by John Lilley
‘OK guys, I think we’re in for one last pounding,’ Harry said into the intercom, hoping it still worked. ‘Let’s hope the hull holds out, but keep over to port and get ready to exit through the deck hatches if she starts to go down. Come on guys, let’s get below, the bridge won’t take this next attack.’
‘Get me to the auxiliary control panel,’ said Helm. ‘There’s one last thing we can try.’
Once below decks and at the panel, with his one good hand, he threw several switches to divert control and then called up one of the ancient fixed controlled manoeuvres from the onscreen menu. Cloud Maker began a turn to starboard, towards the patrol ship.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ asked Harry
‘It’s an old trick, but it might work against the logic of that automaton, we’re now sailing a parabolic course towards it. We may get just that bit nearer the shore while it figures out what’s happening?’ said Helm.
Harry looked out towards the patrol vessel. The drone had managed to land back on its deck and was being repaired by what must have been two simulants.
Seconds went by, and no further hostile fire came from the patrol vessel, but Cloud Maker was now only 200 metres away from it and getting nearer, despite the patrol vessel changing course at least twice as far as Helm could tell.
At 100 metres range, they were virtually staring down the barrels of the patrol ship’s guns.
Then there was a loud bang followed by the screeching of tearing metal. The patrol ship pitched suddenly to port, at such a severe angle that its gun barrels touched the waves, before it spun around to starboard and stopped. Caught off balance, one of the simulants was pitched overboard.
‘They’re aground,’ said Helm with a smile. He punched some buttons, and Cloud Maker turned to port, the beach was now only 300 metres away.
‘Hello everyone, I’m going to beach her,’ he said into the PA system. ‘Brace for impact and then prepare to abandon ship.’
Harry looked astern. The patrol ship was completely stationary and listing badly to port. Smoke was still coming from the drone but also from one of the ships exhaust vents.
Moments later the beach impact started with a soft scraping sound from below, then rapid deceleration as Helm killed the engines and dropped anchor.
Harry gave the order to man the life rafts and abandon ship. Cloud Maker was on a relatively even keel, wedged firmly in the black volcanic sand and only 30 metres from shore. Harry watched as the boats were lowered and the crew streamed into them. As the ancient electric outboards fired into life, he noticed a dark figure emerging from the sea onto the shore; its long matted hair clung to its deerskin clothing as it sprinted out of the water.
Blackhawk scanned the shoreline and identified three possible places to make a stand. Looking back at the patrol vessel as he ran he decided on the spot 50 metres further up the beach where three large black boulders had settled. Within seconds he was amongst them. There was still no movement from the patrol vessel. He unshouldered his bow and quiver and took out his dry cloth from within the waterproof pouch of his jerkin. Drying off the string, pin-sights and pulley wheels of his bow, he went over the usual checks he’d done thousands of times before. He was out of effective range of the patrol ship, but it looked like that would not be the problem. The simulant that went overboard was still unaccounted for, but that still left the drone. Through his binoculars, he could see the other simulant feverishly working on it. So that meant the ship was trashed. The small grenade had worked well against the drone. He would usually have used an explosive nano-wire pile against a drone or hovercar, straight into its thrust nacelles. But this British drone had two large external rotors, a different proposition. He took stock of the contents of his quiver and worked out his options while he dried off his fletches.
Gene struggled to hold on to the boat. He liked the warmth of the immersion suit but found it too restricting. His exposed nose and hands were rapidly turning blue, so he was not looking forward to the final wade ashore through the icy waters. But he need not have worried since the crew helped all of the Four ashore, they didn’t need to put one foot in the water as they were carried at shoulder height. Gene breathed a huge sigh of relief when his old feet touched the black sand. He was heading towards the nearest of the tents that had been rapidly erected, when there were screams from all around him. Looking back to sea he could see the black shape of the drone rising from the stricken patrol vessel. It seemed to be struggling to fly straight and was leaving a thin trail of black smoke, but it was heading their way. Everyone attempted to find cover, but there was none to be had nearby. There were some large boulders further up the beach, but the drone would be upon them before they could get that far. The shout went up: ‘Everyone, get down as low as possible!’
