AMP Colossus

by Arseneault, Stephen

  I had a list of materials the Grid was badly in need of for ship production. The Grell wasted no time changing over the mines to meet our needs. I stood topside in the port bay with a number of their brightest minds. Huff Gervel was among them and was the leader of the resistance.

  Huff spoke. “Mr. Grange, those Colossun ships that circle up above—you are in need of weapons to fight them?”

  I replied, “We have blasters, but they won’t do any good against those ships. We have the technology, the know-how, to build ships with weapons that we believe could easily defeat them, but we need the materials you have here to be taken back to our factories. We can’t do much without the manufacturing.”

  Huff replied, “We are capable of building mechanical things, Mr. Grange. Tell us what to build, and we will make it happen.”

  I tapped Huff on the shoulder with my hand. “I wish it was that easy, Huff. I don’t think we can manufacture the power systems and drives that are needed. They require special tools and processes that we don’t have access to. No offense, I’m sure you could build one of those trains like nobody else; only problem is, we need it to fly.”

  Huff thought for a moment. “You have a downed ship on the surface. Damaged beyond repair, I am not certain, but it may have many salvageable parts that we can make use of.”

  I replied, “Are you suggesting we try to haul what’s left inside? And we use that to try to build a new ship?”

  Huff nodded in response. “It would seem that we have time, Mr. Grange. That time, however, is limited. The Colossuns will send a fleet here as a response to your attack. I cannot say when they will arrive, but I would be expecting them.”

  I looked up at the massive port doors. “Well, if we do go after those parts, we will still have the problem of those ships circling up there. How would we get the salvage back in here? They are going to just sit up there and watch as we try to move that stuff around.”

  Huff replied with a smile, “You leave that to us, Mr. Grange. We will have the remains of your ship sitting in this bay in short order. We can be very industrious when needed, Mr. Grange. And I cannot think of a stronger need than what we have at present.”

  Huff Gervel strode off with a mission on his mind. The remains of our downed transport were to be brought into Embry port. It stood to reason that if even one of the engines on the transport could be salvaged, we might have a chance to build another ship. If the salvage operation could be done, I was certain we could put whatever we found to good use.

  Over the following week, the Grell worked tirelessly to construct a tunnel going out the three kilometers to the site of the wreckage. Under the cover of night, a makeshift dome was assembled over the largest part of the transport that remained, and sand was then piled on top of it. The outlying pieces were quickly gathered and taken underground. When the blue sun again rose in the Ponik morning sky, there was no sign of the downed ship remaining on the surface.

  I spoke with Huff. “I’m surprised those two engines survived. The particle beams from those ships cut through the bridge and the center of the ship. We even have one ion generator that will work. It’s not enough to power one of those engines, but it’s a start.”

  Huff replied, “I find your ion technology fascinating, Mr. Grange. My people could make great use of this. Their efficiencies are two orders of magnitude above our best generators. I see now how you could build ships and weapons to defeat the Colossuns.”

  I chuckled as I replied, “We is relative, Huff. Back on the Grid, we have the means. Here, that is a stretch of the truth. Even if we can piece together a ship to fly, we still do not have weapons to arm it with.”

  Huff pointed across the port bay. “Could you make use of the port pulsers? Perhaps apply more power using your ion generators?”

  I looked over at a pulser as it sat idle, and switched on my comm. “Major Martin. Could you round up a handful of your best techs and bring them over to where I am?”

  Martin replied, “Will do, Sir.”

  Several minutes later, the major approached with four Marine technicians.

  I spoke. “Gentlemen. I would like you to evaluate those pulse cannons that line this bay. Figure out how they work. If we can get a good understanding of their function, I would like to see if we can ramp up the power delivery they can put out. We need to start looking at any and all options that we might be able to leverage as weapons against those Colossun ships.”

  The techs moved off to look over the bay guns. I turned and sat down in a chair at a table I had set up as a makeshift command center. There were better accommodations, but I wanted to be out where the action was going on.

  Parts from our downed transport were laid out across the bay floor. Huff Gervel picked through the wreckage with a handful of Grell engineers, attempting to identify parts that might be of use. As I settled back in my chair, Ashley offered me a beverage.

  Ashley spoke. “Try this. It’s a Grell mix; has a little bite to it, but it’s not bad.”

  I took a sip. “Wow, ‘a little bite’ is right. You know, I find it interesting that just about every species we have come across has their own form of alcohol. And some of it’s not half bad. I could use a red Brivad ale about now, but I don’t see us making it back to Malcon anytime soon. What do they call this stuff?”

  Ashley replied, “It’s funny, actually. A rough translation of the name is ‘who-dat.’ It has a little more than just alcohol in it, and if you drink too much, you will sometimes have mild hallucinations.”

  I nodded my head in approval. “Who-dat, I like it. Does it come with any other side effects?”

  As I took another sip, Ashley replied with a smile, “They say it makes your hair fall out.”

  I nearly choked as I looked for a place to spit out my latest mouthful.

  Ashley laughed. “I’m only kidding! It has a day-after effect of itchy skin, but it is supposedly mild.”

