Theocracy: Book 1.

by Doug Dandridge

  Not magic, he thought again. Just science that is so advanced it might as well be magic. As soon as he sat in the chair it molded itself to his form and straps looped over his body. Shadow jumped into his lap, and the straps flowed over the cat and secured the beast in a comfortable position in his midsection.

  “He really likes you,” said the woman, looking back with an expression that said she wasn’t sure why.

  “Then he has good taste,” said the Monk with a smile, running his hand over the back of the creature and getting a purr in return. “And I like him.”

  “Good,” she said, looking back toward the viewer/window. “Then you can look after him as well as he looks after you.”

  “I will do what I can to protect him,” said Patrick. He lurched back in his chair after the words left his mouth, and the view in the window changed. The luminous sea life frantically swam away as the vessel surged forward. Something didn’t move fast enough, and a large shape smacked into the window. Patrick flinched a moment before he let himself relax.

  “Don’t worry,” said Derrick with a smile. “There’s nothing in this ocean that can really hurt us, as long as we don’t head on a whale. Once we get in the air things will be different.”

  “I don’t intend to do much cruising in the air,” said Alyssa with a grin. “I’m going to take her in underwater right up to the coast.”

  “And where to from there?” asked Patrick, trying to visualize where they were. A map appeared in his head, a blinking dot showing their position in the ocean.

  “Why, to your home,” said Alyssa, her smile widening.

  “And why do you want to go there?” asked Patrick, confused. “I have already opened the vault and gotten everything out of it. Unless there was something else of importance in there.”

  “Not in the vault,” said Alyssa, maneuvering the craft on an upwards slant over the sea bottom. “But there are other secrets to that place that you know nothing about. We have a schematic of the old house that used to occupy that location, as well as deep scans that show some of the things we are looking for. And yes, our opponents have those same scans and schematics.”

  “Then why haven’t they already gotten what you’re looking for?” asked Patrick.

  [Because they cannot access those areas without someone with the proper proteins] came a voice in Patrick’s head. He made the open hand sign of his God, sure that ghosts were haunting him.

  [Don’t be such a primitive Patrick] came the voice again, which he now recognized as the woman’s. [This is part of the com system, linked into the neurons of your brain. It’s science. Just science, so don’t be so afraid.]

  [And you can hear me in return] he thought back, concentrating on projecting his words. [And can anyone else listen in on us?]

  [They can tell that something is being sent] she answered, her emotional smile coming through. [But not what it is. The ship’s computer encrypts all transmissions, so that only those with access to the computer can tell what is being said.]

  Patrick wasn’t sure what that one word, encryption, meant, so he thought of it and the computer gave him the information. A code, he thought, going over the computer’s definition. But more than that. And ever changing code. What a marvelous idea.

  [You have a complete nanotech package in your system,] she sent next. [Go ahead and look that up. But if you’re injured and not in danger of bleeding out it will fix you, given some time.]

  Patrick looked up nanotech, and while the idea seemed really advanced, he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of having trillions of microscopic robots in his system. He wasn’t sure what nanoscale was until he looked it up as well, and that amazed him even more.

  “We’re about five minutes from surfacing,” announced Alyssa out loud, looking back at the Monk. “Get ready to follow our lead.”

  Patrick nodded his head and looked at the front window, which now showed a much lighter ocean scape and masses of fish. I really don’t know how much to trust these people, he thought, looking at the backs of the two agents’ chairs. I know they have their own agenda, and will do what is best for their nation first. I only have to make sure that I get what I need out of the deal as well. Only, he thought with an internal chuckle. From people centuries in advance of himself. But he also knew that human nature stayed the same no matter the tech level. And he was well trained in how to use human nature to get what he needed.

  * * *

  Colonel Nathan Chung gritted his teeth as he watched the battle unfolding on the screen. Not because of the massive energies being released by warheads and beams. No, because this fight was a distraction from his mission. And the more he thought about it the more he thought that this would be the opportunity his opponents were waiting for.

