The Link

by Isaac Hooke

  Or he could have been barely out of his teenage years.

  He also could have been lying about everything.

  “You’ve secured an alliance with an alien race?” Tanis asked over the comm.

  Jason glanced up, as if trying to locate the source of the speaker. “Yes. They were once part of the Link, but left because the requirements were too steep. The Tyrnari were destroying their homeworld to keep up with the quota of bioweapons the Link Empire levied on them.”

  “Interesting,” Tanis said. “And who are you again?”

  “I’m Jason,” the young man replied.

  “Look up the Cataphract Project,” Jain told Tanis. “Apparently Jason here was part of a super secretive group of Mind Refurbs installed in combining mechs. They were sent into the uninhabited zone to hunt bioweapons.”

  “Ah,” Tanis said. His eyes were slightly defocused. “According to this report, you went rogue. The army has been trying to disable your units for the past fifty years.”

  “Disable?” Jason said. “You mean destroy.”

  “I’m not sure what to think of that,” Tanis said. “We’re supposed to trust that you won’t go rogue on us again?”

  “I went rogue because I refused to become military property,” Jason said. “As long as you guys don’t try to capture me, or install Containment Code, you have nothing to worry about.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Eric said. “And I’ve actually heard of you. I have contacts who monitor military communications on Earth now and then, and they’ve told me of a group of badass combining mechs who’ve built a base for themselves under some mountain in the uninhabited zone. It always brought a smile to my face whenever I heard about the latest military snafu that resulted from an attack on your base.”

  “Thank you,” Jason said. “That means a lot, coming from a Bolt Eater.”

  “You've heard about us.”

  “Of course,” Jason said. “Everyone's heard about you.”

  But not us, Jain thought with a frown.

  “I recognize your avatar,” Jason continued. “You’re Eric. The most famous Bolt Eater of them all!”

  Eric grinned widely.

  “Try not to go all fanboy on him now,” Sheila commented.

  Jain glanced at Tanis. “So?”

  The admiral shrugged. “He can join us, but I plan to keep a close eye on him and his ships, at least until he further proves himself to us.”

  Jacobs nodded. “We lost the Mimics, only to replace them with these Tyrnari. And the Banthar, of course.”

  “This is only a one-time thing, mind you,” Jason said. “The queen agreed to help just this once, to pay me back for the aid I lent her years ago.”

  “I don’t plan on forming an official alliance with humanity, either,” Eric said. “Like Jason told you, for me this is a one-time thing as well.”

  “But if it works out,” Jain said, “an alliance might probably be in our best interests. Alone, we can’t stand against the Link. But together, our three races have been able to hold them off. At least so far.”

  “Sure,” Jason said. “We can talk about a potential alliance when this is all over. Earth is still in danger though, no? Not just from the bioweapons and robots the Link are pouring into the cities… I take it you’re expecting more space-based reinforcements to arrive?”

  “The Link has been hitting us fast and hard,” Tanis agreed. “So yes, I suspect this little lull in the fighting won’t last for long.”

  Jason was quiet a moment. He seemed to be torn, as if trying to decide whether to reveal something that might potentially be important, or hold it back.

  Finally he spoke.

  “Eventually, you’ll have to take the battle to one of their homeworlds,” Jason said. “If not all of them. Otherwise, the Link won’t stop attacking.” He raised a hand. “Not that I’m saying the Tyrnari will agree to this. They only came to defend Earth. But it’s something I want you to think about.”

  “Even if your ships stayed, along with the Banthar, I don’t think we have the means to attack any of their homeworlds,” Jacobs said.

  “It’s the only way you’ll get the Link to leave you alone permanently,” Jason said. “Otherwise they’ll keep returning. It’s happened to the Tyrnari. The Link come, fight them for a few weeks, sometimes months, and then leave. A few years later, once the empire has regenerated the resources they lost, they strike again in another short war. It’s essentially a battle of attrition. The only way to stop them is by striking at the source. Take out the homeworlds of their top members. You have to do more than bloody their noses. You have to chop off their heads. Thanks to Jhagan, Risilan’s advisor, I have the locations of all these homeworlds, by the way.”