  I replied after swallowing, “Well, that doesn’t sound that good either. But there is something I kind of like about it; kind of grows on you after that initial shock.”

  Ashley replied, “Just watch yourself with it. It doesn’t take all that much to knock you off your game.”

  I sat the half-empty cup down on the table. “I don’t think I will be the one with the issue. Those Marines out there like to get tanked for just about any reason. We will have to mention it to the major.”

  Ashley replied, “Major Martin is fully aware of it, Don. He was the one that handed me the bottle. He has already laid down the law with his Marines. Anyone getting out of hand with it gets it cut off for everyone else. Cutting off the booze is not something you want to be responsible for with that group. Most of them are reasonable people, but there are always some that are hard core.”

  The major came over to the table and sat down. “I see you’ve met Mr. Who-dat. All I can say is, be careful with that one.”

  I replied, “I can usually control myself, Major. I will admit to the occasional slipup, but most of the time it’s not a problem. How goes our scavenging of the wreckage?”

  The major spoke. “Well, we have the one engine and the small generator. It’s a shame about the bridge taking a direct hit. We could have made use of the comm gear from there, but there isn’t much left of it now. We have an intact enviro-recycler and loads of ion conduit. I believe that if we can build a larger generator, we might be able to assemble a ship that we could fly out of here. Our bigger problem is still those two ships up there.”

  Ashley spoke. “I was talking to Lieutenant Drake earlier. He did a search of the landscape data we acquired coming in. He identified three areas where we might be able to set up our comm antenna. One appeared to be either a sinkhole or a mine cave-in, and the other two were just depressions. He is analyzing the ship movements to see if any of them were workable.”

  I replied, “So, we might be able to fly out or possibly call out, but we can’t do either until we get rid of those ships. Major, can we put more m
en on those pulse cannons? And, is it possible to convert that engine into an ion cannon? I know the engines are slow burn while the cannons are burst, but maybe we can convert one to the other?”

  The major stood. “I trained as a ship’s gunner before joining the Officer Corps. We had a good handle on the inner workings of ion cannon technology. I’ll see if there is anything we can do with it.”

  The major strode off with a new mission. If a conversion could be made, he wanted to be a part of it. I took another swig of my beverage and turned back to Ashley.

  I spoke and smiled. “Who-dat!”

  Ashley shook her head. “What have I created!”

  I reached over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “How is the foot feeling?”

  Ashley winced and replied, “Tim Furman thinks it has to come off. The damage is severe, and there isn’t enough blood flow to keep most of the tissue alive. I would just as soon have him whack it off now as wait until we are into something while I’m immobile.”

  I replied, “That’s your call. If it was me, I would want it done already too. Give me a peg to walk around on once it heals. That makeshift wheelchair just wouldn’t cut it.”

  Ashley sighed. “I’ll have him prep for this afternoon. He was a little unsure of doing it before, but the Grell have facilities that will make it a sterile operation. Their equipment is not very advanced, but we have what we need in our supplies.”

  Later that afternoon, Ashley went under the knife of the corpsman. Her right leg was taken from just below the knee. Back on the Grid, the surgery would have been followed immediately with the attachment of a prosthetic. Her new calf, ankle, and foot would have had to be trained to interpret the signals sent down through her nervous system, but she would have been only weeks away from a normal walk. On Ponik, the surgery left her with a stump.

  As Ashley rested, I stood in the hangar with the major. Lieutenant Drake approached us. He had news.

  Drake spoke. “Sorry to interrupt, Sir, but I think we have found a place where we can set up the comm gear. It’s a small depression forty kilometers’ distance from here. One side has a steep bank. At that distance, the angle from those ships up above should keep the gear hidden from their view. I’ve analyzed their movements, and they have been in the same pattern for days.”

  The major replied, “So, how do we get the gear out there and set up without being seen?”

  Drake smiled. “We are in luck in that regard, Sir. The Grell have volunteered to dig us a tunnel.”

  I spoke. “How long will it take to dig forty kilometers? That’s a long distance for a tunnel.”

  Drake replied, “According to the Grell I have spoken with, a tunnel that length, with a large enough diameter to get our gear hauled through, would take them three days. If they were doing it for the Colossuns… six months.”

  The lieutenant was given his orders and the comm operation was begun. I walked with the major over to a pulse cannon that his men had torn apart.

  The major spoke. “Sergeant, how goes the investigation?”

  Sergeant Hicks replied, “Well, Sir, we have it broken down into four categories. Over here we have all the mechanics, drives, motors, base mount, and such. Over here we have the power supply. This box here, about which we don’t have a clue yet as to how it works, generates the gravity pulse that gets fed to the barrel. This gear here is the control circuitry; governs the timings of when everything happens and the aim of the cannon. And lastly, we have the gun barrel itself. A generated gravity pulse enters here, and these rails guide it out to its destination.”

  The sergeant continued, “We believe we can tie directly into this pulse box with our generator. We will have to experiment with how much power it can handle. The mechanics and the controller gear won’t need to change. And again, we will have to test the barrel to see what kind of power it can take. If we are successful in our testing this afternoon, we may have a working cannon again tomorrow. Couldn’t say how effective it will be, though. Too many variables still.”

