ARMS Beckland's Fall: (Book 5)

by Stephen Arseneault

  Harris winced. "So better drives and dampeners. Not good news."

  "I've analyzed the vessel's volume. Given the number of emitters on that disc, and the drives and other systems, I am not finding much room available for bios. In fact, I would venture to say there are none. Were you able to do a bioscan?"

  "Didn't have time to think about it," Tawn replied.

  Harris sat in a chair beside Bannis. "So we might be looking at an automated ship? This just gets better and better."

  "If it's automated," said Sharvie, "and we can hack in, we would have full control."

  Harris chuckled. "At the moment we can't even occupy the same space. How we gonna hack in?"

  Alex switched the display to Idiot. A split screen showed empty space in the Xenuk system.

  "Alex, what are you showing us?"

  "I've tasked your assistant with infiltrating the Denzee ship's systems. This will be performed through a wormhole comm with a direct channel to the android. I've targeted a system further into the pattern we discovered earlier. If the Denzee ship arrives, as I believe it will, your assistant will attempt to access their systems."

  Sharvie sat at a third chair, pulling a console keyboard over in front of herself. "Alex, can you give me access to that same channel and isolate this terminal from the rest of your systems?"

  "One moment... you are now connected and secure."

  "Any chance of a reverse hack happening here?" Harris asked.

  "Yes. However, the AI in your assistant has been programmed to shut down should it lose control of its comm processing unit, which would have to be compromised before any other system."

  "Shut down? That's not a destructive shutdown is it? Would rather not lose another one."

  "The memories and patterns would be scrubbed, yes. However, I do a have that particular image backed up. We would lose memories since the last save, which would have minimal impact."

  "We have a wormhole opening," said Sharvie. "I have a comm channel. Idiot is attempting to break in. Whoa! I just got locked out of this console."

  "It would appear I have lost control of the comm ship."

  Harris said, "Shut her down!"

  "I am sorry, Harris. I no longer have control."

  Sharvie sat back. "That was fast. Alex, tell me your isolation is more than just software?"

  "There is a physical barrier that limits access to this section of the facility."

  The air flowing into the room shut down. The lights flickered on and off. A latch for a door lock flipping could be heard coming from down the hall. The display in front of the group flashed off as if going through a reboot.

  Idiot's voice came over the comm. "I have taken control of the Denzee vessel. All systems in this facility should be returning to normal."

  Sharvie sat back. "You allowed the Denzee ship to penetrate the comm?"

  "Yes. In turn, that move allowed me to access their systems. I now have full control of the Denzee ship. What would you like me to do next."

  Harris stood. "Copy all the designs and transfer them to the memories on our comm ship. I'm on the way out there. We're bringing that ship back here."

  Alex said, "Harris, I do not believe that to be a good idea. Should we lose control, we may not have the defenses needed to stop this facility from being destroyed, or worst case, compromised."

  "We bring it back. Trish can disable the wormhole generator, the drive, and that weapon. After that, we take it apart piece by piece. If that's an advanced Denzee ship, this could be exactly what we need to be able to combat them."

  "I would have to agree," said Tawn. "We should grab this ship while we have the chance."

  Idiot said, "Just so you know, there are routines running on that ship that are attempting to retake control. I have them isolated for the time being and will work on their eradication, but they are currently operational."

  Harris hurried out the door, Farker at his heels. "Then we should move on this as fast as possible."

  The stump sprinted across the grass and into his waiting ship. The hatch closed and with a whoosh the Bangor was rocketing skyward. Ten minutes later a jump was made to the Xenuk system.

  Harris joined Idiot's comm. "What do you need me to do? Should I come aboard?"

  "There are no habitable areas on the ship. It is a fully automated, armed scout. You only need open a wormhole to Midelon space so that I might bring the ship through."

  "Coming up."

  A second wormhole opened. Tawn zipped through in a shuttle. "Hold up, the rest of us had a quick conversation. That weapon needs to be disabled before you bring it through."

  Idiot replied, "The weapon is offline."

  "Permanently?"

  "No."

  "How do we separate it from its power source?"

  "One moment... I'm forwarding an image with an access panel. One of you will have to board the exterior of the ship and open the panel. Once in, you will see a red handle. Pull that handle and a power unit should come free. Remove that unit and the weapon will not be capable of firing."

  Tawn said, "I got this. You keep the Bangor at a distance since you have Farker aboard."

  "I've isolated and removed another autonomous program. Three such programs remain operational and in isolation."

  Harris nodded. "Just keep knocking them out."

  The shuttle was pulled close to the Denzee ship and the airlock used to move outside. Walking along the hull using the magnetic field on her boots to stay aboard, when Tawn reached the panel, Idiot signaled a latch to release, popping the panel up where a glove could reach into an opening.

  "Flipping the panel open now," said Tawn. "I see the handle. I've got it. Pulling... it won't move. I'm seeing lots of ice in here. Must have been in a moist environment when they closed it up. I have to return to the shuttle to find some way of warming it or it's not gonna release."

  Harris chuckled. "Stuck in space on an alien craft, the Human slug, Tawn Freely, was suddenly attacked and eaten by a space walrus."