Bill hit the beach hard, even the soft damp sand jarred every joint in his ancient body. He could see the drone approaching, 200 yards, 150 yards, and then there was a large flash of an explosion to the left of it. The drone changed course towards the blast. Bill followed its new course towards one of the piles of boulders further up the beach. Stood on top of them was John Blackhawk, bow in hand at full draw. The drone must have also seen him in that instance and opened fire. John just had time to release before he was forced to dive for cover behind the boulders as they shattered under the hail of projectiles. Bill watched the release, two seconds later one of the drone’s main rotors appeared to stop working, and the other rotor screamed as it attempted to compensate. The small craft lurched to the left and downwards, its guns still blazing, but increasingly wide of the intended target.
Behind the boulders, John was in trouble. He’d landed badly and twisted something in his ankle, standing on it was agony, and there were numerous rock splinters to be picked out of his forearm and chest. A large cut across his forehead didn’t make this task any easier as the blood ran into his eyes. The drone had stopped firing, and he felt the thud as it hit the beach, but he could still hear the whine of its one remaining rotor. He nocked up another arrow, a high explosive pile this time and hopped around the boulder to finish the job. The drone was circling hopelessly, its dead rotor digging deeper into the black sand as it did so. John instinctively aimed and released in one fluid motion, then dropped back into the shelter of the boulder. The explosion was almost instantaneous. He took a quick glance to confirm the kill. The drone was now inert and engulfed in flames and thick black smoke. John could hear a few cheers coming from down the beach and could see some of the crew running towards him. He waved and hobbled towards them as best he could on his busted ankle. As he approached he saw something behind the crew and their tents: about 100 yards further back on the shoreline, a dark figure was emerging from the water. It hadn’t been swimming but was just walking out of the sea, its head and shoulders were all that was visible, but it seemed to be carrying something. John watched in horror as it marched out of the sea, it was one of the simulants, the one that had been knocked overboard. He waved frantically at the approaching crew, but they just kept running towards him. He shouted a warning and pointed behind them. By this time the creature had emerged completely from the sea and was marching up the beach towards the nearest tent, raising its weapon as it did so.
48 CONFLICT
‘Well that was a complete waste of time,’ said Derek. ‘How can anyone expect us to follow any tracks through that lot? Just look at my trousers, ripped to shreds.’
‘Oh come on it’s not so bad, you can get some new ones when we get to the Rangers Lodge,’ said Arthur.
It took them a further hour to return to base. As they did so the distinctive beat of the counter-rotating blades from a surveillance drone temporarily drowned out the background bird song. They could see Charles watching it from one of the office windows. He gave them a wave and then beckoned them towards him. Inside his office, they watched the drone’s flight-tracking screens. It had decided on a zig-zag search pattern covering the expected location of Julie. Charles busied himself getting the
two agents some food and drinks, but his mind was out there with Julie. Her link had been on the blink for a few weeks now, but he worried that this time it was something more serious. He thought that perhaps she’d surprised a family of lynxes before they could skulk off. A cornered Lynx was the most dangerous encounter you could wish for on Cleveland. There had been a few nips and the occasional more serious bite over the years, but in general, the creatures knew their place, especially the ones which had been tasered. As he returned with the tray of sandwiches and coffee something was flashing on the drone’s monitor. It had found an anomaly and was now circling above it. Two obviously human heat signatures were covering the ground at a fast pace. The one at the rear stumbled a few times and seemed to be struggling to keep up. However, the one in front was effortlessly progressing along the forest track. It was almost as if it were hovering over the ground. Its limbs didn’t seem to be moving, and on either side of it, there were some much smaller heat signatures.
‘Simulants,’ said Derek with an authoritative tone.
‘How can you say that?’ questioned Arthur. ‘Even the most advanced tin-man we know would be showing a bigger signature than any human. Charles, can we see the radio spectrum?’
