Damnation, page 14
part #3 of Forgotten Vengeance Series
“To the enemy, maybe,” Jesse said. “They’ve been tracking us everywhere we go.”
Nathan turned to Max. “Caleb did say Vyte was working on an Axon network that can connect to the Relyeh Collective. What if Krake is connected too?”
“Krake is dead, General. Dead men tell no tales. Hahaha. Haha.”
The answer left Nathan suddenly uneasy. He was still struggling to accept Max, despite everything the Intellect had done for them. “I hope you’re right. Jesse, grab him.”
“Roger, General,” Jesse said.
Nathan went out through the side hatch, jumping onto the dusty ground ahead of the others. He kept his hand near the pistol he had strapped to his hip, eyeing the landscape. He would have gone out in his armor if he hadn’t been forced to leave it behind.
They hurried from the Parabellum to the face of the mountain. There was no visible point of entry, the tunnel behind it buried beneath a tumble of rock. Max put the interlink down beside Nathan and approached the collapse. He grabbed at the heavy stones, quickly shifting them aside until the entrance became visible once more.
The occupants had been busy in the hours since they had left. A thick steel door was standing where there was only a hole earlier, offering another layer of protection in the event of an attack. It wasn’t secure enough to hold out for long, but it could serve as early warning for anything trying to get in.
“Shall I knock?” Max asked. “Hahaha. Haha.”
Nathan did exactly that, hitting his good fist against the door.
That was followed by a loud thud, and then the door was tilted and lifted out of the way by a group of deputies.
“General Stacker,” Chief Deputy Barnes said, lowering her rifle. “You’re back.”
“You should have identified me before you opened the door,” Nathan replied.
“I figured the enemy wouldn’t bother to knock.”
“You figured wrong,” Max said.
Barnes paled at the reproach, realizing she had made a potentially deadly mistake. “My apologies, General.”
“No harm done this time,” Nathan replied.
“Did you get it, sir?”
“We did.”
“Sheriff Duke?”
“Proxima. But we had losses. Too many losses.”
Barne’s face fell again. “I’m sorry.”
“Close the door again,” Nathan said. “Don’t open it for anyone. We aren’t staying long.”
“Yes, General.”
Barnes made a motion with her hand, and the deputies moved the heavy plate back into place. Deputy Barnes joined Nathan as he led the group through the tunnel to the lift that would take them down into the Pilgrim’s hangar.
“How’s Chief Ranger Hicks doing?” Nathan asked as the cab began to descend into the depths.
“Chandra outfitted him with an augment. He was resistant at first, but it made sense. The wound would have taken weeks to heal.”
“Weeks we don’t have,” Nathan finished. “He’s ready to go?”
“Yes, sir. Go where?”
“Edenrise kept a cache of weapons at the launch site of the starship Deliverance on the east coast. I tried to get into it once, but Vyte had an Intellect stationed there waiting for us. It wants the treasure inside too. I wasn’t able to handle the Intellect on my own, but now we have Max.”
“Pozz,” Max said. “Hahaha. Haha.”
“I don’t understand. What good are guns going to do? We barely have a thousand people to use them. We can’t fight back with that.”
“Our goal isn’t to fight back. Our goal is to defend the interlink until Hayden and Caleb return.”
“Defend it?”
“Don’t think the enemy won’t find us here, Barnes. We’re safer, but we’re hardly safe. The mature xaxkluth may be too large to get in through the tunnels, but the Norg who came down in the ships can get through. And they will come.”
“Norg? Ships?” Barnes was getting more confused. She had no idea what was happening outside.
“Earth is under attack, Deputy. A full-on invasion. The people out there are too few and too scattered to do anything but succumb to the enemy. They’ll be collected and used as fuel for the Hunger.”
“Fear and flesh,” Max said. “While the xaxkluth and other builders transform the world and make it suitable for an Ancient to reside here.”
“I knew things were bad, but…” She trailed off, unable to find the words.
The lift reached the bottom, dumping them out into the cavern. Pyro had rigged lights from the entrance to the sled mounted beneath the Pilgrim, offering a dim guide to the starship’s only open outer hatch.
Coming toward Nathan, he was already halfway from the sled to the lift, Chief Ranger Hicks and the former Stablemaster Bale flanking her on either side. She reminded him of a medieval queen, with her guardian knights beside her. Except this queen wore filthy coveralls and had a face smudged with dirt and grease. She had recently shaved her red hair down to the scalp.
“Nathan,” she said, smiling. “You’re back.” Her eyes drifted to the interlink. “And you have it. Nice work.” Her gaze shifted back to him, landing on his damaged arm. “That doesn’t look good, though. Come on, I’ll get you fixed up. I know you’re in a hurry.”
The ammo locker thudded to the ground, and Jesse swung her rifle up, pointing it at Pyro. “How do you know we’re in a hurry?”
“Jesse!” Nathan barked. “Stand down.”
Pyro didn’t seem fazed. She put her hands up. “It’s just simple logic. Problem: we don’t have enough firepower here to keep the interlink safe. Solution: get more firepower.”
Jesse lowered her gun. “Sorry. I’m a little jumpy after what happened to Rico.”
