Stephanie and Alice followed the walkway for a while until it rejoined the main street. The many commercial and government spaces were lined up all along the lower level of the old colony ship. It had been lowered into the ground so the widest point, several kilometres across from what they could see, was at street level. The buildings around the colony ship were taller, more expensive in appearance as they got closer. The four and five storey buildings made of brick and old hulls were replaced with ten and fifteen storey buildings sculpted from metal and heavy concrete.
“So he's really using a head hunter service?” Alice asked.
“It was my idea, actually. I knew Frost was hurting to get a gunnery crew up and running. I could use a few mercenaries, and we need a lot of maintenance and repair staff.”
“So you were thinking of Frost first.”
“No. Well, sure I was. But what is a ship like that without gunnery crews? I mean, we don't even have a fighter wing set up.”
“Uh-huh. All for the good of the ship,” Alice teased with a smile.
“You're as bad as Ashley.”
“So how well crewed will we be once they've loaded up?”
“Let's just say we'll be running a good rotation. We still need pilots if we start manufacturing fighters, a few more mechanics to maintain them, but for the time being we'll have the crew we need to run the ship and not put everyone on double shifts. It's hard trying to keep everyone on eight and twelve hour duty shifts when we really need everyone sixteen hours on, eight off.”
“I don't know how Wheeler did it with under a hundred.”
“Not well, I mean, the first time we got aboard we took his ship. His people were underpaid and demoralized. They couldn't even turn security measures on because it would interfere with the automation. I can't wait to see what the Triton is like with a fully trained crew.”
“Me neither. Ever since I experienced the First Light with Jonas I've wanted to be back on board a ship like it, and to have the command chair for a shift five or six times a week,” Alice shook her head, she was smiling, practically beaming. “I can't tell you, it's like a dream. I know it's early but Jake has practically adopted me, everyone else has been kind so far, and I'm actually getting the post I wanted. I wish Jonas were here.”
“I'm so sorry, I couldn't imagine losing someone like that. I've lost people on boarding actions and during I don't know how many firefights, but-” Stephanie didn't finish her thought, she didn't want to bring Alice down as they walked along the busy street.
Alice looked to Stephanie and forced a brief smile. “I'll be okay. Jake's been a help. Lewis has been pretty good too. He doesn't know what to say most of the time, but lately he's been trying to make me laugh.”
“The AI on your ship?”
“Yup, he's been around for a while. While I was alone on the run he was my best friend. I hope those times are gone, to be honest.”
“Things are getting better. The wind's changing, something my father used to say,” Stephanie said in a rare expression of optimism. “You're crew now.”
The office for the Leute Menschen company wasn't nearly as busy as either of them expected. A tall gentleman in a grey business suit greeted them at the door and invited them both to sit at his desk. “So, you're here to finalize payment for the Triton's hiring initiative.”
“That's right. I was surprised when Captain told me someone would have to finish this in person.”
“Don't you mean the Captain, miss?”
“Oh, we just call him Captain like it's his name. Old habit,” Stephanie informed cassually.
“Ah. Well, at Leute Menschen we prefer to put a personal touch on everything we can. Finalizing such a large recruitment in person adds an element of prestige to the transaction, don't you agree? Please, look into the scanner,” he instructed pleasently, holding up a stylus shaped scanning tool. Stephanie looked at it and a second later it beeped. “That's that then. We're all finished.”
Alice's mental communicator came to life, Lewis' voice was muddled, there was a distortion in the background. “I cannot combat this foe any longer. I'm afraid the Malice's computer implanted virus is unlike any I had seen or am capable of eradicating. It wants me to broadcast it, to end lives. I could not tell you of it before now since admitting it's existence would give it power.”
“Shut down, crash the Clever Dream's systems. Don't give in Lewis,” she thought back.
“I cannot. Now that the ship is refuelled it is making its final push, breaking into my core program. To my great relief I was able to give you time to get away from me. I love you Alice, and I am so sorry. Run.”
Alice leaned forward as though the wind had just been knocked out of her. She looked like she was in incredible pain and as Stephanie put a hand on her shoulder it eased. “Something's wrong with Lewis. He said he's been fighting a new virus then filled my receiver with some kind of static or machine code.”
“What exactly did Lewis say to you miss?” asked the clean cut fellow behind the desk.
Alice gave him a suspicious look. Few people understood who Lewis was at first guess, especially since he used a mental communication link to speak to her when she was off ship. “He said it was unlike anything he'd seen and it wanted him to rebroadcast it.”
“That isn't what he is telling me,” the gentleman said before standing and reaching for Alice's throat in one swift motion.
His fingertips grazed her skin as she recoiled.
Stephanie drew her sidearm, set it to maximum with a flick of her thumb and fired on him several times. Bolts of energy opened wounds in his android body, nearly tore off his left arm, and finally decimated his face. He fell back twitching on the floor. “What's that all about?”
Alice looked outside and immediately caught sight of an automated rickshaw coming down the street at speed, running its three wheels over anyone in its path, terrifying the unfortunate passengers. A hovering garbage collector was grabbing and tossing people against the walls as it randomly raged through the street. Panic was spreading like a wildfire as automated systems went on the offensive. “This is bad,” she said quietly.
