Proxima Centauri - Hunt for the Lost AIs (Aeon 14: Enfield Genesis Book 2)
Page 33
The general nodded. “I understand, but—”
They were interrupted by a soldier approaching at a steady jog.
Next to it, the general tossed up a diagram of the C-47 Dock. Icons lit up, indicating the locations of the Speedwell, as well as the MOA and their three ships.
Jason glanced to his left and saw a set of doors set into the bulkhead that separated the MOA from Customs. He knew another two hundred meters beyond them was the gate where the Speedwell would disgorge its passengers. He returned his gaze to the diagram and studied the familiar system of lifts and maglevs that connected the Dock to the Spire.
The Spire was a central shaft that emerged from the axis of the habitat’s cylinder. It served as both connector and shipment transport, as its core was comprised of a series of freight lifts that shipped cargo from the Dock to the Habitat.
Maglev platforms were spaced at equidistant intervals around the Dock. These served as anchors for lines that curved outward from the Dock and plummeted the length of the Spire to enter the cylinder at its central axis point. The lines connected with the internal maglev loop through a complex system of track switches that synchronized with the cylinder’s rotational spin.
Passengers exiting their secured gate areas could cut straight across a concourse that ran along the inner circumference of the dock and walk along its inner edge until they came upon the next maglev platform. They could then catch a ride straight down to the cylinder as soon as the next maglev car arrived.
The Customs gate was situated directly across from one of the maglev platforms.
Jason scratched the back of his head, looking at the familiar lines of the habitat-and-spire configuration through new eyes. Eyes that, for all the years he’d lived here, had never viewed it from the perspective of a combat situation.
Now he saw areas of weakness and exposure; conversely, he saw the best places where an enemy could take a defensive stand. He shook his head slightly.
Jason sent him a half-smile.
Their attention was drawn to the customs gate, as an armed contingent of Habitat Marines approached.
Jason’s eyes flashed to Tobias’s in alarm.
the AI said tersely before turning to the general. “What is the meaning of this?” Eric’s projection turned toward the general.
“General, Bonnie assured me—” Rhys Andrews began in an alarmed voice.
At the same time, Tobias ordered sharply, “Get that squad away from that gate!”
The general smiled placatingly at Eric, and completely ignored Tobias and the human physicist. “Commodore, I assure you, we have everything well in hand—”
“Call your people back, General,” Tobias repeated, and the woman turned to the Weapon Born with a withering look as several members of her squadron suddenly armed their weapons, although they had yet to raise them against the El Doradans.
“You are out of line, Captain,” Smith told the Weapon Born now. “And it was the Council’s decision to override Bonnie at my recommendation,” she said, turning to Rhys. “If this AI is as dangerous as you claim, then we need to guarantee his containment.” She smiled humorlessly. “In case you hadn’t noticed, most of your team is made up of AIs. We do not have the time to confirm you were not compromised en route, therefore we will restrain him, and then hand him over to your custody as soon as you’ve been cleared.”
Jason stepped forward and paused as weapons swung his way. “This is a bad idea, General,” he said, and then sent a pointed look toward his dad.
Rhys nodded. “I have to agree, General. I know Tobias, have known him for fifty years. He is no threat to us. Certainly, you can see my son poses no threat.”
General Smith stood implacably, refusing to respond to the senior Andrews’ protest.
All eyes were drawn to the holo as the passengers began to trickle through the gate. Jason saw Jonesy pause, uncertain, only to be waved on by a Marine.
Jason felt Terrance shift, gathering himself, and then Eric’s voice rang out over the net.
Three things happened in swift succession. The unmistakable whine of the shuttle’s pulse cannon coming online echoed throughout the enclosed MOA, Calista and the two AIs brought their weapons to bear on the Habitat Marines, and a mech frame that Jason assumed must house Prime exited the gate, one three-fingered hand wrapped around Judith Andrews’ neck.
DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY
STELLAR DATE: 03.11.3192 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Habitat Marine MOA, C-47 Dock
REGION: Proxima Centauri System
“This is exactly what we warned you would occur,” Logan heard Eric’s voice as if from a distance. “Tell your squad to drop their weapons. Now.”
Logan’s attention was no longer on the drama being played out in the MOA; every one of his mental processes was now focused on the creature that had killed his brother. He began to stalk toward the door. Not the one that joined the MOA to Customs—the one that spilled out onto the concourse and the maglev beyond.
He ignored Eric’s sharp mental command to stand down. The only thing that mattered now was the AI who held Judith. His sensors registered the form of Terrance racing after him, heard, as if from a distance, Tobias order Calista to take control of the Habitat Marines, as the Weapon Born raced Jason to the doors adjoining the MOA to Customs.
He’d studied the layouts, paid particular attention to the structure of the maglev platform. This was the area where, if he could get into position, he would have a clear shot at Prime.
Logan ignored Terrance, pacing alongside him, and the embedded AI who was dressing him down, and continued across the concourse to the platform’s edge.
Once there, he confirmed that the physical platform matched the diagram the Proxa general had projected for them. Only then did he turn his attention to the two standing next to him.
He knew his avatar’s eyes had begun to glow over the private link with Eric, as he attempted to drill this last point home to his commanding officer.
He paused to let that sink in and then had his avatar shake its head.
He paused, allowing Eric a chance to counter his argument. The commodore just nodded for him to continue.
He obliged.
He accessed the diagram of the platform he’d copied from the general’s holo and let it hover between them.
The platform was connected to the Dock, but it wasn’t actually part of the Dock. It was, in essence, an elongated box joined to a rectangular hole cut into the inner bulkhead of the dock itself. Enclosed top, bottom and on three sides—at least while the maglev doors were shut, as they were now—it was a contained area.
Terrance’s head snapped up at that as he made the mental connection, and his eyes began to blaze.
Logan nodded.
Logan willed Eric to see the tactical advantage. The commodore’s avatar nodded slowly.
Logan nodded once.
He saw Terrance’s teeth pull back in a feral smile at that.
* * * * *
Jason shot him a flat look.
he countered.
Jason reached the doors and wrenched them open. The determined expression on his face masked the anguish Tobias knew the man felt.
Although Tobias knew it was fruitless, he let the human go, following him through the door and into the area filled with armed Marines, their weapons trained unerringly on the AI who held Judith’s body in front of him as a shield.
The Marine commander shouted at the AI, repeating his order to release the prisoner, as Prime continued to slowly advance, one humanoid hand wrapped tightly around her neck, his other arm around her torso. Either one, Tobias knew, could kill her in the space of one human breath.
Jason advanced, and the AI’s attention immediately swung toward him. The Marines, who had up to that point been entirely focused on Prime, divided their attention now between the AI and Jason. Tobias used that diversion to circle around closer, hoping to find a clear shot the Marines lacked.
He saw Prime twist his humanoid face in a grotesque parody of a human grin as he identified Jason. “Look, Judith,” the AI sing-songed, his tone that of a madman. “It’s your brother, come to save you.”
“Let her go, Prime. You aren’t going to make it off this dock. You know that.” Jason edged slowly closer as he spoke.
“On the contrary; now that you and the rest of your team are here, you are going to convince these Proxima idiots to let me do exactly that.” Prime began easing Judith once more toward the maglev platform.
“They seem to believe your sister would be acceptable—what did you Marines call it a moment ago?” His frame swiveled back toward the soldier in charge of the squad of humans whose weapons were trained on him. “ ‘Collateral damage’?”
The Marine shifted slightly in reaction, and Tobias cursed inwardly. He had no doubt the man had led Prime to believe Judith’s life wasn’t going to keep them from stopping the AI before he reached the maglev.
