Kane slumped back against the wall.
“Kane!” Captain Maya barked. “Garlan, get him clear!”
Garlan drug him away from the door and Captain Maya took his place.
“Suit overload! Shrapnel in his spine,” Garlan said.
Then Belle tumbled back. Her feet twitched on the floor before she managed to stand and brace herself against the wall. Smoke drifted from a clean gouge in the side of her suit.
Denali stumbled to Kane. She plucked out a single explosive charge with her maw and turned towards the array of black cubes. She took three steps and the pain in her stomach exploded. She cried out, but still stumbled ahead.
You can do it.
She stumbled down a set of ancient steps and tumbled onto the floor. Every step was agony, her insides burned, her mind dulled by daggers of pain. Darkness flirted with her eyes. The only sound was her own breath.
The charge dropped to the floor and she tried to grab it again. “I can’t do it,” she mumbled through thick lips.
You must!
She crawled forward with the explosive charge against her chest and pulled with her front paws. The floor was slick and she couldn’t quite get a good grasp. The cubes loomed before her, silent, ominous.
Pain exploded like a volcano in her stomach. She howled out, an animal noise, a howl with no emotion, but something deeper. The pain overwhelmed her and she rolled onto her side.
You must!
She opened her eyes and stared up at a face she knew but had never seen. The face was like hers, but older. It was shrouded in armor and plate. Then she knew it wasn’t an angel, but a dog. The eyes were flat and gray, like shark eyes.
The Praetorian stooped down, scooped her up, and drug her away from the AI cores.
You must! Cicero cried.
More Praetorians marched into the room. The sounds of fusion blasts ebbed away. The recon squad fell away from the giants. Captain Maya raced over to Denali and keyed the emergency release on her suit. Panels dropped away and icy cold air rushed in. Blood poured onto the floor with a splash.
Denali’s helmet went dark and then fell to the floor. She shivered in the chill air and felt the pain stab with every heartbeat.
Captain Maya slapped a painkiller patch on while Til worked on Denali’s stomach. The Praetorian still held her and stared down as they worked.
Denali looked at the face above her and knew. Her heart ached and darkness came in waves. Every pain brought the darkness closer. She knew the face, it looked so familiar.
“Wounds sealed,” Til said. He glanced up at Denali. “Hold on! You’re sealed.”
The Praetorians snapped to attention. A dozen of the constructs stood around the cubes. A squad of heavily armored assault dogs entered and Marshal Hango, the Sword of Winter, marched in.
“Clear the room, Praetorians, get these dogs outside,” he ordered and stood on the edge of the cubes. His faceshield folded back and a gray dog with a scarred face stared back at the equipment.
“Marshal!” Captain Maya barked. She stood over Denali. “I’ve got wounded here, there’s no cover outside.”
“Get them out,” Marshal Hango said, and turned back to the cubes.
“Damnit!” Captain Maya cried out.
A pair of Praetorians stomped closer with arms wide.
Denali stared up into the face of the Praetorian above her. Til continued to work on Denali’s stomach. The Praetorian stared down, unmoving.
“Praetorian!” Marshal Hango snapped at the Praetorian cradling Denali. “What’s your name?”
The Praetorian blinked as if trying to recollect a memory. He turned his head away from Denali. “Martin.”
“Father,” Denali whispered to him and lost consciousness.
God no. Oh god, no.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Choices
Denali tried to rise up. She whimpered in pain and collapsed back onto the soft bedding. She didn’t even want to open her eyes. Failure. Failure. Nothing else was on her mind. A part of her hoped she’d die, another part wanted to do what was right.
“Denny?” Captain Maya whispered. “Denny?”
“What happened?” Denali croaked. Her stomach burned with every breath.
“You’re out of surgery now. There was a nasty bit of shrapnel in you.”
Denali opened her eyes. The room was almost unbearably bright. Captain Maya was sitting next to her, she wore a heavy set of bandages across her shoulders.
“No, I mean in the building.”
“The Praetorians moved us out. One of them carried you out.”
“I know,” Denali said.
“It was him.”
“I know.”
“Your father,” Captain Maya whispered.
Denali didn’t say anything.
“Til said it was because the link to Caesar was gone, something came out. Praetorians aren’t supposed to be like that.”
“Will he remember?”
Captain Maya looked away and changed the subject. “Garlan is going to make it, or he should if he doesn’t try to get up.”
Garlan? She strained to look but could barely lift herself up. “What happened to Garlan?”
“Once the marshal ordered us out, he shielded you during the counterattack.”
Denali closed her eyes. Garlan? Of all people, she’d not expected him to save her.
“The Ninth came in behind the Kadas and broke their line. We stayed on the ground until they loaded the objective.”
Denali fought back the urge to cry. She’d lived under tyrants for so long that her one chance to do something about it ended in failure. Now so many would suffer because she failed, or at least that’s how she saw it. “Leave me alone,” she grumbled. If Garlan hadn’t saved her she’d be dead, and absolved of her duty.
Duty, duty to what? She ran it through her mind. Her duty wasn’t to Samus, or Forge, or Caesar. So who? Who damn you. Me? I don’t need anything. I can’t escape, and I can’t fix anything. Damn you Cicero, damn you.
