“I’m tryin’, Linda. I really am, but Cole was my yin. Without him, my yang is incomplete. He never told you I needed his optimism. He countered my pessimism with a precise balance.”
“That excuse is mechanical. We know of your synergy. That’s not making you cry. Cole was your friend. You miss your friend. You have to stop skirting that issue to try to remain in control. Cry for the friend you loved. That makes you stronger, not weaker.”
Sledge just let it out and an enormous weight was lifted. Linda just sat with him.
“Before we made this camp, I had no idea how to lead teenagers. I ran cytech deals in the city. Being deemed illegal, I never used a computer to keep records. An automaton recorded everything, so I never owned one.
After the Program tried to wipe out the world, I stopped being the criminal and became a resistance liberator. I used to deal with adults, not teens.
When Cole came along, he smoothed out my rough edges. I was irrational around the camp. Cole taught me how to cool out and compromise. Now that he’s no more, I just blew up at Steve. It wasn’t his fault for following my orders, but I made it his fault to portray staunch control. Now, Steve is fixing what I told him to break. My irrational impatience is back and I hate it.”
Linda listened and had to fix her camp leader.
“I thought you were strong. You could do whatever it took to keep us alive. Now, I’m seeing you use your dead friend as an excuse for you blowing up at Steve. You’ve been cool for two years. You’ve had adequate practice. You’re reverting out of stress.
Cole died. We’re all dealing with it in our own way. Some are depressed, but others are finding something, anything to blame for losing him.
Sweet Gaia got hard, and Steve is getting philosophical in his views. I’m enjoying rebreaking legs and you’re returning to that hard mean guy. It hurts, but it’ll pass. We have a Program to destroy. It’s time to stop attending our own pity parties. Cole made us better than that. Let’s start listening to him.”
She was right. They were still being hunted by a relentless destroyer who cares not about any human. Just because they had a devastating event occur, it doesn’t mean the Program will give them a break to mourn or recoup. They had to push forward. Take care of their calamity and forge ahead.
“Okay, Linda. We shouldn’t keep mourning Cole physically. We do his burial tomorrow and move to our next stage. I’ll always mourn him in my heart, but physically, I’m destroying that monstrosity in his name. That’s my goal and I will reach my goal.”
She patted his shoulder.
“Your purgatory trip wasn’t that long. Welcome back, Sledge.”
“I’m doing the eulogy tomorrow. I want to see you up front.”
“We all will be right there. Do your eulogy, be eloquent, and let's get back to work.”
“I’ll be nicer by tomorrow, kid. I promise.”
The next day, Alikira was checking the knots of the Yamato. They were in the Sea of Japan with the smell of the marine outdoors and a breeze bouncing off their faces. It had a strange solace of normality. No high tech anything. Just the sea.
She went to the deck to peer over the side. She saw the school of dolphins on the side of the carrier. The friendly mammals accompanied their ceremony. It was time to be the sole pallbearer. She went to the area of his casket.
“Aikira’s here. Are you ready?” Linda asked.
“Call her Di. It’s her Cole coping mechanism,” Sledge told her. “It’s time, I’m ready.”
Linda went to Alikira.
“Look. Di. I know this will be the toughest thing you will do all day. Possibly all week. Just remember Cole’s teachings, because your new journey will be impossible if you don’t listen and go after the Program half-cocked. He trained you to do this the right way. Don’t destroy his legacy by dying from vengeful anger.”
“I know, Lind.” She lifted his casket with no effort. “I have to save all my Squwiggeezeez community and this time, I don’t get a second life.”
Linda felt better Alikira had the proper perspective.
“Let’s go send our squad commander off with style, Di.”
They all went to the ceremony.
After everything was set correctly and all his core squad said their piece, Sledge stood to say the eulogy.
He walked in front of the Neo-Khaos and felt the brisk sea breeze run across his face. The others were waiting to hear what he was about to say, so he began.
