by CJ Williams
The ground was rising in elevation. Not a lot, but it gave me the advantage. I could see him coming and more importantly, I had a better view of the terrain around us.
He was following me up a fairly narrow ravine. I would let him pursue until I could turn the tables.
On my left, the ground sloped up into a thickly wooded forest. It would be perfect for providing cover from a determined pursuer. On the right, the ground was mostly bare, with sparse thorn-covered shrubs and a few boulders. It would be impossible to hide there.
Luke was getting noisy as we climbed higher. He was panting for air and his tiredness made him heavy footed. I didn’t have to poke my face up into his line of fire to find him, I could tell where he was just by listening.
I analyzed the terrain ahead, searching for the right spot to double back. At the head of the ravine, the sloping sides bowled together into steep grades all around. He would be expecting me to stay in the wooded area where it would be easier to hide. Instead, if I could scoot over the ridge top without him seeing, I could quietly double back to the right, on the far side of the bare, rocky slope.
I picked up my pace and skirted along the edge of the trees so he could see flashes of me from time to time, but never enough to take a bead on. A couple of times he lost me and I had to slow down and show myself to get his attention. Finally, as I neared the top, I fired several rounds from my location and then put on all the speed I could. I reached the top and circled back to the right.
By now, he was moving a lot slower. He had spent too much time sitting in his fancy captain’s chair and not enough exercising. Even from the far side of the ridge I could hear his labored breathing and scuffling boots. I continued backtracking until he was well ahead and then I silently moved across the ridgetop, keeping low until I was well down in the main gully. I spotted him right off.
He was bent over panting for breath. After he got his wind back, he looked ahead, trying to spot me in the forest cover. He stayed glued to the edge of the trees, not wanting to give me a clear shot from the higher ground where he thought I was hidden. Silently, I gained on his position.
A toppled tree trunk blocked his way and he crept forward to lean against it, eyeing the way ahead. I could have nailed him in the back of his head from this distance, but I was sure he would be wearing a protective force field. I had to get close before pulling the trigger. I couldn’t afford to get into a shootout because he could call for air support from that ship of his. He stopped again to catch his breath. This was my chance.
I sprinted the thirty yards between us and leapt onto his back before he even knew I was there. I wrapped my left arm around his throat and jammed my revolver against his back, pulling the trigger until it was empty.
He struggled for a second and then went limp. I let go and he fell to the forest floor. I put my foot under him and rolled him onto his back. His face was smudged with clods of dirt and moss.
His eyes opened and he glared at me with hatred. I was a little surprised that he wasn’t dead but the bulletproof material in our combat gear was amazing stuff.
I growled at him while reloading, “You were an idiot to come after me.”
It wouldn’t bother me to put his lights out face to face. I didn’t bear him any particular ill will, I just wanted him dead so I could get on with my life.
He gave me a slight nod and said weakly, “Just one thing.”
“What’s that?” I said, not really caring.
“What makes you think I did come after you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“This.”
His arms suddenly telescoped out from his shoulders in two long silver tentacles. They wrapped around me like steel cables, pinning my arms against my sides. I lost my grip on the Colt and it thudded to the ground, out of my reach. I flexed with all my machine strength but it was useless. The unbreakable bindings had me completely immobilized.
He slowly reeled me until I was just inches from his face. He had the same glassy-eyed expression as the android version of Annie.
It wasn’t Luke after all. He had sent a new automaton to capture me. With a grim understanding, I realized that I had, in every sense of the word, outsmarted myself.
My mind raced trying to come up with a way out of the situation. Would it respond to a command from me as King Lucas?
Before I could say a word, a third tentacle that held a long ugly needle sprouted under its right armpit. The needle wavered in the air for a second and then plunged into my left ear, straight into my core memory. It didn’t hurt of course, but I could feel the effects.
My memories started to disappear. At first, the oldest ones. I had been in the military but I couldn’t remember what branch. I had grown up on another planet, but before I could think of its name it vanished. I was in this spot because I had so desperately loved a woman. Her name was…something…it was right on the tip of my tongue. It would come to me in a second.
The android holding me spoke. The voice was vaguely familiar. “The scientists wanted to examine your brain to see what went wrong, so I’m sucking it out and transmitting it back to Lulubelle.”
The last thing I heard him say was, “Download complete. Detonation in three…two…one.”
Chapter Seventeen – “I hate you”
Lucas Blackburn, the real King of the First Family, as he had to say these days, peered out of Lulubelle’s artificial window at the mushroom cloud rising in the foothills. The blast built into his latest simulacrum was only point four kilotons but George had assured him several times it was more than enough to vaporize that damned Barrett.
George spoke quietly. “I have the download, Commander. Including the video from our android’s eye cameras. There is no doubt.”
“Are you positive?” Luke asked once more.
“I am. The core of a nuclear explosion, even a small one, is tens of millions of degrees. Every component of Barrett’s body was instantly vaporized. There is nothing left.”
Luke sighed. “All right. Send a recce drone out anyway and take some aerial photos. I want a record of the destruction.”
