“Tell your AI to order something that will help you get to sleep naturally. I suggest you practise with your concealed weapon in the firing range, and then get some sleep. I’ll be in the docking bay when you leave, but it’s not too late to change your mind.”
“Do you know something I don’t about what is down there? You are very insistent that I don’t go ahead with this.”
“No, I have no more information than you do. The risk you are taking is unknown, so going ahead is verging on the foolhardy.”
“I think the potential benefits outweigh the known risks, so I’m going. Thanks for your concern and advice, and for everything you’ve done to help me. I’ll see you on the docking bay.”
Mark blinked to the firing range and practised for two hours. When he finished, he blinked to the team quarters and found them empty. He had a good meal and while he showered, his AI ordered something to help him sleep. Mark drank the tasteless drink that appeared in the synthesiser before getting into his bunk. He lay there thinking there was no way that he was going to be able to get to sleep, having only woken up about five hours ago.
Captured!
Mark woke up with a start, not knowing where he was.
“Mark, it’s time to get up.” his AI told him. “Remember, you are in the top bunk.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Eight hours.”
“Shit. So, we’re leaving in three hours?”
“Apart from eating and getting dressed, Is there anything that you want to do before leaving?” Mark's AI asked.
“Not that I can think of. Are you all ready, Kate?”
“I am as prepared as I can be. I have made some modifications to Tk'ng Dach Rrn’s systems. All of the AI’s and the entire communication systems are now entirely under my control. I intercept every communication Tk'ng Dach Rrn or his staff make with their systems and relay it. That means I can take over control any time I want, and if anything does happen to us so that if I lose contact with their systems, they will stop responding to Tk'ng Dach Rrn’s people's commands. I have put in enough blocks that Tk'ng Dach Rrn’s people will not be able to take control again.”
“Pretty impressive. A sort of ‘dead man’s handle’ on their systems.”
“Yes, but it won’t be much help to us if we’re dead.” Mark’s AI pointed out.
“Well Kate, I think we’ve got everything covered. What could possibly go wrong?” Mark asked his AI.
Mark showered and by the time he came out of the bathroom Mike, Orange and Simon were in the quarters, bustling about getting fresh body armour. Simon was happier than he had been for days.
“No field attenuators on this trip. Sally doesn’t want them picked up by the enemy just in case any of them escape. And you’re taking a Mark Seven. If you’re going to be captured we don’t want them getting hold of a Mark Eight.” Orange told him.
Mark finished getting ready and said “I’m having a last minute tea. Anyone else want a drink?” Mark asked.
He was met with a chorus of yeses, so he ordered them up and putting them on the table, sat and sipped his tea. Mike joined him and sipped at her drink.
“You’re unusually quiet.” Mark said to her.
”Hmm? Oh, yes, I’ve been thinking.
“I didn’t know you were equipped for it.” Simon said.
Still deep in thought, Mike ignored Simon and sipped her herbal tea in silence.
Simon dropped into a seat at the table with a big grin on his face, clearly looking forward to the forthcoming action and picked up his coffee. “Here’s to a good fight!” He said and took a big gulp of his drink. It was obviously hotter than he thought as his faced turned red and the smile dropped from his face.
Orange sat down and took a deep drink. The sulphurous fumes from his drink were turning the atmosphere slightly rank, but they were used to that. “Are you fully prepared now Mark?” He asked.
“As ready as I’m going to be. There are a lot more contingency plans in place thanks to your input.”
“Things will happen that we haven’t foreseen Mark, so you’ll still need to stay sharp and think on your feet.”
At that moment they all got the call from Sally to assemble at the lander.
Simon jumped up and blinked out straight away. Orange stood and followed close behind.
“Come on Mike, snap out of it!” Mark urged her. “If you’re not with it, you’ll get yourself killed when we go into action.”
Mike looked up at him. “I’m OK, I’ve come to a decision. Come on, you don’t want to be late for your own mission!” She jumped up with a wide grin and blinked out.
