by Tobias Roote
“Those who go have a long and dangerous journey ahead, one that may, or may not conclude in a successful colonisation of another planet. For them it will be a journey that will mean leaving Earth - forever.
None of the choices in front of us will be easy. Good luck.” Indicating he had finished, he turned to his tech specialist.
“Chapman, what’s the state of readiness of the fleet?” Mike asked the young, but highly competent Intern.
“All nineteen biospheres are fully operational and crews are reporting ready signals,” Chapman responded.
“Send out the order to mirror shields and cloak, maintain secure comms and prepare habitats for phase two in two minutes, on my mark.”
“MARK.”
The countdown to orbit had begun.
***
ARK 4 - Time runs out
The lieutenant listened to the voice in his ear from team ‘A’ telling him there were ‘eyes on them’ and made an instant decision to follow a route he had checked out months ago as part of his reconnaissance of the ARK. They had trained for many different scenarios, rogue crew, bombs, alien incursions, civil unrest, as well as terrorist attacks. He had plans in his head, most tried and tested with his teams, and his decision to modify their route slightly wouldn’t faze his men, they were trained to deal with change.
The new route he chose would take them out of range of all cameras on the surface and would even protect their egress point from the habitat.
“Split up, casual-mode where civilians are around,” he ordered through the headsets. They didn’t want to scare the population they had to get past, so the men would ‘look’ casual, but be prepared to shoot at the first sign of trouble. They knew the nature of the threat from the protocol, but had no idea how many, or where they were located. Whilst the CCC was the only reported point of contact, there could well be others. The cameras indicated that possibility.
They left the corridors and moved into the central plaza in a strategic-paced and distanced cover of each as well as civilians. Some looked at them half recognising people who served them coffee in the village cafe, or seeing a face out of context and wondering if their memory was letting them down. Nobody interfered, recognising armed ‘friendlies’ moving amongst them, some began to feel nervous, but the casualness of the soldiers body language settled them back down as it was intended to do.
Once out of sight of the mass of population, they broke into an orderly trot, making good time to the exit to the surface that contained an, as yet, unused airlock. They stopped just short of the external doorway and checked their exit and route. It was all clear and Crisp led his team to a mature hedge that had been created to segregate the crops, and to protect the wildlife within its cover. Birds flew suddenly out of the leafy branches and the sound of small animals scurrying away told the listener that they were the first in a while.
It was just over a kilometre to their destination and all but the last hundred metres would be under cover. Team ‘A’ were half way through the tunnels and probably observed by someone all the way. A reception committee would most likely be meeting them in which case they would be drawing the threat away from team ‘B’.
Their destination, a rarity on the surface of the sphere, was a partially exposed mound left over from a previous time in the history of the land the sphere was removed from. They kept low and sprinted for the far side where they would be undetected even from the Watchtower and any cameras. With luck whoever was monitoring their movements would miss their short exposure to detection.
“Right! Dig it out.” Crisp ordered them.
While the team quickly used their kit shovels to uncover a concealed entrance, Crisp checked on team ‘A’. He was totally silent as the noise cancelling software did its work. He clicked off the mike and turned to his men.
“Team ‘A’ has made contact with the enemy. They are pinned down by two professional military types. They will keep them occupied until we are ready to move.” He looked at them expectantly, “which should be be about... now,” he said, as the last of the packed soil dropped away exposing a doorway with a covered panel.
Wiping the congealed dirt from around the panel, the lieutenant lifted the metal plate to expose a keypad and finger-sized hole. He placed his index finger within the hole, a blue light came on scanning his bio reading and print, while with the other hand he typed in a fourteen digit code on the keypad. They all had the code. It was testament to their trusted status. The ability to infiltrate the CCC by any means under the right circumstances meant whoever could carry out the protocol had all access codes that would unlock anything on the ARK. Like the armoury, this secret unit and what lay behind it were not on the plans and only those who built the ARK and those charged with its protection knew about them all.
There was a hissing sound as the air pressure shifted behind the sealed door, then it raised up from the flat surface of the frame and allowed itself to be opened. The sergeant stepped through first. It was Reggie’s job to ensure there were surprises on the other side. It wasn’t anticipated, but Bilko, as he was known, was always keen to put himself in the firing line before his men. This was just a formality, but all the same, the risk existed.
The room was dust free and pristine. Lights had flicked on as soon as the door was opened. They were now in a small chamber that could handle up to eight people, but with their kit, they were crammed in just as five. The door closed taking away the daylight from their view allowing them to adjust their eyes to that of the bunker.
Crisp moved swiftly to an observation panel and input another fourteen digit code. It gave him access to a camera with a thirty degree shift. The tiny paddle allowed him to move the lens so that it provided a view of the Command Centre. He could see the scene, Bilko looked over his shoulder.
“Classic,” was his only response. A four-man team. Standard operational procedure. Two in the CCC, the other two holding the entry. They could well be ex-military, but insufficient in numbers for an exercise like this. This wasn’t a planned exercise it had the hallmarks of desperation. That meant they were unpredictable, dangerous, but also likely to make mistakes. It would be ideal if they made it a quick exit.