‘Sure, I’ll put it up alongside on monitor five,’ Charles said as he selected from the handset’s drop-down menus.
The new display threw up more questions. The area immediately around the first contact was showing a dead area of radio emissions, less than what was bouncing around the surrounding undergrowth.
‘Can your drone scan for polymetal?’ asked Derek.
‘Err, I think I saw that somewhere on one of the menus, give me a moment,’ said Charles as he fumbled with the small control again.
The new display made them all gasp at the same time. Running alongside the first contact appeared to be two flickering human shapes, now shown in false colour as containing traces of polymetal.
‘Interesting,’ said Arthur. ‘Perhaps they’re wearing some kind of cloaking suits? Charles can you try one more thing: Silica, can your friend show that?’
‘I’m sure it can. Yes, here it is. I’ll overlay the silica in purple,’ said Charles.
Two purple humanoids now appeared to be carrying the first contact between them at running pace and as the larger monitor showed they were heading straight for the Rangers Lodge.
‘So what’s all this about silica?’ asked Derek.
‘Oh, it’s something that the boffins have been working on,’ said Arthur.
‘Well, if they were friendly and British, they would have surely contacted us by now?’ queried Derek.
‘It does seem strange when you say it like that. But why would they be carrying a possibly injured person if they were something to worry about?’ retorted Arthur.
‘If they’re human then how could they be moving so quickly? The poor guy behind them is having trouble keeping up,’ said Charles.
‘You’ve hit the nail on the head there mate. Combat Exoskeletons never actually made it to the front line, and that was over 200 years ago. Those “things” aren’t human, they’re not British, and they’re coming at a run. Let’s get in position to give them a surprise,’ said Derek as he took out his pulse pistol and checked the charge once more.
‘No shooting please chaps, Julie might be the one they’re carrying,’ said Charles nervously.
Derek looked briefly at Arthur eye-to-eye before they ran out of the office leaving Charles to his monitors.
‘Come on Trevor, keep up man,’ said David.
Trevor stopped and coughed up a large piece of grey phlegm from deep within his lungs and spat it out.
‘Lovely, feel better now?’ asked Eric.
Trevor scowled but somehow managed to heave his aching body onwards down the track.
‘OK, I’ve got Charles’s monitor output on my link now,’ said Derek.
‘I copy,’ said Arthur. ‘They should be coming in on this track. Why don’t I take point behind that tree there, just by the track, then you cover me from over there, behind that bush?’
‘Sounds like a plan mate. What’s their ETA?’ said Derek.
‘It could be another five minutes. Get comfy and watch your link for any departures from that,’ said Arthur.
‘Do you think we should call a dropship?’ asked Derek.
‘Well, you can if you want. Remember it’s a first-class blocking if you call one for the wrong reasons,’ said Arthur.
‘The Lodge is only one kilometre away now,’ said Eric, for Trevor’s benefit.
‘Look chaps, I think my lungs, are about to turn inside out. Can we walk the last bit?’ gasped Trevor.
‘What’s the hurry, give him a break,’ pleaded Julie.
‘Well, I suppose a few minutes more isn’t going to make much difference,’ said Eric as they both slowed to walking pace.
Their enhanced senses had just picked up two figures hiding up ahead. Through their physical contact link, they considered their next move. The two contacts had all the hallmarks of security forces: their positioning, body postures, micro-movements and they were both holding what looked like long-range weapons. Two basic options: continue and confront them or drop Julie and Trevor and take off in some other direction.
‘OK Julie, how about we put you down for a few minutes, and we can all have a rest?’ suggested David.
‘I’m cool with that, great ride guys, but my backside has gone numb,’ said Julie.
David and Eric gently lowered Julie so she could take her own weight on her good leg first. Gingerly she tried to stand on the other leg. The pain made her wince, but it could take her weight.
‘Just let me hobble along for a bit,’ she said.
‘Here, lean on me,’ said Trevor as he came alongside.
