“Just drop it!” Jann moved closer, her weapon held with both hands, arms outstretched. Xenon also raised his weapon and pointed at the confused mercenary.
Something suddenly snapped into place in the mercenary’s confused mind and several things happened all at once. He let out a long blood-curdling scream that physically stunned them. At the same time he raised his weapon, having somehow remembered its function, and fired a blast before running off.
Jann took a moment to react, and fired. But the mercenary had gone and her shot dissipated off the far wall of the concourse. She ran out the door, followed by Xenon. Jann looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. “Dammit. Where did he come from?”
“It is unlikely he’s the same mercenary that went psycho in the biodome. Which means we have a second one to deal with,” said Xenon.
Jann was still looking down the concourse in the direction of dome five. “This could work in our favor. It looks like he’s headed for the main COM cohort. So if we can get that door closed then they can fight it out between themselves in there.” She lowered her weapon and turned back to Xenon. Some of the other colonists had come out of the operations room holding various rudimentary weapons.
“Anyone hit?”
“Yes, Melva. She’s alive, but unconscious.”
Jann walked back into the operations room. Melva was lying on the floor, flat on her back. A large burn mark, the size of a dinner plate, bloomed out across her chest.
“You’d better get her to the medlab, and take that COM mercenary as well,” Jann instructed.
The colonists started to gather up the fallen.
Gizmo, you stay here and get that console back up and running.”
“I shall do my best, Jann.”
“Xenon. You and I will go and get the door to that sector sealed. If we can do that, then we have a chance at finishing this. Come on, let’s go.”
Commander Willem Kruger had tracked the psychotic crewmember that had gone ballistic inside the biodome to a cluster of domes on the far side of the facility. These were connected via a short tunnel to a concourse that acted as a kind of backbone for the Colony One infrastructure. Several sectors were linked to this concourse. The area that he and the rest of his crew were now searching consisted of two small domes, collectively named accommodation, and two larger ones, each with the unimaginative titles of dome four and dome five. His crew had already conducted a thorough search of all these sectors except for dome five. All were clear. Kruger checked his PEP weapon for the umpteenth time and then signaled for his crew to gather around.
“Okay, listen up. I want this guy taken down quick. I don’t care if he’s your best buddy, he’s now a homicidal maniac ready to gut you on sight. So take him down at the first opportunity. Got it?”
Both Slade and Jones nodded.
“Second thing, and this is very important so pay attention,” Kruger paused for a moment and looked over at the entrance to dome five. “There is a methane processing reactor in there, highly volatile.”
“Well that’s just great.”
“Put a sock in it, Jones. It is what it is, so let’s just be careful what we’re shooting at. The storage tanks are on the outside of the dome so that’s something. But do me a favor and try not to shoot the processing unit.”
“Why not, sir?” said Slade
Kruger and Jones each gave an exasperated sigh. “Ka-boom. That’s why.” The commander did an exploding gesture with his hands to emphasize the point. But as he was about to lead them in, a scream echoed from back along the concourse.
“Shit, what the hell was that?” Jones swiveled in its direction, weapon at the ready.
Kruger snapped his fingers. “You stay here. If anyone shows up at that door not looking real friendly, you take them out, no questions.”
“Yes sir.”
“Slade, you come with me.”
They stepped in through the half open door of dome five. It was a large space that was part manufacturing plant, part storage space and part workshop. Strewn here and there were stacks of crates, machine parts and even the skeleton of an old lander module that someone had stripped of all useful components. Kruger moved silently and gave a hand signal that instructed Slade to move out and start searching. It didn’t take them long. The deranged mercenary shot out from behind a mountain of crates and fired off two blasts in quick succession. Kruger and Slade dived for cover. A moment later, the commander stuck his head up from behind a crate and scanned the area. The mercenary was nowhere to be seen. He signaled to Slade again to move out. This time Kruger kept his weapon high and ready to fire at the first opportunity.
The whoop of a PEP weapon being fired, back where Kruger had left Jones, stopped them dead in their tracks. “Sounds like Jones has met someone who wasn’t real friendly,” Slade whispered.
But before Kruger could answer, the mercenary burst out from cover again. This time he didn’t get a chance to discharge his weapon. He was encased in a ball of electrical craziness that hit him from two different directions at the same time. He shook and jerked and bounced around like a pinball before collapsing to the floor, incandescent flashes still arcing around his body.
When the light show had finally stopped Kruger and Slade approached the body with caution. He was dead, no question about that. It was job done as far as the commander was concerned so he shouldered his weapon. “Okay, let’s get out of here. It’s time to start herding the colonists back into the biodome.”
They walked off slowly, there was no rush. The thorn in Kruger’s side had finally been taken care of. From here on in it would be just a mop up operation.
A scream reverberated around the dome as another deranged COM crewmember came bursting through the door. It was Benson, his weapon aimed in their direction. Before either Kruger or Slade could unshoulder their weapons he fired. It was at that instant that Willem Kruger, commander of the Colony One Mars mission, realized they were both standing right in front of the methane reactor.
“Oh shit,” was all he could manage.
