Conquest of Earth (Stellar Conquest Series)

by David VanDyke

  “What did you say?” Ezekiel asked.

  Instead of answering, Bogrin flicked his eyes in Spooky’s direction. Ezekiel watched as he crossed the room to Trissk and bowed. The Ryss’ eyes lit up and a moment later a circular sparring mat appeared on the floor of the room as the walls receded to accommodate it.

  “Brilliant. That should keep him busy for an hour or two.”

  “I think you underestimate your Mister Nguyen,” Bogrin replied, watching the two step into the circle. “He is a master of human unarmed combat styles, and has become quite adept at the Sekoi disciplines as well. If Trissk is willing, he has a lifetime of study ahead of him.”

  “Great. Let’s make the Ryss even more combative.”

  Bogrin stared at Ezekiel. “I see you do not understand the martial arts.”

  “Not my thing, I guess.” Ezekiel moved his remaining bishop to fork Bogrin’s two rooks.

  “Neither is chess,” Bogrin replied as he sent his queen across the board toward Ezekiel’s king. “Mate, I believe.”

  “Suckered again.” Ezekiel shrugged and tipped his king, then stood up to look at the bank of steampunk-inspired controls, dials and gauges. “How’s the search coming, Roger?”

  The living ship replied, “I have twenty-three Sentries suborned thus far, and several more should be taken within the next day, but as you know, the space in the outer Solar System is quite large. Statistically, it could take months to find your mother.”

  “That’s assuming she is out here rather than on Earth or elsewhere. If we can find our old base, at least we’ll have a starting point.”

  “Months?” Bogrin said as he stepped up beside Ezekiel. “Perhaps we should change our strategy. Eventually the situation will be untenable. What is the English translation – ‘cabin fever’?”

  “Yes. When it gets unbearable, we’ll leave the Sentries to keep searching, and rendezvous with Conquest…or perhaps try to sneak down to Earth to make contact with the resistance movement.”

  “If there is such a thing.”

  Ezekiel rounded on the ponderous alien. “You better believe there is, and I guarantee my brothers and sisters are at the center of it. They’re brilliant, and Mother trained them for every contingency. Don’t underestimate them.”

  “Don’t underestimate first-generation Meme blends either, my friend. Until they become thoroughly corrupt with power and bored with naked excess, they will be loyal to the Empire. If they have any inkling that there are disloyal Blends among them, they will ruthlessly hunt them down.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  Bogrin shrugged. “In any case, what has been, has been. Conquest’s arrival in-system will work in any resistance movement’s favor, just as it did on Koio. Hope of freedom is a powerful energizing drug. If there was no movement before, one will spring up. Many will die on the road to liberation.” He chuckled incongruously.

  “That’s what I love about your people, Bogrin. Always up for a laugh.” Ezekiel turned to watch Spooky and Trissk sparring.

  Chapter 9

  Past piles of corpses cleansed of life by the sledgehammer’s sweeping plasma wave Reaper and Bull walked, active sensors illuminating the spaces around them. All was still, for nothing weaker than a tank had survived the collateral damage from the enormous combination strike. Enemy maintenance bots and war drones alike stood fused to the floor. Every control panel now showed at least one gaping hole where nonmetallic parts such as polymer screens used to be. Even thin walls displayed irregular gaps where they had melted, sagged and run like wax.

  Eventually the Marines found what they were looking for: an armored blast door, relatively unscathed. Fire suppression sprinklers continued to drench the corridors nearby with water spray, reducing the dust and improving visibility. After the fog of combat, the rain showers made for a surreal scene.

  “Cutting charges,” Bull said, gesturing. Two sappers quickly began laying out the shaped explosives. As they did, Bull ordered the rest to spread out and keep watch. Repeth figured he was just being careful, for she could hardly credit the possibility of a counterattack. Any force not accounted for undoubtedly waited behind the blast door for a last stand.

  “Listen up,” Bull said. “We need to take this command center intact. That’s the whole point of the assault, and the lives of our friends we just lost. Use frag and shock grenades, but no plasma or heavy rockets unless you absolutely have to. You hear me, Massimo?” Ben Tauros pointed a finger at the warrant officer.

