“I understand your reasons for wanting to do so,” Jonas replied.
Norm shook his head. “No, you don’t have any idea.”
“Perhaps not.”
“No. I read his files. Matthews is a very dangerous man. According to Grayson he has only one goal.”
“What is that?”
“To take everything he can away from Grayson. Look at what he did to me? Psychologically, he’s a monster, worse than Grayson. If you go after him, you’d best go with the intent to kill him first. Don’t even consider trying to take him into custody.”
“Why not?”
Norm’s eyes narrowed. “Because he’s a desperate man. He’ll kill everyone he can before he allows anyone to take him into custody. But you know what I’m betting?”
Jonas shook his head. “No, what?”
“He plans to find and kill you first since you’re the man in charge. That is his objective and how his mind operates.”
46
Derek returned to the engineer department to see Bradbury standing beside Isaac.
“Welcome back,” Bradbury said.
Isaac’s head spun to look in Derek’s direction. “Good evening, Derek.”
Derek stared with surprise. Isaac was back together and fully functional. “You’ve been busy, Bradbury. You already have Isaac in working order?”
“If anyone should know how to reassemble one of us, certainly it would be easier for me than you, would it not? After all, I know how I function and what part connects to which component and so on. We have built-in repair manuals, too.”
Derek smiled. Indeed the A.I. program was continuing to evolve. “Those Chinese robots are headed for Olympus Mons.”
“I expected as much,” Bradbury replied. “Which is why we’ve been working on this.”
Derek looked at the long metal table where the two robots had been building something. “What is that?”
“We’ve comprised a weapon capable of utilizing a strong electromagnetic pulse to incapacitate those robots,” Bradbury replied.
“That will work on them?”
“Not certain. Do you have any other suggestions?” Isaac asked.
“No.”
“Their exterior armor is resistant to lasers, fire, and metal projectiles,” Bradbury said. “That leaves nothing for us to strike against them in your arsenal’s weaponry.”
Bradbury was right. They didn’t have any weapon on Olympus Mons capable of destroying these robots except the turrets, but those were at the Phobos Crash Site and not hooked up. An EMP wasn’t something that Derek had ever considered building. It held the potential to work though, but only if they were able to set it up in time.
“How close are you to having this completed?” Derek asked.
“It is ready,” Bradbury replied.
Derek marveled.
“You look surprised,” Isaac said.
Derek nodded.
“You needn’t be,” Bradbury said. “We are in sync with all of the computers and information is readily available for us within a microsecond. We don’t need to browse and search databases. We are databases.”
Derek studied the EMP device. It wasn’t much larger than an average microwave oven, but as EMP devices went, it was a good-sized one. The electromagnetic pulse could short out the circuits of any computerized mechanism within its radius, which did present problems in addition to the actual benefits. Most pulse devices not only damaged computer components the weapon was aimed at, they tended to destroy whatever similar devices were to the sides and behind it as well. This meant that he needed a human to fire the weapon because the robot that fired the weapon would be short-circuited and no longer usable.
The locked steel doors that opened to the Martian terrain rattled hard. The sound was like a heavy hammer or battering ram being slammed against the door. A few seconds passed and the doors shook again.
Derek looked at Isaac and Bradbury. “Our enemy robots are here.”
“You really think that Matthews is going to try to kill me?” Jonas asked.
Norm shrugged. “Who else is in charge? Any final decision that needs to be made is yours, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I suppose so. But I don’t see how killing me makes him anymore powerful. There isn’t much he can do. He’s a fool if he thinks he can succeed with a revolt here on Mars. We’re a colony of Earth, reliant primarily upon the shipments that Grayson sends us. Without them, we’ll die. We cannot support ourselves with food, paper supplies, and other necessities.”
Boony brought up Matthews profile and picture on a large screen. “Here he is. We have two identification photos. The one on the right is after he had major plastic surgery to redefine his appearance. He looks nothing like the original.”
Jonas looked at her. “Send his profile picture to the guards via their hologram visor screens. If anyone sees him, Matthews needs to be taken into custody immediately.”
She typed quick commands on the keyboard. “Done.”
Norm finished off the bottle of water. “That’s not all you’re going to tell them, is it?”
Jonas frowned at him.
“He’s not going to peacefully surrender to you. Grayson had a woman he hired to kill Matthews, but then he changed his mind and decided it was more entertaining to ship Matthews to the mining pits. Now, he should have let the woman shoot Matthews between the eyes. Your best option, sir, is to issue a kill-on-sight order to your guards.”
“I appreciate your advice, Mr. Schrader,” Jonas said. “But let me handle this. I’d rather question him for information. If he’s dead, I can’t do that.”
“Sir, guards will die. And if he sees you first, he might kill you before you even get a chance to speak to him.”
“Noted!”
Boony pointed to the screen. “I combed through the HR records of Grayson Enterprises and found when Matthews had been hired. Grayson has listed every sinister encroachment Matthews had performed to undermine Grayson and how Matthews had tried to steal top-secret property and scientific technology from the company. His I.Q. is substantially high.”
