by M. R. Forbes
“Affirmation.”
Hayden turned around, shifting so his legs hung into the dark pit. He closed his right hand, the Axon compound extending into a pair of blades over his hand. He jammed the ultra-sharp claws into the ground, testing his weight on them. When they held fast, he let himself drop, digging his other set of metal fingers into the wall. He quickly shifted his grip, pulling the claws out and punching them back in before he could fall, beginning a slow and careful descent.
“I will meet you at the bottom,” Max said.
Then he jumped.
He fell past Hayden, vanishing into the darkness below. Hayden heard its body hit the ground with a thump that echoed up the shaft.
“Max,” Hayden said. “You there?”
“Affirmation,” Max said calmly. “I am repairing the shell.”
Hayden’s stomach churned at the thought. It was easy to forget the real Max was a glob of technologically advanced gelatinous goop using a human body like he would use a car.
He continued down the shaft, hand over hand, his augmented arms the only reason he could make it without additional equipment. It took nearly two minutes for him to reach the bottom, by which time Max was on his feet, his body as good as new.
“Impatience,” Max said. “Hahaha. Haha.”
“Shut up,” Hayden replied.
The shaft took them to the floor of the hangar, on the port side of the starship. In the darkness, it was difficult to discern the ship from the cavern, but Hayden had seen it illuminated plenty of times before to know the layout. It rose over the ground like a dark hulk, resting on top of an anti-gravity sled that had been designed to carry it out of the mountainside and into the high atmosphere. The sled eased the need for the onboard fusion reactors and massive ion engines to lift the enormous starship, saving their energy for the trip across the stars.
A trip they had never actually made.
For over two hundred years, the colonists on board the Pilgrim had lived and died believing they were in deep space, on their way to a new home. It was Hayden who had discovered the truth, in the most frightening, painful, and at times, violent way possible.
That was a memory for another time. Right now, he was interested in the vault hidden beneath the bow of the ship, over two kilometers north of their current position.
“I’m detecting a surge of electrical power ahead,” Max said.
Hayden identified it at the same time.
A series of plasma bolts appeared, quickly arcing toward them from somewhere on the Pilgrim’s hull.
Chapter 21
Max grabbed Hayden before he could react, lifting him almost too easily and throwing him to the ground, away from the bolts. Hayden rolled away, the smell of burning flesh reaching his nostrils before he saw what had happened.
Max had been hit by two of the blasts, leaving burned flesh with blood and oozing slime pouring out from two wounds. Something echoed in the distance—the sound of metal hitting the floor.
Hayden leaped up, grabbing his revolvers. He couldn’t see far enough into the distance to find their attackers. He assumed Max could, because the Intellect started running toward him at the same time the area beneath the Pilgrim again lit up with plasma.
Hayden was ready for it this time, coming to his knees and returning fire toward the source. Sparks went up where his iron slugs hit metal and ricocheted off.
He moved diagonally away from his original position.One set of plasma bolts tracked him while the other targeted Max. Without having to help Hayden, the Axon avoided the blasts easily, angling himself so they flashed past only centimeters away.
Max’s left hand began to glow, the energy building.
He fired.
The plasma arced across the open space, so bright it illuminated the entire area. Hayden got a look at their attackers now, a chill of dread coursing through him. He recognized the robots revealed by the plasma bolt.
Centurion Shields.
Humanoid in shape, with triangular heads and sleek, reflective bodies, the Shields stood nearly half a meter taller than an average person. With an exterior made of the same hard, low-weight alloy as the Centurion starships and an interior composed of the latest in synthetic musculature, the machines were faster, stronger and more durable than any other robot on the planet. Their posture seemed to suggest the Shields had some level of awareness of how impressive and impervious they were. The one Max had targeted stood its ground as the plasma bolt approached.
For a moment, Hayden thought the Shield would let itself be hit by the return fire. Then it suddenly shifted out of the way, turning from the blast as if it realized at the last moment that the attack might be powerful enough to damage it.
“We need to retreat,” Hayden said. “We can’t take those out.” He started backpedaling, not wanting to turn his back on the robots.
“Disagreement. I require the Skin.”
Max charged ahead, rushing the two Shields at a speed no human could match.
Hayden stopped moving, trying to decide what to do. Max seemed pretty damned sure of himself.
Both Shields started firing on Max, identifying him as the greater threat. Max moved as though he could tell where the bolts would be before the robots fired them, his movements like a dancer or a gazelle as he avoided the plasma.
Taking an outside tack toward the bow of the Pilgrim, Hayden started running forward again, revolvers in hand, pointed in the general direction of the Shields. Max was closing in on them now, their attacks becoming more difficult for the Intellect to avoid. But somehow, he was avoiding them.
Hayden started shooting again, hoping to divide their attention. His bullets hit the chest of the Shield on the right, bouncing off ineffectively and failing to attract the robot. He kept trying until the guns were empty, quickly reloading them before sliding them back into their holsters.
The shooting stopped when Max came within ten meters of the Shields, casting the area in darkness again and leaving Hayden struggling to see what was happening. He heard the Shields’ feet clanging on the floor and casting echoes across the cavern. He didn’t hear Max at all, either moving or being torn to pieces.
