Argonauts 1: Bug Hunt

by Isaac Hooke

  The ten by three meter passageway occasionally broadened to form underground crossroads, with corridors branching away in different directions. Rade had the party take the passages leading toward the closest surface exit two blocks to the south, where the pedway section had formerly collapsed. The first order of business was to reestablish communications with the Argonaut. Rade had instructed Fret to report in the moment he received a signal ping.

  As they passed another branch, Fret spoke up.

  “Boss,” Fret said. “I’m getting a signal ping.”

  “Shaw?”

  “No,” Fret said. “It’s the team from the Amytis.”

  “The Amytis?” Rade asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Tap me in if you can,” Rade told the comm man.

  “You should be good,” Fret said.

  “Ms. Bounty, or any members of the Amytis away team, do you read?” Rade sent.

  “We... you,” a distorted voice returned. “Can... over?”

  Rade glanced at the ping time. It was quiet high. He retreated a few paces until he reached the branch, and the ping improved.

  “Say again?” Rade transmitted.

  “We read you,” Ms. Bounty’s distorted voice returned. “Can you read me, over?”

  “Yes,” Rade sent.

  “I was wondering when the security consultants I was paying good money for would arrive,” Ms. Bounty said.

  “Yeah, well,” Rade said. “If you would have let us escort you down to the surface in the first place, probably none of this would have happened. I’ll need you to authorize full sharing mode so I can see where you are on my map.”

  She sent the authorization, and a moment later her blue dot appeared on the overhead map, along with the blue dots of the surviving members of her team. They were in a small alcove of some kind to the west; a passageway led back toward the main pedway system there. He noted a red dot plunked down squarely at the end of that passageway.

  “We’re in a service corridor of some kind,” Ms. Bounty said. “A lot of fiber optic conduits running through here.”

  “Looks like you have company,” Rade said.

  “Yes,” Ms. Bounty returned. “A rather large bioweapon has camped out at the far end of our passageway, barring our only way out. It’s too big to fit in the service corridor.”

  “Would this bioweapon happen to look like a dinosaur, with thick armor leaving only the tips of the feet and tail exposed?”

  “That’s the one. And unfortunately, it has learned to keep those tips away from us.”

  “All right,” Rade transmitted. “I’m not sure if you realized, but we vented the atmosphere over an hour and a half ago. The bioweapon should be dead by now.”

  “Oh we realized,” Ms. Bounty transmitted. “And I guarantee you, it’s not dead. Asleep, maybe. But dead, no.”

  Rade studied the map. “All right, I’m working on a plan. I’ll get back to you.” He closed the connection. “Bender, send the HS3s forward along our previous path. I want them to confirm that the cave-in has been cleared.”

  A few minutes later Bender reported: “The HS3s just returned. The repair drones have definitely made a path through the debris. If we need to make a tactical retrograde, the way to the surface is clear.”

  “Good,” Rade said. “Units A and B, proceed into the western corridor toward Ms. Bounty’s position. Once you’re close to the bioweapon, switch your headlamps to normal light mode and open fire at the enemy. Draw it away. Return to this passageway, and proceed back the way we came. Make your way to the next closest exit, and if it’s blocked, take a roundabout route back here. Make your way to the surface and lose the pursuer in the city if you haven’t shaken it from your six by then. Rendezvous with the team at the Dragonfly hangar.”

  “Understood,” Unit A said.

  Rade glanced at the green forms of the others. “The rest of you, with me. We’re going to camp out in the shadows.”

  Rade proceeded forward down the main passageway, headed in the direction of the cave-in, while the two robots moved into the western passage. When Rade had judged himself a sufficient distance away, he ordered the team to halt, and the individual members assumed defensive positions.

  “Weapon lights off,” Rade ordered. The passage plunged into absolute darkness. Rade wasn’t going to gamble that the bioweapon couldn’t see infrared.

  He watched the two dots representing the robots move forward, then freeze as they passed beyond comm range.

  Damn lead-containing walls.

