Free Trader Box Set - Books 4-6: Battle for the Amazon, Free the North!, Free Trader on the High Seas

by Craig Martelle

  She saw the bandages on Braden and wondered what happened. She got out of bed, carefully moving as each step hammered against the inside of her brain. She looked at Braden’s face and arm, seeing the ugly wounds from an explosion. She pulled Braden’s bandage back, finding the laser wound. Pik was nearby, his skin suit damaged, but bandages had been roughly wrapped around him to hold everything together. Then she saw Treetis and the adult ‘cats.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked G-War in surprise. He told her. She was angry that they hadn’t woken her.

  ‘Why? You can barely stand now and this was a long time ago. Everyone has slept since then. A long time,’ G-War emphasized.

  She conceded. It was best that she slept. “Water?” G-War nodded in the direction of the sink. She took her bowl and headed that way. After drinking as much as she could hold, she brought the full dish back and put it on the tray next to Braden.

  She sat on her bed, then opened her neural implant.

  ‘Holly, how have things changed down here?’ Micah asked, knowing that Holly would have been busy once he gained access to the systems that ran Atlantis.

  ‘Busy, busy,’ he replied happily. ‘There are so many new systems that I’ve not seen before, it is refreshing to work with them all. They’ve done some really magnificent work in Atlantis. The dome is all new. The original facility was tiny, compared to what is there now. They developed all of what you see since the war. They were cut off, but they pressed forward with scientific discovery and in doing what they thought they needed to do in order to rebuild Vii.’

  ‘Are you trying to justify what they’ve done to the people? There’s no excuse, Holly. They kidnapped people and then experimented on them. If the misfits were any indicator, then the Professor was a failure. I can’t agree that they did what they could. They didn’t ask. They simply took, having decided what was best. They saw people on shore, which should have suggested that humanity survived. They didn’t need to genetically engineer it, but that’s the path they chose to travel. No, Holly, they were bent on domination, just like the ancients. They saw their way as the only way. I’m glad they’re gone. Now what do we do next?’ Micah asked. The throbbing in her head lessened as she talked, so she laid back on her bed and relaxed, hoping the pain would disappear completely.

  ‘There are over one thousand humans and creatures in Atlantis. They will need something to do, guidance on what kind of lives they can live. I am working with the Med Bots, well, those that are still functional, to start reviving the people from White Beach. I expect you’d like to shut this facility down. Besides that, tell me what you’d like me to do,’ Holly ended, unsure of what Braden and Micah wanted to see from Atlantis. He thought they might suggest removing all life and flooding the facility, burying it under the ocean forever.

  ‘We need a Med Bot here, too. Braden and Treetis are injured. They fought with another Gloria Bot, they said?’

  ‘Oh my. I was worried about that. She downloaded just enough consciousness into a number of those Bots. I had hoped that when we rebooted the system and flushed the old code that the Gloria Bots would power down, take themselves offline,’ Holly said reservedly.

  ‘You hoped,’ Micah replied acerbically. ‘You didn’t bother to tell us there were more of them? Not your best decision, Holly. Look at us! We are lucky to be alive. Is there anything else out there that will try to kill us? And don’t hold back on me!’ Micah was angry with Holly, which was usually the case when she discovered something he hadn’t shared.

  ‘All I can say is that there could be more Gloria Bots. I simply don’t know how many she had. Some information was scrambled by the time I made it into the system. Be confident that I control the facilities and all the other Bots. I am dispatching a Med Bot to you now. It will give you a shot to help you through your pain. And yes, I can see it in your vitals. Then Treetis. A second Med Bot will arrive to address Braden’s and Pik’s injuries. Please let them do their work. I would suggest waking Master Braden before the Bot begins. I understand how he abhors surprises with Androids, and now Bots,’ Holly said in a soothing tone. Micah smiled. He was starting to understand them.

