Gunship

by J. J. Snow

  —————

  “You’re certain?” Crazy Ray’s eyes shone with delight as he took in what Dobbin had just told him.

  “Here is what I pulled. He has no idea. No one else knows, either. Quite a find.” Dobbin smiled proudly as Crazy Ray flipped through the file on his handheld.

  “Indeed! This is more than I could have hoped for. You have been a valuable asset!” Crazy Ray looked up at Dobbin as the man gave him a puzzled look before falling to the floor in a pool of his own blood. Seth stood behind him, a wild look in his eyes, as he slowly lowered a dagger down to his side.

  Crazy Ray shot him a grateful look. “How did you know?”

  “I’m not sure…they give off a different energy or something…but he was definitely an implant.” Seth casually wiped the blood on his pants. “When can we get off of this ship?”

  “Well, there are some other people who need to come with us, but I’m not sure if I will be able to get them all off safely. They are watching the dock area, and as soon as I go past a certain line, it seems to trigger them. They will kill us all if we stay, but they will kill many of us if we go, too.” He furrowed his brow and looked worried.

  Seth considered this. He couldn’t let his father down. This man had come to save him, to rescue him from the oblivion of that silent hell they had trapped him in. He wouldn’t let him down, wouldn’t let them hurt him. Seth thought about how ruthless his father could be, but then immediately justified it. He had to be ruthless. They had taken his mother, killed his brother and the rest of their family, and then tried to enslave him. The enemy was desperate to kill them both. So Seth had to be ruthless too. There could be no mercy for these people who had killed so many and enslaved the galaxy. He would make certain of that.

  Seth thought about their problem. They had to leave the ship, but that would put them squarely in enemy territory. He knew they would only have seconds to get everyone out. He squinted, thinking hard, his thoughts dulled by the lack of sleep and the constant moving to avoid enemy patrols. Lately his mind had shown him it knew things, things about weapons, about people and computers. Seth didn’t know why this was, but he was glad of it. He waited patiently for the thoughts to unscramble. Then he looked up with grim determination.

  “I have a plan,” he said. “But we need to get the others.”

  Crazy Ray nodded, biting his lip to hide his grin. “I’ll get them, but they will be frightened.”

  Seth nodded somberly. “They just need to do what I tell them and they’ll stay alive.”

  “And our enemies?” Crazy Ray asked hesitantly, feigning fear.

  “What enemies?” Seth said, his gaze going cold and flat again.

  Crazy Ray nodded and then hurried off to get his detainers. He couldn’t help but giggle as he rounded the next corner. A delicious little viper indeed! The boy was a natural killer and so much more. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Crazy Ray wished he had thought of having kids sooner. So much untapped potential, and who knew they could provide such wonderful entertainment?

  —————

  Welch finished up with his after-lunch appointment, pushing her firmly out the door with a last kiss before locking it behind him. He made a note to have her by again sometime before pulling up his holoscreen link to the guns and opening his sky-view window a bit more. The turret gunners turned and saluted before taking their places as their commander stepped up to direct their fire. The commander waited patiently as Welch poured himself a glass of brandy and settled back into his leather arm chair.

  Welch smiled at the cruiser now positioned on the far side of the dock, remembering how many times Raymond had promised him that he would be there to catch him at that one moment when he slipped up, when he relaxed. Where was he now? Playing games with his pet and torturing people in between, when he grew bored. They both knew it would be ugly when the time came. Welch gave a mock toast to the cruiser and tossed back his drink. He nodded once. The commander gave the signal, and the turrets opened up. Welch sighed delightedly as the explosions rippled along the vessel like fireworks. He decided that Raymond had received a far better ending than he deserved as he watched the smoking hull spark and burn against the evening sky. He poured himself another and wandered over to stand close to the window, enjoying the fires and his inevitable victory.

  “Now that was bloody beautiful! I can’t imagine a better way to go!”

  Welch whirled in surprise, his drink crashing from his hand to the floor as he grabbed for his blaster. His blaster, however, was already leveled at his head as he stared into the cold, flat gaze of Raymond’s new pet. He froze as Raymond himself wandered into view, grinning and drinking out of his brandy bottle.

  “Sorry—were we interrupting something?” Crazy Ray practically danced around Welch, waving the bottle as Seth kept the blaster steady at Welch’s temple.

  Welch glanced briefly to one side, but before he could move, Seth had dropped him and removed the knife. He gasped for air as he leaned over on all fours holding his gut.

  “I wouldn’t test the boy if I were you. He knows what you’ve done and he’d be well within his rights to kill you right now. Especially since that knife he’s holding was one you stole from his own mother.”

  At that, Seth looked at Crazy Ray and then back at Welch, his face a terrible mask. Welch looked up and then began to laugh.

  “Your son? His mother?” His words caught as he coughed briefly, feeling one of his ribs out of place. “That’s rich—you with a family!”

