by Terry Mixon
“Does this count?” Julia asked through the speakers on the exterior of her armor. She then lowered the train back down and stared at the soldiers through her blank metal faceplate.
The troops arrayed on the platform stared at Julia, their weapons slowly sinking back down, and their faces struck with a mixture of shock and awe. The woman in command of these troops was seemingly unsure of how to respond.
Once Julia had jumped back up on the platform, making the feat look graceful in spite of her relative inexperience with the armor, the woman in charge of the troops swallowed visibly and gently laid her rifle on the ground.
“Everyone lay down your arms,” she said.
All of the troops on the platform set their rifles down, unholstered their pistols, and set them on the ground as well. They then produced the stunners that Kelsey had suspected were there and set them next to the rest.
Once they’d done so, they stepped away from the weapons, even as the woman advanced on Kelsey.
“We deserve an explanation. Who are you really, and how are you related to the holy one?”
Kelsey shrugged slightly and then realized that the gesture wouldn’t be visible through her armor. “I’m not sure who the holy one is, so you’re going to have to explain it to me. What I said earlier was true. I’m a Marine Raider. I’ve come to gather what we need to free the Empire.
“The people of this city are angry that you stole their fusion plant, and we’ve agreed to discuss the matter with your leaders. We’d prefer to do so peacefully. How do we make that happen?”
The woman studied Kelsey for a long moment. “Just seeing you in that armor means that I need to bring you back to our base. Once I do, you can speak with our leaders, and they will make that decision.
“If you truly are a Marine Raider, then I don’t believe you’re going to have much difficulty in negotiating a solution. But you’re going to have to explain everything to the god.”
Kelsey frowned. “God? I still don’t understand.”
The woman smiled coolly. “It’s quite simple. The god is a real Marine Raider, and I look forward to hearing how he responds to your tall tale.”
Julia watched the exchange between Kelsey and the others with interest. When the conversation reached the point where the woman stated that their “god” was a Marine Raider, she laughed out loud. Thankfully, she’d shut off her external speakers, and no one could hear her.
That was ridiculous. Other than Kelsey and the people she’d begun enhancing, there were no Marine Raiders left in this Empire. They’d all died out long ago. These people were lying, even if she didn’t understand what they had to gain by doing so.
The most likely explanation was that someone had tricked them. Though, Julia had to admit, whoever it was had gotten the train working and also managed to guide them through the process of disassembling the fusion plant safely. It had to be someone with a lot more knowledge than she’d expected anyone on Terra to have.
None of the Marine Raiders that had been on Terra back then could have possibly lived this long, and the ability to create them had fallen into the hands of the computers long ago.
There was obviously some kind of trickery underway. That meant the meeting with these people was going to be dangerous. After all, anyone with actual Marine Raider augmentation was a threat to the lie this person was telling.
She wondered how Kelsey was going to handle that. Was the woman going to realize that they were in danger when the trick was exposed? Her doppelgänger was really smart, and she was a lot more worldly than Julia, so she really hoped that was the case.
If the thoughts that were running through Julia’s head had occurred to Kelsey, she wasn’t letting it show on her face. She was busy asking the woman questions about their god and being deflected.
All the woman would say was that it wasn’t her place to discuss the god. That if Kelsey wanted more information, she’d need to speak to her leaders.
The one positive aspect of this was that she’d said that she’d escort them there. It looked like the prospect of fighting it out here on the platform was over.
Kelsey stepped back from the soldiers and over to Julia. “What do you think we should do? They’re basically inviting us back to their place, but it could be a trap.”
“If it’s not a trap, it’s some kind of hoax,” Julia said bluntly. “We both know that Marine Raiders don’t live that long. Whoever they’re referring to as their god is pulling the wool over their eyes.”
She frowned. “And I don’t even know where that saying came from, but it had to be something you said because it makes no sense.”
Kelsey chuckled. “When you watch a lot of old vids, you pick up all kinds of obscure turns of phrase. I suggest that we only take a few of us when we go see them. That way, only some of us are at risk if the hammer comes down.
“If they really wanted to stop us from bringing the train here, they could’ve killed the power back at the Imperial Palace, and it would’ve stopped. They had plenty of time to do that, but they left it running. That means that whoever’s in charge wants these people to come back and report. We’ve got to use that to our advantage.”
She turned to face Julia more directly. “I’m going to suggest to Jared that only the four of us that can use the armor go. That way, they’re not going to have an opportunity to take hostages without getting into a real fight. We’ll leave the others here so that they can arrange a rescue if things go badly.”
“And how are they going to get there?” Julia asked. “If these people aren’t happy at seeing us and kill the power to the train, the Imperial Palace is still a thousand kilometers away. Not to mention that our potential rescuers won’t have any armor to bring to the fight. This seems like a bad idea, Kelsey.”
“Life isn’t without risks,” her doppelgänger said philosophically. “As my husband would tell you, I’m prone to taking more risks than the average person. If you want to stay here and reinforce the rescue team, I’ll go along with that. I still think you should come with us, but the call is yours.”
