The Vampires of Antyllus

by Michael E. Gonzales

  Time was running out. The maintenance bots would work around the clock to repair the facility and, as savoy niner six said, they were doing a damn fine job. Even before the bots were finished the mercs would come at them on a front of a hundred and ninety degrees.

  The first to enter the water pipe under the CDF Headquarters were SUBs. They just jumped down the six meters into the tube. The Bios who followed also jumped and were caught by the SUBs. The other two hundred and thirty-five SUBs manned the rear guard along the barricades, prepared to defend the ongoing evacuation to the last.

  The bio members of the CDF jumped without hesitation, confident the SUBs would catch them. Thus, the evacuation moved quite rapidly. The one thousand five hundred and fifty-three Bios, with all their wounded, and what logistics they could carry, were all in the tube in an hour and fifteen minutes.

  Dave and Chuck ordered the remainder of the SUBs back just as the mercs began a recon in force. The SUBs laid down a massive volume of fire from all positions, and launched infrared smoke grenades, which convinced the mercs that the CDF were still in place. The enemy recon force stopped and held, waiting for their main body to join them for the final push into the CDF stronghold.

  In the room that accessed the tunnels, Dave and Chuck affixed the shape charge to the center of the large picture window. The device would produce a directed explosion to blow out the window without detonating the piles of ammunition in the room. With that done, Dave ordered the rear guard to withdraw. They filed into the supply room in an orderly fashion, moved directly to the hole, and jumped in. Chuck was the second to the last to jump and was caught by an attractive female Staff Sergeant SUB.

  Dave moved a pile of ammo crates in front of the hole so it was not visible from the door, then set the motion detonator on the shape charge. Just before he jumped in, Dave heard the voices of the enemy coming over the barricade just beyond the door. He paused a moment and shouted, "Hide the gold in here!"

  ○O○

  Kathy, Zolna, and Le'ha were closing in on New Roanoke, so Kathy became more cautious. She suspected an ambush. The rain was falling hard now—rain, of course, not being a hindrance to a SUB, nor a discomfort.

  Kathy watched Le'ha and was amazed to see that she seemed unaffected, as well. She was nearly naked, but she showed no negative effects of the exposure. Truly, her physiology was different than that of humans.

  Kathy could see that Le'ha's large eyes were hyper alert. And though her ears were quite sensitive, her hearing was of no use as all that could be heard was the pounding of the rain into the forest.

  Kathy and Zolna were in IR vision and also scanning like mad. It was Zolna who saw him first. Ahead, leaning against a tree and trying to hide under a rain cape, repeatedly wiping the rain off the visor of his respirator, was a lone sentry. Zolna pointed him out to Kathy, but before she could react, she felt Le'ha's hand on her left shoulder as she slid past Kathy. Le'ha had her knife in hand.

  Kathy watched as Le'ha crept forward, her movements as fluid as the rain. She came in behind the merc low, very low. The attack was sudden, swift, and silent. Le'ha remained low to the ground and looked quickly about. A clap of thunder shook the entire world, but Le'ha seemed not to notice it at all. Seeing no other guards, she dragged the body into the brush and hid it.

  The three of them spread out and advanced on line up a fairly steep hill. At the crest, they found themselves looking down into the five-hundred-meter kill zone and over the top of the mighty fence that surrounded New Roanoke. They were about to exit the wood line when Kathy noticed one of the automated guard towers to her left.

  They all stopped on the crest of a hill at the edge of the woods. Le'ha and Zolna looked to Kathy. She looked at the imposing tower of concrete and steel. Her eyes studied it intently. Among the searchlights were three cameras; no doubt, Indra was on the lookout for them this very moment.

  The tower was also equipped with two .50 caliber machine guns and a 20 mike mike chain gun that would target them the instant they cleared the wood line and entered the kill zone.

  If she shot out the cameras, Indra would not be able to target them, but he would know where they were on the fence line and which door they were going to enter through.

  "Ah, crap," she said to herself, "war is hell." She lifted the weapon to her shoulder and examined the range read out in the reticle of the sight. Slowly, she applied pressure to the trigger.