“We have to get back to the ship,” Stephanie replied.
“Oh no,” Alice checked the ship status screen on her command and control unit. It verified her worst fear. “The Clever Dream's on full attack mode, striking at everything in the sky.”
“Frost, where are you?” Stephanie asked, opening a comm line.
“I was nearly cut in half by a bulk loader just now! Everythin' with an AI installed is goin' berserk!”
“Don't run back to the ship. It's gone.”
“What?”
“Lewis, Alice's AI took off with it,” Stephanie said as she followed Alice behind the counter. The scene in the street was getting worse. The androids that normally blended in with the masses were starting to stand out as murderous things, striking and tearing at the panicking crowd with great speed, dexterity and efficiency.
“I'm going to try to contact Lewis again,” Alice said as they huddled down behind the thick granite counter.
Stephanie nodded and continued talking to Frost. “Does your contact have a ship?”
“My contact is dead. He was standing right beside his auto companion when it went nuts.”
“Auto companion?”
“Automated date lass. If you haven't seen one you should get out more.”
“Why would I see one in public?”
“You have a point.”
“Meet us at the Leute Menschen office.”
“The loot men what office?”
“The head hunter office. I'll get in touch with the Captain. Be careful.”
“Aye.”
“ Triton, Chief Vega here. We have an emergency.”
Alice made a painful expression and held her head between her hands. “I can't-” she started before gasping. “-can't disconnect.” She breathed heavily for several seconds then collapsed.
“We have an emergenc
y!” Stephanie repeated. “ Triton, please come in.”
She looked at the communications status on her right wrist. There was no signal, no indication that the Triton was even there. “Frost, how far away are you?”
His line went active and she could hear the sounds of rapid gunfire, he was using his sidearm as though it were an automatic weapon. “Load lifter's after me, I think I made it angry!” He was running, shooting. “'Bout half way there though, you'll know when I'm close, just watch for the ragin' bulk lifter!”
She looked down at Alice and set her left command and control unit to inject a stimulant. “Alice tried to communicate with our ride and got knocked out, I'm going to try to get her back on her feet.”
“That'd be nice, that hand cannon of hers might solve my problem. Make a hole! Comin' through!” she heard him shout to the screaming, panicking people nearby.
“I hope I set the dosage right,” Stephanie said to herself as she sprayed the stimulant cocktail into the back of Alice's neck.
She sprung up to her feet, eyes wide open, gasping for air and reaching out with her hands at nothing in particular. Alice remembered where she was after a moment then dropped back down, panting and holding her chest.
“Sorry! Sorry! Don't die!”
“Feels like my heart's about to explode,” Alice gasped as she braced herself and tried to calm down. “I'll be fine, it's okay,” she reassured, looking at her command and control unit. “My heart rate's one ninety two, but it's coming down.”
“These things materialize drugs I've never seen,” Stephanie held up her wrists, showing her the two part command and control unit. “I didn't have a chance to read up.”
“It's okay, at least I'm on my feet. We won't get any help from Lewis or the Clever Dream though. He managed to tell me he's leaving the system to send some kind of transmission. Then whatever virus infected him tried to infect me.”
“Are you okay?”
“My mental comm is burned out, but I'm fine.”
“Glad to hear you're up and about lass! I have incomin' and he's pissed!” Frost interrupted.
Both women peeked up over the counter and they couldn't see Frost, but his pursuer was brutally obvious. A three meter tall load lifter running on heavy armoured treads was speeding down main street. It had uncountable scorch marks across the front of its broad metal body but showed no signs of real damage. The four heavy arms all reached forward towards something ahead of it, ignoring everything else in the street.
Anyone still in the broad thoroughfare ran for their lives, those who didn't make it were crushed under the wide treads of the load lifter or butted aside by its reinforced metal body.
“He had to find the biggest robot in the city and piss it off,” Stephanie complained as she checked the power level on her sidearm.
“I only got its attention when it was makin' for someone else.” Frost said, he was gasping for breath. He came into sight then, running up a staircase, half looking backwards. He was firing like mad at its small head like sensor suite. The tip of his handgun was white hot and he actually managed to hit his mark two or three times. “Damn thing's heat shielded!” he shouted as he jumped over the railing and landed in a cart full of tourist trinkets. The lifter's left arms burst through the stone staircase and he kept after his target.
Frost was on his feet again and running for his life, trying to put more distance between him and his much larger peruser. “Can't hide from the damn thing either! Who in blazes gives a load lifter a scanning and targeting suite?”
“I've never seen anyone who looks like Frost move like that. I would have never thought to look at him,” Alice said as she watched Frost and set her large sidearm to full automatic. The weapon made a whining sound as it began to draw power from the energy cell in front of the trigger.
“He has his moments,” Stephanie commented.
“Thank you luv, just tell me you have some extra firepower waitin' for this bastard.”
Alice took aim and braced herself. “I have something that should penetrate,” she opened fire and her blazing white hot stream of shots went through the transparesteel store front window like paper. They went flying past the loader's head at first, but then she began to hit it. The sensor suite was filled with holes seconds later, and the load lifter started to rotate, flailing its arms near Frost. One caught his ankle, flinging him head over heels.
