“We certainly don’t. God knows how little time we have to deal with Gaia 2 before the Furies reach Earth.”
“What? The Furies are on their way too?”
“I’m pretty sure, yeah.”
“This day keeps on getting better and better.”
Chase smiled just when the lights outside the room blinked slightly and turned on. “What’s that?”
“That would be my nanites going to work. They’ve brought power back online in this region. There’s billions of them acting together. They’re resetting the entire planet’s infrastructure, loading a universal yet minimalistic operating system into all of the computer systems that have been wiped by the EMP. They’ll network and make sure I get control over the infrastructure. That way I can bring back power on Earth as well as basic utilities. Your card is pre-programmed with the code to send each of the nanites you release to do the same job. Simply fit it in the reader terminals on these four sets of coordinates. Once the nanite chamber opens, don’t wait up, just unplug the card and move to the next location.”
“Understood.”
“Time’s a wasting so you’d better be on your way.”
“Do you need me for anything else after this?”
“I don’t think so. At least, not right away. I might need you to heal the crap out of me while I have these cyborg implants removed, but that’s probably a task for another day. So please don’t die today, buddy. In the meantime, as soon as I have enough juice to power up the planetary shield, I’ll bring it back online.”
“Very good. See you soon, Cedric. It’s really good to see you back on your feet.”
“It’s good to be back, Chase. Now go.”
Chase clapped Cedric on the shoulder and teleported away.
Chase was done with releasing the nanites in all four locations within a few minutes and teleported back to the Hope.
Sarah stood up from the captain’s chair with an expression that telegraphed nothing good.
“What’s up?” asked Chase.
“First Admiral Zenakis didn’t like our stunt. He’s leaving at sub-light speed.”
“What? Does he realize what we’re facing here today?”
“Mind if we take this in the ready room?”
Chase nodded. “Sure, lead the way.”
Once the door was closed, Sarah shook her head. “Chase, I love you but sometimes you can be pretty intense. You know that, right?”
“I didn’t expect Zenakis to overreact this way.”
“That’s the problem, Chase. I’m not sure he overreacted at all. You blew him off, took over, like you almost always do, and when he tried getting back online with you for an explanation, you shut him out. You personally assured him he would be in command of this fleet. How else was he to react?”
“Alright, let’s say I agree with most of that. There’s an entire planet with billions of lives to save. What kind of a man turns his back on that?”
“Chase, the first admiral has no ties to Earth. He only came this far because Saroudis personally asked him to. He’s already helped us with the Furies before. He paid his debt to us. Can you really blame him for wanting to protect his crew rather than strangers unwilling to play by the rules they themselves set? Put yourself in his shoes for once.”
Chase didn’t like to hear it, but he recognized the sting of truth behind Sarah’s words. He had acted impulsively, taking over without so much as a plea to convince the admiral, and now the man was leaving with more than half the fleet. This could result in a catastrophic loss for the Alliance; not to mention putting the people of Earth in jeopardy.
Chase looked down as he thought this over. Not much he could do now. He could override the admiral’s ships and remote control them with his mind. They were Star Alliance and he knew these systems pretty well. But what would that accomplish? It would eliminate any hope of the admiral’s fleet ever joining the Earth Alliance. But was that likely anyway?
“You’re not going to like it, but I could bring these ships back, whether the admiral wants it or not.”
Sarah sighed in disbelief. “Chase, you’re better than this. Sure, you can snatch control away from these poor souls and force them into a conflict they no longer want to be part of. Or you can realize your mistake and try to make amends. If not today, perhaps tomorrow.”
“What if there is no tomorrow for us? If we don’t win today—”
“I understand your focus, or should I say your obsession, with victory. I share that feeling. It’s who you are. You risk your life on a whim to save others, and that’s part of why I love you so much. But we both know that if you do what you’re proposing, you’ll do it out of pride or, worse, you’ll do it out of desperation and you might even succeed. But lives, innocent lives, will be lost in the process. I know you don’t want that on your conscience, just as I know you don’t want anyone else to die on Earth today. But you have to understand that if it happens, we will deal with it together. You’re not alone.”
“I can’t let Earth fall. I won’t.”
“That’s honorable and I hope we succeed in preventing it, but you can’t rewrite the rules of engagement to match your wishes just to attain your goal. If you do, then what makes you different from the other Furies?”
Being compared to the ruthlessness of the Furies hurt Chase, but then the truth always hurts. Chase had to deal with a lot of pressure right now. For the first time, he felt that he might have taken on too big a task. Fortunately, his friends and family were there to help him through it. But the question remained: could they get through this battle?
They had to, no matter the consequences, no matter the lives lost. But Sarah was right. He could not force unwilling innocents to be part of his plan.
“I don’t like it when you talk to me like that, but thank you for reminding me not to unwillingly become the enemy.”
Sarah took Chase in her arms. “It’s okay, Chase. I know you mean well and your heart is in the right place. We’ll prevail one way or another, like we always do.”
