Destroy.
Chapter 9
“Moses?” Caspar said, her voice rising. “We need that code to go out—I mean, now!”
Beep. “Broadcasting wide.”
“Stop them, Kepple!”
Councilman Kepple stood beside the comm speaker, stalling. Caspar looked at him wide-eyed. What was he doing? Freezing up? When it mattered the most? She briefly considered the ramifications on her career if she were to grab him by the collar and shake him until he ordered the drones off the attack.
“If I do this,” he said, licking his lips, “I’ll need assurances.”
Caspar’s eyes narrowed. “Are you serious?”
“I know you and some others here are intent on seeing these machines destroyed. But, ah, the thing is, they are of inestimable value to the Council… unharmed.”
“Is that right?” She threw her head back. “Anybody else on this bridge want to save the drones?”
“No, Sir,” Van and Dolridge said.
Caspar leaned in toward Kepple. “Majority rules, Councilman. That’s just democracy. Fall in, do your duty, and stop those things.”
Kepple crossed his arms. “No.”
Caspar unstrapped and rose to her feet. Kepple backed up a step.
“I won’t do it unless you can assure me we won’t destroy all of them. I’ll stop them long enough for your AI to figure out how to disarm them or make them docile, that will be enough.”
“No, it won’t.” She took a step toward him. “You know, I don’t know what I expected of you. You really are a worm, aren’t you?” She spun and faced the comm. “Moses, patch me through to Hive. Keep feeding it the good stuff, too.”
Beep. “Yes, Lieutenant.”
“Hive,” she barked into the comm, “stand down. I repeat, stand down. That’s an order from the Lawgiver. You are to stand down and disarm yourselves, falling into formation beside the Fairfax.”
“I’m receiving a response,” Moses said. “Shall I play it over the comm?”
“Do,” Caspar said.
“You are not the Lawgiver.” The metallic voice was as devoid of emotion as always. “You are a pretender.”
“I speak for the Lawgiver,” Caspar said. “He wants you to stand down!”
“That isn’t true, Hive!” Kepple yelled. “She is a pretender! Steady on your course; blow that shuttle out of the sky!”
Dolridge was on his feet and to Kepple as fast as a cat. He had the councilman pinned to the wall before Caspar could have said two words, one hand pressing into the man’s throat.
“Belay that order,” Dolridge growled. Caspar had never seen him so ruthless. Kepple’s face began to grow a violent shade of red as he gagged on his tongue. “You tell those things to fall back, right now. If that shuttle blows up, I swear to you on the Council itself, I will kill you.”
Kepple’s eyes bulged, full of pure, bestial fear, and he nodded, choking. Dolridge pressed him harder for a moment more, then let go. Kepple fell gasping to the deck. Caspar grabbed him by the scruff of the shirt and dragged him to the comm, coughing. She met Van’s eyes on the way. The Agent watched passively, not interfering.
“Say it,” Caspar said.
Kepple coughed again. “Hive,” he finally said, his voice coming out strangled and weak, “stand down until… further orders.” She let him go and he fell to his knees, still gasping for air. Onscreen, the drones peeled away from the shuttle, splitting into two streams of chrome that ran off in either direction.
Caspar took her seat again, one hand on her forehead. Without Kepple’s cooperation, their plan was worthless. They might as well start shooting now and take out as many of the things as they could before the Fairfax was scuttled and left to drift, but that was the inevitable outcome. They needed the plan to work.
“Alright,” she finally said, “what will it take, Councilman?”
Kepple had backed up into a sitting position a few feet away, where he was rubbing his neck. “For starters, let’s all agree that physical threats are an unnecessary display of barbarism, and will advance no one’s agenda.”
“Funny,” Dolridge said. “Seems to me like physical threats are about all that’s at play, here.”
“Fine, fine,” Caspar said, raising her hands. “Kepple, no one will hurt you if you cooperate.”
“Still sounds threatening.”
“What do you need those things for anymore?” Dolridge said. “The Empire is on its heels, no fleet. A superweapon like this is beyond overkill. Haven’t you seen enough yet to understand that its existence is a threat to all of us?”