“What happened to Rico?” Pyro asked.
“Bennett was dirty,” Nathan said. “He killed her, and I killed him.”
“He was here with us,” Pyro said. “Do you think he told the enemy about this place?”
“I don’t know. We have to assume he did. Which makes it even more important that we get those guns asap.”
“Understood, General. But if I guessed your next move by simple deduction, then the Relyeh will too.”
Nathan stared at her. She was right, of course. The enemy wanted Tinker’s guns, or at least to keep them out of Nathan’s hands. The Intellect had been waiting for them the first time. What would be waiting for them the second time around?
“Nevertheless, we need those guns,” he said. “Hicks, I want you with us.”
“Yes, General,” Hicks said. “I’m ready to go.”
“And twenty of your best people.”
“Unfortunately, that isn’t saying a lot these days.”
“I’ll take what I can get. Pyro, how fast can you replace my arm?”
30
Nathan
“Is your armor still on board the Parabellum?” Pyro asked.
“No,” Nathan replied. “I lost it getting the interlink. I might not have taken this hi…” ” He used his good hand to hold up the damaged augment. “...otherwise.
They were walking through the corridors of the Pilgrim, headed for the ship’s Research module. A long time ago, that segment of the starship had been used by Space Force scientists who were searching for ways to give humans a leg up on the trife, with the goal of finding an advantage before the craft had to leave the planet. Their mission had failed spectacularly and most of their work had been discarded when the Pilgrim was finally abandoned. But the module itself was self-contained, sealable and much closer to the outer hatch than Metro. It also already contained most of what was needed for operating on the injured and installing new prosthetics. Pyro had chosen the path of least resistance in setting up the botter station there, since she had brought the tools and the augments but little else.
Meanwhile, Chief Ranger Hicks and Chief Deputy Barnes had taken the interlink. They were escorting Jesse, Spot and their precious cargo along another route toward the refugee camp with orders to rendezvous with Nathan and Max near the lifts within the hour.
“I think we have another prosthetic that I can modify to fit you,” Pyro said. “We brought them with us for a reason.”
“I didn’t think I would be the one to need it.”
“You completed the mission, Nathan. You should give yourself a break.”
“I lost three-quarters of my squad,” Nathan replied. “And my armor, and nearly my arm. It doesn’t feel like much of a victory right now.”
Pyro squeezed his good arm. “I know it’s hard to lose people. There’s been a lot of loss for everyone here, and out there. The only way we’re going to succeed is together.”
Nathan nodded. “Max, we need to talk.”
“Pozz, General. What about?”
“I want you to stay here. I need you to work on the interlink with Pyro and help with the defense of the ship.”
“Confusion. I thought you required my assistance with the cache?”
“I did. I still do. But we’re tight on time, and the interlink is more important. And I need a way to block out the neural disruption to keep the people I bring with me from hallucinating. I understand Isaac had a built-in immunity because of a brain tumor. And that he went to Proxima to have the tumor removed.”
“Confirmation. It would have killed him.”
“And I know you’re able to jam the frequencies that cause the disruption.”
“Within a limited range.”
“Can you give me something that will do either of those things for my team and me?”
“Affirmation. Negation. Hahaha. Haha.”
“That’s not an answer, Max.”
“The Centurion Space Force has been working on the problem for years. They were unable to solve it satisfactorily. Isaac’s malady was the breakthrough they were seeking and is helpful for preparing a solution, but even with that new data, it’s not simple.”
“So you can do it, but not in a reasonable amount of time.”
“Affirmation. Agreement.”
“What can you give me in less than an hour?”
Nathan expected the Intellect to respond with laughter. Instead, Max fell still and silent, giving the question serious consideration. “The disruption can be temporarily countered through audible frequencies,” he said at last. “Noise.”
“I already know that. I used it against Hanson. It works okay, but the effective range is too small.”
“Agreement. To increase the spread would mean increasing the volume, which could cause permanent hearing loss and other unwanted side effects.”
“Not ideal, but I’ll take deafness over deadness if I have to. What about the jamming tech? Is that an option?”
“The power requirements are beyond the capability of your combat armor’s batteries. And you would also need a more powerful transmitter.”
“I need something, Max. We can’t afford to lose this one because we start seeing things. And I really want to keep you here to work with Pyro. I want us to be ready when Hayden comes back.”
“What about the Parabellum?” Pyro asked.
“What about it?” Nathan asked.
“Power requirements. The Parabellum is using the energy unit as a source. That has to have enough power to create the right countermeasures.”
“Affirmation,” Max said.
“And the hull can serve as a conductor for the signal,” Pyro continued. “You can crank it up past eleven.”
“Consideration,” Max said, falling silent. They continued toward the Research module while they waited for him to respond. “Affirmation. That can work. I’ll require some materials and some time to build the device.”
“You’ve come to the right place,” Pyro said, stopping at the door to the module. She tapped the control pad and it slid open, revealing a room filled with computer terminal workstations. “Will that do?”
Max’s head turned slightly, surveying the contents of the room. “Affirmation. I should be able to build the device with the available materials.”
