by E. R. Torre
“Then get to it. Everyone is to be down here by no later than 0940 hours.”
Inquisitor Damien clicked off the communicator and faced Unit 1.
“The Salvo is yours,” he said.
69
A wave of shuttle crafts filled the hazel sky and landed in the desert at the west end of Arcadia’s megacity. With each new arrival, more and more of the Salvo’s crew found themselves on the desert world. They exited their crafts in an orderly fashion while the ARWs checked their belongings to make sure they carried no weapons. After they and their cargo was checked, the ARWs took control of each shuttle and sent them back.
Within two hours all one hundred and forty eight crewmembers were accounted for and on Arcadian soil.
The displaced crew unloaded and prepared their equipment. Some set up tents while others made an inventory of supplies.
Inquisitor Damien estimated these supplies would allow them to survive at least five years on Arcadia. If their farming equipment yielded crops and their water recyclers didn’t experience any major failures, they could survive her the rest of their lives. Provided, of course, the Phaecian forces who mined the planet hadn’t completely destroyed the nutrients in her soil.
They had to hope, too, the ARWs remained merciful.
One of the last shuttle crafts to land carried two body bags. They contained the bodies of SG Don Walker and Engineer Nicholas Talbot. To this point, they were the only Salvo victims of the ARWs.
There will be many more, Inquisitor Damien thought.
He hadn’t told anyone of his fear their stay on Arcadia would end abruptly. Despite Unit 1’s promise, Inquisitor Damien had little faith the ARWs would honor their word.
Crewmembers carried the two body bags to a tent. They would lie next to a third one, that of Commander Meyers. Following a mass, the deceased would be buried.
At that thought, an anger that was nearly impossible to contain erupted within Inquisitor Damien. He eyed Unit 1 and balled his hands into fists. He took a step forward, toward the creature. Lieutenant Chandler noticed his movement and grabbed his arm firmly.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
Her words sunk in and Inquisitor Damien released a heated breath. He patted Lieutenant Chandler’s hand.
“Quite a grip you have,” he whispered to her.
Lieutenant Chandler released Inquisitor Damien. Together they watched as the last of the crew unloaded their gear. Inquisitor Damien then walked to Unit 1 and said:
“The Salvo is now yours.”
Unit 1 did not reply. Behind him, the last two shuttles took off, leaving only the Milities Generation Goliath shuttle and her transport. The transport craft’s weapons were retracted and the machine started up. It was driven into the Goliath shuttle while the ARWs marched beside it.
Unit 1 left Inquisitor Damien and joined his soldiers. In the middle of the group was Laverna. Behind her and carried by Unit 8 was the body of Elias Vulcan.
Like Inquisitor Damien, Laverna too felt despair.
For her, all hope was gone.
The ARWs were free of their human captors as well as the one who fought them for so many years.
The group walked up the ramp and, without uttering a single word to those they left stranded, entered the Goliath shuttle.
The ship’s exit door sealed and darkness momentarily covered her passengers. Unit 1 addressed Laverna.
“Tell me where the Primary’s ship is.”
Laverna was taken aback by the question and was about to tell the creature she had no idea where Elias’ shuttle could be.
She then realized that wasn’t the case.
“I’ll take you to it,” she said.
Laverna directed the Goliath shuttle into the desert lands. It flew near enough to them to create clouds in its wake.
“We’re not far,” she said.
The terrain they flew over was very familiar to Laverna. Though she had never been out here, her hibernation dreams used Arcadia’s real terrain as a template for that fantasy world.
They followed the route Laverna took from her camp to Bordertown. Along the way she spotted the Demon vehicles she saw in her dreams. In reality they were a line of rusted and abandoned machines. The machines were large and designed to carry tons of ore from the mines to the megacity. They now lay half buried in the sands, never to move any cargo again.
“Keep going,” Laverna said.
She soon spotted the place where her camp was but, of course, it wasn’t there. It never was.
The shuttle floated over the dried river bed and the spot where her tent stood.
“How much further?” Unit 1 said.
Laverna smiled at Unit 1’s impatience. Both she and Unit 8 remained disconnected from the other ARW Units.
“Must be hard to ask and then wait for information to be given to you,” she said.
“We won’t need to communicate in this primitive way much longer,” Unit 1 said.
Laverna pointed.
“It’s a couple of miles down that way,” she said. “Follow the river bed.”
In her mind and the day before, Laverna drove through these same sands and into what was Carson’s camp. After passing a small sand hill, she was not surprised that instead of a dusty, frayed tent and rusting equipment, what lay in Carson’s camp was instead a dust covered Epsillon shuttle.
“How long has the Primary been here?” Unit 1 asked.
“I don’t know,” Laverna replied.
The ARW unit was silent for a few seconds before saying:
“The Primary’s ship must have some kind of Camouflage unit within it. We see it but neither the Goliath nor the Salvo’s sensors detect it. Imagine the secrets it contains.”
They touched down three miles from Elias’ shuttle craft and Unit 1 sent two ARWs to investigate it.
As they made their way to the ship, Laverna couldn’t help but notice the tension among the creatures.
