ARMS Beckland's Fall: (Book 5)

by Stephen Arseneault

  "Spectral analysis of the decayed alien would suggest twenty-four hundred years have passed since the alien expired. That estimate is plus or minus twenty standard years."

  "How can you be that precise with that little data?"

  "The data provided gives moisture and oxygen levels of that environment, which one would have to assume have stayed constant during that time."

  "So this was built not long before we got here. We being Humans. And this sector of the galaxy being here."

  "I believe that to be a correct assumption."

  Harris said, "Terraformers, aliens running from other aliens, our entire predicament just went from crazy to ludicrous."

  Gandy added, "Should we go back down and shut the console off? The Denzee aren't going to be able to plant, grow and harvest anything given close to a hundred hurricanes raging out there."

  Bannis nodded. "I would have to agree. Our actions here today would negate any agreement between us."

  Harris sighed. "OK, I'll go back down. No sense in anyone else going out during this event."

  "You don't know how to shut it down," Tawn said.

  "No. And I don't know if it can be. I'll just push the buttons in the reverse order and see what happens."

  "I don't think you should go at all. Send one of the workers. They can get down and back up those stairs in half the time it will take you."

  Harris thought for a moment, then nodded. "Good point. W5, you're up. Go back in and shut that console down."

  "Yes, sir."

  The bot hurried out through the gravity wall into the increasing winds. Seconds later it was shutting and sealing the door to the monitoring station before beginning its descent.

  Fifteen minutes later, a comm came up from below. "I'm at the bottom, sir. Depressing the buttons before me in the reverse sequence and timing as they were applied."

  Harris crossed his arms. "I would expect this to work. Alex, any of those other symbols have meaning to you?"

  "They do not. I would like W5 to take a run through the mechanical room to see if there are any other consoles or writings available."

  Harris opened a comm. "W5, when you're done with the console, please take a quick run through the other room and tell us if there are any other consoles or interfaces for us to interact with. And record all writings and symbols you come across for Alex to evaluate."

  Fifteen minutes later a comm came up from W5. "Sir, the console has been shut down. There were no other interfaces in the mechanical room."

  Harris looked over a sensor display. "Everything appears to still be building up here. Are you certain those systems have been shut down?"

  "The systems are still fully functioning, sir. The console has been shut down and disconnected from the wall."

  "Disconnected?"

  "Yes, sir. I attempted a shutdown by pressing the buttons in the reverse order as pressed. That task accomplished nothing. I followed by pressing all of the buttons on the console repeatedly in random sequences. Again, that task had no result. As a final option, I separated the console from the wall, severing its power. The unit is now shut down, sir."

  Harris rolled his eyes. "I may have to kill all these bots before we're done. W5, come up, please."

  Gandy asked, "We can't shut it down?"

  "It would appear not."

  "What's that do to the Denzee?"

  "We have another week before we're supposed to turn it over. I guess we'll just have to wait this out and see if it settles down."

  "Harris," said Alex, "I believe we should take the Hailstorm to each of the plumes coming up from the bog. A deep scan should be performed and the results logged. Given what we now know about the area under the Gondol Stone, I would think there are similar structures covering much of this planet. All buried deep beneath its surface."

  "Pilot, please do as Alex suggests."

  Seven hours passed before the final geyser was mapped and scanned. A grid structure deep beneath the waters and mud of Gondol was revealed. All appeared to be connected, with only the single stone entrance coming up to the surface.

  Tawn glanced over the weather data. "This is not looking good. Those storms are all building, and the temperature of those geysers is climbing. We didn't shut down the process by disabling that console."

  Trish said, "Probably wasn't intended to be shut down. You either terraform or you don't. Could be that equipment is only good for one shot."

  Sharvie sat. "I keep thinking about that poor little alien. Did he get left behind to die?"

  Tawn shook her head. "No way to tell, not until we get back down there and start roaming around. And the way these storms are building, I'm thinking it might be best if we get up above them. This one is already registering two hundred kilometer per hour winds, going up about ten kilometers every half hour."

  "Pilot," Harris said, "take us up above this mess. No, take us up to orbit. I want to see it from on high."

  The Hailstorm climbed up through the growing wind. Ninety seconds later, they could see from orbit. The once lightly clouded, clear atmosphere of Gondol was now a raging torrent of chaos. Dark clouds roared upward from the geysers before being sucked into the swirling torrents of the building hurricanes. Had anyone lived on the surface, their lives would surely be nearing an end.

  Harris crossed his arms. "Pilot, take us back to Midelon. We can review any data there while we eat."

  Twenty minutes later, the ships were settling on the grass outside the Midelon camp.

  Harris followed Bannis as they walked toward the supply hut. "You don't look to be moving so well, Mr. Morgan."

  "Nope, I think that original treatment Alex gave me is wearing off. I can feel it in my hands too. The joints all feel tight."

  Harris shook his head. "For two thousand years we've been fighting the Earthers. Imagine what science could have accomplished had things like this been our focus."

  "This is true, only you and Tawn wouldn't be here."

  "Hmm. That might have been a drawback."

