His eyes glazed, he breathing hard and continue with his confessions, “Neekulba took over the main computer and started to massacre the city. Everything was connected to the main computer, so apartments, aircraft, lifts and robot cleaners all became his executioners. He killed the inhabitants and reveled in their cries and fear. Nobody escaped him. Nobody was able to hide. It was horrible to see…”
He shuddered and spat out some greenish red liquid into a miniature cloth in his hand. He was getting paler and paler. “I was watching from this room helplessly. However, saving the data about our civilization was the single thing I could do. I collected all that I was able to find, hoping that somebody would destroy him in the future and see how all life on our planet looked before the crazy mind of Neekulba destroyed it. The Helaris will take care of the data and give it to you who are listening to my last words. Unhappily, I have no more time – my food and water are running out, and I’m aware that I won’t be able to collect all the data. Still, the Helaris will continue my work after my death. Let the light illuminate you.”
When the recording was over, Halaman I. reached for ten neatly arranged plates from the desk opposite Halaman’s skeleton and handed them to me. “Here is all that we and our Creator collected.”
Henry threw his rifle on his back and accepted the plates. “Is there a plan of this building in these memory plates, the one we’re in currently?”
“No, there isn’t in these ones, but we have the plan on some other memory plates.”
“Can we have one of those plates?”
Halaman I. approached one of the damaged robots on a desk several tables of their Creator and pressed a hidden button; he opened its chest. He took out a plate and handed to Henry. “I reckon that Halaman XII won’t need it anymore.”
“Can you turn it on?”
“Sure, it’s simple. Just press the left button at the bottom, and then click the button to the right a few times until it shows the main map. But first I have to put in the translation for you because it is all written in our old script.” He pushed something flat and square into a slot in the side and then passed the plate to me after a couple of seconds. “I hope that you haven’t waited too long,” he said.
Henry smiled at his statement and said, “Thank you. It’s all right.” Before long he found the main map of the building and he had to ask him, “Where are we now exactly?”
Halaman I. leaned towards the plate and pressed a small dot at the edge of the map; the dot twinkled red. Then he gently ran his fingers over the screen, and the map began to enlarge as he zoomed in. “We’re right here.”
“Now can you show me the way to Neekulba?”
“Yes. If you want, I can draw a shortcut directly to him. I think it won’t be any problem to follow it.”
“Yes, I hope so. And, by the way, show me how to use the keys.”
“It’s very simple to follow the map, and you also can switch it to the 3D view.” He pressed a button at the bottom and a three-dimensional plan lit up in blue above it. Again he gently made a move across the screen. “You can do the same with your fingers, but it’s simpler to use the keys. To transfer the map to the next level or to go back, just click here.”
After Henry had thanked him, he moved over to the rest of the robots which were standing opposite him and called Kir and Vallery to come closer. “According to this map, we’re not very far from him. Kir, can you sense him?”
Kir shook her head. “He hides. Currently, I do not feel his mind.”
After a moment an idea intrigued me. “Perhaps these robots could feel him.” Henry called and asked Halaman I, “Can you tell me what Neekulba is currently doing?”
“Yes, just communicating with the surface.”
It was what Henry had thought. “With whom he communicated?”
“With his robot jumpers, he calls him Shurneem. They are attacking your people at the place where you landed, but they haven’t had any success and Neekulba is very rampant.”
“It means that my team is successfully defending the base.”
“He is losing the battle and will soon run out of robots.”
“I am glad to hear that. Can you tell me one more thing – who can we expect in these halls?”
He briefly looked at the map. Pointing with a finger, he said, “At this place, there are still Hularis that are not destroyed, but at a lower level Kazmarazats are waiting for you. You should beware, they are powerful and dangerous. They guard his chamber, which is located in the main research center.”
“What do Kazmarazats look like?”
“I can show you if you give me the memory plate.” After a short search, he returned the plate to Henry and said, “He perfected them for killing.”
Henry noticed something that he hadn’t wanted to see: Khak guns were built into their massive bodies. “Where have they got these cannons from?”
“It is a weapon of the last attackers who were called Anskers. Twenty years ago they tried to capture the city, having landed with a group of soldiers, but they all were killed. Neekulba killed them mercilessly.”
“Did they attack the city again after this defeat?”
“Several times they tried to destroy the city. They attacked from orbit with ballistic missiles, but Neekulba protected the city from attack by destroying their missiles in the atmosphere. Then he sent Kazmarazats in several of their captured aircraft to destroy their enormous cruisers. The Anskers thought they were the returning soldiers they had sent down to the planet, so they let them land. He used their own codes, so they didn’t know what hit them. The remains of their cruisers are in the ocean hundreds of mile from the city.” He stopped for a moment and ran his fingers over the wrist of his right hand, on which a thin layer of green could be seen. There was a concern on his face, but when he noticed that I was watching him, he shrugged his shoulders and asserted quietly, “I think I will soon have to go into repair. Sorry, I have strayed off for a moment, it won’t happen again. Where were we? Ah, yes. After that, the Anskers gave up, and they haven’t come back again.”
