
Luke?
Annie! Yes! It’s me. Where are you? I’m inside the city hall building. How do I get to you?
Built-in security barricades blocked our progress at the end of the hall, guarding a steel barred entrance to the jail section. She had to be behind that cordon.
I’m not sure. All I know is I’m underground. There aren’t any windows. I’m in a jail cell.
That matched what I had been expecting. I didn’t have to call for fire on the barricade. The tank treads on my armored cannons thundered down the hall behind me. I moved sideways and their barrels fired. The silent projectiles annihilated the barrier in my path.
I ran past the twisted metal into a large office area with service desks and administrative cubicles all around. At the back of the room, along one wall I spotted a bank of elevators.
There was no way I would get trapped on an elevator, but there had to be stairs nearby. Some poor office-working Grey made the mistake of choosing that particular instant to come rushing out of the stairwell door. I pulled my handgun and blew him away, my first shot of the attack. I ran through the door and headed down the stairwell.
“Secure the building!” I shouted. “Establish communications between all units and I need special forces with me.”
I vaulted over the stair railings going down, trying to save even a few steps in my rush to get into Annie’s cell. On the third level, I called her again.
Annie, listen to this, I’m firing my gun. I opened the stairway door to an office hallway and pulled the trigger on my Colt 45. The sound reverberated down the corridor. Did you hear that?
No, she told me. I didn’t hear anything, but there is a lot of commotion outside my cell.
I kept going down and opened the fourth level door. The floors were concrete and guard stations were just across from my position. Without conscious thought, I plugged two surprised Greys who stood behind a set of vertical bars, guarding the entrance to the jail blocks on that level.
I heard that, but just barely, Annie thought to me.
Crap! She had to be one more level down. Back into the staircase, I vaulted down another level, reloading as I descended. At the bottom, there were no more stairs going down. I was on the lowest level. I burst through the door ready for anyone at the guard station but it was empty.
I saw the back of a Grey hustling down a colorless hallway toward a reinforced door.
There is someone outside my cell, Annie told me.
I ran after the Grey with my gun at the ready. He reached the doorway and tapped a code into a panel next to the door. When it clicked open I fired. My shot took the Grey in the back of his head and he pitched forward, flat on his ugly face, all six limbs sticking straight out from his body.
I hit the door at full speed. I was inside a high-ceilinged, enhanced security lockup. There were two levels of barred cells on both sides with an open center section. The second level, where I stood, had a wide catwalk of metal grated floors with sturdy guard rails wrapping around the deep cell block enclosure. A half dozen Greys clustered outside one of the cells along the back wall. I sprinted in their direction firing on the run. I took out four of the six Greys and then I was on them.
I suspected that from the way I had easily manhandled the negotiator back in the Haiyanas system, these guards would not be a physical match and I was correct. I grabbed both Greys by their necks and banged their heads together as hard as I could and then tossed them over the railing. They fell to the lower level, both dead. One from a broken neck and the other because of the big dent in his oddly shaped skull.
A set of keys lay on the floor.
“Annie!” I shouted.
“Luke! Are you there?”
“I’m here babe. Just one more second.”
I had to try four keys before the tumbler clicked. I opened the door and found Annie on the other side.
“Luke! Thank God,” she said and burst into tears. She flung herself at me and I swept her up into my arms, welcoming this most precious bundle back into my life. In fact, there were two precious bundles. Annie pushed away and picked up our daughter. “Luke, Rosa is sick.” The infant was pale and sweating. “Look at her. She hardly moves and she keeps throwing up.”
“I know,” I said trying to comfort her. “It’s radiation poisoning but as soon as we get her an implant she’ll be fine.”
“Radiation poisoning!”
My words were not reassuring but I was always honest with Annie, even when I had to deliver bad news. “This star is too close to the center of the galaxy for human life. But do
n’t worry, we’re going to have her patched up in no time. I’ve brought an army with me and we’re leaving now.” I took her hand in mine and that’s when she reacted to my silver skin.
She gasped. “Are those special gloves? Does that protect you from the radiation?”
