“I beg you, kill me…” then it’s eyes changed to a green color and remained wide open.
“Tell us what they’ve done to our Savage!” Sam asked, pulling the clone to her face by its collar.
“Lieutenant Savage is safe…at least for now.”
“What’re they doing to her?”
“They’re using the human DNA to clone an army of cyborgs. She’s one level below your team…they know about the others…they know where they are…they walked right into the trap.”
“Sam, we have to help them.”
“You heard what Tucker said: stay with the ship at all costs.”
“You can’t leave them down there…” the cyborg said.
Sam tossed her body back to the floor, “We can’t trust anything this one says…for all you know, they want us to join them. Beats having to come extract us… was that your programming? Come and find anyone left behind?”
“We thought everyone had gone together as a team…we didn’t know you were here...”
“We surprised them!” Cal exclaimed.
“But once your Savage was plugged in, they knew what she knew.”
“There’s still enough time to find Savage and the others, Sam.”
“Cal, we can’t leave the ship.”
“You can’t leave them down there.”
“Yes we can,” Sam said. Then she took her sidearm out and planted a round through the clone’s forehead.
“Sam! What the hell are you doing!”
“Killing it so the knowledge of us staying behind was the last thing transmitted.”
“So were not staying?”
“Not on your life, Cal,” Sam said, standing to her feet, “Come on, back to the ship for now…I’ve got a plan.”
“How’s your leg holding up?”
“It’s sore, but at least I don’t need those damn crutches anymore.
* * *
Salvage-5
Location:
Kirkwood Gap – Asteroid 15 Eunomia
Alien Complex
Earth Date: Sept. 4th, 2064 1840hrs
“What the hell did they do to ya, Gus!” Tucker yelled in horror.
“Tuck,” Cass said, pulling him back, “take it easy, Tuck.”
“Don’t tell me to take it easy!” Tucker shot back, then he yanked away from her grip, “This is just plan insanity and you want me to take it easy?”
“Tucker,” Samuels said, coming to Cass’s rescue, “Ease up there. You got to keep a level head, Tucker. We’re all counting on you to hold the rest of us together.”
Tucker relaxed his posture and shook his head, “Man, Gus…Doctor, can he hear us? I mean, he’s still alive, right?”
“Judging by the equipment and resources the aliens have invested on Gus, I’d say he’s alive,” Rhodes answered, “But I’m not sure if we’ll ever see the Gus you once knew.”
“He’s right Tuck,” Cass said, placing a soft hand on his shoulder.
Tucker looked at Cass in the eye as a tear rolled down her cheek. He reached up with his finger and caught it before it fell off her face. Then he threw his arms around her and squeezed her close to him, “I’m sorry, Cass…It’s just…”
“I know, Tuck. We all thought there was a good chance that Gus could have been saved.”
“Now we know,” Tucker said, coldly.
“The fact that he’s still alive is something of mention,” Rhodes said.
Cass gently pushed Tucker back, “Tuck, just look at this computer. This is a very sophisticated piece of equipment…he’s…connected to it in some way.”
“Doc, if we could talk to him.”
“I don’ know Tuck, that’s a pretty big long shot,” Rhodes said, shaking his head.
“I know, but so far…everything else that we’ve seen happen on this mission…well, I’m not so sure it’s impossible anymore.”
The doctor waved a device across Gus’s forehead and then down his chest, “Hmmmm.”
“Doctor? You care to share?”
“I’m just thinking…I’m detecting a full spectrum of brain waves emanating from him.”
“Meaning?” Tuck said, raising his hands.
“Meaning, his cogitative abilities are present. He’s all there, I think they’ve sedated him.”
“So wake him.”
“Tuck, it’s not that easy.”
“Well, what then? I don’t think we have a lot of time to spare before the next goon squad marches in here.”
“He’s right; each occurrence has been perfectly spaced apart.”
