by Isaac Hooke
And then the lid repealed. The four robots crowding the opening collapsed as they were struck by invisible laser beams.
Shaw dove into a nearby side passage.
“I need backup!” Shaw sent over the private comm channel. “Centurions, to the forward hatch!”
She kept her stun rifle aimed at the opening.
A faceplate appeared. It was Rade. Or his impostor.
She fired.
Rade ducked from view.
“Hey Shaw,” Rade said via the external speakers of his helmet.
Shaw continued to lay down suppressive fire as two robots arrived and took cover in the side passage with her.
“The tangos are hiding in the scuttle,” Shaw informed the robots.
“Shaw, it’s me,” Rade said. “I’m here with Ms. Bounty.”
She could almost believe it was him.
Almost.
“Shaw?” Rade said. “Why won’t you answer me?”
Shaw activated her own external speakers. “If it’s you, then why isn’t your Implant automatically linking with mine? So that you show up on my map? And why aren’t you using our encrypted channel?”
“My Implant is malfunctioning,” Rade said.
“All right, clamber up and come give me a hug.” Shaw kept her rifle aimed at the entrance.
“Toss your rifles to me,” Rade said. “And then you’ll get your hug.”
Shaw smiled to herself. “Sure,” she said sweetly. “After you tell me something. What are the names of our twins?”
Rade didn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought,” Shaw said.
The helmet appeared again, along with a rifle. Shaw was aiming at the wrong side of the scuttle, and was forced to duck from view. One of the robots who had assumed a defensive position beside her collapsed.
Damn it.
She aimed past the edge once more, but Rade was gone.
“Ulysses,” she sent. “Do we have full control of the ship yet?”
“Negative,” the Centurion replied. “It will be a while yet.”
“I want you to barricade yourself in engineering,” Shaw said. “If it seems the ship is about to fall, or you detect a Phant seeping into your body, launch all missiles into space. And overload the Viper system. Do you hear me? I don’t want the intruders to regain control of our weapons at any time.”
“Understood.”
“Help—” Cora said.
Shaw spun toward the remaining Centurion behind her just as it brought its rifle to bear on her. The chest area of the robot shone with droplets of purple condensation.
Shaw knocked the weapon aside with a well-placed kick then fired her stun rifle at point-blank range. A crackling sound filled the air as electrical sparks gyrated up and down the robot’s body, and it collapsed, spasming.
Cora’s warning had saved her.
One down.
Shaw’s proximity alert sounded.
Behind me!
She dropped to the deck, sliding her leg across the surface as she did so to trip the enemy she knew was behind her. Her foot hooked a boot, and the Rade imposter landed beside her, the laser weapon tumbling from his hands.
She swung her stun rifle toward him, but there wasn’t enough room; Rade caught it, ripped it from her grasp, and threw it to the side. His eyes drifted to his laser weapon...
Shaw scrambled to her feet, kicking the weapon away as she did so. She dashed toward her lost stun rifle, but something caught her boot and she tripped.
She fired her jetpack to right herself, and rose in time to defend herself as Rade came running straight at her.
The stunned robot remained on the deck behind them. A part of her mind wondered where the Phant’s original host was, and whether she would have to worry about an attack from that Artificial at some point.
Rade unleashed a flurry of blows, and Shaw dodged and deflected them. His fist smashed into the bulkhead near her head, leaving a large dent. He grabbed her arm and Shaw fired her jetpack to twist her body sideways; she gave Rade a kick to the side, partially collapsing his suit there.
Rade flung her into the ceiling like a rag doll, and then into the deck, and then the bulkhead. Then he threw her across the passageway.
She landed hard, sliding across the deck for a few meters until grinding to a halt.
The stun rifle was only two paces in front of her.
She fired her jetpack toward it, but something crunched down into the back of her legs, halting her momentum.
She heard loud clangs, and realized her attacker was bashing the jetpack.
She fired lateral thrust, turning her and her opponent over. Then she struck behind her with her elbow, contacting something. She repeated the blow several times, until her opponent released her.
