“Get a grip, sweetie,” she whispered, “They’re not our crewmates, they’re all clones…don’t forget that.”
She came to a stop half-way down the hall. She reached in one of the pouches of her knapsack and took out a small disk that looked like a flattened grenade. She set it on the floor, locking it into position and turned the device until it clicked.
The floor in front of the device began to ripple like water after a rock had been tossed at it. Then the bio-organic material separated, making a neat hole in the floor.
“Pretty nifty, Cal,” then she turned the device off and removed it from the floor. “Okay, here we go,” and she jumped through the floor down to the next level.
She looked up and saw the floor grow back together, sealing her at the second level. After winding down the various corridors, she stopped again and dropped to the third level.
When she hit the ground, her leg folded behind her causing her to yell out in pain. When Sam looked up, there were two cyborgs approaching her. She scrambled the best she could to get around the corner and got to her feet.
The cyborgs rounded the corner and were met with several rounds from her rifle, putting them both down quickly. She put holes in both of their heads just to make sure they weren’t communicating with the main computer system. She really didn’t want to have an entire army coming down on her.
She knew she was getting close. One more level and then she could meet up with the others.
Her hopes that the two cyborgs were caught off guard and hadn’t sent a message, were shattered with the sounds of several more cyborg heading her way.
“Crap! Got to keep moving,” then she got a new idea. On the corridor wall, with no clone cylinders, she placed one of the devices and opened the wall to a room behind them.
Then she placed one on the ceiling, around the corner, and left it in place, hoping to throw the other cyborgs in the wrong direction. Then she headed back to the door she made in the wall and removed it, sealing herself inside the room.
When the illumination brightened by her presence, she found several computer wire harnesses connected to the back sides of all the tubes. The bundles ran in raceways down the wall and through the floor.
She stepped over to a computer terminal, thinking it was an odd place for such a device and then noticed that the screen at the station was displaying their language.
“Hmmm, the alien computer core must have had to grow these interfaces…and if the cyborg clones needed to access a computer terminal, then they may not always have wireless communications.”
She made a few keystrokes and discovered that it wasn’t a secure terminal, “This is just too weird,” she said out loud, “This is just too easy…look at this. I have access to all the cyborg clone cylinders in this block…but why would they even build such an interface…this doesn’t make any sense.”
She pressed a few more commands, looking deeper into the system, “Huh, I can access the entire cells on this level…in fact, I can shut them down…wait…what’s this?”
She typed more commands, manipulating the computer console, “There are a total of ten-thousand clones in this complex…and they’re going to hatch in just a little over two hours? Crap, we need to get out of here before this complex is crawling with these things.”
She attempted to send a command to shut down the cylinders, but was returned with an access code request.
“Figures, well…I better keep moving. Need to find the others, I’ll bet Cal could break this code.”
She turned to leave the confines of the room the way she came and then stopped, “Why not just go down from here. They don’t seem to know I’m in here,” she thought out loud.
Taking one of her toners, she activated it on the floor and dropped through, “I think I’ll leave this one active.
“Wait a minute,” she exclaimed, “Why not set up an entire set, that’ll give us a quick and hidden way to ascend to the top level.”
She proceeded to set up the series of ladders and openings on the four levels. Satisfied with her work, she descended to the fourth level and exited the room unnoticed.
* * *
Salvage-5
Location:
Kirkwood Gap – Asteroid 15 Eunomia
Alien Complex
Earth Date: Sept. 4th, 2064 1852hrs
Calvin continued to monitor the flight deck when several cyborgs entered the area. Two of the cyborgs were in front with a hand stretched out before them, the other dozen or so cyborgs seemed to be staying behind the protection of the first two. They approached the first ship on their left while two other cyborgs fell back and began protecting the cyborg force from its flank.
“Amazing,” Calvin remarked, “They’re actually learning from every encounter…this is simply fascinating.”
Cal read his instruments and took readings on the signal the main computer was sending to these cyborgs.
“If I can isolate this carrier wave, I might be able to hack in and send a command to the hive…” better yet, he thought, what if I send a computer virus… “Of course, a computer virus, they most likely wouldn’t have any defenses for that.”
The cyborgs completed their scan of the first two ships, and made their way closer to the center of the landing bay.
“But first, I need to get rid of these things so I can program a virus.”
Cal opened fire on the cyborgs from all four of the ships, but the cyborgs repositioned again with the others surrounding the main body of cyborgs. The rail guns shot out hundreds of projectiles at the clones, but every one of them were stopped by a force field the cyborgs were projecting.
“I can’t get through with this weapon, but maybe another will!”
Cal set the controls on the others ships to keep randomly firing, “That ought to keep them busy.”
He got up from his seat and made his way to the upper cargo deck and to the MECH’s upper hatch.
He came to the hatch, pressed a command code on the console which slid a round door open. Below he could see the MECH, the upper section open for entry.
Crawling down the hole, he slid into the Mechanical fortress, clipping his feet into the stirrups. He buckled himself with the harness, closed the top of the MECH and switched on the main power.
