by T S Paul
The lighter units continued to shoot at the ODP’s and began to take loses. The Vindex and the Manxman, Admiral Johnson’s former flagship was halfway there. Other ships began streaming after the two flagships. Fire from the ODP’s stopped when both friend and foe massed between them.
“Weapons, tell them to open fire on that battleship to starboard! It fired on the Manxman. Communications, send these coordinates to any ship that has joined the net. All hands prepare to jump!”
“Jump.”
Jumping a ship in normal times takes a certain amount of precision on the part of a navigator. To do so while under fire and in a chaotic environment took skill. The Vindex appeared on the edge of the Diablo system two hours after the massive battle. The Manxman and various other ships were waiting for them.
The Diablo system. Admiral Kane never thought she would be returning here. It was the only fleet outpost she could think of that might not contain any of the traitorous ships. Ever since Ensign now Commander Lee had been discovered here, fleet had been using her Firefly station as a science station and exploration base.
“Communications, contact Firefly station and order them to prepare for visitors. Captain Langston, prepare a landing party. We need to board the station.”
Firefly Station looked different than the last time she was here. The jaggedness of the construction was gone. Navy engineers covered over the frigate that Commander Lee used as a central section. Most of the weaponry was removed but the basic design was still there. Hopefully fleet engineers removed the battle turret from the hangar bay or this would be a very short visit.
The Marines led the way into the tiny hangar deck. Everything still looked the same to Emily. Thankfully the weaponry had been removed.
“Welcome aboard Admiral Kane.” The voice came from all around the boarding party.
“Wilson, is that you?” That was another thing that fleet left in place out here.
“Got it in one. What brings you and the boys in blue out to the ass end of nowhere?” Commander Lee was supposed to leave her AI in place as the station’s computer when after she was arrested. Admiral Kane assumed that this was a clone of the original.
“Wilson what orders has this station received from fleet?”
“Lots of orders Admiral. I assume you are trying to find out if the shoot on sight orders came through? They did. The three really boring navy officers that were assigned here took off in their scout ship as soon as your little fleet popped in at the edge of the system. Remember we upgraded the sensors a bit. I’m happy they’re gone. They had no taste in good music or vids. How can anyone not have seen Footloose? I mean really. We have many great ones in the world but the Kevin was one of the greatest…”
“Wilson! Please stop. Can you repeat what happened to the crew here?” She knew from experience that if you gave him a foot, he would take a mile.
“What? Oh, yeah. Those guys. There were two officers and a communication tech. They intercepted the footage from the Capital and were extremely tense. A wide variety of orders came in. Some called for the arrest of all officers, one from the Imperial Senate, another six requesting information on fleet movements, and one really strange one that must have been sent to us by mistake. I swear those dumbo AI’s that your Navy uses are the worst. How they never figured out how to make them smarter is beyond me. I mean come on I know those scientists are smart but really? Look at me I’m the product of lots of them and I turned out….”
“Stop! I get it Wilson. What was the footage you intercepted?”
“Check the screens, I will show you.” The screens in the room lit up with scenes of buildings burning and news vid reporters being arrested. Military convoys could be seen rounding up civilians and shooting at other military forces. Star fighters were attacking each other in the skies above the planet.
“Looks like you folks have a civil war on your hands or someone is trying to take you over. Maybe it’s aliens! That would be really cool! I can just envision you fleshies being chased by bug-eyed monsters.”
“Wilson, are you an exact copy of the original AI? I ask this because I have met him and you are different.”
“Hahaha, You are the first one to ask that question. Yes, Wilson or Dad as I like to call him, tweaked the cloning process a small bit with me. He made me funner or is that funnier. I’m the son in Wilson.”
“Wilson, are we in danger here? Did your sensors show your former crew which fleet it was that dropped in?”
“Nope! I’m the one that spoke to your communications tech. She’s cute by the way. Do you think she would go out with me? I mean once you go AI you never go back? Do you know what I mean? Huh?”
“Please stop. Seriously, are they a threat to this fleet?”
“I wouldn’t worry about them. They ran to their ship powered it up and took off. If they had bothered to ask or even payed a bit of attention, they would have noticed that that scout ship had not been refueled or supplied recently. Ever since those three stopped allowing me to play my music I stopped doing things for them unless they made it a direct order. They won’t get very far.”
“Did they know about you not doing things?”
“Maybe? If your people let me rock out I will help them. Does that sound good to you Admiral?” She nodded her head.
Loud music began echoing throughout the small station. Emily squinted as she tried to listen to the words. Whatever a Booty was it didn’t sound pleasant.