  An explosion to her right caused her to duck. She looked beyond the fence to the side of the massive slab wall of the city. On the ground floor, an orange and black ball of fire was rising into the air. A large window had just been blown out. She zoomed in on the site of the explosion. She knew the planet's atmosphere was now flooding into the room beyond. As she watched, a massive amount of beige foam appeared at the window and oozed out like toothpaste from a tube. It was obvious that the room had just filled with EFS. As she looked closer, she saw that several mercs were trapped within the foam as it rapidly solidified around them.

  Kathy quickly reacquired her sight picture and snapped off three shots. The three cameras vanished off their perches.

  "Run!" she shouted, and the three companions bolted for the fence. As fast as Kathy and Zolna ran, Le'ha kept right up with them.

  They reached the door and found it locked. Le'ha and Zolna took cover against the wall as Kathy fired three rounds into the door. It slammed open.

  "Ready?" Kathy asked. Le'ha took a deep breath and nodded. Kathy busted through the door and into the compound beyond, heading for the wall of the city. Behind her ran Le'ha, followed hotly by Zolna.

  From another tower to their right came several rounds of 20 mike mike. One round slammed into the ground not three meters from Zolna. He stumbled and fell. Before he had stopped rolling, Le'ha had scooped him up in her arms and was again running after Kathy.

  "Le'ha, I'm okay, put me down," Zolna pleaded, but she seemed not to hear him. She just kept running.

  "Le'ha!" Zolna shouted.

  Without stopping she righted him and set his feet on the ground, she held on to his hand and pulled him along with dozens of bullets creating geysers of dirt at every impact.

  At last, they reached the safety of the side of the city and moved along it toward an airlock.

  "Strange," Kathy observed. "Those weapons are controlled by Indra, an advanced artificial intelligence computer. He should have dropped us with only three rounds."

  ○O○

  Wilmington had watched his mercs assault into the CDF's defenses inside the city from several helmet cams and from Indra's surviving sensors.

  Now, he was sitting pensively, listening to the commanders of his mercenary force provide him an after-action report.

  "The explosion took out their ammo reserves. What was not destroyed was engulfed in the EFS."

  "So…they are running out of ammo?" Wilmington asked.

  "All they have is what they are carrying."

  "I see." Wilmington picked up his remote and changed the image on the monitor to a real time shot from a guard tower, displaying the hardened EFS where it had oozed out of the destroyed window. It looked like a frozen, dirty, waterfall. He then zoomed in on the contorted face of a dead merc trapped in the substance. He slowly rose from his chair and turned to face his commanders. He slammed his hand down hard on the table, denting it. "Where the hell are the fifteen hundred members of the CDF?" he shouted at them. "That many people do not just disappear. Yet, with the CDF trapped in a caldron from which there is no conceivable escape, you bastards lose them!

  "I want them found within twelve hours. Those who surrender, lock them up, but those who resist…well…am I making myself clear?" All heads nodded in agreement. "Now, get out!"

  Chapter 21

  A Change of Heart

  Dave, Chuck, and the rear guard were slowly backing away from the hole in the roof of the pipe after setting the charge on the window when, from up above, they heard the voices of the mercs as they entered the room. A
moment passed, a heartbeat, and then an orange flash and the crack of an explosion ripped the air. A rushing sound like a screaming wind followed seamlessly. Amid the rushing, they heard the shocked screams of men as they were devoured by the EFS that filled the room faster than they could react.

  The people in the pipe watched as the EFS blasted down the hole and rushed toward them. Before they could even turn to run, however, the mass slowed and froze. Moments later, it was as hard as stone.

  Dave turned to look down the pipe. It was brightly illuminated, filled with glowing, undulating dots of light, the result of almost 1,250 small flashlights turned on by bio members of the CDF. The identifiers of the surviving SUBs added to the surrealistic sight. Dave and Chuck moved into the group, through them, and to the lead.

  Up front, they found the general and his staff. Standing next to the general was his aide, Captain Scott. Dave and Chuck saluted.

