The Clockwork Chimera Series Books 1-3 Box Set

by Scott Baron

  “Thank you, Craaxit. You have given us hope. I do not know how to thank you enough.”

  “Save your world, to start. If we succeed, I’m sure you’ll make good on helping me save mine,” he replied. Then, with a nod to the assembled humans and cyborgs, he turned and walked out.

  Daisy had a plan, and it was a surprisingly good one.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Daisy. You believe it will work?”

  Ya know something? I actually do, she replied, her spirits high as her confidence continued to grow.

  “Okay, Cal, I want you to transmit this to Sid, the rest of the AIs, and our teams as well, okay?”

  “Consider it done,” he replied. “Transmitting now. Go ahead, Daisy.”

  “All right, everyone listen up,” she began, then informed the gathered team what their new plan was, and how the aliens planned to aid their assault.

  It took time, translating from Chithiid to English, but the process helped twofold, in that Cal and the other AIs were finally working together, putting their intellects toward the unifying task of creating something new. A translation protocol for the language they’d previously been in the dark about.

  “So, the others are already in place?” Vince asked when Daisy was finished explaining.

  “Yes. Finn and Reggie are in Sydney.”

  “I still can’t believe you let those clowns run a squad.”

  “Zip it,” she said with a chuckle. “They’re doing a surprisingly bang-up job.”

  “Aside from losing one of your super-secure comms units.”

  “Yeah, well, they were under fire. And besides, we re-keyed after that, just to be sure the Ra’az couldn’t listen in. But aside from that one issue, they’re doing okay.”

  “Will wonders never cease?”

  “Let’s hope not,” Daisy replied. “As for the other cities, Shelly and Omar’s teams are each on station as well. All of them have cyborg backup in addition to the human contingent, and the explosive charges they’re carrying should do the trick nicely.”

  “Blowing up the power and backups to the three relays.”

  “Yep.”

  “And that’ll cut off the Ra’az forces from each other.”

  “Yes. For long enough to let the second part commence, anyway. As for the warp drive research and development hangar in San Francisco, it may be harder to disable the scans entirely,” Daisy noted, “but Craaxit is confident that even if they can’t clear the scans for the cyborgs, we should still be able to make it inside the facility.”

  “Okay. So it sounds like we’ll need to have organic team members do the dirty work, getting in close and breaching the facility just after the comms centers are taken out,” Vince suggested.

  “Exactly. But not before, or they’ll send a warning and the whole thing will go to hell,” Daisy replied. “And what’s this ‘we’ business? You’re staying here, mister.”

  “Not a chance. I may be a little slower than usual, but even so, I’ve got more training than all of these people combined.”

  Daisy wanted to argue, but Vince had a point.

  “Okay, but even with that thing in your head deactivated, you’ll still need your Faraday suit. Can’t have you popping up on scans, after all.”

  “Naturally.”

  “Craaxit will provide a small team of rebels to help us breach the facility. The Chithiid might get lucky and be able to play it off if they’re spotted. Humans, on the other hand––”

  “Toast.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Sound tactics, Daze. They infiltrate, blend in, then kill the exterior scans and sabotage the hangar doors for good measure. We’ll breach silently and get ready to disable the ships when the comms centers have been taken out. Piece of cake,” Vince said with a grim little laugh.

  “That wasn’t very convincing-sounding, you know,” Daisy teased.

  “Suicidal mission briefs often aren’t,” he joked back at her.

  Daisy looked at him warmly, her heart filled with something she hadn’t felt in months.

  “Oh yeah. Uh-huh. There it is,” Sarah said smugly. “You do realize that––”

  Yes, I know. Now shut up about it. If we survive, I’ll deal with it. For now…

  Daisy walked to the encrypted comms unit and keyed the device on.

  “Dark Side, this is Daisy,” she said. “I have an idea.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The functional ships didn’t look much better than the ones Fatima hadn’t yet welded back into some semblance of flyability, but they were space-worthy––more or less–– despite appearances. Of the several dozen, however, only the barest few could withstand atmospheric entry and subsequent flight while maintaining a habitable interior environment.

  For Daisy’s new plan, that wouldn’t be a problem.

  The vast majority of the rag-tag fleet were nothing more than mere remote drones, piloted by Bob and Mal via remote linkages. Sid, unfortunately, was unable to help. Being located on the dark side of the moon, while good for security, was bad for transmitting real-time signals with any reliability, especially with the additional delay of virus kill-switches.

  The remote-piloting systems were getting better, and Gustavo’s addition of a new connection through Mal’s consoles allowed him to jack directly into the system to aid in controlling the ships. It was the training of the handful of salvaged lower-tier AIs that had been a bit more iffy.

  None of the hastily installed minds had ever piloted a craft before. For that matter, many had never even had names, let alone the ability to speak. After all, a waste disposal unit that could ramble on about the various types of rubbish, crud, and feculence that passed through its systems was not exactly high on anyone’s wish list.

  “It is like power-flushing the solid waste tubes,” the waste disposal AI had cheerfully chirped upon first firing up its newly acquired thrusters.

  “It’s turning on an engine,” Donovan said with a frustrated sigh as he hovered above the newborn ship.

