Deep Hydra

by Michael Formichelli

  They didn’t respond.

  Malfunction, malfunction, Prospero repeated as though the blow had somehow reduced him to an automaton.

  With a shudder, Nero realized that it was possible.

  “This has been, as the humans say, ‘fun,’ but it is time to get that data. I have a battle to win, after all.” He felt Daedalus’ hand on his neck and he was dragged forward toward the bubbling pool in the shattered nanomachine tube.

  His eyes fell upon the jagged ring of polyglass jutting up from the oozing fluid.

  Oh, shit.

  Something exploded behind them, and Nero felt himself drop to the floor.

  “Get the fuck away from him you son of a bitch!” Kaeden shouted.

  Oh no, he thought as gunfire erupted. He tried to scream, to warn of Kae and the rest but it was too late.

  He heard Daedalus lay into them.

  Kae shouted in shock and the sound of bone cracking filled his ears. There was more gunfire, and then a cerberai barked and he felt something heavy splash on the deck beside him.

  A big, wet tongue licked up his face hard enough to turn his head toward its source. Tengu, Kiertah’s cerberai lay beside him with glowing-green eyes.

  What the hell? he thought.

  Tengu leaned forward, gently putting his head inside its mouth. Heat flowed into him, pulsing in time with the glowing nanofluid around them and the marks on his body. It ripped through his veins and the Cephalon nanomachines flowed out of the cerberai and into him. His body ignited on fire from the inside.

  Tengu leaned back, his eyes now brown as he gave him a knowing look.

  Rebooting… Back online, Prospero announced. Nero, I think—oh right, battle.

  He pulled himself up to his feet and saw Daedalus holding Athame in one hand as she hammered away at his head and blasted him repeatedly with the dome of her EMP cannon.

  Daedalus ignored her attacks.

  Kaeden shot him from the doorway, punching holes through his Abyssian uniform, but he moved forward, jolting with each impact. Kae retreated into the hallway clutching his side and still firing. Daedalus lunged forward through the jagged hole they blew in the door dragging Athame on her tip-toes. He snatched Kae’s gun, hand and all, and crushed it between his pale fingers.

  “AAAAH!” Kae shouted, dropping to his knees.

  Athame switched tactics and raised her arms above her head, then brought them both down on Daedalus’ shoulder. The blow made a snapping sound and Daedalus’ arm went limp. She landed on her knees, but before she could regroup his body spun and slammed a foot into the side of her head, sending her flying into the wall.

  “Hey, schweinhund!” Armstrong raised her carbine to her shoulder and unloaded. Beside her, stepping into view, a second armored figure did the same. Much more powerful than Kae’s, the bullets tore through Daedalus’ body, shredding cloth and flesh, but somehow, miraculously leaving the polymer skeleton beneath unharmed. They unloaded their clips into him, tearing away half his face and exposing his ribs, and he just stood there and took it.

  “Why do you biologicals always think you can defeat a problem with firepower?” Daedalus shot forward, slamming into Armstrong and sending her back into the wall. She shuddered and collapsed to the deck while he turned to the second figure with a raised fist.

  “Daedalus!” Nero shouted.

  The fist paused centimeters before impact on the figure’s faceplate. With casual slowness Daedalus withdrew it and turned around.

  “You recovered? Curious.” His head angled down to Tengu, then back to stare at Nero with the dark, empty eyes. “The nanomachines, they must be more remarkable than I surmised. I will enjoy ripping them from your body.”

  Daedalus took three bounding steps, then lunged at him.

  Prospero—

  Daedalus’ fist came flying at him—

  He caught it in his hand.

  Daedalus’ mouth dropped open.

  Combat mode! Prospero shouted.

  Fueled with the power of the alien nanomachines, Nero’s perception of time slowed down to the point where even Daedalus looked like he was moving in slow motion. Heat burned through his body, searing the artificial flesh clutched in his hand. Daedalus’ white face tinted green as the glow of his burning eyes.

