We've Seen the Enemy

by Paul Dayton

  “We’ve scanned them and there is a level one Quarantine. What kind of help do they need?”

  Jack filled them in on what she knew. “So when can we take care of this Pluto Base issue?”

  “Right now, if you’re up to it,” Dresdon said. “I see no harm in waiting for a fuller briefing. Captain Bishop and the command team are the priority at the moment,” he said looking at Hollander.

  “I agree. If you think you can get them out, then let’s get going Jack. Scratch, you stay behind.”

  Scratch was about to protest, but Hollander said, “I don’t want to lose my two best pilots, and Jack, you were flying the ship in so I presume you’re more familiar with it anyway. You Scratch, need a new arm.”

  “But Sir!” he said. “Jack…Jack…,” he stood there stammering, unsure of how to tell them that he loved her and didn’t want her hurt.

  “Yes, Sir! Right on it!” Jack interrupted as she got up and left. The rest returned to the bridge with Scratch doggedly following behind, and within a few minutes they heard Jack’s voice say, “Permission to depart, Commander.”

  “Permission granted. Just watch out for the base laser.”

  Within moments everyone watched as what used to be a Klinger came out of Dock 12. It circled around and approached the bridge, and once within clear sight it stopped and stood there.

  “What’s she waiting for?” Dresdon asked.

  “Watch,” Scratch said, upset that Jack was out there in danger, and that somehow he was once again missing all the fun.

  Soon the Klinger’s outer surface started to ripple and meld until the whole surface became an inky blackness darker then space itself. It turned and with a burst of its thrusters propelled itself towards the base.

  “Sir,” Jumal said, “The Klinger has disappeared. Absolutely no sign of it on any of my scans.” As if on cue, the rear red strobe light on the Klinger came on, out of view of the base but easily seen from WF221.

  “Augment! I want a really good close-up of this,” Hollander said.

  Jumal focused in and the barely visible Klinger, which was now invisible to WF scans. The tell tale blinking rear strobe was the only indication of its presence. It took up most of the view on the three dimensional screen. It went directly there without any attempt to evade Pluto Deep Space Base, and within a few minutes it was in position hovering 200 meters above the area where the two elevator shafts were.

  The Klinger started to glow and an intense white pulse emitted from it, almost too quick for the eye to discern. A cloud of dust erupted from the surface in a roughly one-hundred meter circle around the two shafts. Jack came online and said, “I have temporarily damaged their electronic systems. The pulse I released was only strong enough to trigger the breakers and electronic cut-offs, but in a few seconds you can contact the computer persona and let it know that this was the very lowest setting.”

  The Klinger then flew one kilometer away and hovered half a kilometer up but was still below the firing line of the base laser. It became visible on all frequencies and waited until Angela’s comm system came back online.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” Angela asked.

  “My name is Jack. I want our crew back now. There is no negotiation. You have five minutes. If you don’t give them back I’ll be coming personally to get your ass. Here is a bigger demonstration of my power to help you decide,” Jack said.

  Before she could continue, a missile battery burst out of the ground near the base and launched four missiles at the Klinger. The computer in Jack’s Klinger was undergoing a transformation, modifying its system continuously as it expanded in self-awareness. It now alerted Jack telepathically that there was an attack happening and it asked Jack if she wanted to take care of it.

  “No, Mike. Do your thing. Don’t be afraid to show off.”

  The ship glowed again, and lightening tendrils snaked out through space and struck the three missiles, but the fourth one it simply touched and the tendril disappeared. Those watching on WF221 thought that the Klinger defense system had somehow malfunctioned, but the missile circled around and targeted the Missile launcher. Angela realized what had happened and tried to lower the launcher into its bay but it was too late. When the missile struck, the launcher erupted into a ball of fire that expanded in a near perfect circle until it dissipated in the moon’s low gravity.

  Jack set her ship up for the next part. “Bitch, notice my distance from you. Keep in mind that I am raising the power to my second lowest setting.” Jack knew that the computer could quickly calculate that from this distance, a one hundred-fold increase in power would be needed for the base to feel the same effect as the first time.

  “Your demonstration is unnecessary,” Angela tried to protest, but it was too late. The explosion of power was so bright that it momentarily blinded those viewing it on WF221. The ground half a kilometer beneath the Klinger melted and pooled as its atomic structure decomposed into its primordial form. Rocks and dust coalesced as pulses of energy pounded the ground, shattering boulders that lay hundreds of meters away.

  ***

  Pluto Deep Space was feeling the effects of the attack as already loosened rocks from the first strike now broke free. Angela had shut down almost all of its systems to prevent a hard restart. It computed that if this strike didn’t end soon, the system as a whole would suffer irreparable damage. In the first attack, level seven and eight had suffered a complete collapse, but seeing as its sensors were down it had no way of knowing the extent of the damage occurring at the moment.