“I’d say roughly 45 minutes to an hour between Sam’s abduction and the other clones showing up down the hall from us.”
“That gives us about 10 minutes, 20 on the outside.”
“Cass, Sarge, how many clips and grenades to you have left?”
“I’ve got 7 grenades, 5 exploding and 2 concussion.”
“Between the five of us, we’ve got about 5,000 rounds.
“That’s only 4 clips each. Use them wisely,” Tuck cautioned.
“Okay, Doc. Give him something to bring him around. If we can reach him, we might have something we can use.”
“I see where you’re going, Tuck,” Cass smiled, “If he can access this computer…”
“He can turn them off…” Hargrove finished.
“Okay, but I can’t be certain that whatever I give him won’t kill him.”
“There’s no time to argue, Rhodes.”
“Do it,” the Sarge nodded.
“Come on Doc, it’s the best shot we got,” Tucker said.
The doctor reached in his medical pouch and removed a hypo spray unit. Then attached a bottle to the injector and held it up to Gus’s neck, “This ought to do the trick,” then squeezed the trigger.
The injector sprayed the chemical directly into Gus’s blood stream, “Should see something any moment now…but what I find intriguing is that his computer traces end at his neck.”
“…and he doesn’t have any external wiring,” Cass said.
Gus fluttered his eyes and his face twitched as he opened them. He blinked twice and tried to turn his head, “Tucker?”
“Gus, you recognize me?”
“Well of course I do…But you’re not my first pick as our rescuer.”
“Well,” Tucker said, patting him on the shoulder, “I’ve all you got.”
“God help us all,” Gus replied.
“Yeah, that’s Gus,”
“Well, who’d you think it was?”
“We weren’t sure. We’ve met a few clones on our way in.”
“Well, we kind of ran into a bit of trouble, that’s why I’m here.”
“Tell us what happened,” Cass asked.
“No, that can wait,” Tuck interrupted, “Gus, we think another cyborg squad is going to be here any minute…you’re somehow interfaced with this computer. Can you access any of the higher functions and stop them?”
“I’m not sure, Tuck. I can try.”
Gus closed his eyes and concentrated on the computer he was connected to, “Man, if this ain’t the strangest thing, Tuck.”
“Whattya got, Gus?”
“I can talk to the computer, more like, I can see what it’s doing.”
“Can you stop it?”
“It’s not responding to my request,” Gus said, opening his eyes, “I do know you’ve got 2 minutes before there are 5 cyborgs. They’re sending 3 to the south, and 2 southwest entrances.”
“They’re gonna flank us, while keeping out of their own cross fire,” Hargrove said, “I can set up charges at one of the locations in time, but not both.”
“Okay, Gus, which one will have the three?”
“Concentrate your detonations on the southwest entrance.”
“Go!” Tucker pointed, sending Hargrove to plant his C4.
“Cass, see if you can make anything from this computer. If this is the tech, I want it removed and ready to go within the hour. Sarge, you and I will hold
the south entrance…Rhodes; figure out a way to disconnect him.”
Rhodes shrugged, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Come on Samuels, let’s do some of our own flanking.”
“You got it, Tuck. Take the left side, I’ll go right.”
Tucker headed over to the spot Gus had indicated the two cyborgs would exit and waited for the signal.
“Hargrove, checking in.”
“Go ahead,” Tucker said, adjusting his earpiece, “I read you.”
“I’m all set over here, sir.”
“How much time?” Tuck asked.
“Thirty seconds…” Hargrove counted.
“Rhodes, Cass, take cover. Give us back up if we need.”
“Roger that, Tuck.” Cass answered, “All set here.”
“Ten seconds…”
The walls turned transparent at each of the entrances, revealing the squads entering the lab. Hargrove set off his charges as his three targets entered the room. The resulting explosion confused the other two cyborgs, causing them to turn and open fire in Hargrove’s direction.
