AMP Colossus

by Arseneault, Stephen

  I replied, “Do we have a good guess as to how long it will take for us to get all the fuel?”

  The Colonel replied, “My men say a single harvester could drain four of those ships a day. We have five harvesters. That’s twenty ships a day. We could drain that fleet in under ten days!”

  I turned to Jon Touchstone. “Dr. Touchstone? Is the Yacabucci generator ready? Can we capture the Duke’s fleet and hold them in position?”

  Jon replied, “Just say the word, Mr. Grange, and we will bring it online.”

  I looked around at all the nodding heads in the command center. “Dr. Touchstone, make it so. How long for the wave to build?”

  Jon replied, “About a half hour, Mr. Grange. We need an intense wave to grab all of those ships and hold them.”

  I turned to the Colonel. “Colonel, expect to have those harvesters out of the bay in about half an hour. Looks like we are going to find out real soon if any of this is going to work. As those ships are taken down, we need to move them out of the web so the harvesters can tap into them.”

  Jon spoke. “Generator is online, and the board is showing all green!”

  The Colonel once again slapped me on the back as he turned away. “I’m heading over to Beta Bay. We have all the boarding parties staging up there. Our transports and the harvesters have the negative ion engine enhancements. We won’t need to move those ships out of the web. We just need to make sure those harvesters have free access.”

  The Colonel then left the command room.

  I turned to Admiral Zimmerman and spoke. “What ships did the Colonel commandeer for his assault?”

  The Admiral replied, “We only had a handful of small transports left after we sent the Durians packing. The Colonel has taken possession of about 90 percent of the remaining ships on the Grid. There are a lot of nervous private ship owners out there today, Mr. Grange.”

  I stood looking at the Yacabucci generator stats on the command center view-screen. “If we can’t get that fuel, those ships aren’t going to be of much use to anyone, Admiral.”

  Jon Touchstone spoke. “We have a reflection back from the Granger. Looks like it might just work, Mr. Grange!”

  Once again Man’s existence hung in the balance. As I looked around the room, the expressions on the faces of those who surrounded me told me why we were going to be successful. I could clearly see why we would survive. Every face, the tone of every voice, had the look or the sound of confidence. It seemed we were forever on the brink of destruction, but we always managed to survive.

  An ensign then shouted across the room, “We have incoming ships! I count fifty-two ships that just dropped below light speed, Sir. Two of them are equal in size to the Duke’s ship, Sir!”

  I attempted to hail the Duke over the comm. Several seconds passed before I received a reply.

  The Duke spoke. “Good timing if this is your surrender, Mr. Grange. My brother, Duke Ferdese, has arrived with his advance fleet.”

  I replied, “So, you had to call in your brother? That smacks of weakness, Duke. I mean, won’t the King take note that you had to have assistance?”

  The Duke frowned. “While I am touched that you are so concerned about my appearance, Mr. Grange, my brother and his forces will not be here long. He would consider this a courtesy call, a showing of support for his brother. I, on the other hand, know that its true meaning lies much closer to what you propose, Mr. Grange. It is a sibling meddling in the affairs of his brother in an attempt to, as you say, show his weakness. We will talk later, Mr. Grange. I must tend to the politics of the family and the Empire.”

  The screen image of the Duke was replaced by one of the Yacabucci generator stats.

  As the wave continued to build, I spoke to Jon. “When the generated wave reaches the level you are content with, can we sustain it without deploying it?”

  The professor placed his hand under his chin with one finger over his upper lip. He gently stroked his mustache.

  Jon spoke. “The generator was built in haste, Mr. Grange. We cut a few corners where safety is a concern. I was not anticipating us needing multiple cycles of power. If we stop the generator now, we may not be able to restart it. In addition, we cannot sustain that wave between here and the Granger indefinitely. At these levels, the Granger’s reflector is undoubtedly heating up as we speak.”

  I replied, “Heating up? That doesn’t sound like a good thing!”

