Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2)

by Michael G. Thomas

  “Don’t play games with me. Your name is Pontus, and you are the most wanted man in the galaxy.”

  Khan moved to Spartan and gazed upon his sworn enemy. The man seemed just as terrified at the sight of Khan as he was at the other non-human creatures on the ship.

  “You worked with the machines,” he stated, his voice dripping with venom. “You helped them and the Biomechs to wage war against your own people. Millions died because of you.”

  Khan, normally stoic in these situations, clenched his right fist, desperate to exact some revenge for the massed suffering of his own comrades at the hands of Pontus and his friends.

  “Pontus?” cried out the man, “No...no, that’s not me.”

  Spartan lifted his armored fist in a threatening manner and looked into the eyes of his enemy. He could see genuine horror and fear staring right back, and it worried him.

  “I don’t know who...my name?”

  He reached for his face as though expecting to find somebody else.

  “Who am I? Where am I? Are we in space?”

  Khan shook his head angrily.

  “Tell us what are you doing here?”

  Pontus started spluttering, his voice confused and scared. Spartan was forced to lower his hand to try and calm the man. After a few more confused words, his voice started to make some sense.

  “I woke up on the bed in there, with the others. The pod opened, and I fell out, and moved toward the door...and here.”

  He then turned to Spartan and grabbed him, pleading desperately and pathetically.

  “Please...you have to help me. There are things in there, terrible things.”

  The other two operatives pulled themselves around the pipes and machinery in the center of the ship. They moved with great skill in the weightless environment, better in fact than most marines could have managed. One disappeared behind the large pieces of metal before quickly reappearing.

  “It’s like the AI hubs they used on our ships.”

  “Hubs? Are you sure?” asked Spartan.

  The man nodded back without even checking.

  “Yeah, I saw the vids. This is definitely the same tech.”

  Spartan had expected to find exactly that. He recalled the incidents years ago where the Zealots, a religious terrorist organization, had made use of biomechanical creatures to wage war on the colonies. These half-machine and half-biological systems had been miniaturized and sneaked aboard military ships so that they could be turned on the fleet. He suspected this ship had been configured to operate in much the same way.

  “So this warship is controlled by that thing?” asked Porter, pointing at the pipes. Spartan heard him and was struck by how little some of the people of his age actually knew about what had happened in the past. The stories of the artificial brains controlling ships in the War had been a great scandal at the time. Now it appeared, it was nothing much more than old and irrelevant history.

  “Yeah,” Khan muttered. “They install the gear, and the pipes feed the brain.”

  Khan turned his attention back to Pontus.

  “What about him?”

  Spartan looked a little confused. He tapped a button and the visor of his suit hissed open to reveal his face in clear detail.

  “I don’t know.”

  He looked at Pontus and recalled the last time he’d seen the man. It had been in the last days of the War. Hundreds of Alliance marines had been sent to rescue the survivors of destroyed warships in the area. In reality, the planet had been the site of the enemy’s main Spacebridge that led directly into Alliance space. Pontus and his comrades had been there, as well as machines of war, Biomechs, and legions of troops. Victory at Hyperion had ended the War but also given them the information needed to travel far into space, information that conveniently linked them directly to the shattered worlds of the T’Kari.

  “Pontus, you and your comrades tried to control our people through your facility on Terra Nova. Remember?”

  He saw nothing, not even a basic glimmer of recognition from one of the enemy’s masterminds. Spartan decided to take a slightly different, and potentially more dangerous, route.

  “Your brother, Typhon, you must remember him? I killed him with my bare hands two decades ago.”

  Again there was absolutely nothing from the man’s face. The ship started to shake, and both Khan and Spartan realized it was commencing an engine burst. If it accelerated away while they were on board, they would become trapped on the ship. Spartan didn’t even hesitate. He swung his arm around and blasted the control system, pipes, and machinery. Chunk of plastic, metal, and finally blood, sprayed out in globs of free-floating mess. The rumble from the ship died at just the same time. An indicator light flashed on his suit; it was from the Alliance frigate ANS Serenity.

  What the hell are they doing here?

  Another message, this time a priority message from their transport came through over the sound system. Though he was an Alliance citizen, this operation had been fully funded through trade agreements between his teetering APS Corporation and the T’Kari on Hades.

  “Alpha, we have an Alliance frigate on intercept course; they’ll be here within forty minutes.”

  Spartan looked to Khan who showed no sign of emotion on his face.

  “If we tell them, then they’ll seize the ship, and we lose the contract,” he said plainly.

  Spartan sighed. APS Corp really needed this business, and the security contracts on several of the key T’Kari mining installations in New Charon would keep them going for another five years. He also knew what the threat of the Biomechs had been, and could be again. Khan looked at his changing expression and knew right away what his old friend was thinking. Spartan connected directly to the communications officer on board the warship.

  “This is Security Manager Spartan of APS Corporation. We’ve discovered potential Biomech activity on this vessel. Advise an exclusion zone until the situation is under control.”

  There was no immediate reply before a surprised sounding woman’s voice came back.

