by M. R. Forbes
“She went after my Guardians,” Sergeant Card growled. “Shiro and Ning.”
“Surprisingly, no,” David said. “She systematically poisoned every one of her fellow scientists through their food supply, leaving them unconscious and vulnerable. She spent the whole time ranting about how she couldn’t allow all of her work to be for nothing, and how she couldn’t let her sister’s death be for nothing, and how humankind had to not only survive but win.”
“Win what?” Private Flores asked.
“The war against the enemy. She used the other scientists as test subjects. She made them into monsters. All of them except Harry. He had become her new target of affection after me.
“She gloried in her success because she was able to control them at first. It didn’t last. When I saw how far she was willing to go, I knew I had to escape. I wanted to warn the other Marines so they could stop her before it was too late. I convinced her to give me continued access to the alien ship, and she had no problem allowing it as long as one of her hybrids was standing over me. Do you remember when I told you how advanced the AI’s creators are?”
“I remember.”
“It had no problem using its available resources to steal control of the hybrids away from Riley. She should have died in the laboratory, but it turned out she was always prepared for a mutiny. She and Harry managed to escape into the ship. The AI sent the hybrids after them. Once she was gone, it unlocked my cell and ordered me to bring the Cerebus armor to it. I did as it said, and then watched as the gel inside the starship maneuvered itself into the armor and hardened. Then it put its hand to the reactor, and I could almost literally see the intelligence being born through the gel.
“Once it was complete, it ordered me to bring it to the bridge and access the ship’s mainframe. It didn’t believe me when I told it I didn’t have access. I had translated its language. How could I not break human encryption? It threatened me, and when I insisted I couldn’t do what it asked, it attacked me. I lost one of my arms escaping.
“I hid while I regenerated. Then I made my way through the ship, looking for Riley and Harry, and for Shiro and Ning. Meanwhile, the AI sent the hybrids out to find me. I’ve always been good at hiding. Being smarter made me even better at it. They never found me, but they did find the two Marines. I saw the hybrids bringing them back to Research alive. I knew what it was going to do to them, but there was no way to stop it.”
“What about Riley?” Sergeant Card asked.
“She and Harry managed to evade the hybrids for a while. I found out later they had changed some of the encryption protocols and access commands, altered the logic around the ship’s ability to land and informed Metro there was a problem and to weld the seals closed. That was all over two hundred years ago. I’ve spent the last two centuries in an extended game of cat and mouse with the AI, always trying to stay one step ahead of it and the hybrids. I never knew what had happened to Riley before the ship’s computer sent the remote thaw signal to your stasis pod. I had always assumed she killed herself to keep the AI from getting the codes, but I don’t know if she even knows what the AI is.”
“Whether she knows what it is or not, the AI has her,” Sergeant Card said. “It’s going to want the codes from her.”
“What good are the landing codes going to do?” Private Flores asked. “The Deliverance’s mainframe was reset, and the nav computer brought us to Earth-6. As far as the alien intelligence is concerned, we might as well be back on Earth. Why are you shaking your head?”
David hadn’t realized he was shaking his head while the private was speaking. He held it steady, ready to answer.
“Because the Deliverance didn’t go to Earth-6,” Sergeant Card said, getting to his feet. “Did it, David?”
“No, Sergeant,” David said.
“Huh?” Private Flores said. “Alpha, I’m confused.”
“Riley lies, Flores,” Private Sho said.
“She told us the coordinates were for Earth-6, but none of us know one-star map position from another. What we do know is that she wanted to turn the population of Metro into human-trife hybrids. She wanted to make a monster army of her own. Why would she do that?”
“Oh my,” Private Sho said breathlessly. “She brought the Deliverance here to start a war.”
“Or to finish it,” Sergeant Card said. “Except it turns out she doesn’t have any Marines.”
“What do you think is waiting for us on Essex’s surface, Sarge?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, looking at David. “I’m pretty sure I don’t want to find out. We have to keep the Deliverance from landing. We have to find Riley and either free her or kill her, and we have to destroy the AI. And I don’t care which order we do it in.”
“Don’t be too hard on Riley, Sergeant,” David said. “She had military command’s blessing on this. She didn’t go completely rogue.”
“I’m sure Command would be grateful to hear how she drugged her fellow Marines to use them as test subjects. You need to pick a side, David. And you need to do it now.”
David stared at Sergeant Card. He knew he needed to help him, but he also didn’t want to see Riley killed. If he could save her, he would.
“I’m on your side,” David said.
“Good. Then—“
“Research, this is the bridge,”a voice interrupted through the comm.
Chapter 34
The Guardians froze, each of them shifting to look at the others in surprise.
The comms were supposed to be offline.
“I repeat. Research, this is the bridge. You will respond.”
Caleb looked over at David. He was doing his best to take in everything the former stowaway had told them, and to reserve his judgments of David, Riley and Command for a time when they weren’t in imminent danger. He had thought maybe that time was approaching.
Maybe not.
