by Don DeBon
Deven folded his hands and sat forward in his chair. "Is it possible the Nexus survived?"
Otis' eyes went wide. "Are you joking? Perhaps as random bits of scrap, but nothing more."
"Not in any functional state?"
"Heck no! What are you getting at Boss?"
"Are you sure? She couldn't have transferred herself elsewhere?"
Otis sat down in one of the remaining chairs in front of an unused console. "I suppose, in theory, it is possible given time and the foreknowledge to set up the hardware and transfer protocols to do it properly."
Deven stood up and walked over to the window gazing out at the bright stars above. "And how long would that take?"
Otis blew out a breath. "Months, if not years. The Nexus wasn't your average system you know."
Deven turned around. "So there is no way she could have transferred in the few seconds between when I activated the self destruct and she exploded?"
Otis shook his head. "No way. I suppose a few random bits could have made it somewhere, but it wouldn't be the Nexus. Certainly not an intelligence you could do anything with other than ask to what time it was, if that."
"Would her signature change?"
"Heck yeah. It would be totally different. You wouldn't even know it came from the same system."
"Miles, show Otis what you have collected."
Miles' camera turned to Deven. "Certainly." The camera swung back and focused on Otis. "Otis if you will check the monitor at the console you are now seated at, I now have the information on display."
Otis took a few minutes to scan through the data, the dates, times, signatures gathered, and all information on the probe. "What the heck? Are you sure this is right?"
"Sir, I would not have brought it to the—"
Otis waved a hand. "Never mind, I believe you. I can't imagine how her signature could change like this." He ran his finger down the lines of data on the screen. "But one thing is for certain, she survived. I don't know how. But she did survive."
Deven hung his head. "That is what I was afraid of. What about the probe? Any thoughts?"
Otis shook his head. "None. It is so far out to be of any use, yet someone did place it there with intent. It doesn't make sense."
"Can you get access to it?"
"Sure, in a year or two. The connection speed at the probe's current distance is problematic."
Miles' camera turned to Deven. "As I told you."
"I know Miles, but you know I had to double check with Otis."
"Yes. No offense is taken."
Aleshia stood up. "So what are we going to do? We can't let that thing get control again."
Deven sighed. "The only real option we have is to wait. I am sure she will pop up again. And sooner than later. Then we will take action."
Every screen on the bridge began showing one line out of many flashing in red. "The time for action has come. I have detected the Nexus."
Leon leaned forward punching several keys. "Where?"
"One of the offline Mechand manufacturing centers," Miles said.
Aleshia walked over leaned over Leon. "Which one?"
Miles' camera turned. "The one in South Carolina."
Deven walked over, stood next to Aleshia, and tried to read cryptic data flowing past Leon's screen. "You are certain the plant is offline?"
"Yes. As per the council orders, all such plants have been shut down."
"She must be getting parts to repair herself," Leon said
Miles' camera moved back and forth. "Negative. All Mechands and parts at that location have been destroyed, also per council orders."
Galina scratched her head. "What in the world could she be doing there?"
Deven sat back down in his seat. "No idea but we are going to find out. Head for that plant, maximum overdrive. And don't use the normal skyways, I don't want to run over anyone."
Leon clicked the intercom. "Everyone hang on, we are jumping into overdrive in 20 seconds."
Galina's fingers flew over her console. "All systems are ready."
"I could have told you that," Miles said.
Leon rolled his eyes. "We know Miles, but we still prefer to fly the ship ourselves."
Miles' camera lowered. "As you wish."
"Overdrive engaging … now." The powerful engines on the aft section of the Defiant glowed to life as an energy bubble formed around the ship. A second later the ship leapt into overdrive sending the ship hurtling towards its target.
Ten minutes later there was a giant crack as the great ship left overdrive and floated above the Mechand complex. Deven's hand gripped the edge of the bridge window, his knuckles turning white as he scrutinized the building below. "Did we make it in time? Is she still here?"
Miles' camera turned towards Deven. "I do not detect her signature."
Galina grunted. "Miles, he was asking me, not you!"
His camera lowered. "I am sorry Galina, I am still coming to terms with my place aboard the Defiant now that I am apart of it."
Deven spun around. "Actually, I was asking anyone. But Miles you should refrain from doing everything unless we ask you to. Or there is imminent danger and telling us could cost us our lives. Is that understood?"
"Yes. I will refrain."
"Good. Now, any signs of activity down there at all?"
Leon shook his head. "Nope, it is as quiet as a tomb. No power emanations at all."