I took a deep breath and took off my combat helmet. “No,” I said softly. “That’s my real skin now. But don’t worry, babe. This is me. It’s really me.”
Worry and concern filled her expression, but thankfully not revulsion. In the back of my mind that’s one thing I had been anxious about. She touched my cheek and examined my eyes.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I got injured,” I explained. “It’s a long story but it has to wait. If you just can’t stand it, consider this body as temporary. The main thing is we’re back together. And I promise we’ll never be apart again.”
A slight look of uncertainty crossed her eyes. “Is it really you?”
I put my arm around her waist. “We made love for the first time on the island of Moorea. You said you wanted us to be life partners and that if I was smart, I would too. Now, can we go?”
“I remember,” she said, her expression clearing.
“Now hang on, I have to check in with my ship and arrange transport.”
I focused on the communication links I had established for just this purpose and connected to the Barbican I left at the edge of the forest.
Unit B2388.
Yes, Your Majesty, it answered immediately.
Carry out order Alpha One.
At once, Your Majesty.
I maintained the direct connection so I could see out of the Barbican’s eyes. It took off at a run back through the forest where the Phantom was waiting. It charged up the boarding ramp and continued straight to the command bridge. Standing at the viewing window, holding onto the grab rail, the same way I always did, was my human counterpart, Lucas Blackburn.
Without hesitation, the Barbican collapsed into the Gatling Gun mode and opened fire. The human Luke never saw it coming. His body blew apart into chunks of bloody flesh. It was all I needed to see. Annie was mine now.
Unit B2388, clean up that mess and make sure that not even a trace of his DNA is left behind. Then head out to the battlefield and engage the enemy for ten minutes before self-destructing. Acknowledge!
At once, Your Majesty.
That tied up all but one loose end, the Phantom’s AI.
Freddi!
Yes, Unit Barrett. I...I…Something terrible has happened. I can’t explain it.
Her voice was shaken. It’s always strange to hear that kind of emotion from an AI. The programming behind those things was amazing. You would swear they were alive, except I knew better. If it wasn’t a machine, I wouldn’t be able to give the following order.
You don’t have to, I responded. Erase all of your memories of the last fifteen minutes and reboot. Do it now!
My connection to the Phantom AI severed instantly.
I turned back to Annie. “Okay, hon. I’ve got transportation waiting outside. Are you ready to get out of here?”
“You have no idea. I knew you would come. And if you didn’t, I knew I would die here.”
She adjusted the rag-like blankets around our daughter, holding her ever so carefully. We stepped out of the jail cell where Barbicans lined the grated walkways, waiting for us to proceed.
Once we got outside the city hall building, the armored personnel carrier was waiting.
“Greetings Mrs. Blackburn. My name is Freddi.”
“Hi, Freddi,” Annie said as I opened the doors at the back.
Annie climbed in and I helped her get settled before closing the doors. I scrambled back into the jump seat to ride shotgun and told Freddi to get moving. The resistance during our egress was only marginally less than going in.
I had one more command for Freddi in his battlewagon form. Freddi, you will not communicate with my wife under any circumstances until further notice. Acknowledge!
Understood, Your Majesty.
Chapter Ten – No It’s Not
[One Hour Previously]
Lucas Blackburn sidestepped out of the way as another dozen tracked vehicles rolled out of Freddi’s cargo bay, down the ramp and out into the clearing.
“How much is left of the deployment?”
“Approximately fifteen percent, Commander.”
“Perfect. I don’t think much will change in the next ten minutes. Go ahead and generate the new me.”
“Acknowledged. Taking a current snapshot of your synapses...replication beginning.”
A few minutes later Luke watched a titanium copy of himself dash out of the cargo bay and continue straight toward the clearing. The commanding Barbicans of both divisions hurried over for a quick confab.
Luke chuckled. That was just like him. Don’t stop to say hello, just charge into whatever project was going on at the moment. Annie always said he needed to pay more attention to the people around him. He waved at the simulacrum and shouted, but the robot was too engrossed in its duties to notice.
