“What do you think about Linda?”
Steve was surprised at the question which came from nowhere.
“She’s good at blowing stuff up. I respect her controlled chaos methods. Why do you ask?”
“So, she’s nowhere near your ex?”
“I don’t know if Linda gets injected with ‘crazy serum’ when she’s with someone. What are you getting at?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just testing Chip’s new memory block he put in my head yesterday. I’m supposed to be able to analyze true intentions through micro body language gestures.”
“Is it working?”
“Oh yes, it’s working. I can visually detect liars with my new upgrade.
“Why would I lie about Boom-boom? She’s good,” Steve said.
“That wasn’t the question you’d lie about. I understand your caution with coupling with another after Candice destroyed your heart.”
“What does this have to do with Linda?” he asked.
“All I know is that’s entirely up to you,” she said. “Remember, you’ve had your practice and we need to repopulate the planet. Just saying.”
She walked away and left him with that weird suggestion.
Steve never had any intentions of being with another during this event. He dedicated himself to beating the Program. That meant total immersion in a victorious conclusion. His feelings weren’t a priority during this time. That was why he was inadvertently distant from his squad. They thought he was paranoid. Actually, he was afraid to interact with anyone with a highly likely opportunity of dying the next day. Alikira’s suggestion just placed his attitude in a new light. Why deny himself? That deleterious decision was letting the Program win.
He was a great field warrior. He just had to conquer the mental relationship battlefield to become a true marksman.
“Hey, Carlos! How long until landfall?” Steve asked.
“We’ll arrive in port at about four in the morning tomorrow! You have about ten hours to prep!” he told him.
“Good. Stay on course and don’t hit any wales!” He walked to the laboratory.
Linda was screwing on a pipe bomb top in the lab. She had to be careful because of plastique being so volatile. Her hand was steady, but her mind was preoccupied. She was wondering what else would the Program do next? It almost wiped out every human because a lunatic designer created a program that got away from him.
Now, she had to stop it. The task felt insurmountable to her. The pipe bomb assembly eased her mind.
She heard a knock at the door.
“Come in, Chip! The main table’s clear!”
It wasn’t Chip. Steve walked in.
“I’m not Transiton. Hi, Linda. What are you doing?”
Linda was surprised.
“Hi, Steve. This isn’t your normal habitat. Why are you down here?”
“I’ve only been here once and I need to know every area intimately. Are you making pipe bombs?”
“Yes, I am. I know it looks primitive, but it relaxes me.”
“Why is Boom-boom so uptight?”
“I don’t know, Steve. The new borgeys, that gigantic kaiju, it found us, Cole’s death, that drone bird. What’s next? I mean, how can we hit a moving target while skiing backward downhill outrunning an avalanche?”
“In war, Linda, you have to be versatile. Don’t keep your rigidity, go with the flow.”
“I used to be a data entry specialist transferring virtual experience trade reports. I did my job. ‘Going with the flow’ wasn’t a component of virtu-data entry.”
“So, you’ve never fixed a jammed imager before,” he said.
“I had to fix it a lot, or my reports wouldn’t be finished in time and I would’ve gotten fired.”
“So, what you’re saying is you went with the flow.”
The realization hit her.
“Look, Linda. All I’m saying is everything doesn’t work the way you expect. Your resume never had imager fixing as an attribute for your hire. You probably never fixed one until you had to. Your adversity is the key to winning, not your stress. That only hurts you. Even if the Program was emotionally sentient, it would never know or care about your stress. Stop hurting yourself and use that energy to destroy that thing.”
“When did you get so philosophical?” she was surprised.
“Philosophy was my major. I hauled construction equipment for rent money. I’m not the big dumb guy. That’s my façade so everyone thinks I’m the crazy hardcore lunatic everybody wants on their side. Now, that’s the only way I could justify learning philosophy.”
“And you call Chip a transiton,” she joshed him.
“I almost slipped when I told Carlos I knew Perrimore was a Rothchild athlete. That was like an extreme sports nut knowing the names of the guys in the Hatoru Buki ballet troupe.”
Linda began to smile at his admittance.
“You’re getting more interesting all the time. I never thought of you like that.”
“Then, I guess my plan worked. Since you’re finding me more interesting, you can explore that interest.” He went to kiss her.
Linda stepped back.
“No, Steve. I think I know enough about you now.”
Steve’s attempt faded. He apologized to Linda.
“I’m sorry I got too fresh with you, Linda. I guess I’m out of practice,” He began to facepalm himself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! I told you I was good at one thing, Di. I mess-up everything else.”
“Did Alikira tell you to talk to me?” Linda asked. “What did she say I told her?”
“Di didn’t tell me anything. She just sparked me. I did this idiocy all on my own,” he said. “What did you say about me?”
It was time for Linda to come clean. She would’ve never told Steve she liked him, so she released to Alikira. Alikira took that information and crafted a plan to make her tell Steve.
“Why that crafty little… What I told her was sometimes I like brawn over brains because Chip was claimed by Gaia.”
“Now you’ve just realized I have a brain and that killed your like over my brawn,” he assumed.
She put her hand on his cheek.