"I am taking a truck down there. We need to know what she was up to. Otis, grab your gear. I will need you to slice your way into the systems."
Otis nodded. "You got it Boss. I will meet you in the landing bay." He jumped up and headed off to his quarters.
Aleshia stood up. "I want to come too."
Deven shook his head. "No need, you can stay here where it is safe."
Aleshia's eyebrows furrowed. "Safe? Where is there a safe place on the planet when the Nexus is around?"
Deven laughed. "I take it I am not going to win this am I?"
Aleshia folded her arms and her eyes narrowed. "Nope."
"All right, come on. Leon, keep an eye on us and Galina watch the complex. Anything strange and I want you to let me know yesterday."
They both nodded. "You got it," Leon said.
A few minutes later Deven and Aleshia found Otis sitting in his modified truck. He had changed the overall color scheme, but nothing could disguise the reinforced hull, extra plating, larger hover engines, or the cannon mounted on the back. The skull and cross bones over an icon of many fallen Mechands were still on his driver's door.
Deven chuckled. "Still modifying this thing?"
Otis smiled. "Heck yeah, this is my baby!" He patted the steering wheel.
Aleshia opened the passenger side and slid in sitting next to Otis, Deven followed and shut the door. "Okay let's move out."
Otis clicked the encrypted link. "We're ready."
The screen flashed and Leon's face appeared. "Everything is still quiet. Opening the bay doors. Good hunting."
The giant bay doors slowly ground open, the truck lifted off of its pad, and flew out into the night. Otis guided the truck to an empty area some distance from the complex and landed in a wooded area.
"Why are we landing here?" Aleshia asked.
"Because we don't know what we are getting into. I didn't want to fly up to the front door, knock, ask if anyone was home only to get a face full of laser fire."
Deven nodded. "Right, she could have found a way to screen herself from our scanners, and might be why we are only picking her up in short bursts."
Otis hopped out and spun around to face Deven as he started to climb out the passenger door on the other side. "You know, you might be right. I hadn't thought about that. I never heard of a way to shield a signature, but I suppose it is theoretically possible. Miles would know more about that though." Otis grabbed his bag, strapped it to his hip, and shut the door.
They made their way through the forest and approached the complex from the side. "If
we are being expected, this should be the hardest way for them to detect us," Otis said. But there were no signs they had been seen. No signs of anything at all. The whole complex still showed zero power emanations.
Deven pulled his data tab from its pouch and activated the encrypted link. "Leon? Any signs of life down here? We are getting nothing."
Leon's face flashed onto the data tab's screen. "Nope, not a thing. I detect you, but nothing is moving inside. And power usage is still nill."
"Good, we are moving in. Keep watch."
"Will do." Leon's face disappeared and Deven put the data tab back into its pouch.
"Shall we go knock on the front door?"
Otis shrugged. "I doubt it will do anything. But I think I can get us in."
Deven's smile was visible even in the dim light. "I know that, I meant your kind of knocking."
Otis chuckled. "Oh!" He walked up to the giant plate steel doors but nothing happened, as he expected. Looking to the right of the keypad, his eyes went wide. "Someone has torn the access panel right off of this. All the connections and systems seem to be intact though."
Deven moved in behind him and shined another flashlight on the broken panel. "Why would the Nexus need to break open an access panel on her own facility? Could it have been vandals trying to steal what was inside?"
Otis shook his head. "Nope, there would have been more signs of tampering here. Whoever it was, really knew what they were doing."
Deven's eyebrow went up. "The Nexus?"
"Has to be, but why would she not walk right in? She should have access to everything Mechand on the planet."
"Another reason we need to get inside. Can you get these doors open?"
Otis laughed. "Does a cat like milk?" He pulled out his cracking card and plugged it into the tiny port. "It might take me a few though. This is one of the newer facilities."
Aleshia stood in front of the large doors. "You know, I have a faster way."
Deven's eyes widened. "You can't—"
Aleshia raised her arms towards the doors and spread them apart. The enormous doors began to warp. First bending inwards as the cross braces crumpled. The circular center that locked the two halves of the doors split and fell away as the doors were shoved back along their tracks leaving a large opening.
Otis dropped his card. "Geeze! How did—"
Deven shook his head. "Her abilities have grown."
"No kidding! I don't know why I bothered to bring my gun now. She could crumble them like tin cans before I even see them."
Aleshia walked inside. "Coming?"
"Well there goes our element of surprise."
Otis looked at him and jerked his head toward the trashed doors. "Are you going to tell her that?"
