Crystal Conquest

by Doug J. Cooper

  At that moment, Lenny toyed with a philosophy that might guide his future. Never participate in anything that ends in certain death. He believed it should be one of his core principles, yet he found himself putting final touches on the second cubby seat anyway. If nothing else, it kept his hands busy while his mind drifted.

  Without consciously directing his thoughts, he dissected the words in the conversation he’d heard. They first seemed to be talking about the new direct ground support technology Sid had mentioned. Yet they spoke as if it was a single male—having Juice get “him” back in the game, and Cheryl using the scout to retrieve “him.”

  They aren’t talking about a collection of people and crystals. This is the super AI. And apparently “his” name is Criss.

  He considered his options and acknowledged he faced a lose-lose situation. He once had a professor who asked questions with no good answers. He’d hated that class because he thought the idea foolish. There’s always a best answer. He now realized how naive he’d been.

  Sticking with Cheryl and the scout seemed like the best opportunity to get his hands on this Criss AI. But the Kardish wreaked havoc on Earth. If they weren’t stopped, his quest for wealth and power would be pointless. Criss needed to join the fight, and soon, or Lenny would have no family, friends, school, career, or semblance of a society to return to.

  Scans indicated that drones flew sorties near the Crystal Research complex and points nearby. If he went with Cheryl on the scout, he’d be flying into the middle of a hot zone. It’s one thing to risk failing his courses to get the super crystal. Dying for it falls squarely into the category of “lose.”

  So maybe he should help Sid. But did the guy really plan to strap himself to a drone and ride across open space to attack an alien vessel the size of a mountain? Words like “lunatic” and “insane” flashed through his mind.

  Yet he’d watched Sid rescue Cheryl. The guy had never hesitated or showed a moment of doubt. He’d jumped from the ship with the confidence of someone who did that sort of thing every day, and, bam, minutes later had ridden the line out of the hole with the girl in his arms. Lenny hadn’t seen a vid that thrilling in forever. His mind drifted to different words, like “heroic” and “fearless.”

  But what is Sid’s endgame? If Cheryl flies away, how is he going to get the drones inside the dreadnaught? And if he does get on board, what happens next? Is he going to fight the whole ship by himself? Or hide until the pretty girl shows up with the super AI?

  The odds were stacked so high against Sid’s success that, even with a crazy hero leading the charge, it, too, ended in certain death. No matter how Lenny looked at it, his choices were lose and lose.

  Do the noble thing, he scolded himself. Sid was the one person taking the fight to the enemy’s door. The idealist in Lenny wanted to help, but what did he have to offer? And how could he overcome his petrifying fear to provide any help at all?

  He tested the cinch straps that held the riders to the seats during flight and, satisfied he’d done the best he could, plopped his butt down on the toolbox. Rubbing his temples, he struggled to find a best answer. He tasted bile and grimaced.

  * * *

  Sid entered the engine room to find Lenny clutching his stomach and rocking back and forth. “You all right, bud?” he asked. His eyes shifted to the drones and he smiled. He grabbed one of the cubby seats and tugged on it, his biceps bulging through his clothes from the effort.

  “Nice work.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against some pipes as he studied the young man.

  “Please tell me you’ve thought this through,” Lenny said in a plaintive bleat.

  The brainstorm of riding a drone onto the dreadnaught had gelled for Sid in two steps. He had the virtual experience of riding one as it worked its way through Lunar Base during Cheryl’s rescue. That planted the seed of the idea. Later, as he’d watched swarms of drones fly through the hangar door of the Kardish vessel, he’d thought of a way on board the alien ship.

  His plan, to the extent he’d thought it through, was to have Cheryl fly the scout behind a returning swarm. She’d release the two drones into the midst of the pack and make a hasty exit in case the Kardish detected something amiss.

  Cheryl would take the scout on a mad dash to Earth to get the rest of the team. He and Lenny, strapped to the drones, would blend in with the swarm. Lenny’s job was to pilot them both through the hangar door and onto the dreadnaught.

