by Unknown
“There’s no way to get him down,” Jason said.
“We’re not leaving him here.” Pete was looking for something to lower him down with.
The laser fire was concentrated now. They were getting too close for comfort. Pete bent over the injured man just as another laser beam hit and exploded his head.
“He’s gone. Let’s get out of here.” He grabbed the dead man’s weapon.
The men clambered into the shaft.
“It’s the raid team returning,” the first man called to the volunteers below. “Don’t fire.”
Pete pulled the hatch closed and wedged his laser gun through the latch. “That should hold them for a bit.”
At the bottom they were greeted with cheers from the volunteers on shift.
The team leaders gathered at home base when Pete arrived to hear his report.
“We lost one,” Pete said. “But we took out about five Warriors and brought another ton of rock down on the main entrance. I think, though, we’ve made them mad enough that they will try a full assault. We need to be ready.”
Runners came in from all three shafts reporting Warriors attempting to break in.
“How long will the lasers hold out?” Pete asked.
“They were fully charged when we took them. They’ve got a 12 hour life span.”
“That gives us about two hours,” Pete said. “I hope to god the girls make it in time.”
*****
Karen, Tom, Caren and I were all talking at once, fit to talk the leg off a chair.
“I’m as happy as a kid in an ice cream shop to see you gals.” I gave Caren a kiss.
“How did you get caught, Tom-Tom?” Caren asked me.
“We got in a transport booth to go the Mothership, but they were monitoring the transports. We were transported straight to the control room. Nothing we could do about it,” I said. “I thought we’d bought the farm on that one. Who’s the new guy?”
“Blair’s our resident Geek. Here to help with all things technical.”
“Watch out!” Tom-Tom shouted. “There’s another Warrior right behind you.”
“Calm down Tom-Tom. He is on our side. Blair reprogrammed him.”
“Can you please deactivate him?”
“He’s harmless to us now.”
“I don’t trust any of them.”
“Okay, he’s deactivated.”
“I thought I saw him twitch.”
“Believe me, he is harmless now.”
“Blair, meet Tom-Tom,” Karen said.
I stuck out my left hand to shake his.
“What’s wrong with your right arm?” Caren asked when she saw me not able to use it.
“Some Warrior bastard broke it and Toms little finger. We’ll be fine for now.”
Tom and Tom-Tom walked by the deactivated Warrior, giving him another suspicious look as they headed to the nearest transport booth.
“Okay, now it’s time for me to work more magic.” Blair held the interface gadget to the sphere inside the booth until a static electrical charge leapt between the two. From the charge a hologram code appeared. “We want to be invisible making this jump, right?”
“Yes, they’re likely still monitoring the transports,” I said.
“This is going to be tricky. I have to do it so it doesn’t trip a response from the control room. We won’t know if it’s worked until we try it.”
“Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, it’ll work,” I said.
“Who’s going first?” Caren asked.
“We can only fit three at a time and there’s five of us,” I said.
“You and I should go first,” Tom said indicating to me. “The girls and Blair can come after.”
“Tom and Karen, after we transport, you go right. Caren and I will go left. Blair, as you don’t have a weapon, stay behind us until we get to the Mothership with the handprint,” I said.
“Be careful, Tom-Tom.” Caren kissed me on the cheek.
“I’m as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” I said as the transport door closed.
Tom and I had our weapons drawn and, as the door opened, we opened fire. Two Warriors dove for cover. Not five seconds later Caren, Karen and Blair came through the door.
“I nearly got one,” Tom boasted.
“Close only counts in hand grenades and horse shoes. Keep firing.”
Caren and I found cover. “Aim for the neck, knee or ankle,” Caren said between bursts of fire.
“Now why in Sam Hill would I do that?” I asked.
“Because Monroe told us those are their weak spots.”
“Now you tell me.”
A laser beam barely missed scrambling my brains. I poked my head up and observed a female Warrior striding towards us showing no fear. There was no point in my aiming. I was never going to be that good, especially with only one good arm. I let out a spray of fire in an arc at about knee height.
The female Warrior collapsed onto one knee. She clawed her way up onto one leg and began limping towards us. This impeded her aim. Caren went for the neck and scorched it but didn’t make a direct hit. I went with the arc again but hit her waist high.
I looked down the other end of the hangar to see if I could see Tom and Karen. I could see the traces of their lasers, as they, too, were being fired upon. There was a Warrior advancing on them as well.
This time I aimed at the female’s foot and connected with the ankle. She came crashing down but crawled toward us as she still kept firing. Caren and I trained our lasers onto her head and fired repeatedly. In a shower of sparks her head separated from her body.
*****
“Two more injured. That makes nine injured and three dead,” Pete said.
“But we’ve taken out several of the Warriors. Their numbers must be getting low. You said you got five plus the one we took out earlier today. Monroe reckoned on 15. That leaves five at the most. They’re only attacking two of the shafts.”
