Borne On Wings of Steel

by Tony Chandler

  Jysar dropped to his knees as the steel doors behind him closed as silently as they had opened. He quickly tuned the settings of his sensor unit as Rab and the others gathered around him. Peering intently at the display, the Hrono Technologist tuned the device more.

  But the others were not watching him.

  They gazed around at their strange surroundings, trying to orient themselves. Their eyes adjusted slowly to the low, gloomy light that barely lit the vast, dark infrastructure.

  Slowly, details became discernable. Still, the low light and the black metal that comprised everything in this place made that simple effort most difficult.

  Elise caught her breath.

  There was no ceiling above them, none they could discern at any rate, because the darkness cloaked everything beyond a few hundred meters. Below, they gazed through the grillwork of the metallic floor they stood upon to see the same patterns repeated. As they peered around them at the great black interior and their eyes adjusted more, they noticed hundreds of millions of tiny, flashing lights sparkling momentarily from every surface only to be engulfed again by the pure darkness.

  Their eyes adjusted some more, and more black surfaces took shape.

  Amid the constantly flashing lights, there was a steady, low light that emanated along the outlines of massive hexagonal shapes lining the walls above and below them on every level.

  The same realization hit everyone at once.

  It was if they were inside some great, artificial honeycomb, standing in a huge corridor with no ceiling and no floor—though their minds knew there was a ceiling and floor somewhere out there enveloped in the darkness. The huge hexagonal openings that lined the left and right walls on the level on which they stood stretched out far as they could see until they too faded into the darkness at the far end.

  They also realized, through the results of their sensors, that inside each hexagonal tube the heart of the Paum hummed with activity. These vast structures contained its core memories, its core systems. The core processors of Paum networked together here and with the rest of the orbiting complex and then down to the world below and finally to the rest of the worlds controlled by Paum.

  The heart of the Paum extended to every part of its far-flung empire.

  But here in the darkness stood the original hardware, the original Paum from when it came into existence. And here alone, the essence of the Paum hummed and flickered with artificial life.

  They literally stood inside the mind of Paum.

  Darkness also ruled here except for the millions of flashing lights inside each black honeycomb enclave and the eerie glow of the background lighting emanating from the walls.

  The vast network of honeycomb structures was made of some unknown black metal that absorbed light. Each hexagon-shaped opening exceeded over thirty meters in height—Elise felt like a tiny insect next to them.

  Above she saw identical rows repeated again and again until they faded into darkness. And below, as far as she could see, were other levels with rows of flashing lights inside giant honeycomb openings.

  Elise felt Jaric step beside her. She glanced up at him.

  Jaric pulled out his scanner and did a quick sweep. It revealed that the walkway stretched unbroken to the far wall beyond their vision. He pointed it up and down. Again, the gap reached all the way to the exterior wall each time.

  Jaric's fingers danced over the pad. Elise and Krinia peered over his shoulder as the interior revealed itself.

  The honeycomb structures filled the complex, but they were separated into huge blocks by gaps like the one they found themselves in now. Jaric's scan revealed five huge blocks of honeycomb-lined walls, each with a huge corridor between them.

  “These gaps must provide access,” Jaric whispered to Krinia and Elise as he stared intently at his scanner. “Easy access all along its length, and then up and down. There seem to be elevators at regular points along the walkways. And we're in the middle gap."

  “Why's it so dark? I don't like it.” Elise shivered. “And it's so hard to see anything."

  Krinia's eyes narrowed as she paused in thought.

  “Because living things are not meant to be here,” Krinia said with sudden realization.

  Elise's eyes widened as Krinia's head-tail flicked side to side with adrenaline.

  Jaric looked up from his scanner, his eyebrows arched in thought. He shook his head and spoke.

  “You're right, robots don't need light. They use their sensors and nav systems and work just as well in light as in darkness."

  “I think I may have something, but there's so much interference,” Jysar said as he continued to peer at his own sensor unit.

  “Listen, you others back off and keep a watch out for any movement,” Qirn said with a stern whisper. “Let Jysar and my warriors try to pin-point the MotherShip through the Paum's jamming."

  Kyle, Jaric, Elise, Rok and Krinia stepped away a few paces. Rok and Krinia pulled out their sensors and tuned them, searching for any kind of reading that might give indication that a Destructor approached.

  Elise walked silently along between Jaric and Kyle when she felt Kyle's hand pull her and Jaric a few more steps away from Rok and Krinia.

  Jaric and Elise looked questioningly at him, but Kyle's face was expressionless except for his unblinking gaze.

  “Listen, things are about to get serious,” Kyle said, his voice husky. He paused as he cleared his throat. He looked deep into Elise's eyes, concern written on his features. “If things start getting bad, I don't want to lose you like we did Becky."

  Elise felt her heart flutter with Kyle's words. Speechless, she noticed a look of shock that went across Jaric's own face—the same emotion she felt at this moment.

  “No, no, we can't have that,” Jaric finally managed to say. “She's going to get through this. We all are.” Jaric locked eyes with Kyle.