  Jon shook his head. “It is not. If a reflector were to fail at either end, the result would be catastrophic. The Granger would be instantly incinerated given the raw amount of power that now lies between it and the generator here.”

  I again replied, “And what of the generator on this end?”

  Again Jon Touchstone, professor emeritus of the Grid science lab, spoke. “The surge here would be catastrophic as well. I could see the real possibility of the resultant energy wave taking out as much as 20 percent of this station, Mr. Grange.”

  I replied, “And what about the Duke’s ships? If we make a go of the field, can it hold the new ships as well?”

  Jon shook his head. “No. Maybe for an hour or two if we were extremely lucky. The mass of the ships that are now out there exceeds our margin of error by 15 percent.”

  I turned towards the door and began to walk.

  Ashley spoke. “Hey, where are you going?”

  I replied over my shoulder, “I’m going to join the Colonel and the Ghouls! If this all goes sour, I at least want to go out fighting!”

  Ashley yelled back, “And what about me?”

  I stopped and turned. “Well, come on, then. I suppose if I’m going to die, I might as well have you right there with me!”

  Ashley replied with a happy response as she ran towards me, “Hey!”

  We were soon with the Colonel on his makeshift transport. I recognized the ship immediately; it was the Deveroe!

  I spoke. “At least you have a ship with a hot drive system, Colonel. Michael Felix used to push this tin can to the limits when he was kicking my butt around in the Messenger Service. I don’t remember him ever having an issue with it. Touchstone says he doesn’t think we can hold those new ships. There are just too many.”

  The Colonel replied, “I was afraid of that. What do you have in mind, Grange?”

  I spoke. “I say, just as soon as that field is released, we head out towards the far ships. We board the ones that may only be held in the web for a short period of time. If we can board them while they are being held, I think we can take them out of any fight while Touchstone adjusts that web to where it is sustainable. How many of those ships do you think we can handle, Colonel?”

  The Colonel replied, “We can hit seventeen of the large ones or thirty of the medium-sized ones. Let me look at what we have… that end of the fleet is the new arrivals. There are eighteen large and thirty-four medium ships. Let me divide those by proximity… we can take on these fourteen large ships and these eight medium-sized ones. Why don’t you let the Admirals and Touchstone know what we are planning, Grange. They may have more ideas for us.”

  I replied, “Will do, Colonel. One more thing: the jammer for the Duke’s data broadcast—did the engineers tell you what they came up with?”

  The Colonel smiled. “They managed to get one on each of our assault ships. If we get out there among that fleet, the Duke will be offline!”

  I slapped the Colonel on the shoulder hard enough to jolt his ever-so-thick neck.

  The Colonel spoke. “Finally! Now that was a man’s slap, Grange!”

  The Colonel looked at Ashley. “One day you are going to be proud of this one, Mrs. Grange. The Colonel is going to train him yet!”

  I let the Admiral and the others in on our new plan. Our options were few, but I was happy to still have options. It wasn’t long before Jon Touchstone relayed status of the Yacabucci generator to all involved.

  Jon spoke. “We have reached the critical wave mass, gentlemen. Every minute we wait now, we risk the catastrop
hic reflector failure I spoke about earlier. I am awaiting orders for a release.”

  I replied, “Let’s hold out a little longer, Jon. Have the Admiral bring the Duke up on the screen for me again, if possible. I want to see if we have a chance to goad him into telling his brother to leave.”

  Less than a minute passed before the Duke came onscreen in the Deveroe. “What is it now, Mr. Grange? I am in the middle of a delicate conversation with my brother.”

  I replied, “Apparently you haven’t been able to convince him that he is not needed. It looks to me like you have lost what respect he might have had for you, Duke. I remember getting mad as a kid when my brother wanted to fight my fights for me too. It kind of takes away from one’s feeling of self-respect, does it not?”