Jann and Xenon slowly inched their way down along the concourse, moving on opposite sides, keeping close to the walls. Up ahead on the left was the entrance tunnel to where they assumed the COM mercenaries were. It was set at right angles to the concourse, so Jann crept along and peered carefully around the corner. She signaled to Xenon who darted across and took up a position beside her.
“All clear, as far as I can tell.” She ventured another look around the corner. “Come on, let’s get that door closed.”
They entered the tunnel, and could now see the door, about halfway along. This was a large circular bulkhead, hinged on one side and opened back against the tunnel wall on their side. Closing this would isolate everything on the far side and lock the COM mercenaries in. Jann hurried forward, but as she came close to the door she thought she could see a body farther in, on the far side, close to the junction for the domes.
“There’s someone on the floor down there.”
Xenon looked down the tunnel, moving his head around trying to see. “I can just make out a foot.”
Jann looked back at Xenon. “Could it be a colonist?”
Xenon said nothing for a moment as he considered this. Then he stuck his head around the side of the door. “Hard to know from here.”
Jann stepped out from the wall and started forward. “I’ll take a closer look.”
Xenon seemed unsure of this decision but didn’t protest as Jann moved quietly down the tunnel. She passed the bulkhead door. The foot turned into a leg which eventually turned into the body of a COM mercenary. Jann checked his nametag, Jones. He was still alive but had obviously been hit by a PEP weapon. He lay unconscious with a thin trail of smoke rising up from the blast mark. Jann couldn’t tell if he had been one of the infected. Was he the same one that attacked them in the operations room? She wasn’t sure but he seemed shorter, with different color hair, more blond. She looked back at Xenon. “Come on, give me a hand with him.�
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Xenon stalled for a moment before stepping over the threshold of the bulkhead door. He ran down to her. “Jann, this is very risky.”
“Quick, we’ll grab one leg each and drag him back.”
He did so reluctantly. “I don’t see why you’re going out of your way for this guy.”
“Call it my maternal instinct.”
Xenon smiled and nodded.
Jann suddenly lost her balance as the tunnel physically shook with the force of a massive explosion. She dropped the leg she had been dragging and braced herself against the wall. Xenon was doing the same, and staring into her eyes as if to say. I told you this was a stupid idea.
She began to feel the atmosphere being sucked out. Not so much that it would knock her over but enough to know that this was serious, and getting more so. A klaxon blared and red strobe lights kicked on overhead.
“What the hell was that?” Jann was getting herself upright again.
“We’d better get out of here.” They ran for the door but it was automatically closing. Having detected the drop in pressure the bulkhead was sealing itself to protect the integrity of the main colony facility. It was sacrificing this sector, and all who were in it.
“Hurry!” Xenon dived through the door to the other side, grabbed the edge with both hands and planted his feet against the wall trying to stop it from closing. Jann squeezed in through the gap and just managed to bring her feet in as the door slammed shut. They sat there for a few moments, gasping and calming themselves down. “That was close.” Xenon gave a wry smile.
Jann smiled back and looked at the bulkhead door. “Well, I think that solves our COM infestation problem.”
After a few moments the alarms stopped just as Gizmo came racing down the tunnel.
“What the hell just happened back there, Gizmo?”
“An explosion in dome five, most probably the methane processing unit. It has caused a significant loss of integrity in that sector.”
“Is the rest of the facility safe?”
“Yes, quite safe, now that this bulkhead door is sealed.”
“Okay, but we need to get back to operations and check out all the systems. Let’s make sure there are no other disasters waiting to jump up and bite us.”
By the time they returned to the operations room, Jann was beginning to sense that it was all over, they had won. Her crazy scheme had paid off. The COM mercenaries in dome five were most likely all dead, including, she surmised, Peter VanHoff. She collapsed into a chair and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
Gizmo started scanning systems, checking integrity, adjusting levels, establishing that the colony would survive the amputation of one of its limbs.
“Atmosphere nominal, pressure has stabilized.”
“Thank god for that.”
“Wait a minute.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing major, Jann. I am picking up some infrared readings from the subterranean soil processing area.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I think there is somebody down there.”
Jann sighed. “Oh it’s probably just some colonists hiding out.” She stood. “Come on, let’s go take a look.”
21
Run
Jann held the PEP weapon tight as she and Gizmo traversed the narrow passage down into the soil processing area. She had brought it with her just in case and, as they entered the cave, she held the weapon up in front of her and shouted in, “Hello? Anyone there?”
A vague shuffling sound emanated from the back of the cave. “It’s okay, you can come out, it’s safe now.”
The shuffling stopped. Jann looked back at Gizmo. “Stay close.” They moved off into the cave and worked their way around a number of storage crates. She stopped short when she finally realized who it was that had been hiding down here.
Two of the Chinese crew, in full EVA suits were standing there, holding up a bloodied and battered Peter VanHoff. On the ground farther back looked to be the unconscious body of another COM crewmember. Jann recognized him as Dr. Molotov. In front of this unlikely quartet stood Yutu. It was staring directly at her, looking like it was ready to pounce. She instinctively pointed the weapon at it. For a moment no one moved, no one said anything. Jann felt like a schoolteacher that had caught two boys beating up on another in the school locker room.
