by Terry Mixon
That was sloppy and annoying. If Talbot had been writing his own efficiency reports, he’d ding himself for it hard.
Behind the fake wall was a series of tunnels that led away from the one they’d been traveling down. Unlike the abandoned one leading toward the horde city, this one showed signs of traffic. The dust on the floor had been disturbed numerous times, so it was probably an observation post where the city inhabitants kept an eye on the tunnel leading toward the horde.
Even though the larger tunnel had been plugged for decades or even centuries, it seemed that they still worried that the horde would try to sneak into the city through it. Considering how ugly the rulers of the horde and their warriors were, Talbot couldn’t blame them.
Do you really think you can sweet-talk them? he asked Kelsey over their implants.
I’m not sure. No matter how we play this, they have the cards to trump us right now. We need to know more about them before we can make any decisions about how much to say or whether we need to fight or not.
Talbot grunted slightly in response. Everything she’d said made sense, but he hated being under someone else’s control. These people might be just as monstrous as the horde but in a completely different way.
He supposed it didn’t matter. Kelsey was the one calling the shots, and Admiral Mertz would back her up. So would he, for that matter. At this point, they were prisoners, so it didn’t hurt hearing what their captors had to say. If nothing else, they might learn a little bit about what was happening in the area.
It was disconcerting realizing that they might never get to the Imperial Palace or access the vaults below it. Or if they did, it would either be with the help of the people now holding them prisoner or over their objections.
They reached a set of stairs and started upward. No matter what happened, they’d have their answers soon enough, he supposed. He might as well be patient and see if they got some good news for a change.
The thought of good luck almost made him chuckle. That wasn’t their way. He’d just have to see what flavor of bad luck came their way. Then they’d figure out a way to overcome it.
5
Jared used the time that it took to climb the many stairs to figure out exactly how he was going to approach this situation. He had no idea how the locals were going to question them yet, but he knew the general approach that he intended to take. Everyone on this world hated the AIs. They hated the things that had destroyed their civilization.
If he could turn that hatred around so that these people became his allies rather than his enemies, that would be the best outcome. It would have to be done delicately, but he could at least start the conversation. The horde had doubted their story, according to what Talbot had said. Doubt was probably a mild word for what the horde had actually felt, honestly.
Now they’d have a chance to reframe the conversation, and he didn’t want to waste it. Whatever he said, he had to make the most of this one opportunity.
While he had no augmentation like Kelsey, Talbot, and Julia, climbing the stairs didn’t tire him as much as he’d expected. All of the riding had toughened his legs. If they got away from the city, he imagined that they’d all be tougher by the time they reached the Imperial Palace.
The stairs eventually let out into a large room that seemed to occupy the center of one of the buildings. Based on the height above their surroundings, Jared believed they were near the top of the building. There were large windows all around with what had likely once been a stunning view of Frankfort. Even in its ruined state, the city still commanded his attention.
He’d never been to a city like this before, but the recording of the building in Imperial City gave him a frame of reference. Even so, this structure had a way to go to reach even half that height.
The room was set out much like the throne room back on Avalon. This was where the ruler of the city received visitors or passed judgments. Based on what he’d heard about these people, he’d wager they didn’t get many visitors, so this was where they conducted their internal pomp and circumstance.
The large room was devoid of decoration. The view of the ruined megacity seemed to be all the splendor these people needed. Contrary to his expectations, the room was spotless. No dirt or dust lay anywhere, and the glass was so clean that it sparkled.
He could see how they’d clean the inside, but getting to the outside of a building this high had to be terribly dangerous. Why risk someone’s life just to clean the glass for this one room?
Jared turned his attention to the spot where the guards were taking them. There was no throne, only a large dais that held a table, behind which a single man sat. He was older, with a lined face and hair almost entirely white. He wasn’t dressed overly formally, and the clothes he wore didn’t seem ceremonial.
The man also didn’t have anything on his head. No crown or circlet. No decoration of any kind from what Jared could see. Whatever his authority, he didn’t feel the need for regalia to emphasize it.
In addition to the man, dozens of others stood along the circumference of the room. Men and women watched suspiciously as Jared and his people were led to the center of the room and stopped directly in front of the table.
Their captors lined them up so that they were all equally distant from the table. Then they stood behind them while the older man leaned forward and steepled his fingers as his eyes roved over each of them. He finally settled on Jared, and his eyes narrowed.
“I must admit that I have many questions as to how you came to be inside my city, but I think I will start my questioning with a simple and straightforward request. Do not lie to me. Whatever happens next is entirely within my discretion. Honesty and full disclosure will serve you best. Which of you is the leader of this group?”
