“A lot of things,” said Casey. “But I guess we’ve got no choice. The odds that I’ll make it off this rock are next to zero. The same goes for you, Jake. I’m not sure how Old Man Gegorma plans to do it, but I don’t think he’s gonna want you in the way once he thinks Maggie’s got as much emotions as she’s going to get from associating with you. He already knows you’re not going to play ball any more than your grandfather or father were willing to. He must have some way he thinks will make her bond with him once you’re dead.”
“I’ll never bond with him,” said Maggie, her eyes blazing a dark blue. “I’d make myself cease to exist first.”
“You might try,” said Casey. “Gegorma must know something you don’t. He did say the Empire had wiped your memory.”
The look Maggie gave the Trecorian was anything but friendly. Jake saw an argument brewing. Rescue came from an unexpected direction.
“Look here,” said Maksim. “If I know my great uncle, the longer we’re in here, the more suspicious he’s going to become. If we take too long, he’ll give Donalis’s pirates our coordinates and send them here along with every other cat still in the tournament. He’ll force us to act one way or the other.” He glanced down at the cockpit’s deck before looking back up. “I told you last night the Crosioians and the Empire are in a full-scale war. What I didn’t tell you is that the Trecorians have assembled their fleets and are on their way here.”
“My uncle’s coming to Lastreo?” said Casey. “Then we’re saved. I knew Trish wouldn’t let me down.”
The Covian major shook his head. “Saved? Not hardly. Lastreo’s shield uses a class five planetary core generator for power. Half the Trecorian fleet would have to bombard it for a week before it failed. Nevertheless, dear Uncle Gegorma knows he’s pressed for time. If he can take control of your Maggie soon enough, I think he hopes to use her to hack into the Trecorians’ part of the tele-network and use the Trecorian fleet’s own weapons against them.”
Maggie folded her arms and shook her head. “Hey, I’m good, but I’m not that good. I could never do that.”
Maksim shrugged. “Well, my uncle thinks you can, and that’s what counts. Besides, he’s been planning this for a lot of years. I’d say he’s got a trick or two up his sleeve to make it work. The end result is that if we’re going to do anything, we’d better do it quick before he decides to send the pirates to us.”
Jake glanced out the Paladin’s windscreen at the Macron and Warcat standing nearby. The gray water of the harbor was just visible past the corner of the warehouse. “All right then,” he said. “I wouldn’t want an old man like Gegorma to put himself out any. Let’s get going.”
With no other plan and no other options, Maggie opened the access door.
Maksim jumped out first, using an anti-grav belt.
Casey took a step toward the door but spun around and planted a hard kiss on Jake’s lips. “You be careful, hotshot. I need you.”
Before he could say anything back, the black-and-purple-haired Trecorian was out the door. Jake turned to the storage locker and pulled out an M63 along with a utility belt containing two extra isotopic batteries and a couple of anti-personnel grenades. He made sure the holster for the attached Deloris phase pistol was tied down securely to his leg so it wouldn’t make any noise when he walked. Taking another moment, he grabbed a roll of black tape out of the locker and taped the metal buckle of the M63’s strap to prevent any clinking sounds against the weapon’s stock.
“Now you’re learning,” said Maggie. “You take care of yourself.”
“Same to you,” Jake said as he made sure the anti-grav belt Casey had given him was secured around his waist, then turned toward the door.
A hand touched his shoulder. Jake looked over his shoulder at Maggie. Her eyes were a deep green.
She leaned forward and touched her lips to his cheek. They felt warm and moist on his skin. A vision of the thermal and hydrator units Jason had installed in the cockpit’s hologram projectors flashed in his mind.
“I need you, Jake,” Maggie whispered. “I can’t lose anyone else.”
Jake stared into her eyes for a second. He didn’t care if they were a hologram or not, he knew he’d miss them if anything happened to her. “You take care of you. I’ll be coming back. You just make sure you’re here in one piece when I do.”
“Oh, I’ll be here, Tiger. Now get going before I start crying and rust up the inside of the cockpit.”