“When I constructed this camp, my goal was to keep you all alive. I had none or didn’t know of any nuance. That wasn’t an aspect of survival. Well, to me it wasn’t. Avoiding and hiding were.
My job was to collect all the stragglers to keep us together. We fought borgeys to stay hidden. You all complied because I was the ‘grown-up’. We barely survived those first months. Then one day, Cole Rann showed up.
“Cole was a prisoner in Sheng Leung prison. He was a grown-up, but being incarcerated for trying to help others turned him off on leadership. And him not liking bratty teens helped in his decision.
Then he saw me blow up at Raheem and realized you people aren’t brats. You are soldiers fighting for survival. That’s what made him want to help.
We stopped running and began to fight back because of him. He also made me a better leader. He was the catalyst to our resistance.
He brought us Alikira who wants to be called Di from now on because Cole gave her that nickname. He changed our tide for the better.
He was a savvy deft squad commander, but he was also my friend. He taught me life was more precious than hiding because, in the end, hiding was just long death if you didn’t fight back.
I salute my friend. Cole is gone physically, but his drive and ideas are immortal to me. I hope they are for all of you.”
Sledge stepped back so Alikira could lift his casket to the side of the carrier.
“Goodbye, my friend. We will destroy the Program in your name. Your efforts will not go to waste.”
Sledge nodded to Alikira and she sent him to his sea burial.
As the water splashed and the others cried, Alikira tried to stay stoic in her demeanor. Then Gaia, Kayleigh, Jenny, and Linda hugged her. That was when her galvanized demeanor cracked like a fragile eggshell.
“Cole wouldn’t stop fighting for me. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be a borgey junk pile to you all.”
“We knew you were special when you walked out of that abandoned hangar in Victoria,” Gaia said. “You actually convinced the rest inadvertently through Steve. The rest got the message, so Cole didn’t have to fight so hard from then on.”
“We’ve been through this trauma before when we thought Cole blew up in that factory,” Linda said. “We know the pain. We’ll be here to help you through it.”
Alikira closed her tear-stained eyes and nodded.
“Thank you all. I can lift a two-ton generator, but I think this weight might even be too heavy for me.”
Sledge came up to them.
“I know this is a very dark time for us, but are you ready to take on the Program, ladies?”
“What, right now?!” Gaia asked in surprise.
“No, we aren’t sailing to America right now,” he said. “We have to get supplies before we heave to. Gaia, grab your food when we get back to Yamamoto. We can fish along the way.”
“You’re talking a pit stop before we get dirty,” Linda said. “Well, have nitro, will travel.”
Sledge was tired of virtual reality fighting. He was very motivated to accomplish his goal.
Alikira felt Sledge’s commitment. Her malevolence took over.
“Grab some extra oil canisters. Linda. I need to stay limber when I physically rip out its core.”
Chapter Two: Rhyme of the Metalically Brilliant Mariner
Alikira took some time to navigate from the Sea of Japan to get to the Pacific Ocean, but they were finally America bound. The preparation took a little longer than they expected.
>
”Come on, Chip. You can move a fifty-gallon barrel.” Steve said.
“One, you’re mixing pounds with gallons which one gallon is seven pounds and two, it’s a hundred ninety liters, so stop trying to make this three hundred fifty gallon barrel sound like it’s just fifty pounds.” Chip never fell for a stupid challenge.
Gaia had her horticultural team gather all the plants and necessary pipes to craft a makeshift plant farm on the carrier deck.
“Make sure you bring the irrigation pump. You don’t want your broccoli, potatoes or wheat stalks drinking unfiltered seawater,” she told them.
Linda was making sure her nitro didn’t mix with her ammonia as she packed her bomb-making materials. She trusted no one to help her move her C4 and Symtex.
Jenny and Kayleigh made sure every Magrupt was charged for their journey. They could meet hostiles in the ocean and in the Pacific, there were no charging stations, even on the Yamato. The carrier was abandoned during the extinction attempt and the Madrupts were made afterward.
