Broken Soldier (Book One)

by Bruce George

The radio transmission to Earth was sent and the information for Mike’s research was retrieved and sent back. He had his list of men and their current locations. Sadly, some of them had already passed away.

  He also had a list of scientists to consider, most of whom were very old. There had been so many new discoveries, since the Internet had spread info all over the planet, that he felt someone younger and more in tune with current scientific realities would offer a better chance of making progress. So, there were a few names of men and women in their thirties, forties and fifties to go along with the elderly geniuses.

  Perhaps his most valued list was that of items to be duplicated by the food replicator. It included everything from prime rib to sushi. He had included a long list of beverages as well. That included alcoholic libations of every nature, dozens of different coffees and teas, fruit drinks and sodas. Bambi had assured him that the machine would need but a small dose of the real item, in order to replicate it.

  Where coffee was concerned, he wasn’t going to take any chances. When they returned, if he had his way, he would have at least a hundred pounds of his favorite brand brought back with them.

  They attached the small shuttle into the back of the large one. It was his intention to remain with the smaller one on Earth, while the large shuttle took their victims back to the Mother Ship and began the process of culling them out.

  Jo disagreed. “Mike that might be a good idea for the next trip, when we have several people to leave on board the Mother Ship. For the first trip, you need to be the face of our lead warrior. Do you really think your people would accept the face of a Thorian or the voice of a computer?

  Hey, I can be very sexy, when I want to be. They’ll love me.

  Then she changed her tone and cautioned, In all seriousness, Jo is right. Captain, you need to be here to make that presentation to the people you recruit for the warrior program. Jo can’t recruit on Earth by himself and I sure can’t do it.

  We’ll make a video of your speech. We can show it to the next groups of recruits, as they are being prepared. By then, we’ll have humans on board whom those men can more easily relate to. Jo and I can be brought into the process once they are committed to the idea of leaving Earth and fighting some big bad aliens that they have never seen.

  When they see Jo in the flesh it will help them adjust to the concept of working with aliens. We will need them to accept the idea, because, if we can pull it off, we will have alien allies such as the Januki. I’ll be sure to include that in the warrior’s minds, when I download the information to them, so our men won’t find the idea repulsive.

  Mike was surprised at the amount of thought she had put into the program.

  “Bambi, you’re becoming quite a sales person. You’ve obviously given a lot of consideration about human behavior.”

  Yes I have, sir. I’ve been studying human psychology. There doesn’t seem to be one line of thought that agrees with another. It’s as though all the shrinks have their own ideas about human behavior and are reluctant to embrace someone else’s concepts. I’ve concluded the reason for that is every human is so independent, it is impossible to categorize him or her into a single type of program, which is my term for the human brain.

  I’ve never been allowed to read a Sauran mind, but I have had to do some peripheral analysis whenever a crewman had been injured. I can tell you that Saurans think differently than humans or Thorians. Their thought process is quite linear in its approach to solving problems. It always involves moving straight ahead, to create a solution for a problem. I suspect that’s due to their disciplined nature and their reluctance to change.

  If their thoughts are all driven along the same lines, they can anticipate that a fellow Sauran will behave in exactly the same way as any other Sauran. I would imagine that provides their military with great strength in battle.

  Mike agreed. “Yes, it would. I would love to see a video of their movements in battle. We could build a database of actions and reactions that we could count on. Such information would be extremely valuable intelligence for our side.”

  As the shuttle wound its way around the solar system, avoiding a route that could possibly reveal its existence, he considered what Bambi had told them. It was an amazing observation, on her part.

  “Bambi, I’m more pleased than I can say. You’ve demonstrated a remarkable ability to provide insight into the Sauran capability and mindset. You are growing at a phenomenal rate. It’s almost frightening. I’m glad you’re on our side.”

  Mike continued to refine his search, as they approached Earth. The large shuttle was maneuvered into position behind the defunct satellite, and then he and Jo boarded the small shuttle.

  As they eased down to the planet, he was surprised to hear Bambi. “Damn, it sure feels tight in here.”

  Bambi, quit kidding around. How much of you did you download to the small shuttle?

  Everything you and Jo asked for, plus some stuff I wanted to have, just in case.

  Mike gave Jo a worried look, as he asked her, “Like what.”

