Fires of Prometheus

by Michael G. Thomas

  The man looked to his supervisor who nodded furiously.

  “Good, now, I have another job for you. Find me that bastard the Governor, we have things to discuss,” he said angrily.

  “I thought we were going to hold them to ransom?” asked Tigris.

  “We will but it’s going to take a few minutes to get full control. Plus, we need to find that bastard first before we can negotiate.”

  “It’s working,” said the one of the men as he pointed to the screens.

  “What exactly?” asked Spartan.

  “The transmission, I’m sending the signal you wanted, it is being sent out to the Trading Station, outposts and any ships within range.”

  “Good, attach a message explaining what this place does. Don’t try and be smart-ass, we have military units on the way and those who help us now might avoid consequences later on. Understood?” he said winking at Tigris.

  “Okay, I know about the Biomechs and the ships, we were forced to work here like all the other prisoners,” he said, though Spartan looked less than convinced.

  “What are you waiting for?” was his only reply.

  “Hey, Spartan, have you seen what’s going on at Screen 13?” asked Tigris.

  Spartan shook his head and stepped back to take a look at the display. It was the large corridor that ran from the security room and towards the centre of the base. About a hundred prisoners along with the bulk of what must be Gun were hunkered down behind an improvised barricade of containers, broken machinery and bodies. Attacking them were double their number of guards and Zealots along with a sprinkling of Biomechs. The defenders appeared to have the better position though and were managing to hold them back. Spartan looked closely, he was sure he could see the figure of General Rivers next to the creature waving something and shouting.

  “The crazy old man, he’s always in the middle of trouble,” said Spartan to himself. “Look, is that who I think it is?”

  Tigris looked at the enemy reinforcements that surged through the corridor to assault the barricade. In the middle was the unmistakable shape of the Governor.

  “There he is!” said Tigris with venom. “I want him!”

  “Easy now, there’s time, first we’ve got to get control of the facility, then we can finish him off.”

  “Fine, you stay, I’m out of here!” shouted Tigris and then he was gone.

  Spartan looked about the room and then to the two men at the computers.

  “How long till I get control?”

  The one man turned back to Spartan, “It’s yours, I can put the control to a portable device if you want?” The man was obviously trying to appease him.

  “You can transfer control to a datapad?”

  “Sure, give me a few seconds.”

  It took just a few taps before he turned back and handed him a ruggedised datapad that was locked into the system. Spartan looked at the screen and noted the complete structure of the base, it looked even bigger than he expected.

  “Just tap the area or system and you can issue commands directly to the computer centre.”

  “Good, come on, upstairs!” he said as moved back to the broken glass and in the direction Tigris had taken.

  As the three left the room the largest screen showed the raging battle around the barricade. A small monitor showed the video feed back towards the centre of the compound where six armoured warriors were engaged with the Zealots in a bitter firefight. Spartan spotted the action from the corner of his eye and quickly pulled himself back. As he did so the two men ran for it, he lifted his pistol and pointed it at the back of the closest. He started to pull the trigger but stopped, he wouldn’t kill them, not yet anyway. Looking back at the screen he tried to work out who the six were. Tapping the display the camera zoomed in to show the six in body armour and military grade firearms. At the front were a man and woman, both without helmets and firing carbines. He almost fell over when he spotted the woman’s face.

  “Teresa!” he shouted.

  Without pausing he turned and ran for the stairs.

  * * *

  Teresa ducked as a Zealot swung what could only be described as a sharpened halberd at her head. Her speed saved her but not the mercenary who took the full impact in his shoulder. Even his toughened synthetic body armour could not stop the razor sharp crystal edged blade from cutting deeply into his flesh. As he dropped in agony he lifted his carbine and tore the man in half with a deadly burst of gunfire.

  “Bishop, what’s the plan!” she shouted, firing a short burst at another Zealot as he emerged from cover.

  They had reached the mouth of the corridor and run directly into a group of reinforcements that appeared to be involved in a major battle further inside the compound. As the last Zealot was cut down her team moved to the walls and looked inside the corridor at the unfolding battle. Two of the mercs dragged the wounded man to cover before joining them.

  “I don’t know, we can join this fight but it could be nothing to do with our mission, what if this is just some kind of labour dispute?” he asked before lifting his carbine and pointing it behind Teresa.

  “Hey, who are you?” he shouted as a man, half dressed in the garb of one of the guards approached with raised hands.

  “The name’s Tigris, I was going to ask you the same. I’m helping with the escape, you here to help?”

  “We’re looking for a Confed General and a group of prisoners.”

  “A General, well, I’ve been working with a guy called Spartan, I know he’s with a group of Confed guys, most of them are back there in the fight.”

  Bishop turned to Teresa who pulled back the bolt on her carbine and rushed after the enemy reinforcements.

  “Come on!” shouted Bishop before Tigris was able to explain further.

