"Joni!" I yelled. "Blast that portal gate and head for the main generator hallway. We need you to stop those bots before they cut all of our power!"
Joni replied, "I can’t kill the portal! I hit that and this whole ship might go with it!"
Jack said back to her, "Forget about the portal gate itself! Pop one of those position stabilizers! The portal will shut itself down!"
Joni yelled back. "Scratch one stabilizer... I don't see a difference. Heading for the generators!"
Garrett and Go came into the room panting. "That happened so fast. We couldn't stop them."
I pointed back toward the door. "Keep watch on those stairs!"
Go nodded as he drew in air. "OK, but the colonel has them blocked off."
Jack said over his shoulder, "Six generators are already down! That leaves fourteen and I see bots already on five of them!"
I asked, "How long until we reach the surface?"
Jack replied, "Three minutes plus a few seconds. Joni has to hold at least one of those gens or we aren't stopping until that ground stops us. And I don't think any of us would be all too happy about that."
"Joni?" I yelled. "How we looking?"
Joni replied, "Just at the end of the hall. I have two generators behind me. The comm inhibitor is shutting them down. They're stacking up in front of me."
I flipped on the video feed of the docking bay, sending it to the holo-wall. Bots continued to stream out of the portal gate we had taken from Jorus.
I flipped my comm to the colonel. "Mr. Harper. Can you go shut that portal down? Joni took out one of the location stabilizers, but the gate is still operational."
The colonel replied, "I'll see what I can do. But be prepared, I don't know how long Go and Garrett can hold this stairwell. Those bots were pushing pretty hard."
I said, "Just shut down that gate, Colonel, or they'll keep coming through."
I stood and ran toward the stairs with my blaster out and ready.
Frig said, "I wish I could offer my assistance, but warfare is not my forte. If it's any consolation, Quan continues to function although his comm circuits are having problems. We may not have fully removed those from the ship."
"Jack," I said over the comm, "how long?"
Jack replied, "Forty seven seconds. We're almost home."
Joni yelled, "I've lost containment of the left generator! They came through the wall! I'm moving up to try to stop that from happening to the last one!"
Jack said, "Gen number two is down. We're on our last leg. Twenty-eight seconds."
The colonel powered toward the back of the ship. "The portal gate is offline! I'm headed back to give Joni a hand!"
The bots had pushed us to the top of the stairs. We were desperate for a break.
I flipped down my face shield as I pulled my maul from its holder, crushing a bot as it came up the stairs.
Go and Garrett followed me down into the flurry of green laser pulses coming up from the bots. We fired our blasters, clearing off two flights of steps just below.
Joni yelled, "We've lost containment! Last gen is going down!"
Jack replied over a comm feed, "Three... two... crap!"
The lights flickered as the massive portal ship hit the ground hard. The lowest deck collapsed as the ship's momentum came to a stop. Go, Garrett, and I were jolted off our feet, I pushed myself up, quickly adjusting to the gravity of Effica.
The bots continued their assault.
I yelled out as I fired several bolts, "Colonel, I thought you took out the gate? These bots are still fighting!"
Joni replied, "Hold on! They must have slipped an AI aboard."
The colonel said, "Get out of there and shut yourselves in the op-center! I'm on my way!"
I gestured to Go and Garrett. "Back in the op-center! We'll hold up there!"
As we sprinted down the hall and into the room, Garrett slammed the door shut behind us. I rolled over to face the oncoming attack. The door began to glow red from the onslaught of laser pulses.
Several seconds later the door dented with a loud bang. The bots outside went silent.
The colonel blinked in beside me. "I took about half out with a tungsten round. Joni must have taken out the AI, the rest just went dead."
Joni blinked in beside him. "Party's over. There were two AIs running them from the bay."
The colonel kicked open the dented door, looking down the hall. "Looks like we're done."
I replied, "Done about covers it colonel. We no longer have a portal."