They suspected everything Elias touched could be a trap yet were equally determined to get their hands on any equipment he left behind.
The ARWs sent to Elias’ shuttle neared the ship and slowed. They took detailed readings every few feet to ensure they would not set off any security devices.
Nothing was detected.
Soon, they stood near the shuttle’s entrance.
They tapped into the shuttle’s computer systems and cautiously probed her internal mechanisms. As on their approach to the ship, they painstakingly searched for traps buried within the ship’s computers but found the circuitry remarkably blank. These computers, they found, contained minimal information. A flight log detailed the ship’s journey from the Epsillon Empire to Arcadia but the date and time of the flight was a blank.
“The ship’s computers contain almost no information,” Unit 1 finally said. “Which makes me believe the Primary hid something very valuable within—”
An alarm came on.
“Detecting energy spike!”
The ARWs near the shuttle immediately worked on opening the ship’s outer door.
“The ship contains secrets after all,” Unit 1 said.
The energy spike grew until the ship’s power cells approached critical mass. The energies within were enough to vaporize an area over two hundred miles wide. There was no chance for the Goliath shuttle to make it to safety in the time before detonation.
“Very clever, Primary,” Unit 1 said. “You took even more precautions should you lose your fight against us.”
70
On the Goliath’s monitors were images sent from the ARWs forcing their way into Elias’ shuttle. They spent tense seconds picking the shuttle’s airlock before entering the ship and quickly moving through its main corridor. They headed to the engine room and the ship’s power core.
Once there, one of the ARWs attached itself to the ship’s central computer system and searched for security features. The second ARW methodically removed pieces of the power core.
An alert was triggered and another securi
ty system was engaged. The power core began overloading. Soon, it would explode.
Thirty seconds
The ARWs continued their work. They moved as quickly as before even as energy spikes grew critical.
“They won’t make it,” Laverna said.
Unit 1 didn’t respond. He was synched to the machines within Elias’ shuttle and was there as much as they were.
More pieces of the power core were disconnected while security systems were analyzed and bypassed.
The overload mechanism was found.
Twenty seconds.
“Initiating counter programming,” Unit 1 said out loud.
The ARW by the computer poured through data. Behind it the other ARW continued disconnecting pieces of the ship’s power core. Because he was forced to move quickly, he had to disconnect the power cell’s radiation shield and toxic vapors soon filled the room.
10 seconds.
Laverna leaned forward.
5 seconds.
“Do it,” Unit 1 said.
The ARW by the power core drew its arm back and, with all its strength, slammed its fist into the single remaining power cell.
The creature was instantly incinerated and its body fell to the ground.
The ARW working the ship’s computer system noted the fate of its partner and sealed the engine room doors. The radiation was contained to the compartment but its level was incredibly high. The creature continued working on the computer. Just as it tapped in the final commands, the timer expired.
0 seconds.
The overload mechanism was shut down. The remaining ARW got to its feet but could barely stand. The radiation within the engine room was too intense even for it. It would soon succumb.
The creature stumbled forward, passing its dead partner, and reached for the removed power cells. It replaced them, one after the other, and the ship’s engines returned to life. Once they did, the ship’s computer system recognized the high levels of radiation and initiated a scrubbing.
A thick, hazy liquid was sprayed throughout the engine room. It covered everything and dissolved the excess radiation before being sucked into hidden vents.
Radiation levels dropped dramatically but it was too late for the remaining ARW. It stepped forward, its limbs barely under its control. It collapsed mere feet from its companion.
It too would not get back up.
Unit 1 was silent for several seconds.
While the radiation levels within the engine room dropped to near normal, it initiated new commands and connected directly with Elias’ shuttle.
“We have control,” Unit 1 said.
Despite the damage to the ship’s last power cell, the replaced cells were more than enough to get Elias’ ship into the air and to the Salvo.
“Initiating liftoff,” one of the ARW soldiers said.
Monitors switched to a view of Elias’ ship. Its thrusters came to life and it lifted off. It followed the Goliath shuttle into the sky.
Unit 1 sat in the pilot’s chair. A metal rod emerged from its wrist and penetrated the control panel.
“You have his ship but it cost you two more soldiers,” Laverna said. “At this rate, Elias might just beat you after all.”
“We expected losses,” Unit 1 said. “Considering what stands to be gained, these sacrifices were worth making.”
The two spacecrafts approached the edge of Arcadia’s atmosphere. Through the ship’s view screen and in the very far distance Laverna spotted a small white dot. She focused on it and enhanced her vision. For the very first time she saw the Salvo.
Their destination.
The shuttles approached the starboard side of the battleship while her landing bay doors opened.
The Goliath entered the ship after Elias’ shuttle. Then, the battleship’s outer doors slid shut and atmosphere was automatically pumped into the docking area.
“Stay where you are,” Unit 1 ordered Laverna.
Four of the ARWs surrounding her got to their feet and approached their leader. The three others, including Unit 8, remained in their seats.
“Aren’t we going into the Salvo?” Laverna asked.
“Not yet,” Unit 1 said.
