by Ben Winston
“There is no better sensor system than the Mark I Eyeball. Unless they've developed a total cloaking device, if someone is looking directly at you, it will be impossible for you to sneak away from them,” said Sybil.
In response, Greg tapped something on the cuff of his flight suit and everything from his neck down almost completely disappeared. There was still a distortion shadow, but if he stayed absolutely still, it would be very difficult to see.
“You mean something like this?” Greg asked smiling.
“Holy shit! It looks like I have a lot to learn if I'm going to help you at all!” Sybil said.
“Well, I'm going to have to give you a quick tour, because I'm due to have my ass handed to me by Paul again pretty soon. So we need to pick up the pace. Come on, I'll introduce you to my favorite spaceship!” Greg replied grinning at her.
'Prometheus' Base
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
About forty-five minutes later, as Greg was escorting her back through the main door, Sybil touched his arm lightly. “All things considered, Commander, thank you for showing me what I'm helping you with. You don't have to worry about me telling anyone about it. If for no other reason than you are probably the only defense we have against the Drellians. There is no way in hell the government or any of the myriad agencies would be able to do what you're trying to do down here. You have my word of honor, for what it's worth, I will not knowingly betray your trust in me.”
Greg nodded. “I believe you, Sybil. But I hope you understand there is far more at risk here than just me. That tracking bug will have to stay inside you awhile. Everyone other than the team has to have one. We can't take any chances at all.”
Sybil looked surprised. “Jared and Sharon have them?”
“The only people that don't have them are the four of us on the team. They serve other functions too, like monitoring your health. If something happens to you, Marcus will know immediately, and he will make sure we know if you need help. Otherwise, your personal information remains private. In fact, if there were something wrong with you, Beth wouldn't discuss it with me without talking to you about it first.”
Sybil nodded. “That sounds fair, it just surprised me that everyone has these devices in them.”
“Well, it's mostly for monitoring their health. In our case, there are other devices and systems that handle that,” Greg said as the outer door opened. Jolene, Bella and Mandi were all there waiting for him.
“You're late,” Bella said.
“I hope he didn't give you too hard of a time, Sybil,” Jolene said grinning at her.
“Not really, he only scared the hell out of me a couple of times,” Sybil replied.
“Damn, you're slippin' Bro!” Mandi said, grinning.
“I'll let you guys get to practice. Thanks again, Greg,” Sybil said.
“Ms. Konrad. If you would retire to your quarters, I have prepared a video for your viewing,” Abraxis said over the speakers.
Sybil grinned. “Thank you, Abraxis, can you not display your image out here?”
“He can,” Mandi explained. “He prefers not to. The researchers out here don't actually know he's an AI. If they knew, they would mob him. So, he tries to limit his exposure by staying either in the base, or in our quarters. It's actually kinda funny to listen to him comment on some of the researcher's ideas and hypothesis.”
“As much as I would love to hear all about that, if you guys don't get moving, Paul's going to have a case of the ass, and you know what that means,” Sybil said, grinning.
Both Jolene and Mandi groaned and started moving down the hall toward the dojo. Greg and Bella chuckled and raced after them, Greg waved over his shoulder as they rounded the corner.
Sybil walked to her own quarters and locked the door behind her. Leaning back against it, she let out a long sigh, and closed her eyes. There was a limit to how much a human could absorb and accept. Today had strained her abilities and she needed a moment. She knew that if the Agency ever learned the truth about this base, they would be all over it within hours. Coming to a decision, she sat down at her computer, and began composing an email to her bosses using the special software they had given her.
'Prometheus' Base
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
The next day, Greg was sitting at his desk reading the email Sybil had sent to the Agency. When there was a knock on his door, he said 'come' without looking up. Sybil entered and took a seat in front of his desk.
“I should be angry with you,” Greg began, setting the document down and looking at her.
“You're not?” Sybil asked genuinely surprised he wasn't.
Greg sighed. “No, not really. I would have liked more time to prepare, but at this point little can be done about it. I'm more worried about the possible repercussions and consequences.”
“I know, I'm sorry, but I stand by my decision to report in. It's my job, if I hadn't they would have come looking anyway,” Sybil replied. “I believe what I reported was truly for the best.”
“I have no doubt about that, Sybil. Like I said, it would have been better if I'd had more time. Do you think they'll believe your report? I know that they tend to see most of your reports as gossip and flights of fancy,” Greg said, making her blush.
“Yeah, that's true, but I know how to word it so they know when I'm not just panicking over something. No, this report they will take seriously,” Sybil explained.
Greg shook his head. “How in the hell did you come up with a video game system? Really? You think they'll buy that? I mean we have the better part of StealthCon's theoretical physics departments down here.”
“Well, not really just a video game system, but a space combat simulator; with possible commercial applications in the entertainment industry. The scientists are trying to not only help you make it realistic, but overcome some of the other difficulties for when we do finally attain space flight, or if we need to combat an extra-planetary threat," Sybil explained, almost quoting from her message. “Except for the simulator, the weapons and such were all theoretical junk like mass drivers, rail guns, and lasers. I honestly think they will suck it up hook line and sinker.”
