Battleframe (The Mindwars Book 1)

  Mihaly leaned back in his chair and subconsciously slipped into Scourge Wars speak, “Oh frap! The Scourge are our next door neighbours!”

  Chapter 4

  Decisions

  Russell stared at the ceiling while letting out a slow whistle. “So it’s only a matter of time before they find Earth. So why’d you do this whole Scourge Wars game charade?”

  Mark replied, “That was a stroke of creative genius borne out of necessity. Russell, as I said before we’re losing the war. A brilliant young researcher, Oscar Intellius, suggested to Professor Steinberg that the Earth would be an ideal recruiting ground for battleframe pilots.

  “Is that the same Steinberg from the game?”

  “No, it was his son. The whole back story from the game is actually derived from real events though.”

  “Ray and Thomas were real?”

  Matt interrupted. “Yes. They’re regarded as heroes for what they did.”

  Mihaly said, “But they were us in the game.”

  Matt replied, “To make the game more engaging we changed the names of the characters to your own. The characters themselves were the first real battleframe pilots.”

  Whizzbang asked Matt, “How about Altavia? Was she real and did she die?”

  “Yes and yes. History tells us that Altavia was gorgeous and amazingly intelligent but the one thing everyone remembers about her was her blue eyes. We represented that in the game as best we could.”

  James leaned over to Alex, “I think they did too good a job on her.”

  Alex sniggered, “Seems to me the art department managed to get all her curves in the right spots.”

  Russell glared at the two boys before asking Mark, “So we’ve essentially been playing the history of the Concord.”

  “Yes. We wanted you to experience our history not just learn about it.” Mark’s voice took on a heightened level of intensity as he leaned forward in his seat. “Russell, we’re desperate for battleframe pilots and the people of Earth still believe they’re the only sentient race in the galaxy. Could you imagine trying to convince your governments that the Scourge are real? It would take years of negotiations with an uncertain outcome and we just don’t have the time.”

  Russell nodded in understanding.

  “The Scourge Wars game was devised to find the best potential candidates for recruitment. The problem is the last Scourge push, where we nearly lost Freehold, made us desperate, and forced us to accelerate the program. Each of you were identified as the best of the best and so we geno-tagged you.”

  “Geno-tagged?” asked Russell.

  Tony entered the discussion and said, “Geno-tagging is a very new technology where we tag an individual’s genetic markers via the game. We can then TransWarp their consciousness into a real battleframe and build a facsimile of the pilot from malleable energy. There’s a lot of technology involved that I don’t really understand, but it allowed us to send all your minds to Alpha Three to help stop the latest Scourge attacks.”

  Russell said, “So that explains why we sometimes felt like we were being squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste. I presume that you can then grab us whenever we’re asleep?”

  “Yes, once geno-tagged we don’t have to wait for you to play the game anymore. You just need to be completely relaxed or asleep.”

  “Let me guess for a moment Tony. If we happen to be travelling quickly, say in a plane, then you can’t reach us. Is that right?”

  “Yes, that’s why we couldn’t grab you when you were flying here from Australia.”

  “So Mark, was the whole back story in the game for Whizzbang real?”

  Mark was a little surprised by the question. “It’s a little of all three of us. Tony lost his parents in a colony attack and Gasp is his real adopted father.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss Tony.”

  “It was a long time ago Russell.” Chuckling to himself he continued, “I just wish that I was as smart as the eighteen year old Whizzbang that was being assessed.”

  “Don’t we all.” Russell stifled a yawn. “So all of the background stories for our game characters are from the lives of real people?”

  Mark sombrely replied, “Every one of them.”

  “So why did the Scourge appear to be getting smarter?”

  “That’s an easy one to answer. As we tested potential game pilots we had to ramp up the difficulty level until we finally risked sending their consciousness to Alpha Three.”

  Russell nodded in understanding, “Is that when we had a feeling of vertigo in our last session?”

  “Both yes and no. As Tony said, geno-tagging is a very new technology and the squeezing effect occurred when we had a disruption in the subspace signal that sent your consciousness across the light years. If we didn’t have a problem with the signal you wouldn’t have noticed that you were on Alpha Three.”

  “Mark, one of the reasons why we’re here is because we were noticing.”

  “I think we were more than just noticing,” Bosk interjected.

  Mark smiled at the obvious fact. “It’s clear that we naively thought that you wouldn’t notice,” he said.

  Russell asked, “So why don’t you send more of these facsimile battleframes to Alpha Three?”

  “We’d like to but as you’ve already experienced, there appear to be some downsides.”

  “And they are?”

  Mark hesitated uncertainly before making the decision to continue, “Other than the technical issues, the biggest problem is that the pilot’s still receive injuries and potentially death.”

  Silence filled the room and the atmosphere instantly became frosty. They were all aware of being hurt while playing the game but none of them had considered death as a possibility. Russell’s cold blue eyes pinned Mark to his chair and with a voice like a cracking whip asked, “Are you telling us that you put all of our lives at risk?”

