Still, the red automacube’s sensors scanned the vegetation seeking prey if they were attempting to hide amidst the small trees, shrubs, ropy vines, ferns, perennial forbs, lichens, liverworts, mosses, and a myriad of other plants which dotted the cliff face. The escarpment was not a smooth and straight surface, like the habitat’s side and end walls, but was rather an irregular, serpentine, and convoluted divider with a multitude of cracks, crevasses, and spaces. Some of those crevasses were large enough that the prey could squeeze into them and hide. The scans outwardly showed, no prey directly perceivable. However, the rocks and stones of the escarpment, even though unscalable, did offer the prey cover and concealment.
Plop! Plop!
The red machine fired canisters in each direction. They flew in high curves, and landed about fifty meters in each direction along the cliff. When the canisters struck, they expelled a gas which was only harmful to the prey. The gas floated along the face of the cliff and sank into the potential hiding places.
Two prey emerged, both coughing and gaging and waving their arms. The red machine rushed up to the nearest, a female, and the multi-jointed appendage on the top of the automacube secured the prey with chains and manacles. One of the prey’s legs already had the remnant of a manacle embedded behind its ankle. Connecting to that, the prey was made secure, and the recovery team was notified about this prey’s location.
The second prey, a male, recovered a bit from the gas and rushed back toward the jungle. The automacube whirled and pursued. It knew it could outpace the prey and waited to deploy a weapon until the most opportune time. Just as the prey was reaching the jungle, beyond where the rocks and stones were, the stun wires shot forth from the automacube and impacted into the back of the man.
“I will never be a slave again!” He yelled and tried to dig the wires from his back.
Energy surged through the wires, and the man spasmed and fell into the jungle plants. Manacles and chains were placed onto him to secure this person as well. Another report was sent into the recovery team marking the position of the third prey.
The red machine searched the floor of the jungle and then back along the base of the escarpment. The number of prey had not been definitely determined during the pursuit, so it hunted onward. Finding footprints here in the pebbly surface was much more difficult than seeing the footprints on the animal trail, or seeing the marks of passage in the jungle, but with its equipment, the automacube did pick up a faint heat signature.
The machine altered its drive wheels a bit and headed off, following the residual heat, possibly left behind by the prey. The machine kept up its pursuit and came to a small maintenance access door, cleverly hidden in the face of the escarpment. As the red automacube rolled up to the door, a negative function sound was heard. The door remained closed.
Extending its manipulation arm outward, a small cable was inserted into an access port. Again the negative function sound came from the door. The red security automacube made a report to Machine Maintenance about the inoperative door. It then relayed a mission update message to its controllers.
Patrol Chief Bernice’s voice came across the audio of the automacube. “Return to Aston for your next assignment.”
Behind the door in the escarpment, a man stood leaning over. His hands were on his knees as he panted heavily. Huge drops of sweat fell from his face and ran down his chest. A severed chain lay next to his bare left foot. Those few links were still connected to a loop of permalloy situated between the Achilles tendon and the bones. The metal pierced his foot completely and was surrounded by a calloused-over, well-healed scar. As he took a step and more deep breaths, the gray metal moved freely in the healed hole behind his ankle. He looked at the well-lit corridor behind him. The nine-section color control pad, which had locked the door, was cycling through its various colors. As his lungs filled with more air he croaked out, “Thank you!”
“I am just sorry your companions did not also see the door I opened for you,” SB Sherman stated. “I can only do so much for you escaped slaves, especially since you are missing proper identification.”
“They took that away from me too,” the man huffed. “But I will not return to their slavery or those lek plantations. I will die first.”
“We are trying to accomplish two tasks which are difficult. We want to prevent a return of people to slavery, and orchestrate an end to the conflict here in Alpha,” SB Sherman stated. “I have some compeers who are working on your behalf. I will arrange for doors to open for you to reach a safe hideaway. There are other slaves who have escaped and are in hiding.”
“And to think, I was a human services professional before I was reanimated.” He stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow. “How did we ever end up like this?”
SB Sherman began to explain the history of Habitat Alpha when two people came sprinting down the corridor. The escaped man, retreated up against the wall, and looked at these newcomers with fear and trepidation.
“They are friends,” SB Sherman stated.
The man and woman were both wearing blue and grey outfits and had small backpacks tightly strapped on. The woman had a medium complexion, oval face, with narrow brown eyes, and long, straight, silky, dark-brown hair parted down the middle. She was slender, fit and moved with purpose. Over her ear was a device of some kind. She was holding a single-handed weapon, which she used to point at the panting man. She shifted the aim away nearly immediately.
Her male counterpart, whose clothing was a match to that of the woman’s, also had a medium complexion, but somewhat lighter than the woman. He was taller than she, and had short, curly, dark-brown hair and intense hazel eyes. His lean and muscular frame moved with precision. He too had a device over an ear, but he carried a two-handed weapon. A second weapon was in a holster on his belt.