  The surviving mercenaries followed, each of them continuing their carefully aimed shooting and started to pick off the guards and Zealots from behind. In less than a minute the enemy’s numbers had been halved before they even realised there was somebody behind them. In the middle a small group of Biomechs looked like they had gone on the rampage, there were three and all of them had turned on the Zealots, one with a Gatling gun tore a dozen men to shreds. In the middle a man in a suit stood calmly and shouted for them to stop. A few guns stopped but one of the Biomechs continued to fight before being dragged to the ground by half a dozen Zealots. They were about to finish the creature off when the man called out.

  “Stop this madness, immediately!”

  The gunshots had all but stopped and the remaining thirty of the enemy moved back slightly, taking up positions in cover as the leader followed them. The Biomechs stayed where they stood, neither following the enemy nor joining the defenders on the barricades.

  “I am the Governor and you will lay down your weapons immediately. This act of sedition is punishable by exposure to the surface!” he roared.

  One of the defenders fired a shot that just missed the man and was immediately hit in the forehead by a return shot from one of the guards.

  “At this very moment a dozen warships are bringing hundreds of reinforcements to quell this little revolt of yours. Surrender now and you can return to your cells, keep fighting and you will all be executed, including those still in their cells.”

  From her position Teresa could make out people moving back and forth though it wasn’t clear what they planned to do. As she contemplated what to do the newly arrived guard stepped past her and towards the Governor.

  “Governor, I’ve made contact with the enemy, I know who they are and their plans.”

  The Governor turned and smiled at him.

  “Excellent, so our little group have given up their contacts in the Confederacy. Good work, this news will greatly assist in our struggle,” he said as he indicated for Tigris to move to the side and out of the way of likely gunfire.

  “Governor, this is General Rivers, Commander of Confed ground forces. Surrender now and I guarantee you a fair trial!” came a booming voice behind
the barricades.

  Teresa’s heart lifted as she recognised the voice.

  “Governor, you bastard, turn around!” roared a voice she knew even better.

  Turning she spotted the bloodied figure of Spartan. His clothes were ruined and blood dripped down his face. In his hand he carried a rifle, presumably taken from one of the many fallen guards. The man turned around to face Spartan, a look of amusement on his face.

  “Well, well, I see you have…” he started before being cut short by a single shot to the head. Blood burst from his skull as he dropped lifelessly to the ground. With their leader gone the remaining guards surrendered, leaving just around ten Zealots who backed away, looking for a way out.

  Spartan looked over towards Teresa who stood holding a smoking carbine, still pointing at the body of the Governor. Bishop stood next to her. From behind the barricade the remaining people jumped down and rushed towards Spartan and the other survivors. General Rivers, sporting half a dozen minor wounds was helped down and limped towards Teresa. Spartan also spotted Marcus and Misaki. A loud roar came from the defenders followed by Gun who jumped over the metal obstacle and landed just a few metres from Teresa. She lifted her gun ready to fire again, only to be stopped by the strong arms of Spartan who grabbed her tightly.

  “I knew you’d be in the middle of this!” she laughed.

  As the two embraced, General Rivers approached with Misaki and Marcus.

  “Ahem!” coughed the General, trying to get Spartan’s attention.

  It seemed nothing would split them apart until finally Teresa pulled back, spotting the figure of the General. She saluted smartly, Spartan pushed out his hand and shook it

  “Excellent work, both of you. Can I assume, Private, that your appearance here is the precursor to Confed troops arriving?”

  Teresa looked back to Spartan, her eyes alive with pleasure and then back to the General.

  “We came on the Tamarisk, Sir, just two shuttles. How many people are here?”

  “Thousands, Private, tens of thousands. We can’t leave, not yet,” he said firmly before turning to Spartan.

  “Did you get the signal out?”

  “Yes, Sir, it’s already being transmitted on all frequencies.”

  Bishop stepped forward, saluting the General.

  “Sir, you might want to hear this,” he said as he held out his intercom unit.

  “Commander Anderson here. Your signal got out. There are over twenty civilian ships in orbit demanding the Echidna vessels leave immediately. Apparently your footage is causing uproar on the Trading Post. There’s talk of an outright ban on the Church and its associates throughout the Prometheus System.”

  There was a short burst of static before he continued, “We will be landing shortly. What is your status?”

  “We have the prisoners, a lot of them,” said Spartan almost excitedly.

  “Good, we won’t be taking off anytime soon though, the ship’s badly damaged.”

  “You and Kowalski?”

  “We’re okay, Sergeant, I have to go, this is going to be an interesting landing, Tamarisk out.”

  Bishop took back the intercom unit and fitted back his armour.

  General Rivers looked over to Bishop.

  “Thank you, son, your team have done the Confederacy proud. I need you to help arrange triage for the wounded and we have to get in touch with friendly vessels in the area. There are a lot of hurt people down here. Spartan, can you patch me through to our Communication Post on the Trading Station? I need to get word to the Admiral about this place.”

  “Sir!”

  “Look out!” shouted Teresa as she spotted Tigris moving out from the shadows with a pistol pointed at General Rivers’ head. She grabbed at her pistol but it was too late. A bright light engulfed the traitor before scattering his body into a dozen pieces across the floor. She looked across to the smiling Biomech whose gun was still rotating giving off smoke.