  Micah woke each of them in turn to prepare for the Med Bot, which was quick and efficient in dealing with their injuries. The Bot assigned to Treetis took the longest, but his injuries were the most severe. The Bot told them that there were two more treatments before the ‘cat could leave. Treetis yowled at the news, but Fea and G-War treated him like a king, so he stopped complaining. They were all hungry, so on Holly’s advice, they went to the dining hall across the way where the people were lined up, waiting for the bell to indicate that breakfast was ready.

  Pik pushed Aadi in front of him. The Tortoid blinked slowly, having almost fully recovered from the previous days’ ordeals. Of all, he seemed to be enjoying himself the most.

  Braden, Micah, and the others walked past the line and through the door, ignoring the looks of the Atlanteans. They continued past the front section where the serving counter and tables were and into the back where there were four fabricators and two Serving Bots.

  ‘Holly, so this is it? They treated the meals like they were a big deal, but they’re just using fabricators. The people can eat anytime they want and whatever they want. Why the lines and the set meal schedule?’ Micah asked.

  ‘It was all about control, Master President. Gloria controlled every aspect of their lives. Look at those poor souls waiting in the reception area. I will have to make believe I’m Gloria in order to send them away. Without direction, they are completely lost. There is no spirit of self-determination here. Gloria took all of that away. She wanted automatons, people, yes, but ones who did her bidding without question. The Professor thought he was in control, but Gloria manipulated him to get what she wanted. He facilitated her descent into insanity,’ Holly finished on a sad note. The AI was just like him. He was happy that his humans made sense and had a plan for a Vii that was far greater than any one individual. And for that reason, Holly had to do more to keep them healthy. Gloria cutting him off from his humans had shaken him.

  The ancients could have learned a great deal from their descendants. There never would have been a war if people like Braden and Micah had been around back then to bring common sense and selflessness.

  All Holly could do was be happy that he had it now. Going through civilization’s decline once was enough for him.

  The companions each ordered their favorites, happy that the fabricator was programmed with the full menu they’d grown to expect. They ate quickly, knowing that Treetis was in his bed and probably famished. They ordered four extra plates of fish and Micah ordered something new that she’d discovered aboard the Warden, a chocolate shake, which she intended to take with her. Braden didn’t like it. Too sweet, he said.

  She loved them and slurped as she drank and walked. Braden limped slightly from his wound that was mostly healed thanks to the Med Bot’s ministrations. The people in line looked at them again as the companions walked past. They seemed indifferent to the Lizard Man and Tortoid. The only thing that bothered them was that people had jumped in line ahead of them, eaten, and then left before they were allowed to eat.

  They’d greeted Brandt when they left and greeted him warmly again when they returned. The great King was happy to see everyone, although he was concerned about his little orange friend.

  “He’ll be fine, we’re told, but he has to stay in bed. All of this is for him,” Braden told Brandt while rubbing his nose. “Why don’t you go find yourself something to eat. You have to be hungry.”

  ‘I haven’t eaten a good meal since we left solid ground,’ Brandt told them.

  “I thought as much. Go, find yourself something good. If nothing else, let us know and we’ll burn up a fabricator for you if we have to.” Braden waved as the King trotted off, past the crowd still waiting to get into the dining facility.

  According to Holly, there were five such buildings, with staggered eating times to accommodate
the people of Atlantis. Many were fed in the main building, too. The laboratory was on the first level, but there was one more level. Upstairs had a dining facility and a barracks that had yet to be occupied as Gloria had not yet built her army. The people who continued to wait in the reception area were the first ones that reached viability. They’d only been two treatments from being declared ready and moved upstairs.

  The companions continued into the laboratory where the first two from White Beach had been revived. Braden and Micah stopped to talk with the people while the others returned to Treetis, to see that he ate and then go back to bed themselves.

  Flounder had no idea how long he’d been in Atlantis. He remembered being taken by the sea monster, which wasn’t a monster at all. Discovering that made no difference. Once inside, the metal creatures did something to him. And that was the last he remembered.

  “What did you hear about the sea monster before you were taken? How many times had it appeared by then?” Micah asked.

  “It had only appeared one time before it got me,” he answered. Braden whistled. That was cycles ago. The man was skeletally thin, but otherwise looked healthy.