What the hell was going on over there?
He kept running toward the bow, grabbing a small flashlight from his pocket. He was hesitant to turn it on, somehow feeling more secure in the dark even though the Shields could see him. They weren’t shooting at him, which meant they had to be focused on Max.
He hit the switch, the small beam barely casting enough light to reveal the scene.
Max was on the back of one of the Shields, his hand formed into a spear that had pierced through the rear of the robot’s head. The damage wasn’t enough to destroy the machine, and it was futilely reaching for him, trying to yank him off. The other Shield reached for him, grabbing his leg and pulling. Hayden winced, expecting Max to let the robot pull the leg off. Instead, he released his grip on the first Shield, the blade coming out of it as the second threw him ten meters across the room.
Then it turned toward Hayden.
“Shit,” he said. He was caught in the middle, too far from the Shields to engage them, too close to avoid any plasma they sent his way.
It pointed a hand at him, twin barrels raising from its forearm. Max brought his blade-arm down on the machine, the hardened, energized gelatin slicing through the metal and severing the limb before it could shoot. The Shield reacted, spinning and throwing a punch at Max that caught him in the jaw. His head cracked and spun sickly as he was thrown back again.
Questioning his sanity, Hayden charged the Shield. He closed his right hand into a fist, squeezing his thumb to activate the Axon force field. The Shield turned its other hand toward him, the plasma launchers rising from its arm. It started shooting.
Hayden caught the bolts with the force field, the heat washing over the field and singeing his face. The first one was recovering from its damage, nearly ready to rejoin the fight.
Max was back up too. His head was ti
lted at a horrifying angle, but he charged the first Shield as Hayden reached the second.
He grabbed its arm and pulled it aside. Dropping the armor’s force field, he extended the blades and tried to jab them into the red LEDs across the robot’s faceplate. Without another hand to grab his arm, it was defenseless against the blades. They tore through its faceplate just before it got its knee up and into Hayden’s chest, shoving him back.
Hayden rolled across the floor in pain, his bones saved by the combat armor. He didn’t stay down, jumping to his feet as the Shield again aimed its plasma cannons at him.
Hayden froze in place as it started firing. He was out in the open. Dead to rights.
Except he had managed to damage the robot’s optics, and its shots went wide, flashing past him a dozen centimeters to his right. He smiled, noticing movement behind the machine.
A moment later, a long blade slashed through the Shield’s neck, severing its head. It didn’t destroy the machine, which stopped firing and started reacting to the sneak attack behind it.
Too late. The blade reappeared through the Shield’s chest, severing its power cable. It sparked a few times before toppling to the ground.
Chapter 22
Max came out from around the fallen Shield, grabbing his head and twisting it until it was straight again. The sight and sound made Hayden nauseous.
“These machines are decently made,” Max said. “And more appropriate as a shell. Until I acquire the Skin, anyway.”
“You can’t put yourself in the Shield,” Hayden replied. “That would be the opposite of stealthy.”
“This shell is damaged. Hahahaha. Haha.”
“So are you. Forget it. You need to pass for human.”
“It is not required that I do as you say.”
“You saved my life twice in the last three minutes. It may not be required, but it’s obviously important to you that I don’t die. And if you don’t want me to die, then you should do what I ask.”
“Agreement. For now. Haha.”
Hayden walked over to the downed Shield. “Well, these things confirm the Centurions are the ones who made the tunnel and came down here. But is it the official government or the Trust? And what is it they’re looking for?”
“The vault?”
“That’s my assumption. If they already took the Skin, I’m going to be pissed.”
“Affirmation.”
Hayden started running again, glancing up at the Pilgrim’s hull visible through the scaffold-like shell of the launch sled. Things had been so much simpler when the entire universe had been limited to an eight square-kilometer area.
That didn’t necessarily make things better. Just simpler.
The vault was directly under the Pilgrim’s bow, a two-meter diameter steel cover with the USSF eagle and star logo etched into the center and a small touchpad against the north side. The vault door was closed, but the secondary security locks Natalia had installed were gone, indicating the Centurions had already been inside.
“We’re too late,” Hayden said. “Damn it.”
“I’m receiving a signal from below,” Max said. “A portal. An older design. Crude, but functional. Hahaha. Haha.” He paused. “It has been activated recently.”
Hayden wasn’t sure how to respond. The portal was still there? Why hadn’t the Centurions taken it? Why would they keep it here to use?
He already knew the answer. If something nasty was going to sneak out when they activated the device, it was better for it to sneak out down here, where it would hopefully remain contained.
The two Shields weren’t in the cavern to defend it from outsiders. They had been left there to defend the outside from more potential invaders.
“I’m not sure we should open the vault,” Hayden said.
“We require the Skin.”
“If the Centurions used the portal, there might be something horrible in there.”
“My sensors aren’t showing anything horrible.”
“You said you can’t detect life forms.”
“Affirmation. Hahaha. Haha.”
Max leaned over the touchpad.
“Max,” Hayden warned. “We need to talk about this.”