  “Spartan, I know who you are. This is Alliance controlled space, and I am preparing a boarding party of marines to search all ships in this area. Stand down and prepare to be boarded.”

  He hit the disconnect option and looked back to his team.

  “We need to secure any prisoners and get out of here. Alliance can mop up, but we have work to do. Let’s go.”

  He moved in the direction where Pontus had first appeared, while the other three followed with Pontus in tow. It meant he was forced to pass directly alongside the machinery and equipment in the center of the ship.

  No guards other than a few substandard Biomechs. Why is that?

  They found the open doorway where Pontus had come from. The room on the other side was filled with pods laid out in a massive lattice. In the center a cluster of them were all open, but there were no signs of people or anything else nearby. Spartan pushed on to reach the left-hand cluster. The pods were dark, but as he approached, the hardened glass flickered and the pod lit up. He looked at the figure inside with horror.

  “Gods, have you seen this!” he cried out.

  Khan stopped at his side, looking at three pods before he spoke.

  “Each one if different, and there are creatures I’ve never seen. Some look like T’Kari. There are two more humans to the right.”

  Spartan moved over to one of the pods in question and looked inside. He stared intently at the face. He looked on in fascination as though gazing at some great miracle before shaking his head and pulling himself back. It contained a man, but a man he was all too familiar with.

  “What is it?” asked Khan suspiciously.

  “Typhon, he’s in that pod and still breathing.”

  Khan moved along the ceiling and lowered himself down to look.

  “No, it’s not possible. I saw you kill him on Terra Nova.”

  Spartan pushed up to the ceiling so that he could pull his bodyweight behind while looking do
wn at the pods. He counted over a hundred, of which only two more contained humans. He noticed at least five T’Kari figures, but none looked familiar to him. The others contained creatures or people he couldn’t even imagine to have seen before. He finally stopped and turned back to join the others near the entrance.

  “There are different types of pods in this place.”

  Khan looked back in the direction they’d come from as if expecting danger. Spartan pulled himself down to the floor, and his boots clumped as they made contact with the metal floor.

  “The ones running around the outside all contain Biomechs of one type or another. Some of them are open, probably contained the creatures that attacked us. The others in the center are a mixture of different creatures, including people like us...and him.” He finished by pointing at Pontus. Several dozen of the outer pods lit up, and light flashed down the sides of the units. Hisses and a gas or mist gushed from the seals. Then one by one each one started to unlock.

  “This isn’t a Raider ship. No way is it just cruising through New Charon and initiating attacks. We’ve found something else, something unexpected,” Spartan said.

  “Like a Spec Ops ship?” asked the youngest operative.

  Spartan looked surprised, but also a little impressed at the suggestion. A Spec Ops ship would make sense, at least based on the information they already had. He seriously doubted it would be of any used as a Raiding ship with its interior filled with pods and their unusual cargo. In the past, he had worked on all manner of covert operations, and this ship would certainly be ideal for the insertion of indoctrinated figures into different societies.

  Maybe this is designed to train and drop off agents into different worlds?

  He then remembered the number of Raiders currently making their way back from the crippled ship. The scans had shown they were T’Kari, or at the very least, they were wearing the armor and spacesuits of the T’Kari. The problem was why were they on board the Alliance ship if their sole purpose was to insert operatives into different societies? Then it dawned on him.

  Of course, they must be looking for intelligence or supplies. Maybe even body parts for use in their Biomech creatures. He turned and looked at the pods. This could be a factory ship just as much as it a Spec Ops vessel.

  He sighed, now becoming more than a little annoyed at what he’d found. Back in the War, he’d spent time aboard one of the enemy’s transports and discovered similar pods where Biomechs were being constructed. The similarities were obvious between the craft, but the discovery of Pontus and Typhon was completely unexpected. If nothing else, this had changed things from a simple piracy issue to one of Alliance-wide security. That meant he was now obliged to inform the Alliance authorities, but he was stalling, knowing full well it would end up as a major loss for him personally and for his company.

  “We should move, those things are opening,” Porter Reade, the younger of operatives suggested as he pointed to the nearest pod.

  Khan looked at the movement and lifted him arm, ready for any sign of danger to either himself or the rest of the unit. Spartan nodded firmly in agreement.

  “Yes, we need to get off this ship, but I want answers as well. Can you get that pod open?” asked Spartan, pointing to the unit containing Typhon.

  Porter was also the most highly rated when it came to advanced electronics and programming. It was the key reason Spartan had pushed for him to join the dwindling company. It was just this kind of job for which his talents were hopefully ideally suited. The young man nodded and jumped up, kicking at the wall. He moved effortlessly through the open space and grabbed at the pod. At the same time, the first two pods on the outer side of the ship opened to reveal the sinister shapes of Biomechs.

  “Keep them busy!” shouted Spartan.

  The first was riddled with holes before it could even climb out, but the second was much quicker. Even the way its legs moved suggested stronger limbs and a greater intelligence. Spartan took careful aim and struck one leg before it vanished behind the other pods. Khan started to move forward, but Spartan lifted his fist and signaled for him to stay.

  “No, we need to be ready to leave. Stand your ground and cover him.”