Kepple frowned, sulking. “As I recall, you’ve been drafted by Council of Kuiper, Agent Dolridge—not into the Council itself.”
Agent? Caspar wondered at that.
Just then the bridge doors slid open. Caspar turned to see—and smell—Ada, covered in greasy slime, with that hulking man behind her, likewise coated in a generous helping of rotting, stinking garbage.
“Miss me?” Ada said.
“Ha.”
Beep. “Incoming missile,” Moses announced.
“What??” Caspar strapped herself into the chair. “Moses, tactical onscreen! Randall, pull us up, go, go!”
The bridge tilted as the ship veered hard. The Fairfax yanked up, exposing its belly.
“Sir,” Randall said, “aren’t we exposing the part of the ship with no shielding left?”
“We are. But it’s also already been blown to hell.”
Tactical showed a red blip swing directly into the Fairfax. The ship shuddered nose to tail from the force of the explosion. “Moses, damage?”
“No damage to level eight or above,” Moses announced.
Caspar breathed a sigh of relief. At least it hadn’t been a nuke. “Where did that thing come from?”
Tactical showed the wave of red dots representing the swarm, which had regrouped on the other side of the shuttle. But a lone red dot was flying about erratically.
“Jeffrey,” Caspar said.
“Affirmative,” Moses agreed. “Jeffrey appears to be continuing his struggle for dominance of the drone. Hive is resisting. The result is unpredictable. Incoming guns.”
“Shielding?” Caspar yelled.
Beep. “Shielding operative on all upper decks.”
The drone made a strafing run, kinetics billowing as it passed. The ammunition pinged off the hull like sand, making small dents in the efficacy of the shields.
“Not so bad when it’s only one of them,” Caspar said.
Beep. “Be advised, the drone is currently arming a nuclear missile.”
Caspar cursed.
“I leave the bridge for a few minutes,” Ada said, “and everything goes to hell.”
“If they get a nuke up into her belly,” Dolridge said, “it’s game over.”
Caspar nodded. “Take it out if you can.”
“Is that really necessary?” Kepple said.
“This one, yes. It’s got a bad AI onboard. But I’ll cut you a deal. You work with Moses to subdue all the others while we shoot this one down, and we’ll at least talk about what to do with the swarm before sending them all hurtling into the heart of the sun.”
Dolridge cursed, shooting wide. “Missed. Incoming!”
“Kinetics only,” Moses announced, just as the bullets pinked off the hull.
“That was lucky,” Caspar said.
The drone danced erratically in the sky for a minute, then came back for another pass. This time Dolridge was ready. The heavy guns caught the drone dead-on, and instead of fizzling out, the thing completely exploded. The Fairfax bucked away from the blast.
“Shields holding,” Moses announced. Thank goodness, Caspar thought. The last thing they all needed right now was to sit through a nuclear blast without shields.
“Rest in peace, Jeffrey,” Caspar said.
“That’s where he went?” Ada pointed at the screen where the drone had just exploded. “Are we sure he isn’t on the Fairfax anymore?
Because let me tell you, that AI was a problem.”
“We know. Moses, can you confirm that Jeffrey is gone?”
Beep. “I have succeeded in wiping all of Jeffrey’s data from the Fairfax mainframe, yes, Lieutenant. He is gone.”
“Sir?” Randall said. “You might want to see this.” He was staring at the tactical readout. Caspar looked and sighed.
“I’m getting really tired of seeing all the red dots heading toward us all the time.”
Beep. “Hive is approaching. Contact in seven, six, five…”
Chapter 10
“What’re we doing?” Bone Crusher asked. Ada had just pulled him back off the bridge and into the corridor.
“Didn’t you see?”
“See all the little red blippies comin’ for us? Yeah, I saw that. But what can we do about it?”
“Not those, Crush. At the bottom of tactical—did you get a look?” He shook his head. “Well, I did. C’mon, you’ll understand in a second.”
