Liberation_Age of Expansion_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Craig Martelle

  Terry looked at the backs of the mech-suited warriors. They could have been statues, but he knew they were watching him using their rear cameras.

  “Smedley, connect me with the other drop ships, please.”

  “Done.”

  “The Home World fleet is behind us. Next stop is the planet itself. We don’t know where Ten is located. We may deploy to six different locations or only one. We won’t know until we get there. Be ready for any eventuality, but wherever and however we go, understand that the people are not the enemy. Try to find ways not to injure them. Engage the people as a last resort. Our primary objective is to remove Ten from power, whatever that looks like, but I expect it will involve blowing up a lot of shit. I hope you don’t mind. Blow up shit and save the people.”

  Terry drew a finger across his throat and the relay to the other shuttles was cut.

  “Could you be any more vague?” Char asked.

  “I’m sure that I couldn’t be less vague. We have to figure it out on the fly. We don’t even know how many people are down there, let alone what their infrastructure is like. I hope Ted gives us a major information dump when we arrive.”

  Char pointed to the screen. “We’ve arrived.” She watched the screen without blinking. “I’m not seeing an info dump.”

  Terry closed his eyes and concentrated. Ankh? Where do we need to deploy?

  ***

  Ankh sat in the CIC within a holographic cocoon of information. He couldn’t take it all in. He closed his eyes and linked his mind with Smedley. Together, they perused the information, looking for the key to locating Ten.

  Go away, Ankh replied to Terry’s inquiry.

  Go which way? Terry wondered

  Smedley will contact you when we have something. Now, stop bothering me.

  Population centers, power grids, buildings, and factories. A major shipyard covered a small portion of the planet surface. With anti-gravity, building ships in space was no longer necessary, but gutting a planet for the raw materials made no sense, unless one didn’t care about the populace.

  Ten fell in that category.

  Ankh wanted to link with Ted and Plato, but they weren’t available. They’d blocked incoming links. The small Crenellian wondered how his friends were doing.

  Ramses’ Chariot

  Keeping their knees bent and hanging on for dear life, the ride through the atmosphere was rough. Plato spared nothing in his headlong rush toward the surface.

  Once through, the pressure instantly lifted, and they felt like they were floating.

  “Cloak engaged,” Ted said, and the ship performed a myriad of maneuvers to defeat any weapons that would attack a projected course. When the cloak was engaged, they couldn’t use the shields. Ted vowed to work on that. He believed that the two systems could operate simultaneously.

  But that was for another time.

  Plato adjusted course to take them over the population centers. He wouldn’t call them cities. They had more in common with a concentration camp. Ramses’ Chariot raced through the sky, leaving no trace that it had passed. The cloak dissipated the energy, whether from light, pressure, or sound.

  “Mapping the planet surface.” Ted finally stopped interacting with the holo screens around him and leaned back. “There are five small population centers, two have little technology. Of the three remaining, one is far older than the other two, but not the oldest of the five.”

  “A logic puzzle,” Joseph said.

  “The power signatures are negligible, far less than expected to support a population of fifteen thousand.”

  “Can you identify the breeding centers?”

  Cory made a disgusted face, but couldn’t disagree with the question.

  “There is only one location with adult males. Why would you think Ten is co-located with the breeding center?”

  “Direct oversight. Ten is all-controlling. I am guessing that Ten would want to ensure the data connection with its main source of labor and enjoyment is uninterrupted.”

  “Ten could do that from anywhere on the planet,” Ted replied.

  “Even without the satellites?”

  “Fair point.” Ted rubbed his chin and looked at the images on the main screen. Five choices, maybe one was right or maybe none of them were.

  “Underground?” Cory asked.

  “Plato, are there any manmade tunnels leading deep underground but not as part of a resource extraction mine? The AI would not be located within a working mine.”

  “We will have to circle the planet four more times for me to collect that data,” Plato replied.

  “Sounds good,” Joseph said.