“Where are the others?” the woman demanded.
The escaped man, still huffing with exhaustion and fear, mumbled a rely. “In the biome. They automacube got them.”
“Not for long!” the woman barked. “SB Sherman, open the door.”
“Yes, Cammarry,” the mechanical voice replied.
“Jerome, that new weapon gets one chance,” Cammarry stated, as they moved into the biological habitat. “If it fails, this will be used.” She looked at the Willie Blaster she held. “Use yours too, none of these slaves are going back.”
“Siva and Peter are confident this prototype AWAD will work. They made it using standard parts in an unusual configuration. Pretty ingenious. If close enough, they said it will even disrupt a security automacube,” Jerome said and patted the long weapon. It was an olive-drab color with a tubular barrel seventy centimeters long, and a thick and insulating butt stock. Under the tube was a sliding lever, just in front of the trigger assembly. Jerome cocked that lever back, then slid it forward again. “The EMP and ND are ready!”
“One chance only,” Cammarry said. “Then I do it my way. Sandie? Where are the automacubes?”
Jerome and Cammarry snuck out of the door and hid among the rocky areas, squatting down and getting as much cover and concealment as possible.
“There is a security automacube moving away from this location, roughly one-hundred-twelve meters from here, traveling along the edge of the escarpment,” Sandie replied. “There are three others approaching from the jungle path.”
“Here is your one chance. Are you ready?” Cammarry asked.
Jerome peered over the top of a rock, and aimed the weapon. He double checked that it was ready, then he nodded.
She then stepped out from the rocky cliff face and yelled. “Here I am! Come and get me!”
The red automacube whirled about on its drive wheels, just as Cammarry dove back among the rocks.
Blam! Blam! Bullets ricocheted off the rocks nearby.
Waap! Jerome fired the AWAD, and then cocked it again.
There was no visible effect on the red automacube. It was rolling quickly toward them, and was about sixty yards away.
Waap! Jerome fired again.
Piff. Piff. Cammarry fired at nearly the exact same time.
The red automacube spun about from the impact of Cammarry’s Willie Blaster projectiles. One struck it on the front right side, and the second caught it in the lower middle front. The weapon muzzle on the automacube was destroyed, and the machine surged a bit as its left side drive wheels spun about. Fluids were leaking out, and its final movements were a herky-jerky shudder of broken internal machinery.
“Did this have any effect?” Jerome asked. He cocked the AWAD again.
“You had your one chance,” Cammarry smiled and laughed a bit at him. “I was not impressed. Now we save those people.”
Jerome and Cammarry rushed out and darted quickly across the rocks to where they could take cover in the jungle.
“Sandie? Where are the humans?” Cammarry asked into the com-link.
The artificial intelligence system Sandie responded. “Using the com-links scanner, I identify three humans who are immobilized. Conjectures show high probability they were slaves attempting escape.”
“Not who they are, but where?” Cammarry snapped angrily.
“The nearest is just ahead near the cliff face. They others are in the jungle. You will find a path, the second and third are along that path, deeper into the jungle,” Sandie replied. “There are also two humans and three automacubes approaching along that same path. They are not security automacubes, it is unlikely these others people are escaping slaves.”
Jerome and Cammarry ran as fast as they could toward the spot Sandie indicated. They found the woman, bound, on the ground. She looked terrified, and wiggled in a worthless attempt to escape.
Jerome knelt down by her. “We are here to help. This conflict will stop. Humans have bigger threats than…”
“Jerome, if you want to try that AWAD again come with me now. Philosophize later.” Cammarry headed up the trail. “You really chatter too much.”
“I will be back. You will be saved.”
The wide-eyed woman wrestled more against her restraints.
They entered the jungle. Cammarry vaulted over the next body, without even looking at the man’s condition. Jerome glanced at him, and saw he was breathing, but had been bloodied a bit. As he ran along behind Cammarry he recalled a reading he had done years before back in Dome 17. ‘I hope that no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.’ Then Jerome added in a whisper, “The Crocks are our real enemies. Cammarry will learn that soon, I hope.”
The third man was located, and at that point Cammarry darted off the path and disappeared into the jungle foliage. Jerome took to the other side of the path, recognizing that she had seen something ahead.
Rolling along the pathway was a yellow automacube, followed by a green one, and then two people in patrolman uniforms. Each patrolman was carrying a high-powered rifle. Behind them was a white automacube.
Very quietly, through the com-link over his ear, Jerome heard Cammarry’s whisper. “You get one more shot. I am generous. Take it when ready.”