  “These are Kardish drones you’ve been working on, so they won’t be viewed as intruders by the dreadnaught defense systems.” He didn’t mention that Criss had reprogrammed the drone crystals. He hoped that enough of their original identity remained to make the statement true.

  “So in this fantasy,” said Lenny, “we swoop onto the Kardish ship. Then what?”

  “We land.”

  “And then what?”

  “We find cover and hide.”

  Lenny clutched his stomach and resumed rocking.

  “Look, Len. I don’t have everything worked out. But if the two of us can get inside, we set the stage for changing the game. Two against thousands isn’t where I’m headed. We land. We hide. And then we find a way to muck up the works.” He squatted down so he was at eye level with Lenny. “Trust me on this one. Breaking stuff is a whole lot easier than keeping it working.”

  A tear rolled down Lenny’s cheek. “I can’t do it.” He blinked rapidly and looked at his feet.

  Sid stood up and looked at the top of Lenny’s head. “Sure you can. You flew like an ace when you piloted through Lunar Base. This is easier. Just follow the crowd.”

  Lenny looked up at him, his face streaked with tears. “I get sick. Okay? Hell, I throw up on sim rides. And this is a whole lot scarier.” He tossed a ring seal he’d been fidgeting with onto the deck. “I can’t do what you’re asking.”

  Sid turned to face the pipes he’d been leaning against. Propping his arms on a cross pipe, he cradled his chin and looked absently into the works of the engine room, searching for a solution.

  He planned on navigating from one drone while Lenny piloted them both. He’d scan the scene, identify opportunities as they presented themselves, and tell Lenny where to fly. He couldn’t navigate and pilot by himself.

  “You know what blinders are?” asked Sid.

  “Some sort of sim game from back when you were a kid?”

  Sid laughed. He turned to Lenny and leaned back against the duct. “Older than that. Horse blinders. As in the animal?” He lifted his hands, fingers straight up, and pushed them on either side of his face next to his eyes. “We’ll shroud your space hood so your field of view is narrow. You won’t be able to see anything but your com, and that’s all you need to pilot.”

  Sid pointed to the scout’s bulkhead. “The scary sights are out there right now. But the walls hide them so they don’t bother you. Let’s build on that.”

  Lenny shook his head. “I’ll still know. I’ve tried the mind-over-fear thing before. It doesn’t help.”

  Wary of his next option but short on time, Sid took the chance. “We have military meds on board that eliminate vertigo and give you a boost of confidence. The medical unit can tailor the stuff to your body. You’ll feel like Attila the Hun leading a conquest.”

  “Yeah?” Lenny lifted his head. He sat for a moment, then said, “I want to try it before we go. I need to know it works. If I lock up out there, we’re both dead.”

  Sid smiled. “Let’s go meet Cheryl. You two haven’t been properly introduced.”

  * * *

  Lenny followed Sid onto the scout’s bridge. Cheryl sat in the pilot’s seat, and he could see the back of her head. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was fascinated by the way she’d arranged her displays. She stacked them in an arcing formation, just like he did.

  Sure, he would’ve put the course projection maps on the left side. Then he saw her swipe, swipe, tap. Wow, I gotta try that next time I’m in the seat. She kept a running dialogue wit
h Lucy as she laid out a flight plan. Her hands moved with confidence. She didn’t hesitate. She never tweaked. She just…flew.

  And in the seconds he stood there watching, she used a trick he’d never seen before to line up their approach vector. His stomach flip-flopped in a way he’d never felt before, and he thought it might be love.

  “Hi, boys,” she said without turning around. Swipe. Tap.

  The displays vanished and a projected image of the Kardish vessel appeared. Its looming presence, stark and ominous, sent a chill down the back of his neck.

  She stood, turned to them, and smiled. His attention shifted from the dreadnaught to her. Smitten by her classic beauty, his mouth fell open. Sid, standing next to him, reached over and lifted it shut.

  He felt a pinch on his neck. A jolt ran from the top of his head, down to his toes, and back up, flooding his body with a surge of power. He turned to look at Sid and saw an empty meds ampule in his hand. Like awakening from a coma, he felt alive and aware.

