Dreaming of Atmosphere

by Jim C. Wilson

  “Sure, but we have something we’ll need to bring back soon.”

  “Roger, we’re about done, one hour tops.”

  I turned to the others.

  “Okay, let’s give this compartment a good search for usable electronics, I’m betting there’s heaps of spare parts we can salvage for our own computers. I say give it about three quarters of an hour and we head back?”

  “All right, but you’re carrying that ball of brains.”

  “No worries, Mal, I got it.”

  We started pulling out racks of electronics and pulling out circuit cards that looked intact. I pulled a compressed bag out of my utility pouch and unfurled it into a decent sized pouch for our loot. We were about thirty minutes into our search when we heard a dull clank on the outer plating of the hull section were in, like someone had just hit it with a sledge hammer. The clang sounded through our boots, transmitted along the metal deck plates and infrastructure. My first thought was that we’d hit another piece of debris, and didn’t give it much thought, then I thought about the Esper synthetics we’d encountered earlier and decided to play it safe.

  “Okay, let’s secure our load and investigate that bang.” I commanded.

  “Getting jumpy?” said Mal, chortling under his breath and sneering at Artemis. She ignored him too.

  “Expected more trouble? The owners of those synthetics?” she asked, while dumping her latest handful of circuit boards into the sack.

  “There has to be a controller somewhere nearby. Maybe they were in another section of hull.”

  “They could have picked up that atmo escaping earlier when we got the door open.”

  “Yeah that was my thought too. The other, more troubling possibility is that they had already told the controller we were here before we trashed them. Whoever was controlling them will already know.” We both checked out guns and made our way to the entry hatch, “Mal, you’re on mule duty.”

  “What?”

  “Pick up the sack and the AI Core.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because you’re a terrible shot and Artemis hasn’t pissed me off today, yet.”

  I could see him offering plenty of expletives through his helmet, but he didn’t activate his comms so I missed most of it. He grabbed the sack of circuit cards and stuff the sphere into it.

  I went up to the hatch and entered the small checkpoint prior to the compartment we were in and turned off my helmet lights. I ordered the others to do the same. When I got to the reinforced hatch, I pushed it open slightly and peered into the monitoring compartment. At the far end of the compartment, I could see movement. It was very dark so I couldn’t make out exactly what it was, but then a bright blue light suddenly turned on at the far end. It originated on the other side of the blasted open hatch we’d entered this hull section from, and it came from a large tubular metal contraption. It was positioned over the hatch like some sort of giant worm, and from an aperture on the end of it, I could see synthetics climbing out. The lights ringed the internal edges of the aperture. I ducked back behind the reinforced hatch and told the others what I saw.

  “Looks like at least a dozen, plus more were climbing out of the worm thing.”

  “It’s a Coil Wraith.” Offered Artemis.

  “Is that a standard Esper Monarchy thing?

  “Royal Mechanised Division, the closest synthetics get to being Special Forces in the Votus-Eridani Network.”

  “I haven’t heard of them before.”

  “That’s the idea. They operate much like boarding pods, only they fly dark most of the time. They attach themselves to ships and send in their synthetics to infiltrate the ship and try to disable them from the inside.”

  “How many synthetics can the Wraiths carry?”

  “That’s the real beauty of them. They hold twenty, but the rear end of the Coil Wraith holds a nanite synthetic manufactory.”

  I heard Mal swear over the comms channel.

  “So that will just keep producing more synthetics?”

  “As long as it has raw materials to feed it, yes.”

  “There’s plenty of that floating around.”

  “Why don’t we just get the Dreaming to shoot it?” asked Mal.

  “At this range? Even if we did manage to hit it through all this debris, the shockwave will probably kill us. Class 2 weapons are not good for your health.”

  “A low yield beam should be okay. You don’t always have to shoot at maximum power, rookie.” Chided Mal. Shit, I thought, he was right.

  “Good point. I’ll contact the ship.”

  I switched my comms over to the Dreaming’s command module.

