The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books

by John Thornton

  “Oh sure, she is the bright one. She stays with Jerome while I am imprisoned at the Special Care Unit. Maybe I would have been free sooner, and Beta would not be gone kaput if she had not done all that excellent thinking then too?” Cammarry’s words were vilely spewed out.

  Monika was afraid Cammarry would strike her, but the comment about Beta’s demise struck hard. Beta was her home, and virtually all she knew was gone. Instead of retaliating against Cammarry’s anger, she turned away. “Sandie is there any way for us to send our weapons to Eris from anywhere close?”

  “Unfortunately no. The faster you get there physically the higher my conjectures for a successful outcome,” Sandie relied. “I was barely able to force open a single connection via the gravity conduit from Reproduction and Fabrication to Repository 17A and only by linking with SB Sherman, SB Yomaris, and SB Bodowa. The nonphysicality around Eris’ location is difficult to probe and repair.”

  “So we must get there ourselves.” Monika began to trot along the route. She neither cared nor looked back to see if Jerome or Cammarry were following her.

  ***

  In Repository 17A, Eris aimed her weapon at the gravity conduit. The instrument lights on the platform blinked in a sequence showing a Machine Maintenance override code. The permalloy on the top of the platform dilated and the opening was revealed.

  Kaboom!

  Another explosion shook the entry doors, and one of them rattled as something was shaking it from out in the corridor. Eris involuntarily glanced at it, momentarily taking her eyes from the gravity conduit platform. The door appeared to hold in place, but the seams along one side were stretched and buckled.

  Looking back, Eris saw something rising up on the cushion inside the conduit. It was an olive-drab color with a tubular extension.

  “Military automacube!” Eris yelled as her mind connected the color of the object to the only thing she knew which matched it. “Get inside the lavatory, lock the doors! I will hold it off as long as I can!” She aimed and prepared to fire as the object rose from the conduit.

  It was not the manipulation appendage of a military grade automacube. That type machine would have been too large for the conduit, but Eris’ mind was spinning from all the conflict. Rise up was a stack of five tubular objects, each seventy centimeters long, with a thick insulated tiller into which the tubes were set. Each tiller was close to fort centimeters long. Under the tube was a sliding lever, just in front of the trigger assembly.

  Eris pulled up the barrel of her RSW Model 10, then holstered it. She raced to the gravity conduit. The devices were unfamiliar to her, but were clearly some sort of tool, or a weapon. Eris grabbed them off the gravity conduit’s platform, and the instrument light then shut off. There were five of the devices, which she unpacked and spread across the deck. Each was identical, and ready to use. Small indicator lights showed on the tiller, or stock.

  Looking at the side of the device, Eris read the inscription, ‘AWAD: Advanced Widget Automacube Disabler’ which was stamped onto the side of the tiller or stock. It had a simple cocking lever slung beneath the barrel, and a trigger assemble. Her engineering mind understood how to use it, but was not sure of the effect it would have. The name was new.

  Kaboom!

  The doors to the repository caved in under the latest explosion. Eris grabbed up one AWAD, spun about and fired at the now open doorway.

  Waap!

  Eris could feel someone come and stand next to her, one of the former slaves, but she did not look away. There were tendrils of smoke snaking up from the broken door, which now lay crumpled on the deck. The darkness of the corridor showed nothing there.

  Someone patted Eris on the shoulder and she moved forward cautiously. She considered calling out to AI Batibat, but did not want to give away where she was. She longed for the com-link but that was still plugged into the access port. As she got to the door, the smell of burned flesh, chemicals, and residue from the explosives wafted past her. She nearly gagged. Peering carefully around the corner, she looked down the corridor. A red automacube was sitting next to the wall. Its manipulation arm was slumped down, hanging like a wet rag. Eris knew that was not a typical position for the arm, and it gave her some hope. She squatted down and then crawled out. She crept along, keeping as low to the deck as possible, but carrying the AWAD. The inert automacube was before her, and the other end of the corridor was in gloom and obscurity.

  “I told you Frankie! You fat head! You sent that cubie in too close to the blast. You need to wait until after the explosions go off. Dunderhead! Just count to ten, then send them in.” A male voice came out of the gloom. “Now that cubie has got itself blasted.”

  “Oh get off, and chew some lek. I did wait and count.” A female voice answered. “Chief Bernice taught us all about that. I follow instructions.”

  “So come with me now. I told the Parson we already had this place, guess we better hurry. Maybe something else is wrong with that cubie. It has not gone anywhere since that last blast.”

  Two blurry figures approached out of the gloom. They were carrying rifles, but in a lackadaisical manner.

  BLAM. BLAM.

  A weapon went off right next to Eris. She looked over and Inteus was kneeling there. He was firing her very own RSW Model 10. Eris looked back down the corridor, and both the figures had slumped to the floor. Cries of anguish, as well as choking and coughing, were coming from their stricken bodies.

  “Got you!” Inteus yelled wildly and raced forward.