All were preparing for the trip. They didn’t want to leave any vital pieces for their quest.
“Do you have the map downloaded, Di?” Carlos asked.
“Yes, Carlos. I’m your global positioning system without a satellite network. Can you sail this floating city?”
“I made it to Cole’s ceremony. What're an extra ten thousand kilometers give or take?”
“You know we are going all the way to the east coast of America, right?”
“We have to refuel, so Ocasio-Cortez Naval Base in San Fransisco is my first destination. When we top off, we’re crossing at the Panama Canal, then it’s east coast bound.”
“So, you’re fine with sailing?”
“They widened the canal, so we’re good in moving this monster. Sailing, flying, the only difference is I have to travel between land masses as opposed to my ‘straight as the crow flies’ method.”
“Do you want to look through my optical port to use me like a sextant? I know Chip can rig it for you if you want.”
“One, I trust your navigation skills and two, Fly Boys work with VorTac virtua-nav systems, not sextants. Now, Gaia, has me calling myself a flyboy instead of a pilot.”
Alikira looked confused, vortack?”
“You remind me of Linda when she didn’t know what ILS was. Vor stands for VHF omnidirectional ranging and Tac is tactical flight navigation. I really need to teach a course, so if I lose a leg, you all can fly me to a medical facility.”
“I’ll protect you, Carlos. Maybe you can teach me while we sail this far. Aside from weather anomalies, sailing sounds boring.”
“As you said, I’m moving a floating city half-way around the world. Once our course is locked in, I’ll teach you VFR, IFR, FLIR, glide path ratios, compass navigation degree methodology, magnetic north, true north differentials, the whole nine yards.”
“Sounds interesting. It’ll keep me away from Chip wanting to ‘trick me out’ this entire trip.”
“Chip is still trying to streamline you. You’re perfect the way you are,” Carlos said.
“Thanks, Carlos. No one has ever called me perfect before. Not even in my project dwelling.”
“Then they made a mistake. You were a freedom fighter who helped your community eat, you saved us from that new borgey scourge and hacked the Program. Perfecta Bonita.”
“I don’t know Spanish, but I know the first word you said was perfect, thank you again, but what was the second?”
“I can train you on that word too. Are you up for tomorrow?”
“I don’t have any nail or hair appointments, so I think I can make it.” Alikira felt a little different learning from her crush. “Once we hit the Pacific, I’m all yours.”
Carlos saw her eyes. They actually had that ‘take me’ look to them. Was his intuition deceiving him, or was he willing to jump at the opportunity? He always liked her but was too apprehensive to say anything. He guessed he’d find out the next day. He smiled at her shimmer as she walked out the door.
Linda wasn’t in an amorous mood. She was making pipe bombs in the ship’s lab. As she was carefully screwing on the top, Sledge entered the lab.
“You make high-tech explosive devices. Why are you slummin’ by making pipe bombs?” he asked.
“Hi, Sledge. Making pipe bombs relieves stress. I don’t have to deal with Mercury switches, Symtex computer countdown timing, FARRET entry shape charges, or Glazer shrapnel spread radiuses. Just light a fuse and throw it.”
“Why are you so stressed?”
“Kayleigh just told me Liham lust Morsed her the information of the new borgeys automatically deactivating across the globe. The Program found our deception and took our new army out of the equation. I just want something to throw at it.”
“Di’s next-gen. Is she okay?”
“All other borgeys are controlled by the Program, Di isn’t. She’s still that pimple in the middle of the Program’s back it can’t reach to scratch. She’s going to take it out.”
Sledge knew it would happen, so he nodded.
Just then, Gaia burst through the door!
“Where are the Magripts, Linda?!”
“Lower deck in the armory, why?”
“We didn’t thoroughly check the ship! I went to get a mop to clean some dirt off the deck and found automatons in the supply room! They’re heading to the upper deck! We gotta turn those suckers off!” Gaia was frantic.