Chapter 21
* * *
Our lone portal ship was down. All links to the Yallux galaxy had been broken. Go followed the colonel through the mess of destroyed and silenced bots for an inspection of the damage to the generators. It wasn't long before we received the bad news.
Go came over the comm. "They are down and we don't have the parts to fix them. Spares were down in storage on the lower deck. Everything there was crushed."
I opened a comm through a QE tag we had placed at Dallex. "General Gurus. Please send a few dozen ships to Effica. We're in need of generator parts, engineers and ship tradesmen. We have extensive repairs that need to be taken care of as soon as possible."
When the comm closed, Go was shaking his head. "They can't make repairs here. There's too much damage."
I said, "If they can get a couple generators going, do you think she would fly?"
Go winced. "That's difficult to say. She came down hard. It might not just be the generators that are shot. There could be problems with structural integrity."
I asked, "What about the portal gate up front?"
Go gestured, "Let's go check it out. If it can be salvaged, we could eventually put it in a new ship if the Quantix won't fly."
Jack walked behind us. "Am I the only one worried about the AIs knowing where we are? We should be leaving this planet as soon as possible."
Garrett said, "We still have Joni and the Colonel to keep us safe. Unless they show up with a fleet, of course."
The colonel came over the comm. "I'm just outside. When you're done with the portal gate, you'll want to come see this."
I replied, "Just tell us what you're looking at, Colonel."
The colonel pushed data to my arm pad display. "I think you'll see that this bird won't fly. Half the decks down the port side have been laid wide open. We aren't doing any repairs down here without it being a major operation."
I took a deep breath. "I was afraid the damage from that landing might be too much."
I walked around the corner into the gate room. "Colonel? Can you see the nose of the ship?"
The colonel replied, "Hold on... you're not going to like this either. The nose is split in half, and I'm guessing that's a part of the portal gate I'm looking at."
I sighed. "Everything is cocked hard to one side in here. We're going to need another gate if we build a new ship."
The colonel replied, "Maybe this is for the better. We can't go there, but nobody else comes through."
I shook my head. "Not acceptable to me, Colonel. My wife and family are there and they are at the mercy of the AIs. I have to go to them."
The colonel blinked in beside us. "I think that pretty much settles it then."
The colonel slapped me hard on the back. "We're gonna need a new gate."
Go said, "I'm in."
Garrett and Joni nodded. "Us too."
I glanced over to see a smiling Jack. "Wouldn't wanna miss out."
I slowly bowed and raised my head. "You are true friends. No, you are more than that. You are family, and I would lay my life down a thousand times for each of you."
Jack chuckled. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that. I mean, the first dozen times might be entertaining. After that... meh."
I nodded to everyone in thanks as I placed my hand on Jack's shoulder and gently squeezed.
The colonel again slapped my back hard. "Beutcher, what do you have for us to do at the moment? What can we organize
or accomplish?"
It was a moment I had not expected. The colonel was implying that I was the defacto leader of our group. It was not something I had thought deeply about or wished for. We had always been a team, but a team of equals, not a team led by an individual. I felt a sudden weight of responsibility.
I cleared my throat. "How's our food rations?"
Jack answered, "I can go check."
I looked at Tom Harper. "Colonel, what do we have for defenses should an AI ship show up?"
The colonel grinned, "I'll get right on that, Mr. Beutcher."
I turned to Go. "You think you can scout out living quarters for us? Are ours intact? The Colonel's camera showed a bit of snow on the ground outside. Will we need a way to stay warm?"
Go smiled, "I'll see what I can do."
Garrett stepped forward. "What can I do to help?"
I glanced around. "Take Raptor for a walk. He hasn't been out in a while. It might do him some good."
Garrett returned a half disappointed look at the level of his task. A nudge from Raptor changed his train of thought.
Joni asked. "And me?"
I pointed up. "We need a recon of this area. Get us a deep scan for ten kilometers in each direction, then go higher and get one out to a hundred."
