Go kicked in a cutout section of steel wall plate. "I'm into the first room. Working on the second."
The colonel gave status: "They backed off their assault here. They seem to be waiting on something."
I replied, "The AIs have a ship remaining with a thousand androids on it. They are waiting on repairs before coming down. I think they are just trying to keep us boxed in."
The colonel asked, "If we need to go, we won't be able to exit from this end. How's it look on yours?"
I replied, "We're hoping to push them back to the stairwell here in a few minutes."
Quan said, "I believe we have run out of time. The AI ship is descending."
The colonel walked up behind me. "The androids just cleared out. The stairway is empty."
Frig said, "The AI ship is landing. The androids appear to be going out to meet it. We are seconds from this ship being clear."
We moved down the decks to the ramp-way. A hundred odd androids had assembled in the fields between our location and the AI ship. More began to exit from the heavily damaged battlecruiser that had just landed. Quan was right, the androids were close to a thousand. We were far from a winning position.
I said, "Frig? Can you get a gate to Dallex open?"
Frig replied, "The generator is powering up, but it appears to be damaged. We will know in five minutes’ time."
I looked at the colonel. "Options are thin, Colonel."
The colonel replied, "I've seen worse."
Kerba Skol said, "Colonel, I recovered several weapons from my digs while I was here. Perhaps one or more of them could be useful. They are in the back area of the tent in storage containers."
The colonel replied, "We'll have a look. Beutcher, come with me."
The colonel put his hand on my shoulder as we made our way down the ramp. "We can't possibly hold off that many."
I replied, "We'll do what we can. And... you know what I see out there?"
The colonel stared out at the field. "What?"
"I see a ship sitting there, waiting for us to take it over."
Tom Harper laughed. "That's a pretty tall order."
I replied, "We're tall people, Colonel. Who would have thought we'd make it through what we have?"
The colonel again laughed. "Always have liked your attitude, Beutcher. Never say die, never give in."
Chapter 18
* * *
We entered the tent and moved to the back.
The colonel opened the first box. "Junk. Pieces."
I opened the next. "Piping and wiring. Not sure why he would collect that."
The colonel turned over a third box, dumping it on the floor. "Wait. This can't be."
I asked, "What did you find?"
The colonel twisted a cap on a small metal container. "Ohoho! Jackpot!"
I looked over his shoulder. The colonel picked a pinch of black goo from the can, sniffed it, and stuck it in his mouth.
"Mmmm! Now that is premium root."
I asked, "What is it?"
The colonel grinned with nasty black goo covering half his teeth. "Omega root! The can was sealed. You know, they used to say the stuff would last forever if properly stored. Two thousand years is about as close to forever as you can get. Beutcher, this is an incredible find. I've been jonesing for Omega since you pulled me out of that stasis chamber. Here, try a pinch."
I smelled the sample and then touched it on my tongue. The taste was horrifying. My taste buds placed it somewhere between borak dung and the wallian flower salads a Magonia would eat.
I spit on the floor repeatedly as a dismayed colonel looked on. "Had I known you'd waste it, I wouldn't have offered."
I shook my head. "That's disgusting, Colonel."
The colonel grinned. "Will put hair on your chest."
I laughed. "Gruntas don't have much for hair, Colonel. But I guess if there were something that would put it there, it would probably be that goo."
The colonel replied, "I used to live on this stuff. Brings back a lot of memories."
We continued to search through the boxes. A medium ion cannon was found, still intact and usable, but we had no supply to give it power.
The colonel held the cannon with his right forearm wrapped around it. "Give me a pack of power cells and I'll take on that crowd of androids out there."
I said, "Unless you have some type of shield to hide behind, they would cut you down in seconds."
A comm was opened. "Frig, any way to power a medium cannon?"
Frig replied, "Our capabilities on this ship are limited."
The colonel set the cannon down on a table. "There's nothing useful here, other than this root. Let's head back over to the ship."
I nodded. "I'll follow you."
The colonel turned and spat a wad of Omega juice on my leg.
I jumped back. "What the—"
The colonel laughed. "Don't get yourself too worked up over that, Beutcher. Where I come from it's a sign of respect."
I grabbed a rag from a table and wiped the wet, black mess from my leg. "Well, maybe it's time to send you back, Colonel. I don't think anyone nowadays would call that respectful. In fact, it's—"
The colonel stood in the doorway to the tent with his hand up. "Hold on. We have something new going on out there."
I gazed over his wide shoulder. "They have bigger androids?"
The colonel nodded. "I'm guessing about three meters tall... and two hundred kilograms. And they look as though they're built for fighting. I count a dozen."
I said, "And they just happened to come off the one ship that survived? Every time we seem to make headway, the outlook just gets worse."
Frig came over the comm. "I believe I can open a portal. Where would be your preference?"
The colonel said, "Dallex is all we have. As soon as it's open, we need a comm to the Talisan commanders."
Frig replied, "Portal is opening, Colonel. I'm patching your comm through."