Servos whirred as the MECH came to life, “This is cool,” Cal nodded with a smile, “Sorry Hargrove, I need to borrow your little toy.”
The MECH pressurized and a blue colored heads up display image projected before Calvin as he looked out the front of the mechanical lifter.
His arms lay on armrests; each of his hands had keypad for typing, but could freely move his arms, which the MECH would mimic in his motions.
“Okay, you bastards…I’ll bet you haven’t learned about this!” he shouted, pressing another command, the MECH dropped to the landing pad from the Salvage-5’s housing, hitting the floor with a loud clank.
The cyborgs turned to see what the noise was as they continued to deflect the rounds that continued to fire from the other salvage ships.
Cal pointed his arms at the cyborgs and opened fire with his rail guns, but the cyborgs adapted and deflected those shots as well.
Seeing that his rail guns weren’t making any progress other than keeping the cyborgs contained in one place, he activated the new MECH’s weapons.
“Here! Try to adapt to this!” he yelled as the triggered the alien weapons he had fixed to the MECH.
The alien weapons spun up with a whir and then fired two pulses each at the cyborg. The shield momentarily gave way, sending some of the projectiles through. Three of the cyborgs within the protection field fell to the floor, but they quickly reinforced this shielding with the addition of two more cyborgs raising their arms toward Cal and the MECH.
Calvin started walking the MECH around the perimeter of the cyborgs and fired again. He took out a couple more, but they quickly reinforced their shielding once more.
“These things just refuse to die,” then he chan
ged direction and ran the MECH right at them.
He opened fire with everything he had on board, confusing the cyborgs. He came right up to the group, pulled one of his giant arms back and swung, striking the two main cyborgs and sending them sprawling to the ground.
The shield weakened and his rail guns took out the rest of the cyborg group, “Whew, that was difficult, I need to get back to the ship and get my virus program written.”
Just before he turned the MECH to return to the ship, another larger group of cyborgs entered the landing bay.
“Oh…no…no…no… I don’t have time to play with you today!”
He thought of what he could do and then it came to him, “Of course! They’re biological creatures…they need air just like we do.”
Then he raised his arms in the air, pointing the rail guns at the domed ceiling. Activating the magnetic locks on the feet of the MECH, he opened fire.
The rail guns on the MECH sent hundreds of rounds upward to the dome, cutting a small hole. Then he blasted the alien pulse weapons, breaking a large hole in the dome structure.
The escaping air sucked the cyborgs and pulled them from the deck and upward toward the hole, they began firing their weapons at the MECH, but it was too late, they were evacuated quickly into space, killing them in moments.
“Yeah baby! Now, that’s what I call inventive!” he rejoiced, then he looked up, “Oh crap…how are the others going to get back to the ship now? Well, I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
Cal walked the MECH back to the underside of Salvage-5 where he had been dropped and sent a command for two rails to extend around the MECH. The arms locked onto the mechanical walker and raised it back inside the ship, sealing him safe inside.
Cal quickly exited the MECH from the top hatch and returned to the command center where he began writing his virus.
* * *
Chapter 11
Salvage-5
Location:
Kirkwood Gap – Asteroid 15 Eunomia
Alien Complex
Earth Date: Sept. 4th, 2064 1900hrs
Missions Objectives:
CSMO RECOVERY
INVESTIGAT ALIEN CRASH SITE
AQUIRE ALIEN TECH
FIND & RECOVER SURVIVORS
DESTROY ALIEN VESSEL
“Gus…Gus, can you hear me?” Tucker asked, leaning closer to the man.
“He’s out again,” Rhodes said, “They must have drugged him again.”
“Have you figured out a way to disconnect him when we need to?”
“I’m getting closer,” Rhodes answered, “But I think Cass is farther along than I in completing her task.”
Cass had returned to the terminal at the center complex, “Rhodes is right, Tuck. I can remove this core anytime…but doing so, will cause Gus’s connection to terminate. They’re interconnected.”
“It’s like cutting his leg off,” Rhodes said with his hand on his chin, “It may hurt like hell, but it won’t kill you.”
“That is unless you don’t stop the bleeding,” Tuck added.
“Tuck, there are a lot of risks,” Cass said, “It could kill him.”
“Okay…Cass, I want you to be ready to yank that thing. We’re taking that tech with us when we bug outta here. Rhodes, wake him again. I want to find out if there is anything more about this complex we need to know…I’ll keep Gus busy while you start to disconnect him. It might be better to do this with him being awake.”
“He does have a point,” Rhodes said, looking over at Cass, “However, there is even greater risk using more drugs to bring him around.”
“Rhodes, I know it’s a long shot that Gus will survive this. But if anyone could, it would be Gus. Now I have to make a decision…do I wake him and get all the info possible and risk killing him with the drugs, or do I yank the unit, knowing that’ll surely kill him as well as bringing a fortress of cyborgs on us?”
“Tuck, I’ll back you either way,” Cass said.
Rhodes nodded in agreement with Cass, “You make the call, Colonel.”
“How much time until we can expect more?”
“Hard to say, Sir,” Hargrove said, “Thirty minutes? Maybe less?”