“We’ve got about 15 minutes and the lasers’ batteries will fail. I think we should get everyone back behind the gate. Let’s turn off the lasers until they break through. We might have enough fire power to stop them then,” Pete said.
“Agreed. Send out runners and tell the teams to fall back.”
Once they were all inside it took ten minutes before they heard the lasers bouncing on the wall of the barricade.
*****
Caren and I left the cover of the transport booth. I walked up to the fallen female Warrior. The eyes in her detached head stared right into my eyes, chilling me to the bone. For some reason I felt a flicker of remorse.
“Okay, Blair. Let’s get into the Mothership. Where’s that handprint?” Caren asked.
I reached into an empty pocket. “Shit!” It must have fallen out in all the scuffles.
“Here,” Tom said, running up and handing it to me. “I just remembered you might be needing this. Don’t you remember giving it to me just before you crawled into the back of the transport?”
He then ran back to rejoin Karen.
I placed it onto the locking mechanism. Nothing happened. “Damn, now what’s wrong?”
“Here, let me try.” Caren took the contact handprint and turned it over. Still nothing.
Precious seconds were ticking away.
“Maybe it needs the warmth of a human hand as well,” Caren suggested.
I placed my palm over the handprint and pushed down. There was a click and the boarding ramp slowly began to lower.
“Quick, Blair. Get to the bridge. I’m going back to help Karen and Tom.” I turned and ran down the ramp.
“I’m coming too.” Caren was following me.
We opened fire as we ran down the ramp. The Warrior was caught in the crossfire and a lucky shot brought him down.
Karen, Tom, Caren and I ran back to the Mothership and up to the bridge. Blair was nowhere in sight.
“Where in the hell is he?” I cursed.
Just then, he appeare
d at the bridge’s doorway, gasping for air.
“I got lost. Had no idea where the bridge was. I’ve never been on a ship before.”
“Get to it. There is no time to waste. They will be on us in no time.”
Blair started working the holographs with his integrated gadget.
“I can’t do this without alerting the control room that we’re here. I suggest you close the ramp and destroy the locking mechanism. That should slow them down for a while.”
Just as I got the ramp halfway closed, three Warriors exited the transport booth.
“Come on, will you. Close,” I screamed at the ramp.
The ramp slowly inched its way up. One of the Warriors grabbed hold of the lip and pulled himself up. I pressed the laser gun to his forehead and said, “Eat this, mother f@#ker.”
His head exploded but he still held onto the ramp.
Another Warrior leapt up and grabbed the edge but both their fingers got crushed as the ramp closed. I aimed the laser at the ramp’s control panel and fired.
I raced back up to the bridge. Blair was still working at his task. “What’s taking so long?”
“Every time I enter a code, they counter it from the control center. I have to find an encryption they can’t break.”
I could observe through the skylight more Warriors bringing in a huge ramming machine to ram the door. It wouldn’t take long and they’d be through.
“Why are they helping the Warriors? Why aren’t they helping us?” Karen said.
“By ‘they’, do you mean Monroe’s clan in the control room?” I asked.
“Yes. Don’t they know the Warriors are trying to kill us?”
“I’m not sure everyone was on board with the whole originals idea in the first place,” Tom said. “I caught snippets of conversation over time which led me to believe that it was mostly Monroe’s idea and that quite a few others disagreed.”
“Well, that’s just hunky dory, isn’t it?” Karen said.
From the bridge we could hear the thump of the ramp as it fell. We would be having visitors shortly.
“I’ll guard the door,” I said and moved into position.
“I’ve got your back,” Tom said.
*****
“Get the children to the back of the compound,” Pete said. “Move the bigger pieces of furniture into position. They won’t be much protection, but it’s better than nothing.”
Smoke was beginning to appear through holes being made by the Warriors’ lasers in the metal of the barricade gate. An outline of a hole large enough to walk through was forming. The Warriors would break through soon.
Seven lasers were trained on the gate.
“It’s about to go. Get ready.”
The noise of laser fire within the confined space combined with the bang of the metal as it hit the floor drowned out Pete’s command.
“Ready, fire.” Pete focused the sights on the laser.
The first Warrior through took the full force of seven lasers.
“We got it.” The Warrior fell across the opening making an obstacle for the others.
“Here they come.”
The second Warrior simply stood on the back of his fallen counterpart. He was firing constantly into the furniture barricades which exploded and sent large splinters of wood flying everywhere.
“I’m out.”
“Me too.”
“Get back with the others. We’ll hold them for as long as we can.”
Pete stepped from behind the barricade to get a better aim. “Damn,” he said as he tripped and fell down behind the furniture.
“Pete’s hit,” Jason said.
“Don’t worry about me. Keep firing,” Pete said, clutching a wound in his shoulder. He shifted the laser to his good hand and aimed. He scored a hit to the knee. The Warrior was down but kept firing.
“I’m out,” called a woman.