Sledge and Linda ran to the armory to grab 3 Magrupts and scrambled top side!
As they were ready to deactivate the automatons, they saw Steve smiling at them.
“Don’t blank our maintenance. They aren’t the personal models. They don’t have the equipment or capacity to probe as the borgeys did. They’re equivalent to mindless refuse workers. We turned off a slew of them in the prison. We actually need these things, Gaia’s garden can get pretty messy on a windy carrier deck.”
“You knew about these things and didn’t tell us?!” Sledge was upset.
“They aren’t a threat. If they were, I would've blanked them two days ago. I didn’t even think they would show and they wouldn’t have if Gaia wasn’t so messy.”
“Just as Sledge was about to denigrate Steve, Linda put her hand on his arm.
“Remember, Cole made you better than this.”
“Hey, buddy!” Gaia protested. “Feeding everybody isn’t a glamorous job! Ask Linda!”
Linda nodded.
“See, you lay waste, Steve. That’s your job. Gaia manages waste. That’s her job. I’m with you about destroying everything. I’ll never try to do Gaia’s job ever again and you really shouldn’t talk about her messiness. You shoot, I blow up, and she feeds us. Leave our chef alone.”
Sledge saw her passive-aggressive calm explanation and remembered he was that controlled before. He had to kill his unconscious mental rebellion.
“You’re right. I do lay waste everywhere, but I fix things as well.”
“And my destruction is a form of creation. We all do our jobs well. Cole honed our skills to use them. We need to stay together. I know team Epsilon Zed tried to recruit you. Don’t defect. Stay with the rookie squad.”
“I wouldn’t leave you guys. Making fun of Fly Boy and Transiton is too fun for me.”
“Plus, we can deal with your paranoia,” Gaia added. “Chip and Carlos actually used your attitude at the prison. Transiton and Fly Boy can actually utilize your craziness with a grain of salt, Brute.”
Steve smiled.
“I’m glad those guys finally listened to my ‘craziness’. That’s probably what got us on this tugboat heading for America.”
Carlos walked into the helm area when Alikira was scanning for anything odd in the ocean.
“Are you ready to learn some ‘Fly Boy’ lingo? There are some Antila Huntress jets on-deck you can reference,” he alerted her to his presence. “You can even
try to fly one, with my help, of course.”
“I learn in a different streamlined way.” Alikira pulled a small vocalizer from her hip. “Speak into this. My mind can record everything you say verbatim, technical or personal. When I’m in the Huntress, I’ll just access whatever you said and use your expertise.” She gave him the vocalizer.
Was that personal suggestion a hint? He didn’t want to miss any opportunity.
“How old are you?”
“I turned twenty-one last month, why?”
“We’re close. I’ll be twenty in three,” he said.
“You’re checking to see if I’m old enough to fly,” she said.
“…In a way.”
“Well, I’m old enough.”
“Let’s see. If I say something into this vocalizer, you receive it instantly?” he asked.
“It references to my memory block, so no. Those are items I can retrieve and absorb later. When you tell me directly is the way I receive it instantly, dummy. You have something to tell me?”
“What I have to say you can access later.” He turned and whispered something into the vocalizer. “Access it later. As for now, let’s learn about pressure suits and maximum G-force pulls.”
Alikira smiled and said. “I’m going off-line, so you can fill me up. When you’re finished, say vegemite to activate me again. I multitask, so I’m still navigating.”
She clicked a button and went dormant.
After two hours of filling her with wind shear, landing techniques, glide path ratios. G-force bracing, radio frequencies, VorTac navigation, compass reading, landing strip number relevance to the compass, elevation acceleration to fly over weather disturbances safely, crew chief signaling, flat spins, and helicopter auto rotating just for kicks, he said her activate command.
She began to blink.
“How long did that take?”
“I didn’t want to leave anything out, so two hours.”
The Natural Selection Retaliation Page 2