  But Kyle looked down, shaking his head. “Hey, I want that more than anyone.” He looked back up, peering intently first at Jaric then at Elise. “I just couldn't stand losing my sister again."

  Elise felt her heart racing and realized she hadn't breathed in the last few moments. She choked back her tears, trying to find her voice to let both Kyle and Jaric know that things weren't that bad.

  But more than that, for the first time Kyle had actually referred to her as his sister.

  “Hey, Big K's right,” Jaric said in a solemn tone. “We have to make sure you make it to Mother, Elise. Especially you.” And Jaric too looked down, shaking his head with sad memories.

  “No-o-o-o.” Elise felt her voice shake with a terrible sadness.

  “Yes,” Kyle said with firmness. “Jaric and I will make sure you get through this. You need to obey us to the letter when things get hot. We've been in many battles, and our direction may save your life."

  “That's right,” Jaric added with an iron tone.

  Elise turned around, quickly wiping the hot tears that were now streaming down her cheeks. But deep inside, she felt a new emotion, a new bond between her and these two young men—for they were treating her like the sister she always wanted to be.

  “We will all get out of this alive."

  Rok's voice caused all three to turn around in unison. The Kraaqi warrior smiled. “It is good that the hoo-mans want to look out for you. And so will I, of course. The Destructors will have to go through all of us to get to you, Elise."

  Elise smiled, warmth filling her heart for all three of them.

  “I too, join this pledge.” Krinia's eyes sparkled as she spoke. “After all, did not Mother say we are all family? And family look out for each other."

  A murmur of agreement came from all the others.

  “But Elise is new to this type of danger,” Kyle said. “And fighting. We all need to keep an eye out for her, to help her."

  “True!” Jaric agreed.

  “We look out for each other,” Rok said with a nod. “We leave no one behind, as true warriors should."

  �
�Look, Jysar is motioning for us,” Krinia said as she glanced over to the Hrono and the Iraxx gathered around him.

  Both Rok and Krinia began walking back toward them.

  But Kyle reached out and grabbed both Jaric and Elise by the arm, holding them back with him a moment longer. He whispered so that only they alone heard.

  “Rok and Krinia are right. But if things get real bad, Jaric and I must make sure you stay alive—for real. Got it?"

  Jaric nodded.

  Elise looked from one to the other, a profound feeling of camaraderie exploding inside her heart and soul for these two young men—her friends, her brothers. Now, she really felt that the three of them were friends. More than that, it felt as if they really were family now, for the first time.

  But in the next instant, fear gripped her heart in an icy stranglehold. If Kyle was right and things started going bad, she might lose them.

  Destructors took no prisoners.

  Elise remembered that terrible fact from their final pre-mission briefing.

  With a burning determination, Elise decided she would not allow that to happen—no matter what. After all, it was Kyle and Jaric who had been with Mother since the beginning. Mother would grieve so much more if one of them died.

  No, if anyone would sacrifice themselves for the others, it would be her. This thing she silently promised herself as she walked in the darkness of the mighty Paum complex between the two people who meant more to her than anything else in the universe—except for Mother.

  Mother had loved her long before Kyle and Jaric finally accepted her. Elise decided that she would risk anything to free Mother as well.

  Anything.

  The three drew near the others just as Krinia stopped next to Jysar and looked over his shoulder at his sensor unit.

  “What's that?” Krinia pointed to Jysar's scanner.

  A large, empty section at one end of the complex came into focus amid the honeycomb blocks and their accompanying corridor spaces. Whereas they were in the center corridor with the innermost network of honeycomb structures, this large gap was located at the northernmost section, beyond the last block of honeycombs.

  Jysar tweaked his scanner again when a voice startled him.

  “There!” Jaric shouted with triumph as he pointed at Jysar's screen.

  “You have found the location of the MotherShip?” Rok stepped closer to the Hrono.

  “Yes, I had to get through a ton of jamming the Paum has set up. But I managed to get through it long enough. She is docked in that empty section at the far forward end and about twenty levels below us."

  “Good, let's synchronize those coordinates in all of our sensor units,” Qirn commanded with a low voice. “That way, if we get separated we know to keep going to the MotherShip AI. Everyone sync up now."

  “A few of the hexagonal structures cross between the gaps—extending from end-to-end of this complex,” Jysar said as he peered at his sensor display. “About one in twenty do. And these particular ones seem to be hollow in the very center. Wait! There's an elevator type device that traverses them. Some begin at our middle section and extend to the outer ends. There are several we can use."

  Kyle looked over Jysar's shoulder. “We could take one all the way to the section where Mother is. Looks like the only way."

  “Good,” Qirn agreed. “Where's the nearest one?"

  “About half-way up this corridor and then twenty-three levels down,” Jysar replied. “The tube reaches to the very floor where Mother is docked. We'll have to use our boards at that point again."

  “If we get separated, we wait at the entrance of that structure,” Qirn said as he took his weapon out and checked its setting. “Okay, we'll take to the boards and leave this walk-way. The Destructors will have to come for us in the air."

  “Should make it harder for them to get to us,” Jaric said with a sigh. “If we fly fast."