The colonel said, "General Kontat. We're in dire need of your help. Muster as many of your troops as you can and send them through the portal with their battle-suits and blasters. We're facing a thousand androids that may attack at any moment."
I stepped into the colonel's camera view. "General, make this happen now."
The general stood at attention. "Yes, your highness. We have troops on ready reserve that can be there in five minutes."
I replied, "Make it three, General. I don't think we have five."
We sprinted back to the crashed AI ship and made our way up the ramp to the others.
Go was the first to ask: "Find anything?"
I shook my head. "Other than some disgusting root paste the colonel put in his mouth, nothing we could use."
Frig said, "Several dozen Talisans just came through the gate. You may want to give them orders."
The colonel opened a comm channel. "Who am I speaking with?"
A Talisan replied, "This is Major Jorka. I have forty-two Marines with me, sir."
The colonel spit out a batch of omega juice. "Major, have the men assemble in the docking bay. I'm passing you an image of the battlefield. The androids aren't particularly fast in their responses, but there are a lot of them. Pass back through the portal that we are looking for at least five thousand men. And we need them now!"
The major replied, "Yes sir, Colonel."
The colonel swiped at several holo-screens above his arm pad, sending them to the Talisan Major.
Frig said, "Several hundred Talisans are lining up on the other side and coming through the gate."
The colonel offered a half smile. "If Frig can keep that gate open, we might just have a shot at this."
Another sixty Talisan Marines came through the gate before an explosion shut it down.
The colonel yelled, "Frig? What just happened?"
Frig replied, "The blast was a heavy laser, Colonel. The AIs must have a ship close by. The gate at Dallex is no longer online."
The colonel huffed, "A
hundred men. We won't last fifteen minutes against that AI force."
I said, "Frig? Can a portal still be opened to another world?"
Frig replied, "If the gate is active, yes."
I took a deep breath. "Open a gate to Jorus."
Several seconds passed. "We are connected to Jorus. A portal will be open momentarily."
I said, "Can I open a comm?"
Frig replied, "Yes."
I punched in the numbers for a channel to Getta.
Getta replied, "Knog, where have you been?"
I said, "We're trapped on Megiddo, facing an army of androids. We need help, Getta. Anything you can spare."
Getta replied, "How many androids?"
I shook my head. "At least a thousand. And they all have laser pistols."
Getta pursed her lips. "How long do you have?"
I said, "Probably only minutes."
Getta held up a hand. "Give me a second."
The channel went blank.
Forty seconds passed before an image returned. "I can't use official troops. The Council would want to debate this for hours. I have several hundred loyalists who will come willingly, but I need to know they are absolutely needed. The Council will make a stink about this."
I said, "Send all you can, or we probably won't make it through the next hour. The portal gate is open directly to here. Troops will need battle-suits and blasters."
Getta nodded. "I'll round up whoever I can."
I held up my hand. "One other thing. Are there any AI ships nearby?"
Getta shook her head. As part of our agreement they have stayed out of our system."
I leaned my forehead against the comm camera. "Thank you for standing by me so many times. I know it's been difficult, and it hasn't always worked out the way we planned."
Getta leaned in. "I grabbed you up and married you for a reason, Knog. Any other female on Jorus would have been so lucky!"
The comm closed as Getta turned to rally what fighters she could.
I said, "Colonel, I'm going over to the Destiny. Any Gruntas coming through will not want to take orders from a Talisan."
The colonel nodded. "We have to stay here. Frig needs that lab to keep the gate open."
I sprinted down the ramp and into the open. The androids didn't seem to care about my efforts as they continued to march in step and assemble. When I reached the docking bay of the Destiny, just over two dozen Gruntas were standing at the ready. Fourteen of them were my children.
I stepped up to the group and received a multitude of greetings.
I said, "I can't believe she sent you all through."
My eldest daughter replied, "We overheard. It wasn't her decision to make."
She placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. It was as firm a grip as any I had ever felt.
I pulled up a holo-image of what we faced. "These androids are physically strong, but they have a slight hesitation to their response. These other big ones, we haven't seen them before. Not sure what to expect. We are sitting in the middle of the plains here. No landscape to hide behind. We have these three ships and this tent. The AIs are using laser pistols. You've seen them before in your fights with the Grotus."
My daughter said, "We defeated the Grotus, we'll defeat these machines."
Another dozen Gruntas came through the portal.
I opened a comm to the colonel. "Mr. Harper, I'm sending the Talisans over to you. We only managed one hundred four before that portal was closed. I have about forty Gruntas here with me. The gate is open and more are coming through."
The colonel replied, "The AIs are almost in formation. Not sure why they are bothering. They could've already overrun us."
I said, "When have we ever understood their actions, Colonel? Why do they insist on giving us one chance after another?"
As I turned back around, Gruntas began to stream out of the gate.
Frig said, "Scan shows at least four hundred preparing to come through."
The colonel said, "Now we’re talking. "I'm setting the Talisans to defend this ship. Frig, you keep that gate open as long as you can."
I said, "The gate just shut down. Frig? What happened?"
