OMEGA Rescue

by Stephen Arseneault

  Go stooped to look over the next pod. "Hey, this one has power. Grab that beam over there and jam it up under here. When I cut those welds I don't want it falling."

  Go reached in with his laser cutter, holding his arm at an odd angle.

  Jack said, "That doesn't look comfortable."

  Go smiled as he moved to the next weld. "It's robotic, so I can turn off any pain signals if I want. I can also spin the elbow completely around backwards. It's kind of cool."

  Jack shook his head. "That really looks unnatural. If you find yourself one day trying to impress a girl, don't do that."

  Go laughed. "Like I'm going to be meeting any out here anyway."

  Jack gestured to where Joni had been and smiled. "Garrett met someone. It could happen."

  Go cut the last weld. "OK, help me lower this down slowly. When we get it flat, I want to roll it up on its base."

  Jack nodded. Grunts could be heard as the two Humans turned the pod to face upwards.

  Jack gestured toward the transparent view plate. "Have a look."

  Go moved in, leaning over the top of the pod. "Gah! Empty."

  Jack looked back at the pile. "Three down, three to go."

  The next ten minutes saw Joni return in the Stinger.

  She was soon standing behind Go and Jack as the next, still-operating stasis pod was lowered to the deck and moved out.

  Jack said, "Joni, give us a hand flipping this thing."

  Joni smirked. "Too much for an old man and a one-armed kid?"

  Go half scowled at the far end of the pod. "Just grab it."

  The pod was spun over and inspected.

  Go huffed at its empty compartment. "OK, two left."

  I closed my visor, transferred the nav screen to my arm pad display and left the bridge. The fifth pod was on the deck by the time I arrived in the bay.

  Go pushed on the pod. "This one has to have somebody in it. I can't move it by myself like the others."

  We pushed hard on the fifth pod until it moved into open space. Joni, Jack, and Go manned one end while I took the other. The cryo-pod was slowly turned until its base was firmly seated on the deck.

  Go stepped up. "Let's see what we've got... whoa. There's someone in there. It's an old guy."

  Quan said, "That would be Colonel Tom Harper. He was the leader of the Human military during the War of Wars. Any other information I have on him is currently trapped in my archives. Sorry I cannot be of more assistance."

  I looked over the pod. "It's undamaged. Quan, do you know the restore sequence?"

  Quan replied, "I'm afraid I do not have that information."

  Jack pointed to the remaining pod. "Let's pull out that last one while we figure this out."

  The welds were cut and the pod lowered. A quick push and spin had the two thousand year old cryogenic stasis pod sitting upright.

  Go looked into the viewing window. "It's an Ankor."

  Quan said, "The individual in the pod is a Gambit. The Ankors are descended from the Gambits. His name is Bartel Helgris. Both were chief players in the Human victory over the Duke. Further information on Mr. Helgris remains locked in my archives."

  An alert came up on my nav display. "The portal ship has jumped into the space around Tasia!"

  Joni blinked out as she powered toward the Stinger. I sprinted toward the bridge, flipping display screens on my arm pad as I ran. Go and Jack followed just behind me.

  Joni said, "Jumping in three... two... one. Got you... you automated piece of crap!"

  The Ares jumped quickly after.

  Joni moved the Stinger beside the portal ship, powering out through its hull as the Tamarin ship began to jump. As the portal moved over the section beside the Stinger, the small ship was cut in half. In an instant, the two halves of our second fighter froze solid before shattering into a thousand tiny pieces.

  My heart raced until I flipped my display to that of Joni's helmet camera. She was aboard the ship and already at work disabling the AIs and bots that controlled it. Two minutes later the Tamarin portal ship was in our possession.

  Joni said, "We have their ship. Garrett is not here."

  I replied, "Sweep it to a new location and then to Effica. We can refuel it and use it as a backup if so needed."

  Joni nodded. "I lost contact. I take it the Stinger didn't make it?"

  Go said, "Cut in half by the portal as it swept over your position. Had you stopped a couple meters closer, it would have been there with you."