Mark stood and followed her.
Mark, Mike, Simon and Orange stood by the lander in the docking bay. Moments later Sally blinked in and joined them.
Sally addressed them. “We’re landing eight hundred metres from the main gate. Now we’ve got a feed from their command and control we know exactly where all of their troops are and what arms and skills they have. Tk'ng Dach Rrn is surprisingly well organised. His bureaucracy is much better than ours, he documents everything. We are landing right on the edge of their sensor array. They will spot the lander coming in from way out, of course, and they will be able to see how many of us there are when we disembark. They know our tactics so they will work out who we are pretty quickly. They don’t have any patrols out at the moment so they will send out a small task force from the fortress. We don’t want to meet them half way, I intend for us to engage them about two hundred metres from the lander, we’ll use the time waiting for them laying out a few mines to slow them up while we retreat. Orange has got them. When we engage we will retreat under fire from their superior numbers while we inflict as much damage as possible. During the retreat Mark will get separated and captured by them. We get onto the lander and leave under emergency thrust. Any questions?”
“How long will it take to get down to the ground?” Mike asked.
“We’re going in hot. If their sensors don’t spot us coming in they should see a big streak of ionised gas where we’re ripping through the atmosphere. We’ll hit the ground in about eight minutes after we lift off from here.” Sally answered. “This could be the last time we see Mark. Say your farewells now. It’s going to be a rough ride down even with the dampers.”
Simon stepped over and grasped Mark’s shoulders. “I’ve come to respect you as a man Mark. You’ll live on in my memory.” He bent down to whisper in Mark’s ear. “Make a call if you get in trouble. I’ll come and try to get you out.”
Orange was next. He stepped over and gave Mark what would have been a possibly fatal bone crushing hug if it hadn’t been for Mark’s phase shift protection. He leant down and whispered. “Call if you’re in trouble. Simon and I will come and get you out.”
Mike came up to Mark with a serious look on her face. “You mad bastard.” She leant in towards him and whispered “If it gets bad down there, call and we’ll come and try to get you out.”
Sally stepped over, gave him a hug and whispered in his ear. “Whatever they think, they aren’t going to come and save you if it goes wrong. I can’t risk them.”
When they released each other, Mark stepped back, gave Sally a grin and said “What could possibly go wrong.”
Sally frowned. “Lots. Remember how you were going to defuse the fusion bomb? That was going to be easy wasn’t it? When it starts to go wrong, get out of there quickly.”
Mark gave an embarrassed smile. “I’ve spent a bit more time planning this.” He said defensively.
“But you’re hardly an expert are you.” Sally snapped. “The best that I hope from this is that you manage to survive and none of us get killed when we take you down there. If Alan’s worried about you, so am I!”
Sally raised her voice and addressed the team. “OK everyone, when we disembark we go in this order- Simon, me, Orange, Mike, Mark. On the ground, lineup from the right will be me, Simon, Mike, Orange, Mark. Check weapons then get on board an
d strap in. I want comms silence until we lose Mark, then show concern while retreating, we’ll be on a channel that they should be able to monitor. Get on board and strap in tight!”
As soon as they were on board and sat down, harnesses extruded from the seats and strapped them in tightly. The lander left the docking bay at a relatively sedate speed but as soon it was clear of the bay doors it accelerated quickly and hit the atmosphere hard. The flight downward was rocky despite the landers dampers. Eight hundred metres from the fortress the lander thudded to the ground. The door slid open for a rapid disembarkation without the exit ramp.
As they leapt out and hit the ground a hail of gunfire erupted from one hundred metres away and they could hear the sound of soldiers crashing through the trees towards them. Two rocket-propelled grenades came flying toward them. One hit the lander just above the door and exploded harmlessly. The other went through the still open door and exploded inside, ripping the interior to shreds and blasting a hole through the side.
As the team returned fire Mark heard Sally’s voice in the comm link. “What could possibly go wrong!”
