Steel Apocalypse

by Rodney Hartman

  The elevator’s on. The transport’s crew should’ve shut everything down before they loaded her on their ship. It’s standard procedure to turn everything off. If the elevator’s got a charge, some of the other electronics might also be on.

  Jake sighed. I’d better make sure everything’s off. Wouldn’t do to have the electronics fry before Mom gets a chance to sell ’em.

  Pressing the elevator button, he watched the cockpit’s access door on the back of the cat open as a small platform lowered. Once it reached the ground, he stepped on and raised the control lever. The platform began rising in a jerking motion. After he smacked the control box with his right hand, the elevator steadied and picked up speed.

  Probably a bad servo. I’ll have to sneak into Old Man Shalloby’s junkyard and scrounge a replacement. Could mean a few extra credits when Mom sells the cat.

  Once the elevator reached the top, Jake leaned forward to look through the open access door. He remembered his dad laughing and showing him around the cramped cockpit.

  Dad was proud of her then. He glanced at the cat’s dinged-up armor plating and blackened exterior. I wonder if he’d be proud of her now. I wonder if he’d be proud of either of us.

  “Well, are you coming in or not?” asked a feminine, child-like voice.

  Jake stared through the access door at the two padded seats positioned next to the cat’s forward windscreen. One of the chairs was empty. In the other sat a young girl about his age, wearing a gray flight suit. She had long red hair and bright blue eyes.

  Where did she come from? I’d swear that seat was empty a second ago.

  The young girl smiled. “Come on in, Jake. My isotopic batteries are low. I’d like to close the door to conserve energy.”

  “Maggie?” Jake asked, remembering his father introducing him to his cat’s AI before he’d shipped off planet to join the 57th Medium Mechs. “You can’t be Maggie. She was older.”

  The young girl’s smile widened and her eyes became even bluer as she spun her chair part way around with her foot to face him. Her hair was no longer red and long. It was brown and short. “I can make my hologram look however you want. Your grandfather came up with the idea of using hologram projectors and tractor beams inside the cockpit to simulate a person. He said it made working as part of a team more natural. I thought you might feel more comfortable if I used a form closer to your age. Do you want me to look older instead?”

  Jake eyed Maggie’s hologram. Like the last time he’d seen the Paladin’s AI, he was impressed by the realism. The girl’s image even had a few freckles on her nose, making her look cuter than anyone her age had a right to be.

  I know the Paladin’s obsolete, but the hologram projectors are topnotch. Mom should be able to get fifty thousand for them easy.

  “Well?” asked Maggie.

  “Well what?”

  “Do you want me to look older or not? I can appear however you want. What would make you feel more relaxed?”

  “Uh…how you looked a minute ago was fine. Does it matter?”

  The girl’s hair lengthened and turned back to red. She laughed, and her eyes sparkled blue. “Not to me.” She looked at Jake and frowned. “Are you coming in or not? I told you my batteries are low.”

  Glancing toward the homestead’s buildings, Jake looked for any sign of his mother. Seeing none, he turned back to the access port and stepped through. The brerellium-steel door clanged shut behind him.

  The young Maggie waved a hand at the empty pilot’s chair. “Have a seat. We might as well get started.”

  Jake frowned. It was more cramped in the cockpit than he remembered. “Start what?”

  “Learning how to operate me, silly. The original Paladin was designed for a crew of two, but your grandfather and I modified the controls so they can be operated by a single pilot.” She spun her chair toward the control console. “Of course, it takes a little getting used to.” She looked back and winked. “But hey, that’s why I’m here. As long as you keep the controls’ override engaged I can help drive and fire my weapons. To be honest, that’s about all a mercenary cat pilot has to do to get paid. They have to move and shoot.”

  Jake turned back to the access door looking for a control button. He saw none. He fought down a rising sense of panic. “Let me out. That’s an order.”

  The redheaded girl’s seemingly eternal smile faded. “If you want me to open the door, Jake, that’s what I’ll do.”

  The door remained shut.

  Maggie shrugged and gave a half-smile. “I wish I could’ve waited until you were older, Jake, but time’s short. We need to get busy helping your family.”