  Joni grimaced. "Well, at least we have their last ship. Quan, any progress with that AI?"

  Quan replied, "I am interrogating its systems as we speak. I expect to have access to its standard speech module in less than an hour. From there I can begin my queries as to Mr. Rourke's whereabouts."

  Two sweeps later, the Ares was parked above Effica. The newly captured portal ship was taken down to the surface of an Effica moon, powered down, and left for possible future use.

  Joni blinked in on the bridge of the Ares. "That is a huge relief."

  Jack replied, "Four portal gates remain missing. I'd only call that a minor victory."

  Joni crossed her arms. "Well, any ideas of where they might be building new portal ships?"

  Go said, "I have one. How about Adicus? They built the Ares there. And although we destroyed the stationary portal gate, we didn't touch the manufacturing docks. They might be using those."

  A quick jump to Adicus told us of our mistake. The portal ship construction docks were gone. After a dozen portal scans of possible locations, The Ares swept itself back to Effica. The next hour was spent refueling.

  Quan said, "Miss Salton. I have a number of the QE stealth tags available. I believe it was previously proposed that we tag cesium freighters in an effort to catch portal ships. I believe we should proceed with that effort."

  Jack raised his hand as he looked at Joni. "I can do that in the Thorn if you like."

  Joni frowned. "No, I've got the BGS suit. It's got to be me. Quan, can I assume you have the tags with you there on the ship?"

  Quan replied, "I do."

  Joni sighed, "I'll be over there in a sec. If someone could scan a few targets for me I'll get started tagging them."

  Quan again replied, "Performing scans through the current portal system... I have seventy-eight targets. Each has been weighted as to its importance. Major planets and colonies are at the top of the list. I am passing that data to you now."

  The Thorn lifted out the docking bay and was soon through a portal to Effica. Minutes later it arrived at a colony in the Andromeda galaxy. The first tag was applied and activated. Joni confirmed the next selection and the Thorn quickly jumped to the next target.

  Jack said, "What do we do with the three Tamarin we have down there?"

  I leaned back in my chair. "I think we hold on to them for a while. If we manage to find Garrett, they may be useful in a fight against their people."

  Go asked, "Why would they help us with that?"

  I thought for a moment. "Perhaps we would have something to offer them, such as a return to their positions of power in their corporation. It would of course be an asset of the AMP, but they would be able to profit from that arrangement, and... They don't have much of an alternative."

  Darba nodded. "They are motivated by profit and power. Given their current situation, they would be more than willing to assist in any way they could."

  I said, "Bring them up here to the bridge. We'll confine them to the corner over there."

  Jack tilted his head slightly. "Why would we do that? They'll see everything we're doing."

  I replied, "If I need assistance, I want to be able to ask them directly. And if they are to have any trust and any belief in our cause, they need to see us in action. If they know our motivations are true, they will be willing to deal with us in a more fair and open manner."

  Jack chuckled. "You have a lot more faith in people than I do."

  "Motive can be a powerful persuader, Mr. Carson,
" I said. "If we give them motive to assist us, they will be much more likely to contribute to our cause. Nothing more than simple psychology at work."

  Chapter 6

  * * *

  Quan said, "I am troubled by a new development. I opened a small portal and scanned Gratis. There are hundreds of automated ships parked on the surface and millions of bots scouring the planet. With analysis of the sentinel debris, they may be able to reverse engineer some of the technologies used aboard those ships. It would give them further advantage against us."

  I replied, "Are you proposing that we go there and stop them?"

  Quan answered. "I believe that to be in our best interest."

  I nodded. "OK, we'll jump over and see what we can do. Worst case, we just have to sweep their ships into the star of that system."

  I opened a comm to Kerba Skol on Megiddo. "How's the adventure coming?"

