Kris Longknife Stalwart

by Mike Shepherd

  "Major, I suspect we could have driven a motorized brigade past you and you wouldn't have noticed it."

  "Likely," he said, his eyes going back to the visual on his board.

  Megan eyed what held the major's attention so strongly. It meant nothing to her.

  He, however, began to mutter an explanation to her.

  "We've scanned the shattered aqueduct," he said. "We think we know where it is sound, although the amount of shock going up the pipe has me more worried than I want to be."

  "Yes?" Megan said.

  "I know you want this pipe working again, at least as far as this. You've got that fire."

  "I have three fires out in that direction," Megan pointed out.

  The major glanced up, then slowly turned around, eyeing all the smoke billowing in the distance from burning buildings.

  "Good lord. Where'd all these fires come from?"

  "Apparently," Megan said, "The Iteeche Empire has no rules controlling the storage and use of hazardous material."

  "You're kidding me," the major sighed, not sounding at all like one who doubted what he'd just been told.

  "Nope. I just discovered this little lack on the part of the Empire. No one can tell the clans what to store or where to store it. Worse, what to store next to it."

  The major just shook his head. "I guess I should be glad that we're here to help."

  "Unless the reason we're here is why we have this mess."

  "Yeah. Okay, moving right along. We've been drilling holes in the concrete walls of the aqueduct to give our cofferdam anchors to the wall. We're putting in three rows a half meter apart. The cofferdam will be convex, with the front end strong, but flexible, so that it can be compressed by the pressure of the water. The back couple of centimeters will be stronger, but brittle, more to hold the pressure coming back on it."

  "When will you be ready for us to turn the water back on?" Megan said, asking the critical question.

  "Give me five more minutes to finish drilling the holes," the major said. "I'm ready to strip metal off of several of those Iteeche engineering vehicles and convert it to a steel alloy."

  "What kind of alloy do you want?" Lily asked from Megan's neck.

  "Actually, I want two alloys. The forward part of the plug needs to be strong, but compressible. That's the reason for the convex form. Let the water expend most of its force on the nose of the steel bulge without breaking the plug loose. The back also needs to be convex, but harder. It can even be brittle. I want it to hold on tight when the water forces the front back on it."

  "I've got just what you want," Lily said. "High tensile steel with a bit of manganese, a dash of nickel, and just a drop of molybdenum. Do you want any aluminum in the mix to lighten it?"

  "I need strong and unmoving," the major said. "Weight is not a problem."

  "Then I'll keep it heavy," Lily said. The nearest engineering vehicle was a track-laying tank with a massive mortar for a weapon and a bulldozer blade at the ready. As Megan watched, the entire fifty-ton monster began to melt. Its Human driver hurriedly scampered out of the rig as it began to shrink around her.

  The driver of the next rig didn't wait. He piled out of his vehicle before it began to melt out from under him.

  The Smart Metal™ dissolved into a puddle of roiling liquid that changed color as the atoms shifted from one molecule to another. Soon, a small snake began to wiggle its way from the pool toward the large hole in the ground. It was thin, but long and getting longer, as it stretched from the first engineering vehicle to the shattered end of the gaping water pipe. From there, it slid down into the hole, but once inside, crawled along the top of the huge shattered aqueduct.

  The line thickened up, going from a few millimeters to a centimeter, then three, six, nine, twelve, and finally fifteen centimeters in diameter. It seemed to pulse as Smart Metal™ coursed through it toward the hole. The second rig threw off tendrils that quickly thickened up until it joined into the conduit coming off the first line.

  Even as the last holes were drilled into the walls of the reinforced steel and concrete aqueduct, the first row was filling, forming a perfect half-sphere plug, bulging toward the flow of water. It waited there to break that torrent’s own force and power when it came to rage against the waiting steel.

  Megan knew that Lily was almost maxed out. The feeling that the entity who shared her brain was gone often happened when her computer was almost at maximum utilization.