The third Warrior made it into the room and advanced towards the barricade. Laser fire bounced off the walls in all directions. A female Warrior reached behind the barricade and dragged Pete out, holding him by the throat. Pete brought his laser up, placed it on her neck and pulled the trigger. He fell to the ground in a tangle of the Warrior’s arms.
Just when he thought he was clear, a fourth Warrior stood over him, aiming at his head. Pete thought that this was the end when Jason rushed the Warrior and shot her in the neck.
“I’m out,” Jason said.
“Take another one of the lasers and head back to protect the others,” Pete said.
Pete aimed at the Warrior on the ground, pulled the trigger. Nothing. A fifth Warrior was following Jason down the corridor.
“How many of these bastards are there?” Pete asked in exasperation. He could see one more coming through the opening.
The two remaining lasers fired sporadically as their power began to drain. Pete ran after the Warriors chasing Jason, unsure what he could do but determined to stop them. The door to the room where the originals and their offspring were gathered gave way in a cloud of shrapnel. The Warriors had their guns trained on the adults standing in front of the children. Pete and Jason jumped the Warriors trying to tackle them to the ground. The Warriors flung them aside like rag dolls.
“Bless me Father, for I have sinned,” a woman intoned.
The Warriors raised their lasers, their fingers were squeezing the triggers.
“Nooo,” Pete shouted as he closed his eyes.
*****
Caren and I were positioned either side of the doorway exchanging fire with the Warriors.
“It’s raining gun fire like a cow pissing on a flat rock,” I called to Caren. “Blair, how close are you? We haven’t got much fire power left.”
“I’m working on it. Give me a second.”
“We don’t have a second.”
The Warriors charged thru the door and forced their way past Caren and me. They had their weapons aimed at Blair. Tom squeezed the trigger of his laser and got nothing. “I love you, Karen,” he said as he threw himself in front of her.
They both hit the deck just as Blair let out a yell of triumph while pumping his fists.
“Yes!”
All the Warriors froze like statues.
“Are you hit, Tom?” I was by his side.
“I don’t think so. He did it?”
“Blair found the deactivation code.”
*****
All went silent at home base. Pete reluctantly open his eyes and saw the Warriors standing stiff as boards. Cheers went up from the survivors in the cavern.
“They did it. We’re saved.” Pete was hugging Jason.
“That was too close for comfort.” Jason wiped his brow.
“We’d better get in touch with the Dome and tell them we’re still breathing. Get someone to go out to the transporters and radio in.” Pete staggered as the pain of his wound took hold.
“Let’s get you to sickbay first.” Jason put his shoulder under Pete’s arm and directed him to the medical team.
*****
“Let’s get to the control room and see if we can make contact with home base,” I said.
“I just hope we made it in time.” Caren had her arm linked through mine.
“Not bad for old farts,” Tom commented.
Tom and I transported into the control room just as the message from Jason came through.
“This calls for a fist bump, Bro,” I said jabbing my fist at him.
Tom stared at me blankly. Then I remembered fist bumps didn’t exist when he left to go to the future.
“Let’s get you two mended.” Karen said.
“After that we are going to have a little talk with Monroe. He has a lot more explaining to do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Veracity
“So, just why did the Warriors go rogue?” Tom asked Monroe when we were back in his quarters.
“Yes, I think we all would be very interested to hear what you have to say,” Karen said.
It
may have been my fault. Monroe looked apologetically around the room. You remember when I said, ‘Love is an emotion that promotes irrational and traumatic behavior. Therefore, love is forbidden.
Tom and Karen nodded.
I was discussing the situation with some of my brethren regarding the fact that many of the originals and their offspring were forming attachments. I said that you had rebelled against the law. I said that it had reached crisis point and that I did not know how to control it.
He looked around the group.
The Warriors were programmed to repel a rebellion. Apparently they took my words to mean that a rebellion was taking place. When I discovered the flaw, I instructed them to stand down, but they refused. They had overridden their deactivation codes. That is when we lost control of them.
“All because you used the word ‘rebelled’? That’s unbelievable. You nearly got us all killed. As it is, there are three deaths and several serious injuries.” Tom was aggravated, to say the least.
Fortunately, none of the deaths were an original.
“Well, I’ll be hog-tied,” I said. “You never know what you’re creating with artificial intelligence, do you? They show no emotions and take things so literally. Bit like you and yours Monroe.”
Why would you want to tie a hog? Monroe blinked.
I just rolled my eyes at his question. Maybe someday we will be able to get on the same page.
“So where to from here?”
I have additional information to impart. It will be difficult for you to hear. Monroe smoothed the creases in his jumpsuit.
“Surely can’t be any worse,” Tom and I said at the same time.
This concerns the clones. We have discovered a flaw in the life span program that was implanted when they were created. We have discovered that the clone’s life-span is not the same as their original’s. If they are allowed to remain in the past they will die prematurely. Their premature death in the past would cause a time warp and change the future. Therefore, all the clones who are still alive must be brought back to the future. Their originals must return to the same timeline their clones are in.