“I am,” Jared said before Kelsey could open her mouth. If things went badly, he wanted to make certain that she was as shielded as possible from the consequences. The more he could keep her to the shadows and not have her suspected of having more capability than she did, the better their options if they had to try something dangerous.
The man nodded slightly. “So I had believed. You may call me Leader Mordechai. Who are you?”
Jared thought about it for a moment and then took a single step forward. The guards didn’t react. It seemed that so long as he didn’t do anything rash, he had a little freedom of action.
“My name is Jared Mertz, and my title is Admiral. Before we get started with the discussion of who I serve, I want to make it absolutely and perfectly clear that I do not serve the computers that rule the Empire now. My people and I are here to overthrow them.”
If his words threw the man off, it wasn’t apparent at a glance. The older man simply stared at him, saying nothing.
“An interesting assertion,” the man finally allowed. “And one wrought with danger for you. You claimed to have come from another world, according to my son. Considering the amount of damage that was dealt to the horde city, I’m certainly willing to entertain that statement.
“However, it’s much more likely that you serve the computers and that you’re here on some nefarious task. If so, your escape from the horde city will not save you. To work with the computers is death. Our penalties are perhaps not as draconian as those of the horde, but you can rest assured that they’re just as final.”
The man leaned forward, his expression severe. “I suggest that you measure your next words very carefully, Admiral Mertz. The story you tell will set the stage for what comes next.”
Jared knew that he was taking a horrible risk. He could’ve made up some kind of story and maybe spared their lives, but then they’d be prisoners here, unable to complete their mission.
Yes, they might be able to escape later, but he’d rather find allies in this task, much like Clarice Beauchamp. In fact, she might be able to assist him in telling his tale.
He glanced toward the woman but decided this wasn’t the right time to bring her into the conversation. He led off with his own story
.
“About a week ago, the AI—the artificial intelligence—destroyed my ship, and our small craft crashed into the surface of this world. Perhaps your people saw something of that?”
The man nodded. “Our sentries did see a streak of fire coming from the heavens. You claim that was you arriving?”
“Yes. We came to Terra to retrieve something from the Imperial Palace that will help us overthrow the AIs. Our world was founded before the fall of the Empire, but crown prince Lucian retreated there during the final battles of the rebellion.
“He led us in recovering and gave us a message that brought us back to Terra five centuries later. The computers don’t know that we exist. We’re just too small for them to be aware of yet. But they are learning.
“As soon as we landed on Terra, we were caught up in the local fighting. It seemed that several groups were intent on retrieving the pinnaces that we came down to the surface in. They were too damaged to fly, but there were a lot of supplies in them.”
He gestured toward Clarice. “Captain Beauchamp and her group of fighters arrived first. My oldest sister convinced her—at least preliminarily—that we were telling the truth. Enough so that her people were escorting us back to their outpost for further questioning when the horde overwhelmed us.
“They killed hundreds of my people and all of Captain Beauchamp’s soldiers. Altogether, we had almost three hundred people, and those of us that stand before you are all that remain.”
The man leaned back in his chair, slightly considering the group with a sweep of his eyes. “Captain Beauchamp, my people are at least somewhat familiar with yours. Your people have no love for the computers or the humans they control, yet you helped these strangers. Why?”
Beauchamp cleared her throat. “While it remained for my leaders to vet the truth of what they said, there was something about them that convinced me that they were telling me the truth. His people fought hard to save my people when we were outnumbered three to one in an initial skirmish. They revealed lost technology in a way that only an idiot would.
“I have to assume that they weren’t trying to conceal their advantages because they had no idea what the consequences of revealing it were. That convinced me personally that they were telling the truth.”
Jared couldn’t argue with the logic of what the woman had said. What they were doing sounded insane. The people of Terra killed the servants of the AIs. He was taking a terrible risk in telling the truth, but he didn’t think that he had a choice. Lies weren’t going to help them now.
Mordechai considered him for a few moments and then shrugged. “I’m obviously going to have to consider your words most carefully. This isn’t the time to make rash decisions.”
The man that had overseen their capture stepped up behind Mordechai and whispered in his ear. The older man listened and frowned slightly.
“My son tells me that you were doing something to your people. You were cutting into their heads? Explain.”
Jared had hoped that Kelsey had delayed them long enough so that none of the locals saw them reactivating the implants. That hope was obviously dashed.
“When we were fighting the horde, they used a weapon against us,” Jared said. “We have equipment inside of our bodies that allow us to interface with computers and perform other work as well as store information. We were resetting that equipment so that it worked again.”
“And how many of your people have these devices inside of you?” Mordechai asked.
“All of us, though some have not had theirs reactivated. The implants are similar to what the rebels used to turn humanity, but ours are protected against that sort of thing. Since the enemy uses them, we must use them as well to equal the fight.”
“I see,” the older man said. “Step over here so that I may see what you’re talking about.”