  “That’s certainly something to consider,” Tanis said. “But right now, our focus is going to have to be on protecting our own planet. I’m hoping that eventually, once we’ve fended off enough of their attacks, the Link will be open to negotiations. Then—”

  “They won’t negotiate,” a deep male voice came over the comm.

  Jason glanced sidelong, at something off camera. “That’s Jhagan, by the way.”

  “They won’t negotiate,” Jhagan said, louder. “At least not until you’ve attacked them where it hurts. I’ve been urging Risilan to strike at the heart of the Link Empire for years, but she’s always ignored me, while our space navy has slowly whittled away. Don’t make the same mistake she did. Strike at the Link while you still can. While you still have a fleet.”

  “We have no idea what their defenses will be,” Tanis said. “Nor how many ships they’ll have waiting for us.”

  “I have some idea of both,” Jhagan said. “And will share with you what I can. I have a certain world in mind already. A world my people have been scouting for decades.”

  “So it sounds like you’re agreeing to help us do more than defend Earth, then?” Tanis said. “In direct contradiction to what Jason just told us.”

  Jason raised his hands defensively. “Actually, I said I wasn’t sure if they’d help. But I guess they’re willing. Or some of them are, even if the queen doesn’t approve.”

  “He doesn’t speak for me,” Jhagan continued. “Nor does the queen. This fleet is mine, now that I’m outside Tyrnari territory: Risilan gave me full authority to act in her name, as I see fit to protect our homeworld. If you agree to send a strike group to the Link planet in question, of course I will help you, as it is in my homeworld’s best interests.”

  Jain had kept a video feed open on one of the view screens on the virtual bridge, and a flash came from it in that moment.

  “Xander, what just happened?” Jain asked.

  His Accomp was quiet for several seconds. “A rift opened next to the moon. Something just entered. Something big.”

  “Let’s see a holographic projection…” Jain said.

  A few seconds later a grayish, donut-shaped object appeared, rotating on the bridge in the space between Jain and Jason. Its surface was covered in flat, polygonal faces.

  “Oh, shitters,” the voice of Jhagan came over the comm. It seemed filled with a mix of awe and dread.

  “What, what’s shitters?” Eric asked.

  “I hate these ships,” Jhagan replied.

  “Why, what can it do?” Jain pressed. “Xander, are you detecting any obvious weapon turrets on its surface?”

  “That’s a negative,” Xander said. “But that doesn’t mean any weapons aren’t currently concealed.”

  “What can it do?” Jhagan said. “What? That, my human friends, is a world killer.”

  11

  “Just a world killer?” Eric said. “Oh, that’s no problem then. Earth has basically been facing world killers for the past hundred years. We’ve handled them before, we’ll handle them again.” He spoke with a lot more confidence than he felt, of course.

  “Go ahead, try to attack,” Jhagan said. “It won’t fire back. But nor will any of your weapons do any damage. It is equipped w
ith a force field… most attacks will only bolster that shield, as it absorbs energy and spreads the excess across its inner surface area.”

  Eric couldn’t actually see the alien speaker. He was participating in this conversation voice only. Though he was curious what form the so-called Tyrnari had taken. Human maybe? Or perhaps this Jhagan was staying off camera entirely, keeping his avatar hidden from view even from the initiators of the holographic conversation.

  He sat back on the deck of his wooden ship, and glanced at the other Bolt Eaters who lounged there with him. In front of them, the donut-shaped vessel rotated a few meters above the deck.

  “Doesn’t really look like a Death Star, does it?” Frogger commented.

  “Death what?” Bambi asked.

  “Never mind,” Eric told her. “Before your time.”

  “I’m sending in a flotilla on an attack run,” Tanis said. “Jason, or Jhagan, I could use a couple of your Tyrnari vessels for backup. Eric, some Banthars would be nice, too.”

  “I’ll send the Tyrnari,” Jhagan responded. “But as I already told you, it won’t help.”

