by Jake Bible
“Everything is outside your control right now, asshole,” Kay said. “So shut the hell up and show us where the comm room is.”
“Of course,” Chann’s body said. “It is to your right. We will have to go to the next building.”
“Then start walking,” Kay ordered.
They did.
“Where is Taman?” Manheim asked once they’d gone two corridors over and were headed for the corridor that connected the two buildings. “Can you find him in your head?”
“He is not in my head,” Chann’s body said.
“Don’t be a smartass,” Manheim snarled.
“Sarcasm wasn’t my intention, nor was I being literal,” Chann’s body replied. “I was, in fact, responding to your question. Taman is not in my head. I cannot trace him at all. As far as I can tell, he is no longer in the outpost.”
“Can he block you?” Manheim asked.
“Yes,” Chann’s body replied.
“So he could be in here?” kay asked.
“Emphasis on could,” Chann’s body said. “I have no way of knowing. I am realizing that I am being cut out of the collective consciousness. With every step I take, I am able to access less and less about the outpost and the other AIs that inhabit it.”
“Your usefulness is waning,” Manheim said.
“I am realizing that,” Chann’s body said. “It is unfortunate.”
“We get to the comm room and then work out our next move,” Manheim said. “We’ll decide your usefulness after that.”
“I do hope you will factor in my current cooperation,” Chann’s body said. “Perhaps you can take me with you if you do manage to succeed? I might be able to help you remove my consciousness to another receptacle if the proper equipment were in place.”
“Take you with us up to the Romper? Where you could let your AI brain loose in the ship and kill us all?” Manheim chuckled. “Do you think I would make that kind of idiotic mistake?”
“Humans never cease to wonder,” Chann’s body replied.
“When I get free, I’m going to crush your AI ass,” Chann said inside his mind.
The AI whisper laughed.
“You think that’s funny?” Chann snapped.
“I think that you beings enjoy making threats you have zero ability to back up,” the AI whisper replied.
“Except we aren’t just beings,” Chann said.
“Oh, is that so?” the AI whisper replied.
“Yeah, we’re Marines,” Chann said. “We have an uncanny ability to actually make good on our threats. Even if it kills us.”
“Well, there is that,” the AI whisper said.
“What is wrong?” Kay asked. “Your eyes are weird.”
Chann’s body tilted his head. “Are they? Interesting. I was having a conversation with your Chann. Strange that I would show physical signs of that.”
“What is Chann saying?” Kay asked.
“Kay, ignore him,” Manheim ordered. “Focus on the objective.”
“Sorry, Sarge,” Kay said.
“How close are we?” Manheim asked as the three continued into the next building.
“Oh, we are almost there,” Chann’s body said. “Two more corridors.”
“That’s it?” Manheim asked.
“Too easy,” Kay said.
“Way too easy,” Manheim agreed.
They reached the end of the corridor and Manheim peeked around. He ducked his head back as a wave of plasma blasts came at him and ripped the corner of the wall apart.
“Shit!” he exclaimed. “So much for too easy!”
More plasma blasts, but this time from the other end of the corridor.
“No shit!” Kay yelled.
She swept Chann’s legs out from under him, sending his body to the ground fast. She placed a boot on his chest then returned fire, taking out a woman that was standing in the middle of the corridor. The three other attackers dove out of the way.
“What’s the call, Sarge?” Kay asked. She fired a couple more times, keeping the attackers where they were. “Can we take the bastards blocking our way?”
“How many are there?” Manheim asked Chann’s body.
“I’m unable to say,” Chann’s body replied. “Perhaps four? The wall is almost complete between myself and the collective.”
“I can take four,” Manheim said. “Kay, keep our six covered.”
“Can do,” Kay replied, boot still firmly planted on Chann’s chest.
Manheim took a couple of breaths then rolled out into the corridor, rifle up and already firing.