  “I’m weak as a kitten,” he told them, confused at how he’d been a strong man just moments before.

  “I think it’s been three cycles since you’ve been taken, maybe longer. The Bots took everyone from White Beach, every last person. Recently, others started moving there again. Then the Bots showed up and took them, too. That’s when we arrived, came here to stir things up. You’re free now, so we’ll figure out how to get everyone back upstairs, get you home.” Braden rested his hand on the man’s shoulder, unwilling to slap him on the back as he usually would have because he didn’t want to knock the man down.

  The second man they revived surprisingly still smelled of fish. “I was on the beach with this big fella from out east. I just caught my first fish, a big one, flat, eyes on the top of its head, when this thing comes up out of the surf, glowing eyes. It opened up and that’s all I remember.”

  “Caleb. You were with Caleb. He’s my father,” Micah told the man.

  The man held out his hand. “I’m Digger. Where’s your pa?” He looked at the beds around him and didn’t see any familiar faces.

  “He’s already gone up to the island,’ Micah said, wondering how her father was. She hadn’t heard from Bronwyn. Braden saw the look on her face and knew what she wanted to do, so he took over.

  “You’re probably wondering where you are. Let’s go outside and I’ll show you, then we’ll get you something to eat. There’s a place right across the street.” Braden made to lead them out, but they hesitated as they weren’t wearing any clothes, only the sheet from their beds. “No one cares what you’re wearing. Let’s get you something to eat,” he chuckled as they shrugged and pulled their sheets more tightly about themselves. They walked slowly because Flounder was hard-pressed to move. His muscles had atrophied to the point that he wasn’t sure he could support his own bodyweight.

  Braden and Digger supported him between them as they left the laboratory in search of food. Braden was willing to eat again, and he was good with the others not knowing that he’d gone for seconds.

  Micah faced the wall as she tried to contact Bronwyn. ‘Bronwyn, do you have any information about Caleb, about my father?’

  The girl answered instantly. ‘Oh, yes, I’m glad you are up. I tried to contact you earlier, but no one was there, anywhere. I was afraid that something happened,’ Bronwyn said in a rapid stream of thoughts.

  ‘We’ve been busy, but we did get some well-needed rest. How’s my father?’ she asked again.

  ‘Within heartbeats of the Med Bots working with him he came to. They removed the tube and patched him up. He’s with me now!’ she added. Micah wondered why she didn’t start with that.

  ‘I’m so glad. You’re on the ship?’

  ‘No, not at all. We’re almost to the bottom of the tunnel, so we’ll be there shortly,’ Bronwyn said happily. Micah hung her head. Everything they did to get him out of Atlantis, and now he was back. He probably thought it was necessary to come after his daughter and had browbeat Bronwyn into bringing him. That would be the father she knew. Between both of her parents, it was inevitable that stubbornness was going to be her hallmark.

  ‘Great, Brandt will meet you at the tunnel entrance and bring you here. Be careful, there may be more of the Gloria Bots roaming the streets. Zyena and Skirill are flying around looking for them.’

  ‘Oh, good! My friend is free. Zeeka is with us too, and Strider!’ Bronwyn seemed pleased with herself.

  Micah was getting angrier with each heartbeat, the anger she felt when things were spinning out of control. She knew that she had little control over many matters, but in this case, asking the others to stay out of Atlantis hadn’t been too great a thing to ask. It was almost like the undersea city was becoming a vacation spot. ‘Fine,’ was the best Micah could come up with.

  ‘Everyone is coming down here, it seems. Bronwyn, my father, Zeeka, and even Strider. They’ll be at the tunnel entrance shortly,’ Micah said over the mindlink. Bounder jumped out of bed and trotted to Micah. Pik, Aadi, and G-War joined them. Fea stayed with Treetis, probably to keep the young ‘cat in bed, otherwise Fea would have liked to join the others.

  As a group, they walked from the building and headed for the park.

  A New Day

  When Caleb arrived, Micah felt an incredible sense of relief. She expected him to be damaged in some way, but he wore fresh clothes and a huge smile. He looked healthy and happy. She wondered why she was so surprised. Her father had always been a tower of strength, unflappable.

