“Don’t worry,” Lindsey replied as she checked the pulse rifle she was carrying. The pulse rifles had been developed by the Altons. This particular model was capable of firing twenty energy bursts before a new power pack had to be put in place. She had four extra power packs in the pouches on her belt as well as two Fulton grenades. “Let’s go, people,” she said in a loud and commanding voice. “We have some Simulins to kill!”
-
Four hours later they approached the Control Center for the intergalactic vortex, advancing in a double file along a wide corridor. Around each corner, they expected to find the Simulins waiting or a Conqueror Drone. So far, they had encountered no resistance what so ever.
“It’s sure awfully quiet,” Corporal Metz commented as they went around another corner with no signs of the enemy. “Are the robots sure there are Simulins here?”
“AIs,” Brenda reminded the corporal. “There’s a big difference between robots and AIs.”
“They’re both artificial,” Metz answered. “Ones just smarter than the other.”
“They’re not expecting us,” announced Private Trent confidently. “How could they know we’re here? I’ll bet they’re all in this Control Center.”
Brenda nodded her agreement. “You’re probably correct. The Simulins must have done this countless times before, and they know once they reach the Control Center there’s nothing that can be done to stop them from activating the vortex. There’s no way the Simulins can suspect we had already gained entry to the Dyson Sphere before they arrived. We might just be able to sneak up on them without being detected.”
Corporal Metz shifted his assault rifle into a ready position. Even though the Simulins might not be expecting them, he intended to be prepared for anything. He was well aware of how the Conqueror Drones killed, and he had no intention of allowing one of them near him.
-
Simulin High Commander Hark Brasht gazed in unbridled frustration at the computer console in front of him. He had repeatedly placed the command key in the slot designated for it, and there had been no response.
“The system seems to be running some type of internal diagnostic,” another Simulin who was well versed in computer operations reported. “From what I can tell the diagnostic still has some time to run.”
Brasht gazed with impatience around the large Control Center. He had been inside several of these in other galaxies controlled by the Simulins. Never had he heard any reports of the computer that controlled the intergalactic vortexes running a diagnostic.
“I don’t like this,” Brasht said, his eyes narrowing sharply. “Something here isn’t right.”
This entire mission had been a disaster. For the first time in recorded history, a Great Sphere had activated its defensive weapons. And what weapons they were! His entire fleet had been wiped out of existence as if they were insignificant balls of space ice. Nearly all of his shuttles and the Conqueror Drone pods had been destroyed. Never had he imagined a weapon of such power!
“Once the diagnostic is complete, the command key should work,” the computer technician said. “We just have to wait.”
Brasht’s attention was drawn toward a disturbance at one of the entrances to the Control Center. As his eyes shifted toward the hatch, a sudden explosion obliterated the Conqueror Drone assigned there as a guard. Heavily armed organics suddenly began pouring into the room, firing their weapons.
“We’re under attack!” Brasht yelled as he grasped for the weapon in the holster at his waist. “Kill the organics! There can only be Simulins!”
Somehow, the organics must have gained access to the Great Sphere before his fleet arrived. Bringing up his pistol, he began firing desperately at the hatch. He had to buy enough time for the diagnostic to finish running so he could summon reinforcements.
-
Brenda burst into the Control Center with the rest of her platoon right behind her. Captain Abrams was directly in front of her and her platoon was already heavily engaged with what appeared to be ten Conqueror Drones and thirty to forty Simulins.
“Spread out!” she yelled. “Don’t bunch up and give them easy targets. First priority is to take out those Conqueror Drones!”
Brenda shuddered at seeing the monstrosities in front of her. The drones were crab-like metallic robots about ten feet across with numerous legs and four appendages with large and dangerous looking claws. The claws were used to tear their victims apart. Even as she yelled out her orders, one of the drones scrambled forward and grabbed a surprised Marine, who had gotten too close. The Maine let out a loud piercing scream as his body was torn in two. Seconds later a barrage of armor-piercing rounds riddled the drone, incapacitating it.