  “Sure, boss.” The Italian smiled disarmingly through his transparent faceplate, now beaded with spray. Repeth knew the gunner enjoyed blowing stuff up…perhaps a bit too much for even a Marine.

  “Charges set,” one of the demo NCOs reported.

  “Take cover,” Bull ordered. “We go in fast and heavy.”

  Once they were ready came the warning: “Fire in the hole.”

  A moment later the blast threw fresh dust into the air to compete with the falling spray, and Bull led the charge into the smoking breach, . “Stun grenades!” he yelled, and Repeth rolled several of the flash-bangs past her commander’s feet. These explosives would hardly touch a Marine in armor, but would shock and confuse lesser threats.

  Ignoring the slight danger of the grenades, Bull strode forward with First Squad at his back. Repeth took Second Squad rightward down a corridor. She heard the blasts on her external pickups, but encountered no opposition. Moments later she led her troops into a large, round, deserted command center, meeting Bull’s squad entering from the other side.

  Three pools of briny sludge showed where Meme had been before escaping down their flush tubes – but to where? Had they withdrawn to the Weapon redoubt and died, or did they have a hypervelocity escape drone?

  “Why didn’t they blow it?” Bull asked conversationally, looking around. “With no one here, what do they have to lose?”

  “Are we sure there’s no one here?” Repeth asked, eyes roving over the consoles, some made for Meme pseudopods and eyeballs, some for the manlike hands of Purelings.

  “Quarter and search by twos,” Bull snapped. “Take prisoners if you can.”

  Massimo got to play with his heavy laser once more, using it to cut open another armored hatch to expose a separate room filled with human-style consoles…and people. When Bull burst in, with Repeth right behind him, three men and two women, garishly outfitted in pure yellow-gold clothing, raised their hands and stood silently next to powered-down control boards.

  “Jackpot,” Bull said, slapping down a Marine’s rising weapon next to him. “Cease fire!”

  “Now we know why they didn’t self-destruct,” Repeth remarked, sliding her pulse gun into its slot on her armor. “Blends.” She keyed in the command to open her faceplate and fold back her gauntlets. Otherwise, to the people in front of her she would appear a faceless metal golem.

  “My God,” one of the women gasped, raising a hand. “Jill Repeth.”

  The other Blends turned curiously toward the speaker, then back to Jill and nodded in agreement. “It does appear so,” one of the men said. “My received memories are very clear.”

  Bull moved aside and told the Marines behind him, “Spread out and secure the complex. The Smaj and I got this.” Once they had gone, Bull pointed at the woman, watching carefully. “You. Talk.”

  The tall, dark-haired woman who had first spoken kept her hands in view and moved to her right, away from her fellows. Once she was well out of reach, she said to Repeth with a steady gaze, “Welcome home. I’m Leslie Denham.”

  “Holy shit,” Repeth replied. “One of Skull and Rae’s kids?”

  As she spoke, one of the men in yellow moved with lightning speed, plunging a hand into his sleeve to retrieve a pistol, which he pointed at Leslie. “Traitor!”

  Leslie was already moving behind Bull, who stepped in front of the muzzle, apparently confident nothing that size could penetrate his battlesuit. The bullet spanged off his chest, adding a small ding t
o the Star of David painted there.

  At the same moment Repeth drew her own backup weapon, an ancient PW5 Needleshock pistol, and drilled the Blend in the gut before he could get off a second shot. The man folded as the electrical charge stored in the round caused his muscles to convulse, knocking him unconscious to the ground. “Anyone else want a little taste?” she asked as she swept the pistol left and right.

  The others backed away, shaking their heads. Leslie stepped out from behind Bull and kicked the man’s fallen pistol into a corner. “You certainly took your time,” she said.

  “A little thing called the speed of light got in the way,” Jill deadpanned. “Humanity has a colony at Gliese 370 now.”

  “I know. I’m highly placed. My siblings and I have been working for decades behind the scenes, preparing for your arrival and our liberation.”

  “You buying this, Reap?” Bull asked.

  “For now…but she might be an imposter. How can we tell, with Blends? They could have caught the real Leslie Denham and stolen her memories. The only one who will know for sure is Ezekiel.”

