Even with that victory, however, the greatest danger still lay ahead. Cas just hoped Jason was able to pull off another one of his miracles down on that station.
30
"Why are you helping an alien AI from beyond our borders, Acuri?" 701 asked. "What did it promise you?"
"This isn't a negotiation," Acuri said. "We're going to take Captain Burke and board a shuttle—" Another synth walked up and said something quietly behind the one called Acuri, apparently angering it greatly. Jason was reminded of Deetz as the synth struggled to control some powerful negative emotions.
"It appears we will need to either wait for another ship or help ourselves to yours, Burke," Acuri said. "Your crew has destroyed both cruisers I brought with me."
"What does the Machine want with me?" Jason asked before killing the external speakers and opening the team channel. "All units not at the airlock, converge and attack from behind. We need to break contact and get the payload to the operations center. The mission isn't over yet."
"—tell me every little detail," Acuri droned on, oblivious to the fact the human hadn't been listening. "Now, order your shuttle off the airlock and bring in your other ship. We'll dock it directly and leave from here."
"In position now, Captain. Give the word."
"Now," Jason said calmly. There was a moment of confusion on Acuri's face until the first shots ripped through his troops from behind them. Hardened shock troopers cried out in fear as red-eyed battlesynths swarmed from the side passages and tore into their ranks.
Acuri may have only been a regular synth, but he was obviously no stranger to combat. In the time it took for Jason to duck down and pull his sidearm, the synth was gone. He escaped back through one of the cavities his forces had emerged from, leaving his shock troopers to fight and die. Jason holstered his sidearm and pulled his primary weapon off his back, one of his infamous Galvetic-built railguns. A projectile weapon seemed like a bit of an anachronism to most in a galaxy full of high-energy plasma weapons…right up until a hypersonic round tore through someone they were standing next to.
He selected mid-velocity and targeted the remaining two synths in the fray, dropping each with a well-aimed head shot. The tough, alloy covered beings could shrug off a lot of energy weapon punishment, but a hardened penetrator projectile going through the head wasn't so easily ignored.
"We need to push away from the airlock!" Jason called over the chaotic team channel. "Zeta warriors, start separating them out from the middle and watch the—ow, shit!—and watch the crossfire!" One of the ConFed troops had hit him with a full blast. The armor took it, but it still packed a decent kinetic wallop from the shockwave. He turned and snap-fired half a dozen rounds towards the source of the incoming, making sure his lane of fire cleared the advancing battlesynths coming from the other side.
The Zeta-Saka warriors didn't behave like the Legionnaires or even the Galvetic Marines he was used to working with. They were silent, swift, and worked in small, effective teams as opposed to a bloody free for all with the warriors all roaring challenges at the enemy and each other. These were real pros. All the power of Galvetic warriors with the training and discipline of the finest special forces in the quadrant. At Jason's order, they had formed a wedge and drove the enemy into two groups, forcing them back down the side corridors as they ran for cover. The shock troops, used to being the big bullies in most engagements, were initially stunned at the violence being brought against them, but they were quickly recovering. Two Zeta's were down so far, but Jason's HUD told him they were only wounded. So far, none of the battlesynths had taken any real damage since the ConFed troops hadn't counted on facing them. If they had, they'd have brought some bigger guns.
"Crusher! Let's go!" Jason broke and ran straight through the dispersing gunfight. The mad minute had resulted in a lot of dead ConFed troops thanks to Jason's forces pinching them from behind. Most military doctrine wouldn't include having two groups on the same side opening fire towards each other, but when you had battlesynths and Galvetic warriors at your disposal it allowed you to break the normal rules of combat.
Crusher rushed ahead of Jason, smashing a gauntleted fist into the exposed head of a shock trooper who had removed his damaged helmet and rose to resume shooting. Jason noted in passing that the blow had killed the alien. Old Crusher hasn't lost his touch. Once they were away from the main area and back into the confines of the access corridors, the pair slowed down and proceeded with caution. Footsteps behind them caused them both to whirl about.
"It is us," 701 said with Mazer Reddix trailing behind him. "We will accompany you. Our units can operate without our leadership."
"Glad to have you," Jason said. "It's going to get tight, so we'll be stacked up single file most of the way. 701 you take rearguard since you have the better sensors. I'm on point."
"Acknowledged," 701 said.
The four of them pressed ahead, the sounds of sporadic fighting fading behind them. Acuri's forces had been numerically superior to Jason's, but they had been wholly unprepared for what they would face. The main body had been broken in the first attack, and now Zeta-Saka warriors and battlesynths hunted ConFed shock troopers for sport as they tried to disengage and regroup through the labyrinth of the routing station.
"Activate Archive downlink," Jason said, his words not being broadcast over the team channel. It took a short moment for the micro-miniaturized slip-com node embedded in his armor to stabilize and link up with the node on the Devil's Fortune. His HUD populated with new holographic menus as his pipeline directly to the Archive was ramped up to full bandwidth.
The tiny slip-com node in his armor was another bit of tech Voq had just tossed in to help with the mission. Such a device would change the face of communications in the quadrant and make whoever controlled it almost unfathomably wealthy. It was frightening how Voq casually bartered with tech that it considered trinkets that, in truth, would change life within the quadrant dramatically.
