A.I. Destiny 5 Talisman of Tomorrow

by Timothy Ellis

  Seventeen

  "The council will see you now," said a flunkey. "Just you," it added, as the entire team rose.

  Fred smiled, Lyana frowned, and the rest just looked dangerous. The flunkey fled. A general chuckle went around the room.

  Fred strode through the door into the council chamber. He had a hand on his visible Long Gun, and he was expecting to be shot at.

  Nothing happened.

  Lyana followed him in, with Wanda and Serena a pace behind. The three of them formed a triangle formation behind Fred, each concentrating on the movements of a third of the chamber.

  There was silence.

  Fred looked around the chamber as he approached the computer to present his credentials. Once again, it was similar to the old sector ten chambers. But this chamber was decidedly lacking in ambassadors. More than half the seats were empty, and there had been no attempt to get everyone seated together.

  He paused before the computer, and activated a program Jane had given him for the purpose. It hacked the computer through its wifi node, and popped up the attendance records. He was surprised to see most of the absentees hadn't been there in a long time. So the missing ambassadors hadn't boycotted this meeting, they simply didn't attend at all.

  One thing highlighted itself for his attention. The number one seat was empty, its occupant having been assassinated only the week before.

  He completed the task of being identified, and stepped back to the middle of the rostrum.

  "Why are you here?" asked seat two.

  "I'm Duke…"

  "We know who you are," boomed a voice from the back. "Why are you imposing on our time?"

  "Leader Jane from the sector ten council has sent me to ask if this council will send delegates to discuss our mutual interests."

  "What might those be?" boomed the voice, showing who really ran this council.

  "The Brotherhood for one. Pirates and drug running for another."

  "Why should any of that concern you?"

  "We border your space, we share the same issues. What runs uncontrolled on your side of the border spills over onto our side."

  "What spills into your space is of no concern of ours. What happens in our space is no concern of yours."

  "We beg to differ."

  "You may beg all you like. You are not welcome here. Your warships are not welcome in our space, and when we catch you violating our territory like you have, we will destroy them."

  Fred felt his grip on his lower jaw failing. He made an effort to remain impassive.

  "So I should inform my council Leader you will not be attending talks?"

  "You may inform your council leader anything you wish. Do you have any other matters to bother us with?"

  "No. Thank you for your time."

  "Your thanks are irrelevant. Go."

  Fred took a last look around the chamber, making a note of the faces which looked very unhappy at the turn of events. He was surprised to see they were in the majority, but no call had been made for a vote.

  The Mushroom intercepted his gaze, and casually waved his tablet around. Fred made an almost unnoticeable nod, and turned to leave.

  "Do not come back," boomed the voice.

  Fred and his team left.

  "That went well," laughed Serena, once they were back on the ship.

  No-one took her up on the conversational gambit. Fred went to his office, in the suite he was now sharing with Lyana. He expected an email from the Mushroom ambassador any time.

  Lyana went to the bridge to get the ship ready to depart. If the warning was to be taken literally, they could be attacked as soon as now, or more likely once they undocked. She checked the navmap for warships, and found none. However, there were some armed freighters around, and enough of them to make escaping from this trap a bit tiresome, if they chose to act together.

  She pondered the word trap for a moment. It felt like it to her, and had done so immediately the booming voice had started speaking. The rest of the team took up positions at all the airlocks, just in case. The ship was buttoned up, but this wouldn't stop anyone seriously trying to take the ship by force.

  Nothing happened for a good while. The team chatted in team coms mode, keeping each other alert.

  Fred eventually walked onto the bridge.

  "You can move us out of here," he said. "The mushroom managed to get enough support for a vote, and the motion to send delegates was narrowly passed. Our work is done here. Let's go home."

  "You might want to rethink that," said Jane, in her Justine voice, through the bridge speaker.

  A screen popped up showing a media news alert.

  Eighteen

  Snark was ready to go. They'd been fiddling about here for too long, wasting time talking. His tail flicked back and forth as the extended team sat around the conference table.

  "We've got a destination point, let's just get going," he blurted out, as the conversation stalled yet again.

  His new PC was still unfamiliar, and he needed time to get the hang of it, but all this waiting around was getting to him. Being connected to others, and Seasprite, in this new way, was both a blessing and a challenge. It was so much more efficient and effective, even if people thought his hand waving and muttering to himself was weirder than usual for him.

  "We're not going anywhere," said Patters, "until you get rid of that canary yellow suit!"

  There were chuckles around the room. Snark muttered under his breath. Patters knew she didn't want to know what.

  Anna was watching his hyperactive quirks, as she could see he was frustrated. The tail flicks, scratching at his neck, and behind the ears, fingers tapping on the table top, sudden suit removal and licking, followed by that most awful of colours, as he shifted back.

  Anna was also frustrated. It seemed they were going to be setting out with an entire fleet, which is what she hadn't bought into. It gave them less flexibility, and a fleet meant a fleet Admiral. The team had always done things their way, in a strangely democratic process which worked, after a fashion at least. A fleet Admiral meant control, rules, procedures, military processes. She felt constrained. It didn't feel like their quest anymore.

