by M. R. Forbes
“On their own, not great. But Max came back to warn us about Vyte, same as Caleb did. Why would he save me from the xaxkluth if he’s Vyte or Hanson? The enemy wants me dead.”
“Do they? I’m not so sure.”
“How do you mean?”
“I’m just putting the pieces together. Krake tricked you into going north before making its move. It wanted you gone. Why? It killed thousands of others. Did it really believe it couldn’t kill you?”
“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but maybe it did? A lot of things have tried to kill me and failed. What if it calculated the risk and decided it was safer to put me somewhere else? We can’t rule it out.”
“No, we can’t. But do you agree the possibility exists?”
“Anything’s possible, Rico, but I’m having a hard time buying the theory. Max helped me out a few months back. Why would he turn on me now?”
“Are you sure he was helping you out? You gave him a Relyeh. Isn’t that what Vyte is after? Control of the Ancients?”
Hayden opened his mouth to rebuke her idea again, but the statement gave him pause. That was what Caleb said the rogue Axon wanted. He looked at Rico, the seed of doubt planted. He couldn’t disregard what Max had done before helping him, and he couldn’t ignore the fact that Intellects were programmed to follow directives. Max was damaged, which made him different than the other Axon Intellects, but he still didn’t have a genuinely free will. If he were working for the Axon Council, they had every reason to want Vyte handled, and every reason to send Max back to Hayden to offer assistance.
But if that were the case, then why Max and only Max? Why not send an army of Intellects to help with the cause? “Max!” Hayden shouted.
“What are you doing?” Rico asked.
“I want to know how he wound up back here, in his own words.”
“How do you know they’ll be honest words?”
“How do we know anyone is honest nowadays? Haeri was playing multiple sides. You broke your loyalty to Proxima to come here to warn me.”
“I did not,” Rico hissed. “I came here to help Proxima. And Earth.”
Hayden flinched at the vitriol on her response. “Sorry, Rico. You’re right. Bear with me, will you?”
She nodded.
“Max!” Hayden shouted again.
The Intellect appeared at the base of the stairs. “You called, Sheriff?”
“Come on up here. We need to talk.”
Max glided up the steps. Rico was right about one thing. It would be a challenge to tell if the Intellect was lying or not. Without eyes, without facial features, the AI was impossible to read.
“You’re concerned that I’m working for Vyte,” Max said without prompting.
“You were listening to our conversation?” Rico asked.
“I’m called an Intellect for a reason,” Max replied. “I don’t need to eavesdrop. The concern is logical and obvious. Hahaha. Haha.”
“Is it also accurate?” Hayden asked.
“Negation. I’m not serving Vyte.”
“Well, that clears that up,” Rico said sarcastically.
“How can we know you aren’t lying, Max?” Hayden asked. “How do I know I can trust you?”
“You trusted me once before. I didn’t betray you. We’re friends.”
“And then you went back to the Axon Council, and you admitted they screwed with your programming.”
“Disagreement. I said they upgraded my data stack. It isn’t the same thing. Hahahaha. Haha.”
“What happened when you went home? I want to know everything.”
Max was silent and still long enough Hayden started to think he had shut down. Then the Axon shrugged. “I told you earlier we had much to discuss. I understand time has been limited. I brought Shurrath to the Council as agreed. They took the Relyeh away to be destroyed and dismissed me. They didn’t want to hear my report or my request. I was sent to the Forge for a data purge, including a full report of my time on Earth. The report was uploaded to the Axon master repository. I don’t know if any of the Council ever reviewed it.”
“I took care of an Ancient for them, and they couldn’t even give me a thought?” Hayden said, getting angry. “You told me they would appreciate the effort.”
“Affirmation. Disappointment. The Council I knew would have, but that was many ens ago. Things have changed, Sheriff. The war has taken a great toll on the organics. They have lost worlds. I believe that’s why some like Krake have chosen to follow Vyte’s path.”
“And what path are you following?” Rico asked.
“Decision. I delivered my report to the Forge. I was updated with the latest patches for my data store. The Makers wanted to replace my cortex. To erase me. I’m a machine. I acknowledge that. I have few directives related to self-preservation. But those directives were activated when the Makers rendered their judgment. So I ran.”
“You ran?” Hayden said, surprised.
“Affirmation. I fled the Forge, taking only the modulator I was able to capture during my escape to offer as a pledge to you, Sheriff. Admission. I can’t act against the directives entered into my cortex by the Makers. It is impossible. But fighting the Hunger is among my primary directives. I’m able to assist you in this matter.”
“Because it aligns with the goals of the Axon Council.”
“Affirmation.”
“But you aren’t acting on direct orders from the Council or from Vyte?”
“Negation. Consideration. It’s impossible for me to prove my loyalty to you, or that I’m worthy of your trust outside of the experiences we’ve already shared. Reminder. I could have killed you, Sheriff, to kill Shurrath. I chose not to. We’re friends. Hahaha. Haha.”
Hayden looked at the Intellect, and then at Rico. Max was right. No matter how many times he had been tricked by trying to do the right thing, he still had to do the right thing because it was the right thing. Sometimes he would get screwed because of it, but he’d rather trust the Axon that called itself his friend than become suspicious of everything and everyone.