  As the general returned their salute he remarked, "Major Mitchel, I presume you are bucking for a star."

  "Sir?"

  "Your modification of my plan was far superior to my original idea. You have preserved a large section of our habitat for the civilian population…well done."

  "Thank you, sir. Where is Lieutenant Colonel Fisher? Last I saw him was in debriefing."

  "Debriefing, what debriefing?"

  "The instant I came up out of the hole, he was there. He debriefed me, told me to stay put that he was going to inform you…wait a minute. He told me he'd send someone to guard me, and I did get a guard. The guy turned out to be a merc in a uniform they had taken from one of our dead."

  "Major, you are suggesting—"

  "No suggestion, sir, just the facts. For all I know, Lieutenant Colonel Fisher was captured after he left me and forced to talk."

  "He'd never talk. The man is dying of cancer; he has no fear of death," the general was indignant.

  "Bottom line sir, he never reported my intel to you and within an hour of his departure, an enemy soldier was in the room with me, meaning that merc somehow got through our lines undetected and knew just where to find me. And I take it no one has seen Lieutenant Colonel Fisher since?"

  "No." The general was visibly distressed. "Major, what information did you give to Lieutenant Colonel Fisher?"

  Dave handed the general the SD chip containing the copy of his memories, of all he'd seen on the Demeter, in Le'ha's cave, and of course, all he'd seen in, and the copies of the files from, the clinic. As they slowly proceeded down the tunnel, ahead of the CFD, Dave again recited the events and findings of his and Lieutenant Colonel Selina's reconnaissance within the clinic.

  "Well, Major," the general took a deep breath, "this means we're not going to jail. And, we now know how the IIEA maintains its stranglehold over the major nations of the Earth.

  "That, of course, means the colony is not here for the stated altruistic reasons of exploration, discovery, and the preservation of the species. No, it's about the lust for power by a handful of men in the IIEA."

  The general had grown quite angry as he spoke. "Now answer me this Major, with the world's government's part of this conspiracy, to whom on Earth do we entrust this information, and how do we get it to them?"

  "I don't know, sir; we'll have to figure something out."

  "Indeed," the general rubbed the back of his neck. "And we must remember that even in the best case, with swift action on Earth, it could take a dozen years to get a response of any kind out here. And there's no guarantee that we'll get relief, reinforcements, or even be supported at all. Aid may even come to Wilmington."

  "Then we have to succeed here, sir," Dave replied.

  "General," Chuck asked, "may I ask where we are going?"

  "I have decided to relocate us to food storage area thirty-seven. Easy in, easy out, there's food and water, plenty of room, and it's quite defensible."

  "Just where is that, sir?" Dave asked.

  "If it hasn't been already explained to you, the city is divided into twelve sections, each a thirty-degree pie wedge based on the clock."

  "Yes, sir, just like the new section of JILL on the Moon," Dave replied.

  The general continued, "We are currently in sector seven, we are headed to sector two, also in the last ring so as to keep our backs against an exterior wall."

  "How far is that, sir?" Chuck asked. "Is this place as big as the one at JILL?"

  "It's larger, actually—thirty-five kilometers north to south, and forty-seven east to west. Straight line distance, we're about thirty kilometers from FSA thirty-seven. But, because of the nature of this subcutaneous system, we have about fifty kilometers to travel."

  ○O○

  Under armed guard, Colonel Fisher was escorted away from the combat zone down the long, straight artery referred to on maps of New Roanoke as corridor seven B.

  Eventually, they mounted a magnetic tram and zipped to the center of the colony. The center of New Roanoke was identified as sector zero. Here was found the heart of Wilmington's IIEA operation. Here, Colonel Fisher was dismounted and led into a large administrative area where he was shown into a single large office space occupied by Wilmington himself. Several large holographic monitors were projecting images and data to a man sitting low in his overstuffed office chair. In his raised hand, he held a remote, changing the displays on various monitors.

  The guards halted at the door. After a brief pause, Colonel Fisher proceeded forward, his head down, hands behind his back. He stopped a good three meters from Wilmington, who did not look up for several minutes.

