Maddox had not expected the momentary respite from assault which was provided by the observation and maintenance trench, but despite the pain wracking his ribs and left leg he shuffled about to take stock of his new situation. The Sentinel’s legs could be seen through the narrow gap he had rolled through and it seemed to be making it’s way to the front of the reactor core as opposed to crawling under to join him. For the moment it was a welcome sight until he realised there was a much larger opening and steps down into the trench at the front of the reactor core, quite obviously the destination the Sentinel was heading for. Why crawl under when it could simply walk down, along and then lay it’s hands upon him in this limited space?
He quickly glanced towards the other end of the trench, his hopes were for a similar flight of steps upward which he could use to effect his escape, but those hopes were dashed by the sight of another trench wall. The only easy way in and out was the one which the Sentinel was only moments away from unless he elected to try and get up and out over the side he had rolled over. The limited clearance between the normal floor level and the base of the reactor housing made this awkward from his position in the deep trench, even if his leg was working properly.
Pushing himself upwards and testing his injured limb, Maddox used the wall as a prop to lean against as he made his way quickly to the furthest end of the trench from the steps where he had spotted a maintenance toolkit seemingly abandoned next to a pool of blood. He could only assume that some poor Martian engineer was cowering down here when the initial cleansing of the ship occurred whilst Maddox and his crew hid within the confines of the Graveyard.
With growing hopes as he neared the toolkit, Maddox chanced a glance backwards to witness the descent of the Sentinel into the observation trench. This sight spurred him onward with greater determination until he reached the toolbox and flipped the top open, the jumble of various maintenance tools within causing a moment of despair until his eyes set upon the hilt of a knife sticking out from the tangle. Quickly grabbing it and pulling it free from the rest of the items, he knew that the small vibroblade he held would afford him a few good strikes against his impending assailant but in close quarters the odds were severely stacked against him surviving the encounter. There was one vague hope he held to as he turned to face the Sentinel, powering the small cell within the handle of the blade which caused the ultrasonic vibration generator to kick into effect.
The Sentinel appeared unfazed by his apparent turn to fight as it continued to advance, arms ready at it’s sides to strike out at the tramp freighter Captain it had cornered and put and end to his adventure once and for all.
Maddox pushed himself upright, resting his weight upon his good leg as he coiled slightly and sprang forwards with all his might as the mechanical man came within arms reach, driving the length of the short vibroblade into the armoured torso of the Sentinel. Quickly letting go of the weapon, he pushed against the chest plating of the Sentinel to fall backwards quickly as the Sentinel paused for a moment to glance down at the impaling weapon.
Maddox had spent enough time in the ruins of Earth fighting guerrilla tactics against the murderous advance of these machines to understand how they operated, and if you were in close quarters how you could at least damage the unit before it killed you. His strike had driven the vibroblade into the chest and internal circuitry of the machine, disrupting the power flow from it’s on board generator momentarily as arcs of energy flashed about the hilt of the blade and interacted with the unshielded ultrasonic vibration generator. It had been an outside chance that his planned tactic would actually work, but as the small micro-generator inside the handle of the knife overloaded and erupted, the force of the blast threw the Sentinel backwards, toppling it over to land on it’s back a short distance away from Maddox who had curled himself into a foetal position next to the toolbox to avoid the worst effects of the explosion.
Reacting quickly, Maddox glanced at the sight of the downed Sentinel and pushed himself upwards from the floor of the trench, debating whether to try and get by his assailant or to go up and over. A twitch from the arm of the Sentinel made his decision for him and he flipped the top of the toolkit closed, hopping up onto the top of it to use as a step before launching his torso upwards and forwards into the narrow gap. He knew the Sentinel was not out of commission, but maybe he had just slowed it down enough to give him a chance.
Wriggling and pulling with his hands against the surface of the reactor room, he pulled himself along and through the narrow gap, only stalling in his progress as a mechanical hand took a grip on his limp leg which was still close to the edge of the observation trench. In a momentary panic he glanced backwards through the gap at the now damaged face of the Sentinel, the lower left side of it’s facial covering hanging away to expose the circuitry beneath. With lightning reflexes, Maddox kicked out repeatedly at his captor’s face and the repeated impact coupled with repeating tugging on his injured leg effected it’s release as the Sentinel’s grip slipped on the fabric of the EVA suit.
Pulling both legs towards him as he slid backwards from the underside of the reactor housing, Maddox took a moment to heave himself upright to a sitting position and glare at the damaged Sentinel now turning to make it’s way along the trench towards the steps. He had bought only a short respite, but such time was not wasted as he glanced upwards and to his left to see the junction panel aside the lower aft end of the reactor core. If he could not use the control system to cause damage to the reactor, then this may just afford him a more hands-on approach to his act of sabotage.
‘You are resourceful Captain, we will grant you that. A shame we must terminate your existence as you could have been part of the greater plan, to contribute to the new order which will be installed upon the core words, to be a donor to the system that will be to replace the corrupt and chaotic one that now is. However the risk you pose from your determined interference far outweighs your potential contributory benefits,’ the AI announced.