  Eris leaped up and noted the other freed slaves were around her, four of them carrying the other AWADs. She raced after Inteus.

  “Wait!” Eris called out, but Inteus ignored her.

  Inteus stood over the two fallen people, who Eris now saw were dressed in patrolmen uniforms. He reached down and grabbed one of them by the hair and lifted her head.

  “Try to make me a slave again?” Inteus screamed in a hysterical frenzy.

  BLAM. He fired the RSW Model 10 right into the eye of the patrolman. The back of her head exploded, spraying red mush all over the wall. The other patrolman tried to crawl away, but he was already shot in the gut and could only kick his legs ineffectively.

  “So you were trying to make me a slave too?” Inteus bawled.

  BLAM. He fired again, and the second patrolman ceased trying to crawl away.

  Eris reached Inteus just as he was starting to run down the hall. She grabbed him and shook him.

  “Wait! That is my weapon!” Eris demanded.

  “You took out the automacube! I was taking out the trash!” Inteus cried out and laughed. “They are not so tough now!”

  She grabbed the RSW Model 10 from his hands and struck it back in her holster. She secured it down with a strap. Just then the others came up to her.

  “Sure Captain, take back your weapon,” Inteus said with a big grin. “I understand!” He reached down and grabbed one of the rifles dropped by the now dead patrolmen. He wiped the blood off of it and held it ready. “I have a replacement already! Good job Captain!”

  Eris silently prayed for guidance.

  “We have those weapons you got for us Captain,” Luljeta said to her.

  Eris turned and saw that Luljeta, Linda, Gilbert, and Doreen all carried the AWADs. They all looked nervous, but alert, casting glances in all directions.

  “There are two entry points to the repository. If we are all out here, our enemies might be getting inside,” Eris stated with as much command in her voice as she could muster. “Inteus, come with me. The rest of you go back to where the doors were breached. Use these new AWADs against any automacube that approaches. Do not let anyone accept us come in that door.” She reached down and picked up the other rifle. It was not blood soaked. She handed it to Doreen. “Only defend the repository. But remember, we will be coming back this way. If Inteus and I can sneak around to the other entrance, we might be able to knock out the attack there as well.” Eris was uncertain of who to send where, but she did not trust
Inteus to be out of her sight. She turned to him. “Inteus? Will you follow my commands?”

  “Sure Captain. I just will never be a slave again. I showed them, right?” he replied. He was bouncing on his feet and looking from side to side quickly. “I have my identification back, and now I am armed. Revenge is so good.”

  Eris grabbed him with her free hand and squeezed hard. “I understand your feeling, but listen to me! All the people inside there, nearly two thousand of them, need us to do this smart. They are depending on us, and do not even know it. I am depending on you. Please obey my commands, and we will win.”

  “Right Captain. Right!” Inteus took some deep breaths, and then said again. “Right Captain. Right. I am your man!”

  “Good. Now, we will quietly sneak around to the other entry. I want to line up a shot with the AWAD. If they hear us coming the automacubes will shoot or burn the whole corridor.”

  A crackling sound came from one of the dead bodies. Then a voice came from some type of audio transceiver. “Hey Frankie and Meredith, I cannot get a response from your cubie. What is your status?”

  Eris picked up the transceiver, taking it from the belt of one of the patrolmen. Eris tried to not look at the mangled, bloody, oozing stump of a head which was all that remained above her neck.

  “Frankie? Meredith? Are you there?” the voice asked again. “Those two are probably off getting their jollies. I told that Bernice not to pair them together, but no, they go off alone with their lek and leave me to do the work. No one listens to me. No sir, no way.” The transmission ended.

  “Come on, but be very very quiet,” Eris said. She pocketed the transceiver. Then she said to Inteus, “Do not shoot without my permission. Understood?”

  “Right, sure, Captain. Right.” Inteus responded ever so quickly.

  They hustled along the dim corridor until they reached a junction. Eris had been counting the paces, and figured they were at the end of the repository. While there had been no doors to her right, which was the wall along the repository, there had been a few doors on the other side of the corridor. None of those doors opened to her presence, and the few color control pads they had passed were all dark and not powered. Only the occasional lights in the ceiling offered illumination. No other voices had come from the transceiver. When they got to the cross passageway, the smell of explosives was again in the air, this time coming from their right.

  Eris gestured to Inteus to be quiet. She peered around the corner. Down the hall where two patrolmen. They were standing and looking away from Eris. Beyond them could be seen the other entrance to Suspended Animation Repository 17A. The doors were charred from numerous explosions, but were still intact. A red automacube was placings some charges up against the seams of the door. It then used its drive wheels to roll back and away from the doors toward the patrolmen.

  Kaboom!

  The explosion’s noise echoed up the corridor, and both patrolmen held their hands over their ears. Their rifles were slung across their backs.

  “Those are who would enslave us!” Inteus said rather too loudly.

  Eris grabbed him and pushed him back around the corner while she put her hand across his mouth. “Hush, right now!” She stared into his eyes, and he nodded. She thought the echoes had probably covered his words, but Eris did not want to risk exposure.

