ARMS Domers Unite: (Book 6)

by Stephen Arseneault

  "Wow. We have all the supplies we need for making those?"

  "The Hailstorm has been busy. Making a material drop about every three hours now. If we can maintain this pace, we'll have the parts needed for another five thousand bots and four hundred Banshees in that same week."

  "And the materials for the gamma bomb?"

  "Enough for four hundred. We can make about twenty per day now, and Trish is ramping that up with Alex's direction. The bots on the Hailstorm have identified the materials needed for another two thousand. We expect more, because they deep scan every time they visit New Earth."

  Several weeks passed before the first Banshee hull arrived at Midelon. The production on Domicile was expected to increase at an almost exponential rate. President Croft continued to push for access to the processor and railgun technologies, but having lost most of his power and influence, the requests were denied.

  Material runs to New Earth were increased after a second and then a third freighter were added to the bot fleet. The area surrounding the Midelon buildings was becoming a vast stockyard of resources for ship, bot, and bomb production. Back on Domicile, the design of the delivery missile for the gamma bomb was making its way into production as well.

  Harris lay back on the grass outside the bunker, and Tawn stood nearby, the two having just finished a run. Hundreds of bots were scurrying about, moving materials and supplies from one building to another.

  Harris rolled over on his side. "Fourteen forty-eight. You?"

  "Fifteen fifty-three."

  "Come on, you can do better than that."

  "I can, but I didn't. Which is why I'm standing here and you're lying on your back. That your best time?"

  "In at least a dozen years."

  "The Hoya should be reaching Barrier tomorrow."

  Harris nodded. "True, but they won't find anything there. You know, I still can't believe the Denzee just slaughtered that whole herd. A billion bogler... wasted."

  Tawn chuckled. "You've probably gone through about that many personally."

  "I wonder how our friends are doing out there on Farmingdale."

  Tawn sat. "Gotta be a nice peaceful life as compared to here. Your main worry there is your next meal. And with that herd, even as small as it is, that's not much of a worry."

  "You dreaming about being a farmer again?"

  "That's not a farmer, that's a rancher. And no. I can't see myself living at that slow a pace. Not that I love what we're doing here, but I don't know if I can function that slow."

  Harris nodded as he rolled back with his hands tucked behind his head. "I know what you mean. We stayed pumped on adrenaline in the Biomarines. When that service ended and they dumped us out, I struggled to figure out what to do with myself. Going to that everyday-grind of a job, I saw so many others doing, had me focusing on a way to escape. That's when I bought the Bangor."

  "So your struggle was watching other people go to work?" Tawn chuckled. "That must have been excruciating."

  "You went through the same. Not like we were overly qualified for the regular workforce. Probably why we took to the criminal activity."

  "Never viewed myself as a criminal. Just wanted to put food on my plate. And those guns going to the outer colonies... might have been unlawful, but just stupid regulations. People need to be able to defend themselves, whether it's against wild animals or bad people."

  "You were a criminal just like the rest of the scum suckers. Out there preying on the weak and enabling those with criminal intent to act on their evil desires."

  Tawn smirked. "Preying on the weak. Yeah, that was us. More like being preyed upon. Which makes me wonder, what do you think Clovis is doing now?"

  "Couldn't say. That last beating Idiot put on him was severe. Took the man's arm. Not that I have a lot of sympathy for him, but that's harsh in anyone's book."

  The AI offered a hail.

  Harris replied, "Yes?"

  "A second fleet of just over fifteen thousand ships has just arrived at Barrier."

  "I thought the second fleet was heading toward New York?"

  "Correction, an additional fleet has just arrived at Barrier."

  "So we're up to fifty-five thousand Hoya ships now?"

  "Closer to fifty-six thousand... that we know of."

  "When do we expect to have our first thousand missiles for the gamma bombs here?"

  "Five days."

  "For a thousand? That's fast."

  "Bannis Morgan has been seeing to that effort personally."

  "How long for us to attach the warheads to those missiles?"

  "Two days for this initial group."

  "So in one standard week we'll have a thousand of those gamma missiles ready for action... nice. Do we have the rack mounts for the Banshees ready?"

  "The first thousand racks will be ready for hanging when the missiles arrive."

  "So one week and we're fully ready to go. You think the Hoya will wait around at Barrier for us for that long?"

  "I am sorry, Harris. I have no way of answering that question."

  Construction continued on Midelon, Domicile, and even at the Retreat, where a new single-bay ship factory was under construction. The design for the Hailstorm would be the first ship to be built. That ship was to be called the Gruberg, with the second coming off the line as the Freely.

  At the conclusion of the week, the first thousand gamma missiles were delivered, fitted with warheads, and hung on Banshees. Scans made by the AI concluded the Hoya were still at Barrier. Construction was taking place down on the planet's surface.

  The leaders of the Human resistance had gathered over a comm channel.

  Harris said, "We now have over nine hundred Banshees at the ready. A hundred of those already have the racks and missiles installed. When will our next load arrive?"

  "Three days," said Bannis. "Another thousand. After that we'll be at full-rate production of just over three thousand a week."