“Launching reconnaissance drone at this time.”
“And you know what? The heck with it. Where’s the chip? You put all that data into a separate memory module, didn’t you?”
“That’s correct, Commander. You were very insistent that we store the information into a standalone device. It is currently secured in the engineering lab. There is no connectivity to other AIs or my own systems.”
“All right then,” Luke said. “Recycle that thing into replicator sludge and eject it into the sun.”
George’s voice took on a note of uncertainty. “Are you sure, Commander? The academics were quite insistent that this was an important study. They were very anxious to obtain the data.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second. And they can kiss my you-know-what. I don’t want any record of that programming anywhere. I had plenty of good reasons for what I did to get Annie back, but it turned into a disaster. Destroy it now.”
“Acknowledged. I will need someone to put it into a drone.”
“I’ll do it,” Luke said. “I want to be sure it happens.”
He didn’t look at Elaine as he left the bridge because it had become a personal issue. He didn’t hate anything or anybody. But that damned piece of machinery had really messed up his life.
The memory unit was where George said. It was half the size of a grapefruit but had the potential to wipe out humanity. The programming had turned out to be far worse than the Bakkui and needed to be destroyed.
A small delivery drone took shape in the replicator. Once it was complete, Luke stuffed the module into its storage compartment. He took the entire package to cargo bay.
“I’m ready,” he said aloud.
The atmospheric containment fields surrounding the hatch illuminated and the access door slid open. George had already left the planet and positioned Lulubelle so the sun could b
e seen from inside the doorway. Luke tossed the drone out of the ship and it came to life, orienting itself and then zoomed off to a fiery end.
“There!” Luke said loudly. It was finally over and he wanted to wash his hands. He stopped in his cabin to do so and then stomped back to the bridge.
Elaine was waiting for him. “King Tetsu requests the favor of your presence at the palace. I gather he wants to have a big victory celebration.”
Luke sighed and nodded. “That figures. But make sure we don’t get stuck here for days. Everyone should understand we’re out of here by noon tomorrow.”
“We’ll let them know.” Elaine glanced at the communication officer. “Find out where they want us to set down. Inform approach we require enough landing space for a half dozen Mustangs and two Phantoms. Have fifty Raiders do a reconnaissance flyover before anyone lands. And tell Colonel Lindstrom I want two hundred soldiers in battle dress as an escort for His Majesty.”
After a moment of conferring with approach control, the navigation officer spoke up. “They don’t have that big a space in the city. They want to know if you can do with less.”
“The answer is no. We’ll pick a spot in the country if necessary. We can provide transportation for the local king if required.”
After another quick call, the navigation officer asked, “How about the spaceport? It’s twenty miles out of the city.”
“That would be fine,” Elaine said. “Make it happen.”
Luke watched the interplay from his observer’s seat. Elaine had turned out to be a very capable leader. He had been impressed with her from the beginning. She reminded him of his little sister.
Carrie had also started in the ranks and moved up. It didn’t turn out so well when Luke gave her command of the fledgling Alliance forces at the time, but that was due to other circumstances. These days she still had a CEO mentality when it came to leadership, just not when it came to anything violent.
Elaine might wind up in that category too someday. It often happened to military commanders. After seeing too much death, generals either became bitter and made everyone around them miserable or they changed into avowed pacifists and spent the rest of their lives working to improve the human condition. Luke had long since taken that road.
All he wanted to do was to settle down with Annie…he pushed that thought aside. He was worried sick about how she must be feeling right now. Instead, he turned to Elaine.
“How are you after your first big battle?” he asked.
She gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir. We’ve had over a dozen battles in the last few days. Did you mean the first one, or the one we just finished?”
Luke smiled and shook his head. “Nevermind. That was a roundabout way of asking if you’re up for the next mission.”
“Of course, Commander,” she answered seriously. “Where are we going?”
He could practically see the wheels turning inside her mind. What new adventure did he have in store. For a capable young woman, she was living an exciting life.
Luke, said, “We aren’t going anywhere. The next mission is all yours. Once we’re done here, I’m heading straight to Haiyanas and Annie.”
Elaine’s eyes widened in awareness. “Of course, sir. I will arrange an escort for your trip.”
Luke dismissed the idea with a wave. “That’s not necessary. I just want to take off on my own and have some time to reflect. It’s been an adventure, but not all of it good.”
“I understand,” Elaine replied. “But that won’t be happening. When you leave, there will be an appropriate escort. You are the King, sir. And while in this system, your safety is within my purview.”
“That sounds like my sister talking.”
Elaine cracked the faintest of smiles. “Yes, Sire. But she was much more explicit. I won’t go into detail, but she made it very clear that your safety comes first; ahead of just about everything. And I agree completely.”
Luke dropped the subject. He had seen that expression on Elaine’s face more than once and she wouldn’t back down. He wondered what threats Carrie made if Luke came to harm. It didn’t matter.