  "I've tried to do research outside defense where I could, but the monies and resources weren't there to support it."

  "Has Alex gotten back to you with any word on that gamma-ray device?"

  "I think it's been a low priority. He has so many other tasks to manage and research I didn't want to take time from those."

  A comm was opened. "Alex, have you made any progress on the gamma-ray weapon?"

  "I have not, Harris. Is that a priority?"

  "I would say so. Any difficulty in adding some processing cycles to that effort?"

  "Not at all. My average load generally never reaches 80 percent."

  "What? Why is it being limited?"

  "Some tasks are conducted in real time, Harris. I require the overhead to assure I will have the computing power required for continuing those tasks."

  "Are any of the tasks you have running real-time?"

  "Not at the moment, no."

  "Can you change your programming to make use of all CPU if there are no RT tasks in process?"

  "I can."

  "Please do so. Especially when it comes to research. You've been given those tasks because there is some priority to them. Make full use of your processor and memory where you can."

  "I will make the adjustments."

  Harris nodded. "That should give us some cycles."

  The team settled in the supply hut, where a standard set of MREs were retrieved.

  Harris asked, "Trish, how’s the farming?"

  "I passed it to my brother."

  Harris turned. "Gandy, how's the farming?"

  "I know I wasn't supposed to use him, but last I saw, Reggie appeared to be really getting into it. He's already gone through the archives and is in the process of planting a second vegetable crop. We're about eighty-two days from a first harvest. And he has three more gardens planned after this one. Those will provide for all our vegetable needs."

  "The other worker bot back in the lab?"

 
"Yes."

  "I don't have any issue with him being used there. Any reason he's not planting fruit or nut trees?"

  "Just that we don't have the seedlings, and those would take years to start producing. You thinking we'll be here that long?"

  "Who knows anymore. If we make another run to any of the truce worlds, try to remind me to pick some up. All those colonies have nurseries running."

  "I'll have Reggie set a reminder."

  — Chapter 19 —

  * * *

  Two additional trips were made to Gondol over the week that followed. The hurricanes had grown, averaging more than three hundred kilometers per hour winds near their eye-walls. The atmosphere of Gondol was nothing but a roil of clouds and smoke.

  Harris sat with his head shaking. "This planet is useless until that activity stops."

  Tawn replied, "We're supposed to open this place up tomorrow. What are we gonna say to the Denzee?"

  Harris chuckled. "That's the easy part. All we have to do is show them. The hard part will be having to deal with them afterward. If they really do need that crop to sustain their transit, they'll either be here longer or we have to give them Beckland."

  "Beckland is a shrine to the pacifists. They won't be willing to part ways with the very symbol of them coming to power."

  "Well, then we'll be stuck with the furballs for however long it takes to get them adequate food."

  Tawn propped her feet up on the cockpit console. "Might as well take us out to Eden and get this over with. You just had to push those buttons, didn't you."

  "Hey, the only thing that happened down there that would have been different would have been a ten minute delay before you pushed those same buttons. We had no way of knowing what that complex was about."

  "We should have looked around longer than we did."

  "What's done is done. Let's focus on the current situation."

  Tawn sighed. "Nothing for us to focus on. The next move is totally up to the Denzee."

  "OK. Then we focus on their coming reaction."

  A jump was made to Eden.

  Bax came up on the comm. "You all done with whatever it was you were doing out there?"

  Harris looked off to the side as if disinterested. "We may have a bit of a problem on Gondol."

  Bax sat forward. "What kind of a problem? The Denzee are itching to get started on their crop."

  Harris looked directly at the camera. "I don't think that's gonna happen."

  "What? What are you saying?"

  Tawn said, "There's been an accident."

  "Accident?"

  Harris nodded. "We sort of set off this chain reaction. It's grown into a real problem."

  "Just spit it out. Tell me what happened. Are you fishing for a delay?"

  Tawn chuckled. "A delay? Maybe. You think they have another five years or so they can wait?"

  Bax huffed. "Listen. If you did something to—"

  Harris raised a hand. "The planet is no longer a candidate for their crops. We sort of touched off a spat of hurricanes that are ravaging the surface as we speak."

  "Hurricanes? That's a big planet. Hurricanes die down. Are we talking a week of delays in those areas? If so, while not optimal, that should be workable."

  Tawn shook her head. "When he said ‘spat,’ he meant ninety-six of them, and they're all big and powerful. The entire planet is being ravaged right now, and I don't think it’s gonna stop for quite some time."

  Bax stood. "Show me."

  Harris patched through a video feed from a bot ship that had been left in orbit. "This is live. Winds are three hundred kilometers per hour or better. Those storms cover the entire planet. Let's just say Gondol is being terraformed at the moment. Probably won't be hospitable to any kind of farming for another five to ten years."

  Bax stared at the video. "Is this a joke? Gondol is a peaceful, bog covered planet. Not great for plant growth due to a lack of carbon dioxide, but I'm told the Denzee crop doesn't need it. There's no way that's Gondol. What are you trying to pull?"

  "Send out a scout. Check it for yourself."

  Bax opened another comm, ordering a ship to Gondol for an inspection.