  Khan took aim with his own weapon and waited for the creature to show its face. At the same time more of the pods opened, and the long limbs and vicious skulls of the creatures appeared. Spartan knew they were now in trouble, but he had to get the body of Typhon. If they could obtain intelligence from him, it could be worth more than any discovery they’d made so far. It might even save his company. He tapped the connection to ANS Serenity once again.

  “This is Security Manager Spartan. We have discovered large numbers of prisoners and Biomechs on board the target ship. Please dispatch boarding parties as soon as possible. We have Pontus and Typhon in custody.”

  The reply was almost instantaneous.

  “Spartan. Is this a joke?”

  He looked directly at Pontus, still being held to avoid him escaping, and sent a still image from his suit’s cameras directly to the warship.

  “See for yourself. We have about a hundred prisoners, and they are all related to the uprisings.”

  This time there was a much longer pause.

  “Spartan, there are standing orders for the capture and execution of any remaining commanders of Echidna, the Zealots, or their allies. Can you stop her from powering up?”

  Spartan took aim and fired at another two of the creatures but like the previous one, these had gone to ground. He glanced about but could find none of them. He turned to his left and back to his team.

  “Porter, how much longer?”

  The young man lifted a hand but continued to work.

  “Just a few more seconds!”

  The suit’s intercom came to life with chatter from the other squads.

  “Alpha, the T’Kari are back, and they’re on their way to you. We held them back as long as we could, but they have machines with them. You need to get out of there!”

  Spartan looked to Khan who had received the same information.

  “Machines?” he asked incredulously.

  “Yeah,” replied Spartan slowly. “I don’t want to find out. We are out of here, now!”

  Luckily the pod hissed open, and Porter quickly dragged the unconscious body of Typhon and moved back toward them. A shape at the doorway caught their attention, but it was Lovett and two of his squad.

  “The rest are heading back to the transport. We have the T’Kari prisoners but you need to move it! They’ve taken control of the engine room, and I can promise you...”

  He was cut short by a massive vibration through the ship.

  “Spartan, a Spacebridge has just opened in the center of the debris field. Are you off the ship yet?”

  The small group moved as quickly, all trying to move the prisoners as best they could. As they rushed away from the hideous interior, the creatures scuttled about, maneuvering to find the best position to attack from. Spartan pushed past the mashed machinery in the center of what was the command part of the ship and noticed three T’Kari warriors connecting up cables. One spotted him and aimed a rifle.

  “Cover!” he cried

  With great effort, they dragged themselves to safety as quickly as they could. A burst of fire struck about them, rupturing the leg armor of Porter’s suit. He cried out in pain as blobs of blood squirted out from the damage.

  “Spartan!” called out the Captain of the Alliance vessel, “The T’Kari ship is making for the Spacebridge. Get out now or disable her engines. You have ninety seconds before you reach the point of no return.”

  Khan emptied a long burst of gunfire toward the T’Kari, but unlike the Biomechs, they were agile and pulled themselves behind the machinery to avoid the weapons fire. One also lifted up and shot back at Spartan. The dull rumble inside the ship increased, as did the gunfire from the T’Kari. Then one of the creatures appeared and pushed away from the wall. To Spartan and his comrades’ surprise, the T’Kari
Raiders opened fire on it and managed to kill it before it crashed nearby. More creatures appeared, but one of the T’Kari grabbed a control unit and pushed hard. The creature landed on top of him, tearing off his right arm with brutality that shocked them all. At the same time, they were all thrown back against the back walls. Spartan was pinned to the wall before realizing it had now become the floor. He picked himself up and looked to the others lying prostrate or crumpled along the wall before looking to the T’Kari. They stared right back but didn’t fire.

  Great, we’re going through a Spacebridge on a ship filled with pods, Biomechs, machines, and whatever these T’Kari Raiders are.

  * * *

  Captain Alyani Tinychai watched the shape of the T’Kari warship on the mainscreen, deep inside the armored hull of ANS Serenity. No sooner had the T’Kari ship entered the breach before the Spacebridge shuddered and deactivated, leaving nothing but empty space around it.

  “Get me Admiral Anderson on the horn. Something is going on out here, and I don’t like it!”

  Her communications officer replied smartly and went about getting a connection to the main command center in the System. Captain Tinychai, in the meantime, turned her attention back to the area of space where the Spacebridge had been. The remains of the crippled Alliance ship were still out there, as well as a hidden civilian transport and shuttles. She sighed before turning to her XO.

  “This isn’t good. I need drones out there to check the ship.”

  She turned and pointed to the transport.

  “As for her, get a boarding party on board. I want her Captain brought aboard for questioning.”

  Her XO saluted and turned to his console.

  “Captain, Admiral Anderson is on the line,” her communications officer called out.

  She nodded and pressed the button, activating the audio and video connection at her end. The face of the aged but experienced Admiral appeared.

  “What is it Captain?” he asked, almost in a bored tone.

  “Admiral, we’ve just located the remains of a derelict ship, as well as a T’Kari Raiding ship. We assume it is one of those that have been attacking T’Kari colonies in the area.”