  Kerba replied, "There is so much history here. I wasn't sure how to proceed, so I just began digging. I've uncovered the remains of a sixty-legs-per-side species, still in its battle-suit. I checked the history archives and found it to be a Harmath. They all perished in the War of Wars. Their origins were not in the AMP galaxies. Which brings me to another thought. Why was the AMP limited to six galaxies? There are billions of others, such as the one you have identified as Yallux. Why did they limit the AMP to only six?"

  I replied, "If we can get our two stasis pod guests revived, we might just be able to answer that question."

  Kerba hesitated. "What stasis pods are you referring to?"

  I passed along an image. "Quan led us to the wreckage of the sentinel ships. The two pods that were occupied survived. We have them aboard the Ares, but we aren't certain of how to revive them. The occupants have both been in there from the origins of the AMP, nearly two thousand years."

  Kerba replied, "You must bring me back. Living, breathing beings from the origins would be able to answer many questions, possibly filling many of the gaps in our history. If you remember, I told you before of my prior business. I dealt extensively with environmental control units. While I haven't had direct experience with a cryo-unit, I am familiar with its workings. Perhaps I can assist with bringing them safely out of stasis."

  Jack stood. "I'll get him, wait... Joni has the Thorn."

  I entered the coordinates for Megiddo. "We'll be right there, Kerba."

  The kilometer-long Ares hovered only meters above a field where Kerba Skol had performed his first dig. He was quickly swept aboard the portal ship to the bridge.

  I stood and gestured toward the hall. "This way. They are in the docking bay. Jack, take us back to Effica if you would."

  The Ares was swept through a portal of its creation, sending the ship through a hole in space to our previous location at Effica.

  Kerba's eyes lit up as we approached the pods. "These are from the origins? They look as though they were constructed yesterday."

  I replied, "As far as we know they are from almost two thousand years ago."

  Kerba leaned over the pod containing Colonel Tom Harper. "He appears to be rather old, but well preserved. I don't see any signs of a failure at any point during the cryo-process or during the stasis period. We should be able to bring him back."

  Kerba walked over to the second pod and stared down through the viewport. "This is the same person that Quan has been using for his likeness. I can't believe I'm staring at one of my ancestors. Mr. Beutcher, my two hearts are racing each other. This is such a wondrous occasion."

  I looked over the cryo-unit containing Tom Harper. "This Human has a stature that is almost equal to mine. He lacks my height, but his shoulders are stout, as well as his midsection. The controls look easy enough, but we don't have any instructions of how exactly this should be done. I don't want to attempt a revival until we are certain we are doing the right thing."

  Kerba nodded. "Yes, we owe it to them to do this right. Does Quan have any knowledge of these units?"

  Quan replied, "If I do, that information is locked away in my archives. Perhaps you could work to recover it?"

  Kerba replied as he looked over the pod of Bartel Helgris. "I will certainly give it a try. Mr. Beutcher, if you would be so kind as to transport me back to the surface, I will attempt to access Quan's records pertaining to the operation of these pods."

  I returned to the bridge. Kerba was swept down to the surface of Effica and was soon sitting at a console attached to the massive archive structure.

  Quan said, "I have good news. Garrett Rourke was taken by the AIs. The knowledge of this AI is two days old with relation to Mr. Rourke, but he was alive at the time. He was last on a ship that was stationed at Mayanis."

  Joni replied, "I'm on my way there. Give me a minute to scan."

  Go said, "I hope this is it. We need him back. I need him back."

  Jack said, "We'll find him."

  The scan completed.

  Joni growled, "No living beings on those ships. He must have been moved."

  She pounded her fist. "I'm taking another AI. These have to know where he was taken."

  I said, "Be careful, Joni. They may be wise to one of their own having been captured."

  Joni shook her head. "They won't see me coming and won't see me going."

  The Thorn was swept into the docking bay of an automated ship. Joni powered out, heading to the nearest AI which busily commanded worker bots as they moved about the bay. The comm inhibitor signal was broadcast, the AI unit collected into a special container, and taken aboard the Thorn. Two jumps later, Joni was parked on the surface of Effica. The freshly captured AI was turned over to Quan's bots where it was quickly taken into a sealed chamber.

