‘Maia?’ Maddox’s voice cut through her thoughts and she glanced over to him, still sat at the control panel but turned in his seat slightly to see why she was not responding. At the sight of the look on her face, he left his seat and hurried over to her to ascertain what she had discovered, slowing his approach as he came around her and rested his hand upon her shoulder gently as he looked down upon the rather surprised look on the young Martian’s face as he lay before them in a pool of his own blood.
‘It’s Tam,’ she whispered softly. ‘You were right.’
‘I’m so sorry Maia, truly I am.’ He replied sincerely, but then as he regarded the uniform could not help but remark, ‘Special Ops uniform too. Higher ranking than the Captain of this ship even, so probably running the entire operation or one of many operations to try and procure operatives of various groups from whom they could elicit information about strongholds and stuff like that. Explains where he got the high tech gizmo from to crack the security on the storage vault anyway.’
His voice tailed off slightly as Maia shrugged his hand off her shoulder and moved away from him back towards the Captain’s chair, retaining her silence as she pivoted about and sat down once more.
‘Captain?’ Ezri called over the comm suddenly and broke the awkward silence at their end, making Maddox jump slightly. ‘Be on your guard. Our sensors have picked up readings in your vicinity which are attributable to those of a Sentinel power core, moving rapidly.’
Maddox’s did not acknowledge her warning as his attention was grabbed by the imposing appearance of a Martian Sentinel unit, appearing in the doorway of the bridge and then striding forwards towards the two occupants. His right hand flashed down to the holster at his hip, but came up empty, sudden panic grabbing him as his eyes darted to the control panel he had been sitting in front of and the laser pistol which rested atop of it.
Not enough time, the machine was almost upon the captain’s chair which Maia occupied.
‘Maia! Throw me your pistol now!’ Maddox shouted with such urgency and commanding authority in his tone that she only paused momentarily before launching her weapon across the divide between them, after which she followed his glare and turned about in the chair, pivoting it on its base to witness the rapid approach of the Sentinel.
As the pistol completed its arc of travel and arrived in his outstretched hand, Maddox brought it quickly to bear upon the Sentinel, which had halted before Maia and raised its right arm, the forearm mounted laser cannon directed point blank at her heaving chest.
‘Fire your weapon and the female will die,’ the synthesised voice instructed as the Sentinel’s head turned to face the Captain.
Finger pressed upon the trigger, Maddox caught himself and held it there whilst not actually firing, but not relenting in his stance either. He knew Sentinels did not bluff.
‘Captain?’ Ezri’s voice came over the comm system. ‘The sensors show it is in your location, please report.’
‘Okay Ezri, I think we’ve found what happened to the crew, it’s stood a few feet away from me pointing it’s weapon at Maia, but if I am right the fact that it has not fired means we’re not on its hit list, is that right?’
The end of his statement was not meant for Ezri, but directed to the Sentinel threatening his newest crew-member.
‘You are not registered members of this crew, nor are you of Martian origin. Conducting threat assessment and requesting updated parameters.’
Maddox quickly performed a threat assessment of his own, determining they were not within the unit’s designated target instructions, and therefore it was being as pragmatic as normal for one of these machines, requesting instruction before proceeding. If it deemed them a threat, it would dispose of them immediately. If they posed little or no threat, they may just have a chance.
Slowly he lowered his pistol to point downward towards the floor, not completely without quick retrieval should his surmising prove wrong but enough to lower his threat value substantially.
‘Okay chuckles, see? I’m lowering my weapon. How about you do the same and we can work all this out? We thought the ship was in distress, no harm done.’
‘Your compliance in noted, but your request for compromise is irrelevant. You will follow instructions or the female will be terminated. Drop your weapon to the floor and then kick it over to this unit. Comply.’
‘Captain?’ Maia mumbled nervously as she remained absolutely still, but was quite obviously terrified.
‘It’s okay Maia, stay still now. Let’s not give our new friend here any cause for alarm. Here, I’m dropping the weapon see?’ Maddox said as he let the pistol tumble from his grip to the floor, then proceeded to kick it with the side of his foot over towards the Sentinel. If it had just been him on the bridge, he may have taken a chance and tried to fight his way out, but with his young companion’s life most definitely in the balance he could not risk even a hint of rebellion.
As the pistol came to a stop aside the Sentinel’s left foot, it moved slightly to rest the metallic foot atop the barrel of the weapon and then pressed down, twisting it and rendering the firearm completely useless.
‘What now?’ Maddox enquired tentatively as his gaze raised from the twisted weapon to the impassive features of the Sentinel. It had not relented it’s aim towards Maia’s chest and Maddox was desperately trying to second guess its intent, so they did not end up like the crew who lay dead all about them. It was a positive sign the thing had not killed them already, but for what purpose he had yet to figure out.
Maddox turned his eyes to the large screen to his left, which had fired into life causing a certain degree of concern on his part, as he was sure there was nothing he nor any of his current associates on the bridge had done to cause it to activate.
