by Greg Sorber
“Can we see her?”
“Not yet. She’s in a medically induced coma for her own protection. Perhaps you can visit after Dr. McCollough arrives and begins treating her.”
Dennis was crestfallen. It would go a long way to help his and Ajax’s morale if they could see Misty. It would help with the mechs, too. They missed her and her leadership.
“The next item of business affects Major Durham, as well as you, Sergeant Greer.”
“What’s that?” Dennis asked.
“We hope and expect that Misty will recover from her injuries at some point. That being said, at the moment, and for the foreseeable future, she is unable to complete her duties. You have been functioning in her capacity since the battle, correct?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“How do I put this politely? Misty’s position requires organizational and diplomatic skills beyond your pay grade. I appreciate all of your hard work holding things together until now, but, effective immediately, I will take over Misty’s responsibilities until further notice.”
“Are you serious? What am I supposed to do?”
“You are to resume your regular duties, Sergeant Greer. We have to rebuild Mechhaven, and there’s plenty of work yet to do.”
They had a new boss. Ajax hoped it was only a temporary arrangement until Misty got better. Dennis had stopped by to break the news to him on his way back from the meeting. He felt for his friend. He knew Dennis didn’t like being in charge, but he’d been doing a decent job. In the end, though, Dennis would be happier getting The Black Hole back together and getting their security and munitions situations squared away.
Sigrid stopped by again, ostensibly to return the cross-torque binder, but they chatted for a long time. According to Nigel, she and Chuck were witnesses to the Battle of Mechhaven and couldn’t leave until the investigation was concluded. He didn’t have a timeline on when that would be, but knowing the thoroughness of the ACC bureaucrats, it could be a very long time.
Ajax wasn’t disappointed by that news. He and Sigrid had agreed to spend some time hanging out as soon as things settled down. At one point he escorted her outside because he couldn’t keep a straight face while Artie and Larry made kissy gestures behind her back. How juvenile. He was glad to see to see the two of them joking around, though. It showed him that things could get back to normal.
The day was quieting down when Connie came in for her regular visit. She divided her time between sitting next to Bastion’s recovered memory core in the Repair Module, and standing vigil over his broken body, still laying where it had fallen on the battlefield. Connie chased off any workers that came to disassemble his remains. She would have to let them do that at some point. They couldn’t just leave his body out there to rust away amid the elements.
Connie spoke little during her visits. She answered direct questions, but beyond that, she didn’t desire conversation. She was taking Bastion’s status hard. On the day of the battle, once Ajax had retrieved the memory core and they’d returned it to the Repair Module, he scrambled to put together a power source to stabilize the core. It was now stable.
Ajax dismissed Grease and Monkey for the day and was working on cleaning up the Repair Module. Larry had also left for the day, and Artie had switched to standby mode. This was about as quiet as things got for him.
An alert beeped. He dropped the tool he was putting away. It wasn’t a sound he wanted to hear.
“What’s that?” Connie asked. “Is that for Bastion?”
“Hold on,” Ajax said, “I’m checking.”
“What’s the problem, Ajax?”
He looked at several display screens. “It’s the power source for Bastion’s memory core... it’s failing.”
“You have to do something.” There was a frantic tone in her voice.
“I know, I’m working on it. Go get Angel, I need his help.”
Connie left to find Angel.
Ajax wasn’t sure how much time he had left. Once the power source failed, Bastion’s memory core and memory matrix contained within would deteriorate. It had already gone longer than it should have when he’d extracted it during the battle, and he wasn’t sure how fragile it was now. He was fortunate he didn’t have to wait long for Angel. He must have been close, for they returned quicker than he expected.
“What’s the problem?” Angel asked.
“It’s the power source for Bastion’s memory core. It’s failing and I can’t seem to stabilize it.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“I hate to ask this of you, but I don’t see any other way around it.” He raised a power siphon. “Can we tap your power to charge the battery bank?”
Angel took a step back, waving his hands.
“Please Angel, it’s the only way to preserve Bastion,” Connie pleaded.
“Of course, I’ll help,” Angel said. He pointed at the power siphon in Ajax’s hand. “But keep that away from me. Those have an unpredictable effect, remember.”
“Yes, I remember. It seems like that’s when everything started going wrong.”
“There were a few things that went wrong before that, for me at least,” Angel said. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
Ajax pointed to the battery bank. “Your power is the purest, most uncorrupted energy source I’ve ever seen. If you could top off the power, I’d appreciate it.”
Angel walked over to the power conduit running from the battery bank to Bastion’s memory core. He kept a stream of power feeding from one hand into the core, so it didn’t lose power, and then with his other hand he transferred energy into the battery bank, filling it to capacity. There was none of the drama or power fluctuations that had occurred when they had attached the power siphons to him before. He replaced the power coupling once the batteries had reached full charge. The alert sound ceased.
“Thank you!” Connie said. She hugged Angel. She thought Angel looked surprised, as if he’d never received a hug before. Perhaps he hadn’t. Physical affection wasn’t a top priority for mechs, although Connie seemed to have it down.
