“Yes, sir.”
I turned to Rab. “How long before the Molochs get here?”
“I’m guessing anything within about twelve miles of the bombs is broken beyond repair. That’s a conservative estimate. It could be fifteen. So they have fifteen miles to travel. If their speed is comparable to humans it should be about twenty-five minutes before they start sliding down the canyons. But the territory can’t be easy to cover. Might be closer to fifty minutes or an hour. But do you expect them to just march into the canyon and start falling?”
“Expect? Let’s say it’s a fond hope. They’re machines or some type of synthetic. Or whatever. They can’t think. They’re as dumb as mankind’s early robots. If they’re told to march they will keep marching.”
“If so, they’d be doing us a big favor.”
Carmen and Eric zoomed across the landscape. The greens and browns of the grass and plains mingled together as they flew across it. Wind whistled across the cockpit. Her pilot-computer flashed green. Nothing was in the sky. That puzzled her. Why fire only one missile? Of course there was only one shuttle in the sky. Still… It was pointless to try to figure out the enemy. The tracker headed her southwest. She turned the plane. Eric followed her.
“Eric. See any sign of life?”
“None whatsoever. Not even a creature or an animal. No rabbits here. No cows. No nothing. This is as dead as a place can get.” he said.
“Our destination is fifty miles away. Maybe we’ll see some life there.”
“Maybe. But I’m not kidding. How many planets have you been on? Dozens, right?”
“Right.”
“Most of them have some living creatures. This part of Vega doesn’t.”
“Then who shot the missile at us?”
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say it was automatic, triggered by some unknowable. I’m guessing it’s a robotic system built many, many years ago.”
“But if it shot one missile it may shoot another one. We still have to take it out.”
Her pilot computer stayed green, indicating nothing besides friendly fighters were in the sky. She scanned the grounds as she increased speed. Eric was right. Nothing moved on this side of Vega. Nothing breathed on this side of Vega. She shook her head.
In the distance was only flat land. No installations. If there was an antique missile defense system it had to be underground. There were not only no people or animals on this side of Vega, there were no installations. No buildings. No facilities.
“Eric, I’m double checking. My computer says there’s nothing in the sky besides you and me. Are you getting those readings?”
“No, I have three dozen ICBMs coming at us.”
“What??”
“Just kidding.”
“Don’t scare me like that, Eric! When we get back to base, I’m going to kick your butt.”
She heard his laughter in her ear. “My computer agrees with your computer. Only two jets are flying and we’re in them. Everything else is clear.”
“Ten minutes to our target. If something was on the ground it should show up by now. If whatever it was released a jet, why don’t they try to shoot us down? Not that they could.”
“You know, when you get excited you mix up your tenses? If 'it' released a jet, why doesn’t 'it' try to shoot us down? Not 'they'.”
“Gotta kick your butt twice when we get back to camp. Eric, you know why they don’t send donkeys to college?”
“Nope, why?”
“Because no one likes a smart ass.”
“Ha! Anyway, back to your question. Don’t know. If it’s a computer it might not be programmed to shoot at small, attacking jets. Everything might be focused on the Aristolans. The programmers perhaps never guessed there’d be other people on the planet or jets.”
Five minutes later her computer showed they were over the missile site, but she saw only flat land. Carmen swung her jet around. Eric followed.
“This is the place. This is where the missile was fired.” Eric told her. “It has to be some type of underground facility. Fully automated. Ground opens up, missile battery rises, fires, and then is lowered back into the opening. I say we put a few missiles into it. Blow it up.”
“Fine with me.” Carmen said. “If we’re right and it has been waiting for action for a long time, maybe one missile is all it could fire.”
“Maybe.”
Carmen gunned her jet until it was two miles away from ground zero. She and Eric fired two missiles. They zoomed their way toward the target and the ground erupted.
“OK, let’s go back.” Eric said.
“No, not yet. I want to investigate. Let’s see what type of facility it is. Manned or computer.”
“If it’s manned you’re going to be outnumbered.”
“We haven’t seen any trace of life. I’m betting the computers are centuries old.”
“I’ll cover you.”
Carmen squeezed out of her seat belts. “Computer, keep the jet close. Hang here until I get back.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Slow down our speed and open the hatch.”
As it slid open, Carmen stood up and jumped out. The jet pack ignited and sped her toward her target.
“They burn quickly, Major. We may not have to use the pillboxes. Thousands are on fire. Whatever they’re made of appears to be flammable.” Tony said.