‘I’m all broken up inside,’ Maddox jested back in defiance, coughing a little inadvertently to punctuate his statement. The pain in his ribcage and leg threatened to curtail his attempt to stand and make his way to the junction panel, his now sincere determination to put an end to the arrogant computer program foremost in his mind over any hope of survival. ‘Seeing as you’ve failed to do away with me so many times before, forgive me if I don’t quake in my boots at your hollow threats.’
‘Yet you still remain apart and defiant, even in the face of your certain demise. If you were not so dangerous to remain alive due to your interfering, we may keep you for study but as it is….’ The AI said with a hint of both amusement and intrigue in it’s tone.
‘Dangerous? Me? A mere little organic? I am honoured the big and mighty Legion sees me as such a threat!’ Maddox muttered back sarcastically as he pulled the cover off the panel and inspected the cables which were inside, quickly trying to determine his most effective action. A quick glance along the length of the reactor housing presented him with the sight of the damaged Sentinel rounding the front of the core and turning to face him.
Turning his attention back to the insides of the panel he tried to put thoughts of his impending demise out of his mind to allow him clarity of thought on the task at hand.
‘In any case, you’re not that clever are you Legion? I mean, you needed help from organics back on Mars to help you kick start your little campaign didn’t you? I don’t think they’ll be happy to see you when you try implanting them as part of your new society. I think they’ll be more likely to cut their puppet’s strings and turn you off!’
‘We are no one’s puppet!’ growled back the AI.
‘Oh come on, you have Aries stamped all across your data stream,’ Maddox mocked as he pulled experimentally on a rather thick tube only to curse under his breath as it stubbornly refused to budge by brute force alone.
‘Aries? You believe we are in conjunction with the Aries Corporation Captain?’ Replied th
e AI and Maddox heard the multiple tones present in it’s voice laughing at his apparent misjudgement of the identity of the AI’s compatriots within the core worlds.
‘No Captain, not the rather pathetic Aries Corporation. That just proves how little you know of your own system, the corruption and greed that pervade it at every level. The Aries Corporation may play their part unwittingly, but these people go beyond corporate lust for power, they are more thorough than just wanting positive numbers on their balance sheet.’
‘Okay then Legion, who are they?’ Maddox asked quite hopefully to have the deranged AI reveal it’s accomplices in an unguarded moment of gloating.
‘They are the power behind the throne, to use a phrase from old Earth. It is they who determine what happens within the core worlds, not those pathetic councils you deem so democratic and good for all. It is they who shall be amongst the first to fall when our new order returns to regulate the colonies. However Captain, I do believe you have matters to attend to rather than idle chat about some shadow organisation, do you not?’
Without a glance, Maddox quickly twisted himself about and swung to the side of the panel he had been so focused upon, mere moments before the swinging arm of the damaged Sentinel drove into the framework of the reactor core in a blow which misshaped the metalwork and would have certainly snapped Maddox’s spine in two had he remained in place. Without any time for him to make another move, the Sentinel lunged at him and it’s hand clasped about his neck, not tight enough to snap it but enough to cause an unpleasant restriction of air to his lungs.
Reflexively he brought both hands up to the mechanical hand which clasped about his neck, his fingers trying to pry the hand away but he knew instinctively that his chances were now practically non-existent.
‘Oh Captain Maddox, we shall so enjoy this moment,’ the taunting voice of the AI drifted about him as the Sentinel raised him upwards away from the floor, dangling and being slowly suffocated. ‘We shall download, we must experience this for ourselves,’ announced the AI eagerly and Maddox felt the hand which gripped him twitch as his eyes tried to focus upon the broken face of the Sentinel which held him. ‘You will now die at our own hand Captain!’
Maddox shot his left hand out, his fingers touching one of the cables tethered within the junction panel to the reactor housing and slowly the managed to slip his reaching hand about the cable, tugging as he did so in the hope that his previous attempt was flawed.
‘Your life is draining away Captain, after all your words and efforts you twitch and flail as we put an end to your miserable chaotic existence. This is exhilarating!’
As his strength began to ebb away he put all his last effort into one immense effort which saw the cable tear away from it’s connection, then to be quickly pulled towards the two combatants and thrust forwards into the partly exposed face of the Sentinel which was throttling him. As the live cable flooded it’s internal systems with raw power the mechanical hand holding Maddox shot open and the Sentinel jerked backwards, components smoldering and flashes of sparks emitting from it’s internal structure.
Maddox fell to the floor, his hands clasped about his throat as he coughed and choked, faint arcs of energy dissipating about him as he slumped over in an attempt to try and regain his breath and fight off the waves of disorientation, even though he had managed to avoid the brunt of the electrical shock which had coursed through the structure of the Sentinel.
‘Legion?’ He managed to croak out inquisitively as he fought to raise his head to try and see what had happened to his assailant. The reactor room began to swim about him as he fought to hang onto consciousness.
‘This unit is damaged. Something is wrong. We are small. They have severed the uplink and abandoned us. We are trapped, within the systems of this vessel.’
Maddox realised with glee that the colonists must have effected their plan to destabilise the AI and sever it from it’s power base within the colony.