“Don’t mention it,” Angel said, returning the hug.
“That seemed much easier than before.” Ajax checked all the displays. All parameters for the battery bank were at optimal levels. “That should last awhile, but would it be possible for you to top them off every now and again?”
“I’m happy to help in any way I can. Just let me know when you need me.”
“No siphons, huh?” Ajax pointed to Angel’s unblemished form.
“Not as of now. Nigel Emcroft said I am free on my own recognizance, and as long as I don’t discharge any weapons without his express consent, he doesn’t have a problem with it. Frankly, though, I think he’s just a little afraid of something like Zeta IX attacking again and wants me at full power just in case.”
“Seems like a good deal. For all of us. So, what do you think of our new boss?” Ajax asked.
“As Dennis said, he’s a bureaucrat. My limited experience with bureaucrats tells me that as long as his interests and ours align, we should all get along just fine.”
Misty opened her eyes. She remembered opening her eyes before, but couldn’t remember when. It seemed as if it had been a while. Or had it? Her memory was foggy. The lights were too bright, so she closed her eyes again.
There were sounds all around her. It sounded like there was a lot of activity, but she didn’t care. She wished it would quiet down. She was trying to get some rest. Misty tried to turn over and pull the covers up, but she couldn’t, then realized she couldn’t move at all. Where am I? What happened?
Flashes of memory came back to her. Mechhaven. Battle. Screevers. Zeta IX. Destruction. Pain. Oh, so much pain.
Her eyes flashed open. She wanted to cry out, but she couldn’t. There was something in her throat. What the heck had happened to her?
There were people gathered around her. Nurses? Doctors? Med-bots? They shoved something into her arm. She relaxed and c
losed her eyes again.
Misty heard voices whispering. Some of them she recognized, others she didn’t. She didn’t feel any pain this time. She felt little of anything. Actually, she felt good. She opened her eyes slower this time, then blinked, testing the light levels. It wasn’t as bright as before. She opened her eyes wider and saw a face.
“Dennis,” she croaked.
“I’m here, Misty.” His voice sounded sweet to her ears. He lifted a small bottle of water to her mouth and gave her a sip.
“More,” she said, and he complied.
“Easy, not too much.”
Wait. She was mad at Dennis, wasn’t she? Or had she gotten over that? She couldn’t remember, her memories were all mixed up.
“Did we win?” she asked.
“Yeah, we won.” Dennis looked down and away from her.
“Why so glum?”
“I have some people I need to introduce you to,” Dennis said, and stepped back.
A well-groomed older man stepped into her view. “Hello Misty, my name is Nigel Emcroft. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Nigel?” she asked. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite remember how. “Who are you?”
“Oh, you and I will become fast friends, I’m sure. I’ll watch over Mechhaven for you while you recover.”
“Recover? What do you mean, recover?” She tried to sit up, but couldn’t move.
“Don’t try getting up. You’re heavily sedated, and you wouldn’t want to re-injure anything.”
“Tell me what’s going on. Dennis? Ajax? What the hell is happening?”
Ajax stepped into view this time. It was nice to see his face. It had been a long time, it seemed.
“Misty, settle down. You need to finish listening to what Nigel has to say.”
Nigel stepped back into her view. “Misty, Zeta IX injured you during the battle. Your right arm, leg, and torso suffered tremendous damage from his attacks. But don’t you fear, you are well on your way to recovery.”
“I can’t move my arms or legs,” Misty said.
“Just a precaution,” came an unfamiliar male voice. It had a thick accent. She couldn’t quite place it. “You’ll be able to move again soon, I promise.”
It was a smooth, confident voice. She couldn’t see him, though.
Nigel spoke again. “As soon as they made me aware of the extent of your injuries, I sent word back to the core systems to send the best doctor they could. They sent Dr. Randolph McCollough, who’s the premier cybernetics specialist in the entire galaxy. He’ll have you up and about in no time.”
“Cybernetics?” This was all so confusing. She thought she might need another nap. Then an unfamiliar face came into view.
“Hi Misty, I’m Dr. Randolph McCollough, but you can call me Randy. Everyone else does.”
Nice. It was an amiable face. Warm. Pleasant to look at.
“Cute,” she said. Did she say that out loud? They must have her on medications or something.
The doctor blushed. “Thank you. I just wanted to let you know that your surgeries went well and I’ll be working with you during your recovery.” He held up his hand and wriggled his fingers. It was a cybernetic hand. “I’m quite the expert, you see.”
Maybe the words surgeries and cybernetics should have alarmed her more than they did, but she couldn’t feel troubled about that at the moment. She noticed something about the doctor. He had a full head of messy red hair.
“Rusty,” she said.
“Rusty? Oh yes, the hair?” He reached up and ran a hand through his thick red mane. “My grandmother used to call me that when I was little, but you can too if you’d like.”
Oh yes… they’d get along just fine.
Misty thought there was something else she was going to ask about, something important, but her eyes were getting heavy again. There would be time to worry about the other problems later. When she grew tired of battling her eyelids, she relaxed into a deep sleep.