“I see you guys are getting to know one another.”
VanHoff seemed to perk up a bit. He looked at her, and a vague scowl grew across his face.
“It’s time to pack it in, show’s over. Commander Kruger is dead. Colony One is back in our control now.” She waved the weapon to signal them to move out.
“I think not.” Jing Tzu let go of VanHoff, who collapsed on the ground. “We’re getting off this planet, so I suggest you just let us part company. No need for more violence.”
“I’d love to, but you can’t leave now. You’re infected. If you leave you’ll be bringing the Janus bacteria back to Earth.”
VanHoff seemed to regain some life. He raised himself up. “Don’t listen to her, don’t listen to anything that comes out of her mouth. She’s the cause of all this chaos.”
“It’s okay, we can eradicate it, we have a way. It’ll take a while, but after that I see no reason why you can’t go back then. Come on, let’s move.” She waved the weapon again.
“Don’t listen to…” VanHoff tried to speak again but he was cut off.
“You shut up.” Chen Deng punched him in the stomach.
“I’m sorry, but we’ve had enough of this place.”
With that Jing Tzu stepped forward and said something in Mandarin to Yutu. The robot shifted slightly then sprang at Jann. She fired the weapon but she was too slow. The robot rammed her in the chest at full force as her shot hit the ceiling and fizzled out. She tumbled backward with the impact, slammed up against a tall stack of storage containers and collapsed on the ground.
The Chinese crew were now running for the automatic airlocks that the harvesters used, putting their helmets on as they went. VanHoff was tottering behind them. Yutu remained, moving slowly towards the fallen Jann.
“Shit, Gizmo… they’re getting away.”
Gizmo shifted around, reorienting itself in the space, as if it was unsure of what to do. Jann began to pick herself up from the dusty cave floor when she saw the stack of containers lean in towards her; they were falling. She raised her arms up to protect herself, but they all came crashing down on top of her. Her leg was caught under something, she was trapped. Jann tried to pull it free but it held fast. Yutu circled.
“Gizmo, I’m stuck.”
The little robot twitched and shifted, extrapolating the probabilities, calculating the odds, and realizing they were not good. It turned its head to Jann. “I do not like that robot.” Then it shot off across the floor at high speed and slammed straight into Yutu. The quadruped reacted instantly and was also propelling it self forward when they connected. The two robots tumbled down along the floor, entangled together. Jann could only look on in horror as both machines pulled bits off each other. And it was happening fast, their reaction speed being so much quicker than a human.
They broke apart as Gizmo was flung across the cave. It skidded along the floor, gouging out a deep rut before it came to a halt. But the same instant it was back up on its tracks heading for Yutu at top speed. They slammed into one another again.
Jann pushed and pulled at the container to get it off her leg with all the strength she could muster. It shifted a little, she pushed harder. Time was running out. VanHoff and the Chinese were already at the airlock, trying to hack it open. She had to stop them.
She looked back to see Gizmo and Yutu circling each other. The little droid had sustained considerable damage. Its left arm hung loose at an odd angle, a number of its sensors and antennae were gone completely. The quadruped on the other hand looked to be virtually undamaged. Jann knew that it was only a matter of time before it destroyed Gizmo completely. She searched around
for a bar or something she could use as a lever to try and shift the weight pinning her down.
The robots slammed into one another again with a deafening screech of metal on metal. Again Gizmo was flung into the air and skidded to a halt farther up the cave. Jann arched her head to see. It had righted itself, but one of its tracks was broken. It lay on the cave floor like a flattened snake. Gizmo tried to move forward but it fell over.
“No, Gizmo!” she yelled.
Yutu moved in closer, like a jackal stalking its prey, ready to strike the killing blow. Gizmo managed to get itself upright again, and seemed to have calculated a new method of perambulation based on its remaining articulations. It moved using its one functioning arm like a crutch. Then it simply stopped.
Has it just died? she thought. “Gizmo, Gizmo,” she shouted.
Yutu crouched low and crept forward, inch by stealthy inch. It sprang high into the air, aiming to land the final blow on Gizmo.
But the little droid had one last trick up its metallic sleeve. As the quadruped reached the apex of its arc, Gizmo fired its taser. Two metal prongs shot out of the little droid, trailing thin spools of wire and buried themselves deep in Yutu’s underbelly. The quadruped sparked and shook as 10,000 volts fried its electronics and traumatized its systems. It landed hard on Gizmo, sending the two tumbling across the floor again. When the dust settled, neither moved.
Jann pushed with all her might. The crate shifted a fraction, enough for her to get free. She looked over to where Gizmo lay, there was no movement. “Gizmo.”
She looked past the robot down to the airlocks at the far end. VanHoff and the Chinese were gone, out on the surface. She would have to get back up top and alert everyone. Maybe they still had time to stop them reaching their landers. She dragged herself up to a standing position and tested her legs. They were battered and bruised, but nothing broken. She tottered over to where Gizmo lay and knelt down beside her friend. “Gizmo… Gizmo?”
Colony Mars Ultimate Edition Page 46