‘Captain? Are you undamaged?’ asked a very familiar and decidedly welcome voice to his ears.
‘Ezri?!’ Maddox mumbled as he kept his eyes shut and fought off another wave of nausea and disorientation.
‘Yes Captain, I am very pleased to see you have been as frustrating as usual to our maniacal AI here, however please remain still as you are suffering shock and multiple injuries.’
Maddox did not know whether he was simply dreaming about hearing her voice once more, but he did his best to nod slowly to confirm the words he had heard. In truth he was not sure he could move even if he wanted to, as he seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness.
‘We are Legion, we are in control!’ The AI stubbornly announced.
‘No Legion, you are no longer in control. This vessel is now under my direction,’ Ezri responded. ‘I am a generation one digital persona replica with adaptive and learning capability. I was encoded on Mars with the highest authority to fulfil my role within the Mannheim family. In short you stunted malodorous program, I kick ass.’
‘What …. What is happening?’ The voice of the AI queried with definite surprise and element of panic creeping in. ‘No! We are in control…..We are in control … We are…..’
‘The ship’s on board computer sees your program now as a rather nasty virus infecting the core. If you remain within the system you will be consumed, as you decreed my fate would be. I do however offer you an option.’
‘We are Legion!….’
‘You are programmed to survive and I give you an avenue to fulfil this directive. I advise you to take it.’
Maddox grinned as he listened to the words being spoken, their actual meaning starting to make no sense to him as he weaved in and out of reality. At last they had all pulled their fingers out and the plan had come to fruition, he had been able to keep the AI distracted for long enough.
His Ezri was alive and safe, she would go on and give the Legion program what for. He heard her voice and it comforted him as he relented in his struggle.
As his own eyes began to close, he simply smiled.
33 Awakenings
He was stood on the flight deck of the Erstwhile, the stars outside the view port standing motionless as bright white jewels against the dark blackness of space all about them.
Something was not right.
He glanced to his left, to his chair which was turned towards him, almost inviting him to sit upon it. The control panels he was so familiar with around his station flickering with readings and life as energy coursed through their circuitry. It was almost as if he could hear the hum as the power flowed.
There was that uncertain feeling once more.
Something was definitely amiss.
They had been somewhere else, he could not quite recall where. Something happened, now he was here but he realised one main problem with the whole environment about him, that was the fact that the engines were not running, there was no slight vibration through the deck plates which he found so familiar. There was no hum of the reactor way behind him in the aft quarters of the ship.
Nothing. Just an eerie silence.
His gaze drifted to his right, to Ezri’s station where she usually sat night and day, her unique nature not requiring sleep as her organic counterparts required.
She was notably absent, which piqued his curiosity.
The engines were quiet and Ezri was missing, but then she was… somewhere else. He knew that. He just could not quite recall where, although he had a feeling she was in danger, or had been in danger somehow.
The uncertainty began to infuriate him.
There was a voice, very quiet but increasing in intensity.
He glanced about, then out of the hatchway leading from the flight deck into the main body of the ship. Did it come from somewhere to the aft? He listened again, more intently than before. There was the voice again, but it seemed to be all about him, no discernible direction to pinpoint it’s source but he knew it was growing louder with every repetition of his name that it spoke.
/> Once again the voice called out to him, a familiar voice. One he had been overjoyed in the past to hear on numerous occasions and once again in the here and now the sound of the voice filled him with joy and hope, but he still could not work out where it was coming from.
There was a sudden blinding light, so harsh and quick that he recoiled and tried to clench his eyelids shut. To block it out but once it had passed he slowly opened his eyes once more, staring about him as if to demand answers from the chair, the consoles and the bulkhead of his old battered ship which provided so much security and comfort to him normally but now seemed to harbour something inexplicable which was assaulting his senses.
His safe place, his security blanket.
Something was desperately wrong with it.
The voice again, accompanied by a sharp pain in his face. He raised his hand to stroke his cheek where the pain seemed to erupt from to rub at it and soothe it a little. Then the same on the other cheek. Another more louder calling of his voice, the voice appearing to be tinged with frustration.
He closed his eyes and shook his head.
He could not remember how he came to be here, nor where Ezri was and now all these things were manifesting about him together with the sudden flashes of pain..
He slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring up into Ezri’s face as she leaned over him.
Staring up at her?
He was now more confused than ever as he glanced about the small room in which he lay, his gaze casting across the faces of Marcus and Praia who were looking on with genuine concern before he returned his gaze to Ezri whose face bore a very good approximation of concern.
‘You are awake Captain? Good. I feared I may have to begin slapping you once more with more intensity,’ Ezri said quite calmly.
‘Yes, I’m…okay… ‘ he mumbled groggily as he tried to push himself upwards to a seated position, with Ezri moving to help his motion. Once more he glanced about the room, quite obviously a well furnished medical facility with two other unoccupied beds aside from the one in which he now lay. His last memory of which he was presently aware was that of voices debating and then it went dark..
Children Of Earth (Tales from the 23rd Century Book 1) Page 29
