“What mission? Obviously, not all the lasers need to be operational simultaneously. And the truth is, that actually makes sense. Of course they would need to have the ability to make repairs, do maintenance work, or have a back-up at the ready in case someone does something like we’re planning to do,” Jason said.
The hatch slid open and everyone scrambled out of the tight compartment. They had set down in a rural farm area—what looked to be some kind of vegetable field. At no more than five miles away, the grey Loop sub-station compound loomed nearby. The sky was bright with three neighboring planets suspended overhead.
Jason walked several paces into the field, still looking up, “Those lasers, they’re not stationary?”
“No. Even though we are at the planet’s southern-most pole, the laser, all their lasers, are always tracking the convergence point in space. They constantly move, rotating and pivoting.”
Jason said, “What if we don’t destroy this facility?”
Ricket was now looking up as well.
“What if we use this laser to destroy the others? Use it as a weapon. Would that be possible?” Jason asked.
“No. Couldn’t destroy them all, but perhaps several,” Ricket replied. “I would need the specific coordinates of each of the seven planet sub-stations. I would also need access to their overall system control AI,” Ricket said, looking back up at Jason. Behind his helmet’s visor, his illuminated-face again revealed more expression than Jason was used to.
“You’d need to hack their network.”
“Yes, and most assuredly they will have numerous safeguards in place.”
“Can you do it?”
“I designed it.”
“What do you mean you designed it?” Jason asked. The rest of the group had migrated over to where they were standing.
“Captain, I believe I was the scientist, the one who designed this system in the first place.”
“That must have been hundreds of years ago, Ricket. How—”
“Two hundred and thirty, to be exact. My memories, for the most part, have been wiped. With that said, it was necessary to leave core-level sub-routines—required for me to maintain a minimal sense of continuity and time. Although specific events, memories, are gone, I have been able to build new logic paths and make qualified assumptions about my past. In all likelihood, it was my work as a scientist, and the eventual construction of the Loop, that subsequently lead to me becoming emperor.”
“Everyone knows this. Emperor Reechet, of course, was the Loop scientist,” Gatty interjected. “Your story is taught to our young in school at early age.”
Jason, at this point, was not surprised by news of another incredible Ricket accomplishment. He found it interesting how quickly Gatty picked up their language, and again, how Ricket’s expression was becoming more animated. “The Craing have a unique aptitude for languages, Captain … they are highly-intelligent people. Back on board Craing warships, I learned they typically speak hundreds of languages—it comes easily for them.” Ricket turned his attention back to the sub-station.
“Gatty, what do you know about the inside layout of the sub-station?” Jason asked. “I questioned Glenn if facility schematics could be provided.”
Gatty looked perplexed and crossed her arms under her breast. “No, we have nothing like that. How could we? A stupid question.”
Rizzo, off to the side of the group, chuckled—quieting when Jason glanced his way.
Speaking to the group, Jason said, “We need to get in closer before we phase-shift. We’ll go in with a small team, do some reconnaissance. Ricket, my HUD’s picking up several large crafts in the area, perhaps Craing battle cruisers?”
“Correct, Captain. My long-range sensors, which I might add operate quite effectively here, tell me there is a military base less than twenty miles from our current position. Stationed there are eight light-destroyers and three heavy battle cruisers—not to mention an array of many smaller vessels. There are fifteen thousand, two hundred three combat-capable vessels in Craing space, including three warships, and although smaller, they have similar signatures to The Lilly. They comprise, undoubtedly, the Emperor’s Guard.”
“Cap, we have little more than minutes before all hell drops down on us,” Billy said. “And it sounds like you, Ricket, will need time to interface with their network. How’s this going to work?”
Jason looked in the direction of the sub-station. Using his HUD’s zoom optics, he could make out more detail. Overall it appeared to be about the size of the U.S. Pentagon building—an immense structure. Octagonal in shape, there were four outside wall watch-tower turrets; each was covered and had some sort of pivoting energy weapon. A fifth watch tower rose from the back of the compound, nearly twice as high as all the others. It also had its own compliment of independent energy weapons. “Billy, Orion, Ricket, you’re with me. Traveler, sorry, you’re in no shape for this.”