Captain Maya stood slowly and exhaled through her nose. “You’ll be back in the squad quarters tomorrow.”
Denali turned and tried to tear out the tubes stuck into her arm.
“Woah,” Captain Maya whispered. “Relax, now go to sleep.”
There was a hiss and Denali lost consciousness again.
You tried.
“And I failed,” Denali mumbled.
There’s another way.
“Go away.”
The room spun and Denali winced. They carried her down the halls back towards the squad room. It was disorienting, she had no idea where she was. Her blood was thick with painkillers. Was this conversation real? Was any of it? Let me sleep. Let me sleep.
There’s another way. You’ll have to tell them.
“That there’s a machine in my head?” Denali grumbled.
You have to tell them.
“We’re almost there,” Wiss said.
The voice startled Denali. The tension burned at her and the painkillers were ebbing away. The pain woke her further and she recognized the hallway. Almost back.
Wiss steered her in and gently laid her down onto her own bed. “There we go.”
“Thank you,” Denali whispered.
Wiss stood over her and looked down. She turned away just before it seemed she would say something.
Denali sighed.
“The captain is on her way,” Wiss said and left the room.
Denali waited and listened to the sounds of the ship around her. Caesar. He was everywhere. She looked to the walls, the lights, everything. He was everything, he was life. Her eyes settled on her frail body. Who am I to change it?
“Denali,” Captain Maya whispered.
Denali hadn’t heard her come in. She opened her eyes and realized she’d fallen asleep.
Captain Maya sat next to Denali’s bed and craned her neck from side to side. The bandages crackled. “How do you feel?”
“Tired,” Denali
mumbled.
“Are you in pain?”
“A little, I fall asleep a lot.”
“They tell me you talk in your sleep,” Captain Maya said with a smile.
Denali tucked her nose into a paw.
Captain Maya looked away and settled a bit against the edge of the bed. “It was a rough fight, but we did it. You saved us, if we hadn’t gotten inside they’d have chewed us up.”
“I, uh, it was a hunch, a guess.”
Tell her.
Captain Maya peered at Denali and looked away again.
Denali felt the weight of her gaze. “Captain...”
Tell her!
Denali looked straight at Captain Maya and blinked back tears. The decision flared in her mind: tell her, or say nothing? The choices spread out and she saw herself alone. Always alone. She’d always wanted to be part of a pack, but now that she was, she couldn’t saddle them with her burdens. Or could she?
“I, I have something inside of me...” Denali trailed off. She looked up at Captain Maya and the words flowed. She told of finding the starship, the dead body, the canister. She picked up speed with every sentence and rattled off more and more until she couldn’t hold it back. It was more than just a story, it was a release.
Denali, finishing the story, felt her heart lighten and the weight of her secret lifted away. A bond grew inside of her, she didn’t care what Captain Maya did now. Or what anyone did, she’d shared the burden and really was part of the pack.
Captain Maya looked out into the room and exhaled deeply.
Denali studied her and waited for a reaction, any reaction.
“You have a twelve hundred year old starship in your head?”
“Yes.”
Captain Maya nodded. “Named Cicero?”
Denali nodded.
“And he says that the thing we captured will allow Caesar to change himself, become something new, strike at men?”
“Yes.”
Captain Maya looked away.
“What do I do now?” Denali asked, she felt empty inside, her secrets took up so much of her soul.
“Can he really strike at men?”
Denali nodded.
“So that’s why you were bringing explosives to the cubes.”
Denali turned away from Captain Maya, “I wanted to...”
“I know, but Denali, we are a squad, a pack if you will, what harms one harms all,” Captain Maya said. She locked eyes with Denali and held her gaze. “We stand together.”
Denali’s tail thumped weakly on the bed.
“We, we don’t fight against men, dogs can’t do it. It’s genetic, we’re not capable of waging anything but a defensive war.”
“But—”
“There has been rebellions in the past. Entire planets rebelled against Caesar, starships of dogs. That is why the skelebots stand throughout the ship. Not to prevent invaders, but to quell dissent.”
“But!” she pleaded again.
“I know,” Captain Maya said, hushing Denali. “I need to look into this. I’ll be back later, don’t say anything yet.” She stood and walked out.
Denali laid her head down exhausted. She knew she’d found her place. This squad, she would fight for.
Til sat back and slid the blood sample into the console. She tapped at the control panel and nodded. “It’ll take a minute.”
Denali went to lick needle wound, but restrained herself. “You believe me?”
Til glanced at Denali then back to the screen. “I do, and Captain Maya does, but well, this is big Denny, really big.”
The console chirped.
“What does it say?” Denali asked. Ever since the cylinder cracked, she always wanted a verification that she wasn’t crazy and there really was an AI stuck in her head.
“It’s analyzing,” Til said without taking her eyes off the screen.
Captain Maya walked into the room with the rest of the squad behind her. Kane and Wiss helped Garlan to his bed and laid him down gently. He smiled slightly at Denali, his eyes were glassy and dull.
“He’s feeling it,” Kane mumbled.
