by James McEwan
That was it; Eve stopped all processes for a microsecond. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it before. “Thank you Carl, the temperature should be returning to normal shortly.”
“What did I do?” He asked as he licked the last of the ice cream off the spoon.
“You gave me an idea that will allow me to deal with the heat and increase my processing at the same time. You are a genius Carl. I only wish I would have thought of it first.”
“Well I guess it just goes to prove that no one is perfect, not even AI’s,” Carl said, happy to know his time in the oven was now over.
Eve opened another stable subspace conduit but instead of bleeding off energy she pushed all the heat energy back into subspace, effectively creating a loop of energy and the ultimate cooling system. She now could pull has much energy has she needed without the worry of burning out her own systems and she could keep the computer core at absolute zero if she needed to.
With the increased computing power she was finally able to really analyze the jamming signal. At first it just seemed like random noise and static. The normal way to jam comms was to mass broadcast so much static that it would just walk over any other kind of signal. This signal was not like anything she had ever seen before. The jamming signal was composed of what seemed like trillions of random bits of information that when looked at straight on, appeared to be random static. However, now she was able to take those random bits of information and analyze them for patterns. It didn’t take Eve long to find a pattern hidden in the randomness. The pattern was an encryption key; the enemy was using the jamming signal like one giant carrier wave. This meant that they had working comms, and that was exactly what she needed.
Eve cracked the encryption in less than a millisecond. She was in; she had the enemy’s comms. The first thing she did was upload a tracing program to find the source of the signal. Then she reached out over the enemy’s net to find out as much information as she could. One of the first things that returned in her net search was the back trace program that Archie had activated. She was able to replay the information from the exchange and knew that Ruby was safe, but that Amanda had been arrested. She was then able to learn the location where Amanda had been taken.
Information was pouring in and she was learning everything she could. Once the tracer program led her to the source of the jamming signal, she concentrated her attention on hacking the AI protecting it. “Okay you bastards, let’s see if we can’t mess up the works a bit and give the people on the ground their comms back,” Eve said as she went to work.
Ruby was dressed and ready to go. Archie had come up with his plan of action and had recorded a message for Thad. He removed the end of one finger, which hid a data interface, and shoved it into Charles’ ear, transferring the message to Charles’ emergency data storage partition. It was a kin to a black box for love bots, a nearly indestructible drive that recorded the last few minutes of operation. The company that built them used them to record and diagnose system failures. The police had even used them to solve more than a few murders when the client and the bot had been killed. Once the message was transferred Archie removed his finger and replaced the cap. He then went to the kitchen and prepared a quick meal for Ruby, and none too soon for moments after he finished the power to the building cut out. The last of the power grid must have failed and for whatever reason the emergency generators didn’t start up.
Ruby picked at her breakfast in a noncommittal fashion, “Okay Mr. Archie, what do we do next? I’m ready.”
“Well Miss Ruby, we will have to use the stairs as the power is not functioning at the moment,” Archie began.
“No silly robot, what are we going to do? Try to find my daddy or something else?”
“Oh… no Miss Ruby. We are going to try to find the Eden and Miss Eve. Although I don’t believe she will be where we left her.”
“Then let’s go find her so she can find my daddy,” Ruby said, smiling as she thought of her father.
“Yes let us depart,” Archie said as he walked her to the stairway. Because of how long it was to the bottom of the stairs, Archie was afraid it would wear Ruby out. So, he suggested she climb up on his back and piggy back ride him all the way down. She didn’t protest and climbed right up onto his back. Once he was sure she wouldn’t fall off, he took off down the stairs. Being a robot he could move much faster than a human and raced down the flights of stairs as fast as he could with Ruby on his back.
Ruby squealed a few time from fear, but mostly found the ride fun. Riding her robot to the ground floor was just the start of their big adventure. Even with Archie’s enhanced speed it still took them the better part of an hour to get to the garage level, and by the time they had Ruby was tired of holding on, as well as a little sore. Riding a metal man was not nearly as comfortable as a pony.