  Tawn said, "Won't be any crops growing there. We're gonna have to convince the Domers to open up Beckland."

  Bax sat back in her chair. "They've made it clear that's not going to happen. They worship that place. I've heard rumors they want to move the free world capital there."

  "Is there a third option?"

  "Not in our section of the galaxy."

  The conversation continued for twenty minutes before a comm came back from a New Earth scout. Gondol’s condition was as Tawn and Harris had said.

  "I don't know how you two mucked this up, but it's likely going to cost us. The emperor will be livid, as will the Denzee. Can I convince you to be the bringer of bad news?"

  Harris chuckled. "Sure, why not. We don't have to suck-up to him."

  A comm was opened. "Mr. Gruberg, you and Miss Freely have good news for me today?"

  "Not exactly."

  The emperor's expression changed from a smile to a look of concern. "Has something happened? Please don't tell me you are asking for more time. Time is critical."

  Tawn said, "You'll be needing to put on your diplomat hat today, Emperor. Gondol is now useless for farming. Its surface is raging with storms that will be churning for quite some time. You'll want to open a comm to Domicile to convince them to allow the use of Beckland for six months. Otherwise the Denzee aren't getting their food."

  Bax confirmed the report. "Sorry, Your Highness. Gondol is no longer viable for farming. We need Beckland."

  The emperor stood. "This is of your doing, isn't it? You have purposefully sabotaged our peace accords."

  Harris shook his head. "We might have been on planet when it started, but it's nobody's fault. And it wasn't done on purpose. It is what it is. As Miss Rumford said, we need Domer cooperation on Beckland."

  The emperor began pacing back and forth. "I need time to think. Miss Rumford, I'll deal with you later."

  The comm closed.

  Bax scowled at the comm feed. "This is bad. I stuck my neck out to get you that time you requested. I'm likely to take a hard fall for this. The emperor is not one to give second chances."

  Harris waved a hand. "You're safe. He likes you. You get results."

  "That's all good while things are going well. This is a disaster. The Denzee could just decide to start kicking our asses again and take everything. They have the muscle to do so."

  Tawn said, "And if we would all cooperate, we would have a good chance at stopping them."

  "The emperor will never cooperate. And neither will the Domers. This will be war, and they're about doing all they can to prevent it, short of giving up the one and only symbol of their movement."

  Harris sat forward in his chair. "We'll be back in a few hours to check on what decisions have been made. Use your powers of persuasion to get him to do what's best for all humanity. His differences with the Domers can be settled later."

  The comm closed. Harris turned the Bangor back toward Midelon. Fifteen minutes later, they were settling on the surface.

  Trish, Gandy, Sharvie, and Bannis were waiting in the supply hut.

  Trish asked, "Well? What'd she think?"

  Harris chuckled. "She thought we were joking, which turned into her thinking we were just trying to delay."

  Tawn added, "Which turned into a convo with the emperor. He's off trying to figure out what to do next."

  "So what do we do next?" Trish asked.

  Harris replied, "We wait to see what moves they make. If they can convince the Domers to give up Beckland, this all settles out. If not... who knows what direction it goes in."

  An image of Alex appeared on the display wall. "I have good news. A new Banshee is ready for testing. Beginning today we will be producing a new ship every day until our resources run out."

  "So that's eighteen more coming?"

&
nbsp; "Seventeen, plus the new ship today."

  Harris shook his head. "We should have used some of that time to also have been picking materials from those downed ships on Gondol. With those hurricanes raging, we'll be lucky to find anything left when that all settles down."

  Tawn asked. "How many bots do we have now?"

  Alex replied, "With this morning’s additions, forty. Beginning tomorrow, we will be adding two new workers per day, while doubling that capacity every four days."

  "And we still have plenty of raw materials for those?"

  "For more than a thousand, yes."

  A check was made of the new Banshee. As with the prior units, the manufacturing was flawless. All tests conducted during its trials resulted in a newly certified ship.

  After an evening meal, Tawn and Harris again made the trip out to Eden.

  "Not sure why we don't just talk to them over a wormhole comm."

  Harris replied, "Our coming out shows commitment. And we don't risk getting Alex hacked."

  "I thought we were over that? He's using isolation as a defense now."

  "I think that's true, but we need to show a presence anyhow."

  "You hoping to see Bax in person? That what this is?"

  Harris chuckled. "No, but keep trying. You'll figure it out."

  A comm was opened to Fireburg. Bax appeared with a scowl on her face.

  "There a problem?" Harris asked.

  "Yes. The Domers won't budge. Beckland is off limits to the Denzee."

  "I thought peace at any cost was their mantra?"

  "I don't get it. There's a research center there, that's all. What could be so important about that?"

  "What are they researching?"

  "Nobody knows. The Earther intel corps is clueless. Regardless, they aren't giving in. Our options are really limited here."

  Tawn asked, "Would the emperor violate the truce to force the Domers to yield? They may be mad, but I don't see them doing much about it as it would jeopardize their precious peace."

  "Right now, this could wash out a hundred different ways. Just be prepared for it not to be to your liking."