  “Dreaming of Atmosphere, we have a problem out here.”

  “Go ahead, Seth.” Came Crege, he must have been on station still. The line was scratchy at best, must be lots of interference from all the debris and radiation.

  “We’re pinned down by hostile synthetics, left over from the attack on the ship. Can you get a trace on my signal and locate any electronic signals besides ours? You might need Fel to help, is he…free?” I didn’t want to let on that he was doing something other than stay on station in the command module.

  “I’m here, what am I looking for?” came Fel over the comms.

  “Short range control signals, at least a dozen, maybe more. Single source of transmission. It’s some sort of Spec Ops synthetic deployment vehicle.”

  “Scanning. Tracking your position. I’m going to have to run this through a filter a few times, lots of background noise. Stand by.”

  “Standing by to stand by.” I replied, I turned back to the others, “Might be on our own for a bit, too much interference for a fast trace. We’ll fall back and seal this hatch. We can set up position in the computer room if they manage to get through this reinforced hatch. Mal, come up here and weld a few deck plates to the rear of this hatch.”

  Artemis and I ran back to the computer room and started dragging computer consoles from the bulkheads and their alcoves and hastily made several overlapping covering positions. We quickly hatched out a plan to hold them off. With Mal in the rear providing continuous covering fire, we would start our plan in the fore position closest to the hatch to the compartment, then move from cover to cover away from the hatch so that we were on opposite sides of the hatch, providing a V formation to the oncoming synthetics. I also positioned a few consoles in the middle of the air, letting them drift in the zero gravity in case they decided to launch over our cover.

  Through planning, I realised that Artemis had a firm grasp of military tactics. I wondered if she’d served in any capacity before signing on with Jenner. Somehow, I hadn’t seen her as someone capable of swallowing the whole honourable servitude charade that so often forms the basis of military service.

  Mal ran back to the compartment, dragging the sack behind him as it floated along. Once in the compartment, he turned and began to weld the inner hatch shut also.

  You needn’t put your life in jeopardy to protect me. Stated Tac.

  You believe they are here for you? I asked

  Yes. They stated as much before they destroyed the Viridian March.

  Why are they after you?

  I am an organic shroud matrix based quantum computer.

  Does that mean you’re unique or valuable?

  All life is unique and valuable.

  I wasn’t sure if it was being philosophical or simply stating what it truly believed.

  Give it to them, Seth. There was Mal, being all altruistic as usual.

  Do you really believe that if we gave up Tac that they’d let us leave?

  I compute there is very little chance of these synthetics allowing you to leave if you surrendered. Said Tac.

  So what did you mean by putting our lives in jeopardy to save you? We’re already in jeopardy.

  If you leave me as a distraction and escape via the concealed maintenance crawlspace below you, your chances of evading the synthetics is increased by 127%.

  We al
l looked down at our feet. Mal started pulling up deck plates and looking beneath them. In moments he exclaimed that he’d found it. He started to undo the bolts holding the cover in place. He was too far forward for my liking. If the synthetics made it in here any time soon they’d have a clear shot at Mal.

  How do you calculate our chances if we get out this way right now, without leaving you behind?

  Significantly less.

  How significant?

  Your chances of escape are reduced to 67.3%. Warning; this is only an estimation. Actual chances may be lower.

  Or they could be higher?

  That is unlikely.

  But possible.

  In the event of catastrophic outcome predicted by risk assessment, it is safer to assume that the lower probability is more likely. Life must be preserved.

  You don’t consider yourself alive?

  I am unsure. Insufficient data to provide a meaningful answer.

  But you could be?

  Unlikely.

  Thus, it is safer to assume that you are. If you turn out to be alive after all, and we had left you to the synthetics, that would be a catastrophic outcome, correct?

  Your logic is sound. Very well, we shall consider myself alive for the purpose of safety margins. Activating automated defences in the security check point in approximately 23 seconds.

  Mal looked at me in irritation.

  Why didn’t you tell us about the auto-defences before? He texted.