Tucker took full advantage and sent several rounds into the backs of one of the cyborgs. Samuels, quickly joined Tucker and took the second cyborg down to its knees, but not before the Sergeant took a direct hit to his chest from the plasma weapon and fell to his knees, wincing with pain.
Cass took aim at the remaining cyborg and finished him off. The doors to the lab once again turned opaque and all returned to quiet.
Tucker raced over to Samuels, who was gripping his chest, “Ah,” he moaned, “Tuck, I really don’t recommend you taking a hit from one of those things.”
“Doc! Need your help over here!” Tucker shouted, “Hargrove, reset your timer for 45 minutes…we can expect that’s when the next attack will occur.”
“…and you can bet they’ll send more next time,” Cass added.
Rhodes came to Samuels’ aid and examined him with another scanner. He used the handheld device, passing a blue colored light over his injury, “This is just amazing technology.”
“I’m glad you find this interesting, Doctor,” Samuels groaned, “But will I make it or not? I feel like I was hit by a Mac truck.”
“I’m not surprised, Sarge. This weapon…well, it seems to break down your tissue on a molecular level. I’m reading cell degradation on his chest.”
“What about my heart, Doc? It’s hurting bad…pressure…am I having a heart attack?”
“No, you’ll be fine, though I don’t recommend taking another hit, at least in the same place.”
“Why do you say that Rhodes?” Samuels asked.
“Your heart will explode inside your chest cavity.”
“Oh…I see…well, that’s duly noted then.”
“Can you get up? We should get back to Gus.”
“Yeah, I think so. Just give me a hand, Tuck.”
Tucker offered his hand to the Sergeant, the Sergeant raised his to salute, and then gave him a sheepish smile.
“Guess you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” Tuck smiled back.
Samuels got back to his feet with Tuckers help. With Samuels’ arm around Tucker’s neck, they returned to the central computer station.
* * *
Chapter 10
Salvage-5
Location:
Kirkwood Gap – Asteroid 15 Eunomia
Alien Complex
Earth Date: Sept. 4th, 2064 1850hrs
Missions Objectives:
CSMO RECOVERY
INVESTIGAT ALIEN CRASH SITE
AQUIRE ALIEN TECH
FIND & RECOVER SURVIVORS
DESTROY ALIEN VESSEL
“There! That should do it,” Sam said from under the Salvage-1 pilot console. “Cal, do you copy?”
“I copy, Sam. I’m activating the toners now. Get back to the ship; I’m almost done with the refit.”
“That was brilliant strategy fitting the alien weapons to the ship’s systems.”
“Well, I kind of didn’t make it that far.”
“Cal,” Sam protested, closing the bay door of the last ship she fit with the repeating tone generator, “You were going to…”
“Sorry,” Cal interrupted, “I had another project ahead of that one. “You’ll not be disappointed…”
“You better be right, Cal.”
Sam trotted up the ramp of the Salvage-5, grabbed a knapsack, strapped two additional rail rifles over her shoulder and pocketed as many clips as her flight suit would carry.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you are one ingenious fellow?”
“Well…maybe a time or two,” Cal smiled.
“Not only did you restore the power to the other salvage ships, you came up with the tone generator to confuse the cyborgs.”
“It was really quite an easy matter…once I had the time to think about it.”
“Using tones, like we needed to use when we first arrived.”
“Yes, I figured that if the tones would work for entering the complex, we can use their own technology against them.”
“How did you come up with the right frequency?”
“The scan of the Savage clone revealed the setting. I compared that reading, to the other two remains, and they matched. Her circuitry was tuned to one set, so when I damaged the unit, the main computer lost connectivity and she regained awareness.”
“You make it sound so…cold.”
“They are just clones, it wasn’t the real Savage that you shot between the eyes…and how could you do that?”
“I did it for survival.”
“Yeah, but what if we were wrong about that one being a clone?”
“If we were wrong, it wouldn’t have mattered, she wasn’t Savage any longer.”
