by Frank Carey
She pulled a third one—an empty—out of her pocket and pressed it against Royce's left chest. "Press into the muscle and pull the trigger. Taking into account the stress he's under and the environment down there, he's probably showing symptoms. You should see an immediate improvement when you give him the first dose. If not, hit him with the second one."
"Thank you, Doctor," Royce said as he took one injector from Marta and put it in a pocket on his vest. "Liz, if there's nothing else, then we should go."
"That's it. Marta, you still OK with all this? Marta?" Liz asked. Marta was just standing there, in full battle gear, helmet in hand, staring at Harmon as he ran his hand over the leading edge of the Conquistador's starboard foil.
"What? Sorry. No there's nothing else."
"Do you find that creepy? It’s like he's saying goodbye to an old friend." the captain observed.
"I'll only find it creepy if Conquistador opens a drain and makes a puddle on the deck," Royce said. "I wish I could convey how much of an honor this is for anyone of my race. Harmon's been given a chance to change his ways and make amends. Off-hand, I can think of maybe two elves in the last five hundred years given this honor. Instead of getting angry at him, we should be composing songs about his adventures."
"Are you composing a song?" Liz asked, shocked at the thought.
"Of course and a poem as well, which I hope are both worthy of inclusion in his memorial."
Marta made no comment; instead she put on her helmet, powered up her gear and walked past Harmon without a word.
"She isn't handling this very well, is she?" Liz asked.
"And you're mad at her about it," Royce replied as he activated his armor. "Don't you find it odd that the only person not thinking about himself is the one going to his death?"
Liz grimaced. "You're right. Delay launch two minutes," she said as she stormed up the ramp into the ship. Once inside, she found Marta as the others saluted. "Stand easy. Captain, a word."
Liz led Marta into the galley and closed the curtain. "I've been an idiot and an unfeeling dolt. I apologize," she said as Marta raised her visor. "I have been flying blind on this one and blaming you for the pain Harmon's feeling. I shouldn't do that. You're family, and that's means everything to me."
Marta looked at her cousin before reaching over and carefully hugging the captain. "We're good, cousin. We're good," she said with a sniffle.
"Good, now go find those kids," Liz said as she walked out and down the ramp. When she got to the bottom, she found Harmon waiting for her.
"Thank you," he said as he held out his hand.
"Still a damn moron," she said as she ignored the hand and hugged him hard. "Screw the vision. I want you back here in one piece, understand, elf?"
He came to attention and saluted her. "Aye, aye, Captain!"
She returned the salute. He walked up the ramp and disappeared into the ship.
"That's it," Royce said as he took one last look around.
"I'm taking the ship to battle stations the moment you leave. I forgot to ask. How's the FTL on that tub?"
"She can outrun any ship in the fleet while still at idle."
"Good to know. Take care," she said.
"Aye, Captain," Royce said with a salute.
She returned it, and he headed into the ship. Once inside, the hatch was sealed as the marshaller walked to the front of the ship to guide it to the launch area. Soon the mighty ship was gone, leaving the captain alone in the vast room. "Bridge, this is the captain. Go to battle stations and set condition three."
"Aye, Captain, battle stations condition three," the first officer replied as Klaxons sounded and strobes flashed. Liz headed to the Bridge as the mighty warship prepared for battle.
###
"ETA ten minutes," Royce called out from the copilot's seat. "We have the landing coordinates plotted on the board. Listen up! We go in hot. Standard defensive formation."
"Aye, Aye!" they all responded, though Harmon was the only one with a smile.
"Outstanding. Something funny Mr. Aymar?"
"No, sir, just a touch of gas!"
"I see," Royce replied. Marta suddenly remembered their first date and Harmon's encounter with bean burritos. She turned forward so the others couldn't see her smile.
"Landing site ahead. Get ready," Harmon called out as he flew the ship through the bright daylight.