  “I’d like to try, in any case,” Tanis said.

  “Very well,” Jhagan said.

  Eric glanced at his tactical map and saw some of the Earth defender ships pulling away. A moment later some Tyrnari vessels joined them. Eric instructed some of his Banthar vessels to make an attack run with them.

  The Earth ships launched black holes, energy cannons, and nuclear bombs, the Tyrnari unleashed their plasma beams and black holes, and the Banthar fired gamma rays and unleashed strings of micro machines.

  Eric had the feed from his external cameras piped in directly in front of him, so that he wouldn’t have to look past the translucent ocean beside him, and saw a bright, curved shape flashing into existence around the world killer as the weapons neared the donut-shaped ship. The nuclear bombs detonated as they impacted that field, but even their blast waves were absorbed, and nothing got close to touching the world killer within.

  “Jhagan was right,” Tanis sent.

  “Yes,” Jhagan said. “Weapons do nothing, except charge that shield.”

  “We have a few teleporters in our midst,” Jain said. “Maybe we can teleport past it?”

  “That force field is autogating,” Jhagan said. “You can try teleporting inside, but it won’t work. The ships are too big.”

  A moment later, Jain said: “I can confirm. One of my Void Warriors just attempted to teleport. He wasn’t able to open the endpoint.”

  “There is a way inside,” Eric said suddenly.

  “We’re listening,” Tanis sent.

  “How do you know?” Dickson asked him from where he was seated on the deck.

  “My cloud database,” Eric said. “The Banthar have encountered ships like these. Teleportation does indeed work, but the objects to be teleported have to be a lot smaller. If we can modify our teleporters to send objects, like the Farseeker vessels do, then we can send in a team.”

  There was a pause, then:

  “My Void Warriors tell me they have some ideas on how to do this,” Jain said over the comm. “But they have a condition. They want to be the ones to go.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” Eric said. “The Bolt Eaters are going in.”

  “No, I disagree,” Jason said. “This is a job for the War Forgers.”

  Brontosaur suddenly chuckled beside Eric. “I can’t believe this. We’re arguing among ourselves about who gets to be the first to die.”

  “I’ve never heard of any penetration teams defeating this sort of vessel,” Jhagan commented. “Then again, I don’t really have much intel on these ships. So far, the Link has never sent world killers to the Tyrnari homeworld. But that’s only because they want to preserve the precious bioweapons that still roam our planet in hordes.”

  “The Banthar were known as hoarders, even among the Link, and they have the blueprints,” Eric said. “I have a full map of the interior. If we can teleport inside there, I have an idea of how we can deactivate the shield. The mission certainly won’t be easy, but it is doable. Because of my intimate knowledge, I’m the obvious pick for the mission, of course.”

  “And we’re going with you,” Slate said from the Bug Killer.

  “I’m not so sure it’s the greatest idea for everyone to go along,” Eric said. “The insides of the ship are relatively cramped… our humanoid androids will fit, but not mechs. Even Cicadas are a tad too big for where we’ll be operating.”

  “Damn,” Dunnigan sent. “I was looking forward to trying the new alien mechs in our arsenal.”

  “I guess that rules out building-sized mechs like my Vulture,” Jason sent.

  “That’s right,” Eric said.

  “The Void Warriors are going,” Jain broadcast. “There’s no question. We have humanoid models aboard. Plus, we’re the ones who are going to teleport the rest of you. Assuming we can get our teleportation devices modded in time…”

  “Time,” Eric said. “Something we don’t have very much of.” He glanced at his tactical display. The world killer was on a direct course to Earth. Its trajectory would take it through the defending fleet, and when it reached Earth, it would arrive somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean.

  “You’re the one with knowledge of how these things work…” Jain said. “Tell us just how much time we have.”

