Kalian noticed how ALF had remained silent, staring at the crescent structure. “What are you thinking?”
“Technology that allows for instant transportation across the galaxy makes sense, in terms of the Conclave’s next step in space travel, but making the prototype that big doesn’t make sense. This Starforge was designed to allow something massive to travel through it, something much bigger than anything built by the Conclave.” ALF looked at them both. “And Esabelle makes a good point about it being Terran. There are only the three of us in the whole galaxy that even know these things existed, and they’ve been putting this together since before the Gomar arrived.”
Kalian used the console to recreate the Starforge in holographic form in the centre of the bridge. The three Starrilliums appeared to be in random places across the hull with a built-up section on the inside of the crescent, in the middle of the structure. The two ends looked to be as sharp as any blade, with ten miles between them.
“What if it wasn’t designed for something massive,” Kalian added, “but an army of smaller ships?”
“That’s a possibility,” ALF replied. “Until we get inside and have a look we’ll have nothing but questions. If the design is similar to my Starforges, there should be a small access port here.” The A.I. pointed at a section of the hologram, near what looked to be the command centre.
“Then let’s ring the bell...” Esabelle set a course.
Chapter Fifteen
The replicated echo of ALF observed the current occupants aboard the Gommarian. The A.I. could see through every camera as the Conclave’s crew tried their best to pick apart the ship’s systems. Had it been ALF in his entirety, the scene would have brought some amusement with it. Instead, the A.I. looked on with calculated deliberation.
Steps had already been taken to keep them herded together in the areas ALF wanted. In some areas of the ship the crew had already been separated from the others by a simple change in the structure of the ship. He watched as they scurried to find their way back to the bridge, panic spreading across their comm. Two Novaarians were attempting to use a high powered laser to cut through one of the doors ALF had sealed. The A.I. had made certain the Eclipse missiles were beyond their reach, forever changing the internal structure around the doors. His programming had been clear about the fate of the star destroying rockets; they were to be permanently deactivated if they couldn’t be obliterated safely.
Through the array, the A.I. kept a close watch on the transport and settlement of the remaining humans. Via the comm net that connected all the Conclave vessels, ALF was aware of every movement the alien society made in the Ch’ket system. So far he was satisfied with the treatment of the humans and had no reason to be concerned over their wellbeing. The Conclave had no reason to harm them and the Sentinel was secretly watching over the rings of Ch’ket.
Moving through the Conclave’s own systems, ALF scanned through the details pertaining to the Sentinel. It was clearly modelled after the Gommarian, though the giant ship was curved at each end rather than flat. Its weaponry was on another level compared to other Conclave vessels, however. It had enough planet breakers to wipe out the ecosystem on every core world.
An external message sent directly to the Nautallon triggered one of ALF’s alarms. The A.I. accessed the message before the crew of the High Charge’s ship did. This was the information he had been waiting for. Now he had coordinates and a ship with which to act. The echo’s directives had been specific regarding the alien crew. In the same millisecond the A.I. comprehended the message, he began evacuation protocols.
“What was that?” The bridge crew looked for the source of the cracking sound that resounded beyond the walls.
ALF made certain the doors were vacuum-sealed and the rooms with occupants were reinforced with grav-plates. The Starrillium was charging up, ready for the jump.
“Sir, the nav-computer is loading new coordinates.” ALF could detect fear in the Laronian’s pheromones. “I’ve lost all control of the ship’s systems!”
The A.I. projected his image to the bridge crew. “Your presence is no longer required. Have a nice day.”
Uthor returned to the luxurious bridge of the Sentinel, frustrated with the lack of progress he had made with investigating Protocorps. They had been allowed to become powerful, and with that power they were untouchable. The corporation had enough money to keep everyone in line and cover their tracks, with an army of lawyers ready and waiting to pounce on anyone inclined to ask questions. Multiple investigations suggested criminal ties, mostly to Gor-van Tanar, but the trails always died before leading anywhere.
“Sir!” Gre-den hurried over to greet him in distress. “Protocorps has been attacked again.”
Uthor loved and hated that he was right. “The humans?”
“Unclear,” Gre-den guided them to a glass panel as big as a Raalak. “This is the only footage we have right now.” The glass came to life with holographic images of an ugly looking ship hurtling into the main entrance of the tower.
“That looks like something they would do...” Uthor saw no hope now for the humans gaining membership into the Conclave. They had taken it too far.
“I made the preparations you requested. There’s a team standing by.” Gre-den added quietly as his attention was pulled away by the same Ch’kara that had been monitoring the Gommarian crew. The ensign was frantically moving holographic screens around and motioning for others to check their own terminals.
“Report, Commander.” Uthor’s mighty form came to a towering halt beside the Shay.
“The Nautallon just received a transmission from the Rackham, sir.” Gre-den was reading from the terminal. “They’re coordinates inside the Helteron Cluster.”
“Is there a message?” Uthor asked.
“One word, sir: proof.”
