The Last City (The Ahlemon Saga Book 1)

by Casey McGinty

  Tygert stepped forward to get a look at his passengers. Their faces lit up when they saw him, and he motioned for them to stay calm. Despite their hopeful looks, he felt the weight of the unfavorable odds; the Breakers peered at him from behind their human shield. Gamesman that he was, he knew it was high risk to count on winning several hands in a row in any game. But he had no choice. He signaled the Mekens behind him, and they slowly spread out into a single line to his left and right. With the cargo containers at their backs, they formed a line facing the hostages. Once in place, the Mekens stood still, arms at their sides, showing no signs of aggression. Outnumbering the Breakers almost four to one, the Meken line was a show of force designed to intimidate the Breakers and draw their attention. Tygert exhaled. He’d been holding his breath, wondering if the Breakers would fire on them. They didn’t. He’d won his first hand. Now it was a standoff, which was just what he wanted. His next play was all about biding time. So they waited.

  The hostages didn’t understand and they became fidgety, sending questioning looks Tygert’s way. He was surprised at how much willpower it required to just stand there; but he refused to put the hostages at risk by trying to send any kind of message back to them. When a metallic knock finally came at the hangar door, he jumped. The Breaker submersibles had arrived; they were outside and ready to pick up their team along with the hostages. Moments later, a screeching noise echoed through the hangar as the massive door began to rise. He turned to Builder 56, standing next to him. “Fifty-six, are we ready?” The builder nodded back. So far, so good, he thought. But the real gamble was yet to be played.

  The humid ocean air rolled into the hangar and over him. As Tygert had hoped, it was now getting dark outside. Behind the Breakers was a landing, and at the edge of the landing floated a large, shadowy shape, a Breaker submersible. Behind it, a second submersible rose from the water. He turned to his left and then his right, looking down each line of Mekens. His army stood as they were.

  When the hangar door finally clanged to a stop, he heard the Breakers’ robotic voices. The hostages glanced over their shoulders and, a moment later, they started moving . . . backward. The movement was awkward and the human semicircle began to fall apart. The hostages looked frantically to Tygert, beseeching him to save them.

  He waved his arm in a forward motion and the entire line of Mekens took one step forward and stopped, arms at their sides, still showing no signs of aggression. He didn’t want to start a fight; he just wanted to hold their attention a bit longer. One of the Breakers fired at the Mekens. No one returned fire. The pivotal moment arrived when the Breakers were outside the hangar door and, for the most part, the line of humans was still inside. Turning to Builder 56, Tygert whispered, “Now.”

  Seconds later, laser fire erupted, raining upon the Breakers from their left and their right—from outside the hangar. The Breakers were under attack from an unseen force. Tygert shouted to the hostages, “Get down! Get down now!”

  Most of them dropped to the ground. Some grabbed pants or shirttails, tugging their neighbors to the floor. Within a matter of seconds, most of the humans were down.

  With attackers firing on them from both sides and their human shield falling apart, the Breakers panicked. Abandoning the hostages, they tightened their ranks into a circle and pushed toward the waiting submersible, firing at their attackers and into the hangar. To Tygert’s dismay, two Breakers grabbed passengers, taking them as personal shields. One, a young man, fought and broke free. As he ran into the hangar, the Breaker shot him in the back. The other escaped when a laser struck her captor; they fell together and she crawled into the hangar.

  It was still too risky for his troops to return fire. The Meken line showed great restraint, passively standing their ground even though several of them fell to the floor, struck by Breaker lasers. Tygert signaled and Builder 56 ran to a control panel on the wall. With a piercing screech, the hangar door began to close.

  Just then, from outside the hangar, a silver Meken sentry stepped into the right side of the open doorway, firing on the Breakers. Another came from the left. One by one, ten silver sentries slipped into the doorway and formed a line separating the hostages from the retreating Breakers. One of the Mekens fell, and they tightened their ranks. As the hangar door closed, they backed up in synchronized steps, firing a continuous laser barrage. Dropping to one knee, they continued their assault until the hangar door blocked their line of fire and finally slammed shut with a thud.