  "That supposed to be funny or something?"

  "Or something, I guess."

  "I'm on the shuttle. Hmm, galley has a portable hotplate. Has a full charge. I'll see if I can make it work."

  Tawn shoved the hotplate into the panel opening and closed the lid.

  Idiot said, "Detecting a temperature rise. Melting point has been reached. Opening... hmm. One of the autonomous programs has managed to take control of the exterior access system. I can no longer open the panel. Temperature continues to rise."

  "I set that plate on high before shoving it in. Nothing explosive in there, is there?"

  "The power circuits we were about to remove are volatile. I would advise you return to the shuttle and move to a safe distance until I have restored control."

  The Denzee ship made a sudden roll, flipping Tawn off into the blackness of space.

  "Uh, I'm not tethered here. What just happened?"

  Idiot replied, "An app managed to take brief control of the drive system. That attempt has been contained. I apologize for any inconvenience."

  Tawn chuckled. "Inconvenience? I’m floating free, you moron."

  "One moment."

  The ship made a slow and easy move in her direction. Seconds later, her boots again clung to the captive ship's hull.

  "You have those exterior controls back?"

  "One moment. The access panel should be free."

  Tawn opened the door. "Wow. That plate is red-hot. Hold on. Half the handle melted away. Got it. Unit is coming out. Done. And I have the plate. You can close it up."

  A short walk placed Tawn back on the deck of the shuttle. A wormhole to Midelon was opened and the three ships slipped through.

  — Chapter 9 —

  * * *

  Gandy walked the exterior of the sixty-meter-long alien vessel. "And you're certain everything is disabled?"

  Idiot replied, "I am certain. All autonomous programs have been eliminated. Power circuits for the weapons and drives h
ave been removed. If you would like, I can open all external access doors."

  "Please."

  Gandy turned and yelled toward the supply hut. "Trish? He's opening it up."

  A yell came back: "Be right there."

  Sharvie stood beside Harris. "I'll be in the bunker. Alex has promised access to their systems and how Idiot took control. I want to know how to get in should I ever have to do it myself."

  Tawn stared at the eight-meter-diameter disc on the front facing hull of the ship. "You seeing what I'm seeing?"

  "What?"

  "The entire nose of that ship is on a swivel. Dodging those beams may no longer be an option."

  "It's still a beam and we still have distance."

  "I'm talking for when we're in close. No more hiding out of line-of-sight of that weapon."

  A comm came in from Alex. "I've completed an initial analysis. Data suggest this new beam weapon has a recharge period of approximately seven seconds."

  Tawn slowly shook her head. "Dodging is out too. Alex, can you tell us how powerful it is compared to the full-size one on those warships?"

  "One moment... 18 percent. Still powerful enough to burn through our hulls and possibly a bulkhead."

  Gandy walked up. "It has some damage on the other side. "Alex, when was this ship commissioned? How old is this technology?"

  "I am sorry, Gandy. I have no way of answering the second part of that question. As to the age of this ship and her weaponry, the maintenance logs reveal the last upgrade took place eight months ago, when the wormhole generator was installed. The ship as a whole was commissioned nine years before."

  Harris winced. "Nine years? Surprised their entire fleet doesn't have these other improvements."

  Tawn added, "Could be we've been dealing with an older fleet up until now."

  "We may have another concern," Alex said. "This ship travels at point-seven light-speed. Observations tell us the next system outside our boson field is seventeen light-years’ distance. This ship could not have traveled that span in the nine years since its creation."

  Gandy crossed his arms. "Could have been built on the way."

  "Unlikely," Alex replied. "The data collected from the Ratoons and Dulans has shown no evidence of ship construction aboard ships."

  "That ship must have travel logs," said Harris. "Where's it been during that time?"

  "One moment... the travel logs have been erased. This may have happened as a security reaction to our intrusion."

  "Not recoverable?"

  "It would appear not."

  "No other sightings?"

  "None reported. I have continued my sweeps."

  Tawn said, "You think they left a scout behind to gather intel? If so, I would say that means they're coming back. Or at least planning for it."

  Trish hopped down from the ship. "That disc weapon is a separate component. Completely self contained. We could take that whole swivel section off and add it to one of our ships."

  "Alex," Harris said, "can you work up a design to add that to either the Hailstorm or one of those Legion ships?"

  "I'll begin work on that immediately."

  "Maybe we can give them a taste of their own medicine next time."

  "The designs are complete. I've included a turret mount where the weapon would have two hundred twenty degrees of coverage from the forward hull of the Hailstorm."

  "Given our current resources, how long will that installation effort take?"

  "Using all available assets, twenty-six days. Using only Human labor, fifty-seven."

  Harris chuckled as he glanced around at the others. "Looks like we have a project. We can't pull the bots from their builds, so this is on us."

  Bannis said, "I'd be happy to help in any way I can. I have full mobility back in my hips. That treatment has been phenomenal."

  "Glad to hear it worked. Download the Hailstorm design from Alex. We'll make you our supervisor for the effort."

  "I can do more. My other joints have improved as well."

  Alex said, "Those improvements are temporary and may only last another week or two. I have yet to decide on a course of action for a longer-term solution."