“You spray them with Perizene?” I asked.
“We sure did. And then dropped the firebombs. Very effective, but the smell is awful.”
“You’re in a jet. The cockpit is enclosed. And you’re way above the fires.”
“All true, major, and it still smells. Or else I have a very sensitive nose. One or the other. We dropped all our loads. We’re heading back to base. From my vantage point the fire and Perizene are generating fires of their own. The Molochs don’t seem to be trying to avoid the flames. They just march in place, even if it’s into the fires.”
“Good. You can gain a reputation for being an excellent tactician if you have dumb enemies.” I said.
“These look like the dumbest.”
“That’s great news.”
I was back at my command headquarters watching a couple of screens at once. The roaring fires swept through the Molochs, the ones surviving the nuclear explosion. Tony was right. The Molochs didn’t avoid the flames. They kept coming, slowly and methodically, until the fires consumed them. Then they dropped to the ground to be stomped on by their comrades behind them. There was no compassion in the Molochs’ ranks. If a soldier fell, he was pushed into the ground by those walking behind him. After they fell, they were stomped by other soldiers.
I had first given whoever created the mutant army high ratings but now I wasn’t so sure. If they were going to create a techno-military race they could have done a much better job of it. I suppose mindless creations could have done a good job of wiping out a rustic force such as the Aristolans. Maybe that was the idea. Maybe the creators never thought a more sophisticated military would be fighting on Vega.
The massive explosion knocked me to the floor. Chairs and tables toppled over. The ground rumbled. I rolled over and jumped up. Rocks, stones and debris fell in and around the tent. Shouts and yells came from the camp. I looked at the screens and didn’t believe what I saw.
The enemy had carved out a slice of the mountain. A gigantic hole, looking like an ugly laceration, stared at us from B. From out of it, like blood from a wound, came thousands of gray, metallic soldiers, armed with laser rifles. Not human. Not Molochs. Something else.
“That’s one thing I didn’t think of.” I said aloud. I flicked the cameras and targeted Mountains A and C. No change in them. No explosions. No attacks. I grabbed my gun and rushed toward the front. The rat-tat-tat of the pillboxes started. When I got to Rab, who was using a pillbox for cover, he fired toward the Gray Men.
“I think your idea for the canyons paid off, Major.” he said.
I nodded.
The
Gray Men had a distinct disadvantage. It’s not easy to run headlong down a mountain. Problems with angles, problem with rocks, problem with footing. Many tripped, fell forward, and rolled down the cliff, off its edge and into the recently dug canyon. Their hands grabbed only air, and their feet found nothing solid. They remained silent as they began the ten-mile tumble.
I raised my rifle and fired, sending red laser shots into gray soldiers. Like their colleagues, no sound came from them, even when a laser ripped their heads apart, or blew a hole in the chests. They collapsed silently and “died” silently. The noise of the pillbox was deafening. The guns sounded as loud as drums when they fired. I flicked on some ear plugs and kept firing. As did Rab.
The Gray Men ran to the edge of the abyss and tried to jump it. They disappeared into the canyon and faded from view. They could jump well. Fifteen to twenty feet. But the canyon was much wider. It was going to be a very long, very deep coffin.
I could see fire gradually moving toward us through the valley. The Molochs approached. They brought the fire and the awful smell with them. Alas, I didn’t have nose plugs. I fired and took the arm off a Gray Man. He spun around and dropped into the canyon.
Belen’s blue-clad militia performed well. No one fled in panic. They stayed at their posts and fired without panic or fear. Their accuracy cut the Gray Men in two. I looked up. A shuttle, full of Aristolans, headed for space. There was no missile in sight. I smiled with satisfaction. Then kept firing.
The flood of Gray Men from the mountain diminished. The canyons had been more effective than I had hoped. Not one Gray soldier had managed to get across. Without the canyons, though, we would have been overrun. I barked an order for the pillboxes to shut down. I wanted to save the ammo for the rest of the Molochs. They were not in range yet.
One brief respite. I looked around, staring at the hole in the mountain. I hoped the owners didn’t have another surprise for us.