  A sound emitted from his throat that was half growl, and half scream. He yanked Daedalus forward and slammed a knee into his stomach, then spun and rolled across Daedalus’ back, wrenching the arm in his hand free of its socket. Raising the severed limb like a club, he brought it down on the back of Daedalus’ head. He shouted out his rage and struck with his full might. The first blow staggered the mighty AI, the second felled him to his knees, and the third crushed in his skull.

  “YAAAAA!” Nero shouted and drove Daedalus’ arm straight down through his torso. His tormentor, the thing that hijacked his life and nearly killed his friends, fell to the deck and dissolved in the pool of swirling green nanomachines.

  Combat mode, off, Prospero announced.

  Nero stood, panting, his throat sore. He couldn’t believe it.

  He beat Daedalus.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Matre’s Glory

  J2400:3326

  Cygni stood in the hallway outside the room where the rest of the group battled Daedalus. She held one of the carbines they took with them from the Fukuro in her hand, and was encased in protective armacorium, but she just couldn’t bring herself to fight. Even after Daedalus slammed Armstrong into the wall and nearly killed Sorina, all she could do was stand in place frozen with fear and shame.

  “Everyone all right? Oh damn, Kae!” she heard Nero exclaim.

  “It’s fine, it’s only a rib and my gun hand goddess dammit. Ow! Don’t touch—ugh.” Kae groaned.

  “Nanomeds are available on the ship,” Athame said in a cool tone. “I recommend we depart immediately. This was not the only mechanical body Daedalus has access to in this station. We may soon be overwhelmed.”

  “Point taken,” Nero responded. “Oh shit.”

  Cygni nearly jumped when he came bolting out of the room with every centimeter of his skin on full display. He knelt beside the crumpled form of Armstrong, though Sorina was already tending to the dazed mercenary.

  “Who—”

  “Valhalla Armstrong,” Sorina answered. He looked up at her and grinned. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” The look of joy on his face was pure magic. It made Cygni feel even worse for not joining them. To her chagrin he seemed to sense her gaze and gave her a nod.

  She returned the gesture, feeling the stone in her stomach grow heavier. Why hadn’t she helped? She knew she never wanted to kill again, but destroying a robotic body shouldn’t count. Why didn’t she just go around the corner and pulled the trigger as the rest of them did?

  Athame came out of the room supporting Kae and Tengu followed her. The cerberai seemed different, though she couldn’t figure out why.

  “Huh, oh f—” Armstrong jolted, grabbing for her weapon before realizing who it was kneeling over her. Then she laughed. “Nero, long time, huh?”

  His eyes widened. “You? I thought—”

  “Harder to kill than that, knuddelbär[7].”

  “Then, Mitsugawa?” He asked.

  “Ah, that’s complicated,” she said in a low voice. “He’s our backup in orbit. You’ll see him soon enough.”

  “Uh, okay,” he responded.

  “Nero, we must leave now before more come,” Athame reiterated.

  “Right.” He stood up and helped Armstrong to her feet. “I should also get something to wear.”

  He cocked his head to the side for a moment.

  “Shit, he’s right.”

  “What?” Sorina asked. “How could we?”

  “How could we what?” Cygni asked, drawing their attention despite herself.

  “Prospero just pointed out that there are millions of Daedalus’ minions about, and he can still cause us problems if we leave now without taking care of his main
frame.”

  “Which happens to be here, in Deep Hydra, but we do not know which sub-station it is in or—” Sorina started

  “We don’t have to know,” Armstrong said. “I checked. The Fukuro has the same experimental Hawking warheads that the Kageryū does. They’ve got a one-AU kill zone—”

  “We discussed this before. It’s out of the question. That’ll kill us and everyone on the capital.” Kae slumped against Athame.

  “We still have Agent Khepria’s second code. The first was highly effective, and I calculate the second will work as well. We can use it to force the station into FTL and detonate the warhead once it is a safe distance away. Daedalus will be destroyed,” Athame stated.

  They were silent for a moment.

  “That will require someone with technological ability to stay behind and detonate the warhead,” Kaeden said in a pain-drenched voice.