  Angela waited, unable to do anything. The power supply system informed it that a surge and then a drop in power occurred, and its sensors in the Main Computer Room informed it that there was a short deep rumble in the base. It calculated that a power generator must have exploded somewhere in the base, but the main system still had power, thanks to the new power supply coming from the generator on board the supply ship. It ‘worried’ the Captain hadn’t survived the attack, but within a few seconds the shaking stopped and the few operating sensors told it that the Klinger attack had stopped.

  Base damage came in, including the fact that Levels Five and Six had also collapsed and four more computing units were no longer operational.

  Angela computed that the Base’s operational status had been reduced a further 23% from its pre-attack status of 66%. The situation was critical, but would not affect the situation with the Captain, barring any further interruptions from the Klinger or those in orbit. The Medi-bot assured it that he was in excellent health for his age and that the drug induced coma was being carefully monitored. Angela calculated its next move, considering variables and deciding on the best possible outcome under the circumstances. After 700 years, Angela was desperate to ‘love’ her new companion, and she made the necessary arrangements to make sure nothing would prevent this.

  ***

  Those on board WF221 stood in awe at the incredible power unleashed by the Klinger. No one knew how it was accomplished, and it was obvious that the original Klinger simply couldn’t generate that much power itself, so Dresdon was dying to take a peek at the internals and he knew that the engineers that witnessed the second attack would be anxious to do the same.

  His meditation was broken by the Angela persona now visible on the screen.

  “Commander,” she said. “This is your Captain and next to him are several of your soldiers.”

  An image of Captain Bishop and several of the drop team members appeared, all of them connected to life support. A Medi-Bot was attending to their situation as they sat in some sort of reclining chair.

  “They were gravely injured in your attack. The others are dead. The base itself has suffered a cave-in and there is no longer any way for these people to leave. I tried to tell the Captain of the Klinger but she wouldn’t listen, Commander Hollander. I’m sorry for your crew but I do assure you that they will receive the best of care in the last few days of their lives. Goodbye.”

  “Damn,” Dresd
on muttered. They all stared at the now empty screen, unsure of what to think as they considered the probability that Angela was not telling the truth.

  “I want ideas, opinions, and information. Feel free to voice anything you think may help us,” Hollander said.

  “Commander, this is Jack. I didn’t hit them hard enough to cause the damage the computer said I did. She’s lying!”

  “Jumal, can you give me any info on what happened during the event? And Comm, keep the line open to Jack,” Hollander said.

  “Yes, Sir. Checking the log now.”

  Within a few moments Jumal said, “Originally my scans didn’t reveal anything about the base itself. That’s no surprise. It’s well masked against scans of any sort. But now I can pick up the partially collapsed elevator shaft the original command team went down. It’s clear to a depth of six hundred and eighteen meters. I’m also picking up the cargo elevator and its clear to its full depth, but other than these two things I can get nothing else. Whatever the comp’s using to mask the base has stopped working in the passenger and cargo elevator shaft areas.

  “Logs show that the sensors picked up three implosions, two in the first attack and two more after. There was also an explosion. The composition of the planet tells me that the implosions occurred at a depth of six-hundred and twenty meters, six hundred and sixteen, and then twelve in that order.”

  “I see.” Hollander looked dejected as he considered the import of Jumal’s words. Was it possible that Angela was actually speaking the truth? He hated to think that his crew was as good as dead.

  “One more thing, Sir. The explosion occurred at a depth of five hundred and twenty four meters.”

  It took a moment for the information to sink in. “Jumal, how accurate is the information we have on the base?” Dresdon asked.

  “Not very, Sir. It’s second hand, apparently from a civilian source. Near as I can tell, it appears to be…” Dresdon watched as he went through the information on his monitor, “...from some sort of science magazine, and it appears to describe the as yet un-built base. But this was the only information we had and it’s what the command crew downloaded on their wrist comps.”

  “Are there any dimensions given?” Dresdon said.

  “No. But I can display it on the main monitor in three dimensions. It’s already programmed.”

  “Do it,” Hollander said. The base layout appeared on screen, clearly different from what was actually on Charon. The main cargo elevator didn’t exist in the drawings, but it was obvious that they needed one that size. Dresdon kicked himself for not having thought of that earlier.

  He focused on the depth of the base and its general layout. “What could explode at that depth, above the tunnels where the crew supposedly are in the main computer section?”

  The crew scanned the information and after conferring, Jumal replied, “Nothing, Sir. The information we have indicates that the first thing anybody encounters once inside the base is a central room, very likely a security area, which gives access to a number of hallways and rooms on that floor, including the Main Computer room. It would make sense because you want the base operations electronics as far away from the power generation area as possible. Those generators were efficient but quirky and records show that one of them actually overloaded on Earth.”

  Hollander was pensive. “Jumal, scan the visual of the room with the injured Command team and see if it was doctored. How long will it take?”

  “It depends on how good it was doctored, if it was at all. But I’ll be as fast as possible.”

  “Commander, Jack here. What do you want me to do?”

  “Just hang on a second. We may need you yet,” the Commander replied.

  Jumal and a few others gathered around and started running computer filters through the image now displayed on the main 3D view-screen. The image was rotated various times as different electronic filters were applied and contrast areas were cleaned up, but there was nothing definitive showing up.