“My legs are fine, Captain,” he replied.
Jason looked to Dira.
She shrugged. “No way, he’s got some kind of infection. He can barely walk.” Dira looked apologetically over to Traveler.
“Okay, Stands in Storm, you’re with us. Traveler—hang back with the team here. Rizzo, you’re team leader—stay on comms and let me know what’s happening if the shit hits the fan.”
“Aye, Cap.”
“I go with you,” Gatty said with her hands on her hips.
“No, too dangerous. We have battle suits and are trained for this stuff. Stay with your ship, be prepared to get out of here at a moment’s notice,” Jason said, but liking the little Craing woman’s moxie. With that said, he and his small team headed off across the open field in the direction of the sub-station. Jason received a hail.
“Go for Captain.”
“How come you never say goodbye, Jason?”
Jason was caught off-guard by how much he enjoyed the sound of her voice. “I’ll see you soon, Dira.”
The ground started to vibrate again. Ozone filled the air. In a burst, the laser shot up towards the heavens.
Jason opened a channel to his group. “Ricket, can your sensors provide some kind of facility layout?”
“Somewhat, Captain … nowhere near what The Lilly would be capable of, but I can detect walls and open areas.”
“We’ll need a drop location. Somewhere that’s not showing a lot of traffic,” Jason said. At three miles out, Jason signaled for them to hold up.
“I’ve forwarded a virtual layout,” Ricket said. “It’s an approximation of the facility. I’ve gone ahead and marked the probable location where the facility’s network communications hub most likely is. Massive amounts of data are being funneled through there.”
“I see it. I also see a hell of a lot of Craing. What’s this area you’ve outlined in blue—looks to be subterranean?” Jason asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but it gets virtually no traffic and it’s fairly close to the network hub,” Ricket replied.
“Guess there’s only one way to find out. Can you provide me coordinates specific enough that I don’t phase-shift into a wall or something else?”
“I believe so, Captain; I’ve already configured your HUD settings.”
“Got it. You hang tight here until you hear from me. If everything’s clear, the rest of you can follow.” Jason phase-shifted away.
Chapter 24
It was pitch black. Jason’s HUD strobed a warning, along with an accompanying audio alarm. Radiation levels were high. Jason hailed Ricket.
“Go for Ricket.”
“There’s radiation here.”
“Your battle suit will shield most of it—you should be fine.”
“That doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, Ricket. Do I need to get out of here?”
“Unless your suit is damaged, you are protected,” Ricket replied.
“I’ll do some exploring. Continue to hold there.” Jason increased the amount of light emitting from his head lamp. Walking sl
owly, he found that the room was large and the vibration was stronger. He guessed it was some kind of pump room. He was reminded of the Craing Battle Cruisers, with their strange mix of older outdated machinery on one hand and highly-advanced technology on the other. At the far end of the football field-sized room, eight gargantuan dark- green containers that looked to be big boilers or holding tanks stood against the back wall. Upon further inspection, they towered at least fifty feet high. Jason walked to a side wall and hailed Billy. “Come on over.”
The first to arrive was Billy, then Orion, Stands in Storm, and Ricket. As if on cue, the pumps in the room activated and the noise increased, even through their helmets’ insulation, to a near-deafening level.
Billy yelled into his comms, “I guess we know why nobody hangs around in this area.”
Jason was on the move. “There’s a doorway over here. Stay together.” He’d seen this type before. The Craing had a unique latching system for doorways. Nothing like what you’d find on Earth. Theirs had an indentation at the middle of the door, lower down to accommodate their height, and a lever mechanism that swiveled left or right. Definitely not an improvement; if anything, more cumbersome. He swiveled the lever to the left and leaned his weight into the door. Heavy, as expected, it moved slowly on well-lubricated hinges. Bright light streamed in from a corridor. The door, as well as the surrounding walls, was easily three feet thick. The last one out, Stands in Storm, had difficulty maneuvering through the door’s narrow opening. Fortunately, the ceilings were close to ten feet high. They came to a juncture where three corridors converged. Ricket took point and headed off down the middle hall. Jason glanced at his mission countdown readout on his HUD; the Emperor’s Guard would be leaving the star system at any time. He let his thoughts wonder to the plight of Mollie and Nan and the rest of the crew aboard his pirated ship. Damn, we really need to hurry things up here.