Julia sighed in exasperation. “How is it that you’re so headstrong, and I’m not? I thought we were supposed to be the same person until a couple of years ago. Could you explain to me exactly how you’re so different?”
“Just lucky, I guess,” Kelsey said with a grin. “That doesn’t change the question. Do you want to stay here or go with me?”
Julia slowly counted down from ten in her head to get the exasperation out of her voice. “I’ll go with you, of course. If they’re going to jump somebody, we’ve got to kick their asses.”
Kelsey clapped her on the shoulder. “Now you’re talking like a Marine Raider. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to step back into the other room and let Jared know what we’re doing, and then we’re going to let these people escort us to see their leaders.
“If the power gets cut, they’re going to have to come and get us. Personally, I don’t see that happening. These don’t seem like the kind that shoot first and ask questions later like the horde.
“They’re looking for answers and want to hear what we have to say. They may not give us what we want, but I believe that we can come to some type of arrangement if we work hard enough.
“More importantly, we have to come to some kind of understanding, or we won’t get access to the Imperial Palace. We’ll have to go through them one way or the other, and I’d much rather do that without shooting.”
On that, Julia agreed. They didn’t have the numbers to fight a large group because they’d lose, even with their access to Marine Raider armor and modern weapons.
Losing Scott was bad enough. Losing the rest would be unthinkable.
While Chloe and Carl kept an eye on their prisoners—or perhaps guests—she followed Kelsey in to speak with Mertz. The man listened to his sister’s plan and then shook his head.
“If we separate ourselves, the chances of us being overwhelmed individually are too high. We�
��ve initiated contact, and now it’s time for us to go see who the man behind the curtain is. Get everyone together, and we’ll load them onto the train.”
Julia sighed and hoped that they could carry this off. That they weren’t jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Whatever that meant.
27
Jared eyed the soldiers in the train compartment behind them once the train had reversed course and headed back into the tunnel. The fact that the soldiers seemed willing to allow their higher-ups to deal with the problem didn’t mean that they were safe to be around. No, it was far better to keep to themselves for the moment.
All of them were in good shape and ready for trouble except for Talbot. He lay on a small mattress that they’d salvaged from somewhere. He was still pale, and Lily didn’t want him moving on his own for a day. They’d found a stretcher to move him in, which did nothing to improve the gruff man’s temper.
He’d thought hard about leaving Talbot behind, but the Marine Raider had insisted that he needed to go. In the end, Jared had decided that he was right. They couldn’t afford to leave anyone behind. Whatever happened now, it was going to happen to all of them.
One of the things he’d noticed right away was that none of the captured soldiers had implants. That made sense. Implant technology was something that the AIs had heavily restricted. These people might be technologically superior to the residents of Frankfort, but they had to deal with only having the equipment they had on hand.
By the time the AIs had suppressed Terra, they’d controlled all of the implant facilities on the planet and had undoubtedly yanked all of the equipment as soon as they were ready to start dropping kinetic strikes. Or simply made certain that none of it survived intact.
As the train went through the dark tunnel, occasionally passing through a pool of light cast by a functional illumination panel, he wondered what they were going to find when they reached the Imperial Palace. The story of there being a Marine Raider was incredible, if true.
He wasn’t as cynical as Julia, so he wasn’t discounting the idea out of hand. After all, what did they really know about the technology that went into creating the Marine Raiders? The specialized medical nanites they’d used were more advanced than those used by Fleet, but even the latter could significantly extend someone’s life. Was it really so unbelievable that there might be a survivor of the original Marine Raider cadre here on Terra?
Still, he’d need to see proof of that to believe it.
If he was right, the soldiers were descendants of the original Marine Raiders left here on Terra or those closely associated with them. Someone had kept the power on at the Imperial Palace, and they still had access to technology.
The minutes dragged by slowly and seemed to go even slower the farther they traveled. Eventually, the maglev train reached the spur and curved into another tunnel. As Jared was looking out the window, he could see the one they’d departed from. It led toward Imperial City, which was nothing more than a water-filled crater now.
The thought of all that death horrified him. It also steeled his determination to overcome whatever situation they found at the Imperial Palace and get what they needed to destroy the AIs once and for all.
He couldn’t believe how close they were to their destination. They’d been trying to get to the Imperial Palace for so long that he’d started thinking they’d never make it.
If the original plan had worked out, they’d have landed there with two pinnaces full of personnel. That would’ve almost certainly drawn a hostile response.
Even so, he’d had all the marines and their powered armor. They could’ve dealt with the problem, as he was willing to bet anything that these people no longer had access to something like that.
After another ten minutes, the train pulled into a station. Arrayed along the platform were about the same number of troops that he and his people had captured, their weapons pointed at the train. None were in powered armor, confirming his guess.
Obviously, there’d been some communication with his prisoners, and the defenders were ready to receive them. That was fine. He’d have expected nothing less.