  “Well, it needs a continent underneath it, so it’s going to have to change course in orbit until its above land, probably North America,” Eric said. “Once it’s in place, the pulse generator located at the center of the ship—where the donut hole resides—will begin firing concentric pulses of energy into the Earth’s crust. These pulses are designed to penetrate into the mantle, and into the magma layers beneath. The shield will continue to protect it from external attacks the whole time. Over the course of eight hours, those pulses will heat the magma into the tens of thousands of Kelvins range, causing the continents to drift free—think destructive earthquakes—and volcanoes to erupt across the planet. It’s going to be messy.

  “There’s a chance humanity could survive. But most likely, Earth will be plunged into the equivalent of a nuclear winter from all that volcanic ash spewed into the air. Plus, most of the cities will be pulverized from the earthquakes. That, combined with the damage the Link invaders have already caused to the different cities, is essentially the death knell of humanity. If some do survive, it’ll still take hundreds of years to recover, if not thousands. Link hunter killer squads will no doubt roam the ruins, seeking out the survivors while terraforming robots convert the planet into a bioweapons factory.”

  His grim pronouncement was met with silence. Then:

  “So we have eight hours, you’re saying?” Jain asked.

  “The earthquakes will begin at the six hour mark,” Eric replied. “And we have an hour before that until it reaches Earth and moves into position above the surface. So that gives us a total of seven hours.”

  “That’s not much time at all,” Jain said. “Though I’ve got my team operating at their maximum possible time sense to get the tweaks to the teleportation device done.”

  “I hope they get something done within the hour,” Eric said.

  “How many of you plan to join us?” Jain asked.

  Eric glanced at the Bolt Eaters on the deck with him. “If the seven of us go, along with your six Void Warriors, that makes thirteen of us. That’s about the perfect size for the boarding party.”

  “What about us?” Slate said from the Bug Killer.

  “Sorry, bro,” Eric said. “You’ll just have to hold the fort from orbit. I’m sure we’ll face more attacks from other Link vessels while we’re in there, especially once they realize what we’re doing. It’s up to you guys to watch our backs.”

  “Yeah, except Slate is doing all the driving,” Eagleeye complained. “And we’re just sitting back in the passenger seat, along for the ride.”

  “Then get him to divvy up some of his processing tas
ks your way,” Eric said.

  “Oh, fun times,” Eagleeye said. “He’ll probably grant me access to something lame like the gamma ray recharge subroutines.”

  “You know it!” Slate said. “You wanna be my bitch, I’ll make you my bitch!”

  “All right, on that note…” Eric said. “Jain, let me know as soon as you have the modifications to the teleportation device ready. Assuming, of course, the rest of the fleet agrees to what we’ve discussed.” Tanis and Jacobs had been keeping uncharacteristically quiet.

  “We agree,” Tanis said. “Someone has to destroy that ship. It may as well be the Heroes of Earth. But there’s something troubling we’ve detected on the planet.”

  “What now?” Eric asked.

  “Take a look at New Hampshire,” Tanis replied.

  “First colony to declare independence from Britain in 1776,” Sarge said. He grinned sheepishly when Eric glanced at him. “Gotta love the instant recall provided by a permanent connection to the cloud.”

  “Dee, what do we have down there?” Eric questioned his Accomp.

  “I’m detecting elevated radiation transmissions from the area,” Dee said. “I’m zooming in on the area with the cameras.”

  Eric accessed the same camera feed, and he could see the cylindrical units working together with drone swarms to lay the foundations of some sort of building. It reminded him vaguely of the Pentagon with its five sides and empty central area.

  “I recognize this,” Eric said.

  “What is it?” Tanis asked.

  “According to the Banthar archives, it’s a backup world killer,” Eric said. “The device works similar to the one coming down from orbit, in that once it’s complete, it’ll emit a beam directly into the mantle and heat the subsurface. So even if we succeed in eliminating the threat from orbit, if this device goes off, it will still trigger earthquakes planet-wide, tearing the continent apart, and all the cities with it.”

  “That’s typical of the Link,” Jhagan sent. “They always have a backup plan.”

  “Well, we’ll just have to take out that base, too,” Jason transmitted. “Looks like you have a use for my team and its mechs after all.”