  “I will knock out the automacube, and then we deal with the patrolmen,” Eris instructed.

  He nodded again and she removed her hand from over his mouth.

  Eris got the AWAD into her hands, cocked the lever, checked the indicator lights, and then squatted down and duck-walked around the corner. The red automacube was beyond the patrolmen, heading back toward the door. At the end of its manipulation arm was what she assumed as another explosive charge.

  Waap! Eris fired the AWAD.

  The patrolmen heard the discharge, and spun around. The automacube stopped, but then spinning its left three wheels clockwise, and the right wheels in the reverse direction, the machine quickly rotated around in its own length. It then charged toward them.

  “What? Missed?” Eris muttered to herself. “Or out of range?”

  Both patrolmen quickly unslung their rifles, dropped to a prone position, and began firing.

  Bam. Bam. Bam.

  Eris ducked around the corner just before the bullets struck where she had been squatting. It was a near thing, as they zinged off the permalloy of the walls, flying into the ceiling and deck.

  Eris motioned for Inteus to move back away from the corner, as she heard the engines on the red automacube growling with increased power. She cocked the AWAD again, but wondered if it was a single-use-only item, or if the other automacube had been damaged by the explosions and not by the AWAD. The indicator light on the weapon showed it was read to be deployed again, but Eris was uncertain what would happen. Looking down the long corridor, she doubted they could sprint fast enough to escape.

  “You run! I will wait here and slow it down,” Eris said. “Warn the others and see if you can protect the repository! Go!”

  Inteus looked at her sternly and shook his head. “Nope. You are the Captain! I will never be a slave again!” He dashed across the hallway running perpendicular to the passage where the automacube was approaching. He fired the rifle sideways as he ran.

  The exchange of fire was immense.

  Blam. Bam. Blamo. Blam. Blam. Bang. Boom. Bang.

  Bing-bam. Babang!

  The firefight raged on. Bullets flew from Inteus’ rifle as well as from the guns of the automacube and the two patrolmen. Projectiles zipped across and around Inteus as he ran, then dove for the cover of the corridor across the hall. With a rolling dive he made it behind cover, with just a slight graze to his left leg. The clothing was shredded, but the bullet had only burned a line across his thigh, not punctured his flesh.

  “Now you run!” Inteus yelled.

  Eris retreated about five meters to a doorway where she could hunker down a bit. It was little cover, and less concealment, but she would not abandon Inteus. She pulled out her RSW Model 10 and set it on the deck where she could quickly grab it, then lined up the AWAD again.

  Bang. Bang.

  Inteus was kneeling next to the corner firing down the hallway. Some ricochet sounds proved he was striking the security automacube, but Eris doubted the power of the rifle to do much serious damage to it.

  The transceiver in Eris’ pocket cracked with a message. “Frankie and Meredith! You fools stop messing around and answer me! A cursed slave’s got a gun and is shooting at us. Send your automacube down the side hallway. Order the cubies to take the slave alive!” A male voice called out. “I must know where that slave got a gun. The plantations need the slaves back! The Parson is going to be so mad. Hurry!”

  The red automacube entered the junction and turned away from Eris’ direction and toward where Inteus was squatting. He was firing as rapidly as he could into the machine, some of the bullets missing and flying down the corridor where Eris was squatting.

  Waap! Eris fired the AWAD again.

  The red automacube’s drive wheels froze in a lock position, and it skidded on the deck. Its weapon muzzles popped with a final strike and the last bullet misfired in the short barrel. The manipulation arm on its top flipped backward into a travel position and snapped in place. Then it was still.

  “Hurrah!” Inteus screamed out and charged around the corner, sidestepping the now impotent machine.

  Eris cried out, “Wait! The patrolmen!”

  Blam. Bang. Bam. Blam. Bang. Bam. Bam.

  Raging gunfire sounded from the hallway from three different guns. Eris dropped the AWAD, grabbed the RSW Model 10 and rushed up to peer around the corner.

  “Oh, dear God!” Eris cried and raced down the hallway.

  Three bodies lay spread on the floor, not ten meters apart. The dim lights were not directly over them, but in the gloom she could see they were all writhing about on the deck. As she got close to them, the nearest was not
Inteus, as she expected, but was one of the patrolmen. Eris kicked the rifle away from him as he stretched for it with one hand, while squeezing his ruined knee with the other. He also was bleeding from his side.

  “Inteus!” Eris yelled as she approached the man in the middle. He was face down on the deck, his legs kicking and looking like they were still trying to run.

  The other patrolman struggled to stand up, and he looked about for his lost rifle. He was very unsteady on his feet.

  Eris pointed the RSW Model 10 at him, and her hand shook.

  “I surrender!” the patrolman said and blood dribbled down his mouth as he did. “Do not shoot me again.” His one arm hung limply at his side. His eyes grew huge as he looked at the pistol in Eris’ trembling hand. “Commander?” Some type of recognition shone in his eyes as he stared at the RSW Model 10.