Joni nodded and smiled as she blinked out.
I looked over the warped ramp-way leading up to what was at one time a portal gate.
I shook my head as I talked to myself. "I hope you know what you're doing. These people are counting on you for leadership and you had better deliver. For that matter, Getta is counting on you, too."
I took another deep breath as I turned and began the walk back toward the op-center. As I walked the hallways heading back I took note of the emergency lighting.
I opened a comm. "Go, how long can we expect the ship's batteries to last?"
Go replied, "I checked the manual on my arm pad. It said three to four days. If we shut down the sections of the ship we won't be using, we could easily triple that. And if you were curious, there's only one battery and it's not very big. My guess would be that if you don't have enough power for life support, lighting won't much matter."
As I walked past the body parts of my dead Talisans, and through the scattered debris of the bots, I stopped at the door to the op-center. "There's nothing we need in here. Go? Anything left of the crew quarters?"
Go replied, "We took out all but two rooms when we widened that bay. There are six bunks in each and a single bath, but we don't have power to pump or heat the water. We are going to have to make accommodations by going outside. I can get started digging a pit."
Garrett asked, "A pit? For what?"
Go laughed. "I guess if you've spent your whole life on a ship you wouldn't know. Back out in the sticks where I lived as a boy, we dug a pit and built a seat over it. When you gotta go, you go in the pit. It's called maintaining a minimum level of sanitation. Come on. We'll build it together. I can always use another digger."
Joni blinked in. "I have a better idea. Pick the spot you want your pit and I can blink out and in a few times to dig it for you. Will only take me seconds."
Go nodded. "I like the way you think. Just pick a spot and Garrett and I can work to build some privacy around it."
Jack walked into the op-center. "We have food for a couple months. It would be double that, but the freezers are down. If we focus on the food from there first, we can stretch out the dry goods."
I glanced around the room. "We need a new op-center. The damage here is severe."
Jack placed his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. There's another meeting room on the other side of the ship. It's not quite as big, but it gives us a place to gather."
I followed Jack to the alternate room. Two small round tables sat at one end with rows of storage shelves at the other.
Jack said, "It's a little closer to our quarters. If we shut the lighting down everywhere but here, the quarters and the pathway to outside, we can easily get a month out of the battery."
I pulled up a display over my arm. "Temperature has already dropped a couple degrees."
Joni blinked in. "Pit is done. And the temp is really dropping out there. The sun is just on the horizon and it's already minus four. The boys should have our out-room done in about fifteen minutes. Garrett is eager to give it a try."
The colonel blinked in. "I'm not liking our defensive posture here on the ship. There are too many avenues coming in from the outside. We should attempt to block hallways and stairwells. Any of those would only be temporary, and would only slow down any reasonable assault for seconds, a minute at most. I looked over the data from Joni's scan. There is a blind canyon about five hundred meters to the south. That might offer a small amount of shelter in an attack, but nothing of significance."
I replied, "OK, I guess we just hole up in here. We'll do what we can to block off hallways and leave ourselves at least two avenues of escape. Maybe we run for the canyon as a last resort."
The colonel agreed, "Sounds like a plan. When Go and Garrett get back from their current project I'll enlist their help."
Jack asked, "So, what do we do now?"
I thought for a moment. "Let's bring a supply of dry goods in here in case we get pinned in. I don't want to have to fight to get food."
Jack replied, "If that blind canyon is in the shade, it might do us good to store some of the frozen stuff in there. If the temperature stays at or below zero, we might be able to stretch those foods out too."
I nodded, "One thing we haven't talked about is heat. This ship is normally well insulated, but it's full of holes. I don't see our temperatures in here staying much above what they are out there. We each have our suits, but those lose effectiveness when the power cells in them run out."
I glanced down at my arm pad. "What do we have, thirty, forty-five days on these arm pads?"