  That was verified when Lily said, in a most computer-like voice, "The plug is in place."

  "Let's get started on the next hole we have to stopper," the major said.

  Megan turned toward the gaping aqueduct behind her. She heard drilling machines trundling their way out of the blocked tunnel. They'd likely need a bridge to cross from there to the new hole. At least water was not flowing anymore from that raged maw.

  As Megan took her first step toward the new challenge, the building in front of her blew out with a massive explosion.

  34

  Megan was right; Lily was almost maxed out. She was busy directing buses to where they were needed, finishing up the work on the plug, and melting down more rigs for Smart Metal™ she could use for the next plug. It took her a fraction of a second to realize the flash of light meant an explosion.

  Megan was in space armor. Her experience on Zargoth had taught her the lesson to never go dirtside unprepared. That saved her life.

  Her facemask was open. Lily immediately closed it from all sides. She just barely managed to get it in place before a steel splinter nearly slammed into Megan's eye. As it was, Meg found herself staring at a very sharp and long splinter from a metal bolt, only a few millimeters short of her eyeball.

  It took her a while to notice that threat to her mortality. The flash from the explosive dazzled her eyes, blinding her. The destructive blast from the explosion picked her up and hurled her against the building behind her.

  When Megan got her senses back, she found herself embedded in the building's outer wall, a meter off the deck.

  She needed help from others to pry herself out of the bricks and help her to the deck. Her suit's armor had super-hardened under the pressure of the blast. The impact on the wall was spread all over her body; the armor kept her shoulders, hips, and back from bending as they sustained percussive hits.

  She found herself laid out on a stretcher as her vision slowly came back. When it did, she was staring at the jagged edge of the metal splinter. Fortunately, it was encased in transparent Smart Metal. Megan grabbed hold of the rear of the splinter and slowly pulled it from her faceplate. The metal shard looked scary as all hell.

  A moment later, the faceplate reabsorbed the hole and was good as new.

  A medic was trying to figure out if Megan was just as good as new. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.

  "Just the right number, corpsman," Megan said, climbing off the stretcher and shoving the woman aside. "Now in exactly ten seconds, the Grand Admiral will want a report from me about what's holding us up. Get out of my way."

  "I need an MP," both of them shouted.

  "She doesn't," Megan snapped. "I do. Who's the senior MP in charge?"

  "I am," a voice came on net. "Captain Wilson, ma'am."

  "Have you got a cordon around this latest explosion?"

  "Yes, ma'am. I also have overhead video take. There's an Iteeche beating feet. We are tracking him."

  A moment later, Lily announced, "Call coming in."

  "Longknife 1 here. How are you, Megan?"

  "Surprisingly well, everything considered, Admiral. This new armor is quite effective."

  "Two explosions in one day. That doesn't sound like a coincidence."

  "It isn't, ma'am. We've got a suspect under observation and are moving to cut him off."

  "So, I'm interrupting you."

  "As much as I hate to say it, yes, ma'am."

  "Get back to me as soon as you have time, then, Commander."

  "Aye, aye, ma'
am."

  "Longknife 1 off."

  Megan hated to cut her cousin off, but she did have very pressing matters.

  She turned back to the search. "Captain Wilson, get that running Iteeche. I want to talk to him. Then the Grand Admiral will want to interrogate what's left of him when I'm done."

  "Understood."

  "Lily, give me the video off of that drone."

  A holograph appeared in front of Megan. She had to close one eye before it settled down. Maybe the corpsman had a point.

  A red circle showed a single Iteeche moving quickly up one street, then cutting diagonally across a street, walking up a narrow alley, then hopping into one of those three-wheeled cars the Iteeche used.

  It took off, speeding down the street before doing a two-wheeled turn onto another street.

  Meanwhile, the drone came in for a perfect dive bomb attack. When the drone rose back up into the air, a splat on the top of the little rig wasn't bird droppings, but a tracker.

  That three-wheeler would not vanish from this search.