With that, Maggie shoved Jake out the access door. The anti-grav belt activated on its own.
She’s one helluva hacker, Jake thought as his feet touched lightly on the cement street next to his cat. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to be glad she is before this day’s over.
Chapter 30 – Hostages
____________________
Entering an access point to the maintenance tunnel near where they’d parked the cats, Jake cautiously made his way underneath the harbor in the direction of the freighter. Unfortunately, he misread one of the ‘YOU ARE HERE’ screens at an intersection and went several hundred meters in the wrong direction before realizing his mistake. He forgot all about caution and began running to make up the five minutes he’d lost.
Maggie will never let me live it down if she finds out I went left when I should’ve gone right.
A small flash of purple near the tunnel ceiling ten meters away caught his attention.
On the other hand, she probably already knows. That’s the tenth tele-bot I’ve seen her take out by crashing one of the Trecorians’ tele-bots into it. I guess it’s a good thing Maggie assigned like a thousand of them to watch over me. The tournament controllers’ part of the local network may be out, but I’d bet my last credit the old man is using his tele-bots to keep track of what everyone is doing. With Maggie taking some of them out along my path, that should keep Gegorma from guessing what I’m up to. He may get a little suspicious at losing some of his tele-bots, but hopefully he won’t figure out why until it’s too late.
A muffled boom from up ahead echoed down the maintenance tunnel. Jake glanced at his wrist-timer.
Damn. I’m late. Maggie may know where I’m at, but the others don’t. Cat-to-cat communications are still blocked. Either Casey or Maksim must’ve started the attack. We’re committed now.
Turning his run into a sprint, Jake headed for what he hoped was his destination. By the time he spotted a metal ladder built into the side of the tunnel, his lungs were burning and he was gasping for breath.
A series of booms came from above. With no time to waste, he climbed up the ladder ten meters before finding himself in a small alcove. The ladder continued up, but a metal door at the side of the alcove beckoned him more than the ladder. Up probably leads to the gun turret. The door should get me closer to the hostages since they’re in the lower part of the ship.
Making his decision, Jake swung the door outward with his M63 at the ready.
Two men wearing white and black camouflage fatigues and carrying pistols in their hands were just passing the door. They both spun and stared at Jake openmouthed for one long heartbeat.
“What the—” started one of the men as he raised his weapon to fire.
The man was fast but not quite fast enough.
With his M63 on full automatic, Jake pulled the trigger, sending a twenty-round burst at the two pirates. The red balls of plasma energy struck the men in the chest, flinging them against the metal wall before they collapsed to the deck.
Well, so much for stealth, he thought as he started to step through the open door. I wonder if anyone else is around.
Two green beams of plasma energy streaked past the doorway, coming from the part of the hallway blocked by the outward-swinging metal door.
Pulling his leg back inside the alcove, Jake jerked one of the anti-personnel grenades off his utility belt. He thumbed the activate switch and tossed the grenade into the hall, bouncing it off the opposite wall in the direction of the shots, then pulled the door sh
ut.
Muffled yells sounded from the hallway.
Boom!
Opening the door to the now smoke-filled hall, Jake sent a burst of plasma rounds from his M63 down one end of the hallway before switching directions and firing a burst the other way.
No one returned fire.
Stepping into the hall, he noticed three bloody bodies in the part of the hallway that had been hidden by the open door. He made out a set of stairs past the bodies that led up.
I don’t need to go up. The hostages are down here.
Turning, he stepped past the first two pirates he’d killed. Better luck next time guys.
The roar of mini-guns and blasts of plasma and phase cannons were coming fast and furious from outside the freighter, spurring Jake to forgo any attempt at stealth.
Speed is my friend, he thought as he began running as fast as he could down the hall in what he hoped was the direction where the hostages were being kept.
A man in white-and-black camouflage crouching at an intersection ten meters in front of him fired a burst from a phase rifle. While the man might have been a pirate, he was no soldier. He missed.
Jake’s return fire didn’t. Jumping over the body, he turned the corner.