She spun her body around so that she faced the deck, and mounted the imposter’s chest. Breathing hard, she struck at the helmet, cracking the faceplate.
Rade fired his jetpack before she could do any more damage and the two of them hurtled into the overhead.
Shaw struck hard, and released him.
As they fell, Rade grabbed her by one arm and leg, and bashed her headfirst into a nearby bulkhead.
She fired her jetpack, twisting away, and landed on the deck three meters distant, facing him.
She stood there for a few moments, gasping, catching her breath.
Rade remained motionless, not breathing hard in the least, staring at her with hatred in his eyes.
It’s not Rade, she reminded herself.
The corridor was slightly wider here in this part of the ship. She could use that...
She sprinted toward him and activated the magnetic actuators in her suit to attempt a maneuver she had practiced many times on the sparring mat. She ran along the bulkhead and as she squeezed past him, she twisted her body, bringing her foot around to strike him in the back of the neck.
But Rade anticipated the maneuver and swiveled his torso to grab her leg in midair. Then he swung her body into the bulkhead, and immediately after slammed his fist directly into her abdomen. The jumpsuit exoskeleton crumpled there, and agony flared in her belly.
My babies!
Rade released her and she crashed to the deck, where she curled up in pain. She wanted only to protect her abdomen, and her precious twins.
A boot cruelly stomped down on her, causing pain to flare in her side. Again. Now the boot landed on her helmet. Her faceplate cracked.
A gloved hand wrapped around the handle in the torso of her jumpsuit and hoisted her into the air. Shaw’s arms flopped weakly to her sides. The pain came in excruciating throbs inside her belly. But perhaps even worse was the agony she felt in her spirit.
My babies.
She managed to raise her arms in a protective shield around her abdomen.
Rade stared into her helmet and smirked.
He hoisted her to one side. She heard the hiss as an airlock inner hatch opened.
Rade tossed her into the narrow compartment and she slammed onto the deck.
The pain continued deep inside of her, a terrible throbbing in the womb. A place where a pregnant woman never wanted to feel pain, at least not until the end of her term.
Worse, she felt a wetness between her legs...
She had to get to sickbay. Had to make it to the Weavers. Before it was too late.
Fighting the pain, she attempted to turn herself around, but then she heard the door close behind her.
“No,” she said. “Please.”
And then the outer hatch opened, and she was sucked out into space.
fifteen
In their heat-battered Hoplites, Rade and the Argonauts made their way across the lava plain of towering basalt pillars and rocky crags and terraces, heading toward the booster rockets, which were scattered across a kilometer-wide area to the east.
The hulls had radiated enough heat by then so that they no longer glowed dull red. The camouflage skin was damaged on all of the mechs, however, darkened
to a permanent black, so that when they passed over lighter-hued terrain, the Hoplites didn’t change colors to match. Well, that could be expected after surfing a lava ocean.
He was disturbed by the loss of contact with the Argonaut. The comm nodes in the Dragonflies had been unaffected by the time bomb virus Corunna had installed in the shuttles; those comm nodes boosted their signals, so that even if the Argonaut moved out of its geosynchronous orbit, the team should have been able to reach the ship. But given Corunna had successfully installed a virus in the shuttles, Rade had no doubt the alien had tampered with the Argonaut as well.
During the journey to the booster rockets, they had passed within a kilometer of the Russian research station. Rade and the others had zoomed in and spotted the dark ring of the robot swarm, still in place around the base. The hangar dome had been open, with a Skeeter missing. Likely the craft had departed during the fight with the behemoths. That Bax hadn’t reported the launch to Shaw told Rade that the Argonaut’s AI was indeed likely compromised. Corunna and Alton had probably made good on their promise to take the ship.
Rade just hoped Shaw was all right.
“We have full control of the Dragonflies again,” Algorithm reported from Shuttle A, which was located some distance to the north beside the second shuttle, where Shaw had relocated them earlier.
“Take the shuttles into orbit immediately,” Rade instructed. “See if you can get a bead on the Argonaut.”
