Shane felt better. They were her friends. They would be there if she needed them.
"The rest of us will guard the outer edges of the mining facility. We'll split up and work in twos. Move out."
Then she turned and led her fellow Marines into the darkness.
The ball had come down on the other side of the comet. It rested behind a black rock, glowing in the Bunuel night. Nothing shifted it, for there was no wind. Just silence.
Then, suddenly, a faint electronic sound clicked through the blackness. A hand reached down. The clicking grew louder. The hand grabbed the football and lifted it.
Then it carried it away.
Shane couldn't shake the tension. She tried breathing deeply, but that didn't work. As she patrolled the edges of the mining structures, her whole body was tight with stress. There was something about this place. So far from the sun. So dark. So oddly familiar.
A sound broke through her thoughts. She swung around and faced the noise. It was Lieutenant Gordon, her partner on the patrol. They stood together, listening to the silence. They heard nothing. Nothing at all.
Chapter 4
On Tower Platform A of the mining facility, Cooper and Nelson were listening too. They were tired, and Cooper was finding it hard to stay awake. The only sound came from their oxygen tanks. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
"It sorta freaks me out," Nelson whispered. "When all I can hear is our breathing."
"I don't mind it," Cooper said. "If it's too quiet it freaks me out even more."
Nelson laughed and held her breath. No sound came from her tank. It was frighteningly quiet. Then she laughed again, out loud.
She was still laughing when the arm appeared. Neither of them saw it in the darkness. Suddenly, it was just there, behind them. It swung out from behind the structure. A bare arm wrapped around Nelson's neck and pulled her back.
Cooper spun around, knowing, somehow, that she was gone. Cautiously, he moved toward the mining structure and looked down. Nelson was lying there, dead.
***
Shane heard the alarm through her helmet radio. "This is Hawkes!" Cooper cried. "Nelson is down! I don't know what..."
Shane listened and heard the horror in Cooper's voice. But there was something else. Another sound. Nearby.
She looked down and noticed the rock. It was tumbling, as if it were moving on its own. Impossible. Someone or something was...
She glanced up and listened. Nothing. No sound. But yet... there was something wrong. There was something out there. She was sure of it. She tensed and readied her weapon.
Another rock shifted and rolled toward her. She turned her body and aimed into the darkness. A shadow moved. The shadow crept closer.
"Bulldog!" Shane whispered.
"Terrier!" came the reply.
The wrong reply.
Shane aimed higher, fired, and watched the bullet tear into the figure. The form dropped to the ground and lay there. An eerie shadow in the silent darkness.
Shane lowered her weapon and moved closer. It seemed human, but she knew it wasn't.
From the form came sparks and beeps.
She knelt down and studied it. Wires and oil oozed from the wound.
Shane gasped and moved backward. Tears came to her eyes. She had seen this thing before.
She knew it well. This was an Artificially Intelligent being. An AI.
"WE GOT INCOMING!" It was Nathan's frantic voice, crackling through her helmet radio.
"SNIPER FIRE! SNIPER FIRE!" This voice belonged to Wang.
She could hear the bullets now. They were coming at her from every direction. From the radio. From behind her. From everywhere.
The sound echoed through her helmet and shook the rocks beside her.
"I can't see 'em!" Nathan was shouting. "Where are they? I can hear them everywhere. But—"
"They're here," Wang cried. "But I can't find them. Shane? Shane? Over to Shane?"
And then... silence. Nothingness. Blackness undisturbed.
"Fall back!" Shane shouted. "Fall back!"
No one answered. Was she calling to deaf ears? "Wang? Nathan? Are you there?"
"We're here," Wang answered finally.
"Fall back! Fall back! Fall back! Regroup in the spaceship!" Shane ordered.
They retreated then and came together, finally, in the ISSCV. Someone hit the lights. They dropped down and crouched there, quiet and out of sight.