  The Duke sighed. “Mr. Grange, my errant, misguided brother will be leaving tomorrow. He will not be around for the activities that are to come. The King would be displeased if I was short in my dealings with him. It would not be the gracious behavior one would expect out of a royal. And…”

  The Duke was silent for a moment and then moved closer to the view-screen in front of him. “Well, well, Mr. Grange. It seems that you are eager for my brother to leave, and I now see why!”

  I replied, “What are you talking about, Duke? Why would I care?”

  The Duke smiled. “You would care, Mr. Grange, because you were planning an assault! I can see that at this moment you are sitting in the cockpit of a ship, although it does not impress me, I will have to say. And the soldiers standing behind you are a dead giveaway!”

  I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. “They are not soldiers, Duke; they are Marines! And you are right. We are coming your way!”

  I closed the comm and switched channels to Jon Touchstone. “Cut the web loose, Jon! We are going in!”

  Chapter 23

  The Deveroe lifted off and was soon out of Beta Bay and streaking towards the Duke’s fleet. The Yacabucci web had been deployed, and all ships were now caught in its field.

  The Colonel spoke. “When you said you were coming, Grange, I moved a few people around. Look over your shoulder and you will see them sitting there in the back!”

  I turned to look and had a slight smile on my face as first Frost and then Rodriguez, York, and Keith raised their hands. I nodded back in approval.

  I turned back to the Colonel. “I pity the crew of the ship we are boarding, Colonel. Those three girls back there are a near-unstoppable force on their own. Corporal Keith, well, I don’t know about combat, but he is a big part of why we are here today. I have to say I am pleased, Colonel. Not that you did this for this reason, but I would say you greatly increased your chances of survival by bringing them on board.”

  The Colonel looked back and grinned before speaking to Ashley. “It’s more like I increased their chances of survival by letting them come along with your hubby. He’s the luckiest man I know, and for that reason I like to keep him close!”

  Ashley placed her hand on my arm. “I’m the lucky one, Colonel!”

  I shook my head. “You two better quit that or I’m going to be sick, along with the rest of our passengers. Let’s move our focus back to the target at hand. Which one are we going to hit?”

  The Colonel replied, “This one here. It looks slightly bigger, and newer than the others. I am guessing that it belongs to the Duke’s brother.”

  My expression turned to a smile. “That would be sweet, Colonel: taking out the Duke’s brother before taking him out for the second time. I may just explode from happiness before this day is over!”

  The Colonel signaled the command center. “What’s the status on the web?”

  A voice came back over the comm. “All ships are being held tight, Colonel. The field strength there is already beginning to dissipate. The professor thinks you have about an hour tops before the first of those ships breaks free. Oh, and a number of them are immobile, Sir, but they still have internal power, just at a reduced level. They can’t move, but some of the smaller weapons may still be enabled.”

  The Colonel closed the comm and stood as he walked back amongst the Ghouls that accompanied him on the Deveroe. “OK, listen up! Assume the ship we are hitting is hot. I repeat, hot! You plasma crews, you will be first out that cargo door. We need access onto that ship ASAP!”

  The Colonel then looked back and pointed. “Frost! You and Keith will be taking the Granges with you. Keep it tight, Frost. I want these two back alive! York, Rodriguez, you will be coming with me!”

  We pulled alongside Duke Ferdese’s capital ship. The sleek lines and brightly colored ports spoke of a royal with too much money and time on his hands. The Colonel’s pilot had selected a spot on the ship’s plating that was assumed to be minimally protected. It ran beside the garbage shaft where anything that was not worthy of saving or recycling was expelled. I braced for a horrid smell by setting the filtering on my battle suit to its maximum.

  When the cargo door of the Deveroe opened, a major barked out commands. “Plasma team, you are live! Let’s get some doors opened! We have a duke to fry!”

  As the plasma team did their job, the Colonel managed to get one more good slap in on my shoulder. “Grange! Keep an eye on the lady! Follow Frost, as she has the game plan!”

  The Colonel then turned towards the first doorway access with an evil grin on his face. “I love this job!”

  As the second plasma team made access, Frost turned and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go! If you’re lagging, your pants are dragging! You can clean yourself up later!”