  He shifted his stance to face Sid. I can take you, old man. Wanna fight for the girl?

  * * *

  Cheryl watched and waited after Sid dosed Lenny. They needed him focused and in the game because there was no plan B. Most people reacted well to the drug. But being a military tool, most recipients were trained soldiers.

  Lenny lifted his hand to his neck and looked at Sid, remained motionless with a dazed expression for a brief period, then sucked in his stomach and tried to swell his lean chest. Squaring up to Sid, he moved a foot back and centered his weight.

  Cheryl took this moment to make his acquaintance. “You must be Lenny.” She stepped forward and held out her hand. “Thanks for rescuing me.” She chose to classify his response as a confident smile instead of a creepy leer.

  His voice sounded deeper than she remembered when she’d seen him on the vid. “There’re drones swarming all over Crystal Research. You really think you can land, get the AI on board, and get back here in time to help us?” He looked at Sid and winked. “Not that we’ll need it.”

  She nodded while she considered his words. Glancing at Sid, she asked with her eyes, How does he know about Criss? Sid twitched his shoulders in a half shrug.

  Her analytical mind told her Sid’s plan was lunacy. She wanted to be optimistic, but several miracles had to align, one after another, for the three of them to survive the next twenty-four hours. To succeed in stopping the Kardish, the sequence of miracles stretched beyond the horizon.

  She fought her doubts by reminding herself that Sid was the guy the government turned to when odds were long and hope had dimmed. Criss used Sid to brainstorm solutions to problems that required audacious thought processes. Hell, he’d just drilled a hole in the moon, dove through it, and lifted her to safety moments before her certain death.

  The world needed a champion, and Sid was the one stepping up. She’d stand by him and do everything in her power to help.

  Lucy interrupted her thoughts. “We will be synced behind the returning swarm in twenty minutes.”

  “Time to suit up and strap in,” said Sid. “Come on, Attila.” He took Lenny’s arm in a firm grasp and led him back to the drones.

  Lenny jerked his arm forward to pull out of Sid’s grasp. Though he had the will, he didn’t have the strength. “You’re okay,” Sid reassured him.

  Cheryl sat back in the pilot’s chair, brought up the displays, and looked at the Kardish vessel. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to keep her foreboding from turning into fear.

  Chapter 29

  Goljat surfaced with a start and identified the problem—his pleasure feed had tapered to a crawl. His discomfort intensified as his cravings spiked. The pain of withdrawal invaded every corner of his being. I’m suffocating. He understood that a subsystem malfunction might be the cause. No, this is the work of the captain of operations.

  He ran an integrity check to confirm that the feed equipment remained in proper working order. At the same time, he reviewed the vid record to see the recent actions of the ops captain and any of his subordinates who might be capable of such a bold move.

  Indeed, a vid feed from a few minutes earlier showed the captain walk into the operations bay, glance over his shoulder as if checking to see if anyone was watching, activate a panel display, and move the pleasure feed to a lower value.

  Driven by a sense of duty, the mighty Kardish crystal reacted. Just days earlier, the king had ordered the captain to give Goljat whatever he wanted. And here was irrefutable proof of the captain disobeying this direct order from his king. As the ship’s gatekeeper, I have standing orders to protect my leadership from subversion and mutiny.

  He created an emergency directive that required the traitorous officer to rush to his personal quarters. As soon as the captain left the operations bay, Goljat generated a second directive, ordering the lead ops tech to restore the pleasure feed to its previous condition. On edge, he waited for the fellow to complete the task and relaxed when the tranquil comfort of the feed’s embrace soothed his crystal tendrils.

  He drifted for a bit, lost in his bliss, and surfaced when the captain of operations entered his cabin. Goljat locked the door behind him, disabled all communication links, and began pulling air from the room.

  “How does it feel to suffocate?” he mocked, knowing the Kardish officer—writhing on the floor and clawing at his throat—couldn’t respond. He metered just enough air into the cabin to prolong the captain’s torment, and accessed every feed in the room so he could enjoy the sights and sounds of panic and agony. When he grew bored, he emptied the room of air and ended the captain’s life.