A tendril snaked out from the end of his damaged arm, reaching into a seam in the pad.
“We didn’t come all this way for nothing, Sheriff,” Max said. The red LED indicating the door was locked switched to green.
Hayden stepped back, drawing his guns as the hatch spun open like a giant iris. He pointed the revolvers at the hole, waiting for something to come through.
“Clear,” Max said. “Hahahaha. Hahaha.”
Hayden glared at the Intellect for a moment. Then he reholstered his revolvers and went to the open hatch. He peered over the edge. A ladder dropped about twenty meters into the vault, the steel floor below reflecting the ambient lighting inside.
He turned around and climbed onto the ladder, quickly descending it to the bottom.
He had only been in the room once before. It was large. About twenty meters wide, it ran south along the bottom of the hull for nearly three hundred meters. Not just the home to the Axon Intellect Skin and the Portal,it was filled with all kinds of things, including chunks of what appeared to be space rock, pieces of the same alloy as the microspears. An entire display box of unusual crystals and minerals sat beside a second filled with dried out plants that weren’t from Earth.
“There it is,” Hayden said, smiling when he discovered the Centurions hadn’t taken the Skin after all.
Max started walking over to the remains of the Intellect. Its head and limbs were all separated from the torso, each piece of the thing spread a few centimeters apart and pinned to the wall. It was black and faceless, with human fingers and solid feet with no toes. The locations where it had been cut revealed the solid gelatin of the Axon AI’s internals, though it had discolored to a pale yellow after so many years.
“This is more than a Skin,” Max said.
“The Intellect is still wearing it,” Hayden agreed. “But it’s dead.”
“Intellects do not die. And these cuts did not destroy it. They only disabled it.”
“You’re saying it’s still functional?”
“Affirmation. It is out of power. I can share some of my supply if—”
“No,” Hayden said, cutting Max off. “One of you is enough to deal with.”
“This one may have valuable data to share.”
“Will it help us against Shurrath.”
“Improbable.”
“Then forget it. I need the Skin. Can you fix it?”
“Affirmation.”
“And make it human-wearable?”
Max hesitated and then nodded. “Pozz. Hahaha. Haha.”
“How long?”
“Twenty hours.”
“Almost a day?”
“There are over four million nano-circuits that require reconnection. And then it is required to make software modifications to add human interactivity controls. This task is nontrivial, Sheriff.”
Hayden nodded. “Then you should get to it.”
Hayden looked to the far end of the vault where the portal rested, little more than an oblong stone standing upright against the back wall. While Max had called it a primitive model, Hayden couldn’t imagine calling anything primitive that could open a wormhole through folded quantum space.
Max leaned closer to the disabled Intellect, examining it. Then a tendril grew from the end of his damaged hand, wrapping around the leg. A flash of light and the appendage was released from its invisible mount on the wall.
Hayden glanced back at Max and then headed over to the portal.
“This Intellect is quite old, Sheriff,” Max said behind him. “As is the portal.”
“How old?”
“I would guess both have been on the planet for over one hundred thousand years.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Denial. I am serious. Hahaha. Haha.”
H
ayden kept walking toward the portal. A hundred thousand years? That was before homo sapiens had moved out of caves. “You’ve been waiting that long for the Relyeh to show up here?”
“It’s not a long time for the Axon.”
“But you’ve known the Relyeh were coming for that long?”
“Affirmation. The history is long, but an Axon scout ship discovered the Hunger many, many ens ago. Initially, the Axon tried to make peace with the Relyeh. The Relyeh destroyed the scout ship. So the Axon sent warships. The Relyeh destroyed those too.”
“I don’t understand. If your tech is so good, why did you lose?”
“The Relyeh have been at war for millions of years. The Axon have not. Axon advancement came in less violent fields of study. But we are learning. The Relyeh could turn this entire planet to slag if it suited them. Be thankful it does not. Hahaha. Haha.”
Hayden was getting closer to the portal, and he noticed something stuck to the top of it. He hurried the last forty meters to the object, staring at the attachment. It was a long, narrow cylinder with a flashing green LED. It wasn’t the first time he had seen it. In fact, he had given it to Proxima to keep the key and the door better separated.
“Son of a bitch,” he said.
The rod was the key to the portal door, both a navigational computer and a power source. That it was connected and green meant whoever had gone through was still on whichever planet it was linked to.
Where had they gone?
How long ago had they left?
And how long until they returned?
He stared at the key, deciding whether or not to disconnect it. He had no idea why the Centurions had sent people through the portal. What if he were making a horrible mistake to trap them there? On the flip side, what if stranding the Centurions across the galaxy saved the lives of the innocent people of Earth?
If he had a coin, he would have flipped it to decide. The chances of either guess being true were equally likely. Since he didn’t have a coin he had to decide for himself what to do. He ran his hand through his hair, narrowing his eyes as he looked back at Max. The Intellect had finished taking his counterpart from the wall and was in the process of removing the pieces of Skin. He was playing along with Hayden’s plan for now, but would he change his mind if he discovered how easy it might be to return to an Axon planet through the portal?