  And here he was cruising back and forth over endless stretches of water in the only vessel he had, looking for a grain of sand in a desert. And he would only find them if the grain made itself conspicuous.

  “Colonel,” came the call of one of the techs that was hovering over a sensor screen. “We have something coming out of the water.”

  “Where?” yelled Chung, walking over to that station.

  “About two kilometers from the coast of that island,” said the tech, looking over at the Colonel and pointed at the holo map. “Right off the coast from the Monastery.”

  “Shit,” yelled the Colonel, his face reddening. And they were at the far point of their sweep. Ten minutes at fastest atmospheric flight from the location. Nine if they boosted up and went extra-atmospheric. A minute didn’t seem worth making themselves a target to a lucky Republican ship.

  “Commander,” he yelled at the young officer who conned the ship. “Get us there at fastest speed. And have all weapons manned. But only fire,” he said, pointing a thick finger at the young office, “on my command. I will have the head of the man who destroys them.”

  Warning klaxons sounded across the small vessel and the Colonel flung himself into his seat. Moments after the vessel heeled over to the right and began to circle back, acceleration forces pushing him to the side, then back into his chair as the ship straightened out. He cursed again under his breath, then prayed that he might catch a break in a day when there had been too few of them.

  * * *

  Alyssa Suarez broke the surface of the ocean with the Manta and vectored by the straightest path possible to the Monastery. With luck they would have ten or fifteen minutes to get what they had come for. She didn’t expect that kind of luck. It was never smart to.

  The view from the ship was beautiful, especially when she linked with its sensors for an all around view. This was a pleasant little world. Not that her planet, and it was a planet in orbit around a sun, wasn’t. But there was beauty here she couldn’t experience on her own world.

  The sun shone on the waves below, where small mosasaurs were breaching the surface. Sea birds flew in the distance, and the sky was full with the half circles of other moons, while a sliver of the ringed gas giant broached the horizon behind. Ahead the sea crashed on a rocky shore that reminded her of her native New Rio, which the exception of tall buildings rising on the land which marked that city.

  She remembered faintly the dinner she had at a restaurant overlooking the waters of home, her father, mother and siblings there to see her off to the space academy. The waters crashed on the rocks beneath the balcony they dined on. The ocean there had the same salinity content as this one, and many of the same life forms. She could recall seeing the forms of grey whales breaching in the distance, and the multi-colored sails of many pleasure craft taking advantage of the strong breeze.

  A world much like this, she thought again, sans the gas giant in the sky. Same life, brought by the ancients to make it a living world. Well, except for the dinosaurs. No fossils, except for ancient forms that no longer exist.

  And the Theocracy in their madness took that as a sign that they had been created by the ancients within a score or two of millennia, instead of transplanted from other worlds.
And they saw all other theologies as heresy to be stamped out by any means possible.

  “Get ready on the weapons, Derrick,” she told the man in the copilot seat.

  “Born ready,” said the ex-marine, his fingers on the board to his front. “All weapons armed.”

  “What do you want me to do?” said Patrick.

  “Just follow us when we leave the ship,” said Alyssa, glancing over at him and seeing tension on his face. His lips were moving, as if he were saying a mantra to himself. She couldn’t blame him for the tension. “And use that shield to give us whatever protection you can manage,” she shouted out, thinking that he would do fine once the shit started.

  Patrick nodded his head, then looked straight ahead where the rocks loomed and the squat form of the Monastery shown above them.

  “Here we go,” shouted Alyssa, bringing the nose of the ship up and over the rocks, then the wall of the Monastery. She straightened out immediately and threw the craft into a reverse thrust that pulled everybody hard against their seat belts. Shadow squalled for just a moment, then calmed down.