  Zeeka joined Skirill and Zyena in flying around Atlantis. They circled it repeatedly looking for more Gloria Bots or other threats. Mainly, they enjoyed flying where there was water over their heads and to the sides. It seemed unreal, like they were on a different world, which in a way, they were.

  Caleb helped Bronwyn climb atop the King of the Aurochs, where she was always happy. She talked with him constantly when they were together. G-War joined her where she held him tightly to her, stroking his straggly fur rhythmically as the group, which included a great number of the misshapen mob, turned toward the center of the dome.

  “Bronwyn, I’m curious,” Micah started. “Everyone here seems young and fresh, but then there are your friends. Where were they and how did they come to be?”

  ‘They are the fisherman who work on the other side of Atlantis where there’s an open area that attracts the fish. They fish for them there, tend the kelp beds, provide everything that Atlantis needs for food,’ she replied in her thought voice, which she was always more comfortable using.

  “But how did they come to be? They don’t look like any of the others.”

  ‘Whenever something went wrong, they never killed the subjects. They gave them something to do, helped them to be productive. All life is precious here. The Security Bots were incapable of killing a human being, that’s why they only stunned us.’

  It started to make sense to Micah. She wondered why they were still alive after so many encounters with the Security Bots. The ones at New Sanctuary would have been merciless in eliminating all attackers. Maybe she needed to talk with Holly about reprogramming the ones at home, make them less lethal.

  In the interim, she wanted to find out more about what Bronwyn’s bunch did, so she asked them to show her.

  They took the challenge as great fun, whooping and yelling in joy as they walked through the central area where Braden and Digger joined them. Flounder relaxed peacefully in the dining hall, getting a steady stream of samples from the Server Bot, which was ready to bring more of any one thing. Whatever Flounder wanted.

  Braden held Micah’s hand as they walked. Caleb was at her side and everything was right with the world. That was when she worried the most, but G-War shook his head. The Hawkoids weren’t seeing anything. Aadi didn’t think there was any danger. She had a nagging feeling, but
forced it down while she contacted Holly.

  ‘Holly, are you sure we’re safe?’

  ‘Yes, Master President, as safe as I can be sure of,’ he responded.

  She stopped walking. Braden could see her jaw tighten. She was talking with Holly and getting angry. He could only wait to hear what they said.

  ‘What kind of answer is that, Holly? We’ve got this huge mob with us and no one has a functioning weapon. If a Gloria Bot shows up, we have no way to fight it. Can you have a Security Bot escort us? Maybe two?’ Micah asked.

  ‘Absolutely. I didn’t want to alarm anyone by driving the Security Bots around, but I have a number at my disposal. The rest were destroyed, as you know.’ Micah closed her neural implant and told the others what was coming. Most of the companions were going to be anxious with those Security Bots near, as they’d been shocked to unconsciousness by them. They only had bad memories of the metal monsters, although Braden, Pik, Aadi, and Bounder had good memories of blowing them apart, too.

  The Bots showed up quickly and the mob continued on their way.

  The lake was dark as the lights from above didn’t penetrate the surface, but one of the misfits nodded happily as he went to a panel near a small dock. He flipped a switch and lights appeared underwater, lighting the entire area of the lake, showing schools of fish, thick kelp, sea cucumbers, and so much more.

  Bronwyn’s bunch showed the others what they did as they resumed their duties fishing, collecting kelp, and delivering it all to the processer, a system that took the raw material under the streets for distribution in all the dining facilities. Raw materials for other production were mined beneath Atlantis by Bots. The misfits never went down there. No one went down there.

  So that was where Braden wanted to go, but Holly talked him out of it. The air wasn’t fit for humans to breathe. Holly assured Braden and Micah that he was monitoring all the production systems and Holly initially told them, “within acceptable parameters,” but that required a great deal of explanation that neither human had the patience for. When he reworded his answer to “everything was running like it was supposed to,” Braden and Micah accepted it without comment.