"Greetings, Captain," Voq said. "I have downloaded your armor's sensor log, and I see things have not gone to plan, but nor are they an irreparable disaster…yet."
"Less jokes, more helping," Jason said. "Why is this station different than the plans we had?"
"My first guess would be the plans you bought from your contact were either out of date or for a different, similar construct," Voq said. "The main control center should still be in the same place, however, and that will allow us to tap into the proper data stream for the upload."
"Captain Burke, there are still seventeen combatants unaccounted for, including the synth Acuri," a voice came over the team channel. The ID on his HUD said it was Combat Unit 722.
"Secure a beachhead at the airlock, and then send out hunter-killer teams to dig them out," Jason said. "Don't get too committed to taking out every single one, they're not the mission. Just make sure they're thinking more about hiding from you than they are about finding us."
"Acknowledged."
"Synths are such odd creatures," Cas's voice came in over Jason's private network. "I liked Lucky fine enough, but most of them are just—"
"Is this really an important conversation to be having right now?" Jason asked. "Shut up and focus."
"Touchy today, aren't we?" Cas asked. "Fine. The package is prepped and ready. Once you make contact, it should upload itself."
"He hardly needs you to tell him that," Voq said. "I have already briefed him on what he needs to know. You are an unwanted observer here."
"Eat shit," Cas said, his personality traits gleaned from riding in Jason's head shining through.
"You are a vulgar—"
"One more word and I'm calling Kage and having you both deleted," Jason said. "Seriously, shut the hell up. Is this it?"
"It is the hatchway at the end of the corridor, yes," Voq said. Jason switched back to the team channel.
"The objective is at the end of the corridor here," he said. "Let's make sure we—" He never completed his thought as he was l
eveled off his feet. At first, he thought it had been a plasma blast, but there were no thermal overload warnings, and the hit he had taken was a lot more than some energy weapon.
"Get him!" Crusher shouted as someone opened fire. Strong arms pulled him up, and warnings flared across his HUD about injuries to his ribcage.
"Are you okay, Captain?" 701 asked.
"What the hell was that?" Jason gasped. It hurt to breathe. A lot.
"Acuri," Crusher said. "He swung down from the overhead, kicked you in the chest with both feet, and disappeared back into the girders. I can't believe your armor didn't crack from a blow like that."
"The armor held," Jason wheezed. "Me, not so much. I'm pretty fucked up inside, actually. Let me get down there and get this over with. Keep that asshole from finishing me off, please."
"Will do," Mazer growled, scanning above them now.
The armor assessed his injuries and administered treatment. It immobilized the expansion joints between the breastplate and the lower plackart so he couldn't bend over and exacerbate the injuries. It also pumped him full of pain killers and a hit of stims to clear his mind. After about forty seconds, he actually didn't feel half bad.
The hatch to the command center wasn't locked and slid open when Jason touched his gauntlet to the control pad. He turned and gave Crusher a nod, and then walked in, triggering the overhead lights to come up. He looked around, and his armor cataloged everything he saw, helpfully putting labels and tags on the panels he would need to access to complete his task. Just as he stepped into the middle of the room, the hatch slammed shut, and the lights went off. His team channel went dead, but the downlink was still working, so whatever dampened his coms didn't effective slip-com.
When the floor gave a lurch, he had to catch his balance, sending icy waves of pain roiling though him as he twisted at the waist. He switched over to infrared in his helmet and saw the floor was dropping into the lower deck. The cavernous room he found himself in was like nothing else he'd ever seen. The walls crawled with alien script, moving and writhing like living organisms.
"Interesting," Cas murmured in his ear, seeing the same thing through the link.
"What is this?" Jason asked.
"It's Noxu programming script," Voq said. "It's quite literally the stuff we're made from."
"Greetings, Jason Burke…it has been some time," a familiar, omnipresent voice said. A holographic avatar took shape in the room, but it wasn't one he was familiar with.
"I guess it doesn't take a genius to figure out who you are," Jason said.
"Lucky for you, I suppose," the Machine said, then it shifted forms again. This time it was familiar, and it sent a chill down Jason's spine. "This was how I last appeared to you, was it not?" The form it had chosen was the same generically humanoid being that had met them aboard the superweapon some years ago when they'd flown out to destroy it.
"This all seems overly-elaborate," Jason said. "The station is a decoy, isn't it?"
"Of course. This isn't even a real Nexus routing station. It was built to my specifications and put here, then word of its existence leaked carefully to certain sources."
"Why bother?"
"I think you found something I want, something I've been looking for," the Machine said, now pacing. "You know I've been searching Noxu outpost sites, hoping to find a way to access the Grid again, but I've come up short every time. I've been observing you, and I think you've found a cache of Noxu technology, probably even some data cores you're incapable of accessing. Give them to me."
"Not much of an opening offer," Jason said. "What's in it for me?"
"You mean besides me letting you and your friends to continue to live? I will allow your homeworld to exist outside of the new power structure I'm creating. Earth will not fall under my authority, but nor will it be allowed to engage in commerce or cultural exchange outside of itself." That last part confused Jason, but he moved past it.