  Quan said, "I should have answers in a few minutes. The same methods used to bypass the security layers of the other AI should apply. One moment... the automated ship departed for Jorus under normal power. Given the time of departure and the approximate speed of the AI ships, I am passing you a coordinate for a jump."

  Joni turned, powering hard back into the Thorn. "Thank you Quan. If we get him, I'll owe you big."

  Quan replied, "Thank you for trusting me, Joni. I do not require compensation or credit for my actions."

  The Thorn moved through a wormhole to the destination Quan had provided. A deep scan revealed the tail end of a convoy of automated ships.

  Joni said, "I'm jumping in the middle of them for a scan. Please let Garrett be there."

  The tension built as we waited on results.

  Joni yelled, "We have a bio on one of the ships! I'm going in!"

  The Thorn was swept into the docking bay of an automated Grotus battlecruiser. Joni powered out of her ship and up through five decks where the still living bio was being held. After passing through several walls, she came to a stop in a small room. A Human male lay on a cot against a wall, his back facing Joni. He was missing an arm from just below the shoulder. Joni hesitated to move forward.

  I said, "He's breathing. How do you plan to get him to the ship? Can he walk?"

  Joni sighed as she powered to the cot. "It's not Garrett. It's Lieutenant Jefferson. Aside from the arm, his face is badly scarred, looks like burns."

  Jack stood. "Please bring him home."

  Joni took a deep breath. "I will. Give me a minute."

  The Thorn was moved, powering up the five decks while making full use of its active sodium skin. Once in position beside the holding room, the skin was powered off, leaving the Thorn parked halfway into the room with the remainder of the small ship spread throughout several rooms of the fifth deck. A side hatch was opened.

  Joni powered out, blinking in as she reached for Jefferson's shoulder. "Mr. Jefferson, hey, it's Joni. Come with me."

  The lieutenant rolled slowly over, standing only after receiving help. "Joni? They tortured me. I told them everything."

  Joni nodded as she helped him to the hatch. "Couldn't be helped. Don't worry about it. Let's just get you out of here."

  As the hatch was pulle
d closed, the door to the room opened. Autobots streamed in, their metal pincers clanking hard against the Thorn's hull. Joni dropped into the pilot seat, pressing the holo-button that would activate the sodium skin. Nothing happened.

  Joni yelled, "I've got a problem here!"

  Go said, "They must have damaged the active skin! The ship has to have complete coverage for it to activate!"

  Joni yelled, "I'm sweeping out of here!"

  Seconds later the Thorn and the surrounding rooms were floating in space. Joni opened up with her ion cannon, blasting away the structure clinging to her hull while also damaging several layers of the tantric coating that made up the Thorn's armor.

  Joni said, "I'm free. Jumping to Effica."

  Jack yelled, "Wait! You jump directly here and they will get our location. Make at least one hop first."

  Joni replied, "Got it. Heading to Alpha Prime first."

  After the sweep, Joni said, "They are building something massive at Alpha. Doesn't look like a ship factory."

  After a second sweep, the Thorn was parked at Effica, sitting on the deck of the Ares in the docking bay. Jack hurried down to see his crewman and long time friend.

  Joni said, "As soon as you have him, I'm heading back out. I'm going to grab another AI from that convoy. If that first AI said Garrett was there, he must have been taken elsewhere. After that, I have more cesium freighters to tag."

  Jack arrived as Joni helped the injured Lieutenant onto the deck. Go followed behind with a gurney.

  Jefferson was spirited away by Jack as Joni pulled the hatch of the Thorn shut. "I have a couple dozen tags left. Then I'll be back."

  Go said, "Hold up a few minutes. I'll see if I can seal your sodium coating."

  Joni nodded. "I guess that would help. I'm so used to not being seen, I would have just jumped right in there without thinking about it."

  Go scanned the exterior of the Thorn, applying a patching coat of sodium to the handful of small spots the bots had damaged.