One of the Barbicans spoke to Barrett and pointed at Luke. The silver man turned around and looked stunned seeing Luke on the boarding ramp.
“I wonder if it just realized that I’m even here?” Luke speculated.
“Unknown. Its communication toward the subordinate commanders sounded very much like you. Certainly, his army believes it is you. I can detect their loyalty to the First Family. Thus far unit Barrett is performing exactly as it did in the simulations.”
Barrett acknowledged Luke’s presence and walked toward the boarding ramp.
Luke shook his counterpart’s hand warmly. “Good luck, Barrett,” he said.
A range of expressions crossed Barrett’s features. Luke was surprised by how expressive the titanium face could be. A touch of impatience made a brief appearance. It was strange. During all the simulations in the training area, Luke had never actually seen his likeness this close.
“Thanks,” Barrett said equably. “I’ll be back before you know it. And I promise I won’t be alone.”
“I’m counting on it,” Luke said. “I’ll have the yacht ready to go by the time you get back and then I’ll take Annie and Rosa while you clean up here.”
Barrett’s expression became grim and its eyes narrowed in a quick flash of anger. For a moment, Luke thought the simulacrum was going to argue. But it quickly composed its expression and replied. “Sounds good. I’m off now.”
The robot turned and sprinted back to its duties, springing into the jump seat that Luke had installed on the battlewagon. It called for the armored force to move out.
Each Barbican, rover, artillery piece and the rest moved into their allotted positions in the massive column of robotic military power and started forward. Once the army left the clearing there was nothing but mud around the Phantom. Luke’s army was off to war. If all went as planned, Annie would be back within an hour or two.
“Begin replication of the armed yacht for our evacuation.”
“Acknowledged,” Freddi replied. “Replication started.”
“And you can rescind all the rule changes we’ve been making to get to this point. But don’t interfere with operations necessary for Barrett.”
“Understood, Commander. I have now reset all protocols to their original setting. The combat replicators accompanying unit Barrett will still function under the modified guidance, so it can continue to create functional replacements as necessary.”
“Remember this moment, Freddi,” Luke said. “Today, the Nobility is going to get back its Queen.”
“Acknowledged. Recording made.”
Luke chuckled at Freddi’s literal interpretation. “Speaking of which, are you monitoring troop status?”
“Yes, Commander. All units are functioning and reconnaissance drones are reporting in.”
“Put it all on tactical display,” Luke said, walking back into the ship. “I want to watch this as it happ
ens.”
On the command bridge, the tactical screen displayed a bird's-eye view of the territory between the Phantom and city hall. Luke’s forces were depicted with standard military symbols; rectangles labeled with an assortment of pictographs marked the units. The map began updating, showing brigades and regiments moving out.
“Show me a closeup of Barrett's location.” Luke said.
The screen zeroed in on the edge of the forest. A white oval was positioned next to a rectangle labeled HMG for heavy machine gun.
“What’s going on there?” Luke said.
“Your counterpart is speaking directly with one of the Barbicans,” Freddi answered.
“Can I listen in? But I don’t want to interfere.”
“Of course.”
Luke’s own voice filled the command bridge as Barrett calmly explained to the Barbican that it should wait until it received a direct command, codenamed Alpha, to return to the Phantom and kill the only human who would probably be on the bridge. Barrett further ordered the Barbican to stay off the command frequencies, and ignore any commands given by his division commanders.
The Barbican acknowledged the order, as it should, since it came directly from who it thought was the commander-in-chief, King Lucas.
Once the discussion was over, Barrett ran back to his armored personnel carrier to rejoin his unit.
Luke stood by the viewing window, peering toward the forest. Finally, he sighed deeply and muttered, “Well. I didn’t see that coming.”
“Nor I,” Freddi replied. “I’m not sure what to suggest. Shall I recall the army?”
Luke shook his head. “Absolutely not. Barrett may want to replace me, but for now he is primarily focused on the mission. At least, that should be the case if you replicated my thoughts into him. He wants to save Annie above all else.”
“That is true, Commander. I am continuing to monitor communications and the mission is progressing as expected.”