After a few moments, it seemed as if the pixels swept in from each corner, swirling about to finally come together and build up a 3d representation of a human face, reminiscent of those theatrical masks bearing happy and sad expressions as it was devoid of hair. The face, which appeared took a moment to look around the confines of the edges of the screen and then straight outwards towards whoever was viewing, casting a wide smile before beginning to speak.
‘Oh downtrodden residents of the Solar System, we bid you greetings. We are the Children of the Earth and bid you good tidings on this day, this glorious day in which we take action directly against those who would see us all cower and shake at their very existence – the Aries Corporation of Mars.’
There was a dramatic pause as cheering and rounds of applause filled the speakers, fading as the face beamed that smile once more and began to speak.
‘Thank you my friends. Now, as you are all aware that the Martians like to surround themselves with technology and military might to impress upon the rest of us their alleged superiority which is upheld and maintained by force. Anyone who goes against them finds their family and friends subject to their tyrannical reprisals, but not us my friends. We stand apart and are far from their reach. We are the only true force who can stand up for freedom, to stand against their oppressive boot and drive them away from our precious Earth who they are systematically stripping and lying about their efforts to redevelop.’
Again, there was another pause and canned hisses and boos resounded.
‘Ezri?’ Maddox quietly called over the comm. whilst the boos filled the speakers. ‘Are you receiving this transmission over there? There’s a big head on the screen here being rather theatrical.’
‘Yes Captain, it seems to originate from the patrol cruiser and is being transmitted on a wide band frequency across whatever channels are available to transmit over. SOLnet is full of it. I am sure the core worlds are receiving this loud and clear.’ She replied as the voice began speaking once more.
‘My friends. We have warned the Martians to leave the Earth. To pull back to their own colony and allow us to rise once more to establish the Earth as a thriving part of the Solar community, but to this date they remain and starve crea
tivity, throttle the recovery and development of our brethren across the globe and stem the possibility of the Earth rising in power. They do not take us seriously, but this is now going to change, we are about to change it.’
Maddox did not like the way the speech was leading and quickly glanced towards the Sentinel, which remained on guard over Maia, before he communicated with Ezri once more.
‘This transmission has to be originating from somewhere on this ship, but aside from our mechanical friend here the crew are all dead as far as I can tell….’
His voice tailed off as the screen altered to show various images, as the digitised head reduced in size and moved over to the bottom left of the screen whilst still narrating the show and beaming the big wide smile from time to time. There were six large square images in total, to the right of the head and in two rows of three from top to bottom. Each one was taking the main focus and the head was describing the event, each a strike at Martian interests which began as minor disruptions through to the fifth square which depicted a still from camera footage of the explosion within the Lunarian dome housing the Solar Exchange.
Maddox was most interested in the sixth square however, which depicted a rotating schematic of one rather familiar style of Martian naval cruiser.
‘Ezri, look at the bottom right graphic,’ he urged. ‘Is that similar to the ship I am sitting on right now?’
‘Yes Captain, it matches the configuration exactly. I believe that I am beginning to obtain some resolution to the origin of this transmission, as you suggest the ship is beaming the signal across SOLnet but I suspect there is an external source which is simply using the patrol ship as a large relay transmitter. My readings are showing an incoming weak signal, slightly higher than background radiation to the point of almost being indiscernible but it is there. I am in the process of extrapolating co-ordinates.’
Maddox had a definite growing sense of unease, watching as the third event was concluded and the fourth began. He quickly turned to the Sentinel.
‘These all depict acts by your group against the Martians, am I right?’ he asked the machine, but on receiving no sign of response decided to press on in the hope of eliciting some form of reply. ‘They increase in severity, with that fifth one being the explosion on Luna. That sixth one is this ship, so what happens there?’
Again, the Sentinel retained it’s silence.
‘Captain?’ Maia said as slowly and calmly as she could manage under the shadow of the Sentinel’s weapon which was still quite definitely aimed at her chest. She did not want to raise her profile at all to tempt the machine to take action. ‘I think the Sentinel had instructions to wipe out the Martian crew, but we are neither, so outside its orders. At the moment it’s just holding us until it’s controller gives it new instructions. It’s just doing what it’s told, nothing more. I doubt whether you will get any answers from it, no matter how hard you try.’
Maddox’s gaze flitted to her sat within the Captain’s chair and under imminent threat. Whilst he had to applaud her attempt at calm under the circumstances, he knew she was quite obviously terrified.
‘Okay Maia, just sit tight. Ezri? Do you have anything to add?’
‘Not as yet Captain, but I think we are about to find out your immediate future as the fifth segment is playing out on the screen currently,’ she replied over the comms.
Maddox glanced back to the main screen. Event five was concluding with the narrator speaking of disruption to the financial stability of the Martian corporation by striking at the Solar Exchange, publicly humiliating them as best they could. The scene altered as that one completed and square number six took the main focus on the screen, the 3d schematic of the ship rotating and then flipping over continuously as the digital presenter brought attention to their latest endeavours.