They raced down to the hangar bay deck, where Ada stopped at a wall console to pull up a tactical read of space directly outside the bays. She frowned.
“That’s odd,” she said, “I thought they’d be here by now.”
“Who?”
“Cupid, Crush. Our hijacked ship is on its way back, or I’m not a Colonist. Saw it myself. Only, I would’ve thought it would have been heading straight for this deck…” She swiped at the console, zooming tactical out for a bigger read, and cursed.
“Is it all the little red blippies?”
“No.” She pointed at the screen. “Just one that concerns me. Look.” It was Cupid, but she wasn’t coming to the Fairfax. She had zipped past her, and looked to be heading straight for the swarm of drones. “What are they doing?”
Bone crusher shook his head. “I don’t know, but I’ll tell you something. I need guns. I can’t just sit around on my hands while those things blow up the ship. I made friends downstairs, you know. They’re all just trapped like ducks in a row.”
“I think you’re mixing your metaphors.”
“What’s a meta for?”
“Nevermind. C’mon, Crush.”
She ran down the length of the deck, checking bay after bay. Crush trotted dutifully behind her. “Lookin’ for a ship?”
She stopped, panting, and nodded. “Preferably one with guns.” In front of them was the ship’s own comet hopper, which looked like it had been refitted at the same time as the rest of the Fairfax. Medium kinetics dotted the tiny hull, and a pair of blasting rifles were mounted right on the nose.
“Aw, Ada.” Crush grinned. “You shouldn’t have.”
Minutes later they had started her up and were cycling through the lock. “You think they’ll let us go?” Crush said.
“I think they aren’t staffed enough to do anything about it on a good day. Day like today, I’d be surprised if they notice us slip away at all.”
Her earpiece beeped. “Ada, I want to remind you that if you fly out of range from my place on the bridge, I will be unable to maintain contact and offer you aid.”
“Thanks, Moses.”
Beep. “Of course.”
“You sure you want to go out there with me?” Crush asked. “I mean, me, I’d go crazy sitting up there without being able to do anything while those blippies tear the ship apart. At least this way I’ll be able to take one or two of them out with me. But it might be a one-way trip.”
“Oh, Crush. It’s almost as if you haven’t really seen me pilot a ship.”
Crush guffawed. “You’re good, Ada, but are you swimming-through-a-storm-of-AI-controlled-super-drones-and-not-getting-nicked good?”
She raised her hands. “I can’t speak for nicks and bruises, but I’ll keep us alive as long as I can. You worry about the guns.”
“I can do that.”
“Moses, what’s up on the bridge? Anyone going to miss us?”
Beep. “The drones have almost made contact.”
“Time to go.”
The lock cycled and Ada brought them out, coming around in a slow semi-circle to get a read on the situation. They got their read pretty quickly.
It was a mess.
The drones had just reached the Fairfax, and were performing their classic swarm dance-of-death. They were being picked off in groups or two and three at a time, though, by the big Fairfax guns. Cupid was in sight, its thieves having stupidly brought her back just in time to probably get her blown to bits. Ada shook her head. There was nothing she could do about that, for now. She had another ship to focus on.
“Heading in,” she said.
“Ready,” Crush grunted. He gripped the gunning controls, a snarl on his lips. Sitting beside her, he made the cab of the hopper feel especially tiny.
“If we don’t make it, Crush… I want you to know, it’s been a pleasure.”
“The pleasure’s been mine, ma’ girl. And the honor.”
Tactical flared to life as the targeting computer informed them they’d come within range of the edge of the swarm. “Now DIE!” Crush yelled, bowing into his work.
He took out the first drone in sight with blasting rifles. They bore a hole clean through the core of the drone and left it a smoking, lifeless hull, but they needed a few seconds to recharge after. Crush moved to kinetics and strafed as they ran along the side of the battlefield. Some of his shots went wide, and a few seemed to only do cosmetic damage, but he managed to take down at least three more drones in the first pass.
“Yeah!” Ada yelled.