“But not too high to prevent being captured,” Jonas replied.
“He’s no longer in custody,” Norm said.
Jonas glanced toward Gary. “Take Mr. Schrader to the infirmary and have a nurse evaluate him.”
Gary nodded. “Come with me, sir.”
After Gary exited with Norm and the door closed, Boony said, “I think maybe you should take Norm’s warning more seriously.”
“Oh, Boony, not you too?”
“Jonas, with everything that’s happened, don’t you think—”
Alarms wailed through the corridors.
“Shit,” Jonas said. “What now?”
A red light flashed on a computer monitor, indicating where a guard had issued an alert for help.
Mineshaft 15.
Derek stood near the steel doors. The robots continued to batter at them with such fierceness that the metal was denting and bending inward.
Three engineers had grabbed laser weapons and joined Derek at the doors. Isaac and Bradbury held their EMP device between them.
“You cannot fire that at the door. You’ll only incapacitate yourselves,” Derek said.
Both robots tilted their heads toward him with a silent stare.
Even Derek knew he had stated the obvious. Of course, they’d know that! He felt foolish for even addressing the comment.
The alarms wailed. Red lights flashed along the perimeters of the engineer department.
“What is that?” Adam asked. “Is that for this?”
Paul tapped his visor and then shook his head. “No. Mineshaft 15. Should we go?”
Adam glared at him. “Do you need to ask?”
Derek shook his head. “This is top priority. We cannot allow the outside robots entrance or we’re all dead.”
“Then what’s going on in the mineshaft?”
“My guess is the strange insects,” Derek replied.
Paul lifted his visor. His eyes widened. “You mean the ones that put Roy into a coma?”
“Yes.”
“Shit.”
Derek shrugged. “I don’t know which situation is worse for us. The Chinese robots or the poisonous insects, but I don’t think it matters.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’re stuck in between.”
47
By the time Jonas and Boony arrived at the mouth of Mineshaft 15, three guards were dead. They were facedown on the gritty floor next to a stack of steel plates on a forklift. None of the insects were around, but that was what had killed the men. Little holes were encircled with blood on the back of their suits.
Jonas looked at two guards who were standing about fifteen yards away near the mining pit. “What happened? Where are the insects?”
One of the nervous guards walked to him. “They ran back down the shaft.”
“How many were there?”
“I’m not certain. These guys were down in the tunnel trying to cover the hole around the driller. Next thing we know they were running toward us screaming.”
“You ran?” Jonas asked.
“What was I supposed to do? I heard that only the flamethrowers could kill them. I don’t have one of them.”
Jonas nodded. “You did the right thing. I thought some of the guards had brought the flamethrowers.”
The guard pointed at the three dead guards. “They did. They had them down inside the tunnel.”
Jonas shut his eyes and winced. “The flamethrowers are down in the tunnel?”
“Yes.”
Damn.
Jonas looked at the guard. “Barry, what were you doing when you noticed the attack?”
“We had brought the stack of steel plates in case we needed to seal off the tunnel. Rumor was that might be what we have to do.”
“I’m afraid we’re left with few options now. If the only flamethrowers we have are down there, the tunnel needs to be sealed. Call together some of the architectural engineers and carpenters to seal it off. Make certain each plate is flushed with the next. Leave no gaps. We cannot allow any possible opening where one of those insects can squeeze through. Otherwise, we’re going to have a whole lot more dead people like this.”
“What about the other prisoners down in the shaft?” Barry asked.
“They’re dead.”
“You sure?”
“I’m quite certain, but if you’d like to go check it out?”
Barry shook his head. “No, sir. I don’t want to be doing that.”
“Nor do I. But my suggestion is you get that corridor closed off as quickly as possible.”
“On it, sir.”
Jonas looked at Boony. “We need every guard we have to help seal this door.”
“How can you do that?”
“I’m shutting down the mines until this corridor is closed. It’s top priority. We cannot afford to lose more guards. From the miners’ appearances, they could use a few days of rest to recuperate.”
“You think it will take that long?”
He sighed. “I hope not, but I’d rather them do it right than to rush it.”
Boony nodded.
“The only downside is that it might become harder for us to locate Matthews.”
“Why is that?”
“What’s to stop him from hiding with one of the prisoners while the other guards are here?”
“Do you think Norm’s assumption is correct?”
“That Matthews will make an attempt on my life?” Jonas shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time. But like I said back at the office, Matthews would be foolish to take over the operations here. Grayson could starve us by refusing to send any shipments to Mars.”
“Maybe, but if Matthews wants to hurt Grayson financially, all Matthews has to do is offer China or Russia or any foreign power free access to Olympus Mons in exchange for goods. They’d probably jump on such an opportunity.”
“Perhaps. But those countries are far behind what Grayson possesses. Who’s to say that they could even successfully reach us?”
“Their robots did.”
