AMP Colossus

by Arseneault, Stephen

Colonel Harper spoke. “Grange. This hydrogen is crap. Tell the Duke thanks but no thanks. We don’t want his already processed garbage. It is going to take us weeks to scrub that stuff out and bring our tanks back into balance.”

  I looked at the Duke as he raised his arms slightly into the air to make an “oops” gesture. “I am so sorry, Mr. Grange. I didn’t know this was deuterium that had already been extracted. The manifest just says ‘hydrogen.’ I would seek to provide more, but that is all we have available in this section of the Empire. If you would like, I will make more available, but that may take several months to harvest.”

  I replied, “I think we are OK, Duke. We appreciate the gesture. We would be willing to talk trade for resources, though. Would the Empire have any interest in that?”

  The Colonel’s voice then came over the comm. “You can tell the Duke he can stop trying to hack our systems over the comm. If he is trying to establish friendly relations, he’s off to a bad start.”

  I spoke. “Hold on, Colonel; let me put you on speaker.”

  The Colonel continued, “Listen, first you bring us deuterium, and now your people are trying to hack into our systems through the comm channel. If you are trying to establish a relationship of trust, you sure are going about it the hard way.”

  The Duke responded, “My apologies, Colonel. I will see to it that the attempts to connect to your systems are stopped.”

  The Duke touched his neck. “Please cease all attempts to connect to the Human systems through their comm channel.”

  The Duke again slightly held out his arms in a gesture. “Mr. Grange, I am certain that neither you nor the good Colonel are the highest-ranking officials on your station. I would like to begin a dialogue with whoever that would be. Your station is in violation of our sovereign territories. I wish to discuss that matter with whoever is in charge.”

  The Colonel shot back, “I am in charge here, Duke. If you have something to say, you can say it to me.”

  The Duke replied, “OK, Colonel, if that is how you want it. I will be putting together a delegation to do an inspection of your station. I will expect a safe corridor to be set up from my ship to one of your landing bays. If my delegation determines that you are not an invading force, then we can begin discussions on compensation.”

  The Colonel was silent for only a moment. “Compensation? Look, Duke, we are sorry that we entered your territory. This is space; there are no painted lines. If you would like to trade for resources, we will soon be out of your space. I think compensation is unwarranted, and to be frank, it will not be paid. As far as your delegation goes, we would welcome a diplomatic team, but not for any inspection. This station is our sovereign space, and unless you somehow find yourself here by mistake, you will not be calling the shots here. You mentioned an invading force. If that was your determination, what would you then propose?”

  The Duke replied, “If it is found that you are here with ill intent, then you will be asked only once for a full and complete surrender.”

  The Colonel laughed. “I can tell you now, Duke, that is not going to happen. Either we can trade like civilized peoples or, I suppose, we can fight. I will leave that decision up to you.”

  The Duke’s expression turned from that of a pleasant diplomat to that of an angered and spoiled child. “I have a large fleet that should be arriving tomorrow, Colonel. We will see who has to make a decision then.”

  The Duke turned to face me. “You will be…”

  I did my best quick draw and aimed the blaster at the Duke’s head.

  The Duke spoke. “Mr. Grange. I had such high hopes for you, but this transgression cannot go unpunished.”

  As the Duke began to raise his hand towards his neck, I responded, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Corporal Keith!”

  The Corporal answered over the comm. “Yes, Sir?”

  I continued, “Can you bring me that piece of red velvet that we had talked about?”

  The Corporal replied, “Red velvet, Sir? Are you sure?”

  I spoke as I kept one eye on the Duke. “That’s right, Corporal, red velvet; bring it!”

  The Corporal responded, “You got it, Sir. Red velvet, coming up.”

  Our plan was put in motion. There was no turning back. The Corporal alerted the others, who immediately brought up their arm pads.

  The Duke tapped on his neck comm, but nothing happened. The weapons officer spoke over his console. “Sir, the sentinels—they are all converging on the docking bays. And I no longer have control of my weapons.”

  The nav officer was next. “The Griffer, Minias and Coulpus are all moving, Sir. I don’t have control of their helms, nor can I raise the first officers.”