“All right,” he said, waving away her concern. “You decide how big an escort. But I’ll be going on Lulubelle, so you’ll need your own flagship.”
“Not a problem, sir. Valentine is still part of our fleet so I will set up my command on her. What is the next mission?”
Luke thought for a moment to put the next stage into words. “I want you to reconstitute your forces here and then head into Grey space. Where is their home planet? Find it, but don’t engage. Instead, your mission is to study them, discover what makes them tick. I need a recommendation from you. Are they truly evil, or just a new species with a few unsavory habits? Should we exterminate them or accommodate them?”
Elaine’s expression brightened. The mission was an extraordinary one and had far reaching implications. “To answer your question, yes. I am ready. I would love to take on that challenge.”
“It’s yours then,” Luke said. “I’m going to inform Roth on Moonbase One. He’ll send you experts in diplomacy and strategic planning. Keep in touch with both of us each step of the way. Remember, you’re not out there on your own. There’s a very competent bureaucracy behind you and you need to learn how to use it.”
“Understood,” Elaine said.
“And keep in mind the big decisions, like what kind of relationship humanity will have with the Greys, are not yours to make. Policy is established by people like Roth and the Council of Planetary Governors.”
That surprised Elaine. “I didn’t know we had one.”
“We don’t. And that’s another problem. When I get back that’s one of the tasks I’m giving to Roth. What I’m saying is, when you’re on the front lines, making tough calls comes with the territory. Just be sure you can live with your choices. What you might think is inconsequential could affect the lives of billions. Make sure the human race can live with your decisions.”
Elaine’s excitement grew as Luke laid out the scope of the mission. Her expression reflected an understanding of the mission’s significance. That confidence made Luke feel comfortable about choosing her for the job. It was not a task for a glory hound, but someone that was committed to the endeavor itself.
“Call from King Tetsu’s royal liaison office, Captain,” The communication officer said, breaking into the conversation.
“Go ahead,” Luke told Elaine. “Make the preparations for the celebration. You might want to include the surviving commanders of the local forces as well. They put on an amazing display of bravery and patriotism and a lot of them died today.”
Elaine nodded and walked over to the communication console.
Luke watched the activity on the bridge for another few minutes and then headed toward his own stateroom. It was time to dig out his fancy robes for another royal occasion. It would be interesting to meet the local King. The older monarch would probably be surprised he was seeing a different Luke. Handling that matter was going to be dicey. Luke wanted to keep the story of a rogue android king under wraps. The galaxy didn’t need a scandal like that.
In any event, it would be good to get the festivities over. All he could think about was getting back to Haiyanas and finding his wife.
*.*.*.*
“Entering the Haiyanas system,” George said.
“Have the fleet form up on us for arrival,” Sanford said.
“Acknowledged, Captain,” George replied.
Luke sat in the observer’s chair and concentrated on not taking command of the ship. If it was up to him he would come out of light speed about a mile from orbit. Instead, he gritted his teeth as the newly promoted Captain Sanford carefully went through all the proper arrival procedures; contacting planetary approach control and establishing the identification of all incoming vessels. These days Haiyanas was particularly concerned about giving unmanned ships access to the solar system. Lulubelle was finally cleared to la
nd at the spaceport.
“Have transportation waiting for me,” Luke said quietly.
Sanford was acutely aware of Luke’s impatience and acknowledged immediately. He almost barked at his communication officer. “Arrange for transportation the second we touch down!”
“Aye sir!”
Sanford wasn’t the only one tiptoeing around the commander. Every person on the ship had become increasingly cautious as Lulubelle neared the Haiyanas system. The entire crew would breathe a collective sigh of relief once the King was reunited with his long-lost Queen.
“Cleared for atmospheric entry,” navigation called.
Lulubelle tipped forward, entering the approved glide path for final approach to the planet.
Luke gripped the grab rail in front of the window. “Come on,” he muttered. He was tired of the waiting and worrying. Too many times he had been within minutes of seeing Annie only to have her slip beyond his grasp.
The communication officer looked up worriedly from his console. “Captain, Approach Control states ground transportation is tied up with Spaceport Security. Expect a thirty-minute delay.”
Sanford groaned in frustration. “Tell them—”
Luke exploded. “Enough already! Lulubelle! Put me down at the palace front entrance. Right now!”
“Acknowledged, Your Majesty.” The ship nosed over into a dive straight at the planet. “ETA ten seconds.”
Luke left the bridge at a run, headed for the exit. The hatch was opening as he arrived. Outside, a heavy drizzle darkened the evening skies. Luke jumped from Lulubelle onto the plaza and bounded up the broad steps. The tall palace doors opened and Carrie stepped outside, holding up her hands in a gesture that said stop.
“Move!” Luke barked. “Where is she?”
“She doesn’t want to see you,” Carrie said determinedly.
“I don’t care. I want to see her. Now get out of my way.”
Carrie latched onto the lapels of his ship uniform and held tight. “Would you stop!” she shouted. “You can see her in a minute, but first you need to listen to me! This is for your own good.”