  Meanwhile, the high drone showed a small fleet of gun trucks racing to cut them off. About half were Human; the others were larger to accommodate Iteeche.

  Whoever was in charge of this chase wanted to make sure it was no chase at all.

  A dozen rigs got ahead of the target tricycle. They spread out to close down the three roads on either side of target. To the rear, gun trucks were speeding up the three roads on either side of the target's track.

  Megan noticed how there were no small alleyways for the trike to dodge around in the part of town the chase now entered. At precisely the right moment, gun trucks slammed around two corners, and four gun trucks charged at the oncoming target, blocking all lanes.

  The driver of the trike slammed on the brakes and did a hard U-turn, only to be confronted by more gun trucks charging from the rear. He went hard on the brakes again. Slowed, he hopped the curb and bounced over the grassy verge surrounding a luxury high-rise.

  The Human rigs in the chase hit the curb and bounced right over it. The engines complained as wheels spun, throwing clods of grass behind them, as they raced after the much smaller rig.

  The driver slammed the tricycle to a halt, meters from the side door of the high rise. Together, he and his passenger dashed for the building, confident of escaping inside and vanishing.

  However, every option they could choose had an anticipated response.

  Four Iteeche and four Humans deployed from the door only moments before the two fleeing Iteeche reached it. The Humans hit the Iteeche with sleepy darts. Other Iteeche grabbed the two and forced beak spreaders into their mouths. No way were they going to use a poison tooth to escape interrogation.

  The Iteeche hog-tied these fellows, tossed them on two trollies, and rolled them toward the two idling Human gun trucks that quickly lengthened to add room for two restrained passengers.

  The overhead zoomed in to let Megan, and likely Kris, get a good view as cables slipped out from the two truck beds to attach to the manacles holding the prisoners tight. A moment later, each disappeared behind a spreading cover over their rig. No doubt, that quickly became armored.

  The two gun trucks with prisoners moved off slowly, allowing the other rigs involved in the chase to join up with them. That provided a very tight security cordon around the prisoners.

  Two drones dropped low to give a very good look at the eight blocks around the column. If someone tried to break these two free, they'd have a fight on their hands.

  It looked like no one was trying. The luck of those two Iteeche had run out.

  Megan looked around. She spotted two Marines that looked nearly identical, grabbed for the closest one, and had to reach farther up to get a grip on his shoulder.

  "Marine, you are about to become my seeing eye dog as well as my cane," Megan said.

  "Sergeant, the commander wants me to be her walking stick," the Marine called.

  "From the way she's wobbling, she needs two," the sergeant replied.

  "She needs to be on a stretcher and evacuated," the corpsman shouted. "She’s got a concussion that would fell an elephant."

  "Corporal," the sergeant called, "take the other side of Commander Longknife and see that she doesn't fall down."

  "You mean land too hard when she falls down," the corpsmen got in.

  "Marine, you can tell a Longknife anything you want to, but it won't make a bit of difference," retorted Megan.

  "Yes, Sergeant."

  "Now you go take care of people who will listen to you."

  "Yes, Sergeant.

  Megan found herself with her arms on two strong shoulders that stayed with her as she stumbled toward up the street. She wanted to meet this bomber close, but not too close.

  35

  Megan watched with one eye closed as two rigs, gun trucks in front but police vans in their back half, rolled down the street. They did quick three-point turns to back up to her. The Human MPs opened the rear hatches. Iteeche MPs yanked the two restrained Iteeche from the back and dumped them at Megan's feet.

  The MPs made no effort to ease their landing.

  "Which one of you blew up that building? Blew up those aqueducts?" she demanded.

  They said nothing. With their beaks wide open, it might have been hard for them to answer, but they didn't even gurgle.

  "Lily, tell the forensic LT that I need her here with her explosives residue kit."

  "She's on her way," Lily answered immediately.

  The two Iteeche exchanged looks of sheer terror. The word must be getting around that if you talked to a Human that had a second voice coming from around their neck, you were in way over your head.