  She knew they'd need backup, as news of the Destiny Stone was everywhere across three sectors at least. It just didn't sit comfortably with her. She wasn't in the military, and didn't want to be.

  She could also see Patters and Sissness squirming in their chairs. Patters, most likely because her own expertise was being subsumed by the military and technological direction things were taking. And Sissness? Well, Sissness was interested in information, discovering lost secrets, and finding ways to explain things. While she was thorough and disciplined, she was a free spirit. She didn't like the military approach either.

  Mouse hid his discomfort well. He listened carefully, but his mind seemed elsewhere, probably on some improvement he was making to a piece of equipment. But his tail was waving as well, and his ears were alert.

  If Jamie was here, he would be good naturedly telling it like it was, and calling out the issue. He'd do it in such a funny way, it wouldn't seem to be as serious as it was. She clamped down on her thoughts. Don't think about Jamie.

  Warspite was detailing the ships and forces they'd be taking with them. Anna's brain started to glaze over. She knew it was important, but it meant nothing to her. Snark and Patters were listening carefully, understanding much more than her, but it still seemed excessive.

  The problem seemed to be since their destination was so far away, there needed to be as much backup as possible. There was talk of staging sites, and re-supply lines, and much more. Was this a war?

  She thought about the Hall of Righteousness. She and Jamie had jumped there through time and space. If this happened again, the team would have no need of fleets, or ships, or weapons. It would be just them. No, she thought, just her.

  It mostly depended on what the Brotherhood would do next. Would they try to capture them with a fleet like last time? The forces
being described would be needed then. However, maybe the Brotherhood head learned their lesson, and would change tactics?

  There was a pause in the conversation. She spoke up.

  "What you're suggesting is logical, if we think the threat against us is a fleet of ships. If you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. What if it's not a military force we have to deal with, but something else?"

  Tranquil looked up at this. Warspite looked surprised. She could see Snark silently sniggering behind a paw, and the others nodding sagely. She continued.

  "I agree we need protection. Particularly from the pirates, scumbags, and rogue elements now abroad in the sectors. We faced a mighty Brotherhood-led force at our last encounter, and this may happen again. It also may not. Let's be cautious, but agile at the same time. Let's not think of it as a military-led expedition. While we may need a military response, it shouldn't be driving our thinking, and our overall strategy. It's still my mission. And it's still Snark's Quest."

  Warspite was about to say something, but Tranquil had already headed him off at the pass in AI mode, reminding him of Jane's orders. She belatedly put a hand on his arm to show the others she was urging him to restraint.

  "I can see your point," she said. "We have our own way of operating. What you're saying is, you'd like to still have control, but be able to call on back up when needed?"

  Anna and the others all nodded vigorously. Snark backed up Anna's speech.

  "We all want to find the amulet. We have the Stone. What's worked up 'til now is a combination of us going for it, and having back up where needed. What needs to change?"

  Tranquil looked at Warspite. Only she could see it, but he looked slightly beaten. This endless discussion about something they already had rigid orders about, and couldn't tell anyone they had, was driving him nuts. And none of it was going his way at all. He had retained command, but the need to defer to Snark was the sort of contradiction which had driven the original AI's mad. Tranquil was worried about Warspite.

  What he needed was a damned good battle. And it was the one thing he wasn't going to get any time soon.

  Nineteen

  "Saddle up," said Fred, into team coms. "Full combat suit deployment. Arm stunners at the ready, but take pulse rifles as well."

  "They requested our aid?" asked Lyana, as she raced for the door.

  "The council adjuncts didn't. Station security did. The situation is worse than the media know about. The council were taken hostage by an unknown force of about company strength. About a platoon worth are actually in the council chamber. The rest are setting up block points in all access ways, and have all the security stations under siege. So far, the security people are holding them out, but they don't think they can last much longer."

  "Priority one then?"

  "Yes. Justine?"

  "Yes Fred," said Jane.

  "What access do you have to the station coms?"

  "How much do you want?"

  "Everything except a single security channel. We stop them communicating with each other, so taking down one group won't alert another. Leave us one channel to the security forces, and team coms."

  "Confirmed."

  "Can you get access to cams in the council chamber?"

  "You want positions marked for hostiles?"

  "Yes. And any other threat."

  "Threat detected. They have a bomb."

  "Where is it?"

  "On the central rostrum. It's big enough to take out an area of three decks above and below, and the entire chamber."

  "Not a problem boss," said Bette Henquist.

  "Tell me why."

  She told him.

  He paused for a moment, on his way down to the armoury to get a meson blaster. He was the only one not suiting up. But that didn't mean he wasn't going in dangerous.

  "Justine?"

  "Fred?"

  "We'll need all the combat droids. A squad to go with Bette please. They take anything she needs. Break the rest up to go with each team member. Lyana to assign targets to each group."

  "Confirmed."