  Slowly, Wilmington lowered the remote and turned his chair to face Colonel Fisher.

  "Where are they, Colonel?"

  Fisher just stood there.

  Wilmington got quickly to his feet, then slowly placed the remote on the chair's arm. "I'm sorry, Colonel Fisher, I neglected to inquire after your health. Just how are you, anyway?"

  "I'm fine."

  "Really? How's that little cancer problem of yours?"

  "In complete remission, and you know it."

  "I see by your records you'll need another injection next month."

  "I am aware of that."

  "Despite my having saved your life, cured your ills, and given you a near immortal existence…you don't seem to like me."

  Fisher stood looking at the floor, then he raised his eyes to look directly at Wilmington. "I realize that, in order to save my life, I made a deal with the devil. I can't dislike the devil for doing his filthy work, it's what devils do. I hate myself for having made that deal. Like Faust, I now live to regret my decision."

  "Colonel Fisher, that dilemma is easily resolved. Tell me you want no further injections and I will let you return, unmolested, to your friends."

  Fisher allowed several moments to pass without a response.

  "I didn't think so." The words seemed to ooze out of Wilmington's mouth coated with his oily, transatlantic accent. "You have information for me, I take it?"

  Fisher relayed what Dave had revealed to him about his discoveries in the clinic.

  Wilmington sat back down. "You should have killed that SUB after you got the information from him. Your failure means that the information is now in the general's possession, and he is, no doubt, giving wide distribution of that information to all members of the CDF." Wilmington paused, then looked up from under his brow at Fisher. "This, of course, means they all must die. No prisoners, no survivors. It is you who has killed them, Lieutenant Colonel Fisher, not I."

  Fisher stared at Wilmington as his words sank in.

  "I'm further informed," Wilmington continued, "that the female officer and her little band also managed to elude the pathetic excuse for soldiers my mercenaries turned out to be, and are most likely inside the city by now. Obviously, they all know, as well.

  "Do you see why I am despondent, Lieutenant Colonel Fisher? I have rogue CDF running about inside the city, the damned general is in mutiny, and best of all, he and his entire CDF have vanished. Just peachy, don
't you think?"

  "They didn't vanish," Fisher replied.

  "Of course, they didn't," Wilmington paused and looked directly into Fisher's eyes. "You know where they are, don't you?"

  "I know how to track them," Fisher replied and lowered his head. "Major Mitchel suffered a concussion on the flight from Earth. He is constantly emitting a low band transmission over Ismay that can be tracked as long as he's inside the city."

  Wilmington smiled. "Don't be so glum, Colonel Fisher. They will all die, but you…you, Colonel, will live."

  ○O○

  Dave lamented the fact that the CDFs movement through the tunnels was so slow, but because of the wounded, they could move no faster. Fifteen CDF Bios had been wounded in the fighting and required treatment. Eight SUBs were also wounded, but their injuries did not require immediate attention and did not slow the column. Of the fifteen wounded Bios, six were ambulatory, the other nine were being carried on stretchers by SUBs who would not tire.

  Dave had been sent by the general forward in command of an advanced element of twenty SUBs to scout the route all the way to FSA thirty-seven.

  The SUBs ran down the tube at 40.5 km/h. Two kilometers ahead of the main body, they encountered a smaller tunnel on their right, about three meters in diameter.

  "Where does that go?" Dave asked a young captain running to his right.

  "Sector four, sir, to a large reservoir just outside the city. It's no longer in use, sir."

  The thud of twenty-one sets of combat boots echoed up and down the tube, but all stopped simultaneously at the distant sound of an explosion.

  The captain looked quickly at Dave. "That sounds like bad news."

  "Yeah," Dave responded, "bad news looking for company." With his SUB's hearing, Dave could hear the sound of a large number of people pouring into the tunnel. “The mercs must have blasted a breach in the passage up ahead.”

  "Mercs," the captain whispered, scowling.

  "How the hell did they find us? I thought only the CDF knew about these tunnels?" Dave's anxiety meter was pegging out.