  I looked at an angering Duke. “Your staff here on the bridge—they seem oblivious to the fact that I am holding a blaster on you. You Colossuns are full of curious behavior.”

  The Duke replied, “If you are going to kill me, Mr. Grange, I would urge you to do it quickly. I will not be so quick to kill you once I have regained control.”

  I spoke. “Oh, I don’t doubt that, Duke, but I don’t think that is going to happen today.”

  The Duke replied, “I have four thousand sentinels on this ship, Mr. Grange. What is it that you think you are going to do?”

  The Corporal came back on the comm. “Looks like phase one is ready when you are, Mr. Grange. Just give the word and I will execute.”

  I looked at the Duke as I gave the order. “Space ’em, Corporal.”

  The sentinels had been given orders to assemble in front of the port doorways on the docking bays. In an instant, the Corporal turned off the gravity fields that held the atmosphere inside. All four thousand of the Duke’s sentinels were sucked outside at once.

  The weapons officer spoke. “Sir, almost all of the sentinel guards have been blown out of the bays, Sir. They are floating in space.” The weapons officer stood and drew the attention of the others on the bridge as I held my blaster on the Duke.

  The Duke spoke. “Those were my soldiers, Mr. Grange. I have twelve thousand more on my other ships!”

  I spoke. “Yeah, about those, Duke. Mr. Keith, execute phase two!”

  The weapons officer banged away at his console, but his efforts were futile; we had control. “Sir, weapons are coming online!”

  The Duke spoke. “Mr. Grange, watching you die a slow death will be a pleasure!”

  The weapons all fired at once as my squads used their arm pads in one all-out synchronized assault. The rail guns began to bury rounds deep into the hulls of the two mega-battleships that had maneuvered in front of us. The Griffer and the Coulpus were quickly ablaze. At the same moment, thirteen of the twenty-six large pulse cannons fired rounds into the broadside of the Minias, taking out her port guns and heavily penetrating her outer decks. The Duke’s anger grew as the three escort ships of his group were rendered useless and struggled to survive.

  The comm officer then rose and charged at me with no weapon.

  Pzzzt!

  A wide hole opened in the comm officer’s chest as his rib cage split apart.

  I spoke. “Anyone else?”

  The bridge was silent.

  “Rodriguez, take the squads and begin a sweep of the ship. I want every Colossun remaining rounded up. If they offer resistance, don’t hesitate to take them out.”

  I looked at the Duke. “It didn’t have to be this way, Duke. Our exchanges could have been beneficial to both parties. Now, we are going to have to figure out what to do with you and your crew. I would advise you to tell them to not resist. It will only end badly for them. I’ve seen my Marines at work, and they are very thorough and very skilled at what they do.”

  The Duke replied, “The lives of these crewmen are meaningless, Mr. Grange. I can always get more. The Empire does not exist because of a few petty Vesha.”

  I spoke. “I have yet to figure you out, Duke. The choices you make all seem foreign to me. They are not logical. You allowed us to keep our guns, you allowe
d us to keep our arm pads, you allowed us to walk your ship freely. I get the feeling you are playing me.”

  The Duke showed a wry smile. “Do you feel like you are late to the party, Mr. Grange? Perhaps the Colossuns are intelligent and remain one step ahead of you. Perhaps you are not equipped to play the game you are involved in. Although, I will say the destruction of my ships and the spacing of my sentinels was well played. My intelligence officers failed me on that one, and they will pay dearly for that. But no matter, Mr. Grange. I remain several steps ahead of you. As you continue to pursue me, those steps will become apparent.”

  York entered the bridge. “Mr. Grange, the sweep is nearing completion. We have all of the personnel in the ship’s logs accounted for except for two, and we should have them in the next few minutes. They are all in the docking bay where we had the sentinels lined up.”

  The Duke spoke. “Mr. Grange. That is shocking. You would space my crew when they don’t even threaten you?”