  In a matter of minutes, the passengers had gone from a seemingly hopeless hostage situation to being freed. A momentary silence hung in the air. Finally, someone jumped up and gave a victory whoop. Shouts of jubilation erupted as the passengers picked themselves up and began hugging one another. Tygert allowed himself a smile and ran a hand through his hair, relieved and amazed that the plan had actually worked. But as he looked over the scene before him, the joyful mood quickly turned to sorrow. Four passengers lay unmoving on the floor, each of them tended by a crying friend or family member. Suddenly, Tygert felt a pang of doubt. He’d lost four people. Had he made a bad call? The passengers clearly didn’t think so, expressing their thanks and giving him hugs as he walked among them. He checked for injuries: one hostage had a serious laser burn on his arm that was being wrapped by a fellow passenger. Most of the injuries were limited to bruises or abrasions. Tygert finally came to a white-eyed, silver Meken standing just inside the hangar door.

  “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you, Super.”

  “And I you, Captain Tygert,” Super 3 replied. “I am very sorry for your losses.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  As if he sensed Tygert’s self-criticism, Super 3 said, “Captain, under the circumstances, I believe your plan was the right one, and it worked better than the odds would have indicated.”

  “Thanks to you.” Tygert put a hand on Super 3’s shoulder. “I have never seen a gutsier play than the one you and your team just executed. You saved a lot of people just now. Thank you.”

  “Just doing my duty, Captain.”

  “I know, I know,” Tygert said, shaking his head as he turned to move on.

  Super 3 called after him. “Captain!” When Tygert turned to face him, the robot said, “I would like to hear more about your Earth games, particularly the game called . . . Poker.”

  “That you will, Super. That you will,” Tygert said. “You’re a natural.”

  10

  Day 1

  2030 hours

  Suspension chamber, Alto Raun

  Super 4 eased out of the mechanical room, shut the door quietly, and moved down the north perimeter hallway as if he was continuing on his patrol route. One of the hostage guards saw him exit the room, but apparently didn’t think anything out of the ordinary.

  The patrol Breaker’s unexpected entry into the mechanical room could have ruined everything, but remembering Kane’s comments about unforeseen opportunities, Super 4 had turned it to his advantage. In addition to providing a cover for his exit, the upload of recent memories he had extracted from the downed Breaker would provide some information about his adversary. Skimming through the upload, he was unable to determine the Breaker’s ultimate plan; the patrolman had only received information on a need-to-know basis. But now he knew the location of all the Breakers in the suspension chamber area. They had focused most of their manpower in the lobby, awaiting a Meken attack from the elevator. One Breaker patrolled the south perimeter hallway; one guard was posted at the rear chamber door; one was at the double doors leading into the ocean room; four were in the ocean room, awaiting the arrival of the transport submersibles; and four were in the chamber’s master control room with Rakaan.

  Rakaan? Mekens did not take names; it was a foreign concept to Super 4. Rakaan was either the Breaker supervisor or their Director. One thing was clear, though: the patrol Breaker had been terrified of Rakaan; he would be Super 4’s greatest obstacle to a successful mission.

  The perimeter
hallways were both curved, defining the outer oval shape of the suspension chamber area. The south hallway was a dead end, built only for service access to the southern side of the chamber. The north hallway started at the lobby and ended in a T-intersection. To the left of the intersection was a short hall, at the end of which was a heavy, vault-like door, the rear entry to the suspension chamber. A Breaker sentry would be guarding it. To the right of the T was a longer hallway with double doors at the end, also guarded by a Breaker. Behind the double doors was the ocean room, a large, subterranean cavern. It was the connection point to the ocean tunnel, the only other access to the suspension chamber complex. Super 4 reached the T intersection and turned around. Ignoring both guards, he resumed his patrol, heading back to the lobby.