“In the meantime, they waged war with us. You weren’t their main enemy anymore,” Henry laughed cynically. “No wonder they surrendered this peripheral solar system to us. They didn’t want to lose their manpower to discover what was hidden in the city.”
“They were not the only ones who tried to land in the city. And there were more attempts before them, but Neekulba killed them all.” Halaman I suddenly paused and then for a moment, asked, “Do you need me for something else?”
“No, that will be it for now.”
After he had gone away, Henry looked at the schematics of the Kazmarazats. “Vallery, I think we’ll need the Hydras for these shitheads.”
“So that means we’re going back up to the ground?”
“Yes, take Keniko, Beny, and Karl because you’ll need their help.” Henry looked into her eyes and added, “See it done that Wilburn’s body is carried into the aircraft. Until you come back, Kir and I will look at these schematics. Perhaps we will find a weak point in them.”
Vallery saluted him militarily and set off to prepare the others. Henry turned to Kir, who was looking at the devices in front of them. “You’re somewhat thoughtful?”
She looked at him with her black eyes, on which Henry had already gotten used to, and asserted, “I have to rest. I have to prepare myself for the meeting with Neekulba. I reckon you’ll have to find a weak point in the schematics yourself.” She turned towards the robots, which were continuing their work, and added, in her icy voice, “See that nobody disturbs me because that might be the last thing they do. Talk to the robots; maybe they’ll find some weakness in their shields.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Henry stared at the deep wrinkle which had appeared on her forehead and asked worriedly, “How long will this rest last?”
“I’ll be ready when Vallery comes back. Don’t worry that much.”
Henry watch
ed her while she went away, ideas swarming in his head. He called over Halaman I and they reviewed some of the schematics and talked about all the possible ways to disable the Kazmarazats and put them out of action. Endy, who was watching them from the side, approached the desk and looked at the schematic for a couple of seconds. Then he erected himself, took hold of his square chin and asked Henry with a serious voice, “Commander, may I speak to you?”
He raised his eyes. “You have already. Say what’s bothering you.”
“I think we should bring the magnetic mines for these iron monsters.”
“Why do you think we’ll need them?”
“An interesting idea has struck me, and I’ll need them.”
Henry stood up straight and gazed at his strong face. “Come on; let me hear what you have been thinking so seriously about.”
Endy laughed, and the large white scar under his left eye started dancing. “I’ve been thinking about making the Kazmarazats step on the mines, but there is a tiny problem.”
“And that is…?”
“The problem is that somebody will need to run ahead of them and lead them to step on the mines. But it is risky because the Kazmarazats will shoot at whoever does it. I think that…”
Henry finished his sentence, “I would be the best candidate for that?”
Endy shifted on the spot. “Yes, but it’s a pretty risky assignment.”
For a moment or two, Henry thought about it and then he spoke. “I think that wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’ll think about it for a while.”
Endy lit up with happiness and asked me in a serious voice, “That means that I can get the mines?”
“Yes, you may.”
Endy rubbed his hands and said with a smile, “Super. There are going to be fireworks!”
Henry laughed, shook his head and then commanded, “Don’t overdo it! Go and inform Vallery about this talk and tell her that I am sending you as assistance. Let everyone bring as many mines as they can from the transporter’s storage.”
“Nothing will remain in the supply dump; you may be sure of it.”
“Go now; I have to make a few more preparations for your plan.”
“Yes, Sir!”
*
Watching from a transporter, Sergeant Colburn noticed Vallery and the crew were approaching, carrying someone on a stretcher. He tapped Berry on his shoulder. “Keep an eye on robots Berry!” The Sergeant hurried down the narrow stairs on the hull of the transporter. When Vallery came closer, he looked at the tent flap which covered the body.
“Who’s on the stretcher?”
Vallery is breathing hard after the climb, when she catches her breath, determined with a sad expression on his face, “Wilburn.”
“What happened?”
“The current killed him while he was opening the door.”
Colburn looked at her for a moment and then spoke in a low voice, “We’ve lost John.”
Vallery looked at him and a tear sparkled in her eye. While he was trying to calm herself, she asked, “How… How was he killed?”
Colburn pointed towards the little robots on the ground. “One of these small shitheads succeeded in getting through and jumping on his chest.”
She looked fiercely towards the destroyed robots and hit the nearest one with her foot. “He was like a father to me. If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t know how I could have survived in Hades.”
“Unfortunately, I arrived when it was already too late.”
“Did he suffer?”
Colburn sighed and leaned his hand on her shoulder. “He didn’t suffer.” He stopped for a moment, having noticed a tear slid down her cheek, and then asked seriously, “Tell me now, why have you come back?”
Before she responded, she lifted the visor of her helmet and wiped off her tears. “Well, we need most of the Hydras from the depot and as many mines as we can take with us.”
“Let me handle it!”
“I want to see him. Tell me, where’s his body?”