The High Charge took a deep breath and considered his options. These humans were tenacious. In only a few days they had managed to find what so many of his own had failed to discover for years. At present his mandate was to bring in the humans and the A.I. at all costs, ignoring any alleged involvement of Protocorps. But if the humans thought they had found proof of the corporation’s hand in all this, and were willing to be captured in the process, Uthor was going to follow his instincts, regardless of the Highclave’s tip-toeing around Protocorps.
“Let’s see what this ship can really do then.” Before Uthor could order the new course, the Ch’kara crewman spoke out.
“Er, sir?” the Ch’kara took a moment to study his monitor before alarm crept into his voice, “There’s an emergency broadcast coming from the crew of the Gommarian.”
“What’s happening?” Gre-den examined the same monitor.
“They’re reporting a complete system lock out. They’re...” The Ch’kara couldn’t find the words.
Gre-den stood up and looked Uthor in the eyes. “They’re being jettisoned into space.”
“WHAT?” Uthor nudged him aside with ease to see the monitor for himself.
“It appears the individual rooms they occupied have been released into space,” the Ch’kara explained. “They’re alive but have limited life support, sir.”
That was the problem with nanocelium, Uthor thought. Essentially the ship was a giant jigsaw made of trillions of tiny machines. Individual rooms could be let go by the rest of the ship like an emergency life pod.
“The Gommarian’s Starrillium is charging, sir.” Gre-den was now looking at another terminal. The Shay paused before he spoke again, “There’s a transmission coming from the Gommarian.” The holographic display simply read: Follow me.
“Who sent the message?” the High Charge asked, confused. His question was met with stunned silence. “Order the Nautallon to intercept the crew, Commander. Set a course for Cerula and prepare to either disable the Gommarian or... follow it.”
For the most part, Li’ara and Roland had been successful in evading the security force inside Protocorps. All the heavy boots were heading fo
r the main entrance below them, not even aware of their presence. They ducked in and out of rooms that were abandoned in the frenzy to escape another terrorist attack.
They ran down a corridor with a glass wall and a view of their towering height above Clave Tower. Dozens of Conclave security ships emerged from the depths, their crimson hulls flitting past the window. Civilian vessels and transport ships were being guided away by local security personnel.
Li’ara paused before they reached the end of the strip, taking in the exotic world beneath them. She knew they weren’t just fighting for the human race, or what was left of it, but for all the lives of the Conclave. They might not be human and always relatable to, but they were people, just ordinary people trying to live. They deserved to live as much as her own kind, if not more so. The races of the Conclave had been thriving long before humanity was engineered. Li’ara knew in her gut that Protocorps were allied with whatever sinister force was out to destroy them, all of them. She would fight just as hard to save any alien as she would a human, and Protocorps were about to find out how hard she could fight.
“Come on,” Roland pressed as two Shay guards rounded the corner, almost bumping into the bounty hunter.
Roland didn’t hesitate to jump into the nearest Shay, knocking him into the wall and pinning him there. Li’ara raised her rifle and squeezed the trigger without thinking about it. The Intrinium rounds exploded from the muzzle in a short burst and tore through the Shay’s head. Roland pinned the Shay with one arm across his throat while the other reached for his Terran blade at the base of his back. The nanocelium shot from the hilt, building into a sharp blade only just bigger than a hand. Roland shoved the knife into the side of guard’s head and pulled him to the ground. With a foot on the alien’s face, the bounty hunter yanked the blade out and deactivated the nanocelium.
“We’ve got more incoming.” Li’ara could hear more boots coming from behind them, back down the corridor.
“Keep going.” Roland nodded to the Translift up ahead while retrieving the grenade launcher off his back. “Hey fellas!”
Li’ara couldn’t see the new group of soldiers, having rounded the corner, but she did see Roland’s wicked smile before unleashing the grenade launcher. The explosion was twofold as the concussive force blew out the glass wall along the entire corridor. Judging by Roland’s casual replacement of the launcher and slow walk, Li’ara assumed all the guards were either dead or falling into the depths of Clave Tower.
They both entered the Translift with Li’ara giving Roland a look that conveyed her thoughts on his overkill attitude. The bounty hunter shrugged and cracked the bones in his neck, all relaxed until a stark spotlight shone through the broken glass wall and into the Translift. On the other end of the spotlight was the familiar hum of Conclave security ships.
“Move!” Li’ara pushed off Roland, forcing them both into the sides of the Translift.
Large Intrinium rounds cut the corridor and the lift doors to ribbons, punching through into the Translift and blowing fist-sized holes across the interior wall. Sparks flew in every direction as the two humans hugged the wall, trying to make themselves as flat as possible. Li’ara slid her arm over the surface and repeatedly pressed the button to get the Translift moving. As they went up the cannon fire appeared to move down the lift until it tore through the floor and disappeared. The smell of ozone filled the busted interior with no small amount of smoke.
“That may have been my fault...” Roland pealed himself off the wall with a sheepish grin on his face.
“If we survive this, I might just kill you myself.” Li’ara exited the Translift on the next floor.
“That’s fair.” Roland wiped blood off his arm from a small shrapnel wound.
They exited on a floor made entirely of glass walls and white floors with expansive rooms between each glass panel. Shay scientists cowered behind their machines and equipment as the humans passed through the corridor, checking for any guards. Li’ara caught sight of the cameras in the top corner of every lab, their spherical servos swivelling to follow their progress.