  "So fifteen weeks before we have enough to kill them all. Any way to increase that production?"

  "We can. It will likely cost us some Banshee hulls."

  "What's our production of those looking like?"

  "I believe you said you're running at five hulls a day there? If so, by next week we'll be peaking out at fifty-five per day. That gives us forty-two hundred a week. You want more missiles, it will cost us a few of those lines."

  "Forty-two hundred. Wow. Guess I hadn't thought about it being that many."

  "Still about fifteen weeks to equal the Hoya force. And that's just equal in numbers. They still have us in firepower."

  "So we have this combined force at Barrier, and a second force heading to New York, still a few weeks away. After that, we have three to four months before they reach the next colony. I'd say things are beginning to look up."

  Tawn chuckled. "That seems to happen to us just before we fall off the next cliff. We always have the possibility of another fifty thousand Hoya ships showing up."

  "Uh, OK there, sunshine. Let’s stick with one fight at a time. If another fleet comes, we can always build more ships and missiles."

  Bannis raised a hand. "One thing that hasn't been addressed is our resources. While current supplies are adequate, we'll be running through a large portion of those in this fifteen-week run. Someone will need to coordinate the mining and refining operations needed to boost those supplies."

  Bax cut in: "I could take that on. My time is mostly available now that things have settled down a bit. If someone can get me a list of current operations, I'll see to it we get what we need."

  "I would second her suggestion," said Harris. "I believe we'd be well served with her in that position."

  Bannis nodded. "Unless we have an objection, we'll assign new resource allocation and production to Miss Rumford."

  No objections were raised. When the meeting had come to an end, Baxter Rumford got to work on her new assignment. A deep scanning ship was sent to each of the free colonies to look for the needed or
e deposits.

  The two captured Hoya officers, along with their ship, had been turned over to the DDI for further interrogation, but no new information had yet come from it. Attempts by the President to send in a diplomat for peace discussions were ridiculed and rejected. The purge of his political assignees from all departments of the military had been thorough and complete.

  Tawn and Harris took a ride out to the Retreat. The colonel took them up for a briefing on the factory construction.

  "Single bay. Rail cannon assemblies will come from over there. We'll be adding a repair bay once the main bay is up and running. I think our biggest issue will be finding workers. The factories at Domicile have been recruiting all the former ship-workers for a couple months now."

  "I wish there was a way for us to send you an army of bot workers," said Harris, "but we're not comfortable with them leaving our control in that capacity. What you've got is the most we're willing to allow out. Don't suppose you'd be interested in building this facility in Midelon space, would you?"

  "Don't see how we can unless you give us permanent access."

  Tawn shook her head. "Can't do that. Not that you yourself wouldn't be trustworthy with that access, or every Biomarine for that matter. There's just too many out there who would also want in. It's too big a prize."

  "I realize that, and I'm quite happy to keep things the way they are. That planet is like our secret weapon that ensures humanity won't be fully wiped out."

  Harris chuckled. "If we're all that's left, I don't think Humans have much of a chance of recovering."

  "Maybe it's time we took steps to remedy that. Should we build a facility to house Humans in the event the Hoya are winning? Something that would house and feed at least ten thousand?"

  Tawn winced. "Our little island isn't capable of supporting that many. We'd run out of food."

  "So we build a floating city. Plenty of water for hydrogen power. The oceans, at least the times I've been there, appear to be calm."

  "I suppose we could have the AI work up a design for us. You do realize that if we're talking Human survival, those ten thousand won't be Biomarines, right?"

  "I'm fully aware of our limitations, Miss Freely. The facility would house regulars."

  Harris said, "Would be kinda nice to have people there."

  Tawn crossed her arms. "I'd almost rather we figure out how to get Chicago Port Station out there. It's already about 90 percent self-sustaining. We could modify the rest as needed."

  Harris chuckled. "You want to move the likes of Clovis Bagman to Midelon?"

  "Not a chance. Just the facility. It already supports nearly a hundred thousand. If built up in orbit, we wouldn't have to worry about anyone getting access to our island paradise there."

  "Might not be a bad idea. We should get the designs for Chicago and have the AI modernize it. We could set up a team of bots to work on its construction without taking away from anything else we're doing."

  "I like that. Colonel, we'll keep you informed about any progress. In the event we win this fight, we could always move it out to the Retreat as a satellite station for your factory workers."

  The colonel nodded. "That could work as well."

  The Bangor returned to Midelon.

  Five additional weeks of production passed. The Hoya reached the abandoned New York colony, where construction began on an interference building. The same building on Barrier was complete and had become operational. All intelligence was limited to visual sensors. A new meeting of the leaders was underway.

  Harris said, "I think we strike now. We're sitting on close to twenty thousand banshees and about the same number of missiles. Our last count had forty-three thousand ships parked there. Let's go out and cut that number in half. And I say that because we still have traders out there running around with wormhole drives. All it takes is one of those to be captured and everything changes."

  "I would have to agree," said the colonel. "If successful we know to continue on this path. If not, we still have time to change course."

  A vote went around the comm. The result was unanimous. It was time to strike.