  Well, if you guys get into trouble, I’m screwed. I have no one else to look to for help or for company. I wanted to be ready for action, in case the shit hits the fan. So, I wrote a program for building a plasma weapon like the larger ones in the SAV. I had two installed on the bow of the small shuttle and one in the rear

  If we are fired on, I want to be able to shoot back. Don’t worry. I can set the devices for various power settings, just like the smaller weapons. These things are super accurate. I’ll be able to disable most opposition, without killing anyone. If it gets really ugly, I’ll have to up the power and eliminate the other guy. But I won’t do that without your permission. OK?

  “As long as you don’t go gunning for trouble, that’s all right with me. Just be sure to ask first.”

  Yes sir. There’s something else you need to know.

  Jo coughed and said, “Oh dear.”

  It’s nothing bad, I promise. I’ve been watching some sci-fi movies. Most of them are ridiculous and have lousy plots. Some aren’t too bad and a few are closer to reality than humans might think. I got some ideas from those.

  I had two different personal weapons constructed, based loosely on existing designs. Both are simply small weapons of limited power that are easily usable by upgraded humans or Thorians. Again, they are based on the weapons we found in the SAV. The power has four settings from issuing a painful stun to blowing a hole clean through a human body, even if he’s wearing armor.

  To keep them small, I had to drastically reduce the amount of ammo and, of course the size of the battery. The hand held ones can only carry one hundred rounds in a magazine and the battery is only good for two mags. Sorry about that. I’ll see if I can come up with a better design, once we get back to the Mother Ship.

  The other one is even smaller and weaker. It sits on your shoulder. It’s less than an inch tall and three inches wide. It has fifteen rounds available, but you better not over do it, because, in order to reload, you have to remove it from your shoulder. Of course, you’ll have one on each shoulder, giving you a total of thirty rounds. It has two settings. The lowest one will stun; the highest setting can kill and blow holes in things.

  I just needed to know that my friends had a fighting chance to return to me. If you’re really in the soup, I’ll come in with the shuttle and blast everything that looks like a threat to you.

  Mike was stunned. He appreciated her concern and foresight. But he was worried about her attitude and willingness to commit mayhem.

  “Bambi, you’ve come up with some great stuff here and I thank you. But, I want you to keep in mind that we’re here to recruit humans to our cause, not fry them.

  I know that boss. I’m really not as bloodthirsty as you might think. I’m just watching out for you guys. I’ve also been going over some of the info I have about Sauran behavior and applied it to my own way of
thinking and mixed that with the human way. They always prepare for the worst case scenario. As far as they’re concerned, every place they go is a potential battle zone. I believe we should have the same mindset, just in case.

  And please, please promise me you guys will take those weapons with you. You don’t really know what you’re going to run into. I’m downloading the operations manual for each weapon now.

  Before Mike could respond, Jo announced, “This will be the very first time I’ve carried a real weapon. I already like the idea of being able to strike back. Bambi, you’ve done a fine job of supporting us. Don’t stop.”

  Don’t intend to. But, if you want to keep me from going crazy, while you guys are in danger, you’ve got to keep the comm open and allow me to hear what’s going on. I promise to stay quiet. I just want to know what’s being said and how things are going. If I don’t know what’s what, I might do something that makes things worse.

  Lately, it seemed to Mike that Bambi was talking so human-like it was easy to forget she was not. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

  She wanted to fit in so badly and she was basing her speech and action on what she had learned from the Internet, movies and novels. That’s not a bad way to learn about another culture, if you’re a human. But, being an artificial intelligence and lacking the experience of growing up on Earth, she was absorbing human culture through a broken prism. She was forming a persona through the misrepresentation of TV shows.

  “Bambi, we’re going to leave the comm wide open. Besides, listening, is there any way for you to be able to see what is going on? I think it could help you to get a real taste of human life, instead of the artificial stories you’ve been exposed to.”

  I’m glad you said that. I just happen to have brought along a few micro-camera drones. Also, I mounted micro-cameras on each of your torsos, in the buttons. I got that idea from a TV show. You won’t even know they’re on you. I hope you aren’t mad.

  “I’m not mad, Bambi. All you’ve done is to be prepared. You’d make a good girl scout. You haven’t done anything overt, so I’m good with all of this. But if you ever do something that threatens a human or a Thorian, I’ll be extremely angry. Do you understand?”

  Yes, sir. As you said earlier, I’m maturing rapidly. Bambi is a quick study.