  As he walked, he examined the memory upload more closely. The patrol Breaker had taken a name, Dagar. Once again, he found this odd; Mekens did not take names but went by their identification codes. He couldn’t find Dagar’s original ID code in the files he’d downloaded; it probably resided in a more distant memory file. The invading Breakers had come to Alto Raun in several large transport submersibles and had entered the city through a hangar on the abandoned south side. An unidentified sympathizer had assisted them, and he made a note to inform the Director as soon as possible. He replayed the capture of the hostages in the cafeteria and their march to the water pumping station. Then he came across a speech that Rakaan had made about the overthrow of the human race. Dagar had replayed it hundreds of times, developing a ritualized association to the speech. Dagar had actually been savoring the thought of subjugating the humans. While Super 4’s own programs refused to consider such an idea, there was something seductive about Dagar’s deep empathic connection to the speech. But Super 4 was approaching the lobby, so he closed the memory files, and returned his attention to the mission at hand.

  Surveying the hostages, he noted their genders, ages, and conditions. Most of them were slumped, the loss of hope showing in their physical carriage. He had not been around humans in thousands of years, but it was clear to him that these were in severe distress. His empathic program made its intended association and he instantly committed himself to their care and safety; his devotion to these Earth humans would be no less than what he would give the colonists.

  He glanced behind him to the mechanical room door and his eyes flashed twice, a signal that he was ready to proceed. Observable only to him, a pinpoint of gold light flashed twice from the cracked door; the Director had acknowledged the message and confirmed his team’s readiness. Super 4 walked directly to the back of the lobby and approached the Breaker guarding the outer control room door.

  The guard eyed him warily. “What do you want?”

  “I have a report from the ocean room for Rakaan.”

  Before the guard could question him further, a faint mechanical whirring sound came from the elevator shaft and a light started blinking above the elevator door. The Breakers instantly came alert and forced the hostages to stand erect and shoulder to shoulder, solidifying their human shield. Positioning their weapons between the heads of the hostages, they took aim at the elevator doors. A Breaker at the back of the lobby made his way toward a bazooka-like gun lying on the floor. Super 4 did not recognize the weapon, but it was obviously designed for launching some kind of explosive. This was another unexpected turn in the mission, one that could impact their plan . . . for the worse.

  As hoped, due to the descending elevator, the door guard punched in a code, opened the heavy outer door, and entered the short hallway leading to the control room. Super 4 had planned to follow the guard into the control room. But instead, he stepped beside the Breaker who was picking up the bazooka. While pretending to assist in lifting the heavy gun, Super 4 activated his hand laser and discreetly welded the firing lever. The Breaker wrenched the gun away and growled; he clearly did not want any assistance.

  As Super 4 returned to the control room door, the guard reappeared, along with two Breaker sentries. They took up positions as reinforcements behind the Breaker line. With the guards distracted by the incoming elevator, Super 4 inserted his foot into the doorway, keeping the outer door from sealing shut. The whirring of the elevator motors changed speed, indicating that it was almost to the bottom of the shaft. The tension in the lobby was palpable as the Breakers and hostages prepared for the coming shootout. Super 4 could hear several of the hostages start to cry. One of them recited a prayer out loud.

  The whirring stopped and a gentle chime announced the elevator’s arrival. As soon as the doors parted, the Breakers opened fire. A Meken team inside the elevator returned fire. When the doors were halfway open, the bazooka-wielding Breaker stepped forward and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Confused, he took the gun off his shoulder. Holding it at his side, he gripped the trigger lever in a full hand grip and squeezed. The weld finally broke loose and the gun fired. But he was wildly off target and the projectile struck the wall to the right of the elevator door. Solid rock repelled the resulting explosion back into the lobby, knocking over many of the hostages and several Breakers. The laser battle went wild. Taking advantage of the chaos, Super 4 moved into the short hallway and approached a very nervous Breaker guard at the inner control room door.

  “It is not going well,” he said. Then, in a commanding tone, he ordered, “We need you and any other sentries out front. Open the door so I can inform Rakaan.”