Archie wanted to take a vehicle, but decided against it because it would make them a larger target. The pair made their way toward the entrance when they heard someone shout, “There, over there, the little girl. Get her!” Archie picked up Ruby like a football and like a linebacker, ran forward. Several armed men had gathered to block his way. Archie didn’t even slow down as he plowed through them, sending two men flying through the air with his free hand, and knocking one more to the ground with his shoulder.
As he rounded the corner there were two LPM 48’s blocking the way and Archie knew he couldn’t get passed them without injuring Ruby. He skidded to a halt and set Ruby down, “Run Miss Ruby, Run. I will hold them off.”
“No! Archie don’t,” she cried.
“Run!” Archie yelled before the two larger robots were on top of him.
Chapter 20
Thad had led the women out of the lower levels of the police station and up to the lobby. There they were met by some police who were tasked with making sure everyone got out. Thad instructed the women to follow the police officers to safety.
As the women left the building, Milkshake walked up to Fiona and Freya. She extended her hands and both of the twins took one. “Thank you for my life. I was stupid and I’m sorry.”
Fiona smiled, “It’s okay, we’re all stupid now and again.”
“You watch out for yourself Milkshake,” Freya said.
“Zinda,” Milkshake said. “My real name is Zinda.”
“It’s very nice to meet you Zinda,” Freya said, “and by the way, Zinda is a lovely name. You should consider using it.”
The women said their good byes while St. Claire and Thad stood by talking. “Thanks for helping me find the twins,” Thad said.
“No problem. Besides, it wasn’t like I was doing anything else at the time. In fact, if I hadn’t seen you in the office and stopped by to see what trouble you had gotten yourself into, I’d be dead right now, as I’d have been on the other side of the building when it got hit.”
“Funny how things work out isn’t it?” Thad said.
“Sure is,” St. Claire remarked.
“Hey, in all the excitement I forgot to ask about Kára?”
“Oh yeah, me too. She wasn’t too happy when I had to come here to get my Intergalactic Investigator License signed off on. She said there wasn’t anything fun to do around here, which in her speak means no one to beat up or kill.”
Thad laughed, “She should have come with us, I’m sure she would have had a blast at the club.”
“I’m sure she would have, however she found a 24-hour sporting center that held gladiatorial games. She was a little disappointed that it wasn’t to the death, but she said she’d give it a try. However, with the attack she’s probably having the time of her life. She’s told me she hasn’t seen real combat in a few decades and she’s just itching for a good fight.”
Thad laughed again, “That sounds like Kára. Careful my friend, that pretty Eli will be the death of you.”
“Yeah probably will, but I didn’t think I’d live this long anyway, and if she gets me killed then what can I say…what a way to go.”
/> “Right, we should go find her before she kills all the bad guys and leaves nothing for us,” Thad said before walking over to the twins. “Hey ladies we need to go find St. Claire’s friend and then we’ve got to get back and check on my mom and Ruby.”
“Alright, but Thad honey you don’t seem all that worried about your mother or little Ruby,” Freya said.
“She’s an admiral. I’m sure the planetary forces have already secured her and Ruby and have them somewhere safe. So right now, I’m more worried about getting us out of here.”
Thad had good reason to worry; as they had been talking, the sounds of heavy combat were drawing nearer. Just as St. Claire joined them, a Fabian drop ship flew overhead dropping a dozen or so shock troops. The remaining people panicked and ran. The few police officers who were still on sight opened fire but were quickly cut down. Some of the civilians made it to cover while others were not so lucky or so quick. What was left of their broken bodies lay where they fell.
As soon as the drop ship flew overhead, Thad grabbed his wives by the hand and ran dragging them behind him to the safety of the building. They ran through the smashed doors and found a heavy concrete wall to duck behind. Thad rendered a force sword then handed Fiona the DDSD and said, “Gear up; I’ll buy us some time.”
