Alien Enigma

by Bain, Darrell; Teora, Tony

  "You're a little beyond my knowledge base here. Tell me what it means in practical terms.

  "For one thing, I'd be hesitant about using Eve to explore its CPU," Harriette said.

  "Why?"

  "Because while we were doing the MRI and discovered those signals, the other robots in the next room began going berserk." Seeing the alarmed expression on the Captain's face, he hurried to calm him. "Don't worry, sir. We've got them well-secured and we also called Engineering and told the officer what had happened. He sent some marines with explosives and weapons to watch the closed room, just in case."

  "That was smart thinking. Listen, I-"

  "Captain!"

  "What now? Who-" And then he recognized the man who had burst into the control room as one of the biologists. "Doctor Bergins? What's wrong?"

  "The Worms we were holding for questioning suddenly went berserk while we were examining them! They killed one of my assistants and hurt two others. We had to destroy them."

  Keane frowned. He didn't notice Jergens and Harriette doing the same. "What time did it happen?"

  The doctor looked at his thumb. "About twenty minutes ago."

  Jergens spoke up before the Captain could ask. "That's when the robots began sending those odd signals, sir. But the events couldn't be connected. We were in a shielded room!"

  "Fred." Harriette said in a very low, contrite voice.

  "Huh?"

  "We left the door open to the room where the other robots were secured. It wasn't completely shielded."

  "Oh. Sorry Captain. It was my damned error." Jergens countenance was even more subdued than Harriette's.

  "Everything is safe now?"

  "Absolutely, Captain!" Jergens said. "But before we go any further we need to compartmentalize the robot that signaled, just to be damned certain it can't interface with Eve. I don't think I have to tell you what that could mean."

  "No, you don't. Maintain all necessary safety precautions. If you get to the point you have to use an interface, isolate one of Eve's backups and use it. Just make damn certain it's cut off from all other connections!"

  "Understood, Captain," both said at once.

  "Fine. We'll talk later. Dismissed."

  ***

  On hanger deck, a full company of marines were being loaded into two of the assault shuttles. Technicians busied themselves around the shuttles as they loaded, and also around the other two backup shuttles, making sure they were ready if needed.

  "And here we go again," Bullet said, hiding his nervousness from everyone except Barbara. She winked at him, knowing he was feeling the same butterflies that were tickling her insides. A few minutes before, their Platoon Sergeant had relayed the news that they might face the armed might of a fully completed city.

  "Cat got your tongue?"

  "Nope. Just wondering if we have enough ammo."

  "Don't worry. Good ol' Doc Travis will make up for any short fall."

  "And a good dose of heavy metal from the rail guns will make any Worm say 'calf rope'."

  "Say what?"

  "Calf Rope. You never heard of that?"

  "No," Barbara admitted, wondering if Dan was playing with her to work off a case of nerves.

  "Old western saying. It means 'do you give up'?"

  "Okay. Just so long as they know what it means."

  "Less chatter there. Keep moving," Sgt. Martinez broke in.

  Both turned to stare at the back of the neck of the marine in front of them as they moved into the bowels of the shuttle.

  ***

  "Major Cantrell reporting," Cindy announced.

  "Sign in," Keane said. "Commander Mundahan is waiting on you." He followed the words with a smile to tell her she wasn't late.

  She logged in and hurried over to the weapons alcove. Mundahan already had a screen activated and ready for her. It was zeroed in on the alien city, still thousands of kilometers away. The planet's rotation was slowly, to appearances, moving the city toward one edge of the view. It didn't bother her. She knew that Keane would have the ship following the city, not the planet, even if it meant using extra power.

  Keane gazed intently at a visual of the Beta system alien metropolis. The image was much crisper than the earlier renditions. "Tell me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this city look different than the old images of Xanadu?" He raised an inquiring brow at his officers.

  "Yes it does Captain. The city, although basically the same overall size, has fewer spires and domes, but more of the cube-shaped buildings. None of the images of Xanadu were taken from close enough to show the inhabitants so we can't make that kind of comparison, and we're not close enough anyway," Commander Mundahan said.

  "Is it finished, and do you see any of those pulsar weapons?" asked Keane.

  "This city appears to be finished, or near enough that I can't tell the difference from here. I don't see any weapons though, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. We can't pick up much detail."

  "Anything going on yet?" Cindy asked.

  "Nothing yet. We've detected mining operations, same as last time but more extensive. There are about the same number of mining transport ships but they're all grounded so far as we can tell. We've still got a contact protocol going out in a repeating pattern. It doesn't seem as if the Worms are listening, though."

  Keane ordered the ship to get in closer and maintain an orbit that kept the city in view, altering speed to maintain their position. As time progressed and they closed in, Keane felt tension beginning to mount, slowly at first, but as no reply came to the contact protocol, or any indication that the Worms were even paying attention, it rose more quickly. As the Doc Travis used its gravity drive to maintain position over the city, he made sure that it was offset by forty-five degrees from the city's center, slightly touching the planet's outer atmosphere, about eight hundred kilometers up. He remembered how the energy beam had come from the heart of the unfinished city near the agricultural area and wanted no part of that experience again. However, he couldn't hold the ship in that position forever. A decision would have to be made soon. He decided on a reconnaissance in force, using the two marine shuttles already loaded and having one of them enter the city's edge while the other kept position farther back in order to give support if the first was fired on.