After a few minutes, Shane noticed a movement to her left. She raised her head. It was Nathan. He was moving cautiously, counting the remaining Marines. Once, then twice, until he seemed sure of the numbers.
"We lost Nelson and Bennett." He sighed.
Shane glanced at him and nodded. His eyes were gentle and filled with pain. She turned to Wang.
"Give me the night-vision binocs," she said.
Wang handed her the binoculars. She moved to the porthole and studied the world outside.
The view through the binocs shocked her at first. She had become used to the darkness. But these glasses changed everything.
Where there had been shadows, now there were outlines. Where there had been gray, now there was white. Where there had been haze, now there was clarity.
She saw a world of fascinating metal shapes. There were no trees here, no mountains, no flowers. Just a comet and a mining facility.
She shifted to the right and hesitated. There were shapes over there. Familiar shapes. The shapes of bodies.
She moved closer to the porthole and focused. Then she began to count.
Nine bodies. Dead. Lying on the ground outside the facility.
Shane knew who they were. They were the miners the 58th Squadron had been sent to protect.
She pulled away and lowered the binoculars.
"They killed the miners," she said.
Cooper grabbed the binocs. When he had looked, he handed them to Nathan. "It didn't sound like Alien fire," said Cooper. "It sounded different. I'd know those Ticks..."
"It wasn't Aliens," Shane told them.
"If it's not the Ticks attacking us, then who is it?" Wang asked.
Shane knew. She would know those eyes anywhere. Not eyes at all. Crosshairs instead of pupils. They were the eyes of an AI. They were the eyes from her terrible dream.
But this time they were real.
"They're not human," she whispered. "They're creatures made of plastic. Creatures invented on Earth a long time ago."
"We'd better get out there and see what we're up against," Nathan suggested.
But Shane wasn't listening. She was thinking about her parents and the nine dead miners. She trembled as she remembered those crosshair eyes. Her own eyes filled with tears as an image of her parents came rushing back to her.
"I hate them," she whispered. But she knew it was more than that. She was afraid of them. Deathly afraid.
Chapter 5
Shane stared straight ahead and listened as the others prepared to leave the ship. She could feel Nathan watching her.
"You coming?" he asked, replacing his helmet. The others were on their feet now, heading toward the exit.
"I know what we're up against," Shane said. "Too many AIs. You heard them. They're everywhere."
"We have to see," Nathan said.
"We've seen. We've seen the miners, that's who we came here to protect. They're dead, Nathan. Our job is over."
"You coming?" Nathan tossed her her helmet, and she put it on. Then she followed the others into the night.
They moved past the facility, avoiding the bodies. When they were well away, they stopped and gathered together.
"We have to find them, Shane." Nathan whispered. "We should counterattack now! We should find them before they have time to establish defenses."
"We need reinforcements," Shane told him. "There are too many of them. We'll wait for the convoy."
The others were behind them now, listening. "But that's twelve hours!" Wang said, his voice ragged with tension. "The AIs will have
taken over this facility by then. They'll steal the helium three. And then what will we do? Nobody will have any fuel. No planes will fly. They'll take us over."
Shane looked away. "We don't have a choice." She sighed. "We're outnumbered."
No one answered. She sounded like she was stalling, Shane knew. She sounded like she was afraid.
Damphousse, a shadow in the blackness, moved hack toward the ISSCV. When she returned she was carrying a blueprint of the mining facility.
"They've shut down Platform B," she whispered. "But mining operations seem to be working below Platform A."
"Are there more miners down there?" Shane asked.
"Negative," Damphousse said. "I didn't get any answers to anything. It looks like we're alone."
Wang was furious now. "It's them!" he shouted. "The AIs have taken over the mine! They're hijacking the helium three ore! We have to do something!"
Nathan took the blueprints and studied them. After a moment he straightened. "There's a subsurface tunnel connecting Platform A to Platform B. And that same tunnel connects to a back door that leads outside."
"Negative!" Shane announced.
