"So we managed to knock out five of the original fifteen. And then another dozen showed up. That leaves twenty-two... that we know of. I noticed the Earthers were using other ships as shields. I thought you were taking that idea to the emperor?"
"I did. They are under construction. Hundreds of them. The first units will be ready by the end of the week."
Harris shook his head. "This whole thing is just crazy. Just a few months ago if you had told me there was an alien species out there preparing to attack us I'd have said you were nuts. One of those conspiracy nuts to be exact. And now, here they are, and we're fighting for our very existence."
Bax shrugged. "I'd have done the same thing. They had to convince me this was real. And we're stuck in this perfect storm. The emperor won't ask for help. You won't give up the tech we could use to defeat them because of your own fears. And the Domers are clueless, choosing to ignore the problem because they don't want to fight."
Harris nodded. "Have you seen the reports of the welcoming parties going on? The government and media has everyone convinced the Denzee only need to be talked with in order to open up friendly trade and travel with them. They have no idea that five million Beinshee colonists are getting spaced right now. Even if you gave the media that story they would likely sit on it due to fear of reprisals from the pacifists."
"We have a long way to go to get things back on track, Mr. Gruberg."
Harris smiled.
"What?"
"You just called me Gruberg. I think that's the first time."
"I must be getting soft."
"Or you like me."
Tawn cut in. "OK. I'm gonna have to cut off this love-fest before the two of you make me sick."
Bax said, "Despite what you may think, Tawn, I believe we are all on the same side here. We want the Denzee defeated and order and peace between New Earth and Domicile restored. I know you despise me for many of my prior actions, but in the end I think you might come to respect me for much of what I've done and why."
Tawn shook her head. "You've used us one too many times, Bax. There's no respect to be had there. You've burned that bridge over and over. When this is all done, don't count on us being buddies."
Bax scowled as she flipped off the comm.
Harris crossed his arms. "What has you riled up?"
"You're seeming awful chummy with the Great-Betrayer. You sure you don't have a thing for her?"
"For red? No. Maybe I just appreciate having someone that high up with the Earthers that we can talk civilly to. Without her connections we probably wouldn't even know the Denzee existed. Imagine if they just began to invade our colonies without us having prior knowledge. As it is we're struggling. And that's with a couple billion credits at our disposal."
Tawn said, "On our way back to Midelon let's swing by Gondol for a look. I'm really wanting to know what's under that rock."
"Not a bad idea. Let's stop by down at the dome first."
A short trip had the Bangor landing on the tarmac beside dome one. As Harris walked toward the hatch, his bot stood."
Harris stopped. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going with you."
"Uh, no. Both of you are staying right here."
Tawn said, "Why not bring them along? What would it hurt?"
"You're just wanting to show off Gigantor to your slug friends."
Tawn chuckled. "You embarrassed by Idiot?"
"No. He's a decent looking bot. I just don't see it as a good idea to be walking that tech around in public. The DDI could still grab us you know."
"That dog goes everywhere with us and we haven't been grabbed yet. Boomer is coming with me. You can leave Idiot here if you want."
Harris looked down at his dog. "What do you think, boy? Take him along?"
Three farks were heard.
Harris hopped down to the concrete of the tarmac. "OK, Idiot, come on."
"You will not be disappointed, sir. I'll be respectful and subdued. I doubt anyone will even notice me."
Harris glanced at Tawn as they walked, their robotic assistants following close behind. "Still think this is a bad idea."
The first Biomarines they encountered stopped what they were doing and stared. As they entered the dome, heading for the colonel's office, a small crowd of gawkers gathered behind them. Slugs and stumps were pulled from side rooms for a look.
The colonel was sitting at his desk when they entered the room. He stood. "What the... these aren't the same bots I saw behind you on the comm."
Tawn grinned. "They've had a few updates."
The colonel circled around from his desk, looking the bots up and down. "Extraordinary. What kind of skills or interactions do they have? They just walk around or can they talk."
Harris said, "Ask them."
The colonel stood close while looking up at Harris' bot. "You have a name?"
"Idiot."
The colonel turned. "Rude robots? That's disturbing, but funny."
"I'm sorry, sir, Idiot is my name. What is your name?"
"Robert Thomas, Colonel, DDF Biomarines, retired."
"Impressive credentials, sir. Do you prefer Colonel, Robert, or Mr. Thomas?"
"Colonel is fine. Do you do any tricks?"
"Tricks, sir? As in magic?"
Harris said, "He actually has a fairly full understanding of anything you ask him. Back on Midelon he has access to a massive data archive. Out here he will just have patterned responses, but I doubt you could tell the difference."
"Who built these?"
Tawn replied, "We aren't at liberty to say."
"How capable are they, I mean, physically?"
Harris faced his bot. "Idiot, can you leave two bootprints on the colonel's ceiling?"
The bot looked over it's shoulder. "Yes."
"Please do so."
The bot turned. With a single step forward and a leap a boot was planted on the far wall. The robotic assistant spun it's body upward and off the wall, setting two boots against the ceiling before flipping over to land on it's feet as it fell. Two small steps had it standing in it's original position.