  "Just maintain a good escape route, Steel," he told the Marine commander over the com. "If you have to break off, try for a good separation so we can help you."

  "Will do, sir," Rambling replied in a voice that sounded somewhat testy. Keane guessed it was from him giving a ground officer instruction on how to deploy his troops. It didn't bother him. He wanted to be absolutely certain they were on the same page and that took priority over any possible hurt feelings.

  A few minutes later the ship shook twice from the launch of the assault shuttles. As soon as they were free, Keane ordered the ship down to a lower altitude, lowering it cautiously and staying well clear of the estimated range of the Worm energy beam as calculated from the previous encounter. It seemed to work because the ship was left alone, at least for the present.

  ***

  "Alright, you've got your assignments," Sgt. Martinez said to his 1st platoon. "We're going in immediately behind the 2nd Platoon. Third and Headquarters and weapons will be right behind us in the covering shuttle. Third is in reserve and will remain on the shuttle until needed."

  Martinez put a stimstick into his mouth and chewed, savoring the slight adrenaline rush. "We're landing right on the edge of the city wall, which isn't much of a barrier-unless you're a midget." He paused for the inevitable chuckles. "It's only a meter and a half high everywhere. No need for explosives to make a hole. We'll just go right over it. Once deployed we follow the second, which will be headed toward the center of the city, half on the main drag and the other half flanking. We'll follow the same pattern. This is a reconnaissance in force, designed to find out what the hell gives with the fucking Worms.

  "Now for all you trigger happy boys and girls, there will be
no shooting unless and until you're fired on. We're still hoping we can get in, find the human captives and rescue them then get out. Anything beyond that is up to the CO and the Ship Captain.

  "Tighten up your harnesses. We'll be down in three minutes." Martinez knew he didn't have to give instructions all over again but it never hurt. Personally, after seeing and talking to the poor bastards who had been used as slaves for so long, he sort of hoped the Worms resisted, no matter how fucking many of them there were.

  ***

  "Marines are landed and near the city's perimeter, three clicks out, sir. There was a scattering of defensive fire as the shuttles were landing but no casualties," Cindy reported. She had a com directly to the marine commander on the ground and to each of the platoons of both companies. She was relaying information from the marines to Keane. "Every Worm sighted outside the city has run. No word yet on whether they're congregating to fight or just scared.

  "Some of them appear to be going underground. Echolocation indicates tunnels extending all the way out to edge of the city. Closer to the center they're so deep we can't properly range them." Her countenance took on the blank look of someone listening to an ear bug for a moment then she continued. "Major Rambling has halted for the time being in order to send recon teams in and situate snipers to protect them. He thinks there's more Worms here than the last place."

  ***

  Zembra found herself a perfect sniper's spot, halfway up a many-trunked tree in a position where they broke into even more branches. There she found a little alcove with a great place to rest her heavy rifle, yet pretty well concealed and with a good view into the city. Hell, she thought she might even be outside the range of the Worm hand weapons, although the ones used by the robots were a bit heavier and presumably were effective farther out. At any rate, she couldn't beat the spot. Easy way down, too, if the situation turned to shit and she had to run.

  She adjusted her position slightly for comfort and waited, patiently, as all snipers did. She followed the two recon teams with wide scan binoculars while frequently flipping back to center her rifle's scope on the area in front of each. It took practice but she'd trained in simulated urban combat, on the range, and had many hours of simulated fights behind her, as well as the combat on the last planet inhabited by Worms and robots. She felt no tenseness, only a slight bit of excitement. Presently she saw, well ahead of the teams, a steady stream of Worms emerging from the bowels of one of the dome buildings. Robots were mixed with them. Her finger curled around the trigger of her rifle but she waited. No order to fire on them had been given yet although she knew the recon teams must know they were there.

  ***

  "Get ready, June," Cindy said quietly to the weapons officer. "I think you're going to be needed soon. Coordinates E-7 and E-8."

  "Got it. What will you need?"

  "One shot with the plasma cannon to begin with. But wait. Major Rambling is trying to get his recon teams back, first."

  ***

  "Jones and Callahan, hold the point. Recon teams, back up, quick," Martinez ordered. Having the ship spotting for the marines was working out well so far. They might have been caught in the ambush the Worms were planning if it hadn't been for them. He keyed in another circuit. "Snipers. I want both of you to concentrate on the small robots. Aim for their com dome on top first and if they continue fighting, go for what would be passenger seats as if they were minicars. Two minutes and open fire. Mark." It was a simple hunch telling them to go for the small robots. During the last combat, reports had it that they were the ones which appeared to be organizing the attacks. The CPU location and com domes had been a last minute bit of intelligence, forwarded right before debarkation. He hoped it was right.