  Jane did a mental shake of the head. Fred was slowly but surely turning into his cousin.

  They assembled at the main airlock, a line of combat suits across it, Fred to one side out of the way, and lines of combat droids behind them, so every arm had a clear line of fire.

  The inner doors slid open. As one, they moved into the airlock itself.

  "Opening in five," said Jane over team coms, "four, three, two, one. Go."

  The inner doors slid open, and fire poured from guns through the gap, being added to all the time as the gap became wider. Soldiers on the other side were mown down where they stood, very few getting off any shots themselves, and these going wild. The few slugs which did hit, simply bounced off.

  Fred waited for the last one to fall.

  "Move out!"

  They moved, heading for different corridors and stairwells. Fred remained where he was for a moment.

  "Clean up on isle, err, shit, the whole supermarket," he muttered.

  "Confirmed," said Jane, and the first of the cargo droids walked out through the airlock, and hauled a body off into the nearest large room which could hold them all. Smaller droids began removing weapons and ammunition.

  Fred nodded, and started after Bette.

  By the time he caught up with her, she was breaking into a store room immediately below the council chamber. The other teams checked in as each reached its first position.

  "Go," said Lyana.

  Each of the security offices was assaulted at the same time, without any warning to the troops trying to get into them. A dozen stunners swept across the assaulting troops at each place, and the armour they wore was useless. They went down before they even knew they had a problem behind them.

  The teams left the security guards to clean up on their own, and headed for the block points around the council chamber. By the time they were in position, Bette had finished her job in the store room, and they were moving upwards. A fire team in the stairwell began firing down on them. Fred took cover, but Bette and the droids raced up the stairs as fast as they could, ignoring the hail of slugs. The first few soldiers took fists to the faces as Bette went through them, and the rest went down to stunners. Fred caught back up, and they went up the next set of stairs.

  On the level above the council chamber, Bette broke into another large room, and went to work. When she gave Fred a signal, he called out an order.

  "Now."

  The blocking troops never knew what hit them. One second they were bored and wondering what was going on, the next these huge upright metal monsters appeared, and they all dropped without knowing what was hitting them. The last one fell with a look of total horror on his face, having not even raised his weapon.

  A chorus of "clear" came over the coms, and Fred looked to Bette again. She gave him a thumbs up, and went back to work.

  A short time later, Lyana entered the room, quickly followed by the rest of the team, having left their combat droids behind to ensure their rear was clear.

  Bette finished what she was doing.

  "How's things in the chamber Justine?" asked Fred.

  "Starting to get a little tense. The ambassadors are stalling, hoping for someone to save them before they're either forced to change their vote, or the bomb gets detonated. The debate is fierce, but the troops in there are losing patience."

  "What can you tell us about the bomb?"

  "Seems to be a remote detonator device, but it's not on any of the station channels. Most likely a short range pulse detonator."

  "Which means the trigger is in the room, and the person holding it is suicidal."

  "Or supremely confident of getting what they want."

  "Not a problem," said Bette again.

  "Let's do it," said Lyana, and the team formed a wide circle in the middle of the room.

  "Boom," said Bette.

  Below them, they heard an explosion, as the midd
le of the council chamber dropped cleanly into the room below.

  Jane was watching, and the nanosecond the rough circle of floor and ceiling with the bomb in the middle of it was clear, she shifted the group of belts underneath it into a sphere around the entire mass.

  Seconds later, the floor in front of the team vanished into dust, and they jumped inwards, arms already locked in position for their first shots, all targeted in advance by Jane. Thrusters on the legs of their suits slowed their decent, and moved them into the room away from the hole. By the time they touched down at floor level, all the troops in the room were down.

  "You fools!" boomed the voice. A figure rose, made a flourish of brandishing a tablet, and the bomb below exploded.

  "Nope," said Fred, now lying on the edge of the hole in the ceiling, his meson blaster lining up.

  A meson stream a second long crossed the room, and the being who'd activated the bomb was suddenly just body parts.

  There was silence in the room, except for the patter of debris hitting something solid where it landed. Finally, the ambassadors realized they were still alive.

  "What did you do? How come we're still alive?"

  The Mushroom was looking up at Fred, still lying with his head poking out into the hole. The rest of the ambassadors looked up as well.

  "The bomb was neutralized," said Fred. "Part of our armour technology. Pardon me, while I return to your level."

  He pulled himself back, stood, slung the meson streamer on his back, and walked out. He found groups of combat droids working with local security to haul the troops off into custody. He nodded to an officer as he passed him, and the being flinched. Fred kept going, until he finally had to stop inside the now wrecked doors to the council chamber.

  He looked into the hole. At the bottom, Bette was reclaiming the belt suits she'd used to contain the blast. She gave him a thumbs up.

  "Ambassador," said the Mushroom. "How can we thank you for saving our lives?"

  "Send a delegation of councillors to meet with Jane and the other sectors, and my mission here is complete. No other thanks are necessary. We were here, and your security people had the good sense to ask for our help. We were most happy to be able to give it."