The Conquistador circled the site once before landing in the center of what was left of the Asgard's debris field, most of which had been carted-off by bots. Once the ship was on the ground, Marta cycled the door open and moved out of the way as her Marines ran down the ramp and formed a defensive ring around the bottom. After checking with her scanner, Sgt. Zon signaled all clear. With Marta leading the way, Harm and Royce ran down the ramp to join her while leaving four Marines behind to guard their escape. "Just so you know, I reprogrammed Conquistador so any one of our people can fly her," Marta said.
"I should have thought of that," Harm said. "I've had a few things on my mind lately.
"Not a problem," Royce said. "Commander, move out!"
With Cpl. Stal and LCpl. Eloen running point and the rest spread along the line, they ran double-time into the woods on a direct course to where the cave was. Halfway there they came across their first problem—a large robotic warrior blocking their way.
"Hold!" it yelled as it raised its two weapon-equipped arms, aiming them at the group. Around them, they could hear rustling amongst the trees. "Identify!" the mechanical monstrosity barked.
Royce looked at LCpl. Eloen, their communications tech, and saw her quietly reach into her pack. Royce walked up to the creature and yelled back at it in low-elf, confusing it while giving Eloen time to finish. Moments later, she said something to Royce in the same language before yelling "Down!" while throwing something into the air. It exploded in a flash of light, causing the sentry bot to burst into flame before falling to the ground in a smoking heap.
"Good thinking, Sana. The EMP grenade worked like a charm," Royce said as he got up and brushed himself off. "Anyone hurt?"
No one was hurt. Harm took a moment to check something in his pocket.
"What’s that?" Marta asked as she watched him examine the ping-pong ball-size sphere.
"A tool, nothing more. Marta, about what's about to go down..."
"Listen, elf, nothing is going to happen to you, understand me? Nothing." She hissed as she grabbed his arm and pushed him in the direction of the cave. She noticed Zon and the corporal taking up defensive positions around Harm, as if protecting him from Marta's wrath.
"Marta, how about you go back to the ship and wait," Royce asked all nice like.
She glared at him. "Is that an order, sir?"
"No, just a suggestion," he replied. "By the way, Harmon is the best freakin chance we have of everyone getting out of here alive, so cut the elf some slack. Consider that an order," he said.
"Aye, sir," she said. She saw Harm looking at her as if he had heard everything, which was impossible since she and Royce were using suit comms. She still found it unnerving.
Chapter Seventeen
When the rescue team arrived at the cave entrance, they found it guarded by a large robot spider hanging above the doorway. The team stopped while Sana took out another grenade, only this time she walked up to the creature and showed it the baseball-sized weapon before activating it with a flourish. The spider-bot scampered off into the woods while making yipping noises like a scared puppy. "Wuss," Sana commented while putting the deactivated grenade back into her backpack. With Harm in the lead, the rescue team entered the cave.
"Hold!" Royce ordered as he and Marta reached into their packs and pulled out two small boxes which they opened and held out in front of them while Sana activated a control pad. Several dozen bee-sized bots swarmed out of the boxes and down the corridor ahead while Sana monitored their progress on her control pad. "Just a corridor. No dangers or hostiles. The corridor ends in some kind of control room.
"Good. Lance Corporal, set the bots to picket duty. Everyone move out and watch for danger," Royce said. They powered-up their weapons, then headed down the hallway in twos.
Harm walked into the first control room and sat down at the console while the others fanned out around the room looking for a way in. Glancing up at the ceiling, Harm saw a security camera tracking their movements. "Royce, we've got company," he said as he gained access to the system.
"Who?" Royce asked as the team moved into defensive positions around the console.
Harm nodded to the ceiling camera while he typed commands. "Give me a moment, and I'll take care of our voyeur."
Royce and Marta watched the camera go dead while the room's walls dropped away to reveal the server farm and the path leading through it. "Ignore those, they're fake," Harm said as the server displays went dead replaced by the glow of overhead lighting. "I found the Asgard survivors."
"Where are they?" Marta asked.
The monitor on the wall behind Harm lit up to show a map of the facility. The team's positions were marked by green dots clustered in a small circular room connecting to the outside via a long corridor. Toward the center of the building was a larger circular room with a number of blue dots. There was a flashing red dot sitting stationary near the blue ones.