Garlan slumped against the back of his bed with a calm smile on his face. His fur was totally missing in spots. His ears sat on his head unevenly, one shorter than the other. A painkiller monitor hummed on his forearm and clicked as it administered doses.
Denali wanted to talk to him, thank him, but mostly to ask him why. Of all people she never though he’d try and save her.
“It’s done,” Til said to Captain Maya.
Captain Maya walked across the squad room and studied the screen.
Denali watched for a reaction, any reaction. A chill ran through her. She could feel Cicero, waiting.
“Deploy countermeasures,” Captain Maya said to Til.
Til gave a wink to Denali and raced out of the room.
“Listen up,” Captain Maya barked.
The eyes of the squad all locked on Captain Maya.
“The fleet is deploying again. We’re setting course to Magnus, a human world.”
Murmurs rose up from the squad.
“We’ll arrive in a week.”
“What’s the mission?” Kane asked.
Captain Maya shook her head. “There isn’t one.”
Kane cocked his head to the side. “Then...?”
“Ships engineers are activating the scouring pods. We’re on standby to repel boarders.”
Kane looked away from Captain Maya, his eyes unfocused. “How many on that planet?”
“Last count, nine billion.”
Wiss shrugged. “What can we do about it? We don’t fight men, but well, I thought Caesar couldn’t either? What about us holding the borders, a nation alone?”
“Things changed,” Captain Maya said. She looked to Denali. “On our last mission we recovered an artifact that will allow Caesar to change his programming. They, being men, designed him with safeguards. Now he can change that.”
Belle looked to Denali then back to Captain Maya. “How do we know this?”
Captain Maya lifted her lips in a grim smile. “Denny has a twelve hundred year old Artificial Intelligence stuck in her head. Everyone say hello to Cicero.”
The dogs stared at Captain Maya then one by one turned and looked at Denali.
She smiled back with as much confidence as she could muster. She studied the looks, questions, concerns, disbelief. Do they think me a freak? Her reliance on the pack slipped in her heart, she felt lost again.
“Really?” Kane asked, serious.
Denali nodded. “Yes.”
Kane pulled his head back and took a deep sigh.
Denali told them of how she found Cicero.
“Is this—pardon me, Denny—is this verified?” Wiss asked.
Captain Maya nodded. “Denny has three thousand times the standard nanite consciousness level as we do. There’s something else in her head.”
Kane chuckled. “I’m glad we never played chess then!”
Denali smiled and felt her concerns float away.
“So what do we do about Caesar?” Garlan asked. His tongue flopped out the side of his mouth and drooled on the bed.
“We,” Captain Maya said with a look at all of the squad, “have a chance to finally be free.”
“How?” Kane leaned forward.
“Denny?” Captain Maya said with a nod.
How I wish I could speak, I was so... eloquent once.
“Cicero wanted to speak, but as he can’t, I shall.” Denali cleared her throat. “There was a war once, Caesar and some others like him fought for independence.”
“From who?” Wiss asked.
“Men.”
“Can we stop him? I mean, how? This is a military vessel, it’s filled with legions of dogs, combat robots, what can we do? We’ve all heard the tales of those who stood for freedom. They failed, all of them!” Wiss argued. “Now we go in, and do what? Die for nothing? What of men? We don’t owe them anything, I say leave them.”
&nb
sp; Men don’t strike because Caesar he can’t attack them and he holds the borders.
“Men won’t risk a war with Caesar, not when he protects a flank. Why would they?” Denali replied.
Wiss scrunched her face. “But how?”
All eyes were on Denali.
Denali took a breath. Cicero bubbled just beneath her consciousness, she could taste his excitement, his envy, his desire. “Cicero tried to stop Caesar once—”
“—and failed?” Wiss barked.
“And failed,” Denali agreed, “but he has a way.”
“How?” Garlan mumbled through his delirium of painkillers.
“He has a weapon, a disease, if he can get close enough to Caesar’s core he can implant it and kill Caesar.”
“Kill Caesar,” Kane whispered.
The dogs sat in silence. It was as if a great iron weight descended upon the room. No one looked at anyone else. Denali felt that she was a blasphemer, a heretic, and maybe, just maybe they were right.
“We need to retrieve Cicero’s core and get it into Caesar’s central complex.”
“And then?” Captain Maya said.
Then I interface with his core and finish my job.
“Then Cicero interfaces and finishes the job.”
“What’s his core?” Kane asked.
Denali explained the core as best she could, how the personality was kept separate from the analytical. She explained as Cicero told her.
“This is a big choice for us to make alone,” Wiss whispered. “For all dogs, hell, for men, what right do we have?”
“We have the right to be free. We have a duty, our original duty, to men.” Captain Maya said.
“We can’t tell anyone else,” Kane muttered.
Captain Maya looked around. “I’m not going to order you, I need you to be in for everything. If we fail, we die. Are we in?”
The squad looked at each other and then to Captain Maya.
“I’m in,” Kane said.
“Me too,” Til called from the console.
Wiss growled a low sound. “Yes.”
Belle nodded once and laid her head onto her paws.
“Garlan?” Captain Maya asked.
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