  "Regardless, I feel good right now and I'll be happy to help wherever I can."

  Tawn asked, "Aside from the weapon, how do we make any other improvements? What about the drives or inertial dampeners?"

  "I am analyzing those as we speak. Both units are highly integrated. It will take some time to unlock their secrets."

  Harris turned to face Tawn. "He can whip out a design in seconds, but figuring out an existing system takes time?"

  "Just be glad we have his help."

  The following day, the five newly-revived bots came out of the lab. While each was now based on the patterns of Idiot, no one could tell the difference in the actions or words from their originals. All five had regained the personalities they had previously had.

  Harris pointed toward the bunker. "Great that you're all back, but we need you in the bunker making more of you. What's the estimate for the first bot worker?"

  Idiot replied, "Four days from today."

  "After that?"

  "Another two days."

  "And..."

  "Every day after for the week that follows so long as we have the needed raw materials. After that, two per day as that is our processor bench limit."

  Harris nodded. "When you reach the two a day I'd like one bot assigned to building new processor benches."

  Idiot bowed his head in response before turning back for the lab.

  Tawn looked at the alien ship with a scowl. "I guess we better get started on pulling that weapon. It's not gonna remove itself."

  In the two months that followed, there were no further sightings of Denzee ships. On Eden, Bax continued to struggle to get the mining operations back online. Half the remaining New Earth ships were in repair docks having upgrades installed, the other half had been completed. For the moment at least, the Human-occupied sector of the galaxy was at peace.

  Comms to the colonel revealed the DDI had remained hands-off with regards to the Retreat. However, the closing of the factories cut the income stream provided to the Biomarines’ colony, and put fifteen thousand workers back in the unemployed queue at Domicile, and a thousand at the Retreat.

  At the same time, the accounts set up to fund the factories and their needs had been confiscated and emptied. The factories themselves were slated for eventual auction or to be dismantled for scrap. Planning for secession at the Retreat had to be put on hold. The Retreat itself remained on track to become self-sufficient within the year.

  On Midelon, fourteen worker bots were now busy performing tasks. Ten were dedicated to building the tools needed to construct a Banshee. The others, along with the original assistants, continued to produce more worker bots. The six Humans worked on attaching the Denzee superweapon to the nose of the Hailstorm.

  Harris shook his head. "This is the third time. What are we doing wrong?"

  "We have one bolt head the housing keeps getting stuck on," said Trish. "I'm about ready to just grind it down."

  "Won't that weaken the whole connection?"

  "It would. We might lose a percent or two of safety margin, but one bolt out of sixty shouldn't make much of a difference. And if it allows us to get this beast attached, then who cares?"

  After the adjustment, the Denzee weapon was moved into place. The controls were linked up and a test firing followed going up into the air. Molecules snapped and popped as they were superheated by the disc’s beam. It was quickly shut down.

  Tawn said, "I guess that wasn't such a smart move. Temperature on that disk topped fifteen hundred degrees. We're lucky we didn't burn it up."

  Gandy continued to hold his hand up to shield his face from the heat radiating from the still-glowing disc. "Now we know why they can't use them in atmosphere."

  Harris stood back with a smile. "Can't believe the six of us were able to do this."

  Trish
nodded. "The design was simple and we had the right tools. What's next?"

  "We take her out for a spin. If the balance on that ship needs to be adjusted, we can take care of that before the colonel or his crews have to fly this. After that we can focus on building Banshees."

  Several test flights were taken, including a run to Eden.

  Harris looked over the scan data. "They're still running around down there. None of those digging machines are working. Wonder what the holdup is?"

  Tawn replied, "What bothers me is those two ore haulers they have sitting down there. Why are they here if they aren't mining yet?"

  Gandy was watching over their shoulder. "Maybe Miss Rumford is just planning ahead."

  Harris pointed to one end of the compound. "What do you make of this pile of sand? That's not from the foundations of these buildings. They're all built on top of the old dome foundation. They had a ready-made slab waiting for them to build on."

  "Where would they be digging that they moved that sand from?" asked Trish.

  Harris leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Underneath. They're tunneling down to that ore. Here… the scan data from those ships should tell us if they're being filled."

  Data was pushed to the display. "Right there. According to the density readings, one is 60 percent full and the other halfway. I bet we find ore haulers at the other mines too."

  Tawn scowled. "Sneaky. Looks like we'll be having to pay another visit here with the Bangor."

  "This ship is fully capable," said Gandy. "We could take them out right now if you want."

  Harris tilted his head to one side in thought. "Hmm. I'd rather bring the Bangor back. Besides, I don't want to just start blasting. Those are people down there. And as much as I dislike Earthers, I don't think outright slaughter is the way to go. I'd want to give Bax a warning first."

  Trish shook her head. "Do I have to remind you people that we have a Denzee scout ship sitting back at Midelon? Hello. What if they're about to come back? Those were truce world colonies they were scouting. Who's going to come to their defense? The Earthers? I don't think so."

  A comm came in from Baxter Rumford. "By now I'm sure you know we're operational. What you don't know is there's been Denzee sightings."