‘My friends, now the Martians will be scrambling in an effort to block our signal, to prevent the truth from being revealed. To them we say only this, that our strength is growing and our abilities developing beyond your pathetic militaristic attempts at stopping the signal. Your show of force against those other groups who meekly pretend to fight for Earth is a testament to your desperation. Very soon we shall make our ultimate move and there is absolutely nothing that you can do to stop us, however if you require evidence of your pathetic weakness in the light of our abilities, here I present you with one of your finest and latest Patrol cruisers, now under our control and at our mercy. As you should expect considering your relentless persecution of our kinfolk on Earth, we have no mercy for the filth who crew the vessel and here we show their fate, the end which they have met by our hands.’
The screen altered again to replace the 3d schematic with footage, obviously taken from the on board systems which quite clearly showed the interior of the ship which Maddox was currently aboard and the looming image from various angles of a sentinel which was very easily dispatching its organic victims as it progressed relentlessly through the passageways, the graphic showing of violence even causing Maddox to turn away despite his own experience of seeing such things before.
‘Now my friends, should you have been able to stomach that act against the despotic murderous Martians we shall quite simply prove why your technology is futile against us by quite simply wiping this vessel and your hopes of superiority out of the solar system.’
Maddox returned his attention to the screen and glared at it in total horror as a timer flashed up in the very centre. Starting at 5 it ticked down to 4 and then 3….
‘Oh hell!’
There was no time to run, to leave the ship and reach safety. If they had gone earlier instead of allowing curiosity to dictate investigation into what happened on board the ship, the Erstwhile would be rocked and damaged by an explosion so close but at least they had a chance to survive.
Right now, as he watched the number 2 replace the 3 he knew there was no chance at all.
‘Ezri! Get the ship clear! Go! Go! Go!’ He yelled. Even if this was the end for both himself and Maia, maybe Ezri could make it clear.
A 1 replaced the 2.
Maddox simply stared at the screen, a remarkable peace descending upon him for the first time in many years.
‘I’m sorry Ezri…..’ he said softly.
8 Life After Death
Ezri heard the Captain shout his instructions to her over the comm. and reacted instantly, not stopping to protest or debate. If he was that clear and direct there was a damned good reason. They could work things out later.
She concentrated on the controls as the Erstwhile lurched with forward momentum, the engines screaming and complaining as they were fully engaged from a dead stop and the pylons to which they were attached and the surrounding infrastructure moaning as they were suddenly put under stress.
It was a moment’s glance to see the numbers change on the screen displaying the transmission. The 1 vanished and the ship on her screen erupted, corridors becoming host to immense fireballs and finally the entire ship was consumed in one fiery blast.
An eerie silence descended over the flight deck of the Erstwhile as the monitor turned to darkness once the transmission broadcast ceased.
‘Captain?’ Ezri called almost delicately. ‘Captain Maddox please respond….’
‘Well, I have to say I’ve never been so happy to open my eyes after my apparent demise,’ Maddox’s voice jested back over the comm. line. ‘Not rid of me yet Ezri!’
‘Thankfully not,’ she replied as her long fingers adjusted the controls to bring the Erstwhile about and make their way back towards the Martian ship which still hung against the blackness of space. ‘I deduced the explosion witnessed as part of their demonstration was a simulation as, whilst the Erstwhile was trying to flee from the area of effect the chances of us making it clear in such a short space of time without experiencing some form of damage, or at least turbulence from the eruption of the reactor chamber, were so infinitesimally small the only conclusion was that the ship did not actually erupt. Someone wanted everyo
ne in receipt of that transmission to believe that ship out there was eradicated.’
‘Well, I for one am glad they chose to simulate it! Something is happening over here Ezri, the computer has powered up the internal lighting and various systems are coming on line. I think we are about to find out why they didn’t blow me to kingdom come. What about the transmission? Are they still broadcasting?’
Ezri checked the screens and SOLnet.
‘No Captain, the transmission ceased following the explosion, however I can recall the final closing moments that occurred after your apparent demise.’
Making a few entries into her terminal, she accessed the SOLnet archives and pulled up the last few moments of the transmission for replay.
‘This my friends, this is the power the Children of Earth wield. We decree that if there is a Martian military boot upon the Earth upon our return, we shall take our action against them with vigour and shall not stop until their very colony is suppressed under a new regime of Earth control. If you wish to remain autonomous and enjoy a new era of diplomatic relations, withdraw now and we shall refrain from wiping you from the stars. That is all. This has been a transmission by the Children of Earth. We are returning.’
‘Did you hear that, Captain?’ Ezri enquired over the comms.
‘Yes,’ Maddox replied grimly. ‘They’re pulling one of the biggest cons in Solar history I think, making the Martians believe they can in the hope they do actually withdraw in fear of such reprisals on their return.’
‘Will that work?’ Maia asked timidly, a level of unguarded hope clear in her voice. ‘I mean, do you really think these people can frighten the Martians into behaving themselves?’
‘No.’ Maddox replied quite quickly and clearly. ‘The Martians are too pig-headed and clever for that. No, they will ramp up their military, prepare for a conflict should it present itself and fight to retain the land, resources and investments they have already a hold on both on the Earth and in orbit. They have too much invested there to just walk away because someone says so.’
Children Of Earth (Tales from the 23rd Century Book 1) Page 8