  “Help us how? We owe two million. The Paladin’s too banged up to fix. Mom’s only choice is to sell you for parts.”

  Maggie’s smile disappeared completely. “We can’t let that happen, Jake. You’re stronger than you think. Robert said you’ve been a tinkerer since the day you were born. He told me you spend most of your free time helping the mechanics at the spaceport or keeping the copper mines’ auto-bots in working order. You can fix me. All you need is a little guidance. My secondary sensor is in good shape. I’m picking up some junk UHAAVs and other vehicles over the hill. I calculate you can use parts from there to repair at least some of me. I’ve got the knowledge, if you’ve got the will.”

  “Are you talking about Old Man Shalloby’s junkyard? The stuff in there’s so old no one wants it anymore.”

  Maggie’s eyes turned a bright blue as she laughed. “Good, that means he won’t mind you borrowing a few things, now will he? Trust me. They’ll be good enough to get me going. What we can’t scrounge, we’ll buy.”

  Jake looked at the access door. It was still closed.

  “You still want to leave?” said Maggie.

  The door slid open.

  “All right then, leave. I guess your dad was wrong about you.”

  Balling his fists, Jake lunged toward the opening, but then stopped short. Turning around, he looked at the hologram of the redheaded girl. “Wrong how?”

  Maggie stared at Jake for a half dozen heartbeats. There was no smile on her face. For some reason, her eyes were now green. “Your dad said he thought you’d make a good cat pilot. He said he thought you’d be even better than him or your grandfather. I know Robert was very proud of you.”

  Glancing back at the open door, Jake sighed. He returned to the pilot’s seat and sat down. “We owe the bank. They’re going to take our homestead. I don’t suppose you’ve got a couple million credits tucked away in here, do you?”

  Maggie’s eyes lost their green color and flashed bright blue again. She spun her seat a complete 360 degrees with her foot and laughed. Even though Jake knew the spinning of the chair was actually accomplished by one of the cockpit’s hidden tractor beams, the movement of the seat was so seamlessly meshed with the moves of Maggie’s hologram that he couldn’t help but think she’d done it physically.

  “You’re asking me if I’ve got credits?” said Maggie. “Heck no. I’m a computer.” She raised her right hand and touched the index finger to her temple. “Fortunately for you, what I lack in credits, I make up for in logic. Your grandfather always said a person’s mind was worth more than credits anyway. Besides, I’m connected to the tele-network. There are some computers out there that owe me a few favors.” She laughed. “How do you feel about gambling?”

  Jake knew the tele-network was the only thing keeping his family in contact with the more civilized parts of the Empire. Using hyperspace, which took advantage of folds in the galaxy, the tele-network connected computers together in such a manner as to allow near instantaneous communication from one side of the Empire to the other. A few technicians at the spaceport swore the same tele-network connected all of the computers in the galaxy together. Jake doubted it, but even if it did, he didn’t see how that would help his family save their home. He was even less sure how gambling would help.

  Narrowing his eyes, Jake stared at the girl. “I’m not
old enough to gamble.”

  Maggie laughed. “Don’t be so negative. I’ve been planet-side less than an hour, and I’ve already got a line on a couple of places in town that don’t care how old you are. They only care if you have credits. You’ll have to be careful and only win a little at a time, but I calculate it’ll be enough to make payments on the homestead and buy a few spare parts. We can make it work.” She laughed again. “Like I said, I’ve got logic and connections. All you have to supply is the will to make it happen.”

  Jake stared at the laughing girl. “You’re talking about cheating. I’m too young to go to prison. You’re crazy, do you know that?”

  Maggie spun her chair completely around again, laughing all the more. “That’s what they tell me.” She stopped laughing and faced him. “So are you in? Or are you out?”

  The open access door beckoned to Jake. Before he could stand and leave, a vision of his dad flashed in his mind. He sighed and remained in his seat. “I don’t have any credits. I can’t gamble what I don’t have.”

  A palm-size panel below the pilot’s console popped open. Inside was a small pouch.