  Zembra automatically clicked in the time on the stock of her rifle and zeroed in on the leading robot on the right. PFC Zambi would take the left, by arrangement. She knew what Martinez was thinking. Sniper fire might disorient the Worms when they couldn't see where it was coming from. Two minutes later she gently squeezed the trigger.

  The heavy .50 caliber hollow point slug hit precisely where she aimed. Debris exploded out from the robot. It staggered, turned in a half circle then wobbled off in that direction. She didn't see where it went-she was already drawing a bead on the next one. And the next, firing in metronomic precision.

  As if her first shot was a signal, Worms began boiling out of adjacent buildings. They appeared disorganized but the general movement was toward the encroaching marines. The weapons squad entered the battle next, using their heavy machine guns to cut swaths of gory death into the front ranks of the Worms. The MGs allowed one of the point marines to reach safety. The other took a bolt of plasma in the back and fell in a flaming heap.

  ***

  "Now, June! E-7 only. One shot!" Cindy ordered.

  All Mundahan had to do was lift the cover and punch the red tab on her console. The plasma cannon computer had been running a constant update on the original parameters given it.

  The single pulse was barely noticeable in the ship, but below in the city it was different. The ball of plasma hit precisely in the center of the Worm formation. It spread a fiery orange-white ball of destruction over the worms, vaporizing most of them instantly. The ones not killed outright scurried in all directions, bodies smoking, skin peeling loose. A few on the periphery of the blast escaped and came on. They were quickly dispatched by marine rifles.

  "First platoon right, second platoon left. Move it, and careful of hot stuff," Lieutenant Bruno Horst, CO of A Company, ordered. He worked the marine platoons around the center of destruction and further into the city, moving cautiously. If that many Worms had erupted from one small area, God only knew how many more they'd run into. And to free any captives they'd probably have to engage the Worms and robots in the tunnels beneath the city. He hated to think of the casualties that might cause.

  ***

  Zembra finally had to climb down from her perch. The fighting had moved farther into the city, beyond her viewpoint. She and PFC Zambi, the other sniper, hurried to catch up and join the heavy weapons platoon, their alternate assignment. No sooner had she joined them than she was put to work as the assistant on one of the heavy MGs. She replaced a marine that had just lost a leg to an energy bolt. For the next two hours she hauled and crawled, and fed belts of ammo to the gunner, stopping only to use her heavy rifle occasionally. The marines advanced slowly toward the center of the city.

  ***

  "The Worms are concentrating for another charge, June. We need a pulse at ...G5.5 in forty five seconds. Mark."

  "Got it. Damn, that's going to bring us in close. Captain Keane?"

  "Do it," he responded without hesitation.

  June gave the order to the plasma cannon. At this point the ship's movements were controlled by her through orders to the gun, while several ratings and petty officers watched the dials and gauges in the cannon housing farther toward the bow. The ship moved closer to the city. The angle from its target dropped to near fifty-five degrees. She waited, practically holding her breath until she felt the slight shudder as the shot went home. A sharp vibration shook the ship as the city's gun fired almost simultaneously. Also near simultaneously, the ship fired back. Doc Travis plowed through a boil of energy with its shield intact but it had taken a good hit.

  "Status?" Keane asked, averting his eyes from the screens. They were a white blur from the surrounding energy.

  "We got their gun but I'm damn glad we worked out those auto respond algorithms in advance. I wouldn't want us to take many hits like that in succession."

  "Well done," he said as the screens came back up. "Com, ask Rambling to have the marines take a look if they can and find out if that was their only gun."

  "Aye, aye, sir," Bogarty responded promptly.

  ***

  Rambling was thankful for the air cover. Used judiciously, it cleared a path for his troops and kept casualties to a minimum. The only drawback was that the ship had to shoot from an angle an
d from a higher orbit than needed for really accurate fire support, but he knew it was the only way to keep the ship safe. Already the air and space defenses had been located near the center of the city, right at the "northern" edge of the central crop growing area. It had happened when the Doc Travis got a little too close trying to help them out, and whatever was in control of the city's pulsing laser cannon tried a shot. He thought it had damaged the ship until Bogarty got through the static to him.

  "Captain Keane wants the area he just hit checked when you get a chance, sir."

  "Tell him I will but it'll be a bit. We've still got troubles."

  ***

  Bullet had begun to think the hard fighting was about over. There had been a couple of close calls but nothing like the previous campaign, when he'd taken that bolt of energy to his side. The platoon had just cleared out the area assigned to them, leaving dead Worms and mangled robots strewn in the streets. During the process, a number of ragged captives had emerged from the entrances to buildings as they passed. One pair of them, a woman and unshaven man who looked to be in his middle forties, came running out after Bullet had shot what was apparently the last defending Worm. He almost pulled the trigger on them but held back at the last instant. The couple was clad in ill-fitting remnants of Wannstead corporate blue, and both were dazed and overpoweringly happy to see the marines.

  "Hey, hey, take it easy!" He laughed as they wrapped their arms around him in a hug that would have done justice to a boa constrictor. "Hey, I'm happy to see you too, but we still got a fight going on." He gently pried them loose and passed them to the medics. Not long afterward the whole platoon got an order to hold up.