  Long moments passed. Rade fidgeted nervously. His targeting reticle was still visible, thanks to shielded filaments, and he kept it pointed in the direction of the western corridor even though he couldn’t see anything, ready to reactivate his weapon light and open fire if he had to.

  Finally a bright green glow appeared from the western passageway.

  “Be prepared to retreat,” Rade sent his team.

  The robots noiselessly appeared from the branch and the night vision auto-gated, reducing the intensity of the light produced by their headlamps. The Centurions hurried away from the party.

  A moment later a large dark blob emerged. It seemed to pause, and Rade was worried for a moment that it might turn straight for his team. But then that blob diminished as it pursued the retreating robots.

  Rade exhaled in relief. He waited until the blob was no longer visible on the infrared spectrum, then he said: “Units C, D, infrared lights on. Move to the corridor. Reestablish communications with the Amytis away team.”

  The robots dashed toward the passageway. When they arrived, the dots for Ms. Bounty’s team updated: she was already on her way.

  “We need to get into orbit as soon as possible,” Ms. Bounty transmitted.

  “I’m working on it,” Rade replied. “Argonauts: headlamps on. Retain infrared mode.”

  She and her men emerged from the corridor a moment later and joined up with Rade’s team. All four of her mercenaries had survived, but only three of the unsuited combat robots remained. Two of those robots still carried a glass storage bin between them. It was empty: she hadn’t completed what she had come to do, apparently. Also, she had no HS3s left.

  “You got down here via the lab?” Rade transmitted to Ms. Bounty.

  “Yes,” Ms. Bounty replied. “The colonists apparently collapsed all routes leading inside the pedway. We weren’t sure why at the time. However, the inhabitants missed the lab route. Our target escaped into the pedway using that path when we arrived. We followed. Shortly thereafter, the bioweapons intervened. We’ve been stuck in that service corridor until you showed.”

  The party reached the collapsed section of the pedway system. The city repair drones had removed half of the debris, creating a wide gap in the middle that the trapped bioweapons had used to force their way out. Several of those drones lay inactive on the floor, unable to fly in the low pressure environment.

  The party moved past the cave-in and reached the exit region shortly: an inactive escalator led to the surface.

  Rade sent the HS3s up and the scouts confirmed the outside area was clear.

  Rade disabled his IR unit and switched back to the visual light spectrum as the party ascended. He passed the half-repaired breach seal, and in moments emerged into the surface shed. There was no sign of the original doors. New frames lay on the ground in front of the shed, but the half finished objects had been crushed under the weight of something massive—likely the bioweapons when they had emerged. The repair drones lay helpless on the ground around them, their rotors occasionally spinning futilely.

  “Shaw, do you read?” Rade tried. “Shaw?”

  No answer.

  “Fret, what’s going on with the Argonaut?”

  “It appears all of our repeaters have been recalled,” Fret said.

  “What?” Rade said.

  “It gets worse,” Fret continued. “The ships themselves aren’t where they should be.”

  “What are you talking about?
” Rade said.

  “The Argonaut and Amytis aren’t in geosynchronous orbit anymore.”

  nineteen

  Zoltan piloted the shuttle toward the Marauder class ship, Argonaut. Behind him, his Persian prisoners were clamped into the seats, staring blankly ahead. The reprogrammed robots sat beside them. He had already reprogrammed the AI of the shuttle, so there was no worry in that regard. It was all up to his acting ability, now. And if there was anything to be said about Zoltan, it was that he was a very good actor.

  SHAW STARED UNEASILY at the approaching craft on the video feed.

  “Why aren’t they responding?” she said.

  “It’s possible the comm node has been damaged in some way,” Bax said.

  “Are you detecting any obvious external damage to the shuttle itself?” Shaw asked.

  “Negative,” Bax replied.

  “Without that comm node, you can’t access the shuttle’s AI to retrieve biometric information from the crew, right?” Shaw asked.

  “That’s right, I can’t,” Bax replied.

  “Well let me know when you’re able to get any kind of remote reading on the crew, then,” she said.