Greg nodded. “Jared and Sharon agree with you. Just, next time you feel the need to report in, could you at least let us know so we can plan for it? If they want a demonstration of the systems at this point, I'll have nothing to show them. Besides, they could easily pull Jared and Sharon out of here now, not to mention any support we're getting through StealthCon."
She just shrugged. “Sorry Commander, like I said, I had to file something, or they would have come looking to find out why.”
“Commander, General Hollister for you on line two,” one of the Marines up in the security center said over the intercom.
“Thanks, I got it.” Greg replied. As Sybil got up to leave, Greg waved her back down. “This is probably about your report, so if I get chewed out, so do you."
Greg hit the button for the phone’s speaker. “Good Morning General, what can we do for you?”
“Which one of the spies down there is sending reports on you?” Carl asked.
“That would be Sybil Konrad, Sir. She's sitting here telling me about it right now,” Greg replied.
“Ah, well, you might want to give her a raise, because you just got one. Although I couldn't tell you who gave you the money,” Carl replied. “Jesus, what are you going to do with a hundred million dollars?”
Greg coughed. “How much?”
“You heard me. I don't joke about a number with more than three zeros behind it. You just got some serious support from someone. You want us to continue handling the purchasing for you?”
“Yeah, that way it'll keep everything legitimate. We simply have no way to handle it from here. But you know we might be able to use some of that money to make repairs and increase security upstair
s. I'm sure the Marines would be appreciative.”
“That might be a good idea. Get with Captain Washington, and I'll get our folks out there to get to work,” Carl said.
“Well, I guess that turned out better than I expected. I thought some people would be upset that we were working on this kind of research down here,” Greg replied.
“After the report on the Mederos incident, and then the DoD invasion, I think some people might have gotten a wake-up call. Good luck down there, Commander,” Carl replied.
“Thank you, Sir. Have a good day.” Greg said and the line went dead, Greg waited a couple of minutes and heard two more clicks before he hung up himself.
“The lines’ bugged,” Sybil said.
Greg nodded. “Yeah, we know. You'll notice that we didn't say anything that would be out of line with your report?”
“So, I'm not actually in trouble?” Sybil asked.
“Hardly. You just got us another hundred million in funding. I might just have to keep you around for that one!” Greg said chuckling. “How are you doing with your studies?"
“Pretty good I think. The suit function you showed me is actually pretty easy to defeat. A little bit of dust or smoke, and you're mostly visible again,” she said. “I'm actually looking forward to seeing how to defeat the motion sensors.”
“Those are tricky. It's more that you don't defeat them, but overload them. I'll let Abraxis have the fun of teaching that one to you. From now on, just try to warn us before you send in a report, okay? I'll get something set up in case someone shows up wanting a demonstration, though. Let's just hope it doesn't happen when we have a visiting team," Greg said.
“They'd blow a manifold!” Sybil agreed, laughing. “See ya later, Commander.”
Greg winked at her as she closed the door.
Deep Space
Solarian Sector
“Fen'Ness, we are approaching the next drop location,” Tyern'D reported.
“Good, let us drop this sensor, and move on to the last location. Not'Cern, are you certain five are all we will need?” Fen'Ness asked.
“Yes, three would have sufficed, but five will give me more accuracy in finding the Ranger teams. I will be able to plot the course and speed of every ship in the area that is emitting a power signature,” Not'Cern replied.
“Remember, my mates, we are hunting the computer, not just the accursed Rangers. We must have the computer before we destroy the teams or it will be more difficult to find,” Fen'Ness reminded his team.
“I still find it hard to believe we have been given such a great task. Prime has honored us greatly with this hunt,” Tyern'D said proudly. “It is a testimony to how well we will breed together!”
Not'Cern nodded agreement. “It is, still, I would have liked to see our home before we started this mission.”
Fen'Ness looked at the two, and sniffed the air. “Are you two starting your heat cycles again? You are supposed to be taking your suppressants!”
Not'Cern took out a small vial and tapped out a small pill, then handed the vial to Tyern'D. “We don't like taking them, Fen'Ness. They make us sick, and not feel right.”
Fen'Ness knew this, they had told him already. “I know, but there is nothing for it. If we don't finish this mission, and get permission to breed, we will be killed when we return home, and our clan shamed by our actions.”
“They would still kill us if I were carrying our Pod?” Tyern'D asked.
“Yes, they would. You both know this, or have you forgotten the holos from primary instruction?” Fen'Ness explained. “We have to do this right, or there will be nothing left of us.”
“For the Clan!” Tyern'D growled and swallowed the pill. Not'Cern did the same, only with far less enthusiasm.
“Now, Not'Cern, set course for the next drop. The sooner we are finished, the faster you can quit those pills.”
'Prometheus' Base
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
“Ranger Team Alert! Rangers, please report to TacCom immediately!” Abraxis voice carried through the base.
Paul Richards had been working with Greg and the girls when they heard the announcement. Greg nodded once to Paul and followed the girls out of the Dojo and down the hall at a dead run. Jared was already there and had the outer door standing open.