Just then, action off to one side caught his attention. He saw Jonesy draw a slug-thrower from inside his jacket and, with motions not entirely natural, raise the weapon and take aim…but not at Prime.
Their attention centered solely upon Prime, no one but Tobias seemed to notice the former ESF soldier. No one, that is, except for Prime.
The AI seemed to gather himself, and in that moment, Tobias knew what the AI had planned. He shouted a warning, but it was too late.
Despite what Tobias was now certain had been a massive effort on Jonesy’s part to resist, the human was helpless to fight the compulsion upon him. He was to be Prime’s instrument to kill Jason Andrews, and to provide a suitable diversion for the AI to make a break for the maglev.
* * * * *
And then he realized his mistake.
Jason heard the sharp report of a shot being fired at close range and felt something impact his left shoulder, sending him spinning back toward the doors to the MOA. He reached his right hand up and realized a slug had torn through his flight suit and base layer, impaling him just below the collarbone.
For some reason, he had been the target and not his sister.
Shouts erupted all around him as soldiers exploded into action. He heard Tobias’s voice shouting at someone to not shoot. A flood of adrenaline hit Jason’s system, dulling the pain, and he staggered back a step just as the weapon fired again.
A burning sensation along the side of his head informed him that he’d moved just in time, and that the slug intended as a head shot had ended up grazing his temple instead. He reached up, and his hand came back bright red.
Clutching his injured shoulder, he ducked and began to move counter clockwise, weaving an irregular course and keeping as many bodies as he could between himself and the shooter. He chanced a quick glance toward Prime and his sister and swore when he realized they were no longer there. The AI must have used the shooting as a diversion and an opportunity to move.
Blood from his head wound threatened to obscure Jason’s vision and he swiped at it with his good hand as his eyes tracked back and forth, searching desperately for his sister and the AI who held her.
An enraged female voice reached his ears. “Jonesy! Dammit, Andrews! Hit the deck!”
As if the words had drawn his gaze to the man, his eyes met Jonesy’s, frightened and horrified, over the barrel of a slug-thrower that was once again drawing a bead on him.
He fell deeper into his altered state and shifted rapidly to the left as the weapon fired a third time, this one missing him entirely. He heard the slapping sound of Calista’s boots pounding toward him on the dock’s plascrete deck as she yelled at the Habitat Marines swarming Jonesy.
His peripheral vision registered something large and dark rushing toward him, and he pivoted to meet this new threat with less than his usual grace just as a form, heavy and metallic, tackled him to the ground. He saw Calista’s face move into his field of view and heard Tobias’s mental voice grind out in his head, urging him to
Where’s the damn mednano when you need it?
* * * * *
Chaos raged in the small Customs area on the far side of the concourse. From wi
thin the platform maintenance closet where he and Logan crouched, Terrance could see nothing. But the microdrone Logan had deposited on the concourse bulkhead relayed events as they unfolded. He watched in disbelief as Jonesy began to fire on Jason and saw the sudden movement as Prime’s humanoid frame used the distraction to make a run for the platform, with Judith in tow.
Though he’d meant it as more of a rhetorical question, Logan replied.
They saw the rest of the team pour through the doors separating Customs from the MOA as Jason began to skirt the marine contingent. The man was obviously injured, gripping a mangled shoulder close against his body with his other hand, one side of his head slicked with blood.
Fuuuuuuck. That does not look good.
Calista shouted, and Kodi and Paula deployed, weapons raised against the Marines. The ESF pilot sprinted after Jason as he began weaving in and out in an attempt to present a more difficult target to hit. From the other direction, Tobias’s dark mech frame raced to meet the injured man making his way determinedly toward his sister and the AI who held her.
The voice of the platform’s NSAI sounded through the concourse, announcing the arrival of the habitat-bound train in thirty seconds, and they saw Prime speed up in response. They waited silently, willing the AI toward them as the platform started to shimmy slightly under the force of the approaching car. The AI was ten meters away, then five.