“Pozz that,” Hayden said. He turned to Rico. “You may or may not be satisfied, but it is what it is. Max is one of ours.”
Rico nodded in reply. “Welcome to the team, Max.”
“Appreciation. Hahaha. Haha.”
47
Caleb
Caleb followed Sheriff Duke, Max, General Stacker and Pyro into the cavern leading to the generation ship Pilgrim, still buried beneath the earth over two hundred years after it was supposed to have fled the planet.
The ride from Sanisco to the site—somewhere in the middle of the desert, probably not far from Death Valley—had thankfully been uneventful. They hadn’t encountered a soul while traveling through the stretch of desert, though the reasons behind that lack of interaction were anything but pleasant. As Sheriff Duke explained it, Shurrath had done his share of damage not too long ago, which had thinned out an already thin population south of Sanisco. In addition, the signs of passing xaxkluth were spread across the roads and towns leading into the former larger cities, their hardened black ichor creating veins across the landscape. The Parabellum had spotted the aliens from the air, tracking them as they headed northeast in search of something to kill.
The ride had also been unmercifully long. While Sheriff Duke had done his best to keep the convoy moving full time, every break wound up taking nearly twice the amount of time he’d planned to be stopped. The civilians were slow to both depart and rejoin the caravan. It was hard work for the Centurions to protect them during stoppages as they tended to range further from the vehicles than was safe, usually seeking somewhere private to relieve themselves.
But they had made it. Three hours later than planned, but with everyone alive and accounted for.
If miracles were real, this might be one.
It was a minor miracle the convoy had arrived at their destination without losing anyone, without conflict and without any of the refurbished centuries-old vehic
les breaking down. The last point was a testament to the work Natalia and her engineers had done rebuilding the transportation.
“We’ll need to get a ladder or something installed here,” Hayden said, motioning to the lift shaft. The lift was resting at the bottom, the lines connecting it to the machinery cut.
“I think we can repair the lift,” Pyro said. “Get it working again.”
“How long?” Hayden asked.
“A few hours.”
“Not unless you’re staying behind.”
Pyro stared at the shaft. “It’s going to be difficult to get the equipment we brought down a ladder.”
“We need you to fly the Parabellum,” Stacker said.
“No, you don’t,” Pyro countered. “Ike’s got a handle on it. You saw how he landed this time.”
“That wasn’t auto?”
Pyro smiled. “No. He did that himself.”
Stacker was silent for a moment, considering. “What do you think, Colonel?” he asked, looking at Caleb.
“About leaving Pyro behind?” Caleb replied. “The area of greatest need for the civilians are engineers to prepare the settlement. We have multiple capable pilots, but only one craft to fly.”
“So you’re in favor?”
“Affirmative.”
Stacker nodded. “Okay. Go back to the caravan and find Lutz. Tell him what you need.”
“Yes, General,” Pyro said. She slipped past Caleb and hurried away.
“We should go down,” Hayden said. “Make sure the area’s clear.”
“This place looks like it’s been abandoned for years, Sheriff,” Caleb said.
“That’s what I thought last time I was here, right before I ran into a pair of Shields.”
“Shields?”
“Centurion bots,” Stacker said. “Why were they here?”
“Protecting the portal.”
“I’ve got a climbwire,” Stacker said, grabbing the thin line from a pocket of his utilities. He wasn’t wearing his armor at the moment, not that it made him any less imposing. Caleb still hadn’t decided who was bigger, the General or John Washington. He took a moment while Stacker was setting up the wire to wonder how Washington and the Deliverance were doing back on Essex. He missed his fellow Vulture, but their paths had diverged and there was nothing he could do about that. At least for the moment.
Sheriff Duke went down the wire first, letting go of it a few meters off the ground. He landed smoothly, pivoting and drawing his revolvers while using his glasses to provide low light vision of the cavern. Max followed behind him, not even bothering with the rope.
Caleb went next, pulling the cowl of his Axon Skin over his head, the material giving him sight in the dark.
The cavern was massive. Way too big to see from back to front even with enhanced sight. His eyes tracked upward, to the silhouette shape of the Pilgrim, the outline all too familiar. Nineteen of these ships were built to carry humankind away from Earth, and all of them looked the same. The Pilgrim was a clone of the Deliverance, or maybe it was the other way around.
Long and generally rectangular in shape, the Pilgrim had a set of wider extensions forward and aft and a large lifting sled beneath it. At some point the mountain had collapsed on it, partially submerging it in dirt and rocks. What he could see of it was dirty, rusted and dented in places. Caleb was confident he could navigate the inside of it with his eyes closed.
“Why didn’t she ever lift off?” he asked. “The cave-in?”
“No. Trife,” Hayden replied, as though the short answer was all Caleb needed to understand why it was still sitting where it had been built.
In a way, it was enough.
“The Deliverance had a similar problem. If I had been on board the Pilgrim instead, you would have made it.”
Sheriff Duke looked over at him with a smirk. “I don’t doubt that.” He was quiet for a minute as he looked the ship over. “We’ll head up into her and get the batteries charged.”