  Two Marines arrived, four until Megan remembered to close one eye.

  "Tell me which one of those has the most explosive residue on them. One drove the getaway car, the other blew the bomb that's giving me a hell of a headache."

  The Marine sergeant swabbed them down, each getting a dozen pads.

  Each wipe turned from white to pink. Some darker, some more pale.

  The LT stood at Megan’s side, frowning.

  "Do you find something interesting here?"

  "Yes, ma'am. The swabs turn pink when they find hints of explosive residue. If one of these guys was in a getaway car with the bomb maker, one should be lighter, the other darker."

  "But?" Megan asked.

  "Both look to be about as pink as the other. I'm going to withhold judgement until we get the field trials back. Maybe even until we run the lab tests back on the Princess Royal. This is way past intriguing."

  "Provost Marshal," Megan said, turning to the senior Iteeche MP now present. "Can you tell me which clans these two are from?"

  "No, Commander," the colonel replied. "They have no ID. Their clothes are of a common weave you can buy in any bazaar. The same for their boots. I'd love to know of their clan, Ma'am, but I have, excuse me, we Iteeche of the Empire, have no way to know who they are or where they come from."

  Megan wanted to rile at him for not having a fingerprint database, but she wasn't sure Iteeche had distinctive fingerprints.

  "Lily, do we have a doc who can take blood for DNA sequencing?"

  "Commander, all the doctors are busy with the dying and badly wounded."

  "What?"

  "Ma'am, you got off easy," her computer told her.

  Megan turned back to see the wreckage around the explosion. Then she jacked up her face plate to telescopic magnification.

  The place was heartbreaking.

  It was not so much what the explosion had hurled at them, though Megan had almost been blinded by one flying shard. It was where the explosion had hurled them.

  An Iteeche engineer had been thrown against one of their vehicles. He was bent over it, his legs at the wrong angle, his back wrong, too. His screams were cut off as quick-acting pain relief took effect.

  One Iteeche Marine looked like he'd been hurled down the street, then rolled over and over again
as his bleeding body traded energy, using his own flesh to slow him down.

  In Lake 1, several bodies floated, some in one piece, others not. Iteeche and humans splashed through the shallows, trying to get the fire away from the injured as well as the dead. They were unable to tell the two apart yet.

  Across the gaping hole, a half-dozen Marines slowly and carefully removed the body of a Marine. Her slight hips and shapely legs had been stopped by the wall below the window. The glass had not slowed down her upper body. Instead, her back was shoved through the window, and bent the wrong way.

  Her armor had failed.

  What the Marines were slowly picking out of the wreckage was little more than a rag enclosed in shattered armor. Even from where she stood, Megan could see tears streaming down a hardened old Gunny's cheeks.

  Tears spilled down her own.

  That said nothing of the lumps under this or that pile of wreckage that did not move.

  The first explosion had done great damage to the city's life blood. The second had slaughtered those responding, those striving to help the people of the city get their homes, lives, and livelihood back.

  In fury, Megan turned back to the two cringing in the street in front of her.

  "Provost Marshall, could you please cut those clothes off of those criminals? Lieutenant, bag and tag their gear, then swab them down thoroughly. I don't want any chance that we won't have all the evidence to see that these two make their date with the snakes."

  "Convict them?" came from behind Megan. She turned to see the five Iteeche lordlings strolling up behind her.

  "They clearly are guilty," the Governor of the Capital District snapped. "Shoot them."

  "Belay that order," Megan barked. "If either of those murderers dies before Admiral Kris Longknife can interrogate them, I swear I will have the five of you shot."

  The five clan lordlings were clearly shocked to be treated that way. Before they could open their beaks, however, the Provost Marshall shut them down.

  "This crime was committed against the officers and men of the Combined Fleet. Our Commanding Admiral has taken jurisdiction over this case. The Human Commander is correct. Our admiral will pass judgement when she has extracted as much information about this attack as she wishes."