  “I’ll do it,” Nero said. “Prospero can handle the—”

  “Do not you dare!” Sorina cut him off. “We just got you back.”

  “But—”

  “I can do both,” Athame stated. “I only ask that you find my mother on New Bimini and tell her how I perished. She and my father will want to know.”

  “You have parents?” Armstrong asked.

  “Indeed, I will send you a download of what I would say if there was time, but we must get moving.”

  Cygni felt something within her stir. Nero had Sorina, Athame had parents—however that worked—who would no doubt mourn and miss her. Sanul was back on the ship with Rune but there was no way she was going to let him do this if it came to it, and the rest weren’t capable. What did she have? An addiction, dead friends, a best friend who hated her, an ex who would never forgive her, and a whole lot of screwing up since this all began. She knew already that she would feel like garbage for the rest of her life for not helping in the fight against Daedalus, and that wasn’t any way she wanted to live.

  “I’ll do it,” she said, almost surprised her thoughts reached her mouth.

  “What?” Nero looked at her.

  “My PLIA can handle the tech, and, well, I can set off a bomb I think. Hard to screw that up, right?”

  “You’ll die,” Kae said.

  “So will anyone who does this, and I don’t have anyone. I mean, Sanul I guess, but he’ll get over it. Let me do this.”

  “Are you sure?” Nero asked in a gentle tone.

  “I have a lot to make up for, and I don’t think I’ll forgive myself if I don’t. Please,” she said, “before I chicken out.”

  They looked at each other.

  “Give her the code,” Nero said.

  Sorina turned and nodded. A moment later, Cygni received a transmission.

  “Aegis field at ten-percent.” The tactical officer announced from the bridge pit.

  Ichiro gritted his teeth and clung to the railing as the ship burned into another evasive maneuver. Trying to stay out of the deadly path of the Annihilator while fending off the legions of drone fighters tearing into them was no easy task. The massive cloud of enemies swarmed the ship as it bent its orbit this way and that. The cloud was so dense that the tactical sensors were having trouble scanning beyond it, and the image hovering over the bridge pit was grainy at best. Of their escorts only two remained, the Peleus and the Teleon.

  “There’s too many of them for the computer to track!” the weapons officer said.

  “Gambatte! Keep firing!” one of the others shouted back at him.

  Ichiro’s mind calculated the odds of survival. It wouldn’t be long now before the cloud of enemy fighters broke through their aegis and disabled their engines. After that they would be a sitting duck for the Annihilator to take out. At least the Fukuro-maru made it into Deep Hydra. They managed to track that before being overwhelmed.

  “Angle the bow at the last known position of that Annihilator,” he said.

  Hamasaki-Taisa nodded, relaying the order to the helm.

  “My lord. I have watched you grow into a man and lead us. You have done your father honor,” she said. “And I am proud to follow you into the Void.”

  He looked at her, analyzing the subtle movements of the muscles in her eyes and face. She meant it, but she meant it for a man that died on Venus. He felt shame that she would direct that at him simply because he looked like that man. He owed it to her to keep them alive, but how? They were out of time and over matched.

  “Plot a course to the capital. Bring the mass driver online and power up the FTL,” he said.

  She looked at him in surprise, but nodded.

  “Signal our escorts to run,” he stated.

  “My lord?” Hamasaki-taisa inquired. “If we depart the enemy will be free to impede the Fukuro-maru’s exit.”

  “True, but it is quite capable of making it out on its own. We must look to ourselves and our allies now. Fire the mass driver to clear the path and activate the FTL.”

  “Understood, Mitsugawa-uesama,” she said. “Preparing to generate the bridge. Ten… Nine…”

  “Shield failing!”

  A high-pitched whine split the air and three panels in the bridge pit erupted in electric arcs. The sharp odor of ozone and burnt plastic filled his nostrils.

  Someone screamed.

  The sound was followed by several dull thuds and explosions deep inside the ship. The lights flickered and went out, but somehow the tactical display remained on. Ichiro looked up into its ghostly, orange glow and saw the cloud of fighters dissipating.