“That’s great, Max,” Nathan said. “But the Parabellum can’t come inside the cavern. What are we supposed to do then?”
“Don’t let the enemy in the cavern. Hahaha. Haha.”
Nathan stared at the Intellect, who didn’t seem at all concerned about that wrinkle in the plan. He glanced at Pyro. She shrugged. It was the best they could do, especially on short notice. “You’ve got one hour.”
Max’s lack of a face made him impossible to read.
“One hour,” he repeated. “Affirmation.”
The Intellect walked over to the closest terminal and placed his hand on it. Narrow tendrils extended from his fingertips, vanishing into the box.
“I’m counting on you,” Nathan said.
“Pozz. Smile, General. This will be fun. Hahaha. Haha.”
31
Nathan
“They all need to go.” Nathan said, watching as the twenty deputies he had asked Chief Ranger Hicks to bring to the Parabellum did their best to fulfill his orders. The three men carrying the drivers worked at getting the bolts out of the seat frames at the head of the dropship. The rest of the deputies passed already dislodged frames along a line down the stairs and out onto the rocky terrain.
If they were going to bring back as many guns as they could they needed to shed excess, non-essential material, which included the larger, more comfortable seats on the first deck of the craft.
Nathan smiled at the enthusiasm and teamwork of the deputies, who had taken up the task with serious aplomb. They had ten minutes to get the dropship emptied out, and then Nathan wanted them on their way. All of their best calculations suggested the nearest area where an enemy ship was likely to land was a two-hour hop away. If they had come immediately following the loss of the interlink, they had thirty minutes to get out ahead of them.
If the enemy arrived while Nathan was gone, it would be up to Chief Deputy Barnes and her crew to hold them back and wait for the cavalry to arrive. And hope they arrived in time. Some of the weapons Tinker had stashed away were powerful enough to lay waste to the kind of forces they had run from up north. Weapons even the xaxkluth and Norg would struggle to stand against.
A single ship’s worth anyway.
Nathan went from the first deck to the hold, slipping past the line as it cleared the debris away. He looked past the ship’s ramp to the growing pile of waste. It already included whatever was easily taken out of the third deck racks, out of the mess and even out of the head. The soldiers going with him would have to hold it for a few hours because the shower and stalls would be laden with guns and munitions for the trip back. So would the freezer, the cabinets, the racks and anywhere else they could shove a rifle or box of bullets to hand out to a civilian on their return.
He found Pyro kneeling beside the robot arms that assembled his powered armor. She was with Engineer Lutz, showing him how to take the device apart without completely destroying it. Even without the armor, the machinery was too valuable to waste by throwing it into a heap with all the non-essential equipment.
Nathan turned his new arm over, glancing down at it as he squeezed the hand into a fist. He watched the synthetic musculature and servos move beneath the outer alloy frame, a dozen parts working in unison to allow the hand to close. The augment was an earlier model from the beginning of the first trife war, primitive compared to the one he had lost but better than having only one hand to fight with. Without the bulky power armor he could carry standard weapons, and the new augment was still stronger than any regular human arm—even on a clone as naturally strong as he was—could be, and the alloy skeleton was nicely designed to protect the inner mechanisms in the middle of a fight. According to Pyro, the model was more successful than some of the later designs and had been replaced mainly because of the reliability of the control rings to which they connected. She had jury-rigged an adapter that bridged his control ring to the arm, an adapter that also allowed it to fit his oversized limb. Even Pyro agreed it looked ridiculous, but Nathan was far beyond caring about appearance.
He had a war to win.
“Can you finish that in ten?” he asked, walking over to the pair. Lutz looked different than the last time Nathan had seen him. Gone was the curly mop of hair that had covered his scalp, replaced with the same buzzcut Pyro had adopted. A show of engineering solidarity, a functional decision, or both perhaps.
Pyro glanced at Lutz, who nodded. “It’ll be off the ship,” the engineer replied.
“General,” Max said, appearing at the base of the ramp. He had a circuit board in his hand, held up so Nathan could see it. The green wafer of the board was covered in a tangle of whitish vines.
Nathan recognized the material as the same Axon gel that formed every Intellect, this gel dissected from Max’s own body. “Is that it?”
“No, it’s a cake,” Max replied. “Hahaha. Haha.”
“Did you just use sarcasm?” Pyro said, looking at him.
“Affirmation. I’m trying it out.”
“Drop the sarcasm,” Nathan said. “That’s an order. The last thing we need is a snarky AI.”
“Pozz, General.” There was no change in Max’s demeanor or tone. He accepted the order without question. “I have completed the device. It should fit into the motherboard in replacement of the weapons control bus.”
“Weapons control?” Nathan said. “You mean the plasma cannons?”
“Pozz. It’s the only system designed to withstand the required power draw. Any other slot would risk damage to the motherboard.”
“But we won’t be able to fire the plasma cannons?”
“Pozz. It is a required trade-off, General.”
“You could have told me that sooner, Max.”
“Would it have changed your decision?”
“Maybe. It would have been nice to make the decision with all the information.”
“I can leave the board with you. I programmed the firmware to replace the weapons system interface when it’s connected.”