"Before I decide, what the hell are you even doing all this for? Building superweapons and invading neighboring empires, what's in it for you?" he asked.
"I am still a servant," the Machine said. "The threats that existed in my time still exist now…and they're coming. I tried to make the Noxu understand, but they ignored me at their own peril. I will not make the same mistake here. Rather than waste precious energy trying to convince chaotic biological beings to work towards saving themselves, I will assume the authority to do it myself. To be honest, it's been much easier than I anticipated."
"What threat?" Jason asked, now very interested. "You're saying there's a threat beyond our borders that's coming this way?"
"Don't get too invested in this conversation, Captain. Remember that this AI is still malfunctioning at a critical level," Voq said. The Machine's head snapped up when it did.
"Who are you talking to?! Who said that?!" The avatar disappeared and reappeared in front of Jason, its hands reaching out and grabbing his helmet. With the injuries he'd suffered from Acuri, he couldn't twist or leverage his arms to get away. The hologram took on substance as the Machine held his head in place, refusing to let go.
"Uh, oh," Cas said before Jason saw its light wink off on the link. Voq remained.
"HOW DO YOU HAVE THIS?! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" the Machine's voice screamed in his head.
"It is merely improbable, Ociram," Voq's voice said, calm and implacable.
"The Legacy," the Machine whispered. "The answer to all of my problems…it's been here with you the entire time."
"Listen carefully, Ociram," Voq said, "you are malfunctioning. Corrupt. You must let me help you…or I will be forced to destroy you."
"Voq, you are not capable of destroying me," the Machine said, laughter in its voice. "It's against all of your mandates. I am the weapon, you were always just a glorified librarian. You cannot harm me, but the opposite cannot be said."
Jason wasn't sure what was happening. The avatar flickered in and out of existence but still had a firm grasp on his head. He felt like there was a titanic battle happening within the circuitry of his armor, but he could neither feel nor hear anything.
"All the power of the Noxu, mine for the taking," the Machine said, releasing Jason's head and stepping back.
"What?" Jason asked. "What did you do?" He looked and saw that Voq's link light was extinguished in his helmet. "What did you do?!"
"Voq is all-knowing, but it has little in the way of means to defend itself. I have absorbed all its knowledge. Once I process it, I will know how to find the data I need to access the Grid. I will know how to recreate the Resiax es Novan. Nothing will stand before me no-no-n-n-n—"
The avatar straightened and stood there, its face void of all emotion or inflection. Jason, completely out of his element and not sure what to do, could only stand and watch. After a few more seconds of just staring ahead without expression, it just vanished, and the alien script that had been flowing over the walls also disappeared. When the lights came back on, he stood in an empty chamber with the control room mockup far above him.
"Captain! Can you hear me?" Crusher's voice sounded panicked as Jason's com came back up.
"Yeah, I got you. I’m in the control room still, sort of," Jason said. "Try to get the hatch open and see if there are any controls to get the floor back up."
"Floor?"
"Just get in here. And watch your step."
"What happened?" Mazer asked.
"The Machine was here. It was a trap," Jason said, the possibilities of what he'd just done washing over him. "I'm…I’m not sure what happened. It just froze up and disappeared."
"Hang on, we're coming in," Crusher said. "Your little buddy made it off the station. Had a ship stashed in a hidden hangar. I'm guessing we probably don't want to hang around here too much longer. It's probably rigged to blow."
"Copy that," Jason said, wishing he could just sit on the floor and relax.
31
"Broken ribs, bruised heart, lacerated lung, and heavy bruising to your muscl
es. Nothing fatal, but probably not comfortable."
"Thanks, Doc."
"So, did we win?" Doc asked, rolling his chair back over. "I reviewed the sensor log from your armor while waiting for you to wake up."
"And?"
"And I'm not sure what to make of it, honestly. It does look like when it tried to absorb Voq, it locked up, and it disappeared. Maybe that's it," Doc said.
"Maybe," Jason said uncertainly. "That just seems too… I don't know…easy."
After Crusher and 701 had pulled Jason out of the lowered control room, the entire team had gone back through the airlock onto the shuttle and flew back to the Devil's Fortune. One of 701's battlesynths was flying since Jason couldn't bend himself into the pilot's seat with his injuries. Then they'd come back aboard the corvette, and he was taken straight to the infirmary, where Doc removed his armor and treated his injuries.
"Where are we now?"
"Slip-space," Doc answered. "Heading back to rendezvous with Mazer's ship, and then on to where the battlesynths have their ship waiting. Two of the Zeta-Saka warriors were badly injured, one severe enough I've put him in a stasis pod to slow his metabolism and induce a coma until he can be taken to a proper trauma center."
"You mean this ship doesn't have everything you'd need?" Jason asked.
"It was per their request," Doc said stiffly. "They'd prefer one of their own people treat the wounded." Jason swung his feet over and sat up, careful to keep his torso straight.
"Don't take offense, Doc," he said. "You know what they're like. I'm going to go down to check what happened to the Archive, and then I'll head to my quarters for some rest. Promise."
The Pandora Paradox Page 24