  Without question, the guard input the door code, then ran out the hall and into the lobby. Super 4 stepped inside the control room and deliberately positioned himself so he was facing toward the hallway; he was concerned that Rakaan might see through his disguise. Leaning against the wall as if he was injured, he heard two Breaker sentries come up behind him.

  Super 4 spoke over his shoulder. “Rakaan, they are heavily armed and using tactics we did not expect. We need more help.” The sound of mass laser fire and other occasional explosions could easily be heard coming from the lobby.

  “All of you, go now,” Rakaan responded.

  The two remaining Breakers left the room immediately. Super 4 stayed, still leaning against the wall just inside the open door and with his back to Rakaan.

  “You too,” Rakaan commanded.

  Super 4 did not respond.

  Rakaan moved closer. “I told you to go with them,” he said fiercely.

  “I am sorry, Rakaan. I have been disabled.”

  Super 4 waited. While he now equaled a supervisor in mental and physical capacity, he did not have the enhanced physical strength of a Director, and he didn’t know if Rakaan was a Director or a supervisor. In any case, he would have only one chance to overcome Rakaan, and it would have to be a total surprise.

  “You will go,” Rakaan barked, moving closer.

  Using his peripheral vision, Super 4 chose the exact moment to act. He spun around and with his leading arm, he fired his laser into Rakaan’s kneecap. As Rakaan started to crumple, Super 4 raised his leg in a spinning kick and caught Rakaan with a blow to the chest that sent him flying out the control room door and into the hallway. Super 4 reached over and struck a button, closing the door. He inserted the tip of his forefinger into a system receptacle and reset the door’s lock with a new access code. There was banging on the door accompanied by the muffled roar of an infuriated Rakaan.

  Super 4 was safe in the control room, but he was stunned by what he had just seen. It couldn’t be. As the control room door was closing, he had caught a good look at Rakaan’s face glaring up from the hallway floor. It was a familiar face; one that Super 4 had lived with every day for the last two thousand years. He ran a detailed image comparision in his mind, numerous times. Based on the unique scratches and marring on the metallic face, there could be no mistake: it was Supervisor 1. His own Meken commander was also the Breaker supervisor, Rakaan. Super 4 and his fellow Mekens had been betrayed.

  His empathic processor flared with unbidden activity, unlike any he had experienced before, and his body began to tremble. A
ll he could think about was the face of Rakaan and the terrible betrayal of their trusted Supervisor 1. His body shook harder as it was flooded with random spikes of energy. In an involuntary response, he roared and smashed his fist into a cabinet, crumpling its door. Unexpectedly, a hidden program launched from his logic processor and the Director’s calm words interjected themselves into the chaos that was overwhelming him. This is unfettered anger. You must identify the anger sequence and slow it down. The familiar voice was enough to break the grip of the runaway emotion program, and he methodically followed the Director’s instructions. It took considerable willpower to override the independent commands of his empathic processor, which wanted to replay the face of Rakaan and reinitiate the anger program. But he calmed himself. Filing the event away with a note to discuss it with the Director, he turned to the final step of his mission.

  He examined the control terminal that governed the functions of the suspension chamber and determined that he had arrived just in time. The system shutdown had been initiated some time ago and the suspension fields in the chamber had diminished enough that it was already safe for humans to enter. The colonists would wake soon.

  The forward wall of the control room was one big video screen showing the inside of the suspension chamber. Four smaller video monitors were aligned vertically on each side of the larger screen showing live feeds from cameras stationed around the chamber complex. The lobby cameras were cloudy with smoke and dust, and he could see an occasional laser flare, but the Breaker barrage of the elevator had ceased. If there were any injuries to the hostages, it would not be from crossfire. The Breakers would soon discover that there were no real Mekens in the elevator. It had been Kane’s idea. The builders had sent the elevator down with a couple of holographic units attached to the floor and programmed to display a force of Meken sentries firing various weapons, with full sound effects. It was all a diversion designed to help Super 4 get into the control room without subjecting the hostages or the Meken team to greater risk.