  The Manta slowed to a hover over the courtyard and Alyssa spun the nose around. Derrick started picking targets from the few Theocracy troops dumb enough to be caught out in the open. Projectiles and beams blasted them apart or burned them down where they stood. The Manta bucked and shuddered from a few hits from personal weapons, then Derrick let loose with grenades and a pair of rockets, destroying likely looking redoubts.

  “Now,” shouted Alyssa as she lowered the landing gear and put the Manta down in a bouncing landing.

  As soon as the ship hit the ground the belts retracted and Alyssa was out of her seat, followed by Derrick and Shadow. Patrick was a bit slower out of his seat, but this was his first assault landing, and though the computer was feeding him information, most of it was still out of context for him, and therefore confusing.

  If inside the ship had been confusing, outside was a complete madhouse. There were bodies everywhere, along with the stench of recent and not so recent death. Patrick glanced around quickly; he didn’t have time for a thorough investigation. But he could tell right off that most of the bodies were those of monks and retainers. And they were all probably people he knew.

  He pushed his feelings back into a secure place in his mind, to be examined later, and focused on the matter at hand. Alyssa was behind a couple of bodies, her rifle spitting high velocity pellets at something unseen, while splashes of gore showed where return rounds were striking her cover. One round made it through a body and struck her in the shoulder, to bounce off the suit she was wearing. She let out a soft hiss and fired at the spot the rounds were coming from. Shadow was crouched down low by her side, unable to contribute to the fight. Derrick was behind some more substantial cover, a rack of cannon balls that rang to the hits of weapons fire. A bright beam lashed out and one of the balls glowed red, then white, then started to dissolve into fiery liquid.

  Patrick didn’t like the look of this fight. They were outnumbered and in a bad position. He didn’t have time to think about it so he acted. Holding his shield up to cover him to the front he ran toward the nearest entrance in a crouch. As he ran, he noticed that Shadow was now with him, running at his feet. He adjusted his pace to make sure he didn’t kick or trip over the animal, also cognizant that he wasn’t moving with his old natural grace in this larger body.

  Patrick marveled at the quick firing weapons of the strangers. Projectiles and beams were impacting on his shield like drops of rain in a storm. The shield barely vibrated from the impacts, and didn’t heat up at all from the beams. A couple of rounds came in low and ricocheted from the pavement, to strike at his boots. The material of the boots became rigid, almost tripping him up, and the rounds bounced away. He could still feel some sting from the hits on his ankles, but thought it a good trade for not being pierced by the high velocity rounds.

  Wonder what they would do if they hit me direct, he thought, remembering that the rounds he had seen hit Alyssa had already passed completely through the dead bodies of her cover. Meaning they had lost some velocity. She had told him the suits would provide some protection. He didn’t intend to test out how much.

  Something ricocheted off the stones and hit Shadow, knocking the cat over. With a howl he was back on his feet and closed up the distance with the Monk.

  “What the hell are you doing?” yelled Alyssa from behind him.

  “Idiot’s going to get himself shot,” came the voice of Derrick. “Then we’re nowhere.”

  Patrick knew he was important to the two, that if he died they would never gain access to the tech they were looking for, and he would never save this world he loved. But the warrior in him knew you sometimes had to take risks or victory wouldn’t happen.

  As he neared the door a round struck the monk in the shoulder, without anything taking any force off of it. The suit bounced it away, but Patrick felt as if it did some damage to his shoulder. He had noted earlier that the shoulder and chest were reinforced, and probably able to take more of a hit. Now he knew how much of one. He angled his shield over and caught another shot on its surface.

  His right shoulder hurt like hell, and it felt like something was grating. But he needed that arm right now, and would worry about what further damage he might do it at a later and more peaceful time. He banished the pain to the back of his mind. And reached up to grab the hilt of his sword.

  The blade swished out of its sheath and sliced into the door in a single motion. Patrick felt bare resistance as the ancient sword cut through the tough wood like it was paper. It even cut an inch into the stone below the door before he stopped its motion, then pulled it free and kicked at the wood, bursting it in along its points of contact. The two sides fell into the hall beyond and he was in.