"What do you mean 'negative'?" Cooper shouted. "There's no choice!"
Shane swung around and glared at him. "I'm in charge here, Cooper!" she said. "Don't forget that!"
"Just let me finish," Nathan said. "Wang and Gordon can grab their attention by hitting Platform A with missiles. And while that's happening, the rest of us can enter below through the tunnel."
"Negative! Negative! Negative!" Shane cried. "They'll have guards at that door, and everywhere else!"
"Then we'll take them out with smart grenades," said Nathan.
"Unacceptable!" Shane was shaking with anger now. "The risk is completely unacceptable!"
"It's unacceptable if the AIs steal the H-three and sell it to the enemy," Damphousse muttered.
Wang shook his head. "Looks like there are enemies everywhere." He sighed. "Aliens bent on taking over the universe. Artificially Intelligent beings made of plastic."
"Don't forget Nelson and Bennett," Cooper added. "I'll bet they wish they were here to take that risk."
Shane started to move away. Then she turned and faced the others.
"Risk?" she said. "Chance? You're starting to sound just like the AIs."
"What does that mean?" Cooper asked.
"AIs are creatures of chance," Damphousse explained.
Cooper frowned, confused.
"AIs are walking computers, manufactured to be servants and soldiers," Wang said. "They're machines that can understand concepts like philosophy and ethics. They can understand. But they can't lead. Everything about them is learned."
"For example, they know what freedom means. But they don't know how to get it," Damphousse added.
"And then about twenty-five years ago," Wang said "a programmer added something. This guy was a genius. But he was sick of his boss taking the credit for his work. So he programmed something into the AIs."
"What?" Cooper asked.
"This guy told these machines to take a chance. Those were his words. 'Take a chance.' And that started the AI wars. The AIs became terrorists and decided to risk taking over the Earth."
"Now the idea of 'risk' is a religion to the AIs," Damphousse explained. "And the only thing that they respect about humans is gambling. Of course, gambling involves chance. These horrible machines almost destroyed the Earth. They terrorized everybody. And then they captured some launch vehicles. They took off into space. And now they're here, on this comet."
"Terrorizing us," Wang added.
While Damphousse, Cooper, and Wang were talking about the AIs, Nathan was moving closer to Shane.
"It's not like you to back down from a fight," he said gently. "You're not a coward, Shane. Will you please just tell me what's going on?"
Shane didn't say anything for a long time. She was thinking about her parents. She was thinking about the AIs that had murdered them. But if anyone would understand, Nathan would.
"There is nothing that I hate more than these... these... creatures."
"I understand that," Nathan whispered. "I feel the same way about the Aliens that ambushed Kylen."
Shane nodded. "The AIs killed my mother and father," she said softly. "And I'm—"
The next word caught in her throat. But Nathan knew what it was.
"Afraid?" he asked.
She turned, and watched him through the darkness. "Okay, I admit it. I'm terrified of these things. I always have been. Ever since that day in the attic. I knew then that I was going to be next. They would come for me. And I still believe that, Nathan. They're destined to kill me. And yet..."
Nathan waited for her to continue. He did not speak.
"It's just so weird," she said after a moment. "I've waited my whole life for this. I never thought I'd get a chance to confront them. And now..."
Nathan finished her sentence for her. "And now you have your chance," he said.
"That's right. Now I have my chance. And I am so terrified that I can barely move."
Nathan smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "You're the Honcho leader," he whispered gently. "I guess I'd forgotten that. We all respect you. It's your call."
Chapter 6
Shane hesitated. Once again, the dream flashed through her mind.
In the dream it was dark. The sun was gone, as it is gone now, and the attic was cold and my parents were surrounded. The crosshair eyes of the AIs watched them, as they watch me now, and I was afraid, as I am afraid now.
"They killed them," Shane whispered into the darkness. "I don't know why. And now they're going to kill me. That's the one thing that I'm sure of. I'll be next."