There were two men and four women standing in the corridor. Manheim ripped apart one of the women, wounded another, and caused a third to dive out of the way. The two men returned fire, but Manheim was already moving and had left the spot where their plasma blasts hit.
The wounded woman tried to stay in the fight, but she was too slow and Manheim quickly targeted her, putting a bolt between her eyes. Her head became bloody mist that showered the others.
Manheim used the distraction to gut one of the men then tucked his shoulder and rolled across the corridor, coming up next to the wall as the other man tried to take him out. Despite being AIs, with all of the perfect calculating abilities that came from those minds, they were not exactly the best shots. Being effective in combat took physical training.
And Manheim had that training.
Three more shots and the other two women were taken out followed by the last man. Manheim was up and running before the last man fell to the ground. He put a bolt in all of their heads just to make sure.
“Clear!” Manheim called out.
“On our way!” Kay replied.
Manheim took a knee and covered his corridor as he waited for Kay to catch up.
“We good?” Manheim asked when Kay joined him, Chann’s body in tow.
“We are for now,” Kay said. “But there are more coming from behind. I could hear them regrouping.”
“Comm room!” Manheim shouted at Chann.
“Three doors down,” Chann’s body replied.
***
“Ain’t you a bunch of big boys,” Rosch said as she tucked her enviro suit’s helmet under one arm and surveyed the bunch of warped Marines standing before her. “Ugly as all sin too.”
“Be nice, Rosch,” Nordanski said. “These guys are Marines, and they saved my bacon down there.”
“Shoopa biff gak,” Shick said.
“No, the Skrang ships have not come through yet,” Teffurg replied.
The entire group was standing in a secured corridor just on the other side of the hold where they had unloaded the ship’s parts. Nordanski was busy eating about six energy bars at once while downing as much water as his belly would hold. He belched loudly and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“You’re going to need help,” Nordanski said and pointed at six of the twelve warped Marines. “These guys can stay here and get to work with whatever you need them to do. I’m guessing it will be welding.”
“You’re guessing right,” Rosch said. “Six should do it? What are you going to do with the others?”
“Smooka qit haf,” Shick said.
“That’s a good point,” Teffurg said. He pointed at Shick’s rags. “If you look closely, you can see he outranks you. Shick is a sergeant.”
“Good for you, man,” Nordanski said. “But no one can understand you. You can’t really be in charge if no one can understand you.”
“Wil gak jaf,” Shick said and grimaced.
“He is pointing out that everyone can understand him except for you and Rosch,” Teffurg said. “I will need to stay up here, so I can translate for Rosch, which means you are the only one with a language problem.”
“Okay, so what does that mean? I can’t take orders from him if I don’t know what he’s saying,” Nordanski said.
“Sil kak vag baf bof,” Shick said.
The warped Marines burst out laughing and a couple slapped Nordanski on t
he shoulder, causing him to cough up the mouthful of energy bar and water he’d just stuffed his face with.
“What?” he asked once he was done choking. “What’s so funny?”
“Shick says to point your rifle at the bad guys and shoot,” Teffurg said. “Keep shooting until bad guys fall down dead. Then look for new bad guys. Those are the orders.”
“Stippa ban,” Shick said. He held up a hand, curled it into a fist, shook it, then stuck up two fingers, pointed, opened his whole hand, waved it, then clenched it back into a fist. “Naga stad?”
“Everything else he will use hand signals,” Teffurg translated.
“Yep, I got that part,” Nordanski said. He belched loudly. “It’s a plan then. Let’s get going. ETA on the Skrang scum coming to crash the party?”
“Two warships just came out of the wormhole portal,” Teffurg said. “They are scanning the entire system, but the AI does not believe they have found us. Right now, due to the shape the Romper is in, we look like space debris. A broken, derelict husk of a ship stuck in orbit around the planet.”
“That’s gonna change as soon as you start welding shit back together,” Nordanski said.