  Ted turned and shook his head.

  “Why not?”

  “For ground penetration, we need active radar, which means we need to drop the cloak.”

  “But we can shield, right?”

  “Yes.” Ted reviewed his options. “Plato, prepare to drop the cloak and raise the shields.”

  The War Axe

  “Entering orbit, TH. Still no confirmation on where we need to send you. We’re seeing five cities, but not really cities.”

  Terry intently studied the screen, expecting a new fleet to appear at any moment.

  “Why doesn’t Ten have kinetic weapons?” Terry wondered.

  “Control. The AI can control anything digital, but if the humans learned to use kinetic weapons, they could rise up and fight against their computer master,” Char offered.

  “That’s what I was thinking. Where on the planet would Ten be safe, just in case the people developed rudimentary weapons?”

  “Underground. Deep underground.”

  “Find that entrance and we’ll have found Ten’s heart and brain.”

  ***

  Ankh had already redirected the War Axe’s sensors. He’d arrived at that conclusion two minutes earlier. With the entirety of the War Axe committed to the effort, it wasn’t long before they had their answer.

  In the northern region of the planet, under the ice and snow, was a structure that covered an entrance to a straight shaft that led deep underground. The power source within was shielded, but the shield itself told them what they needed to know.

  “Coordinates are set,” Ankh reported.

  “Deploy the shuttles. Fair winds, Colonel Walton,” the captain said over the ship-wide broadcast. “Drop ships away.”

  Terry held on as his shuttle rocketed out the short launch tube and into space. The drop ship turned, joined its partner from the other side of the ship, and headed toward the planet surface. The next two fell in behind them, and then the last two. A pair of Black Eagles zoomed past the shuttles, leading the way downward in case the enemy reared its ugly head.

  The plan took shape in Terry’s mind. The mechs would have to lead the way. They’d plant the initial demolitions, reveal the entrance, and then blow the entrance. Then they would enter Ten’s domain.

  “Aaron and Yanmei, if you could strafe the area over the entrance, I would appreciate it,” Terry requested.

  The Eagles swooped low, slowed, aligned their cannons, and fired. The rounds stitched a path straight to the entrance, but the last few were deflected by an energy barrier.

  “Shielding,” Terry said unnecessarily. “We might have to dig a new tunnel.”

  “Black Eagles, this is Ted. Assume a defensive position to the south. The Chariot has a plan.”

  The drop ships veered away as Smedley received instructions from Plato, and the shuttles slowed until they were barely crawling toward the objective.

  Terry clenched his fists. He hated not knowing the plan.

  To their left, far closer than Terry liked, Ramses’ Chariot appeared out of thin air. The frigate’s railgun opened up and maintained a steady stream of fire at a point outside of the entrance’s defensive perimeter. Ted was digging a new entrance.

  “Great minds think alike.” Terry smiled and Char smiled back.

  Terry’s smile turned into a frown when he saw four shuttles break of
f and head toward the horizon. “Where the fuck are they going?”

  Char watched the receding images on the screen. She shook her head. “Smedley! What are you doing with my people?”

  “Ted has ordered attack groups to the two locations where he suspects Ten will seek refuge when this stronghold is breeched. We will need to simultaneously destroy multiple locations to prevent the AI from hopping one to another.”

  “Christina? Did you hear that?”

  “Already on it, TH. I guess we get the big city. We’ll go in heavy without firing the railguns until we have a bead on Ten’s hardware.”

  “Roger. Who has the last group?”

  “That would be me, Colonel,” Capples replied. “I have the settlement on my HUD. We’re taking eight mechs in. Rules of engagement are don’t fire unless fired upon until tech central is in our sights, then we take it out.”

  “On my command. We’ll eliminate the refuges together, but be ready to move out, just in case this slippery bastard gets past us.”

  “Kimber, when the tunnel is open, lead us in.”

  “Aye, aye, sir,” she replied for the edification of the others.