“What do you want me to do?” St. Claire asked.
“The girls will get whatever armor and weapons you need, just cover each other until I get back,” Thad said as he stood up and walked away.
St. Claire turned to Fiona, “Alright ladies, a nice big gun please.”
Thad took off his jacket and slung it over the force sword to hide it. He then walked calmly out into the middle of the street. The Fabians had secured the street and where now regrouping waiting on reinforcements. The troops were so shocked to see a single man walk out into the street after they had just killed anything that moved that no one fired on him.
Thad stood tall and quiet as the troopers surrounded him. The squad leader walked up to him and said in his heavy Russian Fabian accent, “You have some big balls. That or you’re crazy.” Thad said nothing, he just waited. “Or maybe you’re too stupid to know that you’re about to die.” Again Thad stood unmoving, the squad leader laughed and held out his arm, “Look at this guy, standing here staring down death.” It was just now that he noticed something under Thad’s jacket. “What have you got under there? You have a gun? Going to try to shoot it out with all of us?”
One of the troopers yelled, “Maybe it’s a bomb Sarge!”
“Is that it? You going to be a martyr and blow yourself up, try to take some of us with you?” The leader asked. Thad continued to stand stock still and say nothing. Now the troopers were finding his behavior less funny and more unnerving.
“I don’t think he’s all there in the head boss. We should just kill him and move on,” another of the soldiers offered.
At that Thad let go of the jacket which slid to the ground revealing his force sword. Without the force field activated it looked just like an ordinary sword. The leader laughed, “You really are crazy. Didn’t anyone ever tell you never to bring a sword to a gun fight?”
Thad finally spoke, slowly and with the confidence of a man who was holding all the aces, “I will give you gentlemen one chance to lay down your weapons and surrender.”
That got a raucous laugh out of the troops, “Somebody shoot this zhopa, but not in the head. I want to mount it on a stick and carry it around for a while,” the leader said.
“Last chance to surrender,” Thad repeated.
“I said shoot him,” the leader ordered. A single shot rang out from one of the trooper’s cone-rifles. The round hit Thad in the right side of his chest passing through his lung and out his back. The round continued its flight and struck one of the soldiers who just happened to be standing directly behind Thad. The round hit him in the neck taking most of it with it. The man wasn’t quite dead by the time he hit the ground, but didn’t live long. The other men laughed, and one yelled, “Pavel you oyobuk you shot Anatoly!”
After showing such a great deal of respect for their fallen comrade, they turned to see that Thad was still standing, in fact he hadn’t even moved. The hole in his chest was quickly closing on its own thanks to his nano protein working overtime to repair the damage. The squad leader was floored as he had never seen anything like what he was witnessing before, “What are you?” He asked as he leveled his weapon at Thad.
“Death,” Thad winked. What happened next occurred in a blur. Thad switched on the force sword, and the ominous green light flashed down its edge. Thad’s first swing took the end off of the cone rifle. The squad leader’s eyes filled with panic as Thad’s second swing struck the man in his left shoulder. The blade sliced through him as if he were made of paper. The force sword exited the man’s body just above his right hip. The dead man fell in two pieces, but before his body hit the ground Thad had already moved on to the next. The man’s head came off just as easily. Thad’s lighter bones gave him speed that no human could match. The troopers tried to open fire; however, the choice was folly given that they had all stood in a circle surrounding Thad. The crossfire was just as deadly.
In less than thirty seconds, every Fabian there had met his maker. Thad stood amongst the bodies when St. Claire, now dressed in the black body armor Thad liked to use and fully armed, came jogging up. “Really? You didn’t leave any for me!”
“I have a feeling there will be plenty to go around,” Thad said as he walked back toward the twins.
As Thad entered the damaged lobby of the police station, Freya was helping Fiona zip up her body armor and had his laid out on the ground along with all of his gear and weapons. The armor they were using this time was a heavier version than what they had used in the past. It was the same black flexible suit with hardened plates to cover vital areas. They looked more like Terrain Marines than anything. They even donned helmets which housed a load of sensors and comm gear, though for the moment it was useless.