“The bots are already actively working with welding torches and they have not attracted any attention,” Teffurg said. “I have destroyed our transponder so there is no risk of that accidentally activating at an inopportune time.”
“Good thinking,” Nordanski said.
“Yes, yes, all good thinking,” Rosch said, her impatience bubbling over. “How about you do the rest of that thinking on the drop ship while you head back down to the planet? We need to get to work.” She turned to the warped Marines. “You do what I say, when I say it, understood?”
They nodded. She looked at Teffurg.
“You help me talk to them and keep an eye on those Skrang ships, got it?”
“Of course,” Teffurg replied.
“You will get the remaining parts we need then, and only then, will you attempt to go after the others,” Rosch said to Nordanski.
“Hold on now,” Nordanski responded. “People come before parts.”
“People will be dead by Skrang warships if we don’t have a working Romper,” Rosch said. “Get the parts then save everyone. Come back here without those parts and we might as well shoot each other in the head.”
Nordanski looked like he was going to argue, but a stiff finger under his nose from Rosch shut him up.
“I ain’t even gonna mention that I outrank you, Private,” Rosch said. “I’m going to trust you’ll be smart and do what you are supposed to do when you get down there.”
“Lop jik dan,” Shick said.
“Shick will make sure the parts are loaded first before they look for the other Marines,” Teffurg said.
“Good man,” Rosch said. “There. That’s all settled. Let’s get to work.”
She put her helmet on, sealed it down tight, nodded to the warped Marines, turned, and marched down the corridor to the nearest airlock. Nordanski grinned as she left and six of the huge warped Marines followed after her like ducklings.
“She’s not going to have much of a problem keeping them in line,” Nordanski said. He nodded in the other direction. “Follow me, boys. I have something to show you.”
“Where are you taking them?” Teffurg asked.
“Where do you think? The armory,” Nordanski said. “The drop ship is limited right now. I’d like to stock up.”
“Oh, well, then you will need your helmet,” Teffurg said. “In fact, it might be easier if you take the drop ship around and tether it via the airlock. It is not an easy walk.”
“Then we better do that,” Nordanski said.
Shick nodded and they hurried from the corridor and into the cargo hold where the drop ship sat waiting.
“I will stay here,” Teffurg said. “It is closer to where I need to be.”
He put his helmet on and it sealed up as Nordanski and the others raced up the drop ship’s ramp.
“Remember that you need the parts first,” Teffurg said over the comm as Nordanski and Shick made their way up to the bridge. “Do not get sidetracked or distracted.”
“The whole damn planet is a damn distraction,” Nordanski replied, stepping into the lift.
“Fah bef gup,” Shick said.
“What?” Nordanski asked.
“He said that Marines were made to kill distractions,” Teffurg said.
“I hear that,” Nordanski replied. “Hooah.”
“Hooah!” the warped Marines all shouted.
They were up on the bridge and Shick had the drop ship powered up for take-off before Nordanski was even strapped into his seat.
“Starboard side,” Nordanski said as he tapped at the console in front of him. “I’m tagging the airlock now.”
“Stog,” Shick replied and lifted off.
The drop ship was already pointed in the right direction, so once the cargo hold doors were open, Shick took them out at a speed that made Nordanski grit his teeth.
Shick banked right then ducked under the demolished structure of the Romper, coming up on the starboard side in less than three seconds, he spun the drop ship around and aimed its side airlock at the slowly extending airlock tether coming from the Romper.
“Docked,” Nordanski said as they felt and heard the clunky impact of the two airlocks. “Let’s get geared up.”
They made their way down to the airlocks, which were already open, and rushed into the side corridor. A quick jog and they came to the armory’s doors which slid open to reveal a serious arsenal.
“Chugga wo,” one of the warped Marines said.
The rest nodded vigorously then started grabbing up everything they could strap to their bodies, sling over backs, or hang from their shoulders.