The lift would only handle three of them with their rifles and kit. It wasn’t on the plans so nobody would be expecting anyone to turn up in the CCC from their position. There were no indicators like in normal lifts. This was always kept as a secret ingress/egress for the captain and XO. The captain would be expecting them to arrive that route and would probably arrange a small diversion to keep eyes off that corner of the command bridge.
“OK, this is how we do this. Three men out in first wave, one deck, one left, one right. We can monitor from here and update you on positions before you exit. Sergeant, you and Gonzales come down in second wave right behind us, the time lag is forty five seconds round trip - use the intel from the screen for your exit strategy. I will keep you updated during your descent.”
He pressed the button. The lift opened immediately. A good omen. Howard took up a low crouch ready to flatten out when the door opened again. Crisp took the right, it gave him the longest look down the CCC and Parratt, took left which would cover anyone tucked into the opposite corner. Crisp activated the special ops spec’ shield nullifier that would take out all, but the latest shields within a hundred and fifty feet - a present from Space Island’s science people. It was something learned from the late Fortress leader, Ferris - always leave your side with something a bit ‘extra’ and this was it. A nullifier that would kill 99.9% of personal shields within range.
***
The cameras weren’t where he needed them. XeraC’s frustration was complete when he lip-read one of them coming out of the unit indicating they knew the cameras were monitoring them. He was quick to notice the military fatigues and armaments they were carrying. It was a defence force and they weren’t in any of the systems. How on earth did this get past him – he knew everything in the system every..single...byte...of...data. He had the whole ARK o
n his 3D grid, yet here was a unit with no data and no access controls in his system, an armoury he never knew existed and communication setups he was unaware of. He was slipping - badly.
He pinged Wilke’s headset.
“Yes, boss?” The voice came over the speaker on XeraC’s virtual desk. A big wall screen, split to show the exodus of the defence force in one, and his mercenaries in control of the Command Centre in the other. He zoomed in on Wilke’s face.
“You have a new problem. There are two teams of what look like special forces inbound on your position. There is nothing I can do to stop them. Expect them within thirty minutes.”
“What do you want us to do with this crew?” Scott indicated the hostages behind him.
“You can do what you like with them, they appear to be surplus to requirements,” XeraC said, tiredly and switched the contact to mute. He had lost yet another battle against this infernal ARK set-up - Osbourne had a lot to answer for. If he ever got off Earth and XeraC happened to come across him, then he would make sure that Osbourne paid a heavy and painful price. He realised that ten against four weren’t good odds, and wait... what was that?
He had just seen one team exit out the main entrance to the surface. He hadn’t been watching properly, he missed them split up. XeraC quickly scanned the cameras outside trying to get a fix on them, but they weren't showing up. He thumped the desk in frustration. If he wanted to he could make it buckle under his powerful blows. The code appeared in his head and he ran it. This time when he thumped the desk it bent in the middle and collapsed.
XeraC laughed stupidly and stomped all over the virtual desk. He was only satisfied when it was flattened into a useless pile of junk. He sat down again and re-ran the code to rebuild the desk. Then, when it reappeared intact without a mark on it, he put his feet on the table and watched the screens. He felt much better.
The screens showed him all of the locations on the outside. He concentrated on four cameras and enlarged the pictures. Where would they be going? At the same time he had another pair of eyes looking into the possible locations of other unknown buildings or units. He scoured the records of the ARK. Every single piece of information from the stock deliveries, workforce projects, engineering records, photographic records. Everything he could find he pulled into one teeming mass of data and set to work.
Nothing seemed to make sense at first, then it began to, and XeraC was astounded at the extent of the subterfuge. He finally found a wiring diagram that wasn’t on any of the layouts. It had been input as an image which was not part of the data-nest that held all of the ARK’s blueprints. It was on Sullivan’s console. The Chief Engineer had notated a set of work files to it. XeraC quickly found the files and accessed them. They referred to a high-powered system behind one of the walls in the CC, there was a reference to a tunnel creeper - an AG sled that would hold a work crew and keep them safe at height, or depth.
The answer was obvious. There was another entrance to the Command Centre.
“Wilkes, expect back-door incursion into the CC,” he called through the mercenaries headset.
***
Wilkes ordered Scott to set up the youngest crew members, the ones deemed most expendable as a human shield to delay a head-on attack. It wasn’t honourable, but they had nowhere to escape to - and the ARK, like it or not, was their final destination, unless XeraC found a way of getting them off. That now seemed unlikely with his losing control like that. Why wasn’t the idiot trying to shutdown the computer system instead of bleating in his ear. The message was garbled, but he hadn’t time to get him to repeat it.
There was something happening behind him.
As he turned he glimpsed the reflection of a door opening in a wall where there shouldn’t be one. He swung his weapon to the front to take out the new threat, pulling the trigger as the door fully opened. He anticipated someone central to the door at normal height, so missed Howard’s slide across the steel mezzanine with his sights already lining up on Scott’s head.