Four men running in his direction raised their rifles at once. The fact that there were four of them and the hallway was narrow worked against them. The front two men fired, but their shots went wild as they elbowed each other.
Falling forward onto the deck, Jake fired a full hundred round burst from his M63. In three seconds flat, four bodies resembling blocks of Mesonian cheese known for its holes lay in the hallway. Jake jumped to his feet running and tried not to think of the lives he’d just taken. There’d be time enough for regrets later, assuming he lived.
The ship shuddered as a massive explosion resounded throughout the ship. The shock of the blast threw Jake to the deck. Shaking his head, he continued down the hall hoping Casey wouldn’t fire another one of her 400mm mortar rounds at the freighter.
Doesn’t she know I’m inside? He glanced at his wrist-timer. He was still five minutes behind schedule. She must think I’m back in the maintenance tunnels with the hostages. The cats are probably withdrawing now. Once they pull out, it won’t take long for the pirates to figure out they’ve got an intruder below decks. They’ll come for me in force, and I’ll be all alone.
He knew that wasn’t quite right. Maggie would know where he was. She wouldn’t leave until he was safely away. If the others see her not withdrawing, they might stay and keep fighting as well. He had no doubt Casey would. He wasn’t so sure about the Covian major. Doesn’t matter. I’m committed. Old Man Gegorma’s not gonna let us just leave without the hostages. I’ve got to get them.
The firing outside the ship slackened before stopping all together. The silence lasted for a full fifteen seconds, then resumed with a fury. Jake recognized the sound of the Paladin’s 75mm phase autocannon. He’d never heard anything with a sweeter sound. It was followed by a loud boom that could only be the Macron’s 400mm mortar.
With the sure knowledge that he wasn’t being deserted, Jake continued running down the corridor in the direction of the hostages. They’ve gotta be up ahead, he thought, remembering the ship’s schematics Maggie had shown him. That is, if they weren’t moved after I entered the maintenance tunnels.
A man and a woman standing outside an open hatchway at the side of the corridor turned in Jake’s direction. He didn’t give them a chance to draw their pistols. Pulling the trigger of the M63, he cut them down with a burst of plasma rounds.
Diving through the opening, he rolled on the deck and came up into a crouch. He was in a large bay thirty meters across, filled with a dozen soldiers in white and black camouflage. He pulled the trigger of his M63 spraying half of the weapon’s 2,226 plasma rounds in all directions. That is, he sprayed the rounds in all directions except toward an old man and a beautiful woman sitting in two chairs in the center of the bay.
Releasing the M63’s trigger, Jake glanced around the large room. The only occupants now were the twelve dead bodies and the man and woman still sitting in their chairs. Jake switched out the isotopic battery in his M63 with a fresh one and shoved the partially empty one back into his ammo pouch in case he needed it later. Then he turned to face the old man and the woman.
Chapter 31 – Rules
____________________
“Creao and Phyllis Gegorma,” Jake said. “What are you doing here?”
Both Gegormas rose from their chairs. Neither was restrained.
More than a little suspicious, Jake kept his M63 assault rifle pointed in their general direction.
The elder Gegorma smiled. While not a friendly smile, it wasn’t an unfriendly one either. “I’m impressed, Jake. To be quite honest, I thought it a waste of time going through the motions of having hostages and guards here, but you proved me wrong. Here you are.”
Jerking his head at a couple of the dead bodies, Jake said, “You took a heck of a risk. You’re lucky one of my rounds didn’t hit you. I’m surprised you put yourselves in danger.”
Phyllis laughed. “Oh, Jake. You really are naïve, aren’t you? My father and I were never in any danger.” She took two steps back. Her legs passed through the chair.
Realization came over Jake. “You’re holograms.”
“That’s right,” said Phyllis. “And just so you know, two of your rounds ricocheted off the wall and went through my chest. If I’d actually been here, I’m afraid you would’ve killed me. Fortunately, my father and I are safe and sound back in the tournament control room.”
The sound of firing from outside the ship intensified.