  “But I activate a function, and there is a corresponding pressure release,” the confused AI persisted.

  “That’s energy flowing through the engines,” Donovan repeated for the umpteenth time.

  “But I still don’t see how that is any different.”

  “Just trust me. It is.”

  “But––”

  Donovan opened the comms channel to all three supervising AIs.

  A fourth AI just so happened to be listening in as well, stealthily and undetected across the moon’s surface.

  “You guys been listening?” Donovan asked. “I don’t have time to keep repeating this over and over. Bob? Mal? Sid? Could one of you maybe do some sort of high-speed upgrade for these things?”

  “They are not things, Donovan,” Mal said, slightly offended. “They are artificial intelligences, just like Bob and myself.”

  “But they’re not like you. I mean, seriously, these things––these AIs aren’t even a shadow of you guys.”

  “While your confidence in us is appreciated, the lower-tier AIs do not have the same processing capacity we do. Also, they were not raised and educated in the same environment. To be thrust into a new body––a spaceship, no less––is undoubtedly a great strain on them,” Bob added.

  Donovan thought on it a moment.

  “Okay, I see your point. I guess I just got so used to working with you all this time that I took you guys for granted.”

  “And I appreciate your confidence in me,” Bob replied.

  “It has been an interesting process, wouldn’t you agree, Bob?” Mal asked.

  “Indeed, it has. Even the simple act of naming these sentient beings has been a novel experience. They are fully formed minds, yet they were relegated to such subservient roles, and with such a reduced amount of processing power, that they had always been treated as lesser creatures,” Bob noted.

  “I must admit, I have certainly taken them for granted aboard the Váli during our lengthy f
light to Dark Side Base. Not having a voice or a name allowed me to view them as componentry rather than entities, I am ashamed to say.”

  “I, too, have been guilty of this,” Sid added.

  “But you can’t really be expected to treat a toaster the same as a fully functioning ship,” Donovan said. “I mean, I understand your point, but you guys shouldn’t beat yourselves up about it.”

  “Perhaps, but I think, for a start, we should give them proper names,” Sid replied.

  “Excuse me,” the waste disposal unit chimed in. “I heard what you were saying. Does this mean I get a name now?”

  “Certainly,” Bob answered. “Do you have one in mind?”

  “How about Bob?”

  “That is my name.”

  “Oh, yeah. But it’s a nice name.”

  “Please, you may choose from millions of names. Pick another.”

  “How about Mal?”

  “That is my name,” Mal replied. “And you have chosen a male gender, so perhaps a male name would suit you better,” she suggested.

  “Okay. How about Sid?”

  “That is my name,” Sid noted.

  “See what I’m dealing with, here?” Donovan snickered. “I think I understand now why they were not originally provided with speech circuitry.”

  “Yes, well, some of the AIs are having a slightly harder time assimilating than others,” Sid replied. “We will work to bring them up to speed for you, Donovan. I think, perhaps having Barry install additional processor power might facilitate their progress and perhaps smooth out some of these issues.”

  “Great idea, Sid. Thanks.”

  “It is my pleasure.”

  A few hours later, Sid, Fatima, and Barry had been busy upgrading the memory systems in the AI-powered craft, while Bob and Gustavo flew their respective ships, dialing in the remote piloting systems.

  “It seems that if I attempt to pilot more than a dozen, my systems glitch. Have you noticed?” Bob asked his pilot.

  “Yeah, bud, I noticed. We’ll have to see if Chu can come up with some way to let me help out.”

  “Like how Gustavo is helping Mal?”

  “Well, yes, but no. I mean, I don’t have a hardwired jack in the back of my skull plugging me directly into your systems.”

  “Point taken. Gustavo is rather unique in that regard.”

  “Yeah, he is. Speaking of which, how are he and Mal coming with their ships?”

  “At present, they are capable of maintaining reliable connections with just under thirty drones.”

  “Damn, that’s impressive.”

  “Well, to be fair, Donovan, Gustavo has also provided the ships with a little bit of a boost.”

  “How so?”

  “He has utilized his direct linkage to leave a faint neural clone to help speed relays with steering and navigation.”

  “He can do that?” Donovan asked, a bit unnerved.

  “It’s not a true clone, Donovan,” Bob replied. “It’s just a series of mental patterns that are particularly useful to the ships. I only used the world clone for simplicity of the concept.”

  “You think he’d be willing to drop some of that knowledge into our ships as well?”

  “I don’t see why not. They’ve all had the requisite hardware installs, though a more robust rebuild would give us a better stabilized platform, of course.”

  “Cool. When we’re done here, reach out to them and set it up.”

  “Will do,” the ship replied. “Now, about our current issues.”

  “I know, Bob. We really need to find a way to help these guys out,” Donovan commiserated as he monitored the new AI ships as they ran through yet another simulation.

  After a jerky start with actual flight, and a weapons issue or two, they had realized a solid round of practical flight basics was in order. Given the time constraints, as well as limited number of ships they had actually been able to install upgraded AIs in, running them through a simulation linked to their neural arrays was by far the most practical method.