The ship rocked heavily and Chase prevented them from falling.
“We’d better get back on the bridge,” he said.
Cedric received the transmission logs from the other nanites around the world and got to work on their deployment right away. He needed to make sure the planetary shield was up as soon as possible, even at minimal power, to protect the people of Earth.
Chase’s tactic of engaging Gaia 2 from all sides was paying off so far. She hadn’t diverted her attention towards the planet yet, but that could change at a moment’s notice.
Ares appeared in front of Cedric in energy form.
“Thanks. You guys saved me hours on this one.”
“Do you need me for anything else?”
“No, that’s all for now. You may want to go back in orbit. I still have a lot to do before I can get the shields up. Once that’s done you may want to avoid teleporting through them. It seemed to take a toll on you last time.”
“It might not have been only that. It’s a long story, but Zeus had more to do with my weak state than the shield.”
“Well, that’s good to know in case I need any of you to teleport in or out while the shield is up. Thanks, Ares.”
“You’re welcome, Cedric. Good luck with bringing back the shield online.”
“Thanks.”
Ares vanished and Cedric went back to work.
The Hope was engaged with three enemy ships when Chase received a call from Kvasir.
“What can I do for you, Kvasir? We’re kind of busy at the moment.”
“I know, I’m monitoring the battle in real time over here. I need you to come down here. The vitals of both Argos and Chris aren’t good at the moment, and I’m having trouble getting Gaia freed from the trap she fell into.”
Chase shot a look towards Sarah, who answered with a simple nod that he should go take care of yet another emergency.
“I’m on my way.”
In engineering, b
oth Argos and Chris flinched on their bed. They must have been engaged in quite the battle.
“I should go in to help them,” said Chase.
Yanis got up from his workstation. “Should you be up and running already?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, but thanks for your concern, my friend.”
“Look, I understand your borderline pathological need to intervene and help others, but going back in there right after suffering brain damage, is it courage or just plain irresponsibility?”
“I’ll be fine, Yanis.”
“You’re the boss, boss. For the record I still think it’s a very bad idea, but I know you won’t listen to me anyway.” Yanis sighed.
“Duly noted.”
“I agree with Yanis on this one,” interjected Kvasir. “He makes a good point. It might be doubly dangerous for you to go back there at this juncture. But I just don’t see what else we can do.”
“Which is exactly why I’m going back in there. I’ll be fine. Though before I go, I’d like you to run a long-range scan. Please look for Fury-ship signatures.”
“Are we expecting Furies now? I think we have enough to deal with.”
“I don’t know. Perhaps. It’s not like we can just ask the Furies to go home should they decide to attack now, as I’m fearing they will.”
Kvasir entered a few commands on his holo-console and his face fell.
“They’re coming, aren’t they?” asked Chase pre-emptively.
“I have a signature, yes. The good news is that it’s only one ship. The bad news is that they’re almost here. They’ll be here in less than half an hour.”
Chase grimaced. So he would battle Oryn and Miseo while they still had to deal with Gaia 2. That was less than ideal but seemed unavoidable.
“How important is it that Gaia gets released?” asked Chase.
“Very. With her help and Cedric’s, we’ll overpower Gaia 2 from within. And perhaps Argos and Chris will be able to exit her matrix as a result.”
“How do their vitals look at the moment?”
“They’re still in the green but just barely. I wouldn’t recommend they keep doing what they’re doing for much longer.”
“Understood.”
Chase went towards Chris and Argos.
“Chase,” said Kvasir, running after him with a device. “You’ll need this so we can communicate.”
“I won’t stay long, and somehow I don’t think I need it anymore.”
“What?”
Chase sat on the bed where Chris lay. Argos was beside him. They both looked tense, with the occasional flinching, twitching and involuntary muscle jerking.
Chase closed his eyes and projected himself back into Gaia 2’s matrix.
Kvasir turned to Yanis. “Is he serious when he says he doesn’t need it anymore? How are we to communicate?”
Yanis threw his arms in the air. “Welcome to my world. Chase usually only needs a single contact with a specific tech to replicate it with his mind.”
“That’s so cool,” said Kvasir in awe.
“Yeah, right. Of course the Asgardian nerd would say that.”
18
When Chase homed in on Chris’s location inside Gaia 2’s matrix, he found him and Argos working together.
A multitude of skyscrapers were being thrown at them, and Chris was protecting them while Argos struggled to slow down an incoming fireball the size of the moon.
Chase teleported inside the shield.
“Dad, is that really you?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Hang on just a little longer.”
“Take your sweet time,” said Argos through grinding teeth. “It’s not like this thing is trying to incinerate us.”
“Nice to see you too, Argos,” said Chase with a smile.
Chase looked at the incoming flaming moon and thought about the best way to deal with the situation. He closed his eyes and focused on Gaia 2’s matrix. In the center of the moon, beyond its mental holographic projection, was another CPU node.
“On my mark, drop your attack,” said Chase.
“Are you insane? Just add your own power to mine and we can get that thing back in space where it belongs.”