“Point taken,” Cal nodded.
“You sure these tone generators will work?”
“Positive, I have tuned them to allow the section in the complex, that those are placed at, will dissolve the bio-organic making a door. It will also serve as the wireless repeater. As long as the unit remains intact, I’ll still receive your signal.”
“I know you wanted to be the one to rescue Tucker…are you sure you’re okay with staying here?”
“I’m fine, Sam. We both know you’ll have a better chance without me slowing you down.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Cal.”
“No, really…you don’t have to tell me that I need to lose a few pounds. I would just slow you down…’sides, I’ve rigged each ship to the Salvage-5’s console. Those toners will confuse any cyborgs that enter. I can use any of the ships weapons systems and take ‘em all down before any of them get to Salvage-5.”
“Okat, seal her up,” Sam said, then trotted down the ramp and headed for the exit.
“Good luck, Captain.”
She stopped, turned to give him a quick salute, and then continued toward the exit.
Cal quickly raised the bay door, closed and headed to his seat in the cockpit where he’d wait for any cyborg attacks.
Sam had nearly made it to the exit when seven cyborgs entered the room, directly in front of her. She darted right and headed to the cover of Salvage-3’s left landing strut. Diving to the ground, she averted being struck by one of their energy weapons. She rolled on the ground, took her stance and opened fire on the attacking cyborgs.
Cal exclaimed an expletive, “Sam! Hold on!”
He reached for his console and activated the tone generator on the ship directly behind them.
The cyborgs stopped firing, turned and opened fire on the ship that was sending out the tone, that only the cyborgs could hear.
Sam continued to empty several clips at the cyborgs back, “Sam, save your ammo,” then she heard the sound of the ships weapons spool up with a whine. She hit the deck, covering her head with her arms as Cal blasted the ship’s large caliber rail weapons into the center of the cyborg pack. Pieces of machine and human flesh flew in all directions, leaving only two cyborgs standing. The cyborgs now r
aised their hands in front of them, and they turned in the direction of the firing guns.
Sam opened fire again, but this time her bullets were kept from penetrating by some kind of field the cyborgs had generated.
The cyborgs lifted their weapons with their free hand and aimed at Sam. Cal had turned the weapons on the ship directly behind once again and fired two blasts, taking both cyborgs down.
“Sam? You okay?” Cal asked into Sam’s head set.
“Yeah, I think so…what happened anyway?”
“They adapted rather quickly…we’ll have to change strategy,” Cal said, scratching the back of his head. “You sure you want to go down there?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Last time I stayed behind I took a bullet in my leg, remember?”
“How can I not remember.”
“Okay, then…but we will change strategy.”
“How so?”
“I’m not leaving any doors open that I make with your tone generator.”
“Sam, we’ll be cut off…”
“I know we will, but it’s the only sure way that will prevent me from being found.”
“I know what you’re trying to do…what if they already know these doors are open, wouldn’t it be better…”
“Cal,” she interrupted, “We don’t know that they will know, and until such time, I’m not leaving a trail behind. Now I think you should worry about the next set of cyborgs to come and be ready for them. If they have adapted, I’m not sure our weapons will have much effect on them.”
“What if you run into more than you can handle?”
“I can walk through these walls and go in any direction. They’d have to have telepathy to track me.”
“I wouldn’t bet that they don’t already have that ability.”
“I better high tail it, Cal,” Sam said limping toward the exit, “They’re coming a lot faster now, so be ready…and Cal?”
“What’s that Sam?”
“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone…I don’t need to rescue your sorry ass too.”
“Very funny…Captain.”
Sam passed through the energy field to the corridor, losing her wireless connection to Cal, “Okay, then,” she said to herself, “Hang in there Savage, I’m coming to find ya.”
She crept down the corridor and took the first right. Noticing the halls being lined with cyborgs gave her the creeps.
Salvage-5 (First Contact) Page 10