  “Those were Robert’s emergency credits,” said Maggie. “They’re yours now. There isn’t much, but I play a mean game of space poker.” She smiled. “I can teach you all I know, plus there are a couple of computers in town that will help us. I’ve already contacted them through the tele-network. If you’re careful and play your electronic cards right, you can earn enough to make our plan work. You can help your family and fix me up at the same time.”

  Jake took the pouch and looked inside. Maggie was right. There weren’t many coins. “Fix you up for what? To sell?”

  The smile dropped from Maggie’s face. “Creator no. You wouldn’t let your mother sell me, would you?”

  Jake thought her voice held a concerned note. “What do you care? You’re a computer.”

  Maggie’s eyes turned a soft green, and she slumped in her seat. “Am I? I suppose I am. Maybe it’s just my programming, but believe me, I care. If your mother sold me, I’d be scrapped for parts. I’d cease to exist.”

  She sounds scared, Jake thought. How’s that possible? It’s gotta be her programming. For some reason, he wasn’t so sure. She’s just a computer, but she looks so real. He sighed. “Then fix you up for what? I don’t think Mom’s gonna keep you around as a yard ornament. She’s also not gonna let me keep gambling once she finds out, and believe me, she will.”

  The smile returned to Maggie’s face. “I calculate you’re correct. That’s why you’ve got to fix me up so we can get a slot back in the 57th Mechs. Your grandfather and I were good. So were your dad and me. You and I will be even better. It’s in your blood.”

  “Me?! I can’t be a mercenary. Look at me. I’m a kid!”

  Maggie laughed, her eyes taking on a bright blue. “There you go being negative again. One thing I’ve learned over the years working with carbon-based life forms is if you wait long enough, they eventually get older. Give it a few years. Fix me up, and I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

  The memory of his father taking him on the tour of his freshly painted UHAAV flashed in his mind. He stared at the young girl. Her seemingly eternal smile remained perfectly poised as she waited for his answer.

  Shaking his head, Jake said, “I may be a kid, but I’m not stupid. I don’t want to be a mercenary. What’d it get my dad? My grandfather? They’re both dead. Plus, you’re a Paladin. You’re almost fifty years old. You’re obsolete.”

  “Don’t you think I know they’re dead? They were my friends. Robert might’ve been a mercenary, but he sacrificed his life to save the lives of a thousand settlers on Celon Three. I tried talking him out of it, but… Anyway, he died a hero. Your grandfather was a thousand kilometers from me when he was murdered by someone he thought was a friend. I wasn’t in a position to help him.” Maggie leaned forward in her seat, dead serious. “Tell me the truth. Do you want to be a copper miner for the rest of your life, Jake? Do you know what the survival statistics are for miners on Aretillo? They’re low, very low. I’m offering you a chance to get off this rock and do some good with your life.”

  Although moved by Maggie’s speech, Jake was far from convinced. “As a mercenary? In an obsolete Paladin?”

  A smile crept over her face. “I may have a forty-five-year-old chassis, but I’m far from obsolete. This Paladin was made special by the owner of the Deloris Armaments Corporation. He was a friend of your grandfathers. My plate armor is embedded with titanium flakes to resist sensor probes. I’m as hard to detect as one of the newer Warcat recon UHAAVs when I go into stealth mode. I’m agile for my size, and I’ve got double servos in my legs and arms for added strength and speed. You can switch out my gun appendages if you don’t like my weapons. That’s no big deal. I’ll admit my electronics are a little old, but they can be replaced after we earn some extra credits.” She simulated taking a deep breath. “Plus, I’m unique when it comes to tactical computers.” She laughed. “I’m the best there is, if I do say so myself.” She winked. “And I do.”

  Running his hands along the armrest of the pilot’s seat, Jake wondered how many times his father had done the same thing. Truth be told, sitting in the pilot’s chair seemed natural to him. As he gripped the control stick with his right hand, he imagined his dad’s hand covering his. The feeling pretty much cinched the deal.

  Although he knew Maggie was a hologram, he nonetheless locked eyes with the Paladin’s AI. “All right, I’ll give it a try, for a while at least. If I decide it’s not going to work out, I’ll leave and that’ll be the end of it.” He relented enough to give a half-smile. “I still say you’re crazy. This cat’s so beat up, I don’t even know what to try and fix first.”