“It’s tracking us.”
“What is?” Roland looked around.
“The cube. It knows we’re coming for it now. Whatever’s distracting them downstairs isn’t going to be enough.” Li’ara checked the ammo level on the side of her rifle. “It’ll do everything to stop us.”
“Like redirecting every soldier in the building.” Roland gripped his Tri-rollers and pulled them free of their holsters.
“We need to prioritise,” Li’ara continued. “The back-up mainframe will have to wait. We need to go to the top and destroy the cube first, before all hell breaks loose.”
“You get that, Len?” Roland asked out loud.
“That’s fine but you’re heading in the wrong direction.” Ch’len sounded focused for once. “Get back to the Translift and, oh shit, look out!”
A flash off to their left was all the warning they got before the sound of Intrinium fire exploded across the labs, shattering the glass walls. Li’ara and Roland broke into a sprint, staying ahead of the deadly energy bolts that fizzed through the glass and past their heads. In the corner of her eye, Li’ara saw two of the lab technicians fall under the barrage. The Protocorps guards cared little for life, more concerned with protecting the A.I. and preserving the corporation’s secrets.
They both blindly shot back in the direction of the gun fire, pulverising machinery and expensive equipment. The surviving scientists dived for the floor and yelled in terror at the violence that reigned around them. Roland skidded across the ground, pivoting on one knee to line up both of his Tri-rollers. Li’ara ran past him and charged into the Translift without slowing.
“Come On!” she shouted for Roland who was still laying down fire across the lab. The bounty hunter took down two of the guards before he scrambled to the safety of the lift, which he practically fell into.
More holes were put into the double doors before it finally got moving again. Roland continued to sit on the floor, panting against the wall. Li’ara took the opportunity to reload her rifle with explosive rounds. No sense in using stealth anymore.
“I’ve got a problem,” Ch’len announced over their comm links. “I was watching you over the cameras, but I’ve lost control of them. The real bad news is that I can still see you, but only because whoever’s controlling them is also watching you. You need to get off on the next floor.”
“How close are we?” Li’ara asked as they stepped out onto the new floor.
“You’re really close, but between you and the A.I. chamber is a whole lot of firepower,” Ch’len replied.
The new floor was a dark corridor with a reception desk at the other end, highlighted by a wall with Protocorps in bold letters across the white surface. Every six feet were thick pillars, separating the translucent glass offices and blocking the view. Both humans kept their weapons raised, unhappy with the silence.
“Oh and, Roland?” Ch’len came back. “Kubrackk’s in the building.”
Li’ara saw the bounty hunter wince at the sound of the name. It wasn’t fear she saw, but annoyance.
“I take it the explosion was him?” Roland asked.
“Yeah, a pretty dick move from the looks of it. Before I lost control of the cameras I took a peek. The idiot crashed his ship into the main lobby.” Ch’len laughed to himself. “He must really want to kill you.”
Li’ara stopped and sighed at Roland, “What shit have you dragged into this with you?”
“It’s nothing, just a little grudge.” Roland shrugged it off and continued to slowly push on down the corridor.
“Well that nothing is making his way up to you pretty fast,” Ch’len commented.
“Thank you, Len,” Roland said through gritted teeth. “He won’t be a problem. So far he’s done nothing but help, so let’s get on with it.” The bounty hunter removed the thin cylinder of seekers lining his chest and bowled them down the deserted corridor.
Without a sound, the spherical machines scattered up the walls, their track-pads hugging the corners to stay out of sight. They both clipped the one-sided headset to their right ear, as the holographic emitters displayed an overlay across their eye. Once the seekers had found a position in which they could cover every angle, their scans fed back a collective image. They could both see an orange outline of multiple guards through the walls, hiding at the end of the corridor and inside the rooms.
Li’ara noticed the broken glass littering the floor, as well as the broken glass walls between the offices. The breeze on this level was unnatural for an executive floor and was being funnelled through the corridor. They were obviously in the same place Roland and Esabelle had been when they made their crazy escape.
“I count sixteen,” Roland spoke a little quieter.
“How do you want to play this?” Li’ara kept one hand close to the grenades on her belt.
“You take the eight on the left, I’ll take the eight on the right,” Roland replied casually.
Li’ara raised her eyebrow. “And my side just happens to have the two Raalaks...”
“Well that’s where the toys come in.” Roland tapped the side of the headset, activating the targeting system.
Li’ara could see through her own holographic image that Roland was highlighting the two Raalaks, as well as the turret gun waiting beyond them, in front of a large circular door. The x-ray image began to rapidly contract across her eye, when the seekers left their hiding places to track down their new targets. The last thing Li’ara saw was the orange outline of the two Raalaks before the entire floor was racked by the ensuing explosion. The corridor filled with smoke and large chunks of rock-like skin and limbs. The odds were high that some of the others had been killed or injured by the velocity of the Raalaks’ separate body parts. An explosion further down the corridor took place a second later, destroying the turret.
Tempest: Book Two of the Terran Cycle Page 37