“Stop thinking in black and white.” She kissed him. “You know I’m a gray girl. When you just propositioned me, you just freaked me out. I wasn’t ready to claim my prize when I didn’t think I won anything. You just made me feel strange offering me exactly what I wanted without knowing what I wanted. As you said. I have to stop my rigidity and just… go with the flow.”
Steve was floored with her admission. He didn’t screw up after all. They began to kiss again and both basked in their new relationship.
Linda stopped kissing him.
“You’ve surprised me with your intellect. I really want to see your movie, but first, I wanna read your book first.”
Steve began to tell his tale with a smile on his face.
It was 2 In the morning when Linda entered the helms room where Alikira was navigating their course.
“Put it on auto-pilot and turn on our tele-share. I’m gonna do exactly what you did to me yesterday.”
Alikira was surprised Linda was up this late. She activated the auto-pilot and their tele-share.
Linda closed her eyes and gave her everything in full immersion.
Alikira began to moan as their share lasted 48 minutes.
As Linda opened her eyes, Alikira felt very strange.
“Is that the way your plan was supposed to work? Did you get the full experience?”
“I-I had no plan. I just blew on the embers. I had no idea the fire would spread that quickly.”
“That tends to happen when you spray kerosene on it,” she said.
“Are you upset with me being the firestarter?”
“All I know is I have to choose my words more carefully with you and I’m not upset. Thanks for starting our fire.”
“I just can’t believe he pressed you whi
le standing and let you sit on his shoulders with your heels on his back. I didn’t know Steve was such a cunning silver-tongued devil” Alikira said.
“I guess now you understand why I like muscles,” Linda said grinning. “And surprise, the brute is smart. He even agreed to wear a Kevlex vest on land, just in case.”
“How is eating the cake you already have?”
“I’m calling it a two for one. Get us to Ocasio-Cortez. We really have to beat the Program now.”
“We’re in the same place, Linda. Get your two-hour cat-nap and be ready.”
“Oh, after that, I’m more than ready.”
“Good morning, Neo-Khaos. We will be docking at Ocasio-Cortez Naval Base in five minutes. Be prepared to refuel and scout for survivors. We will depart for the Panama Canal fourteen hours from now. Scour the base. We do not want to leave anyone behind. Let’s keep our revolution strong.”
Sledge awakened to all the bustle. It was time to feel a bit of terra-firma. That aircraft carrier forced them to garner their sea legs, but at least they could roam about the base for a few hours.
Gaia and Chip felt better on land anyway. Being a horticulturist and a Sherpa made true dirt their home.
Steve emerged from Linda’s cabin thinking about loading up on Klaytrek concussion bricks and some sniper rifles. Linda spooked him with the Program’s next cataclysm. As she said, it could be anything.
Steve saw Marc on the deck.
“Bring the siphon, Marc. We’re down to our last two barrels of fuel and that won’t make it to Los Angeles, let alone the Panama Canal. I hope you can do this in the dark for two hours.”
“I’m tired, Steve. You can do the first two destroyers.”
“I got the first three, so you can get your beauty sleep. But when I drain three, it should be light and the next four ships are yours.”
“We played Quantash Cards last night. I guess I’m used to accepting bad deals. I’ll be ready by ten this morning,” Marc said.
Steve said under his breath as he walked down the stairs, “I did way more than just playing cards last night. If you did anything near to what I did, you would be asleep until Panama.”
“Is everybody off? Can I make sure this carrier can house more people with our limited food supply?” Alikira asked Carlos.
“The stragglers are recovering and you know Gaia would hit you if you messed with her food allotment protocol. She’s got it. You need to have an escort to tell other stragglers you’re not a borgey.”
“Ugh, I can’t believe we’re back to that again.”
“The stragglers didn’t get the memo on this side of the world. Don’t worry; this time you have some major backup.” Carlos smiled.
“Fine, let’s go. I went through a trial by fire last time, so this time shouldn’t be as hard.”
“Once they find out you save asses instead of killing them, they’ll be fine. If you convinced our borgey deactivator, they should be no problem.”
They both walked off the carrier. Steve came to them.
“Where’s Transiton? The destroyers have already been drained.”
“So, we’re stuck in San Francisco with no refill; beautiful.”
“We’re not stuck, Fly Boy. The reason I need Transiton is I found the refueling pump, but the computer security mechanism is locked. I need him to hack the lock.”
“What if the tanks are empty?”
“I said the security is locked. The display is teasing me, saying the tanks are full. Pop the lock and we won’t need to stop in Floria to refuel again.” Steve patted his cheek. “You know I wouldn’t ask if I had any other questions I couldn't counter.”
“Chip’s holding hands with Gaia, looking at a field over there. I think them being in the ocean for so long deprived them of their beautiful grass and weeds.”
“I got it,” Steve mocked an Austrian accent. “If it plants, we can grow it.”
He went to Chip as Carlos looked at him strangely.
“I’m not even gonna ask. Come on, Di. Let’s check the barracks for any survivors.”
Steve walked to Chip. The floodlights from the carrier illuminated the field.
“I need your magic, Transiton. Hi, Gaia. I’ll have him back looking at crabgrass in no time.”