  “My brother’s alive?” Leslie asked, her face delighted.

  “Yes, he’s fine. At least, he was a few days ago.”

  “Do not listen to the traitor,” one of the yellow-clad women said with venom.

  “If I’m a traitor to the Empire, obviously they should listen to me, Fiona,” Leslie retorted.

  “Unless you’re just pretending to be a traitor,” the woman replied, “and I’m helping convince them…Llewella. Or should I call you Leslie now.”

  Leslie sneered at the other Blend. “You’re not nearly as clever and twisted as you think you are.”

  “That’s not what you said the last time you shared my bed.”

  “I fooled you in to thinking I enjoyed it, didn’t I?”

  “Ladies, ladies,” Repeth broke in. “Don’t make me shoot you both.” She gestured with her PW5 at Fiona, who had taken a step toward Leslie.

  “We should have brought a Blend with us,” Bull grumbled.

  “As I recall, you vetoed that yourself. You said you didn’t want to trade a Marine away for a noncombatant,” Repeth said.

  “Let’s just get them to Conquest and we can confirm her identity,” Bull replied. “Leslie, here’s your first test. Patch us through to Captain Absen on the following frequency,” and he gave her confirmation codes and a freq for voice comms.

  Leslie took a seat at a console and switched it on. Jill watched her with growing confidence. Something about the way the woman moved reminded her of Skull Denham, and more pointedly of her mother Raphaela. Also, Blends, like Meme, were notorious egoists, unlikely to suicide no matter what the gain. That also made their loyalties questionable…but Rae’s children had been born Blends, not made up of Meme and mind-wiped humans. They lacked the memories of life as a Meme, and hopefully, their amoral attitudes.

  “Io Base, this is Conquest,” came Michelle’s smooth tones after a few moments. “Drop your ICE for cyber verification.”

  “Done,” Leslie replied after inputting a code and waiting for the signal to make its round trip. Repeth knew Conquest was probably swooping toward their position now that the Weapon was out of commission, but doubted they’d use the TacDrive. In normal space, the boat would take at least an hour to arrive.

  Moments later, all the boards lit up and froze, with one icon blinking. Leslie looked to Repeth for permission, and then reached out a manicured finger to tap it. A male voice then spoke.

  “How’s everyone there? The captain would like a SITREP, ASAP. We’ll be there in fifty-seven minutes, over.” Commander Rick Johnstone’s tones betrayed his strain. Repeth realized that of course her husband would be worried, especially as the most Absen would know at this point was a brief summary of the mission results, with its horrendous casualty report.

  “Patch this data through,” Repeth said to Leslie, and dumped her suit’s mission record raw and unencrypted into the ether. Not only would it provide what Absen needed, but would reassure Rick.

  “Retransmitted…they should have it shortly,” Leslie reported. “What now?”

  “Now we wait,” Bull said.

  “I have one question,” Repeth said. “Where do the Meme flush tubes go?”

  Leslie replied, “To the backup control center at the Weapon. The laser.”

  Repeth glanced at Bull and half-shrugged. “Damn. They’re vapor now.” Then she looked more closely at her commander. “Boss, you okay? Bull?” She was glad of her armor as she grabbed him before he toppled heavily to the floor.

  Chapter 10

  Travel in normal space seemed unbearably slow after the speed of TacDrive, Captain Absen thought. He remembered buying his first car in San Diego as a teenager, and how walking or even riding his bike had suddenly seemed plodding and boring. That’s how he felt now. Getting spoiled, he chuckled to himself, shifting in the Chair.

  Eventually Conquest arrived to hover on its jets high above the captured Io base and the smoking hole where the Weapon had been. Reports had flooded in as the gargantuan boat had neared the swift-moving moon of Jupiter. As the comm lag diminished, pinnaces descended full of Michelle’s telefactors, which quickly began to clear the rubble.

  “How long until the base will be usable?” Absen asked the AI.

  “Less than a day to reconnect systems to the armored command sections. A few more to make it permanently livable, as long as I stay near enough to coordinate all my bots. May I remind you that we still have the armed orbital bases to deal with?”