“We still have to find Savage,” Samuels managed to say, still recovering from the plasma weapon.
Tuck thought for a few moments, looking at Cass, “You can just yank it out and run?”
“Yes.”
“Wake him.”
“Okay, just understand, I don’t know what…”
Tucker cut the doctor off in mid-sentence, “I’m fully aware of the risks, Doctor.”
Rhodes took out his hyper spray and loaded it with the drugs, placed the head of the device on Gus’s neck and squeezed the trigger, showing no emotion.
Tucker winced at the medicine injected through Gus’s skin, “Geez, doc.”
Rhodes turned to Tucker, “What?”
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
“Didn’t hurt me…so no,” Rhodes smiled, “He’ll come around in a few moments.”
Gus fluttered his eyes and opened them. He was met with four heads looking over him, “Hey, you mind giving a guy some breathing room over here,” he managed to say.
“Gus, can you hear me? This is Tucker.”
“Geez man, I’m not blind, I can see it’s you…and yes I can hear you.”
“Wow, a little cranky aren’t we?”
“Tucker, there isn’t much time…you need to get outta this house of fun…let me tell you.”
“Gus, you need to listen to me for a minute.”
“No,” Gus said, cutting him off, “You need to listen to me for once.”
“Okay, okay...says the man who’s in need of my help.”
“Tuck…I’m not getting out of here. It’s too late for me.”
“Gus, don’t be ridiculous…tell him doc…he’s being ridiculous.”
“Tuck, they’re breeding our DNA…There’s thousands of them in this complex. They’re going to activate in about two hours.”
“Thousands?” Tuck said, glancing between Gus and Cass. “Can you tell us when the next assault team will arrive?”
Gus closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked at Tuck, “You got about twenty five minutes.”
“Can you stop them from coming?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’ve tried, but the main computer core continues to ignore my requests.”
“The doctor is working on a way to remove you…”
“No Tuck! Don’t do that!”
Rhodes lifted his hands in the air, stopping what he was doing to prepare for the disconnect.
“I don’t know everything, but I need to tell you what I do know before I’m put back to sleep.”
“You can tell us all about this back on the Salvage-5.”
“Tuck, I’m not coming back.”
“Here we go again with that? Doc, you sure his wires aren’t getting crossed up?”
“Tuck, everyone out except you…you too Cass. Only Tuck.”
“Gus?”
“Tucker, quit wasting time and do as I ask!”
“Okay, okay…but only for a moment…”
“…a moment’s all I’ll need, there’s something I need to tell you…privately.”
The room cleared and Tucker nodded to Gus, “Okay, buddy. What is it that’s so important?”
“I have cancer, Tuck.”
“Geez, Gus, knock off the kidding around…”
“Pancreatic…”
“You’re serious.”
“As a crutch…Tucker, that’s why I came on this little voyage. I figured, what’d I have to lose?”
“Ah, Gus.”
“Now don’t get all blubbery on me over here.”
“I understand now…”
“You understand? No, I really don’t think you do, Tuck.”
“Yes I do…Beverly had sympathy sex…that’s all it was….”
“Tucker! I never slept w
ith Bev…”
“Oh, come on now…just because you’re gonna die…that’s what this is about, clearing your own conscious…”
“…that’s not it at all, Tuck. Listen, Bev and I…we go way back…”
“Uh uh…”
“She’s the only one that I trusted to tell.”
“Ten years ago?”
“It was the slow progressing kind, Tuck. I never slept with Bev, you left her for nothing.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“God knows I tried…you stubborn old fool…you’d never give me the time to tell you…you never wanted to hear me.”
“Why didn’t Bev tell me?”
“Same reason…you hurt her by thinking she was unfaithful.”
“Gus…I’m…”
“Sorry? That’s what you’re gonna say? Come on, tell me it ain’t so,” Gus smiled.
“Yes. Okay…I’m sorry Gus…wow, am I such an ass, or what?”
“Ahhh, satisfaction at last.”
“What, that’s your dying wish or something? You wanted to hear me say I was sorry?”
“Yeah, that meant a lot to me.”
“Well okay then. You heard it…just keep that between us, though, okay?’
“Yeah, I’ll keep that to us, Tuck. As long as you promise to keep my cancer a secret. No one else knows…’K?”
“Okay, Gus. You have my word.”
“Okay, bring in the rest. I need to tell you what this complex is…before it’s too late.”
“You’re right about one thing, we don’t have a lot of time,” then he called the rest together.
“Gus here is going to explain to me, and the good doctor here, what this complex is all about. Now, we really don’t have much time left…so, Hargrove, I want you and Cass to go set the charges around the room…set em all...”
“…enough to blast the entire Puget Sound Basin enough?...Sir?” Hargrove smiled.
“I like this guy,” Tucker pointed with his thumb.
“I’ll give you both a hand,” the Sarge said, rubbing his chest, “I think I’m okay for that now.”
“Okay, chop, chop now,” Tucker clapped. “Gus, tell us about the complex, where’s my crewman, Savage, what’ve they done to her?”
Salvage-5 (First Contact) Page 11