  I was going to activate them after you left in order to delay the synthetics and provide you with optimal probability of escape.

  And now?

  My prior assumption is obsolete. Activating defences in 11 seconds.

  How long will they be delayed?

  1 minute, 17 seconds. Uncertainty at 7%.

  “Mal, how long til the deck hatch is open?”

  “About a minute.” He called.

  “About?”

  “If you stop harassing me!”

  Automatic defence system activated.

  “Shit. Art, I’m moving up to Mal, we’ll fall back as soon as they come through. You’re on overwatch.”

  She adjusted her position, drifting further back in the compartment. Our plan had changed. I was thinking fast. I grabbed a drifting console and hauled it between Mal and the compartment entrance. Artemis had finished moving back and was now positioned behind the pillar in the centre of the compartment. In my haste to move cover to Mal, I was having difficulty getting the console to remain stationary. I ended up holding it down on the deck and sending a nanite stream down to join the console to the deck by fusing the metals together. I was almost done when I noticed my charge icon start to flash. I accessed the menu and saw that my charge levels had dropped into the red. I’d pushed myself too hard. I hadn’t fully gained control over my nano-proliferation yet, and was exerting too much effort to produce my effects. I didn’t feel too bad, I just thought I was tired from the recent fight and the adrenaline spikes. Now I wasn’t so sure, maybe the adrenaline was masking a more serious condition that I was unaware of.

  The cover would have to do, it wasn’t secured properly yet but I wasn’t going to risk passing out right before a fight.

  “Here they come!” called Artemis.

  I peeked over my cover and saw the bright flames of a plasma cutter slicing through Mal’s hasty weld. The hatch flew open and I could see several synthetics crammed in the security room behind it. I opened fire.

  Almost at the same time as my energy bolts caught the first one on its shield two small explosions rocked the robot back. The shield winked out in a flash and bits of the synthetic flew apart. The eeriness of the silence that accompanied the violence was unsettling. The flashes of the explosions, caused by Artemis’ rocket projectiles, triggered a nervous twitching in my face. I dropped back behind the cover and couldn’t find it in me all of a sudden to pop back out. I could see Artemis leaning out from behind the pillar holding her pistol in a two handed grip sending out a steady barrage of fire. I looked at Mal, terror on his face as energy bolts landed around us. He was fumbling with the last few bolts on the deck hatch cover. I saw Artemis catch two rounds on her shield that rocked her back slightly, causing her aim to drift high. The cascade of enemy fire increased, they were using the slowing of rocket fire to advance, I was sure. I could hear myself hyper ventilating, and my helmet visor was starting to fog up.

  “Pull yourself together, Seth,” I could hear myself saying, “Your squad needs you.”

  I slowed by breathing, focusing on my gun in my hands. One, two, three…

  I swung around the side of the cover and let loose a three round burst at the nearest target. It was close, nearly a metre from me. The flashes from its shield winked out with the last round and I let out another three round burst. All three shots landed, taking its head from its mount and damaging an appendage. It went down.

  ”It’s open!” called Mal.

  “Get in! I’ll cover you!” I shouted.

  I watched him scrambled down the crawl space and then had to fall back as a rifle butt nearly crashed into my head. A synthetic was drifting over the cover, but the force of its blow sent it tumbling towards the deck head above. I pushed off the console and used my momentum to fly back towards the next line of cover I’d constructed. As I drifted I turned my body to face backwards, then let fly a barrage at the stranded synthetic. My rapid fire quickly overloaded the shield and destroyed it.

  When I reached the next line of cover I magnetised by boots once more and scrambled to the other side. I glanced at Artemis and saw her moving further back and snapping off shots without aiming.

  “Are you hit?” I asked.

  “A little, I’m good. Watch your flank.”