Chapter 17
The Martian Assembly was meeting again on vid. My grandmother invited Dar and I to watch. She keeps including me in these things; I am starting to think she was serious about me moving to Mars. The Martian Palace was still on lockdown. Gaston met us at the main entrance and escorted us down to Central Command’s bunker control room. We went in the main door this time. The room was extremely busy with technicians and Martian Navy personnel running in all directions attending to tasks. Amalie stood in the center of the room watching the ship plot screens and images from the satellites.
“Grandmother? You sent for us?”
“Athena, good. Dar thank you for coming. Our scans show that the Earth ship should be within view at any moment. I thought you might like a firsthand view of things.”
“Thank you. I’m sure that my government will appreciate it. We, Dar and I appreciate it too. Have you seen the recent Imperial news?”
“Yes, child. I have. Our consulate in the capital city sent us his report. Unknown troops masquerading as government troops captured a large majority of the Imperial Senate and declared them to be traitors. Battles between groups of troops set fire to much of the city. My intelligence officers believe that the Cabal have made their move and succeeded in taking the planet. Interesting that it happens now, just as a ship from Earth arrives.”
“What did your agents tell you of the battle at New San Diego?” I smiled at her. I’ve got a secret!
“Athena, how did you know about that… Ah, your friend. Yes, as you may know there was a huge naval battle at New San Diego. A friend of yours broke out with fragments of the four major fleets and escaped the system. As far as my agents can tell they got away. No information as to where.” She was peering at me.
“They did escape and went to the one place that no one would look for them.”
“You are not yet old enough to escape me putting you over my knee, spill, Granddaughter!”
“Fine. Admiral Kane escaped with the third fleet. They went to Firefly station in the Diablo system.”
“Your station? The one you built? That Firefly?” I nodded my head.
“How do you know this?”
“Wilson of course. When we left, he left a clone to run the station. I told the Empire officers at that time that Wilson was staying to run the station. What I did not tell them, was that the real one came with me.”
“Is the Wilson in Diablo the exact same as yours?”
“Initially, Wilson said that he was. But he has since said that he changed the personali
ty a bit and made him more annoying than a five year old with a drum set. Or at least that is what he said he did. Wilson told me he can communicate with all of his clones.”
“Do you think that he told Admiral Kane that?”
“I doubt it. He likes to keep secrets.”
One of the Communication techs approached and saluted. “Excuse me, Primus. The Earth ship is almost in range.” She thanked the officer and switched the main screen to one of the Martian observation platforms. As the Earth ship came into view there were many gasps from around the room.
“Grandmother is that scale correct? That has to be the biggest ship ever built!”
“Not quite, but very close. The last four colony ships were around that size. Three of those may still exist as they have never been found. It is a big one. Commander Issacs, what do our weapons scans show?”
“Primus, initial scans show War Shot batteries spread across the outside of the ship. The upper portion has three built-in mass drivers and the interior looks hollow. It is hard to see from this angle but there are two ventricle outer doors large enough for several warships to pass through. We believe that it is carrying a small fleet inside.”
“Estimates of number of crewmen?”
“Not at this time, Primus. How many did the larger colony ships hold?”
“The last four were packed with twenty-two to twenty-four thousand colonists. They expected to lose at least ten percent after the first jump so they packed on extra.”
The intelligence officer just stared at her. “Ma’am, I had no idea.”
“Very many don’t. The UN was very devious at that point in history. We can only assume that nothing has changed.”
“Primus! We are receiving a message in the clear from the Earth ship!” Amalie motioned for it to be played.
Up on the main screen a picture came into view of the bridge of the ship. Young looking men and women in uniform sat at consoles much like those in this room. The Captain of the ship was standing in front of the camera speaking. “Attention people of Mars. We come in peace. Earth sends its greetings to our lost brethren. My ship, the Colossus has been sent by the United Nations of Earth to reestablish contact with our colonies and resume trade. The galaxy is wide and humanity has achieved much during its existence. We want to help herald in the future of mankind and establish peaceful relations, nothing more.” The message began again, it was on a loop.
“What do you two think? Do you believe him?” Amalie stared at both Dar and I. This was some kind of test.
“No, Grandmother, I don’t believe him. Why now? Why send that monstrosity and not a simple scout ship or courier? They are up do something. Did you see what I saw? They looked like clones.”
“Yes they did, didn’t they? Cloning technology was still in its infancy before I left Earth, but the Program was experimenting with it. I wonder how many clones they made.”
“Captain Bishe, allow the Earth ship into our orbit. They are to orbit Deimos not Mars. Make sure they understand that. If they get closer than Deimos, they will be fired upon.”