  “Did you give Christina your JDS?” Terry asked to fill the silence while they waited for word from Ted.

  “Yes. I couldn’t use it, not wearing the can.”

  “The can!” Terry realized. “Deploy the combat support drones. Release the cryo-drones.”

  The small vehicles fired their gravitic engines and moved slowly away from their parent shuttles. They unfolded their wings and rose slowly into the air, beginning to circle. The cryo-drone assumed a position closest to the shuttles. It juked in odd directions, rising and falling is if caught in a tornado.

  Terry watched it for a moment. “An enemy on the ground would be hard-pressed to shoot down a target with such erratic flight.”

  “On station and standing by,” Christina reported.

  “On station and standing by,” Cap added.

  “So why are we hovering in place?” Char asked.

  “If I said because Ted told us to, that wouldn’t sound very convincing, would it?” Terry watched the frigate’s progress as it blasted through the rocks. The opening was getting deeper. “Ted also told me to blow the engine and that almost killed all of us. Smedley, land the drop ships. We’re getting off.”

  ***

  “What are they doing?” Cory asked after seeing the drop ships land.

  “I suspect they are getting off.”

  “What about Ten?”

  “They are going to confront the AI. What we’ve blasted from the planet to open access to the tunnel? That’s trivial compared to what your father has in store.”

  “There will be fireworks.” Cory scratched behind Dokken’s ears and wondered if they were going to get off the ship on Home World. They’d removed their helmets once they had breathable air.

  Joseph wanted to add a funny quip, but nothing came to mind. The unknowns of what lay before them filled their thoughts with dread.

  “We’re through,” Ted reported after the railgun stopped firing. The Chariot swung away from the site, pointing its nose toward the planet’s equator, and raced away.

  ***

  When the rear deck dropped, they realized how loud a spaceship’s railgun was.

  Kimber and the other four mechs had established a perimeter as they waited for the railgun to stop firing. Terry and Char covered their ears and stayed within the shuttle. When the sound died away, Terry ordered the two new warriors, “No one gets on board but us. Defend the shuttle.”

  Terry and Char ran from the ship, taking a position behind the mechs. Four mechs from the other ship stood apart, the reserve force.

  “Follow me,” Kimber said, raising her railgun and running for the crater. She jumped over the edge and disappeared into the darkness. One by one, they went over the edge. To the side of the crater, the shield shimmered just enough to show that it was still intact. Terry vaulted over the edge, sliding down the warm stone chips and into the gap leading to the tunnel. Char slid in behind him.

  Once at the bottom, he unholstered his Jean Dukes Special and dialed it to eight. Char pulled her two pistols.

  On their backs, they carried enough explosives to level a mountain.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The War Axe

  “What’s that fleet doing?” Captain San Marino asked for the third time.

  “They continue to hold their positions,” Smedley replied for the third time.

  “I don’t trust that they’re dead.”

  “They’re not dead, only incapacitated. They do not possess the means for independent action. The Bad Company learned that when they boarded the hostile ships at Alchon Prime.”

  Micky nodded at Smedley’s patient explanation. He tapped the screen on the arm of his chair. “All hands. Head calls and chow runs, no more than two at a time. Be no more than three minutes from your stations at any point in time. Remain in your shipsuits. Captain out.”

  Clifton jumped up. “Be back in a minute.” The helmsman bolted from the bridge.

  Too much roughage, Micky thought, scanning the data streams. He moved to the systems station to pull up the holographic displays and access the most available information.

  A huge explosion rocked the ship. Micky was nearly thrown from the seat. The ship lost its artificial gravity and started to spin. The captain buckled in where he was, straining against the forces pulling him aside. “Transfer helm to this station,” he ordered. The controls appeared in one of his holographic displays and Micky started engaging thrusters to counter the spin.

  “What the hell happened?” the skipper asked. There was no reply. “Smedley?”