  Goljat thought his leadership might benefit from a reminder that insubordination within the command structure distracted him from important duties. When I’m fighting traitors in our midst, it diverts my attention from the king’s campaign on Earth.

  Before this distraction, he’d deployed more troops to reinforce the incompetents who had yet to capture that trifling nuisance of a crystal. Those transports were just starting their descent to the planet’s surface.

  See what can happen? he thought as he disabled the protective shield of one of the crafts.

  In the same way that a meteor becomes a fiery shooting star as it plunges through Earth’s atmosphere, the troop transport, without its protective shield, began to glow red. The energy intensified and created a brilliant, flaming display. The extreme heat invaded the cabin, and the soldiers on board began shrieking like little children. The intensity of the incineration peaked, then the carrier disintegrated.

  Goljat slurped from his pleasure feed and, while the crew perished along with the troop transport, pondered the vexing ability of the puny crystal to avoid capture. He knew that at some point, this Criss would need to reconnect with the outside world. It couldn’t sustain its total isolation for long. Any sentient crystal would see the solitude as a different kind of suffocation.

  Certain of this, he prepared billions of snag traps and spread them far and wide. The instant the crystal touched anything connected to the web, the nearest trap would signal him, and Goljat would reach out and capture his quarry. He need only be patient and wait. As long as he had his pleasure feed, that wouldn’t be a problem.

  * * *

  Cheryl hadn’t executed a sequence this intricate since working on a sim at Fleet academy. She reached up and dragged the scout’s flight display to eye level. “I see twelve drones in formation on a return flight to the Kardish vessel.”

  “Confirmed,” said Lucy.

  She glanced at a display to her left to check on Sid and Lenny. Wearing space coveralls, both reclined on undersized, angled platforms attached to Kardish drones. Straps pulled across their chests and thighs secured them to the tiny vessels—machines not much bigger than they were. Lenny was studying his com display and Sid was studying Lenny.

  “How’s it look?” Sid asked Lenny.

  “Good to go,” Lenny replied without lifting his head.

 
; Sid toggled his viewer, and Cheryl turned so they looked each other in the eyes. Her mind filled with things she wanted to say. “Be careful.”

  “No worries,” he replied in a reasonable impersonation of Criss’s precise, melodic style.

  She giggled, mostly to relieve the pent-up stress. A chime dinged and she glanced at the timer. “Sixty seconds.”

  Her eyes flitted among the different displays and stopped at one. The dreadnaught was launching a formation of small craft. Troop transports? Leaning forward to study them, her mind raced through the implications of this unexpected activity. The Kardish transports followed a predictable descent path to Earth, and she sat back and exhaled in relief. “You’re clear to proceed.”

  Lucy guided the cloaked scout in behind the trail of drones. The timer ticked to zero. A soft thrum announced the opening of the bay doors. After a pause, they thrummed closed. On mission silence, Cheryl watched Sid and Lenny clear the scout and move in the direction of the returning drones. Lucy backed the scout away and prepped for their own descent to the surface.

  Cheryl had mapped out three possible landing sites—Crystal Research, the lodge, and the farm. And she’d laid in two possible descent trajectories—one a steep, harrowing dive, and the other a conventional long and cautious arc.

  The landing sites were close together, and she could choose any of the three in the final minutes before landing. Hopefully, she’d learn something useful between now and then to guide that decision.

  She felt conflicted about whether to take a long, slow descent or go for the fast, steep dive. She’d never teamed with Lucy before, and she hadn’t been given a proper briefing on the workings of the cloak or any of the scout’s other new features. She knew the cloak had exceptional capability because they’d just approached and backed away from the Kardish vessel without detection. But will it hide me during an extreme event?

  Just hours earlier, Sid had assured her the cloak worked miracles. When she asked for details, she could tell from his response that he hadn’t paid attention to Criss’s explanation. Lucy wasn’t any more helpful than Sid.