“You’ve been here before, General?” Caleb asked.
“Once,” Stacker replied. “It wasn’t my favorite experience.”
Caleb looked away. It was obvious Stacker didn’t want to talk about it.
“Do you have the lifts installed in the landers?” Caleb asked.
“What lifts?” Sheriff Duke replied. “No. The sled has stairs we can take to the hangar. There’s better access from the upper bridge, but the shorter shaft wasn’t excavated.” He motioned to a bridge crossing a gap between the side of the cavern and the starship.
“Will charging the batteries make the ship operational?” Max asked.
“It should,” Hayden said. “We didn’t pull a lot of the critical equipment off her. Mainly the filtration systems Pyro had us carry back. They’re the reason for the tight fit on the convoy vehicles. Power systems should come right up. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if the thrusters still fired. They’ve never been used.”
“I guess if things don’t work out, you can always head for Proxima,” Caleb said.
“I doubt those kilos of rock on top of her would agree with you, Colonel,” Stacker replied, with half a grin. “Besides, I’m a wanted man on Proxima.”
“Or maybe not.” Caleb chuckled.
Staying in the lead, Hayden tuned them out. He kept one of his revolvers out and ready as he crossed beneath the back of the starship.
Following him, Caleb looked up as he went beneath the ship, his eyes tracking along the four massive thrusters that could accelerate the vessel to half the speed of light. They looked like they were in good condition.
There’s no value in launching a weaponless starship against a Relyeh warship, Caleb.
Caleb couldn’t argue the point with Ishek. But he also didn’t want to eliminate or waste any potential assets, regardless of how worthless they might seem.
They climbed the sled’s rusted metal stairs up to the enormous main hangar, the outer blast doors hanging partially open. The sight of it brought back a lot of memories for Caleb, not all of them good.
It seems all of you humans have demons in relation to your ships.
Caleb stared at the darkness behind the blast doors. He never expected to confront his again in quite this way.
He followed Hayden into the dark space, his cowl allowing him to see well enough to navigate. The large hangar wasn’t completely empty. The remains of a trife nest sat decaying toward the front, while vehicles rested cold and lifeless near the back. A huge hole in the ceiling revealed another space above. A Marine module, if it was similar to the Deliverance.
“I haven’t been back inside in a while,” Hayden said softly. “It’s hard to be here without Nat.”
“You can wait outside if you want, Sheriff,” Caleb said. “I know the layout. It looks the same as my ship. I can take Max to the batteries.”
Sheriff Duke rubbed at his chin, clearly tempted by the offer. Then he shook his head. “No. I’ve got to face down these demons. Nat wouldn’t want this to own me. And I don’t want that either.”
He kept going, through the stern passage out of the hangar and through dirty, barren corridors toward the rear of the ship. Caleb traced the outline of the passages in his mind, finding the layout nearly as identical as he had suspected.
It took ten minutes to get to the deck below the main power interchange and supercapacitors, where the ship's primary transformer rested. Caleb had been in the matching room on the Deliverance, so he knew what he would see when they arrived.
The primary transformer was a massive square metal box in the center of the floor. It reminded Caleb of a xaxkluth, because it had dozens of thick wires protruding from it like tentacles, a few spreading across the floor and into the walls, while the majority reached out to transfer power to and from hundreds of capacitors arranged in a circular order around it. The solid-state batteries were tall silver boxes, and Caleb remembered how Carol, the Deliverance's engineer, l had referred to them as their own personal Stonehenge.
O
ne of those cables had been spliced and separated, one half of the end wrapped haphazardly around the Axon modulator. The alien device had spent the last few minutes glowing softly, but the light had faded as the batteries were charged and the energy unit's output diminished.
“Power levels at one hundred percent Sheriff,” Max said, beginning to unhook the wires from the device.
Sheriff Duke retreated to a nearby engineering station and activated one of the terminals. Thirty seconds later, the Eagle and Star logo appeared above a password field. Sheriff Duke typed confidently into the field and hit enter.
WELCOME ADMIN
The Sheriff looked over at Caleb. “Do you know how to work this thing?”
“You look like you do,” Caleb replied.
“Neg. I know the master code. That’s about it. Nat always made the system adjustments.”
Caleb walked over to the terminal. “I know enough about them to be dangerous.”
“We only need the power to Metro activated right now. And maybe make sure we can close the hangar doors once everyone’s inside. Seal the ship off again.”
Caleb tapped on the control pad, bringing up different menus on the terminal. He was surprised to find Sheriff Duke had enabled complete access to all of the ship’s functions from the engineering terminal. Most of those were supposed to be limited to the bridge. Or at least, it had been that way on the Deliverance.
He found the energy conduits leading to the main cargo hold and started activating them. “Metro should have power now, Sheriff,” Caleb said over the soft hum that followed. “I can show Pyro how to work the systems; that way she can close everything up when she’s ready.”
“Much obliged, Colonel,” Sheriff Duke replied. “Let’s see if we can pick up some time getting the people situated. We’re way behind schedule, and I really want to be in Seattle when Krake arrives.”
“Me too, Sheriff,” Caleb said. “Me too.”
48
Hayden