  I replied, “Casualties of war, Duke, if we don’t receive full cooperation. Now, we noticed when we were looking through your systems that you have a decent-sized hydrogen store on this ship. We are going to be pulling a harvester alongside and taking that fuel. We will also be moving this ship within range of the Grid, where we will strip it of its resources. In the meanwhile, our intel people are going to have a field day trying to figure you out. What do you think of that?”

  The Duke again smiled. “Mr. Grange, as I said, I am already several steps ahead of you.”

  An alarm then sounded on the bridge.

  York moved over to a control panel and looked up. “Self-destruct, Sir; had to see that one coming. We have five minutes to get off this boat.”

  I opened a comm channel to all my squads. “Everyone to bay seven. We will take out the Duke’s shuttle. And Corporal Keith, space the crew. We can’t have them overriding the systems once we leave. They would inevitably attempt to rescue the Duke.”

  The Duke spoke. “Mr. Grange! I didn’t think you had it in you.”

  I replied, “You already killed them, Duke; I just sped up the process. Now let’s move before this ship blows. You can come peaceably, or we will carry you. Your choice.”

  The Duke held up his hand and began to walk. “I will cooperate, Mr. Grange. I am fascinated by your actions and cannot wait to see what happens next!”

  I spoke. “You are a strange one, Duke, but we will figure you out before it’s all said and done.”

  We boarded the Duke’s private shuttle, and Rodriguez soon had us past the gravity wall and into free space. “We should have someone check out this ship before docking, Sir. He might…”

  An alarm began to sound on the console of the shuttle. The Duke had triggered another self-destruct. One of the Marines moved quickly towards him and was met with a balled fist to the center of his chest. The Marine flew back violently.

  The Duke spoke. “More than one step ahead of you, Mr. Grange!”

  Frost raised her blaster and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened.

  The Duke spoke over the alarm. “Ion field dampener, Mr. Grange! Certainly you can do better!”

  York charged at the Duke and was met with a clinching hand to her collarbone. A snap could be heard, but York pressed forward, her prosthetic arm gripping the Duke’s wrist. As York’s prosthetic hand clamped down and began to tighten, the Duke’s wrist was crushed. Seconds later, the Duke pulled back a stump with fluid leaking and wires dangling.

  The Duke exclaimed, “Ah! An android of your own! You are indeed full of surprises, Mr. Grange!”

  York stumbled backwards, wincing in pain from the crushed collarbone. Frost stepped forward with a sawed-off shotgun and fired.

  Boom!

  A hole opened in the Duke’s chest, and more fluids began to leak.

  Boom! Boom!

  The Duke dropped to his knees. “Well done, Mr. Grange! But you still have a critical problem coming your way!”

  The Duke reached up. With a twist of his remaining hand on his neck, his head was separated from his body. He held it out to his side and set it down on a flat portion of the console. The tendrils on his head continued to wiggle.

  The Duke smiled and spoke. “Again, another turn I was not expecting, Mr. Grange. I don’t know how this soldier kept that weapon hidden, but I am enjoying the fight that it brings!”

  I sat in a chair by a nav console. “So, you have no fear because you are an android yourself. I’ll have to admit that I did not see that one coming, Duke. I suppose there are copies of you out there just waiting to be activated?”

  The Duke again smiled. “Bravo, Mr. Grange! Bravo! I still await your way out of this mess you find yourself in. How will you survive?”

  I stood from the nav console. “Rodriguez, put us into a slow arc going away from the Grid. We have our battle suits, which will keep us going out there in the dead of space. The Grid will just have to send someone out to pick us up. We will be leaving now, Duke. We will survive.”

  The Duke rolled his eyes. “Mr. Grange. Always behind. Do you not realize that all I have to do is immediately trigger the autodestruct? You and your soldiers will die by my—”

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Fluid and bits of biomaterial splattered on the cockpit windshield behind where the Duke’s head had been sitting.

  Frost stood with a smile on her face. “We aren’t soldiers, you mechanical ass! We are Marines!”

  With under a minute to go, we exited the shuttle and floated helplessly in space. As the shuttle arced away, it detonated in a bright fury of light. Several small private ships were soon out to bring us to safety.