  “Except for the board with two riders,” Hasta sneered. “They will slow us all down."

  Rok and Kyle glared angrily at the Iraxx warrior.

  “Krinia will fly on my board, her arms tight around my waist,” Rok said with a commanding tone. “We won't slow you down."

  “I'll keep close to you,” Kyle said with a nod.

  “So will I,” Jaric added.

  “Destructors can leap a long way. They are powerful robots,” Rab grunted. “They will be able to leap from the walls all the way across to the center walkway. We know from our examination of them what they are capable of."

  “We fly fast and we fly hard then,” Qirn said as his blaster clicked into a new setting. “Set blasters to full power. We must destroy the Destructors as efficiently as possible.

  “Okay,” Qirn said with deadly earnestness after everyone had double-checked the coordinates on their sensor units and blaster settings. “We fly in a loose, main group.” The Iraxx commander looked up. “Rab, you and Jerr take point. Keep your sensors tuned for the ghost images of Destructors."

  The two Iraxx nodded slowly.

  “Qata and Hasta will bring up our rear. You too, keep sharp for Destructors. One of you, keep your sensors tuned tight. The other, keep your weapon ready. The same for Rab and Jerr."

  Solemn faces stared back at Qirn from all around.

  “We can destroy them. But we have to detect them first,” Qirn said sharply. “And we have the new devices with their strobe frequencies—that should reveal them to us.” Qirn looked slowly around at all the others.

  “I'll tune my sensors as well,” Jysar added with an even look. “I think I might have something up my sleeve that might help."

  “What?” Jaric asked with sudden enthusiasm.

  “I'm going to try scanning with pulsating bandwidths, trying to get around the dampening effect these things cloak themselves with. Same concept as the strobe device.” The twin row of scales across the Hrono's head turned a deeper hue of green as he smiled confidently.

  “Good thinking,” Qirn said. “Some of our other warriors have tried similar tactics when encountering Destructors."

  “Did any succeed?” Jaric asked.

  “We are not sure, none lived to report back."

  “But you've managed to destroy at least two Destructors,” Kyle added with urgency.

  “True, but our warriors were also killed each time."

  An intense silence filled the air.

  “Maybe they managed to see them long enough to take them out?” Kyle said at last.

  Qirn let out a deep breath. “Perhaps you are right.” The Iraxx leader looked down the corridor before them and raised his arm. “Warriors on point, get on your boards and head out. We follow you one minute later. The others to rear-guard positions."

  Rab and Jerr obeyed instantly.

  The others watched them make their way forward.

  As Elise stood near, Kyle leaned closer to Jysar and whispered in his ear.

  “You try what you're thinking. If you can find a way, any way, to see these things—do it.” Kyle looked deep into Jysar's eyes. “Then we can fight them."

  Jysar smiled up at the human. “I will do my best."

  Kyle patted Jysar on the shoulder as he and all the others rose to begin following the point warriors.

  “Our lives probably depend on it."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  * * *

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  MOTHER'S MIND FLICKERED and dimmed in rapid succession like a neon light about to fail.

  The rogue code quickly erased over thirty percent of her near-term memory and now invaded the first sections of her long-term memory. She realized the attacking code was designed to do one thing—clear the contents of her memory systems and replicate itself into her main operating system—and it was succeeding with a quick and deadly urgency.

  Mother used every ounce of processing power simply to fend off its attacks, now that it had replicated itself into hundreds of thousands of separate, attacking entities. She focused her resources so intently
on the internal attack that she had nothing left for anything else.

  She finally isolated and trapped one of the attacking viruses. Mother analyzed its code and disabled its ability to replicate. Within a few more seconds, she analyzed its entire structure and started building her own coded countermeasures in order to defend herself and destroy it along with its rapidly multiplying copies.

  It would not be easy. The code replicated exponentially and now attacked her from thousands of separate sections of her circuits simultaneously. Mother began disabling a number of her on-board systems in a drastic attempt to free up her processing power and defeat this insidious attack.

  Minstrel watched as console after console went dark around Main Ops.

  “Can I help you, Mother?"

  A long pause ensued before Mother finally answered.

  “If you could manually disable life-support on all levels except Ops and here at my main hatch, in case the children come on board. Leave life-support active on the main corridor leading to Ops."

  “Will do. Anything else?"

  Again, there was a lengthy pause.

  “I am trying to reach out and determine the exact location of the children, but the Paum is blocking me.” Mother's voice changed to a low, monotone baritone and faded away with the last words as some of the attacking code erupted into her voice systems.

  “Your efforts are all wasted. The Paum is always victorious. Even now, my robots have entered the docking bay for you."

  Minstrel's flowing form glowed an angry crimson at the Paum's voice. Drifting over a console, Minstrel began disabling life-support in spite of the Paum's dire prediction.

  “Once I have made a direct connection, my essence will fill the Mother AI. Then, she will be mine."

  Minstrel worked feverishly until life-support was disabled everywhere Mother had indicated. Minstrel's flowing form caressed another panel in order to access Mother's weapons. The alien sought to activate one of them and direct it at the robots that drew closer to Mother's hull with each passing second.