"Heck no. Let's get inside before she gets too far ahead." They ran inside and caught up with Aleshia who had stopped at sight of the devastation. Mechands were strewn all over. Broken parts and components flooded the large octagonal hallways.
Otis' head whipped back and forth at the devastation. "Girl, what the heck did you do?"
Aleshia shook her head. "I didn't do this."
"Yeah, right."
Deven shook his head. "No she didn't. This was the work of the council. This must be their method of decommissioning a facility."
"That's some method." Otis eyed the scrap heap of parts that used to be functional Mechands not long ago. "Looks like a war happened here."
"A one sided war. All of these Mechands were offline at the time."
"Such a waste of resources. There must have been a better way," Aleshia said.
"There is, but you need to remember these people are running on fear. We showed them what the Mechands were doing, and they responded with destruction. They aren't acting rationally. It is a shame."
Otis' eyebrows went up. "Boss, are you telling me you think we were wrong?"
Deven shook his head. "No, of course not. But I do think the Mechands were useful in many respects. The Nexus went too far and had to be stopped. But it is a shame others can't see it."
"Boss you surprise me. Of all the people I never thought I would hear that from you."
Deven smiled. "I think contact with Miles has changed my viewpoint a bit."
They walked along the dark corridor, debris crunching under their feet. Everywhere they looked, the devastation was apparent. Many Mechands were still on transport racks that lined the corridors, others were ripped from them, then gutted. A few were missing heads, while other had large sinkholes that used to be a torso.
Their lights flashed along the devastation as they made their way further into the complex. The further in they went, the more savage the destruction. The air reeked of leaking lubricants and other conductive fluids.
When they reached the central production area, the equipment was still intact. Otis walked around several large assembly machines. "I am surprised they didn't destroy these as well."
Deven shrugged. "My bet is the council realized these machines could be retooled to produce other equipment."
Otis flashed his light around the large expanse showing the fabricators, assemblers, and the walkways stretching over them. "Ahh I think I see what we are looking for. That booth in back." Otis pointed towards a small room high on the back wall with a ladder reaching up to it. "It should have a direct connection to the central core of this place, from there I can tell what the Nexus accessed."
"Good, the sooner we get out of here the better," Aleshia breathed.
Deven waved his arms around the large room. "Why? Nothing here can hurt us."
Aleshia shrugged. "I don't know. I have a bad feeling about it is all."
"Will you two come on?" Otis shouted climbing the ladder that led into the control room. They ran over and followed him up into the room. Everything was dark.
"Well, I don't think she used this," Aleshia said.
"Don't be too sure." Otis punched several keys and at first nothing happened. Several seconds later, the console began to brighten followed by the lights above flickering as power surged through them. Lights in the assembly area lit up and several machines whirred to life. "There we go. Now all I need to do is find the access port and jack in."
Aleshia shifted from one booted foot to the other. "I really don't think you should have done that."
"Why? Everything here is in shut down mode. It won't do anything until someone gives it a command. I only activated the power in this section. And I couldn't get anything out of this console if I didn't." Otis found the access port, plugged in his cracking card, and connected his portable keyboard.
"I just have a bad feeling. I can't explain it."
Deven looked around and leaned over to Aleshia. "The same feeling as before?"
She nodded. "Yes, although stronger this time."
Deven examined the door, and the machines whirring in neutral motion below. "I think we had better go."
Otis rolled his eyes. "Will you two stop? There is nothing to worry about. And we can in one second, I'm almost done." He tapped a few keys on his keyboard. "Okay now can, I got all the logs for the last month."
The lights above them turned red and a large light in the center of the ceiling outside the control room began flashing. "Unauthorized entry detected! This facility has been compromised! All Mechands respond!"
Aleshia looked out the door then back at Otis. "See, I told you! We need to get out of here now!"
Otis smiled. "Sure we can leave, but even if we didn't, what is the facility going to do? All the Mechands are scrap."
The lights went to an even darker red as the light above spun faster. "Mechands not responding. As per protocol this facility is now forfeit." The doors on the other side of the large room slammed shut. And they heard several others close beyond it.
Otis raised his eyebrow then laughed. "It is sealing us in? I can crack open any door this place has in a couple of minutes."
The metallic voice returned. "Self destruct system has been activated. Power generation
systems in overload. Thirty seconds until denotation."
"Okay, that is a problem."
Aleshia held out her hands in front of her. "Quick, hold on to me!"
Otis cocked his head to one side. "What good is that—"