The Sergeant pointed with his hand towards the transporter.
“Take over command,” she said.
“You don’t have to worry about it.”
She nodded and proceeded towards the place where he had pointed. The Sergeant’s deep voice resounded behind her back. “Let’s go, men. The Commander is waiting for you!”
Vallery approached the transporter slowly. She remembered clearly when she had gone to Hades and first got acquainted with John. On her first day in Hades, she had run into the Warriors, a gang of ex-Army prisoners, who almost killed her because she had killed General Smith. They had beaten her and left her lying half dead on the dusty ground, but John had picked her up and brought her to his rooms. He had healed her suffering wounds for a month, and it was only owing to him that she was still alive.
After she had been cured, John had taught her how to survive in Had; he was rather experienced at it. He had been imprisoned there for twenty-five long years, and he had survived two riots, tens of wardens and numerous prisoners who had arrived after him. Through him, she got acquainted with Beny, who soon became her lover and protector. She liked John more than her own father, who was a rich and rotten piece of garbage from whom she had run away to join the Army, where he couldn’t grab her with his rotten claws.
Vallery had known that John yearned for freedom and that’s why she had asked Brigadier Broncon to take him and Beny with them. On the way to Godeena she had thanked John for saving her and helping her to survive in Hades. When she lifted the tent flap that covered his body and saw his pale face, she bent down, kissed his cheek gently and whispered in his ear in her trembling voice, “Now you’re free at last… just how you wished it you didn’t die in Hades.”
*
Diana was preoccupied with reviewing the data which Halaman Kunadian had saved, so she didn’t notice when Henry came closer to her. For a while he stood above her, watching what she was studying on the plates.
And then he asked her, “How are you progressing in your research?”
Diana was startled because she was engrossed in browsing data and asked him in confusion, watching his smiling face, “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked how you are getting on.”
She looked at the plates she had reviewed and gently ran a finger over the screen. She said, alert and delighted, “All their civilization survives on these plates. This, this is, I don’t know how to explain it in words; something like this is found rarely. This discovery is equal to the great discoveries of the past…”
Henry interrupted her. “Sorry, but unfortunately I have no more time to talk about that. I’ve come to tell you that I’ve decided you should stay here. I consider that we won’t need you; we already have a map. Besides, it’s very risky to go where we’re going.”
Diana was watching him, thinking over his words; Henry could tell she was relieved that she didn’t need to come with them to fight the robots. Nevertheless, she was a researcher, and she adored her work.
Diana gently leaned his hand on his chest and with a grateful voice assert, “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I hope that what you’re working on now you might publish in your scientific magazines in the near future.”
“If I publish it, your name shall be together with mine.”
Henry shook his head. “That would be nice, but first I have to do some things to enable that to happen.”
When she looked into his eyes, Henry knew what she was thinking: “Ruin him, Brigadier! Let no trace of him be left.”
Henry firmly stated, “It simply comes down to whether we shall destroy him or he destroys us. There is no another solution.”
Kir’s icy voice startled him as she appeared like a ghost at his back. “But now we are at an advantage.”
He looked at her askance and concluded, “Or we’re in a trap!”
Kir laughed, showing two rows of her white teeth. “The
key to opening that trap is to get there soon.”
At that moment Vallery and the rest of the armed men appeared at the entrance to the room. In surprise Henry looked at Endy, who was adorned with a Christmas tree; mines were hung all over him, and he was barely able to walk. When they approached him, he asked Vallery, “Why is that lunatic carrying so many mines?”
“You know what happens when you let a child into a pastry shop.”
“You should have driven him out.”
Endy heard us and tried to defend himself. “Sergeant Colburn agreed with me that we might need these mines.”
We all laughed loudly.
“I can see that you have found a good ally.”
If the burden of mine who was wearing a barely breathing, with a satisfied look on his face he concluded, “I never miss a good party, Commander.”
“Come on, take it off and get ready to move. Put the mines down; we won’t need them until we completely clear out the level below us.”
“Yes, Sir!”
Vallery seemed to be anxious, so Henry asked her, “What’s the situation on the surface?”
She gazed at him with her green eyes, in which tears sparkled. “John was killed by one of the robots during the last attack, but the others are still alright. Colburn holds everything under control.”
Henry sighed. “I’m very sorry he died; I know how much he meant to you. He was a very good man, and we will miss his experience and skills. Did you have any problems with the robots while you were up there?”
Tears sparkled in Vallery’s eyes as she quietly replied, “Thank you, he was a remarkable man.” Henry nodded, and she continued. “No. While we were on the ground they didn’t attack us.”
“I have considered all the possible combinations we might use, but I still want to hear your opinion. Lay down the equipment and join us.”
Henry started towards Kir, who was studying the map on the desk. She looked at him worriedly. “This is a very dangerous plan!”
“I know, but we have no choice if we want to make them fall into our trap. Endy suggested a good idea for how to destroy them.”
Godeena: SF Novel Page 30