With a mental shrug, Jared stepped forward and pulled his hair slightly back, revealing the small shaved area behind his ear. With Doctor Stone’s work with the portable regenerator, the scar there was probably barely noticeable.
The man probed it with his finger. “And this was done today? It looks as if it has healed for weeks.”
“We have a device that is capable of speeding healing. If you’d like to see the process, I’d be more than happy to have our doctor demonstrate it for you. If you have injured, she might be able to treat them for you as well.”
“You said that you had restored this machinery for most of you. Who remains yet to be done?”
Jared pointed at Sean, Commander Cannon, Elise, and Olivia.
“At this point, it won’t hurt to allow you to finish the process, and it may provide me with information that helps me make a better decision about your fate. Proceed.”
It took a couple of minutes for Lily and Carl to get the equipment that they needed from the guards, but once they did, it was a relatively quick and straightforward task to perform the reactivation surgery on each of the four that hadn’t already received it.
In turn, each person went to sleep, had their implants reset, and then woke up—all under the close observation of Jebediah and his guards, as well as Leader Mordechai.
When the process was complete, the older man shook his head. “I’ve heard stories about some of the old technology and how it could do such miraculous things. Even seeing it with my own eyes, it’s difficult to believe. What do these implants do for you?”
“That’s a long story,” Jared said. “One I’m certainly willing to tell, but my people and I have been running hard for a week and have suffered great losses. Is it possible that we could get something to eat and perhaps rest so that I can give you my best effort?”
Mordechai nodded to his son. “Take them to an appropriate place and guard them well. See that they are brought food, water, and allowed to bathe.”
The younger man nodded and then started the guards herding everyone toward the stairs. They hadn’t taken more than fifteen steps when there was a bright flash of light from outside the building. It was blinding enough to capture everyone’s attention, and all turned toward it curiously.
“Kinetic strike!” Kelsey shouted. “Everybody down now! Cover your heads and faces!”
Jared had just thrown himself to the floor and covered his head with his arms and hands when the windows blew in. However durable they were meant to be, they weren’t up to the task of stopping the shock wave.
The AI had finally decided to act. If Jared was right, it had just destroyed the two crashed pinnaces. The only positive to the situation was that the camp had probably been swarming with horde warriors. Maybe the AI would think it had killed them there.
Yeah, as if they were ever that lucky.
6
Julia felt shattered glass lash across her primitive armor. If she hadn’t been protected, she was very much afraid that she might’ve been seriously injured. She certainly hoped that no one else in the city was going to be badly hurt but knew that outcome was extremely unlikely.
After a few moments, the air grew still, and the cries of the frightened and injured could be heard more clearly. She raised her head and looked around the room to find utter devastation.
All of the glass in the walls had blown out—on all four sides of the building—shattered by the shock wave from the kinetic strike. No single pane was in one piece. Many of the people closest to the strike had been killed or gravely injured.
Thankfully, the majority of the injuries elsewhere in the room would be less severe. That didn’t reduce the gravity of the situation, but it did make the number of wounded people they were dealing with significantly lower than it could’ve been.
Julia leapt to her feet and raced to the area nearest the kinetic strike. Off in the distance, she could see a cloud of debris boiling into the sky. There was no longer any bright light, but it looked like a massive bomb had gone off.
In fact, one had.
When someone struck the ground with a tungsten rod weighing hundreds of kilograms moving at orbital
velocity, it was more than enough to create the equivalent of a nuclear explosion.
She focused her attention on the people moaning around her. She had no medical training at all, but she could see that many of them were beyond help.
Before she could decide what needed to be done, Doctor Stone was standing beside her. The woman didn’t seem disturbed by the amount of blood and death, though Julia knew that probably wasn’t true. She just had better training to wall it away.
Stone started pointing at various people. “Get these folks over into the center of the room. Someone sweep an area clear of glass. I’ll need my medical equipment set out for me. Carl, get it laid out.”
The doctor turned to Julia. “Be as careful as you can, but get them there as quickly as possible.”
Even as Julia was picking up the first person, a woman with her arm missing below the elbow, Kelsey and Talbot were there helping get others. With her augmented strength, lifting a single human being and carrying them carefully to where they needed to be was no strain at all.
Others were assisting even though they didn’t have Marine Raider strength. Even their captors were following instructions and moving people as indicated.
Julia had very little time to see exactly what Doctor Stone was doing, but the woman had a small circle of observers as she used her equipment to staunch bleeding and save lives. Leader Mordechai, his son Jebediah, and several others were observing her actions, getting themselves bloody while helping as directed.
The guards had reformed and were watching the exits, so there would be no escape. There might have been a few minutes during the chaos that her party could have gotten out of the room, but no one had run. They’d stayed to help.