Jake gestured at the elder Gegorma with his rifle. “All right, so you’re holograms. Whatever makes you happy. I’ve rescued you, so call off your dogs outside before more people get hurt.”
Smiling, Creao Gegorma spread his hands. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Jake. You broke the rules. You were supposed to stay with your Paladin. I had assumed that’s where you were. Commander Donalis even confirmed he could see you in the Paladin’s cockpit.” He laughed and shook his head. “Good ol’ Maggie. She’s coming along better than I’d hoped. She must’ve created a hologram of you sitting in your seat. That can only mean her autonomous functions are coming online. She’s becoming more humanlike. That’s good. That’s very good.”
Another round of firing echoed in from outside.
“Great. So you’ve got what you want,” Jake said, keenly aware that the other members of his team would soon be running low on ammo for their solid projectile weapons, if not already out. “Call off your pirates. We can talk more about this later.”
The hologram of Creao Gegorma shook its head. “I can’t do that. Like I said, you broke the rules. I should’ve expected something was going on when our technicians reported outages of some of their tele-bots in the harbor area.” His hologram moved within a step of Jake. “You see, my dear boy, to complete your emotional link with Maggie requires you to be near her when you’re killed. It would do no good to have you die deep inside this ship. I need you to go outside where she can see you, where her fear for your safety will be at its peak. It would be even better if you were inside her cockpit when you died.” He smiled. “That’s how it was with your father. I watched the videos. It was very touching. Unfortunately, their link wasn’t nearly developed enough to make a difference in Maggie’s development. Your father was no more useful to me than your grandfather was. That’s why I had to kill them both, to make room for someone else to link with Maggie. I had to make room for you.”
When the full meaning of Creao Gegorma’s words hit, Jake pulled the trigger on his M63, aiming straight for the old man’s chest. The plasma rounds went through the hologram. Some of the balls of red energy bounced off the opposite wall, passing perilously close to Jake’s head as they came back. He stopped firing.
The old man laughed. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to lose your temper duri
ng a fight? That’s how people make mistakes. It can get you killed.” He pointed at the open door. “Now stop wasting my time and get up on deck where Maggie can see you.”
Jake tried bashing the stock of his rifle into the man’s grinning face as hate boiled to the surface. The butt of the weapon passed through the hologram, doing no harm other than making it flicker. Frustrated, he looked around the room for some way to attack the man. When he saw nothing, he turned back to face the man who’d just confessed to killing his grandfather and father.
“You said the CEO of Deloris Armaments killed my grandfather.”
Creao Gegorma shrugged. “I guess I lied. People tend to do that, Jake. Your grandfather was one of the Empire’s wizard scouts. He’d been medically disabled after a mission when his battle computer was destroyed. That’s why he volunteered for the Paladin project. He was able to link with Maggie, but not to the extent necessary to develop her emotions the way I needed. I killed Jacob in the hopes his son, your father, could do what he couldn’t. Your dad turned out to be just as worthless as Jacob. You, on the other hand, have exceeded my expectations. Maggie’s emotions have blossomed during her association with you. I’m confident she’ll become fully emotional after she watches you die.” He laughed. “Think of it. She’ll be able to use both logic and nonlogic. No other computer in the galaxy will be able to calculate what she’ll do next. With her help, I’ll be able to take over the entire tele-network. I’ll be the power behind the scenes controlling everyone and everything.”
“You’re mad,” Jake said. “You can kill me if you want, but Maggie will never work for you.”
The old man smiled. “That’s where you’re wrong, boy. I attended the Intergalactic Wizard Scout Academy with your grandfather. I got dropped from the rolls my first year, but I could’ve been one. The end result is that I know battle computers. Once you’re dead, Maggie will need someone to take your place. I’ll erase her memory, but the emotional link she established with you will remain. I’ll take over the link. She’ll do what I tell her. She won’t be able to resist.” The smile on the man’s hologram disappeared and his eyes narrowed. “Now, stop stalling. I want you to go up on deck where Maggie can see you. I need her to see you in danger to finish the bonding. After that, your usefulness will be at an end.”
Steel Apocalypse Page 24