“I told you. I’m not moving barrels.”
“I’m not into child abuse anymore, Noodle Arms. I need you to tap some keys to break the lock on the refueling pump. Those Navy guys did what we did. Drain their destroyers of fuel and probably set sail to Mexico or Honduras. The tanks are full, but they’re locked,” Steve twiddled his fingers in a typing mime. “I need your hacking abilities.”
“You like to delegate. What are you gonna do?”
“After talking with Linda, I’m hitting the armory to load out. The Program has become dastardly. I’ll be ready to shoot ‘dastardly’ in the face.”
“You going to the armory is just like a kid going to a lollypop factory. You just want to hold a Syntok Devastator B-14 In your hands.”
“You can’t get one in high school, but that’s not the point. We don’t know what’s coming next. I want to be prepared.”
“The Program owns all digital communications, made those thought police automatons, created infiltrator cybernetic units to steal our leader’s strategies, a hunter-seeker virus, an enormous kaiju to kill Cole and forty of our friends, and drone tracker birds. What else could it do?”
“The second you think your opponent has run out of ideas and you arrogantly take your foot off its neck, that’s when it trips you,” Steve said. “I’m going to the armory. Have the tanks unlocked in an hour.”
As Steve walked to the armory, Chip asked Gaia.
“Why does he keep calling me Noodle Arms?”
“Seriously?!” She was surprised by him. “Just look at Steve’s cannons and reassess your question.”
He saw how big Steve’s arms were, looked at his arms, and then to Gaia.
“She hugged his arm.
“I’d take brains over steroid injected looking arms any day.” She kissed him.
Chip finally felt better.
Steve walked into the armory. The dank light and smell of weapon cleaner graced his eyes and nostrils with dimmed stuffy silence and a banana-like smell.
There they were. The Syntok Devastators on a long rifle rack. He went over to stroke their black non-resilient menace.
“These things have no kick, but can put a hole in the world,” he whispered to himself.
All of a sudden, he heard an ear-piercing boom, was shot in the chest and propelled across the room!
A woman with a Devastator emerged from the shadows and put her foot on his head.
“I know you monsters don’t bleed, but multiple shots work!” She shot him in the chest twice more!
“HEY, LADY! HOLD YOUR FIRE! THAT HURTS!”
“When did you ghouls learn how to talk?!”
“Around fourteen months after I was born! Stop shooting me!”
She realized he wasn’t a mindless Seal and looked at him.
“You didn’t look familiar. Who are you and why don’t you bleed?!”
“I’m a Neo-Khaos soldier from Japan and my girl made me wear a Kevlex vest on-land! I guess she was right!”
She took her foot off his temple and picked him up.
“Walk it off, soldier. How many are in your company and how long have you been here?”
“You just shot me in the chest three times, picked me up and told me to ‘walk it off’?! Either you’re crazy or hardcore.”
“How many and how long have you been here?!” She was rather insistent.
“Three hundred nine on land and one hundred fifty-six on the carrier! We landed around fifty minutes ago. We’re trying to refuel.”
“Good. Tell your regiment not to travel to the entrance eight miles east, Major Kat
herine Cavanaugh, Navy Seal trainer.”
“So, you’re hardcore instead of crazy,” he said. “Steve Reynolds from Japan, Marksman Borgey Deactivator.”
“We ’re way past borgeys here in America. We’re fighting nanite infected reanimates in the west. They’re stationed at the entrance. The ships are drained, the pump’s locked, and I don’t think they want me to leave with the bats monitoring the base.
One day, all our newly acquired borgeys deactivated. They were replaced with nanite-venomed bats. They bit the dead, reanimated them and now those bats have new undead commando pets. I’ve been hiding in this armory for three weeks. We have to inform your crew immediately.”
“Just wait. They’ve battled borgeys, old and new, had to deal with a death cult, an enormous kaiju which killed forty-one of us, including one of our commanders, had to travel by other than satellite navigation from Japan, and found there’s no extra fuel to get to Maryland. You scaring them senseless again may be too much for them.”
Cavanaugh became disgusted.
“It’s a regiment, your regiment. Are you telling me they can’t ‘hack’ it in the middle of a war? What were they doing all this time? Playing Grab-ass?!”
“No, Lady. My regiment crafted the new Magrupt software upgrade Liham Morsed you to save your life and the new borgey control data,” Steve defended Neo-Khaos.
“Then that means they’re ready for the next step. Why are you treating them like kids?”
“Because most of them are younger than me,” he revealed. “I know you’ve been in many wars before, Major, but this is the first war they’re cutting their teeth on. This is a hell of a war to begin with.”
“What’s a kaiju?”
“That’s right. You wouldn’t know. It’s a thirty meter tall mechanized armored robot with weapons the Program sent to kill us. It somewhat succeeded by killing forty-one of us before Transiton finally cut it off.”
“They had to fight a hundred-foot robot before a nerd stopped it?!” She cocked and showed Steve her Devastator. “I think they can handle twenty or so mindless Seals. Grab the Devastators, I’ll tell them the situation.”
The Natural Selection Retaliation Page 4