“I’m gonna crush ya!” Crush grunted. Ada pulled them in a tight slingshot and sent them back into the fray. This time, a handful of drones broke off from the main swarm and came to meet them. Crush aimed for the first again with the blasting rifles, but it swerved and rolled. The others following rolled left and right in a scissoring formation. Crush growled.
“It’s alright,” Ada said, “we’ll catch them on the follow-up. Let’s pick a few more of the edge.” She accelerated, boosting them forward toward the hive, and pulled up so that they skimmed along the top of the swarm.
“Give me a tilt?” Crush said. Ada tipped the wing, showing the portside to the mess below, and Crush strafed again. “That’s two more,” he said. “I think they’re getting smarter, though. Starting to dodge!”
“Tricky AI,” Ada muttered. “Moses, you still with me?”
Beep. “Yes, Ada—for the time being.”
“What can you tell me about the thing running these machines? Anything useful?”
“Hive is a highly advanced, near-sentient or pre-sentient collective mind-self, apparently developed with the intent to be weaponized, and now seeking an unknown entity signified as the “Lawgiver,” which it at one time supposed to be me, and currently supposes to be Junior Councilman Kepple, but which, in all likelihood, is a meaningless moniker built by its programmer and intended to be assigned to a purchaser at a future date.”
“Oh, great. So it’s smart, unstoppable, and it doesn’t have a boss?”
“That is highly reductive, but correct.”
“Charged,” Crush yelled. “Ready when you are!”
She brought them around again and grimaced. Twice as many drones had broken away to meet them this time.
“Can those things track in real-time?” she asked.
Crush frowned. “You mean auto-target? And take all the fun out of it?” He shrugged, plugged in the commands, and let the targeting computer do its work. The drones peeled off without a single hit. One of them managed to spiral in close enough that Ada had to drop them perilously close to the swarm to keep out of its path.
“Whoa!” She pulled up the rear-cam on the console, and saw a mass of drones building up to meet them on their next pass. “That’s no good!”
“I’m not surprised.” Crush sounded hurt. “Could’ve guessed it wouldn’t hold a candle to my shooting.”
“Alright, toughen up, you big pirate. I’m going to try a different angle. You just get ready to
do what you do best.”
She pursed her lips, rolling the hopper to the left and zipping down. She’d have to vary things as much as if they were fighting a human enemy to stay unpredictable. Probably more. This time they skimmed along the bottom of the swarm, tilting wing so that all guns fired up from the portside. Even so, Crush only managed to take out one of the drones.
“This isn’t working!” he hollered.
“Tell me something I don’t know! Moses, how are the numbers?”
Beep. “Between you and the Fairfax, approximately twenty-four drones have been destroyed.”
“That sounds pretty good, actually. How many left?”
“Three-hundred, seventy-six.”
Ada cursed. Loudly.
Chapter 11
If Caspar’s first hour in command of a flagship of the Fleet had been a disappointment, the second was more of an overcorrection than she might have asked for.
“Roll, Randall, roll!” Her throat was raw from barking, mostly at helm. Her orders to Dolridge were more like encouragements.
“That’s right, take that whole clump—yes!”
There were shouts pure animal joy, but also plenty of groans and curses for every miss, every narrow escape, and every hit taken. It was a battle of attrition for the Fairfax, as the whole mission had been. They were picking off the drones just a few at a time, and some were still managing to do significant structural damage to the underbelly of the ship. Shields above were weakening by the moment. It would all come down, Caspar knew, to which would last longer—ship or drones—and if the Fairfax prevailed, she would be left floating in space on her last legs. That was a no-win scenario.
Moses was feeding medical code to the swarm, and Kepple had finally buttoned up and started giving orders to stand down, but only about half the swarm would obey at any one time. Whether it was a problem with frequency range, broadcasting power, or simply the willfulness of the hivemind, Caspar didn’t know. She instructed Moses to modulate through as many variables as he could think of to increase the likelihood of them finding a way to control them all at once. Until then, they were in a pitched battle.
The Sons of Jupiter: Starship Fairfax Book 5 - The Kuiper Chronicles Page 5