Derek thumbed through the menus on his link and selected dropship request. There were three levels of security to go through before he was offered the commit button. His thumb hovered over it while his memories of the kidnap came flooding back. It had destroyed his life at that time: two kids and their mum, his wife, all gone. These bad-tags needed to be stopped before they could do any more damage. He pressed the button.
Arthur picked up the whole scene. There was nothing for it now. He ran straight at the new arrivals. David and Eric were still reaching out towards the Rangers Lodge when they saw Arthur coming at them, saw his acceleration and speed. Then they picked up his speech within what would normally be called the ultrasonic frequency band:
‘Hi please don’t panic. I can get you a connection with Mother through my link. Unfortunately, my partner has just called a dropship. It will be here in three minutes. There’s a conflict of interests here. Briefly, I should not even exist, so we’re just going to have to let the dropship arrive and do its stuff. Hopefully, all our business will have been concluded before it arrives. The simulants on the dropship have been briefed. I can promise you that it will look worse than it actually is. Please don’t be afraid, follow me away from the humans, and we can set up the contact session.’
Arthur was by this time only 25 metres away from them. He signalled right, and David and Eric started in that direction. Eric’s neck and shoulder suddenly exploded with a loud crack. Then David’s right arm was blown apart at the elbow. Derek was firing as quickly at the pulse weapon could recycle. His third shot aimed at David would have hit him at waist level, but Arthur appeared from nowhere and took the full blast in his left thigh. He went down. Derek was now running as fast as he could towards the group.
Arthur twitched where he lay. His systems were having trouble containing the injury. Eric was lying face down on the forest floor, not moving, while fluid poured from his ruptured chest cavity. David ran towards Arthur leaving behind his severed lower arm.
‘OK, let’s get connected,’ David said as he reached Arthur.
‘Here, connect how you want,’ said Arthur as he proffered his link. A massive convulsion shook his body, and he dropped it at David’s feet.
&n
bsp; David slipped his backpack to the floor and struggled to open the flap with his one remaining arm. He pulled out the transcorder and dropped the link in its slot.
‘Right, that’s enough, get away from him,’ ordered Derek, now only five metres away and pointing his pulse weapon straight at David’s chest. Then he caught sight of Arthur’s injury, and his eyes bulged in disbelief. He lowered his weapon briefly before snapping it back on target.
‘OK, what’s going on here?’ he said trembling.
‘It’s OK mate,’ said Arthur. ‘These guys aren’t the problem. All they need is some more time. The main difficulty here is me. Nobody should know that I exist. You need to keep Julie and Trevor away. The dropship will clean up when it arrives.’
‘Well that’s just fine, do you think I’m stupid? You’re one of them. Why should I believe anything you tell me?’ screamed Derek. He was now circling the pair, weapon cradled in both hands. His link chimed. He pulled it out from his breast pocket, and Mother’s face appeared on its small screen.
‘Derek, please help us. We think the simulants you see before you have brought me an important message,’ she said.
Derek pulled the trigger, and David’s headless body fell across Arthur.
‘That one’s for Harry,’ he said.
‘Please, please Derek, listen to her. These guys weren’t armed, they have some important news,’ croaked Arthur, now struggling beneath David’s twitching torso.
The transcorder bleeped twice. Derek raised his pistol and pointed it at the rucksack.
‘Derek, Derek, please talk to me,’ said Mother from his link.
‘Talk,’ Derek said raising the device.
‘I’ve just decoded a welcome message that proves beyond doubt that these people mean us no harm. Their mission was to warn us that your son Harry and the other kidnapped children are on their way back. They are somewhere at sea near Iceland. It’s going to be difficult to stop the automated patrols from attacking them. The high-level drone coverage is patchy at best, but I’m working on it. The dropship will need to do a thorough job with what’s left here. I need you to stop Trevor and Julie from seeing Arthur in that state and give the guys on the drop ship time to do their stuff. Can you help us?’ asked Mother.