The colonel walked over to look up at the marks. "Impressive. That's four meters up. Not a slug or stump ever made could have done that. Can they shoot a weapon?"
Harris held up a hand. "I don't know that we're supposed to even be showing them off, Colonel."
Tawn said, "They supposedly have training, but it's all internal simulations. Neither one has fired a weapon and I don't think we're planning on giving them one anytime soon."
The colonel gestured toward the door. "Let's take them over to the range. They can't do any harm there. The weapons are all configured to only function on their lowest output setting. They can blast away. We can send them through Gruberg's alley."
Tawn half scowled. "Gruberg's alley?"
"It's what we call our village simulator. Would love to see if it can make it through without getting killed or making a mess of the civilians."
Harris returned an uneasy look. "Not sure if this is a good idea."
Tawn looked at her bot for several seconds. "Might not be a bad idea to know how they'll do if we get into a fight."
Harris frowned. "You sure about this?"
"What could it hurt?"
After a transport ride to dome two the group made their way into the combat simulation facility. The colonel led them to the entrance of Gruberg's alley.
Tawn shook her head. "Can't believe they named it after you."
Harris chuckled. "Jealous are we?"
"I'm the better shooter here."
"Maybe we can talk them into naming the sniper range after you."
The colonel picked up a plasma rifle. "Idiot? You know how to use one of these?"
"I do."
"Are you familiar with a shooting alley?"
"No, sir."
"It's easy. You walk that hall until the end. You want to shoot every bad guy and spare every civilian. They'll be popping out at you
as you go. Make use of the cover so you don't get shot yourself. And one of the goals here is to do it as fast as you can. Our record for a perfect run is a minute and four seconds."
The bot looked at the hallway in front of it.
The colonel said, "Timer starts as soon as you enter. When you reach the end you can return through this hallway to our left."
The colonel walked two meters to his right and powered up a display. "We can watch his progress over here."
Harris nodded toward the entrance. "Go ahead. Come back to us when you're done."
The bot walked to the doorway, peeking in to look at either side before raising the plasma rifle and taking a step forward.
What began as a slow walk with the first two assailants taken out, turned into a jog by mid alley and a full run by the end. Precision shots took out all enemy combatants with no civilian loses.
The colonel looked at the timer. "Wow. First time through and a minute eight seconds. That's close to the record."
Boomer stepped forward. "I can beat it."
Idiot rejoined the group. "Did I do well?"
The colonel replied, "You did great. Let me see that rifle."
The weapon was handed to Tawn's bot.
The colonel said, "Same for you. The timer starts when you pass that threshold."
Boomer took the rifle in hand. Turning quickly, the bot hit the alley at a run. It's broad shoulders crashed into corner walls, ripping them from their mounts as the bot raced through the alley with the plasma rifle blazing. The monstrous bot emerged at the other end twenty-eight seconds later.
The colonel half smiled. "It just demolished half our alley, but there's no arguing with that score. Don't think our best could manage that if they had a straight line going through."
Harris looked past the threshold at the destruction as Boomer trotted back to join the group. "Sorry about that, Colonel. We should have been a bit clearer about the parameters. The reasoning of these bots is sometimes a bit too literal. You say here to there as fast as you can and that's what they'll do."
"We can have that repaired in a few hours time. What I want to know is how do we mass produce these beasts. Imagine what you could do with an army of them."
Harris sighed. "I have. Which is one reason I wish we'd left them on Midelon. While the people on this planet might use them responsibly there are too many out there who wouldn't. The emperor for one would not hesitate to build a billion of these things."
The colonel nodded. "While I agree with that reasoning at the moment, if we don't get the Denzee under control we might be wishing we had a billion of these to send into battle."
"We need ships, Colonel. The Denzee aren't fighting a ground war. Once they rule space they're using their ships to finish off those on the ground. Even if you hide, all they need is a bioscan and you're exposed."
I questioned my DDI contact about acquiring something to counter that. Was told they had tried for years to develop a material for our suits that would mask us. The project was shelved due to high costs without coming up with a viable solution.
Harris opened a comm to Domicile. "Mr. Morgan. We have a new mission for your teams. At one point the DDI experimented with making a material that would hide the wearer from bioscan detection. What are the chances we can revive that research?"
"One of my teams was running that project. Ended more than twenty years ago. I believe the chief scientist is still with us. I'll see if there's a possibility of pulling a team together. You have a specific purpose in mind?"
"If our troops on the ground were wearing such a suit the Denzee wouldn't be able to round them up so easily. Might even lead to a resistance movement where we could make any colonization costly."
"I'll see what I can do, Mr. Gruberg."
"You need credits?"
"I have an adequate supply now thanks to our last transaction, thank you."
The comm closed.
Harris turned to the colonel. "I noticed the foundation out there for the next dome. When are you expecting it to be operational?"
"Six weeks until the hydroponics go in. I've been told another two to three weeks after the seedlings will be brought in and a month to six weeks after the initial foods will be ready to harvest. Six moths after that it should be in full cycle."