  I turned and saw a pair of synthetics trying to get around me. I fired at them and they retreated, but not before one of their shields winked out. I peeked around my cover to get a feel for the battlefield. As the compartment was circular, we’d formed our rows of cover in concentric circles. We were occupying the rear quarter of the circle, separated by about ten metres. We were further back than I’d hoped this early in the fight. We didn’t have any more cover to fall back to, and now the enemy was using our cover against us. We had to go on the offensive or we’d never get back to the hatch.

  “I’m going to try to get back to our first line, tell me when they get up to our second barricade!” I called

  She fired off a few more rounds and the fell back. I could see her reloading her pistol with a clip from her suit. She nodded at me. We both popped back around in unison and hammered a pair of synthetics trying to advance on Artemis, destroying them both.

  “I got maybe twenty more shots left!” She called. I wouldn’t be enough. I had to make my move now. I made to vault the cover I was behind, pushing off the deck hard. I flew forward and up, firing downwards as I sailed over the enemy line. I saw one synthetic crumple beneath my barrage and another shield wink out before I was directly above the first line of consoles we’d gathered. There were still a few synthetics using this row as cover. I pushed off the deck head and sailed downwards as several bolts smashed into my MAEL suit. I could hear their impact as dull thuds and felt the heat from their energy. The suit held though.

  I turned and fired at the nearest synthetic in this line, realising that I had enfiladed three of the enemy. I continued my barrage as the first one fell, then started on the next two, rocking my fire back between them in succession. They managed to get off maybe three or four shots before they both went down.

  ”Circle round! To me!” I ordered.

  I popped back around the consoles to continue my attack, but my gun was empty. I ducked back and popped the battery, jamming a fresh one into the handle. When I popped back out I saw Artemis dashing between cover, and shots were hammering into her shield. In a bright flash it popped and sent her tumbling into the rear bulkhead. I unloaded a fresh torrent of bolts at the nearest few synthetics to her, they tried to duck back around
their cover but they were exposed and I manage to destroy two before the others started shooting at me and sent me back down again. I could feel a numbness in my right arm, and was having trouble catching my breath. My suit was registering a breach in my torso and I peeked down at my chest to see a blackened hole directly over my sternum. I was wondering at when I’d taken that hit when Artemis slid into the cover next to me. She looked at me with wild eyes.

  “Now what? I’m out!” she called.

  As luck would have it, I was behind the loosely secured console. I latched my boots on the deck and pushed with my shoulder, tearing the console free and letting it drift backwards, towards the rear of the compartment. I could feel shots hitting the other side of the console, their impacts vibrating through the metal. I pushed the console until it had gone over the deck hatch, and gestured for Artemis to come to me.

  “Art! Go down! I’ll cover you!”

  She nodded and slid towards me, narrowly avoiding several bolts. She pulled herself head first into the deck hatch, and I was down right behind her. I went in feet first and pulled the console over the hatch opening. I reached into my utility pouch, where my shield generator would normally be on an M4 MAEL suit, and retrieved a small plasma welder. I then hastily welded the console to the deck as best I could and started to pull myself backwards through the crawl space. It was easier said than done. The M4 was bulky, and slightly inflated. Although the torso segment had deflated when I was hit, it had automatically sealed itself and was reinflating. I was getting snagged on things I couldn’t even see. Claustrophobia was starting to mingle with the fear of combat, and my PTSD was an ever present pressure on my mind, threatening to overcome me. When I’d only gone a few metres down the space I saw the console covering the hatch tear free and a metal head reached down inside. I shot madly at it, my E2S held over my head covering me. It was only a brief satisfaction to see the head explode in sparks and metal bits.

  The synthetics started to poke barrels into the space and fire blindly. Bolts were smashing all around me, sending debris flying all around chaotically. I was starting to hyperventilate again. A piece of metal pipe struck my visor and I saw a spider web crack appear. Another piece knocked my E2S out of my hands and it trailed in front of me on its sling. All I could do was hold my hands over my head and I started to panic. A bolt struck my left forearm, and it hurt. My overlay told me I had a suit breach on my forearm segment, but I ignored it. I could hear a loud yelling over my comms before I realised it was me.