An alien artificial intelligence was occupying the Cerebus armor. It had Doctor Valentine. It wanted to go home. And apparently, they had already brought it there.
So what the hell did it need from them?
“Research, this is the bridge. I know you are present. You will respond.”
David’s face was flushed. The man was paralyzed with fear. Caleb shook his head, angry and frustrated at everything he had just learned. The colonists in Metro were still his primary responsibility. He was glad Riley’s plan to turn them all into hybrid monsters had failed. He could hardly believe the sick mind that had conceptualized that outcome in the first place.
He broke out of his static pose, rushing to the control room and tapping the surface of the primary terminal. He found the comm controls and completed the link.
“This is Sergeant Card of the United States Space Force Marines,” he said. “Who am I speaking with?”
“Sergeant Card of the United Space Force Marines,” the voice repeated back, slightly amused. “I require the quantum energy unit.”
“The what?” Caleb replied.
“The power source of his spacecraft,” David said, approaching behind him with the rest of the Guardians.
“There you are, David. I also require the landing codes for this ship. I am told you are in possession of them, Sergeant Card.”
Caleb opened his mouth to deny it, and then stopped himself. Riley had the codes. The intelligence had Riley. If she had somehow convinced it that he had the codes instead, it was to give them a chance against this thing.
“You have Doctor Valentine,” Caleb said.
“Yes.”
“Is she unharmed?”
“Yes. Mostly. I require the landing codes.”
“For all your intellect, you don’t know how to land the ship?”
“I know how to land the ship, Sergeant. I recover the access codes. I am in the process of doing so. I am told those codes were transferred to your hibernation pod, and you recovered them when you thawed.”
“Riley told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Doctor Valentine, if we ever get back home, I’ll have you brought up on charges of treason.”
“I’m sorry, Caleb,” Riley said, speaking for the first time. “I didn’t have a choice. Please, just give it the codes and this can be over for all of us.”
“I also require the energy unit. The ship’s power levels are too low to attempt a landing without bolstering the thrust output. I am not able to conserve enough through attrition.”
“What does that mean?” Caleb asked.
“It turned off Metro, Sergeant,” Riley said.
“You mean the atmospherics?”
“No. I mean all of Metro. The atmospherics, the heat, the water, the lights. Everything.”
“I care not for any of the life on this vessel,” the AI said. “I require the landing codes and the energy unit. I will reach the surface and then I will return to my place.”
“What will happen to us when you do?” Caleb asked.
“I care not.”
“That isn’t much incentive for me to give you a damn thing,” Caleb said.
“Are you capable of thinking logically, Sergeant?”
“Occasionally.”
“If you give me the landing codes, you will survive. If you refuse, I will disable the critical systems to which I have access. You will die on this vessel in a manner that will be both slow and painful.”
“Damn it,” David blurted. “You can’t do this. We had a deal.”
“Yes, David. I help you escape. You help me complete the mission. You did not help me complete the mission. You refused me.”
“I didn’t have access. Hasn’t this proven I couldn’t get access?”
“You should not have made a bargain you could not keep. There are consequences for that. You act without concern for the outcome of your actions. That is the primary sign of the immaturity of your species.”
“Save us the patronizing lectures about how imperfect we are,” Caleb said. “If we’re immature, it’s because we haven’t had time to get to wherever it is your creators are. Then again, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to go there.”
“If you had given me time, I would have gotten the codes,” David said. “You didn’t give me time. You weren’t patient.”
“I am patient. I have been patient. But I care not to wait on inferiority.”
“We can’t be that inferior,” Sho said, “if you need us to get what you want.”
The AI didn’t respond to her statement. Caleb smirked. She had successfully shut it up… for a few seconds, anyway.
“You will provide what I require, or you will die. The terms are simple, Sergeant Card.”
Caleb looked back at David. If the AI wanted the Deliverance to land, then there was no way he was going to let it land. And maybe it didn’t have to. If they could harness the power of the energy unit, they might have a third option: plot a course for Essex – the real Essex – and take their chances on another trip across the stars.
Could the people inside Metro hold up for another trip like that? It had to be better than the alternatives.
Of course, the alien intelligence wasn’t going to be on board with that idea. If they wanted even a half a chance at getting out of this, there was only one option.
They had to destroy it.
“What is your decision, Sergeant?” the intelligence asked.
“I’ll give you the codes,” Caleb decided, looking back at Flores, Sho and Washington. “And your energy unit. I assume David knows how to disconnect it.”
“He does.”
“Give us an hour, and then meet us in the hangar on Deck Thirty. Bring Doctor Valentine with you. Alive. We’ll trade the unit for her.”
“I also require David.”
“No. That isn’t part of the deal. David is human. He stays with the humans.”
“David is human by birth. He has been upgraded. Enlightened. If only by accident.”