Jack replied, "Sounds about right. Funny, we live with so much technology around us that it's almost hard to imagine life without it. How long before the Talisans get here?"
I pulled up the data on my arm pad. "Under a week. Give or take a day, depending on whether they try to avoid detection by the security station or not."
Jack half smiled. "Well, that's not so bad. If we manage to not be attacked by AIs between now and then, we should be in good shape."
Frig opened a comm. "Gentlemen. I've diverted resources here at our compound toward building a shuttle craft large enough to carry you all. I anticipate a flyable hull within the next twelve days. Our compound here is buried beneath the surface and could easily house you until the Talisans arrive. That downed ship is a beacon to any AI ships that might be in the area, as well as to pirates and salvagers."
I replied, "We appreciate your efforts, Frig. If all goes well, the Talisans will be here before then. It might serve you well to have a shuttle at the ready there, anyway. How goes the search for the pass-code to Earth?"
Frig slowly rocked his head. "We've made a few modifications to the algorithm. I believe we have cut another month from our estimate. We will acquire the pass-code; it is only a matter of when."
Joni cut in. "Uh, guys... we have a ship coming in. I'm picking up a heat signature in the atmosphere. It's coming this way."
The colonel was quickly back in the room. "Joni, get aboard that ship as soon as possible. Maybe we can stop it before they get any boots on the ground."
Joni nodded as she blinked out. "On my way."
I picked up my maul, slapping it into its holder on my back, checked the power cell of my blaster and headed toward our main door to the outside. Jack, Go, and Garrett joined me as the colonel powered past us with his suit active. I felt a bump on the back of my leg and turned to see Raptor, standing at the ready.
I rubbed his head and pointed back toward the room we had come from. "You're going to have to wait this one out my friend. Go back and watch our space. If anyone comes in that shouldn't be there, well, make your own decisions."
To my s
urprise the champion- bred Rottweiler turned and trotted back.
Joni said, "It's an AI ship! And they just did a hard maneuver to my left. I won't be aboard before they hit the ground."
Seconds later the former Grotus battlecruiser came to rest. Four hundred meters separated the automated ship from our downed and broken hull. A flood of bots emerged from a side gravity wall.
The colonel powered ahead. "Joni, focus on the AIs. We take them out those bots will drop."
Joni replied, "Taking out their nav AI right now."
Garrett was the first to fire at the oncoming horde. "There must be a thousand bots."
Go fired next. "Hit the ground just in front. Kicking up debris is our best option to slow them down."
Green laser pulses began impacting the ship's exterior surrounding us as I joined in the blaster barrage.
Quan said, "I could reroute the battery power to one of those other blasters weapons on the hull, but we may be limited to no more than two shots before the battery is exhausted."
I replied, "Do it. We can't stop this many bots with these hand-fired weapons."
As the horde of bots passed the halfway point the forward, starboard blaster sparked blue. A medium ion bolt struck the center of the approaching bot army, sending parts flying in all directions. A quarter of the attackers were destroyed or fell silent. The bots scattered before a second bolt impacted the ground where the front of the group was sprinting toward us. Another fifty bots met their end.
Joni yelled. "Four AI's down!"
The colonel replied, "Three here. I count signals from another five at this end of the ship!"
We backed into the doorway as laser pulses popped on the tantric plating of the outer hull. Our position above the ground was helpful, but the numbers coming at us were overwhelming.
I grabbed Go, shoving him backwards. "Take up a position in the hall! And set yourself up to fall back from there!"
I pulled on Garrett's shoulder, throwing him back, following with Jack's. I stepped backwards just as a half dozen laser pulses popped on the frame of the outer door. As I turned and ran, the pulses followed me down the left-hand wall. Garrett reached out, pulling me hard to the right and into a room off the hall. Ion blaster bolts flooded the doorway as the first of the bots ran up the ramp from outside. The first dozen bots through the doorway were obliterated, but the others kept coming.
OMEGA Rescue Page 21