Jerome aimed the AWAD at the approaching automacube. The distance was much closer than his prior shots which had seemed ineffective. He sighted in, remembering that Siva and Peter had said the weapon had a meter-wide impact area. Jerome wished the lead automacube was a red, security model, like the one Cammarry had destroyed, as that would be the best test. But he fired at the yellow transport automacube anyway.
Waap!
The odd sound echoed through the jungle. The patrolmen looked around, but did not crouch down, or take any evasive action. Their actions were surprising in light of the gunfire which had taken place only moments before, but Jerome did not ponder their inactivity for long. He was busy watching a positive result from his weapon’s action.
The yellow automacube seized up. Its drive wheels locked in place. The manipulation arm on its top drooped with loss of power.
“Hurrah!” Jerome cocked the lever on the AWAD and fired at the next automacube.
Waap!
The green machine was struck by the invisible force. Again there was a positive response. This time, the automacube’s systems put several of its drive wheels into a frenzy, while the others locked in place. The green automacube spun about, then flipped over in the jungle foliage.
“Hey!” one of the patrolmen yelled. He raised his rifle and let off a burst of five rounds. His rifle burped out the bullets.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The wildly inaccurate shooting landed nowhere near where Jerome and Cammarry were hidden.
Piff! Cammarry fired her Willie Blaster.
The patrolman was struck in his chest. The high-speed projectile destroyed his torso, and his dead body was flung backward. Cammarry had left the Willie Blaster on its maximum setting. The other patrolman, a plump woman, took off up the trail, screaming and yelling for help. She did not bother to even try to aim her rifle, but instead fled in sheer panic.
Cammarry aimed, but the patrolman made it around a bend and was hidden from view. Cammarry raced after her. Jerome rose and ran along, trying to get a bead on the white automacube. Just as he was about to fire the AWAD, Cammarry fired her Willie Blaster again.
Piff!
The white automacube exploded with the impact. Its side caved in, and the exit wound on the other side sprayed out the internal workings of the medical machine. Cammarry darted around the wreckage. Jerome caught a glimpse of her face, and she was smiling broadly and leering down at the destroyed automacube.
“Cammarry wait! The AWAD works!” Jerome chased after her.
Piff. Piff.
The last patrolman fell dead up the trail. Both of the shots Cammarry had fired had struck into her back. She went down in a heap. As Cammarry got to her, she looked down at the dead patrolman. There was a package of lek sticking up from a pants pocket. The brown sticks of intoxicating substances had been chewed. On the patrolman’s belt was a radio. Cammarry took that off, threw it down, and stomped it into pieces. The rifle Cammarry slung over her own shoulder.
Jerome reached her. “The AWAD worked. We could have just disabled that medical automacube.”
“You had your test,” Cammarry said sullenly. “I had some revenge. We both win.” Tapping her com-link she asked, “Sandie? Any more humans or automacubes in the vicinity?”
“No,” Sandie answered. “Although my scanning ability from the com-links is limited, and our lattice of compeers here in Alpha’s biome is very limited.”
“Cammarry, we need every asset we can acquire, and then use to our advantage here in Alpha,” Jerome said. “This conflict is a distraction from the real menace of the Crocks. We have to be ready for them.”
“Grab that other patrolman’s rifle. You know that Reproduction and Fabrication still refuses to make us any weapons. The escaped slaves need what we can provide.” Cammarry walked down the jungle trail. “I will start cutting loose the freed slaves. We need to get them inside the corridors and out of the biome as fast as possible.”
“I will also reset the yellow and green automacubes. They can be helpful to ending this conflict. I sure wish resetting the reds was as easy as the other kinds,” Jerome said. “We must unite the humans and get ready to face the Crocks.”
Cammarry took out her medical kit as she squatted down by the unconscious man. Connecting him to it, she set it to work. His leg injury was significant, but could be healed. She injected a syringe as instructed by the medical kit. Then using a molecular torch, she tenderly and carefully cut loose his restraints, and the cruel permalloy ring which passed through his leg. The well-healed scar with its open fistula may never heal completely over, without surgical intervention, however, the man would walk rather quickly.
The next escapee was in better condition, and Cammarry skillfully set her free from the restraints.
“Are you from the flight crew? I wondered when you would come,” the woman said in
a trembling voice.
“No. There is a Captain named, Eris who is working on getting the flight crew reconstituted. Right now you and your friends need to get out of the biome.” Cammarry pointed and then gestured. “Help your friend there to get moving.”
The green and yellow automacubes were assessed and reset by Jerome. One placed upright, the machines appeared to have suffered no significant mechanical damage. He connected the cable from his com-link into an access port on each one, and then Sandie did the rest. Sandie took the default settings, which the AWAD caused, and set them to answer only to Sandie and the few synthetic brains of Alpha which were allied to them. The programs were rebooted, and the automacubes looked to be functioning again, but now under different control. The automacubes then rolled off as instructed on their various new missions.
The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books Page 148