“No matter what they say, we’re not going to disarm,” he said as he watched their prisoners leaving the other cars and streaming behind their armed comrades. That got a nod of agreement from the rest. They were done surrendering.
Taking the lead, Jared stepped out onto the platform. He’d considered carrying a flechette rifle but had decided against it. In the end, he’d settled for a flechette pistol on his hip and a stunner on his off side, in the style that Kelsey favored, a fashion that was fast becoming standard for both the marines and Fleet personnel on excursions.
If they ever made it back to Avalon, he’d recommend that Grand Admiral Yeats make that official.
Jared was dressed in a marine camouflage uniform that they’d recovered from the cache, as were the rest of his group that didn’t have powered armor. He wore unpowered armor—as did they, except for Talbot.
Behind him, the four in Raider armor arrayed themselves. They were armed to the teeth with weapons suitable for use in the armor. If there was a fight, they’d end it decisively. His personal plan was to dive back into the train if shooting started.
“Halt and put down your weapons!” someone in the group of soldiers on the platform shouted at them.
Jared raised his hands slightly. “My name is Jared Mertz, and I’m an admiral with Fleet. Not the Fleet that crushed the Empire on behalf of the artificial intelligences but part of a group of survivors that managed to escape the original rebellion.
“We won’t put our arms down. We’ve come to negotiate with the leaders here for the return of the fusion plant that you took from the city of Frankfort.”
An older man, his hair more gray than black, pushed his way through the defenders. He eyed Jared and the four in powered armor critically. “You have a lot of nerve coming into our domain this way. You stole our train and assaulted our people.”
“You stole the fusion plant from the city of Frankfort,” Jared countered. “Do we really want to start arguing about who stole what? I’d have thought you’d be more interested in talking about the Marine Raiders at my back.”
Jared gestured toward the four behind him. “We’ve heard that you also have a Marine Raider here. Perhaps ours should speak with yours and figure out between themselves what needs to happen.”
The man started to say something but stopped and put a hand to his ear. Jared could see that there was an earbud, so he was in communication with someone else. Another indication of higher technology.
The man frowned deeply and said something under his voice. It looked as if he was arguing with whoever had spoken. Whoever that was, they seemed insistent. The man dropped his hand and glared at Jared.
“The god wishes to speak with one of your people. I have chosen that one.” The man gestured toward Talbot, who had just been carried out on a stretcher.
“He’s wounded. Pick someone else.”
“I will not. The god gives you his word as a Marine Raider that your warrior will be returned to you unharmed and before any decision or action is taken.”
Jared considered the unexpected twist of fate. There was a risk in letting them take Talbot, but it might be worth taking.
“I don’t like them taking him off alone,” Kelsey said through her outer speakers as she stepped up beside him. “I should go with them.”
“The god insists that he come alone,” the man in front of them said. “Is his word not good enough for you?”
The soldiers arrayed in front of them all stiffened slightly, and their weapons rose a little. A negative answer wouldn’t be well received.
Jared held up a hand toward Kelsey. “Let’s see how this plays out.”
Talbot wondered what he was going to find when the soldiers carrying his stretcher delivered him to his destination. Like the rest of them, he had no idea who was really pulling the strings behind the scenes here in the Imperia
l Palace.
Four of the soldiers carried his stretcher while another four walked around them with their flechette rifles at the ready. They’d taken his weapons, and he hadn’t fussed. They were taking him to see somebody important to them, and he got their security concerns.
He had no idea how the maglev train platform was positioned inside the Imperial Palace, but the soldiers took him into an operational lift and descended several levels. He was grateful because going down stairs with him on a stretcher might’ve ended badly.
Lily had done as much as she could for him with the portable regenerator, but he was still weak. Even with his augmentation, the arrows had penetrated vital organs, and he was wary of tearing the wounds open again. Whatever happened next, he was going to do his best to keep the situation as drama free as he possibly could unless they gave him no choice.
When they exited the lift, the soldiers carried him along a wide corridor and stopped before two large doors that didn’t look like they belonged there. They were made of carved wood, showing battle scenes.
In a way, they reminded him of some of the carvings that he’d seen in the horde city, though these seemed to involve people with advanced weaponry. He made sure to record them with his implants for later study.
Flanking the doors were two guards in white uniforms that were reminiscent of the white uniforms worn by the Imperial Guard back on Avalon. The two groups exchanged words before the men in white opened the large doors and allowed the men carrying Talbot to go inside. They stopped the other soldiers, though.
As soon as the men carrying his stretcher entered the room, Talbot felt his eyes adjusting. The illumination levels in this space were low. If he hadn’t had ocular augmentation, he wasn’t certain that he would’ve been able to see very far into the gloom. There were six more guards in white inside, arrayed against the walls, each with a flechette rifle in their hands.
In many ways, the large room was similar to the Imperial throne room back on Avalon. It was wide but also very long. With his enhanced sight, he could see that there were tapestries hung along the walls that showed battle scenes similar to those carved into the doors, though the gloom obscured the fine details.