  Seth kicked him again and Welch rolled onto his back, wincing in pain but continuing to grin. Raymond had been a disappointment until now. This was more than he could’ve hoped for. He gave a low whistle, and the side wall dropped under the floor as two Enforcers stepped into the room and locked onto Crazy Ray and Seth. At the same time, an alarm began to go off. Within moments, ISU shock troops crashed through the door, armed to the teeth. Welch grinned even more as Raymond reluctantly put up his hands, refusing to relinquish the bottle. He turned to Seth.

  “Give it up, boy. Unless you have a death wish, that is, in which case I’m more than happy to oblige you!” Welch struggled to his feet, still holding his broken ribs, as the nearest troops reached over to take his arms.

  “Get off me!” he growled. “I don’t need your help.”

  They didn’t let go. Instead, the first troop twisted his arm back and fitted him with locking cuffs. Welch stared at the trooper as confused as Crazy Ray, who stood blankly looking on, both of them trying to figure out what was occurring. Only Seth seemed unsurprised by this. He turned towards the men and began to speak.

  “It’s all very simple what’s happening here. But maybe it’s so simple that it’s hard for you to comprehend. Let me explain. Did you know that implants have four segments of susceptible code?”

  Welch and Alton looked at the boy as if he were some kind of circus act. Seth nodded and continued as he walked over to one of the troopers.

  “That code can be altered, and if done appropriately, it can be modified to transfer the authority over to a new owner. In this case, I reprogrammed the local troopers to respond to my father. The Enforcers too. Anytime you are in danger, they will come for you”—Seth spoke this last part to Crazy Ray—“just like I always will.”

  He turned back to Welch and raised the blaster again. “So what do you want me to do with him?”

  Crazy Ray couldn’t believe his luck. Not only did he have his own brainwashed Gaiden working for him, but now he also had his own military. Hell, why not add in a galaxy? He took another swig from the bottle and gestured at Welch with it.

  “Nothing. Leave him to fight. He can work for us now and it will draw our enemies out, bring them to us. And we can finally get our revenge…for your brother and your mother. Besides, I think it’s time this galaxy had some changes, don’t you?”

  Seth nodded and lowered the blaster, while Welch stood in silent shock, staring bac
k at them. Crazy Ray signaled the troopers to put Welch down on his knees as he swaggered over. He set the bottle down and pulled a thin case from his pocket, then extracted a thick needle and an implant device. He loaded it up and positioned it at the back of Welch’s head. Then he leaned in and began to whisper into his ear.

  “So while you are in charge of the Forum and the AOC, everything you do you’ll report back to me, because you won’t have a choice. You will still be who you say you are and nobody will know I’m in charge. They’ll never suspect it, your arms dealer and minister of defense all in one, the guy who works for you but who is actually pulling the strings of the great Razam Welch!” Crazy Ray spit on the floor and then leaned back in.

  “You see, with you it was your pride. You thought you were so smart, and I let you think it. I told you, Razam, watch out for me, when you least expect it. I’ve been hunting for years, I study my prey, and then when I find a weakness I pull them in, and then I kill them. I’m very good at it!” He giggled at Welch’s look of disdain. “Don’t worry, I need you around for a while yet before that. You still owe me for the loss of my station. I’ve never had my own galaxy before, so it should be a fair trade. Try not to get yourself killed on my behalf, all right?” Crazy Ray slapped Welch on the cheek sharply, making him blink, before pressing his lips against Welch’s ear to throw a final verbal sucker punch.

  “By the way, I thought you’d want to know your man Dobbin was working for me. In fact, he was the one who hid the boy’s value from you. Deleted all of the public files and then encrypted what he found and sent it straight to me! Do you know the kid is one of the youngest Gaiden ever to be trained? Somehow it seems that he has malfunctioned a bit, has some bad code tied into his prefrontal cortex that makes him subject to emotional controls. I’m betting that Zain will want him back very much. So will Captain Campbell. Turns out this little monster is her pilot’s kid! Imagine that! So I thank you for that gift as well!” Crazy Ray played with the needle as he watched Welch taking it all in.

  Welch turned pale and then reddened again as he listened to Alton’s words, his neck straining against the troopers’ arms as they kept forcing him forward towards the ground. He cursed as Crazy Ray slowly pricked the back of his neck with the needle before driving it in and lodging the implant. The troopers turned him to face Crazy Ray again. Welch looked at him with hatred, wishing they would give him just one chance to kill this bastard as he started speaking again.

  “I made this implant just for you. It’s very special, because you will know you are implanted and you will know what is going on around you at all times. But you won’t be able to tell anyone else that you are implanted. And you won’t be able to disobey my orders or do anything I don’t want you to do—at least not without dealing with a lot of pain! I like to keep things interesting!”

  The troopers uncuffed Welch and he immediately lunged for Raymond’s throat. Before he could even get close, intense pain shot through his body, throwing him to the floor. He tried again to get to a knife, but the pain simply increased and he howled as he writhed around, dragging a Persian rug along with him.

  Crazy Ray sat back in Welch’s leather chair and watched as his old nemesis lay exhausted on the floor at his feet. Seth stood next to him, alert and watching for any threats. Crazy Ray grinned at the boy and then poured himself another drink. He raised his glass and looked at Seth.