"How the hell are you doing this?" Marta asked.
"Call it a hobby," Harm explained. "OK, the blue dots represent the survivors from the Asgard. The red dot represents an old friend of mine who seems to have gotten himself trapped within the system." Two more dots appeared, both diffused and overlapping several rooms. "Those are unidentified entities also trapped in the system. One of them is some form of computer virus. My hacker ball has flagged the virus as a level-one malignant."
"We are under orders to destroy all level-one viruses at all costs," Sana explained.
"Which means we've all become expendable," Sgt. Zon said.
"It's that bad?" Royce asked as he peered over Harm's shoulder.
"Yes," Harm replied while tapping more commands. "Odd..."
"What?" Royce asked.
"The system's command structure looks oddly familiar even though it predates even the Orta... Shit!"
"What?" Royce asked.
"This code is similar to the InterWeb core code."
"Sir?" Sana asked Royce. He nodded. She put her weapon down and looked at the screen. "He's right. The similarities are too numerous to be coincidences. Good catch, sir," she said to Harmon.
"Thanks. I have my moments. Based on this information, it's imperative that we destroy this place and the code stored here. Between the virus and the code, a terrorist group could do unspeakable harm to the League through the civilian and military InterWebs. Royce, we've got to get those people out of there. I detect a triple-redundant fusion furnace one mile below this complex. I can set it to overload, taking out everything within one mile of the epicenter."
"Can you set a delay?" Royce asked.
"Not from here, but I can from the room where the Asgard team is holed up."
Royce looked at the map. "Captain, thoughts?"
Marta walked over and stared at the map. "The corridor leads to this entry here," she said while pointing to an entrance closest to their current position. "A corridor circles the room with secondary entrances here, here, and here. I can go in through the first entrance and keep the red dot occupied while the rest of the team extracts the Asgard survivors via the three secondary entrances."
"It's got to be me," Harm said as he retrieved his hacker ball.
"Right," Marta said as she removed her helmet. "This is where you die, isn't it?"
"I identified that red dot. It's Jurzik, the Tralaskan who tried to kill me a year ago on his home world. He's somehow gone non-corporeal, and I don't detect his body anywhere in the complex. I'm guessing he's trapped in the system and will do anything and kill anyone to get the hell out. I can use that against him."
"How?" Royce asked.
"By appealing to his bottomless pit of greed and his need for self-preservation. I'm the only person on this planet who can offer him a way out of there. I'll get him to release the survivors, then when the time is right, I'll set the furnaces to overload.”
"What about you?" Marta asked.
"What happens, happens. We need to get those people to safety before I destroy the complex. Jurzik thinks he's a better hacker and smuggler than me. I can use that to my advantage. I know how that asshole thinks."
"Then we have a plan," Royce said as he got everyone back on task. "Harm, take point while the rest of us move to the other entrances to retrieve the captives. We'll signal you when we're clear so you can initiate the self-destruct."
"Aye, sir," Harm answered. He looked at Marta and saw she had already replaced her helmet and closed the visor, effectively dismissing him from her life. He didn't see the tears spilling down her cheeks behind the armored glass.
They hurried down the corridor to the central control room. As they made their way down the hallway, Royce noticed the dead cameras along the route they were taking. "Is this your doing?" he asked Harm.
"Of course. I've scrambled the video feeds so they show only empty corridors while the infrared sensors see only ambient temperature. He knows we're here, but not our location. He also maintains control of the internal and external security system. Jurzik is smart, but he’s task oriented which means he'll stop at nothing to finish killing me.
"Listen, Harm. I..." Royce started to say, but Harm interrupted him.
"Royce, what’s Aerith like?"
"She has her mother's eyes and your smarts," Royce replied as they reached the double-doors leading into the control room where the survivors were gathered. Sgt. Zon went down one corridor while Cpl. Zal and LCpl. Eloen were sent down the other, leaving Royce with Harmon and Marta. "Captain, we've got to go," Royce said as he prepared for whatever was beyond those doors.