The team arrived at the first of the booster rockets shortly thereafter.
“Who wants to go first?” Rade asked.
Nearly everyone volunteered.
“I’m going to pick straws,” Rade said.
He threw everyone’s callsign into the randomization app and Fret’s name popped up.
“Fret, you get to go first,” Rade said.
“I didn’t even volunteer,” Fret said. But he was already making his way to the rocket. He strapped his Hoplite into the booster framework a moment later.
“I want you to initiate evasive maneuvers all the way up,” Rade said. “Just in case the swarm decides to transform into another weapon-capable behemoth.”
“Great, I’m going to be exposed to their particle beams all the way up...” Fret said.
“Good luck,” Rade said, patting one of the booster rockets with his large hand.
The team retreated, giving Fret space, and watched the launch. Blue plasma erupted from the nozzles, and in moments the Hoplite was airborne. Lateral jets expended further propellant, so that the mech zigzagged during the ascent as part of the evasive maneuvers Rade had asked for.
No particle beam came in. Either the swarm outside the research station didn’t have the numbers needed to create a weapon-equipped behemoth, or they decided not to.
Rade zoomed in on the distant base, which was still in sight to the west. The black mass had shifted, and was now flowing across the lava plain toward them. While the swarm might not have the numbers or ability to create a behemoth, there were still enough of them to cause the team some serious damage, especially given the current states of the Hoplites.
“Looks like we’ve attracted their attention,” Rade said. “Let’s move, Argonauts!”
Rade and the others hurried across the plain, weaving between the basalt columns. They spread apart, individually heading toward the different booster rockets scattered across the terrain.
Tahoe joined him, and together they approached two booster rockets situated relatively close together. All the other Hoplites had already rocketed into the air by then. Behind Rade and Tahoe, the swarm continued to pursue across the terrain.
As Rade and Tahoe neared the first booster rocket, Tahoe said: “You take this one.”
“No, you should—”
“Damn it, Rade,” Tahoe said. “You might be the boss, but you’re also my friend. I refuse to let you always be the one to sacrifice yourself. You’re a father now. Take it. I’ll be right behind you.”
Rade reluctantly obeyed. He went to the nearest booster rocket and strapped himself into the payload area. He activated the engines and the G-forces hit as the ground fell away.
Rade was relieved to see Tahoe rocketing into the air underneath him a moment later. All of the Hoplites were airborne by then.
Farther below, the plains seethed with the black mass of the frustrated robot swarm. Rade initiated evasive maneuvers just in case the robots managed to form some sort of long-range weapon.
The twin suns of the system came into view, and Rade’s faceplate autogated to darken the blinding brightness.
“This is a planet I don’t want to see again for a long time,” TJ transmitted.
“I’m venting my piss onto the planet as we speak,” Bender said. “Say goodbye to my toilet.”
The blue glow of Tahoe’s boosters was visible just below the dark horizon of the planet, so that when the luminance went out, Rade noticed immediately.
“Tahoe!” Rade said. “What’s wrong?”
“Some kind of malfunction,” Tahoe said. “My rockets cut out. They don’t want to start.”
“Were you hit by a laser?” Rade asked.
“No,” Tahoe said. “At least I don’t think so.”
“I’m not detecting any laser activity,” Lui said from higher up.
Tahoe had begun to descend once more toward the surface. The swarm seethed and roiled in anticipation.
Rade cut off the rockets, and then applied reverse thrust to accelerate his descent. He applied lateral thrust as well to close the distance.
“I’m coming for you,” Rade sent. “Tahoe, jet toward me with your jumpjets if you can.” He glanced at the jumpjet fuel indicator of Tahoe’s Hoplite on his HUD, and saw that his friend’s fuel levels were extremely low.
“You won’t have enough rocket fuel to make it,” Tahoe said.
“There’s enough,” Rade said.
“But you’re going to have to repeat the earlier portion of the climb,” Tahoe said.
“I know,” Rade said, “which is why I need you to jet as close to me as you can.”