“Yes, but they’re not humans.”
Boony nodded. “So should we focus on finding Matthews now?”
“I’d rather load up my guards and staff into shuttles and head back to Earth since we have no way to combat those insects.”
A gentle, beautiful smile curled her lips. “I’d vote to do that.”
“Between you and I, if the dangers continue to increase at this pace, I see nothing else better to do. We go home and tell Grayson where he can stick it. I doubt he’d find crewmembers willing to face the dangers we’re currently surrounded by.”
“I’ve had my limit, too. I’ll alert the guards to escort the prisoners back to their cells.”
“Thanks.”
Gary walked with Norm to the infirmary, but as much as Norm leaned against Gary for support, it was almost like Gary was carrying the older guard.
Gary was surprised that Norm had survived as long as he had in the mining pit, but it was not surprising by how exhausted Norm was. Although he knew Norm, Gary was a patrolling guard and never an overseer of the miners. Otherwise, he’d have recognized Norm well before his chip had malfunctioned. Norm’s age should have keyed any of the other perimeter guards at the mining pit that he wasn’t one of the prisoners. But, with working conditions as they were, and the overall lack of enthusiasm, most guards didn’t give a second thought to what should be a prominent warning flag until after it was too late.
The receptionist gave Gary an odd expression when he led Norm to the desk. Prisoners were always taken into a separate office for treatment. Not that there really was any specific need to have two offices, but most of the staff and guards were more comfortable not being around the prisoners, regardless of the Sleeper Chip implants.
Gary had spoken with other guards and female staff members at The Vortex. He found it comical how others viewed the chipped prisoners. While some were grateful to know the violent prisoners were fully controlled by the chips, they still couldn’t handle being near the convicts. The prisoners always stared in a trance similar to someone under deep hypnosis. Like live storefront mannequins. Several of the staff had expressed that they feared the prisoners might one day awaken and brutally attack them.
“Why did you bring him in here?” she asked in a disgusted whisper.
“Because he’s not a prisoner. He’s a guard.”
Her facial expression became even odder. “What?”
“You heard me. Now, he needs an I.V. to rehydrate and—”
“Sir, you’re not a doctor.”
Gary glanced at her nametag. “And you’re not much of a receptionist, either, Cindy.”
Her eyebrows rose and her face flushed red.
“Look at him,” Gary said. “We don’t have any prisoners this man’s age. There’s a reason for that. They could never keep up the pace.”
“Then why was he mining?”
Gary frowned. “That’s confidential.”
“How’s that?”
“You have any more questions, ask Jonas. He’s the one who told me to bring Norm here.”
Cindy took a sharp breath. “Very well. Make him sit over there. A nurse will get him in a few minutes. What’s his name?”
“Norm Schrader.”
She wrote down the name on the sign-in sheet.
Gary headed toward the door.
“Where are you going? I’m not touching him. Where’s your CAM-L?”
“He’s not a prisoner. He’s not being controlled by a chip.”
Cindy appeared nervous. “He doesn’t have a chip?”
“He’s harmless, Cindy. An exhausted old man who needs rehydration and a few days of sleep. If you don’t believe me, search his name in the database. He’s a guard. I need to report back to Jonas ASAP. We have other urgent situations going on right now.” Gary opened the door.
“Wa
it, Gary,” she said nervously.
He turned and looked at her. She motioned him to come around the desk. “What is it?”
Cindy pointed at the computer screen. “That’s the picture for Norm Schrader. Not this man you brought in.”
Gary shook his head. “No, that picture is Steven Matthews. He swapped places with Norm before their shuttle reached Mars.”
She tapped the computer screen. “That’s the prisoner?”
He nodded. “He’s a very dangerous man.”
She swallowed hard.
“What’s wrong?”
Cindy whispered, “He came in here earlier.”
“Is he still here?”
She nodded. “I think so. He went back to talk to the doctors, but he’s never left.”
Gary drew his laser pistol. “Where?”
She pointed. “Through that door. Dr. Lee’s and Dr. Sheung’s offices are back there.”
“Stay here.”
48
Paul and Adam trained their rifles on the battered steel door, even though Derek had stressed the weapons were useless against the Chinese robots. They held their rifles like a child clung to a security blanket.
Derek’s main concern was how they could possibly defend themselves. Once the Chinese robots broke through the doors, which seemed inevitable, Isaac and Bradbury could effectively use the EMP one time from inside Olympus Mons. In such tight quarters, his robots didn’t have any way to shield themselves from the electromagnetic pulse. To defend Derek, essentially they sacrificed themselves.
He had no way to determine how many enemy robots were outside the door. If only one came through, forcing his robots to use the EMP, the other seven Chinese robots remained functional. The best he could hope for was that all eight of them were trying to force their way inside and were close enough together for the EMP to shut them down. But the satellite map had only shown four of them. He had no guarantee the other four were hidden in stealth mode outside the doors.
ESCAPE FROM MARS Page 30