The battle grew more intense as the Marines moved further into the room. The Simulins had taken cover behind computer consoles and other equipment and were now firing back with some type of large pistol that fired explosive rounds. The room was becoming full of smoke and the sounds of heavy combat.
Brenda winced as she saw Private Marlton Frasier fall to the floor with a spreading patch of red covering his chest. Taking aim, she fired a long burst into an approaching Conqueror Drone. More Marines shifted their fire until an explosive round blew a deep hole in its carapace, bringing the drone down.
Another loud screen suddenly split the air and, looking in the direction the scream was coming from, Brenda saw one of the few remaining drones had managed to grab Captain Abrams. “Kill the drone that has the captain!” yelled Brenda as she ran forward firing her rifle on full auto, trying desperately to disable the drone.
One of the drone’s large claws suddenly grasped the captain at the waist and squeezed. Instantly the captain’s screams came to a terrifying stop. Half a dozen pulse rifle beams pierced the drone, destroying its CPU and causing it to collapse to the floor unmoving. But the harm had been done; Captain Abrams was dead!
“Destroy those last drones!” ordered Brenda, feeling anger over Captain Abrams’ brutal death. While the captain had been a strong disciplinarian, she had always treated Brenda fairly.
The fighting continued to intensify with more Marines falling, but now all the Conqueror Drones had been eliminated and additional weapons fire was being directed toward the Simulins. It became rapidly apparent the Simulins hadn’t been expecting any resistance. Their pistols, while dangerous, were weak when compared to the weapons the Marines were using. The Marines also were wearing body armor, which gave them some protection.
The fighting began to wind down when Brenda noticed one Simulin, a little taller than the others pointing his pistol at Corporal Metz. A quick burst from her rifle and the Simulin collapsed.
-
Simulin High Commander Hark Brasht lay on the floor, gasping in pain. He had been defeated by organics! Looking around the smoke-filled room, he saw all the drones had been annihilated, and his fellow Simulins were in the process of systematically being killed. He saw one of the organics, who he recognized as a female, moving toward him with her rifle held at the ready. He knew his duty as a High Commander. He could not be captured by a lowly organic life form. He raised his pistol and put it against his forehead. “There can only be Simulins,” he yelled as he pulled the trigger.
-
Brenda saw the Simulin she had just shot use his pistol to commit suicide. Walking over to him, she prodded him with her rifle confirming he was dead. Looking him over she saw a round bulge in one of the pockets of his uniform. Leaning over, she reached inside and pulled out a small metallic gold colored globe. It was an exact duplicate of the one Reesa had originally and the ones they found in the museum, just a different color. There was no doubt in her mind this was the command key that had caused so much trouble.
“That’s it,” said a voice from behind her. “That’s the command key.”
Turning, Brenda saw Rakell. Looking at the golden globe in her hand she slowly handed it over to him. “Don’t lose it this time.”
Rakell smiled and nodded. “You have no i
dea what you have done this day. By taking this command key from the Simulins, you have ensured they can never invade and take over any more intergalactic vortexes on other Shrieel. You have stopped their expansion through the galaxies.”
Brenda nodded. Looking around the room, she suddenly felt very ill. The fighting was over and there were a large number of Marines on the floor, unmoving. They had paid a heavy price to recover the command key. She just hoped it was worth it.
Chapter Eighteen
Jeremy was standing in front of the long-distance holographic tactical display. He was gazing at the twenty friendly green icons surrounding the Avenger. As soon as the Dominator had left, Jeremy had set out in pursuit trying to catch up to the Originator ship before it could become lost in the vastness of space. He had hurriedly organized a small pursuit fleet consisting of the Avenger, three Federation battleships, one battlecarrier, four Alton battleships, and twelve AI warspheres. The rest of the ships he sent back to Gaia much to the chagrin of Grayseth, who had wanted to bring part of his fleet along.