“They will have safeguards,” Ricket said, “most likely imbedded in their code, as well as real physical barriers to keep us from repositioning their lasers. That’s the way I’d do it.”
Billy responded, “Well, it’s probably the way you did do it. You just don’t remember.”
At the next junction, three Craing males turned the corner and walked into Ricket. Irritated at first, they froze, paralyzed in shock seeing their emperor standing before them. But it was seeing Stands in Storm that triggered a fear response. Billy was ready. Three quick pulses from his multi-gun sent the three Craings to the floor. Each was wearing a white uniform, and a clip-on type metallic tag.
“They’ll wake up with a bad headache in about four hours,” Billy said.
“Good—grab those tags,” Jason said, “We may need them.”
Ricket moved down the corridor again, with Jason and the team following.
“Captain,” Ricket said, “I believe the network control hub is at the end of this corridor.” He stopped and turned towards Jason. “Unfortunately, I’m detecting other readings as well. Security hover drones. Thirty of them and they are moving.”
“Can’t we simply phase-shift into the control hub from here?”
“Yes, but we may phase-shift into equipment we need to use … damage things to the point it effects our mission,” Ricket replied.
“How much time will you need, once we breech the control hub?” Jason asked.
“I believe I can accomplish what needs to be done in less than four minutes.”
Orion stepped closer to Jason, pushing Billy out of the way. “As you know, Captain, our energy weapons are less than effective against drones. Suggest we set our multi-guns for rail munitions—at least until we run out.”
“Got that, everyone?” Jason asked, accessing and adjusting settings on his own HUD multi-gun menu.
“Also, Cap,” Billy said, pushing Orion back out of the way and exchanging friendly smiles, “Did you notice there’s another life form here? I mean other than Craing, rhino or human?”
“What are they, Ricket?” Jason asked. He looked at the multiple icons showing up on his HUD display. “Whatever they are, there’s quite a few of them.”
Ricket stood quietly for a moment, contemplating his own HUD readings. “I have no idea.”
“Fine. Billy and I will take point; Orion, Ricket and Stands in Storm, you bring up the rear.” Jason signaled to Billy and they headed off down the corridor. Almost immediately they started to slip and lose their footing. Stands in Storm fell on his backside—everything shook. A white powdery substance, like flour, billowed into the air. They stopped. Jason looked at the bottoms of his boots. They were caked with the stuff.
“What is this?” Billy asked no one in particular.
“Silicon waste,” Ricket said, bent over and examining what lay on the floor.
“Waste?”
No one had time to comment, as multiple six-foot-tall, ball-like creatures rolled directly toward them from opposite directions.
“Pill bugs! Big f-ing pill bugs!” Billy said aloud. As if on cue, the first of the white crustaceans unfurled and stood on two legs, almost humanlike in its stance. Hundreds of expanding and contracting curved segments twitched along the back of its torso and legs. Its head was also humanlike. More of that same white powdery substance seeped from in-between its constantly twitching segments.
Other pill-bug creatures, three in front and three behind, rolled to a stop and unfurled to a stance as the first one had. The closest one spoke. It sounded like gibberish to Jason. This was typical of the Craing, who’d used rhino warriors and Serapins to do their fighting and now, apparently, were using these bug things. It didn’t seem particularly dangerous until a wet substance squirted from a gland at its abdomen area. The liquid streamed forward and hit Jason directly in the chest. The outer layer of his battle suit hissed and spattered. Black smoke rose up in small spirals. Looking down, Jason saw a smoldering, six-inch crater had been etched several inches below his chin. He dove to his left, seeing another stream arching through the air. That one, angled a bit higher, caught Stands in Storm in his right shoulder. A pink misty cloud blossomed and hung in the air. Flesh, muscle, and tendons started to disintegrate—leaving only exposed bones where his shoulder and upper arm had been connected. Now, with nothing to hold it in place, Stands in Storm’s left arm fell to the floor.