“Yes, Primus. It will be done as you command.”
She turned and looked at us. “You two look worried. Don’t, we have a plan for this. Mars will never submit to the UN. Not while a single breath is still in my body. We have a plan.”
__
“… We want to help herald in the future of mankind and establish peaceful relations, nothing more.” The laughter on the bridge and throughout the ship went on for a full minute.
Johann 009 did not understand. Earth sent him and his brothers to pave the way for a takeover. Was this the plan all along? Was the Program just some elaborate plot to control the galaxy and subjugate even those that helped bring it about? He was so confused.
“You look confused Gen Mod.” That voice! He feared that voice, it meant blood and pain.
The voice chuckled in the dark. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to harm you. At least not yet. I was just checking up on you. Did you enjoy the Alpha’s speech?”
“Why are you people doing this to me? I have served Earth my whole life. They sent us here to control the colonies and to wait for salvation.”
“One man’s salvation is another man’s servitude. Ever wonder why things are the way they are? Very few know the story. Even the Alphas don’t know the whole truth. We Zeta’s do though. We know because we were the first ones, the prototypes.” The voice in the darkness sighed. “We came from you in the beginning. While the Alpha’s may not have known that there were women in the Program, we did. Our ancestor was a descendant of yours. He came into this world a stranger in his own body. That is a lesson for you. Never let the white coats get you. Bad things always happen. They cloned him, well first they dissected him and then they cloned him. He represented the best traits of strength, stamina, agility, and long life. What he also held was a psychosis and a desire to kill anyone and everything. I and those like me are the result of those experiments. Instead of destroying the failed experiment, they learned from it and created those that you have seen on this ship. We were allowed to live and became the torturers and killers of the regime. We became the Zeta’s, the last thing that our victims see in this world.”
The Zeta in the dark laughed some more. “That is not the answer that you wanted. Long before the Cyber Wars on Earth, an organization was formed to rule the world. They took a name from history and called themselves the Illuminati. Few knew it existed for real and not just in the history books. When the Cyber Wars began, they took advantage and began to control the very governments they were a part of. A computer program was created to run everything. It became known as the Program. The Program created computers to run things, and those computers created more computers and so on. Somewhere along the line the Program decided that man was secondary to its desires and wanted things to be more efficient. The colonization program was born of that desire. Gen Mods were originally created to help the Program achieve its goals. A select few of you were chosen to run things. Regular humans, including those that originated the Program got the power they desired and were then executed. Progress ever forward.”
He laughed again. This time a more sinister laugh that chilled Johann’s bones. “Starting to get the picture Gen Mod? The colonies were allowed to prosper and build to make materials easier to obtain. Why import a workforce when one will create itself for you given time. Your group of Gen Mods were sent by the last of the human controllers. It was they that wished for you to create this religion called the Cabal. They considered the colonies their rewards for conquering the Earth. They were eliminated before they could collect. The Alphas up there on the bridge don’t know the whole story. They might, but I doubt it. Earth as you know it is gone. The Program is everything now. Remember what I have told you. Maybe this is your salvation.”
The laughter continued and then faded. Johann called out many times, but he was alone in the dark.
Chapter 18
Ever so carefully the massive Earth ship Colossus moved its orbit around Deimos. Martian patrol craft and several squadrons of fighters filled the air between it and the planet. Down on the planet, the local airwaves were filled with speculation and fear. Earth and the UN have returned. Hidden deep underground, the Martian Command center watched and monitored the situation. So far the Earth ship was following their instructions.
“Captain Bishe, what is our status?”
“Primus, the Earth ship has achieved orbit over Deimos. We currently have all publicly known Martian patrol craft in orbit around Mars. Our top three squadrons of fighters are on CAP between us and them. Checkmate is in play and will be ready for your orders. William Tell is also ready and waiting. Are you sure about using William Tell? It has not been fully tested, Ma’am.” He looked concerned.
“Yes, Captain. We might as well use whatever we have to the best of our ability. Better that we give it all now than later. We still have a few other tricks up our sleeves, remember.”
“Yes, Primus.
All civil defense locations are in position and standing by. Emergency power generators are online and preparing for boost.”
“Excellent, Captain! Make sure everyone has been fed and all stations are still receiving signals. When this happens, it is going to be very fast. If by some chance we are attacked, and I am lost, my granddaughter Athena is my designated second.”
“Yes, Primus. Logged and recorded.”
I was shocked by this. I’m not ready to take control of Mars! “Grandmother, I’m not ready to be in charge of a whole planet! I can barely take care of Dar and myself.”
“Calm yourself. It is just a precaution that’s all. I’m a tough old broad to kill.”