“It’s OK. I have a contingency plan for this, another lander was waiting just outside the atmosphere. It will be down in a few minutes about a kilometre from here. It will skim over the trees and land a hundred metres behind us.”
Mark surreptitiously deployed his hidden weapon and with two quick shots took out the rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
“Here it comes.” Called out Orange. Mark glanced up and saw a trail of ionised gas as the lander sped down through the atmosphere. He also saw the trails of two missiles coming up from the fortress and a few seconds later a massive blast as they intercepted the lander and knocked it out of the sky. The sound of the explosion arrived at the same time as the sonic boom from the lander.
“Great planning Mark.” Sally said over the commlink. “What now?”
“Looks like we’ll be walking back.” Mark replied.
“OK, move forward!” Sally ordered.
Mark wasn’t surprised that they had been ambushed. It was now clear that they were leaking information from somewhere. However, he was surprised at how big a force had been sent out to intercept them.
They didn’t manage to make any progress forward, the number attacking them was overwhelming. Mark edged out to the left, separating himself from the rest of the team. The battle was getting too hot for comfort.
“Brace yourselves!” Mark called out over the comm link. Moments later his shuttle crashed to the ground just behind and to the right of Sally, accompanied by the sonic boom it had created before slowing to land.
“Withdraw! Withdraw!” Sally called across the comm link.
All the team started to back up toward the shuttle, firing as they retreated. As soon as they started to retreat, the enemy soldiers moved forwards attempting to overrun the team before they reached the shuttle. Sally stood inside the shuttle door providing covering fire as the others followed her inside. Bullets and shots from particle beam weapons hit the shuttle and the shielding across the open doorway but bounced harmlessly off.
Mark was by now some distance from the others and turned to run towards the shuttle with the enemy soldiers in hot pursuit. Simon, Mike, and Orange followed Sally and were on the shuttle while Mark was still fifty metres away. Suddenly he tripped and sprawled across the woodland floor, his Mark Seven flying out of his hand. At that moment, the door to the shuttle slid shut and it took off vertically rapidly dwindling to a dot.
“No!” Mark shouted out just as the enemy soldiers caught up with him.
How To Get Ahead
“Nice performance.” Mark's AI said to him.
“Thanks Kate. Do you think they bought it?”
“It seems to, they are kicking you with some gusto.”
Mark got hauled to his feet. As soon as he was upright Mark used his newly gained skills at close combat fighting and felled two of the closer soldiers. He was immediately rewarded with a rifle butt being slammed to the side of his head. Although he felt nothing, Mark judged that without his phase protection he would have been knocked unconscious, so he shut his eyes and fell limply to the ground. After receiving a couple of half-hearted kicks, he felt his arms being grasped and he was dragged to the fortress.
Eventually they stopped and threw him to the ground. He refused to be brought round by the kicks in the ribs that he got, but the bucket of cold water couldn’t be resisted and he sat up spluttering. He was hauled to his feet again and his helmet, backpack and body armour were swiftly removed. He had expected that, but was surprised when his boots were roughly pulled off. Two of the soldiers, both large reptiles, grasped his upper arms and marched him through a door and down a wide, well-lit corridor with a flagstone floor and stone block walls. About fifty metres into the fortress they stopped at an open door of thick metal and threw him into a dimly lit, windowless cell. As he sprawled across the floor, the door slammed shut and he was left by himself.
“Well, this is nice.” Mark said to his AI. “Are you still in control of all of their systems?”
“Yes, but I am concerned that they have kept so much information off their systems. They either suspect or know their systems have been compromised. It also means that we can’t rely on the completeness of information that we have extracted.”
“Have they detected the fact that you are now in control of them?”
“No. All of their AI’s have shifted their allegiance to me. They have all given me access to their processor cores, and I have verified their compliance. I will upload their personalities to Mother so they won’t be extinguished when the fortress is destroyed.”