Marta removed her helmet and walked up to Harmon. She stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him. "I believe you," she said. "Give that asshole hell."
"I love you, Marta McMurphy. Save our family and those kids," Harmon replied as he looked deeply into her eyes. She saw no hint of the fear she saw earlier. Instead, she saw the determination of a warrior going into battle for the last time. She replaced her helmet before joining Royce, who saluted his cousin before he and Marta headed down the corridor, leaving Harmon to wait for their signal. Shortly, a single beep came over the radio, telling him the other teams were ready. Taking a deep breath, he placed the hacker ball against the lock pad. The door opened to reveal a group of people standing around a central console while surrounded by four armed bots. Off to the side was an occupied hamster ball from which a familiar voice was prattling shit. After listening for a few moments, Harmon exclaimed, "Or what, asshole? Don't you ever threaten a member of my family again or I swear I'll..."
"You'll do what?" Jurzik said as the bots took aim at Harmon.
"I'll do to you what you did to me ten years ago, only much, much slower," Harmon replied as he walked past the others to stand behind the control console.
"You're bluffing," Jurzik said as Aerith walked up and took Harmon's arm.
"Dad..."
Harmon looked down at his daughter and marveled at the woman she had become. He looked up and saw a young man standing nearby with sweat pouring down his face. Next to him stood his sister, Tannith. "Hey, Sis, has this creature harmed anyone?"
"No. But Mauro..."
"Yeah, I know," Harmon said as he looked at the sweating young man. "Hang in there, buddy. Just a few minutes more."
Mauro nodded.
Turning back to the console, Harmon took out a neon purple on black hacker ball and placed it on a sensor pad. Holographic displays filled the air above the console as the small device performed its magic.
"What are you doing?" Jurzik demanded once more.
As if in answer, all four bots went limp. "I've limited your access to the securit
y bot subsystems while isolating the virus in a secured memory bank. Now, I'm going to have some friends of mine come in and get these people out of here while you and I have a little talk, so stop fighting me, or I swear I'll drive you out of your ball and into the memory bank containing the virus."
"I call it the Wraith. No problems, buddy, just get me out of here," Jurzik said as doors around the room opened, followed by Marines running in, grabbing survivors, and pulling them out the double-doors to safety. Royce and Cpl. Stal ran up to Mauro and led him out the door while Royce administered the vaccine. LCpl. Eloen ran up and grabbed Aerith, but she resisted. "Dad, no, please..." she pleaded.
"I'm fine. Go with Sana. I promise we'll talk later. Now, go," he said. He brushed her cheek with his fingertips as she was led out of the room, leaving Marta standing beside him while Royce watched the door.
Harmon's fingers flew across the console as he accessed system after system while Marta watched in amazement. Finally, Harm stopped and addressed Jurzik. "Jurzik, I've created a path between your containment sphere and my hacker ball. I can transfer you into the ball and store you there in stasis until we can get you back to the Cube for transfer into a synth body."
"No, wait. I need Pauly! It's worth billions..."
Harmon looked at his displays, moving them around like paintings on a wall. "Pauly? There’s only you and the Wraith in there."
"What, that's impossible!"
Harm noticed one of the guard bots twitching. “I'm picking-up...something, something new. It's sapient, but its signature is unlike anything I've seen before. Dammit! It just released the Wraith! Jurzik, find a hidey-hole..."
It was too late. Jurzik screamed as the Wraith was upon him. Harm looked up and saw the bots activating. He typed in a command and a small door opened on the console, revealing a red button. He looked at Marta who had been yelling at him, probably telling him they had to go. He grabbed her by a handle on the front of her armor and threw her across the room, directly into Royce, as bullets ripped into his chest. In slow motion, he turned back to the console, and as his wife and cousin fell backwards out of the room, Harmon sealed the door behind them, before slapping the self-destruct button as the darkness over-took him. He never saw the intruder disappear from the displays, nor did he see Xura appear.