  Mark hung his head in embarrassment and answered, “Yes we did.”

  “What gave you the right to do this!”

  Mark snapped his head back up to glare back at Russell, “Desperation! We had nowhere else to turn to!” He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down and then implored, “Whizz, I mean Russell, we’re almost all that’s left of our entire civilisation and then we discovered all of you. I know there’s no excuse for what we did…”

  Ever the peacemaker, Mike leaned forward in his chair and interrupted, “Russ, I know what they did was wrong but we probably would’ve done the same thing in their circumstances. We’re all still here aren’t we?”

  “Yes Mike, we’re still alive.”

  Frank said contritely, “Russ, we’re all sorry for what we did. As the Commander said, it was inexcusable. We should have been up front with you from the beginning.” His apology and soothing words acted like a healing balm, releasing the tension in the room. He then looked at each of the men opposite him, “Please accept our apology for what we did.”

  Russell’s initial anger at the revelation of their danger began to subside as he considered Mark and Frank’s words. Despite his trepidations, he found himself beginning to like the four Concord men. Assuming what they said was true, they struck him as honest men thrust into an impossible situation. He leaned back thoughtfully in his chair, was just about to ask another question, and then changed his mind.

  Frank studied Russell and the others. Their reaction so far and ability to cope with meeting aliens from another planet, that had effectively hijacked them, was incredible. Most people would have been a blubbering mess by now. “Frap we’ve done the wrong thing by these men,” he thought dejectedly.

  Mark said, “We all agree with what Frank just said. As the commanding officer of this mission, please accept the apology of the Concord. What we did was wrong.” He paused to gauge the effect of the apology before continuing, “Russ, without Alpha Three’s tellurite reserves the last remaining worlds don’t stand a chance. You and your team have already bought us some time against the current invas
ion.” Looking across at each member of Russell’s squad Mark’s voice cracked as he pleaded, “We need your help.”

  Russell leaned forward onto the table, the weight of Mark’s words resting heavily on his shoulders. “Mark, I appreciate that the Concord is in desperate circumstances but I’m sure that you’d agree that we need to do what is best for our own world and families.”

  “Of course,” Mark replied sombrely. He was about to say something else but thought better of it. These men needed some time to digest what they had only just learned.

  Russell placed his head in his hands as he absently stared down at the table. The table’s fine red stained wooden grain weaved in and out in ever expanding circular patterns that seemed to reflect the intricacies of his own thoughts.

  A strained silence descended upon the room as each person retreated into their own thoughts on the decision at hand. Unbeknown to Russell, the fate of the entire galaxy depended upon what he would decide. Several minutes went by as he contemplated all the possible options. Wearily he looked up and met Mihaly’s eyes. Years of friendship and trust conveyed exactly what each other was thinking. Mihaly give a small nod of his head and that simple exchange was all that Russell needed to know that he had his friend’s full support.

  Finally, Russell asked, “What do you think they’ll say?” It was not necessary to articulate that he was talking about both their wives and daughters.

  Mihaly responded with a wan smile, “Russ, by the sounds of it they’re going to be the least of our problems.”

  “I know,” Russell replied in voice full of concern.

  Mark nervously looked across at each of his men. He subtly shook his head in the negative when it looked like Tony was about to say something. So much depended on these Earthmen and yet he needed to let them make their own decision.

  Russell breathed in deeply and slowly let his breath out to help calm the chaotic thoughts racing through his mind. Finally, as if a switch flicked to a new position he reached an internal decision point. Turning to Mark he asked, “That box we saw with all of the tubes sticking out of it is a way for us to get to Alpha Three. Isn’t it?”

  Mark carefully worded his reply so as not to accidently dissuade the men opposite from helping them. “Yes, it’s been powering up over the last twenty-three days and it should be ready in about six more. It takes a lot of energy to send something four point three light years to Alpha Three.”

  James looked across at his father and asked, “Dad, are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

  “As Mark outlined, we don’t actually have a choice,” Russell answered with a grim smile, “The Scourge are next door and it’s only a matter of time before they discover Earth.”

  “What about Mum and the girls? They’re not going to like this.”

  Russell grimaced, “I know,” and then looking across at Mark he said, “We’ll let them know when it’s safe and maybe then they can come and join us.”

  Across the other side of the table, Mark nodded slowly in tacit agreement that he would do whatever he could to reunite their families. Mark cleared his voice of the tension of the last few minutes and said, “There is something else that you should know. Warping four point three light years to Alpha Three is likely to be an uncomfortable experience.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve heard that it’s like an eport but for a lot longer.”

  “Since we’ve never actually experienced an eport before I’ll work under the assumption that we’ll cope.”