  When we arrived back in Alpha Bay, Ashley was waiting. “You look a little disheveled, Don. I can’t wait to hear of the trouble you have been in. But I am extremely happy to see you home.”

  I replied, “Trouble isn’t the half of it. We have a big fleet coming this way any day now. Let’s go see the Colonel and Admirals; we have a lot to plan for!”

  I planted a long kiss on my wife and gave the gurney a pat as they wheeled York by on her way to surgery.

  York spoke. “I’ll be fine, Sir! You don’t worry about me! And spend some time with the lady, Sir! You deserve it!”

  I replied, “I would love nothing more, York. Get yourself healed up, as I don’t think we are quite done with the Colossuns yet!”

  I walked with Ashley towards the main conference room. We had strategies to plan with the full Council. Ashley discussed her new prosthetic leg as we made our way.

  Chapter 21

  The Colonel banged his big fist on the table. “There has to be something we can do. Send the Ghouls out with a few plasma torches, and we will cut our way onto those ships!”

  Admiral Zimmerman spoke. “If it comes down to that, Colonel, I wouldn’t give us much hope. There must be something better.”

  I raised my hand as I stood. “There is a possibility that they will come within range of the big guns. I told the Duke their range was ten thousand kilometers. Was I close?”

  Admiral Chaulk replied, “Not really; they are potent out to about one hundred twenty-five thousand kilometers. We can give them a good kick, but it doesn’t take much to move back out of range.”

  We discussed strategies for several hours before word came that the Colossun fleet was entering our space. At first, they stopped at five hundred thousand kilometers and waited.

  I stood in a battle command center along with the Admirals. “One hundred twelve ships, and they are just sitting there.”

  Zimmerman replied, “They are deep scanning us. Let’s hope a little negotiating works. I know this station is formidable on its own, but I sure would like to have a fleet out there supporting us.”

  A voice then came over the general comm channel. “Mr. Grange. I will have to say that I was a bit shocked that you would destroy a defenseless head. Nevertheless, I am here in the name of the King to politely ask for your unconditional surrender. You will be treate
d fairly.”

  I spoke. “Uh, I don’t think so, Duke. Not after what you did to the Grell.”

  The Duke replied, “The Grell were already dead, Mr. Grange. They were just uninformed. All of their kind were overrun and destroyed along with their home world centuries ago. Those ragged ships they were in would not have made the journey across the expanse. I did them a favor by removing the real possibility of a prolonged suffering through starvation, Mr. Grange. I should be applauded for my humanity, but you Humans seem to cling to hope when there is none, such as what you are facing now.”

  I replied, “I will have to say that I am a little intrigued by how you, as an obvious new android, know what happened in the last few moments of your prior existence. Let me guess: you are continuously broadcasting a stream of data from the currently active android out to wherever. In that way, any new androids have the same experiences as the old and can continue on as if nothing happened.”

  The Duke replied, “You fascinate me, Mr. Grange. I would like to offer you a position on my ship as an assistant, but I would have to assume that you would not be interested in such. Besides, the King would not allow it. He is quite unhappy with me at the moment. He believes I am dallying around when I should be taking what he now believes belongs to him.”

  I paced for a moment and turned to look up at the Duke on the view-screen. “The King is right, Duke. You are dallying. Why don’t you go ahead and get this thing started.”

  I turned back to the Admiral. “He has to be broadcasting what he sees out to somewhere else. There is no other way that his new android body could have known those facts without it. Do you think we can find that signal and jam it? That way, if we kill him, he won’t come back with the knowledge of what just happened. I know it’s not much, but maybe we can show his milky-white ass why he should not mess with Humans.”

  The Admiral turned and sent an ensign scrambling with the task of finding the Duke’s data broadcast.

  The Admiral turned back with a smirk on his face. “Sounds like you don’t much care for the Duke, Don.”

  I replied, “He’s an android, Admiral. That ranks him below any alien we’ve ever met. Going to war with another species is bad enough. Machines aren’t even alive. They aren’t sentient. They are just programming. It would make me happy to see him shut down.”