  “That’s my first concern. Is Bannum down there yet?”

  “She was on the first pinnace, and should be at the command section soon. In fact…” The comm crackled, and then a picture of the Sekoi female popped onto the main screen. Absen could see several figures in yellow behind her, and the elbow of a battlesuit at the edge of the display.

  “Bannum, have you verified Leslie Denham’s identity?” Absen asked.

  “I have, Captain. I am certain she is who she claims.”

  “Thank you. Johnstone, I assume you and Michelle have control of the base computer systems?”

  “Piece of cake, sir,” Rick replied. “Doesn’t look like there has been much advancement in cybernetics since the Meme took over.”

  “Meme like stability and order, not progress,” Bannum replied. “Here.” She gestured for a yellow-clad human woman, who stepped forward. “Your Blend.”

  “Leslie Denham, I presume?” Absen asked.

  “In the flesh, Captain Absen. You can’t imagine how good it is to see you.”

  Absen could see the woman’s eyes fill with tears and emotion. She reminded him of her mother. “You’re right, I can’t imagine, and it’s good to be back, but we have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said. “First on the list is getting those orbitals to defect. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I think we can do it together. Can your people synthesize and transmit a view that makes us appear to sit side by side?”

  Johnstone nodded as Absen glanced at him.

  “Then run the signal through this base and its encryption protocols, please. I will broadcast it throughout the solar system.”

  Absen waited while the transmission was readied, discussing with Leslie what they would say. When Johnstone gave him the high sign, the admiral spoke.

  “Greetings, Jupiter facilities. On behalf of EarthFleet, the true human authority here, I’m asking you to give up your mistaken allegiance to an alien empire and serve humanity again. As you have seen, I have the military power to destroy you, but I’d much rather you take your rightful places alongside us, to restore your freedom and your honor.” Absen turned to his right, where he’d been assured the synthesized picture of Leslie Denham would appear, as if they sat together.

  Then the yellow-clad woman spoke. “I’m Leslie Denham, a Command Level One Blend you knew until recently as Llewella. Unlike the rest of your overlords, I was not enslaved by the Pure Race. M
y mother freely decided to blend with Raphael, the one Meme who chose to defect and aid humanity four thousand years ago. Raphaela then married my father, Alan Christopher Denham, a warrior of great renown before the Empire conquered Earth. My siblings and I have worked for decades among you to keep the stories of the earlier days alive. Now, EarthFleet has returned, and with it, liberation. Now is the time to rise up and join your brothers and sisters against the Empire. Strike against the oppressors in any way you can. You have nothing to lose but your chains.”

  “…and we’re off,” Johnstone said. “Nice speech, sir.”

  “I think Leslie’s will be the more effective.”

  “Sir,” Scoggins interrupted, “We have activity.” In the holotank, icons throughout the Jupiter system blazed with energy. “The orbitals are firing at each other!”

  “Can we tell who is who?” Absen asked, standing up to gaze intently at the display.

  “We’re trying to sort that out,” Michelle said. “One declared for EarthFleet almost immediately and seems to be trying to convince the others, but as for the rest…”

  “Sir, one orbital has destroyed a shipyard.”

  “Put me on broadcast,” Absen snapped. “Orbital platforms, this is Captain Absen. Declare your loyalty to EarthFleet immediately and cease all offensive cease fire or I will be forced to destroy you. Okuda, get ready to move. Ford, begin hitting noncompliant targets with a minimum particle beam strike starting with the one that fired on the shipyard. Knock them out, but don’t burn them to slag. I want prisoners.”

  “Aye aye, sir,” the weapons officer muttered. “Firing.”

  At half charge, a single energy cannon from Conquest reached across a million miles and slammed masses of charged particles into the offending orbital fortress. Wreathed in electrical discharges, it fell silent. “One down…”

  Thrice more, great beams flashed across light-seconds, easy shots against nonmaneuvering targets, incapacitating the orbitals that refused to submit. Absen watched as ten icons turned green in the holotank, holding their fire. Soon, more green blossomed as most of the other installations – the three remaining shipyards, the dozens of mining stations, and the manned PVNs on Ceres – defected and declared themselves loyal to EarthFleet.