  A quick glance showed that to both sides of the hall were several men who were in the process of firing weapons out into the courtyard. One started to pull back from the window and Patrick knew he would be the next target. That seen and it was decided. He flung the shield on its strap over his left shoulder, where it would hang to protect his back and head, and ran toward that first man. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shadow jump in the other direction, and hoped the cat would take care of business to that side.

  The rifle came up and pointed at Patrick’s middle. He slashed his sword in and hit the mechanism of the rifle, just as the trigger was pulled. The blade slid through the metal and plastic of the rifle, taking off the left hand and forearm of the man and a finger on his right hand. The round being accelerated out hit the blade in passage and came out the side of the gun to strike the wall and plow through.

  Patrick kicked the bleeding man away and jumped over the falling body. Something hit the shield on his back several times, and he cringed internally that a round might come plowing into his buttocks or legs. Instead, he heard a howl from the cat and a grunt, followed by a scream and then silence.

  The second man to his front tried to get his weapon around. He continued his spin sans his head, which went spinning off to the side as the ancient blade swept through his neck.

  Patrick spun in place, pulling his shield from his back and onto his left arm in a smooth motion. He noted that one of the enemy was on his back, his mouth foaming as he coughed out his life. Shadow was making ready to spring at the next man, who was bringing his rifle to bear on the cat. Patrick yelled out, getting the man’s attention for a moment, which allowed the cat to make its leap.

  Patrick was in Fae state, so everything around him seemed to move in slow motion, including himself. The man screamed out as he caught sight of the cat and tried to bring his rifle up to aim at the leaping animal. The rifle chattered on full auto, sending bullets into the air, some bouncing from the shield the monk brought up to cover himself with. The animal sailed over the rifle and landed on the man’s shoulder. With a quick motion the hind claws came up and raked the face of the enemy soldier, while the front claws pulled the cat along and into a leap off
of the man.

  The soldier’s eyes bulged as soon as the claws dug in. He reached for his throat, dropping the rifle to the floor. Reaching didn’t help, and his breath rattled in his throat, his legs gave out, and he fell to the floor to choke out his life.

  Shadow jumped over the man and strode quickly over to Patrick, where he rubbed the Monk’s legs in a circular path. Patrick looked at the cat with new respect, realizing what a deadly beast he was. He reached down and petted the cat, hoping to stay on its good side.

  “What the hell did you think you were doing?” yelled Alyssa as soon as she came through the doorway and saw him.

  “Getting us into the building without wasting undue time,” said the Monk with a smile.

  “With primitive weapons?” said the woman, concern and anger warring on her face.

  “They seemed to do a good enough job,” said Patrick with a shrug, noting that his shoulder no longer twinged with pain, apparently healed of whatever injury it had sustained. Nanotech package? he thought.

  “They aren’t so primitive,” said Derrick, coming into the hall behind her and moving a bit down the left side, rifle ready. “Did you see the way that shield absorbed those laser beams. Unbelievable.”

  “If he had missed one he would be scorched meat out there in the courtyard,” said Alyssa in a hiss, rounding on her subordinate. “And that would have done neither of us any good.”

  “And you would still be out there in the courtyard if I hadn’t have acted,” said Patrick with a smile, knowing he was correct. “And I think we had better move out to the next objective.”

  There was a sound from outside, and Patrick ran to the door in time to see the Manta rising into the air on jets and head back over the wall.

  “I ordered it hidden,” said Alyssa, coming up behind him. “We may need it later. Or some of the things in it. It does nobody any good sitting there as a target. And you were right. It’s time to move out. You follow us this time, and let us handle anything to the front. You just watch out to the rear.” The woman walked off, holding her rifle at the ready, mumbling something that sounded like primitives under her breath.