Chapter 33
The Saturnine invasion fleet, running slowly, silently and blind, had traveled past Fort MacDonald. The decision had been made to ignore the fort because an attack would alert the Federation forces. The alien officials hoped to spring their surprise attack well inside Federation borders, then attack again while the defenders were unorganized and confused. They had also decided to ignore the first solar system in their path. The Remadi system would be given a pass, a temporary one. The convoy would rendezvous at Vega, then attack the Jaraold system. The attack would leave the inhabitable planets in flames and put the invasion fleet well within Federation boundaries. The Remadi system, like Fort MacDonald, would be cut off and could be destroyed at any time.
The reasons for the invasion, at least to Federation military analysts, were not clear. This was not unknown in military history. Often when one nation or planet attacked another, they did not have clear objectives, such as land or resources. At other times in history, the underlying reason was simply pure evil.
The fleet moved slowly for military space vessels. Usually invaders do not show patience but the Saturnines did. Perhaps because they were blind, stealth and silence were considered a virtue. Running blind was a risk, but a risk the commanders thought worth taking. There could be no communication between ships. No probes. No scanning. They were comfortable in the dark.
When given the tape by Starret, Federation military officials asked the same question he did. Why did the black ships not attack Vega? The hologram showed destruction of other systems. But the Saturnines wanted the planet preserved because it was their home. They had been expelled long ago and had retreated to another galaxy. But they wanted the home planet preserved.
Also running blind and silently, the black comet zoomed toward its destination. It, too, had a rendezvous.
Carmen lowered herself into the bowels of the facility. The smoking ruins of the missile launches and other military weapons still cranked and groaned from the impact of the missiles. She planted her feet on a level floor and looked around. She spotted stairs descending downward. She climbed down step by step, her short laser rifle in her hand. Nothing moved. Dust galore on all the equipment. The facility had been underground for a long time. Centuries. Perhaps more. But it still functioned, which demonstrated remarkably good workmanship. She reached out her finger and swept it along an odd-looking machine. Her fingertip was coated in dust.
“Good workmanship but they forgot about maid service.” she said. “They didn’t build a robotic cleaner.”
She continued her stairwell decline. An orange light blinked noiselessly as she stepped onto another level. She didn’t recognize any of the machines before her. A number of large screens filled the room, but they were all blank. There was no life here, she decided. And there hadn’t been for endless centuries. The machines had, for some reason, woken up once and fired a missile. Amazing accuracy after all those years of being off-line. But only one? True, there was only one shuttle in the air. Or perhaps just one missile worked. After all these years the weaponry could have decayed and rusted. Weapons centuries old have been found on many planets, including Earth, but those weapons weren’t operational. Even the finest technology is subject to decay over centuries.
“Perhaps one missile was all you had.” Stephanie said. She sneered. “After all these years all you had left was a weapon. No art, no music, no poetry. Just a weapon. You deserved to die out. The universe is better off without you.”
She turned and strolled down another corridor. A door partially slid away, then became stuck. She squeezed into the room. A pink glare and a whirl of motion came from the machines.
“Gosh, is something working after all? Although it doesn’t look like you’re working too well. Going a bit slow?”
Sounds, incoherent mumbles came from somewhere in the building. A dusty, dying sound.
“Didn’t quite catch that. I’m guessing it’s been a long time since anything in here has spoken. You might have forgotten the language. Your language, that is. You know any others? Although since you’re a machine I don’t guess you count time the way humans do.”
The dusty, dying voice finally formed words. “Who are you?”
Stephanie smiled. “Who I am doesn’t matter. What I’m interested in is who you are. Rather, what you are. What type of machine are you and what is your function?”
“I am waiting… for the creators.”
“You’re sounding a bit weak. You’ve been waiting a long time already and you’re going to be waiting even longer. After I leave here don’t expect many visitors.”
“Do you know… where the creators are?”
“No, but I’m guessing they’re long dead. Or moved. By the way, what exactly are the things we call Molochs? The semi-whatever race on this planet. How could the creators build such ugliness and evil?”
“They… it…” The frail voice trailed off and sputtered.
Carmen spit out the words. “Don’t die on me yet you mechanical mutant. I have questions for you and I want answers. Although with your fast-paced cadence this may take a long time.”
There was no response.
“Talk to me!” she yelled.
She thought about shooting the computer then the weak voice answered.
“What do you want me to say?”
Stephanie smiled. “That’s better. That’s much better. You sound like you’re one nanobyte from the computer graveyard. But while you’re still speaking, let’s talk missiles and then let’s talk about the creators and let’s throw in a few words about the Aristolans.”
Deadly Voyage (Logan Ryvenbark's Saga Book 1) Page 23