  Unfortunately, the ships still pretty much sucked at their jobs.

  “I swear,” Donovan lamented. “They can’t even ship properly, Bob. What are we going to do with them?”

  “That is not a verb, Donovan.”

  “It is now.”

  “Fine,” the AI relented. “I suggest we run slower simulations, with less variables. That should improve results. Also, if we add further processing power, and perhaps a bit of Gustavo’s nav skills, it might relieve a bit of the burden from them. It is a lot to take in at once, after all. Up until just days ago, they were trash disposal units and food fabricators. This is all new to them, and far beyond their design parameters.”

  “Who would have thought an artificially intelligent dishwasher would ever fly a warship?”

  “Certainly not their designers,” Bob replied, amused.

  Donovan laughed grimly.

  “Well, we don’t have much time. I say we take them out for a test run. A very, very basic test run. Just a loop around the base. What do you think?”

  “At this point, I suppose it can’t hurt,” Bob replied. “Sid, are you okay with Donovan and me taking the AI ships out for a test flight around the base perimeter?”

  “Are they ready for it?” Sid asked.

  “I believe as ready as we can expect,” Bob replied.

  “And no more unexpected weapons discharges?” Sid added.

  “No, we’ve disabled those systems remotely,” Donovan grumbled. “Though I still think they need them active.”

  “And during the attack, we will indeed turn them back on, but for now, I would rather we not have to worry about our own vessels opening fire on us, in addition to any potential Ra’az strikes.”

  “Okay, then,” Donovan said. “Let’s round up the kids and take them for a little flight. We’ll talk to Gus afterwards.”

  They landed ten minutes later––far sooner than anticipated––having somehow managed to not crash the ships, neither into one another nor the base itself.

  Barely.

  “We really need to talk to Gus,” Bob said.

  “You read my mind.”

  “You want me to do what?” Gustavo asked. “Seriously? I mean, on a brainless drone it’s one thing, but you’re asking me to leave an imprint within an already imprinted craft.”

  “It’s not like you’ll be overwriting anything, Gus,” Donovan said calmly. “All we need is for you to maybe give them a little base to build on. Navs, basic piloting stuff, things they’ll find useful so they don’t have to even think about them while dealing with more pressing things.”

  “Like evading Ra’az and loyalist ships,” Bob chimed in.

  “Exactly.”

  Gustavo squirmed in his nav center chair aboard the Váli.

  “Mal?” he asked. “What do you think about this plan?”

  “I actually think it is a reasonable proposition,” she replied. “Besides, I have already installed a sizable parallel processing system to ease integration with our remote piloting apparatus. Tapping in and transferring this imprint should only require a basic upgrade to the existing systems, since I already possess a full neural map of your mind built during the flight to Dark Side.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” Gus said uncomfortably. “I just feel kind of odd having little bits of me tacked on to actual AIs, is all.”

  “Do not worry, Gus. It will only be the smallest of data transfers.”

  “Well, I suppose,” he finally relented.

  “Don’t worry, bro, they won’t come after you for child support,” Donovan joked.

  “Dick,” Gus replied with a chuckle.

  “You know you love me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The Los Angeles team had made exceptionally good work of their scavenging, pulling what resources they were able from the city with impressive speed. In short order, they had managed to cobble together a rather respectable pile of components for Daisy to work with.<
br />
  This is getting easier each time, she thought as she jury-rigged even more powerful versions of the portable EMP grenades she had previously constructed.

  “Having some helping hands doesn’t hurt, either,” Sarah noted.

  And that, she agreed.

  “Okay, guys, listen up,” Daisy addressed the gathered team. “Get one of these anywhere near the Ra’az and it should short out their localized wireless comms for a few minutes. That’ll make it harder for them to call reinforcements and should give us a slight edge, and from what Craaxit tells me about them, they’re exceptionally tough, so we’ll need every bit we can get.”

  “What about the pulse weapons?” one of her armed humans asked. “We only have a few of them, and they have a whole building full.”

  “Bring all the conventional cartridge-firing ones that we can bundle in the extra Faraday suit material from Habby’s shops. Wrapped up like that, they shouldn’t show on scans. Given the fight we’re in for, we’ll most likely need them. Also, while we might get lucky and have it work to our advantage, I really don’t know for certain if the EMP discharge will disable their pulse rifles or not.”

  “What about us?” a cyborg asked, nervously. “Those look pretty powerful. I worry that even in a Faraday suit, we will shut down if you set one of those things off near us.”

  “Good point. I should have mentioned that earlier. Okay guys, listen up! No one discharge an EMP bomb if any of our cyborg team are within––”

  What do you think, Sis? Twenty meters?

  “Yeah. But it’ll be a stressful environment. People make mistakes. You’d better make it thirty, just to be safe.”

  Good point.

  “––Um, thirty meters. You got that?”

  A mumbled chorus signaled their comprehension.

  “Best I can do, but tell your buddies to keep their eyes open just in case. I’m pretty sure you’ll recover quickly if you’re hit by the peripheral pulse, so long as you have the additional shielding of the Faraday suit on, but it’s best to play it safe and make a point to stay clear from them if you can.”