Shane glanced around her. Nearby, a shadow was loading ammunition clips onto his battle armor. It was Cooper. He was watching her as he worked. She could not see his eyes, but she knew that he was watching her. Once, he took a step toward her, and she thought he was going to say something. But he stopped, and turned, and kept on working.
When he was ready he moved toward the weapons. Damphousse was there, guarding them. She rocked a bolt in one of the guns and tossed it to him.
Nathan, too, was getting ready. He glanced over at her quickly, then turned away. Shane knew that he didn't want her to know he was studying her. She knew that he was waiting for her to do something. It was her call.
She wondered if he was thinking that she would run away. Did he think that her fears would make it impossible for her to lead?
And was he right?
Shane came and stood beside Nathan. He was strapping a grenade onto his belt. When the shell was in place, he turned toward her. His face was tense. He was impossible to read. She wondered what he was thinking.
Maybe she shouldn't have confided in him. Maybe she should have kept her fears to herself.
She felt calmer now. The tension was fading. Quickly, she rocked the slide on her sidearm and slipped it into the holster. Then she checked her knife.
All doubts were gone now.
Shane was ready.
She gathered them together and gave them their instructions. Wang and Gordon were to move off to the side and take care of any patrols. When all was clear, they would rejoin the others at the tunnel entrance.
"Everyone set?" Shane asked.
"Ready,"
"Then let's make it happen."
Wang and Gordon disappeared into the darkness. The others moved out quietly and made their way through the blackness toward the mining facility. When they reached the tunnel, they stopped. And waited.
Wang and Gordon settled down behind a boulder and studied the facility.
Wang noticed the figures first. There were two of them. He poked Gordon and pointed. Two AIs were patrolling the second level of the platform. Wang and Gordon watched them for a moment. Then Wang aimed the surface-to-surface missile launcher and fired.
The missile soared and tore toward the platform.
At the sound of
the explosion, the other members of the 58th turned toward their leader.
Shane knew it was time.
"Let's go!" she announced, taking the lead.
They ran in twos, weapons readied. Moving together, they raced through the narrow black tunnel. The only noise was the sound of their footsteps as they charged ahead.
Then, suddenly, they crashed to a stop. There was nowhere to go. A heavy airlock door blocked their way.
Above them, a second explosion shook the facility. When it was over, Cooper moved toward the door.
Shane tried to push him away.
"I'll open it," she said.
"It's mine!" Cooper muttered as he shoved her aside.
"But I've got the code."
"So do I." He studied the buttons, then pushed in the right numbers.
The door opened a crack. When it stopped, there was just enough room for Nathan to hurl a shock grenade through it.
"Hit the deck!" Nathan shouted, as a huge explosion rocked the facility in front of them.
The 58th lay facedown in the tunnel until the shaking stopped. When it was finally quiet, Nathan rose to his feet.
He moved through the doorway cautiously. Then he returned to Cooper.
"All clear!" he whispered. "Let's move them out!"
Shane heard him and winced. Had Nathan forgotten that she was the leader?
Once again, they rushed on in pairs. But this time Shane and Cooper were side by side.
Shane couldn't stop thinking about the airlock door.
"How did you get that code?" she shouted, as they raced down the narrow hallway.
"That's my little secret." Cooper laughed.
"I'm the only one with the codes, Hawkes!" she reminded him.
Cooper laughed again. "So you are."
He'd been in her files! Shane wondered what else he'd taken.
"All for the good of the mission," he said.
Shane didn't answer. Instead, she stopped and listened. Behind her, the other Marines were quiet too.
They were deep inside the mining facility now. There was no sound, anywhere.
They moved again, hesitated, then rushed through the underground maze of small rooms. Tiny droplets of water fell from the pipes above them. That was all they heard, the sound of the drops, and the soft, quick sighs of their hurried breathing.
Space Above and Beyond - #2 Dark Side of the Sun - Dina Anastasio Page 2