“Is it just me, or does watching Marines arm themselves give a little tingle in my happy place?” Nordanski asked.
The warped Marines burst out laughing and started pointing at their crotches while they continued to load themselves with more gear.
6
“Keep them back!” Manheim yelled as he worked on the comm room’s door. “I’ve almost got this!”
“I’m doing the best that I can!” Kay yelled back. “They just keep coming!”
She fired her rifle until it clicked empty then grabbed up Manheim’s and kept on firing.
“Can’t you help?” Kay snapped at Chann’s body. “Use your AI mind and unlock the damn door!”
“I have been completely shut out of the system,” Chann’s body replied. “I can no longer connect to the collective at all. Their voices are lost to me. I have become an outcast and am less respected than you beings. I have no life here anymore. There is no point to living.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, you whiny bitch!” Kay yelled. “No one needs your teenage angst!”
“I am sorry, but I do not understand the reference,” Chann’s body said.
“You wouldn’t!” Kay shouted. “And it doesn’t matter! You made a deal, so keep up your end and help get the damn door open!”
“Yes, I made a deal,” Chann’s body said and nudged Manheim out of the way. “Allow me.”
His fingers moved at a speed that Manheim could barely follow. Then the comm room door slid open and Chann’s body stepped aside, motioning for Manheim to go first.
Manheim hurried inside and was about to turn around when Chann’s body lashed out, striking him across the chin with a closed fist. Manheim went down hard, his head bouncing off the floor when he couldn’t get his hands out in time.
“Kay!” Manheim shouted as he tried to shake it off and get up onto his hands and knees.
Chann’s body kicked him in the ribs and he tumbled across the floor, his back colliding with one of the comm consoles.
“Sarge!” Kay yelled as she tried to get into the room.
The last thing Manheim saw before the door shut was Kay dropping to a knee and pivoting back to fire.
Then it was ju
st him and Chann’s body.
“You have something in you,” Chann’s body said. “You have an AI in you. I can tell. Your tech stinks of awareness.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Manheim said as he tried to get up and was knocked back down as Chann’s body slammed a fist into his right cheek. His head smacked into the comm console and he saw stars.
“This body is very strong,” Chann’s body said. “I can make it stronger by mentally increasing the adrenaline that is already pumping through its blood. I run the risk of it going into cardiac arrest, but since I am a dead consciousness anyway, I am not risking much.”
He crouched down and grabbed Manheim by the throat.
“I want to talk to the AI inside you,” Chann’s body said.
Manheim began to gasp a response, but Chann’s body squeezed tighter.
“No,” he said, leaning so close that his nose was touching Manheim’s. “I don’t want to hear lies or excuses. I want to talk to the AI inside you.”
“I need to connect to an external system,” the AI said, its voice loud in Manheim’s head. “Try to convey that.”
Manheim tried to speak, but his windpipe was too constricted. Chann’s body eased his grip and Manheim nodded.
“Good,” Chann’s body said as he stood up and backed away a couple of steps. “Speak.”
“Have to…connect…to system,” Manheim croaked, his voice a gritty rasp. “It is not…in control…of my…body.”
“Is that so?” Chann’s body asked. “The AI inside you would like me to connect it to a system so it can communicate? I am sure it would like that. Then it can also infiltrate other parts of the outpost and create all sorts of trouble for me.”
“And trouble for Taman,” the AI said. “I don’t care about this AI other than the fact it has taken a hold of Private Chann. That upsets my directive to keep all Marines safe while in my presence. I am certain the creators of my protocols did not foresee a circumstance such as this, but regardless, I am troubled.”
“Can you take this asshole down?” Manheim thought.
“No, not without some sort of direct link,” the AI said. “Which would mean connecting to Chann’s mind physically. I was paying attention as Taman attempted to overtake you, and I could conceivably undo everything done to Private Chann, but that equipment is down below. I am afraid that we will have to continue dealing with this other consciousness for the time being.”