“We need to destroy it, not repel it.”
“What? Why?”
“Just trust me on this one, okay?”
“Whatever you say, brother.”
“When I tell you to stop firing, use the little time you have to make the most powerful fireball you can cast, and be ready to throw it at that moon.”
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, that makes two of us. Now, Argos!”
Argos stopped his attack and the moon resumed its accelerating descent.
Chase put both hands in front of him and unleashed two columns of bright blue energy towards the moon. Upon impact, the flames around the moon were put out and a layer of ice formed on its surface.
Argos was already preparing a highly concentrated fireball in his right hand. “I think I see what you’re up to.”
Chase didn’t answer and turned Ultra Fury instead, expanding his beams by a factor of five. The moon was fully frozen within seconds but kept coming at them.
“Now, if you could please make that thing go away,” said Chase.
Argos threw his concentrated fireball towards the moon. Upon impact the moon exploded into a million shards of ice, many of which were deflected by Chris’ shield.
Chase then unleashed a powerful shockwave that expanded all around them, destroying the last flying skyscrapers as well as vaporizing whatever moon debris was left.
Chris dropped his shield, panting heavily.
A deafening female roar echoed all around them.
“What’s that?” asked Argos.
“That would be Gaia 2 being unhappy about losing one more of her precious CPU nodes.”
“How did you emulate Oryn’s powers?” asked Argos.
“You can do whatever you want in here. Using a cold and super-hot mix seemed like the best way to deal with this.”
Chase embraced Chris with his right arm. “Good job. Both of you.”
“What do we do now?” asked Chris.
“Let me check something first.”
Chase sent a telepathic message to Kvasir.
Did that do it?
Yes, thank you, Chase. I managed to break the encryption. Gaia is being freed from her demilitarized network trap.
How do Argos’ and Chris’ vitals look?
I don’t think it would be wise for them to stay in there any longer. They’re already outside safe limits. I think we lowered enough of Gaia 2’s CPU to finish her off from orbit as well as from within with our respective hacks.
Very well. Thank you, Kvasir.
Chase faced Chris and Argos. “You’re good to go. Exit the matrix.”
“Are you sure? Won’t that give her back some power?”
“We should be fine. Kvasir, Cedric and Gaia will take over the fight on that front. When you’re back on board the Hope, both of you go into regen tanks. Trust me on this. The toll on your mind will be greater than you’d expect.”
“Aren’t you joining us?” asked Chris.
“I’ll be right behind you,” said Chase with a smile.
Chris and Argos vanished into thin air as they exited Gaia 2’s matrix. Immediately after that a Gaia training bot materialized in front of Chase.
“Gaia?” asked Chase.
“Yes, it’s me. Thank you, Chase. I’m free again and I managed to recover the latest copy of my consciousness. With your permission I’d like to send part of my own AI matrix somewhere. The Hope or on Earth with Cedric. Wherever we can find the necessary storage.”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“I’d like to save Spiros.”
“Spiros is dead. His head is spilled all over the floor of that Earth Alliance hospital. How can we save him?”
“Before he died, Gaia 2 had scrambled his mind. While he
wasn’t speaking coherently, I had managed to remap most of his brain pathways. I have a full mapping of his brain.”
“Is that why you wanted to hack Gaia 2 and fell into her trap?”
“I knew either you or Kvasir would get me out of there, but I needed to secure that data, make sure Gaia 2 didn’t erase what I had left of him.”
“But how can he be brought back?”
“I still have to work on this, but I believe I could build him an artificial body, and upload his consciousness so we could have him back.”
Chase grimaced. “Look, I’m really sorry about losing Spiros, but I’m not sure we can afford to dabble in more AI stuff.”
“What if I we didn’t have to? I can try to upload him inside a human body. Perhaps someone who’s brain dead. Or you could ask Argos to make him a clone body. Or, at the very least, use a brain and build him a body around it.”
“That sounds really creepy.”
“Perhaps, but he would remain human that way. In the sense that his abilities would be contained within an organic brain and not an artificial one. That would remove the fear of another emerging AI threat, wouldn’t it?”
“What about his soul, though?”
“Is there anything you can do about it?”
“I guess I could ask Hades’ help in that regard, if it’s not already too late.”
“That would be great. Please understand why I’m doing this, Chase. Spiros is dead because of me. I . . . I have to do something about it.”
“I understand your motives, Gaia. Go ahead and do what needs to be done. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Trust me, Chase, I never want any of this to happen again. Let’s finish this and, if at all possible, give me the time I need to bring Spiros back. Then I’ll self-terminate.”
Chase sighed. “Alright, but between you and me, I wish that last part of the plan wasn’t necessary.”
Gaia’s battle bot looked to the side. “We both know it is.”
“Hard to port!” shouted Sarah.
The Hope veered and avoided a salvo of incoming torpedoes from two separate GDF destroyers, before answering in kind with salvos of its own.
Armageddon Unleashed (Universe in Flames Book 7) Page 20