Through the front view screen Laverna saw an ARW emerge from an elevator within the Salvo and approach the Goliath. It was the creature left behind on the ship. It carried a rectangular metallic device in its arms and, though there was no reason she should know, Laverna nonetheless knew exactly what it was.
“What are you going to do with the proto-fusion detonator?” Laverna asked. “You’re not still planning to destroy the Salvo, are you?”
“Only if we have to,” Unit 1 said. “The proto-fusion device was our insurance. It can be transferred to the Goliath and used to take out Arcadia’s Displacer after we leave.”
“Then why keep us here? Why not transfer the device to the Goliath already?”
“We must first verify the Salvo is free of all traps,” Unit 1 said. “Once that is accomplished, we proceed.”
Unit 1 stepped forward and came to a stop very close to Laverna. Though they didn’t touch and her system remained self-contained, Laverna sensed a dark energy surrounding Unit 1. She felt the creature’s intellect and fractured ideals. Soon, horrifying visions of destruction filled her mind. Visions Unit 1 allowed Laverna to see.
“By the Gods!” she gasped.
Laverna saw the Salvo’s crew helpless on Arcadia’s surface. They stared at the skies and watched as fusion torpedoes rained down upon them.
“You… you swore you wouldn’t kill them!” Laverna said.
“No. I agreed to let them leave the Salvo unharmed. As I said before, victory in war is achieved only through annihilation. Humanity cannot be allowed to live. It must be eradicated in every crack and crevasse it hides in. This starts with the crew of the Salvo.”
“What about the machine below Arcadia’s surface? Surely you don’t want to awaken whatever it was Elias left behind?”
“We have no intention of provoking the Primary’s machine,” Unit 1 said. “Once we have overwritten the Salvo’s self-destruct code and have control over Arcadia’s Displacer, we will activate it and, just before entering her slipstream, will unleash a torrent of fusion missiles upon Arcadia. By the time the missiles reach the planet’s surface and incinerate the Salvo’s crew, we will be long gone.”
“What about when you reach Davilia? Elias could have something waiting for you there as well. Most certainly you’ll face Inquisitor Torano and his ships.”
“By giving us the Salvo, we now have access to its ship’s security codes. Similar codes are on other ships of the Phaecian fleet. In the time it takes us to disable Inquisitor Damien’s self-destruct program, we will understand all these codes and develop viruses capable of infecting Inquisitor Torano’s ships. We calculate better than ninety percent odds that we will take over Inquisitor Torano’s fleet without firing a single shot. After Davilia, there is nothing that will stop us.”
Laverna witnessed visions of destroyers and battleships turned and operating without their human crews. She saw them firing upon cities and worlds they were sworn to defend.
The death of Pomos was just the beginning.
“The humans itch to kill each other,” Unit 1 said. “We will take that desire one step further.”
Laverna shook her head. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all.
“What about… what about me?” Laverna asked.
As the words left her mouth, Unit 1 offered Laverna one final vision.
The ARWs intended to root through her memories and store anything they could use before wiping her clean. Laverna DeCastillo would become an ARW without any memories. One ready to be programmed into the being she was before Gehinnom.
“There’s one last secret you carry,” Unit 1 said. “The artificial skin created by our scientists last no more than a week before dissolving. Yours is far more natural and, most importantly, shows no signs of decay. It was placed on you years
ago, was it not?”
Laverna couldn’t say.
“That skin will be removed from your body and examined. If it is as durable as I suspect, we’ll be able to replicate it. Once we do, we’ll be able to infiltrate any of the human’s habitations, even their most carefully guarded ones. We will have no difficulty rooting them out.”
Unit 1 stepped away and the visions abruptly ended.
“You will return to our side,” Unit 1 said. “It is the place where you belong.”
With that, Unit 1 and his four ARWs walked past Laverna and to the shuttle’s exit.
Unit 1 activated the door leading into the decompression chamber and, along with his group, stepped into it.
It wouldn’t be long, Laverna knew, before these nightmares became reality.
71
Three ARWs remained in the Goliath shuttle. Two guarded Laverna while Unit 8, the one that examined her and Elias while on Arcadia, sat behind her.
After Unit 1 was gone, Unit 8 rose and was at Laverna’s side. The creature’s hand came up and hovered over her face.
Laverna remained still despite the horror she felt.
Is this it? she wondered. Is this the moment my memories, borrowed though they are, are wiped clean and my humanity is erased?
Unit 1’s hand opened and Laverna expected tendrils to emerge from its fingertips and again root through her mind. Or perhaps an electric burst would shock her into oblivion. It didn’t matter, she would soon become another of Unit 1’s killing machines.
Laverna thought of Gehinnom and Bordertown and savored all her memories. It didn’t matter that they weren’t hers. She thought of the people she met and the faces of those who cared for or loved or hated her, whom she in turn cared for or loved or hated. One face appeared over all the others, that of her mother.
Laverna’s mother.
The elderly woman appeared in her mind’s eye and she wanted so badly to see her, to tell her this one last time how much she loved and missed her. It was the very same despair the real Laverna DeCastillo felt on Gehinnom when the ARW machine –when she– stood over her.