“I’m trying,” Tahoe said. “The booster rockets are weighing me down. Going to have to lose them.”
“Then do it.”
Tahoe’s booster rocket framework fell away as Rade continued to close with him.
“Just ran out of jumpjet fuel,” Tahoe said.
“I’m on the way,” Rade said.
“We’ll have to abandon my Hoplite,” Tahoe said. “There definitely won’t be enough rocket fuel to carry two mechs.”
“I was just about to order you to do that very thing,” Rade said.
“I’m going to retrieve the AI core,” Tahoe answered.
As Rade neared, he saw the main hatch of Tahoe’s mech fall open. Tahoe emerged, and reached underneath the cockpit.
Rade latched onto the mech. “Tahoe, climb aboard!”
“Almost have it...” Tahoe said.
“There’s no time!” Rade said.
The ground, and the robots swarming over it, was coming up fast. Tahoe still hadn’t answered, so Rade reignited the rockets, slowing the descent. But as Tahoe had mentioned, the boosters weren’t designed for carrying two Hoplites, and the plunge didn’t abate entirely.
“Tahoe, my fuel levels!” Rade said.
Tahoe finally leaped upward, latching onto Rade’s mech.
“Go!” Tahoe said.
Rade released the Hoplite and it fell away, plunging into the eager mass of robots below.
The booster rockets carried Electron skyward once more. Tahoe was barely hanging onto the hull rungs with one hand; he held the cylindrical core of his AI in the other.
Rade cradled an arm around his friend, helping to hold him in place. The best place for a passenger during a booster rocket flight was in the passenger seat, but it would be impossible for Tahoe to climb there under the current G forces. All his friend could do at the moment was hang on.
“I’ve spotted the Argonaut’s heat signatur
e,” Algorithm reported. “It’s headed toward the outer planets. I’ve tried to hail them, but haven’t received a response. Should we pursue?”
“Not yet,” Rade said. “We’re going to need the shuttles to tow the Hoplites. Keep trying to hail the ship, though.”
“Will do,” Algorithm replied.
The planet below became a rounded sphere underneath Rade as the minutes passed; he kept an eye on the booster rocket fuel levels the whole way, which he accessed via the rocket remote interface. Those levels dropped precipitously in the latter portion of the climb, so that the fuel was completely exhausted almost immediately after attaining orbit.
“Tahoe, climb into the passenger seat,” Rade said as the G forces subsided. His stomach did somersaults.
Tahoe obeyed, and when he was strapped in, Rade jettisoned the booster rockets. Since he had no jumpjet propellant left, Manic turned back to retrieve him, and carried Electron to the waiting shuttles.
The two Dragonflies had mounted one atop the other via select magnetization of their fuselages, so that they were arranged in a stack formation. The Hoplites had similarly magnetized their own hulls, and were strung along behind the shuttles in pairs, with the mechs of TJ and Fret at the forefront.
Manic handed off Electron to Bender, who carried the Hoplite to the current trailing mechs: Sprint and Nemesis. Rade secured Electron behind Nemesis, while Bender attached Juggernaut beside him, linking to Sprint and Electron. Manic’s Hoplite secured behind Electron and Juggernaut in a similar manner.
“All right, let’s get aboard,” Rade said. “Load from the rear.”
“Words that Manic hears often, I’m sure,” Bender said.
“I want half of us in the bottommost shuttle, and the other half in the top,” Rade continued. “Algorithm, open up the bottom shuttle.”
The ramp of the aforementioned Dragonfly descended.
Starting from the rearmost, the Argonauts left the cockpits in their jumpsuits, and clambered over the mechs toward the bottommost shuttle.
Rade’s turn came. He ejected from his cockpit, and used the handholds in the hulls to follow Tahoe. He pulled himself along the surface, using his jumpsuit jetpack to cross the gap between some of the mechs, until he reached the open ramp of the shuttle. He fired a burst and maneuvered inside. Pushing off the ceiling, he floated toward one of the seats, and used the armrests to pull himself into place.