“Ariel, what’s the latest status on finding the Dominator?” It had been over a day since Kazak had taken the ship and set out to attack the Simulins. The long-range sensors on the Avenger were capable of reaching out ten light years ahead and around them.
“No trace,” replied Ariel, feeling highly upset. Kelsey and Katie were on board the Dominator, and there was nothing she could do to protect them. “I’m still correlating the data Kazak sent me from the computer on the Simulin battlecruiser he accessed. Many of the coordinates for inhabited Simulin star systems match those the Distant Horizon came across when they first arrived in the Triangulum Galaxy. It seems as if all the Simulin worlds lie in the same spiral arm. Kazak must be headed toward that region.”
“Nothing in the rest of the galaxy?” asked Commander Malen, showing surprise at Ariel’s revelation. “I would have thought they’d have a few worlds elsewhere.”
“No, there are a few small bases for their fleets to resupply, but nothing of significance,” Ariel answered.
Commander Malen shook her head in disgust. “They wipe out hundreds if not thousands of civilizations for worlds they may never need. The Simulins are far worse than what the Hocklyns were in our galaxy.”
“Don’t forget,” Kurene said. “The Simulins are also responsible for the changes in the AIs’ master Codex which caused the problems in our home galaxy.”
“They have the blood of trillions of beings on their hands,” Commander Malen said, her face pale at the thought. “Perhaps we should allow Kazak to destroy them.”
“What’s going to happen when the Dominator reaches a Simulin world?” asked Kevin. He couldn’t believe Kazak had gone rogue and taken the Dominator to wipe out the Simulins even if they did deserve to die. “How does he expect to destroy so many Simulins worlds? They’ll have thousands of warships plus defense grids protecting them.”
“I’ve been studying some of the files Kazak sent us,” Kurene said from her position in front of her computer console. “I found a download from Mikow hidden in the data.”
Jeremy turned toward Kurene. He wondered what Mikow had considered so important to attempt to hide it from Kazak in the data he had sent on the Simulins. “What did she send?”
Kurene took a deep breath. “It seems the Dyson Sphere supernova was much more dangerous than expected. As a result, Kazak used the Dominator to procure a small amount of dark matter.”
“He what!” exclaimed Jeremy, his eyes widening in disbelief. He couldn’t believe the Originator AI would take such a risk. “What did they do with the dark matter?” He knew originally he and Kazak had planned on creating dark matter bombs to disrupt hyperspace to slow down the radiation front from the supernova.
“Kazak built ten dark matter warheads and attached them to the missiles he had built,” Kurene explained as her eyes focused on Jeremy. “They then used the AI warspheres to deliver them to selected star systems and set them off, causing the stars to become supernovas.”
Kevin stood up and gazed in disbelief at Kurene. “Are you telling me the Dominator destroyed ten entire star systems?”
“Yes,” Kurene answered. “They used the dark matter warheads to cause the stars to become unstable. Kazak felt certain exploding these ten particular stars would negate the Dyson Sphere supernova radiation front slowing it down to under the speed of light. If that occurs, it shouldn’t affect anything outside the blue-giant nebula.”
Jeremy felt vastly relieved. “So the rest of the galaxy is safe?”
“Yes,” answered Kurene, nodding her head. “The radiation from the Dyson Sphere supernova should be rendered harmless.”
Shaking his head, Jeremy wondered what else had occurred on that mission to the blue-giant nebula. With a deep sigh, he wondered if Kelsey was in over her head and just how dangerous Kazak actually was. Also, just what was he planning to use to destroy the Simulins? With a sudden chill, he suspected he knew the answer. “Ariel, is there any chance that Kazak still has some dark matter on the Dominator?”
Ariel looked surprised and then turned her head toward Jeremy. “Yes, it’s possible.”
Jeremy closed his eyes and shook his head. There was no doubt in Jeremy’s mind what Kazak was preparing to do and there was no way to stop him.