  I thanked the sergeant and walked over to a group who was looking at parts from our transport. Lieutenant Donnelly was leading up an effort to possibly build a new ship.

  I spoke. “Lieutenant, how’s our progress coming along?”

  Donnelly replied, “Well, Sir, we have an engine, we have the circuitry to control it, we have a charge well to store the energy for it, we have an environmental system, so we can travel in it for more than a few hours, and I believe we have most if not all of the sensors needed for a nav system. We lack a sizable generator, a system computer, a Human interface to that system, and of course the superstructure for it all to ride in. I’m certain we can build the superstructure, but the other items are in need of a solution.”

  I replied, “Thanks, Donnelly. Keep us posted.”

  The remainder of the day was spent with Huff Gervel talking about the Grell. They were busy at work altering their mining setup to best supply our needs, should we be able to transport ore sometime in the future. They had also organized into a militia with every intention of fighting the Colossuns should they return.

  It was almost as if I had awoken a sleeping giant. Their weapons were primitive, but they were prepared to use what they had. More than one of the family blades, like what I had seen with Feldew, were being proudly carried about. I felt for the Grell as I wondered if I was just leading them to their destruction. Only time would tell.

  I spent my last waking hours with Ashley in the recovery room. The corpsman had been having a terrible time with keeping her in bed.

  I spoke. “Why do you feel the need to get in that wheelchair? Stay in this bed and rest; let that wound heal.”

  Ashley replied, “I tried, but I know there are things that need doing, and I want to help.”

  I shook my head. “You can be helpful by not tying up all of the corpsman’s time with having to keep an eye on you.”

  Ashley looked down slightly and spoke. “Have you ever been injured when it felt like there was more work that needed to be done than could be done? We have so much to do, and I am not doing anything.”

  I sat on the edge of the bed and caressed her hair. “I know exactly what you are feeling. I have a nice scar on my back and another one on my forearm to prove it. Both happened right in the middle of the most critical of times. And… come to think of it, I was a pain to those who were caring for me at the time as well. Just do us both a favor and let that heal, at least for a couple days.”

  Ashley reluctantly nodded in agreement. I gave the corpsman a hand sign showing her capitulation, and he hurried off to tend to other patients.

  I leaned back on her bed pillows. “Not to make light of your amputation, but today was a good day for us. We have a possible way to set up a comm link. We will possibly have an enhanced pulse cannon to fire tomorrow, and we may not be far away from constructing a ship capable of flying off of this planet. It kind of has me worried.”

  Ashley replied, “It sounds like things are coming together. Why does that have you worried?”

  I spoke as I looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. When I get a string of positive news like this, it is usually followed up by a big negative. Those Colossun ships are still circling out there. I just hope we don’t see troop transports landing all around us before we can finish any of these things.”

  Ashley replied, “Don, you have been doing everything possible to change our situation. Sometimes you just have to let those unknowns go. Plan for them, but otherwise put them out of your mind. They can otherwise be all-consuming of your thoughts.”

  I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “So says the woman who won’t stay in bed.”

  Chapter 11

  By midafternoon of the following Ponik day, the Grell had carved a tunnel almost twelve kilometers long. Teams worked through the night. I had high hopes that our comm link back to the Grid would soon be operational.

  The Marines working on the pulser cannon had it reassembled and ready f
or a test firing. Their current dilemma was where to aim it. Targeting something inside the port bay with a weapon of unknown power was not a good option. I sat at the command table talking with Major Martin.

  The major spoke. “Why don’t we just build a platform that we can raise up? Crack open those bay doors, move it up, and fire out at the surface.”

  I replied, “I’m not comfortable with opening those bay doors. We have all our equipment and parts from that transport laid out here, and one blast from one of those ships would wreck this place. Let’s move it to the maintenance hangar. Those doors are meant for a small shuttlecraft type ship. It also has air locks to separate it from here.”

  Before the major gave the order to start moving the pulse cannon, a sergeant who had been watching the monitors and sensors that surrounded the port came to the table.

  Sergeant Birks spoke. “Sir, sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem. The sensors are showing a force of Colossuns approaching from the south. Most are on foot, but there are several vehicles.”

  I followed the major and sergeant back to the port consoles. The southern-facing sensors showed a column of Colossuns coming our way. At fourteen kilometers’ distance, they would arrive at the port within the hour. The major moved immediately to secure all possible entry points. Several Grell went scrambling off to inform their leaders of the new development.

  I caught up to the crew that was moving the pulse cannon to the maintenance bay. The bay had a lift that would allow us to move the cannon topside once the doors to the outside were open. Several minutes later, we were on the lift and powering up the generator.

  I spoke. “Well, Hicks. This is where we separate the winners and losers. What do you say we just take aim at one of those ships up there and see what happens. Do you think you can target one of those well enough to get a hit?”

  Hicks replied, “The gun has a targeting module built into the console. I couldn’t say whether or not it is accurate.”