He flinched away from the arm as it made another grab for him, and it missed. Another arm caught his leg and hauled him into the air. “Get this thing offa me!” he shouted.
Alice started firing bursts down the robot's body, being careful not to hit Frost.
Stephanie jumped over the counter and ran out the door, pulling two grenades out of her left leg pocket. Her sidearm was in her other hand. She squeezed the trigger as fast as she could, hitting the chest plate of the large target but not penetrating it.
“Stay away lass! I'd be as good as gone if anythin' happened to ya!” Frost said as the load lifter tried to grip his head with another arm. He was pushing himself away from the two pronged hand, holding it off as best he could.
Stephanie ignored him and came to a sliding stop right beside one of its treads. She tossed one grenade in between the armour plate and the gears then ran behind it, looking for an opening. “Fire in the hole!” she called out.
“Bloody hell!” Frost said as he curled into the fetal position best he could while hanging upside down.
The load lifter rocked back and forth as the grenade went off. Its right tread was rendered useless. Some of the plating on the lower half of its body came loose and Stephanie caught a glimpse of its power supply. “You okay Frost?”
The load lifter dropped him and he landed head first. His vacsuit protected him, hardening over his head, bracing his neck and spine. “I think you got its attention.”
Stephanie saw its torso just about to rotate towards her and took her shot. She tossed the grenade at the small opening revealing its power cell and it bounced off. Without a second thought she ran between its tractor treads, picked up the live grenade, attached it to the underside of its torso and pulled herself over its working metal tread.
To Alice and Frost's amazement she barely made it, putting the armoured tread between herself and the blast. She was still in the air when it went off, and she was sent rolling away by the concussive force.
Frost was there in a heartbeat, and seeing no obvious injury, he picked her up in his arms and ran for the head hunter's office. The load lifter, deprived of power, went limp.
“I'm all right.” she said quietly.
“You're a little touched in the head lass.”
“I saved your ass, didn't I?”
He burst through the door, crossed the room and put her down on the counter. They both got behind it for cover.
“ Triton to ground team, our communications were offline, are you all right?”
“Good to hear your voice Cynthia. We're under cover for now, but need a pickup.”
“Building lockdown in progress,” said a calm voice over the audio system. Heavy security doors started rolling down over the display windows.
The trio were on their feet, jumping over the reception counter and rushing the exit. Alice and Frost made it through the door while Stephanie jumped through the hole in the transparesteel window.
“We're trying to get something off the deck for you now, but it's a mess in orbit. Every ship with an AI is shooting down manually run vessels. Even the space station started firing for a while,” Cynthia replied.
“We have to get under cover,” Alice said as the three of them looked around. The streets were starting to empty, corpses, ruined fixtures, scorched ground and broken storefronts marked the passage of the recent carnage. Most of the machines had moved indoors, chasing after people who tried to take cover.
“Tell us if you manage to get anything off the deck and on it's way. We're heading for the port,” Stephanie said finally.
“We've g
ot company,” Frost said, looking up to a pair of surveillance drones. They were unarmed but speeding towards them.
All three of them drew and fired. One of the green oval drones was sent spinning off to the right, the other was destroyed in mid air and they had to dodge the husk as it crashed between them. “This is going to get worse before it gets better, lets go,” Stephanie said, heading out at a run towards the load lifter's remains.
General David Collins
The bridge of the RGS Saviour was quiet but busy. General Collins watched the thirty posts from where he sat at the rear of the large triangular compartment. The slanted transparent panels along the front two sides of the bridge provided a breathtaking view of the Pollanis system. The distant planet of Daracka hung in the distance, while the dark side of a large rogue planet obscured a third of the view.
The rogue planet was erupting with plumes of ice and water as nearby gravity compressed it from the outside in. The particles drifting across the vista looked incredible, but more importantly the moon and it's debris masked the presence of the Saviour, a small but well armed Regent Galactic Destroyer.
Most of the bridge staff were busy collecting data from Daracka, the first deployment site for the aptly named Holocaust Virus. Every time Collins heard or had to say the name he was tempted to shake his head. Gabriel Meunez, it's creator, had named it. The man may program fifty four lines a second but he doesn't have a truly creative bone in his body. Even the Holocaust Virus, God, that name again, is only derivative and it took him forever to finish it.
“Sir, the VCS Malice has just arrived. They're two point three kilometres off the aft port side.” Reported the blue eyed, dark haired woman at tactical.
“God, I have to have him recode his transponder so it doesn't read as a Vindyne ship.” Collins said, shaking his head.
“ Malice command informs us that his shuttle is on it's way,” reported the tall, thin blond haired communications officer.
“Have him meet me in my quarters,” he said as he stood and straightened his long grey shirt. The exit was right behind him, something he liked about the new bridge design. He was forced to walk a few steps down from his solitary command seat then around the dais, which was a design aspect he did not like, however. The rationale behind it was simple; no one could speak to him from behind. He still disliked the extra few steps he had to traverse in order to get to and from the chair.
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