Thad changed into his armor as quickly as he could. Fiona handed him a helmet, but he chose not to wear it as he had everything the helmet did already in his head, and he didn’t want the disadvantages of a helmet when there were no benefits for him. Loaded and ready to move out, the four of them set off in search of Kára.
Chapter 21
The 24-hour extreme recreation center was one of many that were located on Isis. The large complexes housed just about every extreme sport there was, from zero gravity football to Parrises squares, as well as offering a large number of holo-adventures in one of their massive holo suites. However, the centerpiece of the complex was a large oval arena that was used for all manner of special events. Modeled after the ancient Colosseum in Rome on Earth, it was no surprise that planners had called it the Colosseum.
The special event being hosted at the moment was a two-day gladiatorial tournament in which contestants from all over the galaxy were invited to attend, and attend they did. It was a regular procession of the species with hopefuls all pining to win the Golden Rudis. The event was winding down and standing tall in the center of the arena were the final contestants. The last battle was about to begin. The winner of this battle royal would win the tournament and take home a small gold covered wooden sword.
Last minute bets were being placed as the announcer was explaining the rules for the event. The favorites were an Orillia going by the name of Mortlock the Destroyer and what they all believed was a human female under the moniker Kára the Valkyrie. Kára had chosen to enter as a human and hide here true race because although there were Eli on Isis, she wanted to avoid any undue attention, and it was bad enough with them all believing she was human. Given the fierceness female Eli were known to display both in the battle field and in the bedroom, if the testosterone driven meatheads that were here to compete as well as to watch knew she was Eli, she would definitely be killing someone.
Hiding her race was easy enough, she just taped back her pointed ears and wore
her long golden blond hair down to make sure it covered the tips. She was dressed in the green and gold two-piece spandex outfit issued to all competitors. The pants were short and the top was little more than a sleeveless tee shirt. Over the uniform Kára wore the mandatory knee and elbow pads. She was also adorned with shin guards, a breastplate, and a helmet, as well as long sleeve manica armor worn over the left arm. All was made from high impact plastic designed to be light and strong. Kára chose not to use her Eli armor because it would have given her an unfair advantage, so instead she used one of its other special properties collapsing the armor down to what looked like a belt, which she wore over the top of the spandex.
Kára had opted for a staff as her weapon of choice. The ends had small pads that glowed blue and turned red when registering a hit. In the previous matches, the winner was declared by the number of hits scored. This match was a last man standing, as the announcer explained, “There are only two ways to be disqualified from the battle royal. First voluntarily withdraw by means of activating your personal shield, which will glow green and allow you to walk of the field without taking any further blows. The second is to be knocked out through disabling injury or unconsciousness. Basically, if you’re unable to fight, you’re done. Now you all signed your wavers, right?” The crowd went wild, cheering so loud that the stands shook. “Good! Let the battle begin!”
In true gladiator style the competitors faced the head of the tournament who was dressed as Caesar and in unison spoke, “We who are about to die salute you!” Caesar gave his thumbs up and the battle was on. Kára wasted no time; she swung her staff fast and hard catching the man standing next to her. He was human and covered in muscles, which he had used to bash his way through the tournament, but now they were useless against Kára’s speed. One second he was looking at Caesar and the next he was looking at the light hanging over them. Her next move was to use the man’s chest as a stepping stool as she launched off him and into the air. Her staff overhead she flew towards a female Torian whose four arms made her one of most dangerous competitors in the ring. Kára wasn’t the only one to go after the Torian first, as two others attacked at the same time. One was a Lyran male who attacked straight on with sword and shield, but was met with a large hoof in the chest that sent him flying backwards. The second attacker was a human female who was almost as big as Mortlock. She smashed her massive padded hammer into the Torian’s shield. The hammer glowed red, but the attack didn’t get more than a cheer from the crowd.