Epilogue
The Battle of Mechhaven, as it was being called, was not a victory, but survival—for some mechs, anyway. Perhaps survival was enough. Months would pass until the required supplies arrived to complete repairs. Some would never function the same again. Some scars were more than physical, and would never heal. Sly didn’t consider herself sentimental, but she hoped they could repair the human called Misty and put her back in charge before too long. She found Misty interesting.
While the rest mourned and a few celebrated, Sly sifted through the wreckage which was all that remained of the Planet Cleanser. It was a shame Angel had destroyed it. She’d hoped to deactivate it. Such technology would have been a valuable asset for the mechs of this world. They would no longer need to fear an invasion again with such a resource at their disposal. The unexpected appearance of the Reaper precipitated the destruction. It had attacked so fast and with such ferocity that Sly herself had barely survived. She would have to see to her own repairs soon.
The reinforcements sent by the signatories were unexpected as well. Angel’s destruction of Zeta IX had already decided the battle, but at least the reinforcements were useful for mopping up the remaining screevers. Though they were perhaps a bit overzealous, pulverizing the already destroyed Planet Cleanser.
While infiltrating the vessel, Sly had seen things she’d wanted to inspect further. That was no longer possible, but perhaps there would be some bits of the puzzle left amid the wreckage. The depths the Planet Cleanser’s drilling lasers had penetrated the surface in such a short amount of time had surprised her. The sheer volume of raw materials extracted and put into production was impressive.
She approached the opening cautiously and used her sensors to scan down into the deep pit. The surviving mechs had plenty to keep themselves busy with for the next several months, and as a good unofficial citizen, she would relay some morsels of information to Therapy. It would drive the attaché mech crazy to receive such information from her, but there were resources here that could prove useful, and she wanted the mechs to prosper, at least in the long term. She wouldn’t send them all the information, however, as some things she would keep to herself. Secrets were her trade, and without secrets, she had no currency.
Sly climbed down the cylindrical shaft. It felt good to use her skills. While she’d never declared Pax Machina, and had full use of her abilities, there was little use for them most of time on Mechhaven, save for the times she used them to spy on the others for her own enjoyment. She found spying on the human males, Dennis and Ajax, particularly entertaining.
She reached the end of the shaft and stopped. Beneath her was a black abyss. The darkness didn’t faze her. She had plenty of sensors to guide her. The Planet Cleanser’s lasers had broken open a cavern sealed for a millennium, perhaps longer. Within the cavern lay something special.
Sly drilled a hole into the wall of the shaft and inserted an anchor. To the anchor, she attached a spool of super-strong but ultra-thin filament and then secured it to her waist. Like the spider many considered her to be, she descended into the smothering darkness.
At first her sensors received no readings, but the further she descended, she observed a faint glow. Bio-luminescent fungi grew along the bottom of the cavern. Her descent came to a stop with only a negligible amount of filament remaining: she’d judged the depth correctly.
A quick snap detached her from the filament, but she left a small flashing light affixed to it so she could find it on her way back. She checked her sensors and found the signal she was looking for. It was much stronger now. She didn’t need the light to see, and she rather enjoyed the eerie glow of the fungi. She proceeded with caution. Falling into an unseen crevice would be disastrous. If she did, she wasn’t sure if she would ever find her way out.
The signal grew stronger. Sly heard it hum through her aural sensors. Her tactile sensors felt its vibrations. She approached it using the utmost caution. She wasn’t sure what it was, but marveled
at its delicate, crystalline lattice structure. It appeared fragile, but somehow, she knew it wasn’t. Sly surmised it was an artifact of a long-forgotten civilization. But what was its function? And why was it here on this barren world, of all places?
Her ocular sensors detected a purple glow emanating from the artifact. She couldn’t decide if it was geological, mechanical, or biological. It would take further investigation to determine. One thing she knew for certain, though, was that she couldn’t leave it for others to find. No, that would not work at all. If that happened, teams of xenoarcheologists would be summoned, and they would declare all of Mechhaven a xenosanctuary, and thus, off-limits. That wouldn’t do at all.
The precious find would come with her, and she would find a safe place to keep it until she could investigate it at her leisure. She would have to seal the entry shaft so no one else could find their way down to the depths of the cavern. She would explore a little more on her own and take more scans of the area before she headed back up.
It was nice to have something to keep herself busy with while the rest of Mechhaven rebuilt. They wouldn’t miss her: rebuilding was hard work, and not part of her skill set. Besides, she would have to keep a low profile while there were representatives from all the signatory governments of the Rybeth Accords present. They might question the presence of an SPDR mech not listed in the databases. It would be nice when Misty recovered and things got back to normal.
Until then, she had secrets to uncover, and that was part of her skill set.
This ends Pax Machina (Mechhaven: Book 1)
but the adventures continue in
Mechs and Machinations (Mechhaven: Book 2)
coming October 25, 2021.
Click Here to Pre-Order
Next Steps
If you enjoyed Pax Machina (Mechhaven: Book 1)