Tawn frowned. "I hope we can hold the Denzee off that long."
"We have adequate supplies of MREs to fill any gap."
Harris glanced at the doorway to the hall. "Colonel, we best be heading back to Midelon. We have a trip into Gondol space on the way. Will let you know what we see there."
The colonel escorted Tawn, Harris, and their bots back to dome one and the tarmac. As the hatch to the Bangor opened the group hopped up into the cabin.
Tawn sat, cinching up her lap belt as she looked over the display in front of her. "Morgan said there would be another shield ready in the morning. If Gondol still has the single Ratoon would you have interest in going after it?"
"That's a possibility. Would prefer to have two of those shields before running in though."
"I believe he said two would be ready."
Harris powered up the drive. "Let's see what's out there and then we can talk about it."
Fifteen minutes later the Bangor slowed as it approached Gondol III.
Tawn nodded. "Still the one warship."
Harris turned the ship away. "OK. In the morning we check. If they have at least two shields we'll give this another try."
A jump and a short run had them landing at Midelon.
Gandy was standing in the grass with his bot beside him. "Please tell me your bots are with you."
Harris nodded as he hopped out. "They snuck aboard. We had jumped before we realized it."
"What were they like? Did they act differently?"
"Actually, not much difference at all. They're only lacking a connection to the archives. This last update of their bodies they also received processor and memory upgrades. They can make decisions on their own when prompted to do so. Don't think they're ready to be autonomous, but they're getting close."
Trish walked up. "What happened at Beinshee?"
"Overrun. We lost our shields after the first couple ships. A dozen new Ratoons joined the others. The Earthers were forced to abandon the colony. That's another five million of us Humans lost."
"That's horrible. Why are you acting like it's no big deal?"
"Sorry if I seem callous. Not like we have a choice in the matter. This is war. If you stop to mourn every loss you'll find you have no time to think about how to best conduct the next fight. It's not a personal preference. It's the reality of the situation. Nothing I do or say or feel bad about will bring them back. Our energy and thoughts have to be focused on those who can still be saved, such as all of Domicile and her colonies."
— Chapter 22 —
* * *
Harris tore into an MRE. "Can't believe your bot just plowed through that alley like that. I think even the colonel was intimidated."
Tawn nodded. "I was a bit surprised by that."
Harris chuckled. "Not me. That was something you would do. And that bot's decisions are supposedly patterned off yours."
Tawn looked over at the bot that was sitting quietly on a bench. "Yeah, I guess that could have been me. Don't think I could shred the walls quite like that, but I guess I would if I could."
"You think there would be any merit to having Morgan's engineers look them over?"
Tawn winced. "Still not sure about that. We don't know what Alex is looking for out of us. I doubt mass production of intelligent warrior bots is one of his goals."
Harris shrugged. "Maybe since his programming won't allow it he's giving that decision over to us."
"And why would he want a billion mechanical warriors running around?"
"Maybe he plans to take over all these worlds for himself."
Tawn smirked. "You're kind of getting out there with the conspiracy now. He's shown no form of aggression so far."
"Maybe that's all part of the plan. Lull us into a sense of security and then... wham! Overrun."
Tawn grabbed a rib from his MRE and sniffed. "These things tainted or something? You're sounding a bit whacked today."
Harris grabbed the rib, took a bite, and chewed. "Sometimes I feel whacked. It's like we're on this horrific ride where we have to watch the end of the world in slow motion. All preventable of course, but with no one but us interested in preventing it."
"Something will break our way. Always does."
Harris chuckled. "That sounds like what Rumford would say about us."
"Not untrue."
The following morning a comm was made to the Retreat and out to the factory. Two shield units were ready for use. As Tawn and Harris began to board the Bangor, Boomer and Idiot followed.
Harris stopped in the hatch. "Sorry. The two of you are staying here."
"Perhaps we could be of some use?" Idiot said.
Boomer followed. "Conversations can be continued. And we get the added bonus of being able to observe you while you work. Viewing of the decision making process during critical moments would be extremely helpful for our patterning process."
Harris sighed as he looked at Tawn. "What do you think?"
"Sure. Why not?"
A trip to the ship factory had the repaired shield along with a new one collected. A further jump to Gondol had the Biomarine wrecking crew ready to inflict damage. Upon arrival, the situation had changed.
"Where are they?" Harris said. "Any bios down there?"
"Just a sec... yes. And there is a structure."
"Let's go have a look."
The Bangor dropped through the atmosphere, settling at a kilometer above the newly constructed Denzee building. A heavy scan revealed a small, four story complex perched on a mountain-side with a view going a hundred kilometers out onto the surrounding bog. Several thunderstorms dumped torrents of rain on the bog as a weather pattern was moving by. Forty-six bios were present in the building.
Harris looked at Tawn. "Take them out?"
"I think we should."
Harris' bot put its hand on his shoulder. "I could do that for you."
ARMS Eden Lost: (Book 4) Page 19