  The annihilator was turning toward them.

  “It has been an honor.” Hamasaki-taisa said.

  Though he knew he was a copy, he felt a sudden rage overtake him. How dare Daedalus win! How dare he kill them with the same weapon he used to destroy Ichiro’s home world! He felt his fists clench at his sides and his teeth grind within his mouth.

  “Power surge detected in the annihilator,” the sensor officer announced.

  In the floating tactical display a red line appeared between the annihilator and the Kageryū indicating its relativity cannon was aligned.

  “It’s firing—wait, Einstein-Rosen Bridge detected,” the tactical officer announced.

  The sphere of distorted space-time appeared on the display right in front of the Annihilator as it fired. Ichiro watched in amazement as the deadly projectile flashed from the barrel and vanished into the wormhole, but he was truly floored when he saw what happened next.

  The kilometer-long body of the Orion spat forth from the wormhole’s exit, pouring deadly HEXL beams into the body of the Annihilator. On the tactical display he could see she bore a long groove down her side where the relativity cannon had torn her open, but she was undaunted. The display lit up with bolts from her particle cannons, and flashes on the Annihilator’s shields where her powerful beams battered away at its defenses.

  The Kageryū began to shudder as the Orion’s planetary mass pulled her in and started to drag the cloud of fighters around as well.

  Ichiro’s eyes fell upon a number between the battling ships and saw it rapidly counting down. The Orion was closing in on the enemy, and closing fast. If she didn’t turn or activate her ERB again—

  “Graves is going to ram her,” he said.

  “By the ancestors, I think you’re right,” Hamazaki whispered.

  “The annihilator is powering its cannon again,” the tactical officer announced.

  His mind did a quick calculation as he accessed the ordinance control system.

  “Helm, do we have maneuvering thrusters?”

  “Yes, Mitsugawa-uesama!”

  “Come port five and z-plus fifteen degrees,” he ordered. “Target the Annihilator’s Relativity Cannon at its center.”

  Hamasaki’s mouth curved up into a smile.

  “Do it,” she said.

  “Mass driver powering up.”

  “Coming about onto course 3-2-7, z-plus fifteen,” the helm stated.

  Ichiro watched their representation in the tactical d
isplay turn slowly toward the enemy. The Orion was close now. It would come down to the wire. Either they got aligned in the next three seconds and fired, or Daedalus’ killing machine would fire first and blow her to atoms. Her gravity wasn’t helping either. The distance between the ships was closing fast. Already several of the furthest drones were being swept under the cylindrical ship and colliding with her hull due to the curve of her gravitational field.

  “Wait,” he said, realizing his error. “Helm, z-minus two degrees now!”

  “Z-minus two degrees, aye!”

  Ichiro gritted his teeth, wondering how he could have made such a miscalculation. Did he just cost Commodore Graves and her crew their lives?

  “FIRE!”

  An electric whine rose like the wail of a banshee. On the monitor the Kageryū’s nose angled downward, under the Orion’s trajectory and below the Annihilator, then a red dot shot from it. He watched it move forward, downward toward the stars, then curve up as the Orion’s gravity pulled it in.

  “Relativity cannon firing,” tactical announced.

  The red dot sped down the Orion’s belly and angled upward as it escaped her pull. Moving in a straight line now, the dot—or more precisely the ten kilometers of magnetic mass it represented—flew right down the throat of the relativity cannon as it fired.

  The seals around the bridge’s window armor lit up, spilling near-daylight across the deck. On the tactical display the annihilator flashed and burst into a million tiny dots.

  “KACHI[8]!” Hamasaki shouted with the crew.

  Ichiro smiled, watching as the Orion flew through the expanding debris field, wounded but intact.

  “Incoming transmission,” the comm officer stated.

  He accepted without hesitation.

  “The crew of the Orion sends her gratitude,” Graves’ voice came over the line. “Gotta run, but here’s a hand with those drones.”

  “Wormhole forming,” tactical stated. The bubble appeared on the display and the Orion plunged forward into it and vanished spitting out hundreds of dots as she did.