  With that, we were through the doorway and onto Duke Ferdese’s ship.

  Frost yelled back as we moved forward, “Keep an eye on that field strength. We are sitting at 83 percent. If that drops below 45, they will have pulsers available. At 25 percent, if they have blasters, they can use those too. At the end of this hallway, we go left, and then split off from the Colonel’s team at the first stairwell on the right. Stay focused and we will get to where we are going!”

  The Colonel looked back and nodded as we entered the stairwell going up. After climbing three decks, we again turned to the left and continued down a long hall. The first two sentinels appeared from a right-side room entrance. Frost fired.

  Ak-ak-ak-ak!

  The sentinels rocked back as the rounds penetrated their chest armor. The web had taken their shielding offline.

  Frost spoke over her comm. “This is Frost; we just hit the first two sentinels! They went down easy with an AK. Their armor may be inactive in the web. It may also be best against pulser rounds, but it ain’t much against kinetic!”

  As we passed the two disabled sentinels, I stopped cold. “Frost! Check this out. That is blood if I’ve ever seen it! These are not androids!”

  Four more entered the hallway in front of us and charged our position.

  Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!

  Three of the four sentinels fell to the floor. I stepped up and took my first shot with an explosive round.

  Ak! Bam!

  The remaining sentinel was blown in half as the explosive round entered his abdomen.

  Frost turned to look at me. “What was that, Mr. Grange, and where do I get one?”

  I replied, “Sorry, Frost. If you paid a visit to the gun range sometime, you might have been able to pick one up. Maracus had it on display the other day when I went by. I walked out with it and all the rounds he had available. I only have a couple hundred rounds in my pack, so I will have to use them sparingly!”

  We continued to push forward towards our intended target, the three decks that held the royal palace rooms. Sentinels charged at us from every direction as we moved. Each fell quickly in a pool of his own blood. I began to get the feeling that the real Colossuns were the sentinels, and they were only the slave warriors of the android royals.

  Ashley spoke. “I have no issue with killing the enemy, Don. I have done it many, many times in the past. But these sentinels don’t seem to be motivated. If the Duke rules over them and they
are his personal guard, I would expect a more vigorous fight out of them. It’s like they are rolling over for us!”

  I replied, “Well, the field strength has already dropped to 65 percent. Let’s just get to our target and then move on to the next one.”

  I continued, “Frost! What is our target?”

  Frost replied, “Ferdese! We just have to flush him out of whichever room he is in. You indicated that the Duke never left his royal decks; the Colonel thought that might be the same for this one. So, we are going to sniff him out and take him with us!”

  I spoke. “Whoa! Wait, what?”

  Frost again replied, “Staff wants him back on the Grid. The Colonel and Admirals want to see if any intel can be had from him, and Touchstone wants at his AI. So, we snag ‘em, bag ‘em, and drag ‘em. You have any issue with that?”

  I replied, “None at all. Let’s get this done!”

  As we came down a long hallway, I glanced at the jewel-encrusted walls. It seemed gemstones were the same from sector to sector. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and gold were prevalent. I pushed open a door to my right and was immediately stormed by four sentinels. I fell hard backward, and my AK fired up into the ceiling.

  Ak! Bam!

  With a swiftness that I had not seen and would not have expected, Ashley pulled a knife from her battle suit and jabbed it into the back of one of the attackers. She then stomped down hard with her new prosthetic leg as she pulled the knife back out. As a second sentinel lunged for her, she moved like a graceful cat, slicing just under where his helmet met his battle suit. Orange sentinel blood began to gush from his throat as he fell past her to the floor.

  As I wrestled with the two sentinels on top of me, Ashley returned, again thrusting her knife up under the arm and into a slit under the sentinel’s body armor. A bloodcurdling scream was released as he rolled off of me, exposing the last sentinel to Ashley’s blade. Before I could react further, she dove on the remaining sentinel and shoved her knife up into another exposed slit in the sentinel’s armor. The sentinel went silent.