  — Chapter 24 —

  * * *

  Tawn joined Harris and Farker on the Bangor. A short run to free space and a jump had the Biomarine pair looking at a visual of Barrier.

  "Hard to believe there are forty-odd-thousand warships sitting there just out of sight," Tawn said.

  "The interference signal says they're there. I find it strange that the Hoya don't have a way for them to see through that. According to that crew we captured, they're as blind as we are."

  "They want a close fight. That's where their weapons excel."

  "Still. If it was me, I'd want to know what's coming."

  "Maybe they have that. This space could be flooded with small visual probes that relay back to the fleet. Without our sensors we would never see them unless we happened to be right on top of one."

  Tawn turned to face Harris. "I wonder how far out we have to go before our wormhole sensors work? I'd like to know we weren't about to have a collision with that Banshee fleet when it comes through."

  "Chances of them coming through to this exact space are negligible. What I'd like to be able to see is the battle itself. We'll be completely blind until it's over. Even then, if none of our ships make it out, we won't know what happened until the AI does a complete scan."

  "Wait... just had a thought. We sent probes through to get visuals at Jellon. What if we do the same here? How many of those you think we have available?"

  "Maybe a dozen, if we're lucky. Don't think we've built any new ones in a while."

  A jump was made back to Midelon space, where the Banshee fleet had assembled. A comm was opened to the surface.

  Tawn asked, "AI, how quick can we build, say, a hundred passive probes? All we need is for them to have a visual sensor and a comm link to broadcast what they're seeing."

  "Is this a priority request?"

  "Yes."

  "Sixteen hours."

  "And how about a thousand probes?"

  "Eighteen hours."

  "Wow. Both of those are incredible. What's our current bot count?"

  "Twenty-four thousand one hundred sixty-two."

  "Didn't know we had that many," replied Harris.

  "I didn't either," Tawn said. "Kind of snuck up on us I guess. The processor facility can now turn out a thousand a day, which is crazy. AI, build those probes as your number one priority."

  "They will be ready in nine hours."

  "I thought you just said sixteen?"

  "Sixteen hours was based on a standard priority assignment. The new estimate is with a top priority."

  Harris said, "Build 'em. We have a war to fight and would like to have real-time updates."

  "Understood. The redirection of assets has begun."

  Tawn leaned back in her chair. "So we just delayed by nine hours. What should we do to kill the time?"

  "Well, this morning Bax gave status of opening a mine on Eden. We could go check on that."

  Tawn chuckled. "You eager to see her?"

  "No. And for the millionth time there is nothing going on there. I just think it might be good to keep an eye on her. She does have a tendency to push her own agenda, you know."

  "Set the course and make it happen."

  The Bangor slowed to a stop with Eden in sensor range.

  "I got nothing showing on the nav. You certain she was coming out here?"

  "That was in her last status briefing. Wait… you see that? I'm showing the Hoya interference signal. What the heck?"

  "You're right. Open a comm back to Midelon."

  "AI," Harris said, "we need scans done of the space surrounding Eden. We're picking up the Hoya interference signal."

  "A complete scan will take fifteen minutes."

  "We can wait. Make it happen."

  The data returned, showing a single ship in orbit and another down on the surface.

  Tawn pointed at t
he data. "That looks like the Hoya ship we grabbed."

  Harris nodded. "It is the Hoya ship we grabbed. See the damage where our Banshee nailed it?"

  "What is she doing with it?"

  "Testing? And that ship on the surface... the Fargo. Let's go down and see what she has to say about this. Doesn't look like mining for resources going on here."

  "I agree."

  Eleven minutes later, the Bangor was settling on the sand beside the Fargo. A small building sat nearby.

  Tawn pulled back as the hatch opened, flipping down her faceshield. "Gah. Forgot how hot it was here."

  Harris stepped past her, heading for the lone door of the building. "Crap. My helmet systems just quit. Same as on Jellon."

  "Field must be intense around the generators. Wonder where she came across those?"

  Inside, Harris and Tawn walked through into a stairwell going down.

  A voice yelled up the steps. "Close that door, you morons. You're letting all the cool out."

  Tawn chuckled. "Well, we found Bax at least."

  After a quick descent, Harris asked, "What are you doing here with this?"

  "Testing."

  "What happened to the hunt for new resources?"

  "Thought this would be more important. If we can get a good understanding of it, maybe we can figure out how to control it or block it."

  Tawn grinned. "So you do work for the DDI. I'd say this confirms it."

  "Actually, on this effort I'm working for Bannis Morgan. This ship was turned over to him and he recruited me for this effort. So far I'd say our effort is set to pay dividends. Using the captured information, we were able to build a single generator down here that puts out a signal that's still about half as powerful as the Hoya system."

  "So we know how it works?"

  "Not a clue, but that's what we’re doing here. Once my team has a basic understanding of what this is doing, we can work on making it do what we want."

  "And what would that be?"

  "That would be none of your business. But I would guess you're smart enough to figure it out."

  "Someone wants to be able to use this for their own purposes?"

  Bax smiled. "And there we go. Can't give you any more clues other than that."