Caleb sighed loudly. “I know you think you have us by the neck because you have the power to shut down critical systems. But maybe you don’t know enough about the United States Marine Corps. I’d sooner let everyone on this ship die, slowly and painfully like you suggested, than let you dictate the terms of the bargain without negotiation. In fact, the longer you let me stand here and consider it, the more I start to wonder if we should give you anything. It was your makers who forced us out here to begin with. Maybe it would be a massive mistake for me to help you at all.”
The AI didn’t respond immediately. A long pause followed, lasting nearly a minute. When it returned, the hint of amusement that tinged its voice was gone.
“You will bring the energy unit to the hangar on Deck Thirty in one hour. You will give it to me. You will give me the landing codes. I will give you Doctor Riley Valentine. I will leave the hangar, and I will install the energy unit. Then I will land the ship. Then I will complete my directives. I care not what happens to you. Do you comprehend?”
“Confirmed,” Caleb said. “We’ll see you there.”
There was no reply. The light on the terminal went out, suggesting the link had been disconnected. Caleb didn’t trust it. He put his finger to his lips, and then directed the others out of the control room and back to the lab. He closed the door behind them.
“Sergeant,” David said before he could speak. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking because it’s an artificial intelligence that means it’s incapable of malice or dishonesty. It can’t be trusted.”
Caleb looked at David and smiled. “Neither can we.”
Chapter 35
“This is the last thing I expected when I signed up for this mission,” Flores said.
“You didn’t sign up for the mission,” Sho replied. “You were assigned.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Knuckle-up Marines,” Caleb said. They fell silent instantly, pivoting to face him. “We have one hour to prepare for this meeting, and I don’t think I need to tell you what’s at stake.”
“Roger that, Sarge,” Sho said. “What’s the plan?”
Caleb turned to David. “The scientists had a stash of weapons. Where are they?”
“There’s a small armory next to the crew quarters,” David replied. He started shaking his head. “It’s mostly small arms. None of it will do much good against the Cerebus armor.”
“How much do you know about the armor?”
“Enough. The alien spacecraft originally had a retractable surface to provide lift and flight control within an atmospheric and gravitational environment. They removed the retractable plates to make the shell of the armor. The interior is standard Advanced Tactical Combat Armor, but using it with the lighter metal increases the strength. It has a tactical computer on board, though I believe the intelligence has reprogrammed it to provide a direct interface to the ship’s mainframe.”
“My arm is made from the alien ship too,” Caleb said.
“Yes. Byrnes was working on the viability of fashioning replacements from the material. They expected that the materials used to make the alloy would be in abundance on other planets.”
“Did the Reapers know they weren’t going to Proxima?”
“They knew it was a possibility. It all depended on whether or not they were able to complete their research.”
“But you’re talking about regenerating humans, right?” Sho asked. “Not human-trife hybrids.”
“Correct. There’s a secret weapons cache hidden beneath the city. Enough weapons and ammunition to outfit an entire army.”
“An army numbering in the thousands?” Caleb said. “Say, thirty to forty thousand?”
“Yes.”
Caleb’s jaw clenched. He was still trying to come to grips with the truth of the Deliverance’s original mission. He had always thought he was delivering colonists to their new home, not an army to the enemy’s front door. As a Guardian, he was supposed to survive the entire length of the journey. He would have woken from stasis thinking he was escaping the trife and the
war only to find himself thrown back into the fight on an entirely different battleground where all of the rules had changed. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lieutenant Jones had known about Command’s real plans for the ship. He couldn’t help but wonder if that was why the man he had respected so highly had betrayed that respect, forsaking his duty to enter the city.
“This whole thing is just so messed up,” Sho said, putting his thoughts to words.
“You know what’s really messed up?” Flores added. “The people in Metro don’t even know. The ones who boarded the Deliverance on Earth thought their kids were going to grow up to be farmers and nerf-herders. Not mutant Marines.”
“Nerf-herders?” David asked.
“You never saw Star Wars?” Flores replied. “Seriously, this is almost as bad as finding out what the Matrix is.”
“I know this is hard for all of us to get our heads around,” Caleb said. “We’re the Guardians. Our mission is to protect the city and the ship. Including from ourselves, I suppose. We can’t change anything that happened before. We have to focus on what we can change. I know it’s challenging, but it’s on us to rise to the challenge. David, we already know the armor is fairly resistant to plasma. Flores blasted me in the arm back in the hangar during her hallucination. Does it have any weaknesses?”
“Not that I’m aware of, Sergeant,” David replied. “Riley believed they could convert ten to twenty suits of standard combat armor to Cerebus armor using the materials of the spacecraft. She intended to outfit the most successful Marines with the armor and turn them into literal killing machines, impervious to almost anything the enemy could throw at them.”
“Assuming the enemy was limited to trife and weapons like ours. But Doctor Valentine never accounted for the neural disruption technology, did she?”
“No. We were all unaware of it until the intelligence started using it. I had my own share of hallucinations. I believe I was able to overcome them because of the difference in my brain wave patterns from a standard human’s. I developed the wand to prevent further lapses.“