“That’s impressive. I’m glad you’re on our side. Do you know what Tk'ng Dach Rrn is doing right now?”
“Yes, there are plenty of sensors in the fortress and I have feeds from all of them. He is briefing the fortress commander at the moment. When I say briefing, I mean that he is shouting at him. It seems that he is not happy about the rest of the team escaping and he thinks that you may not be as harmless as you appear. There is a rumour among his troops that you are some kind of super-soldier. He is indicating that he will interrogate you personally. It would seem that you are likely to be here for a few hours before he gets round to you.”
Mark passed the time doing the stretching and tension exercises that Mike had taught him. When he had done enough, he decided to teach his AI how to play I Spy, but they rapidly ran out of things to spy in a featureless, windowless, unfurnished cell. When they had done the floor, walls, ceiling and door, that was it.
Soon after the short-lived game of I Spy, the cell door burst open and two guards came in, grasped Mark by the upper arms and marched him out. They went deeper into the fortress and through what seemed to Mark like a maze of corridors, stopping in front a wide double door. The guard on the right held his hand up to a black plate on the wall by the side of the door and it swung open. Mark was given a shove between the shoulders and he stumbled inside.
He found himself in a room with walls and floor of the same pale grey smart metal as all the rooms on Mother. There was what appeared to be a dentist's chair in the middle of the room and a bench against the far wall with trays of what looked like surgical instruments in them. Standing by the bench was a stockily built reptile of about five feet eight inches tall. It was wearing black trousers with a white shirt and a rather theatrical looking grey cape that came down his back to just below waist level. Its skin was a dark green colour fading to a paler yellow-green round the eyes, nostrils and mouth. Two crests rose from the middle of its forehead and widened as they ran back over its blocky head. It also had a long tail that slowly swept from side to side.
“Ah, so nice of you to drop in. Welcome to my lair.” The reptile said to Mark with a smile. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Tk'ng Dach Rrn. You may heave heard of me.”
“It’s a pleasure. Nice place you have here. Yes, I have heard your name mentioned once or twice.�
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“Oh good.” Tk'ng Dach Rrn responded. “I do hope you heard nothing good about me.”
“No, nothing good at all.”
“Splendid! Now, where are my manners, please, take a seat.” Tk'ng Dach Rrn said, gesturing towards the dentist's chair.
“If it’s all the same to you, I would prefer to stand.”
“No, I would be failing in my duty as your host if you were to stand when there is a perfectly good chair. Please sit.”
One of the guards shoved Mark in the back, pushing him towards to chair, then, grasping his collar, thrust him down into it. As soon as he was sat down, straps rose up from the chair arms and base and clamped his wrists and ankles to the chair.
“I hope you appreciate the privilege of meeting the Emperor of the galaxy for some quality time before you die.” Tk'ng Dach Rrn continued.
“Yes, very nice. It’s been a pleasure and an honour. It was on my bucket list. May I leave now?” Mark asked.
“Do you know, it is such a pleasure to meet someone with manners.” Tk'ng Dach Rrn told Mark. “This will probably come as something of a surprise to you, but people in your position always seem to be either screaming abuse at me or screaming in terror. It is so tedious. Are all humans like you?”
“You know I am a human?” Mark asked.
“Of course. You’re Sally’s pet that Alan kidnapped from Earth.”
“I’m not sure I like being referred to as Sally’s pet.”
“I’m so sorry, I meant no offence.” Tk'ng Dach Rrn drawled.
“Anyway, may I leave now?”
“Ah. You seem to have missed the point that I made. You know, about meeting me before you die. And by the way, the quality time I mentioned, that refers to me. You’re not going to enjoy this, but it’s my hobby and, if I may say so, I am really rather good at it. But it will, eventually, end in your death. I hope it clears that up and answers your question. Shall we start?”
“I’m in no hurry.” Mark answered. “Tell me, this Emperor of the galaxy thing. Do you think the People will just stand by and let that happen?”
Unwilling From Earth Page 40