  This time it was Mark that looked thoughtful before he said, “An interesting thing is that I think that you may be right. When we geno-tagged you, we were able to process your genetic make-up. It appears that each of you have some unusual and extremely rare markers.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The genetic markers are similar to those found in pilots that are able to mentally withstand the rigours of an eport. There’s only been a handful of pilots in the whole of the Concord that exhibited this trait.”

  “Is what you’re saying is that we’re one of the few groups that could possibly make the journey?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Mark indicated the other members of his team, “Any of us wouldn’t survive the trip but each of you most certainly can.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  Mark pondered aloud, “It’s almost like you’ve each been pre-selected for this task.” Chuckling at the absurdity of his own thinking, he said, “Never mind, that was a stupid thing to say.”

  Mark Anders never realised just how close he came to unlocking one of the greatest secrets of the galaxy.

  Russell said, “Mark, can we have some time to ourselves?”

  “Of course.”

  Mark signalled to the other Concord members and he followed them out of the room. Over the next hour the Earthmen debated the pros and cons of what they were about to get themselves into. Each member was given the opportunity to gracefully back-out. Finally, Russell called Mark and the Concord team back into the boardroom and said, “We’re in.”

  Mark held out his hand and said, “Welcome to the Concord Whizzbang.”

  “And so it is done,” Wisdom spoke out aloud.

  Creativity stared upwards towards the sun, “Yes, but it’s just the beginning”

  “When you were Altavia, all those years ago, the Concord didn’t need much of a push did they?” Intellect asked Creativity.

  Creativity’s faced blossomed into a smile as she said, “When I energised Altavia’s form I nudged Professor Steinberg’s research here and there. At the time, the Concord was desperately searching for fresh ideas. The Earthmen and the Concord are the only hope for the innumerable civilisations across the galaxy. Without them, system after system will succumb to the enemy and fall into chaos.” She bent down to make sure that her violin and music stand were secure in their cases before continuing, “When will we reveal ourselves to them?”

  Wisdom put his hand to his chin in imitation of someone pondering thoughtfully. “Not for some time yet. As you know, they have a few surprises awaiting them in Alpha Three that they have to sort through first.” He then stood and looked back up at the boardroom windows. “I don’t know about you but I think that I’m going to miss the bus and take a walk in the sunshine.”

  Intellect and Creativity looked at each other and nodded. With that, the odd companions shuffled, skateboarded and walked down the boulevard with a feeling that the plans of thousands of years were firmly set in motion.

  Chapter 5

  Goodbyes and Enemies

  After speaking to their wives, both Russell and Mihaly’s families boarded the next plane to Los Angeles to join their husbands and fathers. Although there were many tears shed there was also a sense of resignation that they were all fighting for the sake of humanity. The husbands and sons on Alpha Three and the wives and daughters back on Earth.

  The following six days passed in a blur of being briefed on Concord technology and getting to know the Blue Sky team. Overall, Whizzbang was impressed with the discipline and openness of each operative.

  During one of their many discussions with Mark and the senior staff, they decided that it would be best to retain their game persona once they arrived on Alpha Three. Since they had all been geno-tagged the Concord personnel stationed on Alpha Three all knew them as Whizzbang and Bosk and not Russell and Mihaly.

  The night before he left, Russell and Esther said goodnight to their girls and then retired to bed in the adjoining hotel room. Russell could not help wondering if it was the last time he would say goodnight to Rose and Michelle. Both girls were in their late teens and old enough to understand their father’s decision to go to Alpha Three but it didn’t mean that they liked it. The tears flowed and the hugs seemed especially tight. He was so proud of the both of them. When he looked into their blue eyes, he felt both their pride and hurt reflected towards him.

  After climbing into bed Esther lay with her
head propped up on her pillow. “Russ, tell me you’re going to be coming back.”

  Russell turned on his side to look into Esther’s eyes. “Honey, I promise that I’ll come back. Nothing will keep away from you.”

  “I really mean it Russ.”

  “So do I.”

  Determination gave way to raw emotion as Esther stammered, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  Russell slid across the bed and embraced his wife as they had done a thousand times before. He bent his head and kissed her hair as she snuggled in closer towards him. He loved her more than life itself. If he did not firmly believe he had to go to save his family then he would remain behind. He could feel her ragged breathing as she sobbed and it was not long before he felt her tears on his chest.

  Russell’s own eyes welled up as the reality of leaving Esther and his girls behind began to hit him. He took a deep swallow to help calm his voice before saying bravely, “Esther, everything will be OK. I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Before he could wipe his eyes, Esther tilted her head to look up to see a tear roll down his cheek. She knew that this was as hard for him as it was for her. “I’m going to miss you and James so much.”

  “We’re going to miss you too. I promise that we’ll keep an eye on each other.”

  “I know you will.”

  “Honey, can I ask you to do something for us?”

  Esther leaned over for a tissue as she regained a semblance of control over herself. It was a testament to her resilience and strength of character that she was able to focus on the task at hand so quickly. She wiped her eyes dry and with a puzzled look on her face said, “Of course. What do you want me to do?”