Chapter 25
Billy was the first to return fire. His multi-gun burst took the creature’s head clean off at its segmented shoulder area. As the creature died, it slowly contracted back into a ball.
The other pill bugs attacked in force—streams of liquid flew through the air from multiple directions. Within seconds, the acid-like liquid was taking its toll on their battle suits. Jason felt a white hot flash of pain below his left knee. Looking down, he saw that his suit had been completely worn away. Returning fire, Jason and his team advanced. The creatures began to wrap their segments tightly around themselves—creating their own version of an exoskeleton battle suit. Using short bursts to conserve ammunition, both Jason and Billy fired forward while Orion concentrated her fire on the creatures moving up behind. With each burst of rail-gun munitions, large sections of the bugs’ exoskeleton segments exploded into dust—revealing their inner soft body-tissue beneath.
Jason fired double bursts, the second shot mortally wounding them. He noticed Ricket was in the fight as well, shooting forward several bursts, then turning to help Orion destroy the bugs at their rear. Jason stumbled over Stands in Storm’s legs. He was dead. His body was almost completely liquefied; even his bones looked small and insignificant. As the last of the pill bugs died and reflexively contracted back into balls, the team continued forward.
An alarm klaxon had started at some point, but Jason couldn’t remember when. They reached another expansive compartment holding ten security hover drones. The room was square; one wall had floor to ceiling windows. The drones held their position in a straight line several feet in front of the windows. This time prepared, with time to react, both Jason and Billy phase-shifted
right behind them. At point blank range, their multi-guns made quick work of four drones. Their shielding and metal housings quickly failed under the barrage of close-range fire. Like a tag team, once Billy and Jason phase-shifted away, Orion phase-shifted in from the other side, keeping up the attack. In minutes, all ten drones were destroyed and lay smoldering on the floor.
“This way,” Ricket said, jumping over one of the drones and entering a door along the glass wall. They followed him and were surprised to see the room busy with many Craing workers. Jason and his team pointed their weapons and ushered them to stay back. Ricket hurried through the middle of the group. Wide-eyed and open mouthed, they moved aside. He rushed to one particular terminal and gestured for the worker to get out of his seat.
“We’re at the sub-station’s hub, I take it?” Jason asked.
“Yes.” Ricket’s fingers flew over an odd-shaped data entry device.
Jason took in the room. Completely circular, with floor to ceiling windows all around, it looked surprisingly modern compared to what he’d seen of the rest of the facility. Large displays encircled the room; each showed one of the eight planets in the solar system. The largest display hung directly above Ricket. There, on what looked to be a video image, showed all eight planets orbiting their red giant sun, each slowly rotating in a counterclockwise spin. An icon hovered a distance away from each of the planets, directly below what would be their southernmost poles.
Ricket must have done something: a blue vector line stemming from the southern pole of each of the planets was now connected to the eight outlying icons below the other planets. From those, more vector lines converged together to a distant point further out in space.
Ricket continued to speak while he worked. “What you are looking at are the eight planets of the Craing worlds. Those eight icons hovering below each planet make up the array subsystem. They are basically large mirrors. The array subsystem tracks the location of not only its own lasers, but those on the other planets as well. They work as a unit, and together they concentrate the beams of all these lasers to a singular point in space—subsequently creating their unified wormhole. There are seven lasers active at any one time. The eighth one shuts down in a set rotation for purposes of maintenance, cooling, repairs and that sort of thing. What makes any kind of sabotage difficult is the redundancy aspect. Every laser sub-station has a room identical to this one. Anything I do here, that deviates from the norm, will trigger this station to be excluded from the Loop.”
HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship) Page 16