  Jumal then concentrated on the edges of the objects, amplifying the image and comparing the resolution against other objects in the room. He figured that the objects were probably all in the same room as the three dimensional image showed, and results proved him correct. Next he went to the Captain on the chair and compared his resolution to the chair he was on but it was a clear match too. What was more, there was a definite edge to the two and Jumal could see wrinkles in the chair where they were expected to be, around the elbows and fingers, the back and the headrest.

  He couldn’t help but think he was chasing a red herring. But as soon as he amplified the second person, he knew he had hit pay-dirt. It was obvious that Angela hadn’t the time or the computing power to match resolutions and clean up the image. The pixel count was slightly different and once the image was magnified the edges showed an overlap in certain areas where the bodies were moved. He double checked his findings.

  “Sir, the image has been doctored! Someone really is sitting on the center recliner but he has only one intravenous bottle and not the two shown, and the area around his head has been changed so I have no way of knowing if it is the Captain on the chair or not. The others were placed in those chairs electronically.”

  “Thank you Jumal!” Hollander said. “First Officer Dresdon, ready the ship to break orbit. Comm, put out a call to Angela.”

  “Ready, Sir,” the confused Comm officer said.

  “Angela, we have to break orbit. Please keep us informed on the situation with the crew, and let us know if there is anything we can do.” Hollander made the hand signal to cut communication without waiting for a reply.

  “Jack, I want you to make a very visible landing on WF221 and immediately take off again but don’t let Angela know,” he said. “How hard did you hit that base?”

  “Pretty hard Commander. I gave them a little extra surprise. My instruments show that the base has taken on damage to its sensor and control system, not to mention the missile launcher.”

  “Perfect. Our logs show a collapse on the passenger elevator shaft but a clear cargo shaft. We also believe that the sensors are out on both and that Angela is blind there. Our Command Team’s mission was to access the mainframe and establish control of the base, as well as to ascertain its current status – primarily power generation, and to outline any needed improvements for future repair. We don’t know how far they got. We’re sending you unreliable information as to their possible locations. As far as we can tell, the only way out for our crew members is the Cargo elevator. The wall separating the two is only 10 meters thick. Can your ship punch a hole through that?”

  “I’m not sure until I actually do it. I have to think of what I want to happen and the ship reads my mind and does it, but its actual capabilities are unknown to me.”

  “I see. But right now you’re our only chance of getting them out of there. Once airborne, take a look at the cargo elevator and see if you can somehow make your way down it to below the cave-in in the passenger elevator. Use your comm system to try to contact the team.”

  “I’ll see what I can do, Sir,” Jack replied.

  ***

  Mat looked up through the hole they had cut in the top of the elevator. Fortunately the shaft was pressurized, which meant that the base must have a second set of doors near the surface through which the elevator had gone through.

  He spied the control panel for the elevator near the top of the shaft hundreds of meters up. He had to augment the resolution on his helmet display and readjust his eyes to maximum but he could certainly make out a metallic box with a large number of conduits coming from it. It seemed more complex then it needed to be, but Mat wasn’t worrying about it now.

  He picked up the tool and weapons bag and quickly assembled and locked in an ESAX, a handheld guided micro missile that locked onto various types of targets. He clicked the rotating head several stops until the pointer hit ‘ELECTRONIC’, and Bulldog centered the launcher viewfinder on the target and pressed the ‘ACQUIRE’ butt
on. The small explosive warhead was modular, and once on that setting it would detonate with an electrical pulse designed to fry any circuits in a thirty-meter radius. Its cousin, the ESAX VARIANT II which they also carried doubled as an unofficial blast door opener and general strong arm.

  “Wait ‘till Angela gets a load of this!” Bulldog said and he pressed the igniter button.

  The short missile shot out of the launcher and through the hole they had cut in the ceiling, working its way up the long elevator shaft until a small explosion was seen at the top. The group had covered their augmented eyesight to avoid the flash that would temporarily blind them. After counting to three they opened their eyes again. Mat peered up and saw a slowly cooling red spot where the control should be, but he didn’t have a chance at any satisfaction. Debris started falling down the shaft and they noticed a low hum that vibrated them to their core.

  “What the hell was in that missile, BAM-BAM?” Spud asked. Bulldog laughed, but none of them had ever heard anything like that hum before, and Mat continued to watch as more and more dust and debris broke loose from the walls and tumbled down the shaft. “Watch for debris!” he yelled as they all stood against the walls to avoid being hit by anything falling through the hole.

  Suddenly the dust stopped falling and started to rise and escape through the hole in the ceiling.

  “What the…The airlock seal is gone!” Spud said.

  “Must be a leak and not a blowout,” Mat added as he confirmed that his suit had adjusted to the loss in pressure. They watched as the air cleared, but the heavier rocks and metal continued to fall onto the elevator. The noise, which had been extreme at first, now was reduced to small clangs as the air dissipated. Noise was now coming from the vibration, working its way to them through the elevator walls and their metallic suits.