Frig replied, "It was closed from the other side. I'm sorry. They have the power to lock us out, and someone chose to do so."
I took a quick scan. "I have ninety-five fighters. While I would match my people against anyone, we are far short of our needs."
It was Getta’s hand that now fell on my shoulder. "You have some of our finest here with you."
I said, "What are you doing here? You should have stayed!"
Getta huffed. "You think I'm going to sit back there and listen to the Council crow about how wrong we are when my family is here on the front lines? I want these AIs gone as much as anyone. We won't have freedom until that is done. Even if the other members of the Council are blind to it, to me it's obvious."
We bumped foreheads. "I'm glad you came through. We're in need of your skills. I'm in need of your will and determination."
The colonel said, "Make use of that ship. Force the androids to fight on your terms. Prepare for them to invade. Their numbers are much less useful if they can't all attack at once. Make them fight their way inside to you where you have control."
Frig said, "Colonel, from the ramp-way. How is your vantage point of the android assembly?"
The colonel replied, "I can see them all."
Frig continued: "Can you retrieve that medium ion cannon from the tent?"
The colonel nodded. "I can, but as we said, it doesn't have power."
Frig replied, "What if we could route power from this ship?"
The colonel shook his head. "We don't have the conduit or the time."
Frig passed a diagram to the colonel's display. "If you can salvage a six centimeter piece of conduit, I can use the portal to tap straight into an ion storage well here on this ship, providing power directly to that weapon."
The colonel half smiled as he spat a wad of omega juice. "Sounds dangerous."
Frig replied, "I believe we can control the position of the wormhole using an active scan from your arm pad. You move the gun, the wormhole portal follows the conduit."
The colonel grinned. "Those big androids are grouped together. A couple well placed rounds might scatter the lot of them. I'll retrieve the cannon. Direct Go to where he can find the ion conduit."
The colonel sprinted down the ramp and toward Kerba's tent. Thirty seconds later he emerged carrying the weapon wrapped in a heavy cloth.
When he reached the top of the ramp, Go was standing at the ready with the conduit.
The colonel grinned as he screwed the ion pipe into the back of the cannon. An active scan was initiated.
The colonel said, "You should have positional data. Give me a heads up when you're opening that portal."
Frig replied, "One moment. I'll begin with an extremely small aperture. We can open it as needed if all goes well."
The colonel laughed. "And if all doesn't go well?"
Frig sighed. "I would suggest the others move at least ten meters from your position."
Everyone stepped back as the colonel stabilized the cannon in his hands, his right forearm wrapped around the barrel. "Hmm. It's not all that unwieldy, given the lack of a power supply."
Frig said, "Opening aperture."
The colonel replied, "Nothing yet."
Frig swiped at the displays in front of him. "Increasing size."
The colonel replied, "There. Hold on. It's powering on. The under-power indicator is lit. Take it up a notch."
Frig entered a new aperture number and selected a holo-button.
The colonel smiled. "Low power. Give me two bumps from that last one."
The setting was made and the colonel grinned his evil grin. "Perfect, Frig. I don't know what I would do without you."
"Die."
"What?"
Frig offered a half smile. "You would die, sir. Without me you would die."
The colonel spat on the wall beside himself as he stepped up into the doorway. "From the scan, can you give me an indicator of the cannon's aim? Give me a nice target symbol of where it's aiming on my holo-display."
Frig replied, "One moment."
After a dozen swipes, a translucent red cross-hair symbol appeared in the colonel's field of vision.
Frig said, "It is calibrated to your right eye. Wherever that cannon aims, your right eye should be on target."
The colonel stepped out of the doorway. "Let's see how she works!"
Two whumps from the medium ion cannon were almost deafening. The center of the android assembly was in chaos as the ion bolts struck their target. The androids reacted with laser fire, driving the colonel back inside the doorway.
The colonel set the cannon on the floor. "You can cut the portal. One of those pulses hit the tip. The cannon is useless."
The laser fire stopped.
I said, "I count eight of those big androids down. And I would say a good hundred twenty of the others. Not a bad trade, Colonel."
The colonel shook his head. "Completely my fault. I should have anticipated the reaction. What are they doing now?"
I said, "They are forming up their lines. None of this makes sense. Why haven't they attacked?"
The colonel replied, "I haven't a clue."
We watched the androids for several minutes as they stood at attention in precisely positioned lines. We waited for an indication of action, but none was given. Our fight against the AIs seemed to be at a standstill.
Chapter 19
* * *
Frig said, "I have another idea. This may be better than the last. Let me run the numbers."
Several minutes passed before Frig offered a new option. "I can make use of the portal as a weapon. I don't have the power for a sweep, but I can open a stationary wormhole into that sun above us. We can unleash a super-heated plasma stream, nearly fifteen million degrees, into the androids just in front of the larger ones. If my calculations are correct, the intense heat should destroy everything in front of the portal at a seventeen degree angle going out fifty meters.
The colonel nodded his head. "Light 'em up!"
OMEGA Destiny Page 18