  The shuttle steered toward the external hangar bay doors.

  “I have a reading,” Bax said. “The ratio of humans to robots I’m detecting through the thin hull of the vessel does not match the ratio of those that went to the surface.”

  “The crew abandoned their Hoplites to take the shuttle up?” Shaw said.

  “It would appear so,” Bax replied. “Though given the number of combat robots, some of the Amytis crew must have joined them. And I am detecting only one Artificial, not two.”

  “We lost Ms. Bounty or Harlequin...”

  “It would appear so,” Bax said.

  “Why didn’t we detect the party approaching the terminal on the city streets below?” Shaw said. “Perdix drones and bioweapons force them into the lab, and we lose communications. At the same time, the enemy disperses. Then twenty minutes later, all of a sudden the Model 2 is departing the city.”

  “Perhaps they used some other route to reach the terminal, potentially underground,” Bax replied.

  The shuttle closed with the hangar doors, as if expecting Shaw to open it.

  “Can I risk not letting them board?” Shaw said. “If someone’s hurt...”

  “The decision is yours,” Bax said.

  She hesitated a moment longer, then: “Open the hangar doors.” She was terrified that Rade or one of the others was severely injured. Any delay could end in someone’s death. Even so, that didn’t mean she needed to be lax in the security department. “I want a complement of Centurions waiting outside the airlock. As soon as the bay atmosphere fills, deploy the robots into the hangar.”

  “Dispatching eight Centurions,” the Argonaut’s AI replied.

  The craft docked without issue, the bay doors sealed, and the atmosphere began to replenish.

  Shaw glanced at the overhead map of the ship presented by her Implant, and zoomed in on the hangar area.

  “I see the blue dot indicating the newly docked Dragonfly,” she said. “But I’m not seeing any indicators for the rest of the crew. Their Implants should have linked up with the Argonaut’s comm node by now.”

  “Their Implants appear to be offline,” Bax said.

  Shaw shook her head. “This is getting stranger by the moment. Send the remaining Centurions down there on the double.” There were only five more left aboard.

  “Do you still want the current eight to go inside when the hangar pressurizes?” Bax asked.

  “Of course,” Shaw responded.

  The atmosphere stabilized, and the first eight Centurions rushed through the airlock and into the bay. The others had not yet arrived.

  “Lock that airlock behind them,” Shaw said. “And prepare to vent the bay on my order.”

  Shaw switched to the point of view of the camera in the hangar bay and watched as the shuttle’s down ramp lowered. A man dressed in a purple robe emerged. He wore a shawl over his head, and a thick black beard grew to the middle of his chest. His eyes had a fire in them.

  The Centurions had formed a defensive ring around the shuttle.

  “Hands where we can see them!” the Praetor unit in charge said.

  The man raised his palms over his head.

  “Who the hell is that?” Shaw asked.

  “It appears to be an Artificial of some kind,” Bax replied.

  “Hello!” the man shouted. “I have refugees with me, from the surface! I request aid and safe passage!”

  “What do you want to do?” Bax asked.

  “I have five individuals aboard who are in need of serious treatment,” the man continued. “Please, you must help them.”

  “Have one of the Centurions look inside,” Shaw said.

  A moment later Bax said: “The Centurion reports that the five humans aboard are unresponsive, and in a state of shock. There are definite injuries to some of them. Signs of blunt force trauma, laser wounds, and so forth.”

  “I can’t risk bringing them aboard,” Shaw said. “We have rules against the spread of contagion, especially when dealing with colonies infested by bioweapons.”

  “We can send a Weaver down to them,” Bax said.

  “Do it,” Shaw ordered. “And cuff that Artificial. Also, get everyone out of the shuttle.”

  The Praetor had the Artificial flexicuffed, then approached the rear of the shuttle. “Everyone out!”

  Five SK-style combat robots marched out of the shuttle. They held their hands behind their heads in a posture of surrender.

  The down ramp of the shuttle began to close behind them.

  “I said I wanted everyone off that shuttle!” Shaw said. “Not just the robots!”