Scott took the flechettes in the throat and face. He was out of the fight instantly and Howard was rolling, looking for his next target just as Crisp sighted on another larger individual who was standing over the captain and XO. He fired a short burst of MAG-rounds knowing they would be messy, but needing to make the shots count. The mercenary saw them and tried to get a shot off, which twisted his body around so it took a round full in the chest and shoulder. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Howard leapt the rail off the mezzanine onto the deck of the CC hub and checked the pulse of the first mercenary. He wanted to be sure before turning his back on him.
“Cover me!” he called as he proceeded to run towards the crew on the floor, gun held high, sighting on anything he saw. He needed to get to them before the other mercenaries thought to take them out.
Crisp, felt the arrival of his sergeant behind him and saw Gonzales also leap the railing to back up Howard as they zig zagged through the consoles. Parratt took the opportunity to get ahead on the mezzanine and when another black-dressed figure rushed into the room from the corridor having heard the gunfire, thinking it was Scott or Jumbo killing the crew he took fire from three of ‘B’ teams best. Unfortunately, any one of the fifteen rounds that hit him would have killed him instantly.
“How many?” Crisp called out to Pinner in a loud whisper.
Pinner put up his hand with four fingers while, at the same time, edging away from a pool of blood forming around the corpse of the man that the others had referred to as 'Jumbo'.
Duffy grabbed the rifle off the body and placed himself between Pinner and the open doorway to the corridor. Crisp saw the move and approved, but felt that Dumfries was just as important to the ARK. He gestured to Howard who placed himself in front of both of them and signalled for them to move back out of the direct line of fire.
The conversation between ‘A’ and ‘B’ team meant that they knew exactly what had gone down and were preparing to divert the attention of the last man while one of the ‘B’ team leaped through the door and shot him from behind. They were concerned about eight hostages that were out there and neither team could see a thing. Crisp ordered Bilko, his sergeant to poke his head out. The responding fire told them the last mercenary was able to defend himself from where he was.
Crisp pulled out his grenade bag and selected two silver ones attaching them to the mounting on top of his MX41. Sighting down the door at an angle that would bounce the grenades down the corridor, he fired both and waited the four seconds it would take for them to travel and go off. The flash-bangs were very localised and totally disorienting. The crew would probably be hospitalised for a few days, but would be fine if they didn’t get shot in the next thirty seconds. He then ordered two of his men through the door. ‘A’ team would be following from their side.
When Crisp heard the sound of shouting he guessed they had met with the last gunman. A single shot, then a second, quickly followed by a third. Definitely MX rounds. He received the ‘all clear’ through his headset and gestured for the officers and crew to come out of hiding.
Pinner stood, smiled at Crisp and said a whispered ‘thank you’ before rushing off to check on the crew that had been in the corridor. It was going to be a while before the Command Centre was open for business, thought Crisp. He didn’t know that there was yet another battle being waged in the ether of the fibre network that surrounded them. Had he known he probably wouldn’t have been breathing so easily.
***
There was indeed an all-out battle being fought in the computer network that encompassed the life-force of the sphere. As XeraC had been distracted by the task force that had taken out his team, Sedal had been sending his little army of J-code bots into the region around the processing of communications for the ARK. Every time XeraC accessed a new camera, another slip of code inserted itself without him detecting anything. Each time XeraC opened a new port to communicate within the network, Sedal snuck in another snippet. It could never have hap
pened the other way round because XeraC remained oblivious to the higher alien code.
Sedal had also begun to understand some fundamental differences between the Transhuman and the AI.
Where a human only used a small portion of their brain’s abilities, the AI used all of its power most of the time. When this human had converted to artificial existence and left behind its biological form, it had inherited a lifetime of human habits and mannerisms. XeraC, especially when distracted, left himself open to infiltration instead of keeping all of his actions and defences in play. He relied too much on automated tripwires he had set-up - tripwires the J-code could slip under.
For the safety of the humans and success of the mission Sedal knew that XeraC could not be left holding them to ransom. Osbourne had left behind the one sure thing that would enable the AI to overcome XeraC, but it would only work now, as Sedal was well aware that XeraC was getting close to discovering the code applets and would then be able to reverse engineer them. With the massive processing power that the Transhuman had at his disposal; one that massively out-gunned the whole of the Sphere’s ability, there was only a small window of opportunity for success. He had to act quickly.
As the task force took down the mercenaries, Sedal activated his bot-code army and efficiently took over section after section of the sphere’s communications. Within a few seconds he had successfully locked out the abomination from three quarters of the local network, but still only had command of incoming transmissions. XeraC had somehow kept a tight hold on the external transmissions, the one thing Sedal needed to bring the mission completely under control.
XeraC sat, braced at his desk. The mental effort of hanging onto the last of his network was taking everything he had. The security AI had somehow sneaked beneath his radar and undermined his hold on the sphere. In fact, XeraC looked around him to see that he had been cornered in one section, that of the environment, stores and maintenance, and both of these sections could be re-routed by Sedal given some cooperation from the engineers. XeraC was amazed to find himself up against a wall - AGAIN!