  The smile on Maggie’s face grew larger. “Leave that to me, Tiger. In ten years, we’ll be the best UHAAV team this side of Risor.” She spun her chair completely around and laughed. “Hell, give us time and we’ll be the best this galaxy or any other’s ever seen.”

  Jake had his doubts. “I’ll give you six months. That’s it. If don’t think it’s helping my family, then I’m done.” Looking at Maggie’s smile, he relented even more and gave her a full smile back. “Don’t go getting your hopes up. I’ll learn how to drive you and get you repaired, but I ain’t gonna be no mercenary.”

  Maggie shrugged. “Whatever you say, Tiger.”

  Jake eyed the cat’s AI for a moment. “I mean it, Maggie. Six months, and that’s it.” He sighed. “All right then. We might as well get started.”

  Chapter 1 – No Space Marine

  _____________________

  Twenty-two-year-old mercenary cat pilot Jake Striker sat in the cockpit of his now fifty-five-year-old Paladin staring out the windscreen at the dense swamp located fifty meters away.

  I suppose after four years in the mercs I should be used to assignments on backwater planets, but I’m not. Heck, this place doesn’t even have birds. I mean, what Earth-class planet doesn’t have birds? This one’s got mosquitos aplenty, but no birds.

  He sighed. Like usual, guard duty gave him a lot of free time to think, but he’d long ago decided having too much time to think wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

  Life’s strange. I only promised Maggie six months. It seems like I just blinked a couple of times and ten years slipped by.

  Jake glanced out the corner of his eye at Maggie sitting in the copilot’s chair. Her hologram was no longer that of a young girl since she’d changed her image as he’d aged. Her form was now that of a full-grown woman only a couple of years younger than him. At his request, she’d kept her long red hair and the cute nose freckles.

  As if sensing his stare, or more likely detecting his clandestine look with the cockpit’s video cameras, Maggie spun her seat a quarter turn to look at him. “Don’t start on me again. You’re the one who signed the contract to help guard the hyper-drive complex on Thrakis. It’s not my fault we’re here.”

  “O
h no?” Jake said, spinning his chair to face his AI. “It all started with that great plan of yours to help my family. Why I ever let you talk me into gambling in the first place is beyond me.”

  Maggie spread her hands. “Hey, it worked for a while. At least we earned enough credits that first year to catch up on the back-payments on the homestead and get me fixed up at the same time. You even made enough to hire an accountant to handle the credits you made and funnel part of the proceeds to your mom by telling her it was from some of your dad’s friends in the 57th who wanted to remain anonymous.”

  “Yeah, well, that was a crazy story, and if I’d been older than twelve, I’d never have let you talk me into going along with it. My mom was desperate, but she wasn’t, and still isn’t, stupid. She knew something was up. I think she was on the verge of telling me to stop when those two thugs from Aretillo’s local crime family paid me that middle-of-the-night visit. I was only thirteen! I don’t mind saying they scared the hell out of me. I can still hear them telling me they didn’t know how I was cheating, but they knew I was.” Jake stared at his AI. “They told me if they ever caught me around any of their gaming tables again, they’d kill me and my entire family. They also told me they were notifying the other crime families in the galaxy about me and putting me in their shared database in case I ever tried cheating somewhere else again.” Even though the nighttime visit had been nine years ago, it still sent a shiver down Jake’s spine. “My family could’ve been killed, Maggie.”

  His AI’s hologram appeared to glance at the floor a couple of heartbeats before looking back up. “I’ve told you I was sorry a hundred and thirty-seven times. The plan should’ve been foolproof. I still don’t understand how they caught on to us.”

  “Well, they did,” Jake said, in no mood to be forgiving. “To top it off, the accountant you recommended I hire took what credits I had in my account and skipped planet. If you hadn’t come up with the idea of entering us in some of the local UHAAV fight tournaments on Aretillo to earn a few credits, we’d have wound up losing our home anyway. As it was, I barely won enough each month to make the bank payments and keep you maintained.”