  “A toast to our enemies. May they all be as stupid as this one!”

  Seth shook his head and laughed as Crazy Ray knocked back another glass. The he sobered a bit as he looked at Welch on the floor. Crazy Ray noticed and took the boy by the arm.

  “What is it, son? You did so very well today, and we are finally getting ahead of our enemies. Why are you upset?” Crazy Ray watched the boy carefully for anything that might indicate he was coming out of the induced stupor that he was keeping him in.

  Seth sighed. He didn’t want to ruin his father’s happiness, but she was always in the back of his mind lately.

  “Do you ever think we’ll see Mom again?”

  Crazy Ray’s eyes lit up hungrily. “If I know her, she’s bound to turn up sooner or later. I don’t think they can keep her from us…in fact, I’d stake my life on it. She’ll be back…when we least expect it.”

  They stared at each other and Seth nodded. He hoped she’d be back soon. It would be nice to have his whole family together again. Besides, he could tell how much she meant to his father. Even now he could see that just the mention of her was bringing back fond memories of their time together. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to torture so many spies in his desperation to find her. Seth rubbed his temples. The weird ringing was starting again, followed by sharp spiking pains in his head. Crazy Ray glanced up at him in mock concern.

  “You should lie down on the couch. I’m safe enough now with all of the soldiers you made me.”

  Seth winced and slowly sat as Crazy Ray helped him swing his legs onto the cushions. In a few minutes, he was out. The arms dealer pulled out another vial and needle, then injected the boy with the drugs that would keep him under. He had done well today, and his moral boundaries were breaking a bit more with every life he took. He flipped open his handheld and studied the brain patterns. They looked more like his every day. Crazy Ray smiled. He wished he knew who had programmed this kid so he could thank them. They had given him the perfect code to exploit, and now he had his own Gaiden bodyguard who would readily die to protect him. His own galaxy, a son who would kill for him, his own military, Welch as his patsy, and an unlimited population of victims—what more could he want?

  In his mind she appeared again, and he twisted in anguish thinking about her. It was a wonderful, hellish feeling. He sat back on the end of the couch. Soon, he’d have her too.

  Chapter 20

  The air was dry and frigid in the underground bunker. The place hadn’t changed much since the last time she had been here. They were fortunate. The generators and air handlers still worked, which was good. The atmosphere was very thin and oxygen concentrations were low. Everyone would need to wear full face masks with re-breathers when on patrol outside. The supply storage cages were locked like they had left them. Chang cut the retaining devices off and opened the doors to reveal re-breathers, harness rigs, and leftover tundra tac-gear. Reilly looked through it while Lee Roy and Marek began to inventory the supplies. It was dusty but serviceable.

  Trace reported in to tell her that their sister planet’s bunker was in similar shape. He and his squadron were getting set up there now. They had divided the transports between them and a third planet, the last one in the ice planet picket line, which housed a large underground bunker that was well protected and had more storage space for the freighters to unload and dock. This planet was set back from the other two and would be the most defensible if they came under direct attack.

  Gunships began landing and crews stepped off the ships, grounding them and setting up their spaces. There was enough room for the 223 souls who had been brave enough or foolish enough to follow them into war. Chang and Holly directed crews into the more serviceable bunkers so they could set up living spaces. Ty and Tiny began their security checks. They set their teams to the task of exploring and re-mapping all of bunkers and overwatch positions, documenting any damage or identifying locations for additional security augmentation.

  Reilly signed forms, made decisions, and hollered out directions to her crew as they led the bed-down of forces. After a few hours, everything was moving and Reilly was no longer needed. She drifted down the partially lit corridor leading to the command bunker. The lights flickered in the dusty room as she wiped off the machines. The huge holotable was still anchored to the floor, surrounded by the stations that monitored the old alert network and their detection systems. She took a breath and flipped the switch, igniting the room in a blaze of color as the computers came to life again. There was a soft whir as the system scanned her, and then a voice.

  “Gr
eetings, Captain Campbell, Reilly A. Welcome back to Fire Base Rime.”

  Reilly ignored the computer. She pulled up the holotable and generated the three-dimensional version of their bunker and the surrounding battlespace, spinning it slowly, studying it, remembering it. She pushed the model out further until it encompassed all three of their planets. The Commander was no idiot when it came to strategy, and while Reilly might not trust him in other areas, she did with this. The galactic picket line had been set up years ago when interstellar travel had encroached on alien-controlled space, leading to the first alien invasion. It formed a horseshoe-shaped line of defenses near what was known as the galactic bar, a procession of old red stars that stretched thousands of light-years across the galaxy. Beyond this line was a no man’s land where gravitational forces were at their strongest, pulling the stars into a flat disc around the massive black hole that was the galaxy’s central hub. The solar systems along the picket line were close enough to the bar to prevent enemy forces from being able to attack from behind. Ships that did get behind these solar systems would be too close to the black hole’s event horizon to escape its tremendous gravitational pull.