  The robed Artificial broke the flexicuffs that held it. Meanwhile, the five combat robots lowered their arms: they had held blasters hidden in each hand. They opened fire.

  The Artificial produced a blaster and joined in the attack. In under three seconds, all of Shaw’s eight Centurions were lying on the ground, smoking. Three of the attacking robots from the shuttle had also fallen.

  “Bax, explosively decompress the hangar,” Shaw said. “And demagnetize the deck—I don’t want those robots magnetically mounting to the surface.”

  The robed Artificial rushed toward a nearby bulkhead as if it knew she would make that command. The hangar doors opened, and all the other robots were sucked outside. The shuttle remained in place because of its weight, as did the Artificial—it had wrapped its hands around a railing on the bulkhead, and hung on while its body was pulled backward.

  The air completely vented an instant later and the Artificial’s feet returned to the deck thanks to the artificial gravity.

  “Remind me to invest in defensive laser platforms for the hangar bay at some point,” Shaw said.

  “I will,” Bax said. “But what would you like to do in the interim?”

  “I don’t know yet,” she said. “Can you tell if the shuttle occupants are still alive?”

  “The shuttle appears to have remained pressurized,” Bax said.

  “Not sure if that’s good or bad,” Shaw said.

  She watched the robed Artificial approach the inner hatch of the airlock. It placed its hands on the surface.

  “What is it doing?” Shaw said.

  “Unknown,” Bax replied.

  Several moments passed without anything of note transpiring. On the other side of the airlock, near the outer hatch, her other five Centurions had arrived. They waited there, ready to follow her orders.

  One of the robots near the back of the group lifted its laser rifle and opened fire on the others in rapid succession, downing them all.

  “What the—” Shaw exclaimed.

  The robot went to the inner hatch.

  “Don’t let that robot override the hatch controls!” Shaw said.

  “Too late,” Bax replied.

  The hatch on the hangar
side opened and the robed Artificial stepped into the airlock. When the door closed behind it, air misted within. The inner hatch slid aside a moment later and the Artificial stepped aboard the Argonaut proper.

  “How the hell did the Artificial remotely reprogram the robot like that?” Shaw asked.

  “Unknown,” Bax replied.

  The reprogrammed robot and the Artificial marched together from the hangar bay.

  “I want you to seal off all decks,” Shaw said. “Institute material condition ZEBRA.”

  “Instituting material condition ZEBRA,” Bax echoed.

  She watched the pair approach one of the breach seals. The robed Artificial stood off to one side while the Centurion switched its rifle to cutting mode and began lasering through.

  “No no no,” Shaw said. “I’m going to lose my ship. I need options, Bax.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t have any recommendations,” Bax said. “Other than that you should probably evacuate.”

  “I’m not going to evacuate,” Shaw said. “You know how much we paid for this ship, don’t you? We’re not even done paying off the damn loan!”

  “Is a loan more valuable than your life?” Bax asked pointedly.

  “Good point.” Yet Shaw couldn’t bring herself to evacuate. Not yet.

  After several minutes, the robot finished cutting through the seal and the pair proceeded. They were stopped shortly by another seal, this one blocking a scuttle. Once more the robot stepped forward and began to cut.

  “What direction are they headed?” Shaw asked.

  “The bridge,” Bax said.

  “Damn it.” Shaw got up from her station at the Sphinx. “Bax, you’re officially in command of the Argonaut.”

  “What are you going to do?” Bax asked.

  “Stop them,” Shaw replied.

  “Rade would not approve if I let anything happen to you,” Bax said.

  “Then make sure you do whatever you can to help me.” Shaw left the bridge.

  She overrode the sealed hatches on the way to the armory. Once there, she proceeded to open one of the storage closets and quickly donned a strength-enhancing exoskeleton, minus the jumpsuit. She didn’t have hardpoints like Rade to attach the suit to, and that increased the speed with which she was able to slip into the exoskeleton. She chose not to wear a full-blown suit, as it would have taken her twice as long to prepare.