As the door began to close, Greg looked at the ceiling. “What's up Abraxis?”
“I have received multiple pulse signals from Drellian tracking pods. They are being seeded throughout this sector,” the old computer explained. “The Drellians are trying to locate my node.”
“Abraxis, what is the status of the anti-location system I suggested?” Greg asked as the five people stepped into the central control room for the installation.
In the earlier days of planning for the base, Greg had expressed concern over the enemy being able to locate the isolated computer node via triangulation. So he made a suggestion to the old computer. The suggestion was to seed the entire sector with repeaters capable of mimicking all the signatures of the node in order to confuse the enemy teams sent to find and destroy it. It would also serve to warn all the Ranger teams of the attempt while still denying the node's location to the enemy. Greg also suggested something that shocked the old AI to its core. Build another node under their base he could transfer to, if his current one was discovered.
“Only about twenty percent I'm afraid, Commander. The installations take time to build and put in place,” Abraxis replied. “The, uh, 'bomb shelter' you mentioned is almost complete however.”
“I understand, Abraxis. Light a fire under that bot and get it finished. You might want too light-up the decoys long enough to issue the alert to the other teams, then shut them down again. If you can move any of them around, it would help.”
“I am unused to this style of interfacing, Commander, I feel you should know that this makes me greatly uncomfortable,” Abraxis replied. “I find it... repulsive to seemingly abandon the other teams like this.”
“I agree, Abraxis. But then again, if you were not so close to us, you would be abandoning us as well. You must remain free and active, Abraxis. New teams can be formed and trained. You cannot be replaced.”
“Abraxis! Check this out. I've input a new subspace protocol for your communications nodes. If you can pass this out as a data burst, you might be able to keep in touch with the other teams too!” Mandi said, from where she was furiously typing on a terminal.
“The Drellians would still be able to detect the signal, Fixer,” Abraxis replied.
Mandi nodded, still typing. “Yeah, but could you get a fix on the origin of the signal?”
Abraxis was quiet for a few moments. “I see your point. The parts of the transmission they could detect would be too brief to lock on to especially if I combine this with Greg's suggestion of multiple transmission points. Stand-by, implementing protocol alterations.”
Greg turned to the rest of the team. “Okay, the Drellians are trying to locate Abraxis. The question is what do we do about it?”
“We could always go out and destroy the sensor pods. Maybe we'd get lucky and catch the Drellian team while we're at it,” Bella said.
“Do you feel comfortable enough to take on a fully trained Drellian team? One that probably has far more experience in space combat than we do?” Greg asked.
“I'd be nervous, yeah, but we have to do it sometime, we can't just sit here and hide for the rest of our lives. This is what we're supposed to be doing,” Bella countered.
Greg turned to his other team members. “Jolene? Mandi? Opinions?”
Jolene looked thoughtful. “This is what we've been training to do, so we should probably do it. I'm not crazy about going out there and getting in a fight, but it is our job.”
“Why do you need to go anywhere? Once the Drellians figure out that they can't locate Abraxis, they'll give up, and go away. That'll give us more time to train,” Mandi said looking c
oncerned.
Greg looked thoughtful for a couple of minutes. “Okay, Mandi please make sure the new communications protocols are loaded into our sleds so we can talk to you and Abraxis while we're out.”
“Fighter Greg, I feel I need to remind you that the sensor drones should also be considered a trap since they will detect your sleds as soon as you leave the atmosphere of the planet. You will engage a Drellian team, since they will move to destroy you as soon as they know where you are,” Abraxis said. "In node location missions such as this appears to be, there are multiple teams used. You will be facing more than one team, past reports indicate that you would be facing a minimum of three enemy teams."
“So are you saying we shouldn't do this?” Greg asked.
“Negative Fighter, I am simply pointing out the nature of the enemy in the mission you are contemplating. Also, Fixer Amanda is incorrect. The Drellian team will not just go away. They will simply begin creating as much trouble as they can in an attempt to lure a Ranger team out to stop them.
“All the data that these teams are generating is recorded by the compromised AI node that is controlling them, so when a team is destroyed, the next team will already know what the first team knew. While the original team is engaged in battle, the other teams use the sensor drones to monitor all the transmissions in an attempt to locate this node," Abraxis explained.
“Wait, did you just say that there are more than one team in our sector right now?” Jolene asked.
“Yes, I did. That is the most common Drellian tactic for locating a node. It has been very effective in the past,” Abraxis explained.
“Abraxis, as soon as the 'Bomb Shelter' is finished, I want you to do a complete systems back up. I'd feel much better if there was a copy of you in another location as well as the one here,” Greg ordered.
“As per your suggestions, I am implementing the construction of four other data vaults that I can operate out of. As soon as the one at your location has been finished, I will duplicate my entire code base, and data store in it. When the other locations are completed, I will do the same with those. I will set my code in such a way as to bring the next copy on line in the event of my imminent destruction. I have already set up a trigger with Fixer Amanda to delete my knowledge of these locations as soon as they are completed. I will not even know that I have copies out there, nor will I know that my last act will be to activate the next one.”