  ***

  Jenelope was thrown over the sink and into the wall. She slammed against it and slid to the counter, unconscious. Xianna jumped into the air, letting the ship move beneath her. She rotated, hit the wall with her feet, pushed off, and landed when the ship settled. She hurried to the counter and cradled Jenelope’s head in her hands. She attempted to move the woman, but Jenelope was too heavy.

  Xianna ran to the cupboards and pulled tablecloths and towels that she could use to pack around the chef. She wasn’t prepared when gravity failed and she floated into the air. She kicked and flailed, but could barely move. She stretched her leg until a toe touched the serving counter.

  Pushing off, she sailed toward the sink. Turning mid-air, she landed softly and stood on the wall. With a gentle tug, Jenelope came free and floated in the air. Xianna pushed away and both floated toward the dining area. She hooked the first table and pulled herself downward, bringing Jenelope along to wedge her under the table. Together, they stayed there.

  “I plead with you, Holy Mother Torreg, deliver us from our enemies…”

  Ramses’ Chariot

  “We’re going to leave them behind?” Cory asked, pointing toward the aft end of the frigate.

  “They are in capable hands. There is less than a one hundred percent chance that Ten is at that location. We are occupying the next three most probable locations for the AI,” Ted quickly explained.

  “Three?” Joseph wondered.

  “The shuttles are at the other two. We will take the second least likely location.”

  Four stood in silence while Ted and Plato communicated on a level only they understood as they continued to calculate the odds.

  “Ten will be in all the places, including the ships. Ten’s essence will need to be purged, but that will be easy once its brain has been removed and crushed.”

  Ted clenched and unclenched his fist.

  “I’m coming, you evil bastard. I’m coming to crush the life from you. No one will remember that you ever existed.” Ted leaned forward. “Plato, take us in. Drop us at the largest building.”

  Ted stood up and turned, stopped by the people between him and the corridor. “Well? Get ready. We’re joining the fight.”

  They moved out of Ted’s way. He went straight to h
is quarters, where he picked up the box that contained Plato. Cory waited. Joseph and Petricia removed their railguns from a storage locker in the corridor.

  Cory helped Dokken out of his shipsuit. He jumped out of it before she was finished and nearly knocked her down. He shook. Twice. He wagged his tail and panted as he bounced with joy.

  Cordelia stood and leaned against the bulkhead. “We can learn a lot from you,” she told the dog. “Sometimes, it doesn’t take very much, and it shouldn’t, to make us happy.”

  Joseph had a second railgun for Cory. He thought about handing it to her, but slung it over his shoulder instead. She cradled Dokken’s face in her hands and kissed the top of his head. She immediately wiped her mouth of the hair that stuck to her lips.

  I shed when I’m anxious, he explained. I love you.

  “Yes, I love you, too, and I have a mouthful of hair to prove it.”

  “To the cargo bay?” Joseph suggested. “We’ll hit the ground together.”

  Dokken trotted off. Cory followed. “Cargo bay,” Joseph told Ted.

  Ted didn’t care how they left the ship. He carried no weapons, only Plato and what he had inside.

  “I am ready,” Bundin told them. He didn’t need to say that he’d been ready since before they hit the atmosphere. None of that mattered. Only the now. Joseph patted Bundin’s shell as he stood beside the blue alien. The rest were behind.

  Ramses’ Chariot touched down, and the cargo hatch popped open. Joseph ran out, Bundin keeping up using his odd shuffling gait. One thing they learned from Terry Henry was to get away from the ship as quickly as possible after a landing. Ships made great targets for anyone with a weapon.

  The group ran along the edge of a wired compound. “Looks like a prison,” Joseph said darkly.

  Petricia started to reply but grimaced and covered her nose. The smell.

  Ted looked pointedly at a building within the facility. Joseph looked at the wire. Old. Rusty. He grabbed two strands and yanked it free. Then two more. And kept going until there was a wide opening in the fence.

  “Where are the people?” Cory asked.