-
On the Dominator, Kelsey was arguing with Kazak. They were in her quarters where no one could interfere.
“This is not your decision,” Kelsey stated firmly, her hands on her hips. “You agreed to allow the Dominator to be part of our fleet under Jeremy’s command. You don’t have his permission to go off on your own and attack the Simulins.”
“The situation has changed,” Kazak said evenly. “I cannot allow this ship to be endangered. If the Simulins are not stopped now, they will continue to expand and someday control this entire galaxy. Even the nebula your people are hiding in will no longer be safe.”
Kelsey was silent for a long moment. She knew the answer to why Kazak was acting this way lay in the center of the ship. “What’s in that central compartment you’ve been hiding from us?”
Kazak’s eyes turned icy. “That does not concern you.”
“It does if it threatens the safety of this ship and everyone in it!”
“You and your people remain on this ship only as long as I feel you can be useful. Don’t make me regret that decision.” With that, Kazak turned and left.
Kelsey was fuming. She was angry Kazak was treating her and the rest of the crew with such indifference. None of the control consoles in the Command Center were responding other than the science console Andram used. What was she missing? How did Kazak plan on annihilating the Simulins? They were on numerous worlds and still possessed a powerful warfleet. The odds against the Dominator would be nearly insurmountable. However, Kazak seemed confident he could accomplish his goal of destroying them.
A sudden chill passed through Kelsey. She could think of only one way Kazak could accomplish his plan. Dark matter, she thought to herself. The Originator AI had promised to dispose of all that hadn’t been used to destroy the ten star systems in the blue-giant nebula. What if Kazak hadn’t gotten rid of it? What if it was still on the Dominator? With growing apprehension, Kelsey left her quarters to head toward the ship’s munitions storage area. If Kazak had kept the dark matter, he would have to construct new missiles as well as the warheads, and she knew exactly where they would be.
-
It didn’t take Kelsey long to reach the ship’s munitions storage area. In the same vicinity were several large compartments with the equipment necessary to build missiles or other specialized equipment. On the way, she passed a number of the small work robots going about their normal ship maintenance routines but no members of the crew.
Taking a deep breath, she paused for a moment before opening the hatch in front of her. With a sharp feeling of aggravation, she realized she should have stopped and brought a squad of Marines with her. However, she had been in
too big of a hurry to confirm her suspicions of what Kazak was up to.
Reaching out her hand, she turned the handle of the heavy hatch and pushed it open. Stepping inside she felt as if she had been struck in the stomach. Work robots were everywhere and her suspicious were confirmed. Seven of the highly advanced dark matter missiles were resting on construction pedestals. From what Kelsey could see, they were nearly finished.
“I suspected you might come down here,” a voice spoke from behind her.
Spinning around, Kelsey saw Kazak. “You promised to get rid of all the dark matter after we destroyed those ten star systems in the blue-giant nebula,” she said accusingly. “Why didn’t you?”
Kazak spent a moment watching Kelsey and then responded. “I did jettison most of it. However, I kept enough to build seven more warheads in case they were ever needed. The Dominator has many powerful weapons systems, but nothing with the destructive power of these missiles.”
“You’re going to use them to destroy the star systems of the Simulins?”
“No, just their inhabited planets,” Kazak answered. “I don’t understand why you don’t agree with this strategy. Look at what the Simulins have done to countless civilizations since they first left their home system. In the long years that have passed, they wiped out trillions of beings and spread across numerous galaxies. Don’t they deserve to die?”
For a moment, Kelsey hesitated. Kazak was right about what the Simulins had done to so many civilizations. How many great cultures had been lost? Perhaps they did indeed deserve to die. Hadn’t that same decision been made by Fleet Admiral Streth when he had all but eliminated the Hocklyns? True, a large number of their race had survived, but their empire had been taken away and their population greatly reduced.
“It’s not our decision to make,” responded Kelsey defiantly. “It should be Jeremy’s.”
The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 29