  “That’s Gun by the way, our new best friend!” said Spartan who then grabbed Teresa again and pulled her close.

  General Rivers moved away to speak with Bishop and the scene quickly turned from one of carnage to one of recovery and repair. As the General walked away he left Misaki stood, staring at the two with a look of anger on her face. With a growl to herself she stormed off to join the others.

  “Hey, you crazy woman!” Marcus finished tying the bonds on two of the Zealots and ran over to Teresa and Spartan.

  Teresa hugged him so hard he groaned. As he pulled away she looked at them both.

  “You two don’t get away that easily,” she said with a laugh and then held them both tightly.

  * * *

  Admiral Jarvis paced inside the CiC of the newly repaired and now fully operational CCS Crusader. It had taken weeks to finish the repair work but with her now ready for battle the Admiral finally had a fleet worthy of the Confederacy. Over a dozen capital ships sailed alongside her as they made their way to their rendezvous with the CCS Wasp and her extra forces.

  “General, the information you obtained from Prometheus is fascinating. As per your recommendations the Biomech programming has been reversed though what we will have to do when they are hatched, for want of a better word, is something we will have to consider. The total count of prisoners released will be in the thousands. Thankfully the video footage has created uproar throughout System,” she said with glee.

  “That is good news, Admiral, will this turn the tide?”

  She stood, silent for a moment as she looked at the strategic map of the Proxima System. Nothing had changed in terms of control of territory but the propaganda victory couldn’t be overstated.

  “News from my contacts at Fort Hood on Kerberos tells me there have been several popular uprisings against the new government and their rulers. It isn’t the end, not by a long shot, but I truly believe this is the best opportunity we have had for months. How is the team? I understand they are back on the Santa Cruz recovering?”

  “Yes, the entire group were commendable and I have requested promotion for them all. Especially Sergeant Spartan and Private Morato. They proved strong and dependable in a critical situation.”

  “Indeed, I understand my old friend Commander Anderson is still on the planet working through the shipyard intelligence?”

  “Yes, when he saw some of the half completed vessels I couldn’t get him to leave,” he said with a grin.

  The intercom on the wall started to emit a tone. The Admiral walked over and picked it up, she listed for a moment then replaced it.

  “General, the probe is due to enter the anomaly in the next minute.”

  The entire CiC was empty other than the two commanders and one trusted science officer who managed the probes support system. On the screen between them the image flipped from the strategic map to a full size time-delayed video feed from their probe.

  “This is the anomaly Commander Anderson obtained intelligence on?” he asked. The science officer nodded in agreement.

  “Does it correlate with the intelligence we received from our source on Kerberos?”

  “Yes, Sir, it is positioned roughly 50AU from Prime. We tracked the surviving cutters from the battle over Prometheus making their way to the point before losing contact with them.”

  “Special Agent Johnson managed to get additional location data to us from Fort Hood before the planetary transmission was jammed. Whatever it is, the insurgents don’t want us finding out about it,” explained the Admiral.

  “What is it? Some kind of cloaked or masked base?”

  Admiral Jarvis shrugged.

  “Admiral, the probe has just past through the path of a massive digital transmission, it is coming from the anomaly. We only have a small fragment of the data, it appears to be encrypted control code for automated systems, I have sent it to the decryption analysis engine for study,” the Science Officer said, pressing several buttons on his console. Just seconds later he turned back to the Admiral. “The probe is entering the an
omaly in ten seconds.”

  The three stopped what they were doing and watched the video feed. They had no idea what to expect other than it was the unknown.

  “Strange,” said the Science Officer, “the probe is still accelerating, it should be…” he said as the image flashed and showed several bright colours and then went black.

  “Signal lost, Admiral.”

  General Rivers appeared unmoved but Admiral Jarvis shook her head in annoyance and turned away.

  “I knew we should have sent something slower. Six days for the probe wasn’t enough in my opinion, it must have hit something on its arrival.”

  “Uh, Admiral, you need to see this.”

  Admiral Jarvis turned back, intrigued by the tone of the man’s voice.

  “Yes?”

  “Look, if I move one frame at a time there are three frames after the flash on arrival.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  The officer brought up the first image. It was nothing other than a multicolour blue blur. The second image was dark blue with a few patches on it and the third was just noise.

  “Can you enhance the second one?”

  “I’ll see what I can do, Admiral.” He started fiddling with his computer.

  Admiral Jarvis moved to the next computer and started trawling through astronomical objects before settling on one. She hit a key and blew it up full size on the main view screen.

  “Well, how long?”

  “It will take a few hours to fully compile, this is what I have so far though.” He loaded the partially enhanced image to the screen next to the one the Admiral had used.

  “Are you seeing what I am, Admiral?” asked a bewildered General Rivers.

  “Quite, if I’m not mistaken, that is Terra Nova.”

  “The capital of Alpha Centauri?” asked the confused Science Officer.

  Admiral Jarvis stepped back and examined the images side by side.

  “It looks to me like we have just discovered a viable route that leads directly to Terra Nova. If it works we can travel between both points in weeks instead of nearly a year.” She turned and looked at the General.