It was during that car ride when Exsid noticed the restoration of the Central Net. The marines pulled over quickly into the hospital parking lot, dropping them off at the loading zone in front of the hospital. Telling Exsid to get out with the girl, he was then met by another marine coming out of the hospital with a stretcher on a cart. After putting the little girl on the stretcher, the marine escorted Exsid to an elevator going down, into the heart of the immense hospital complex. Darvin, however, took the time to call Exsid over the Central Net when they were traveling down in the elevator.
“Exsid where are you?”
Curt as always, Exsid thought as he regarded his much younger partner. “In the hospital, you?” Nobody in the elevator heard him speak. The Biocomp took his thought signals and transferred them into speech over the voice only call. The result was no one knew you were talking to someone else and your image was represented by a realistic avatar.
“Daniel’s pub. Remember? Where we were supposed to meet up?”
“Will you stop being sarcastic all the time? It’s getting annoying.”
“Daniel says the same thing. So you on your way yet?”
“No, I’m a bit occupied.”
“With?” Even with there being a voice only connection, Exsid could imagine Darvin’s eyes rolling as he said that single impatient word.
“A little girl was hit by a car. We are traveling down to get her looked at.”
“How did you even get to the hospital? That’s like six miles from the pub.”
“I was at home when you called me the first time. Cut the old man some slack here.”
“Watching those Grav games on your lazy rear again I bet. And getting paid for it this time. I approve.”
“Yeah, you would.”
“Anyways, when you heading over to here? There’s something I think we need to check out.”
“As soon as these Commonwealth Marines release me.”
“Have you watched the recent press release?” Darvin said gravely. The coldness of his tone made Exsid’s skin crawl. There were only a handful of times that Exsid has ever heard Darvin say that.
“No…”
A video mail icon flashed in the top right corner of Exsid’s Exovision. Without another single word from Darvin, Exsid watched the speech from Vice Governor Chipman. He couldn’t help a twitch of his eyes as he looked at the single marine escort in the elevator. However, something didn’t seem right with this scenario.
“Not going to be able to leave for a while,” Exsid said.
“Call me if anything arises then.” With that said, Darvin ended the called. The video made Exsid nervous; questioning the motives of the marines as he internally debated whether he should trust what the politician was saying. It was a politician after all.
Leaving Exsid uncomfortable as usual, the elevator doors opened up to one of the lowest levels of the hospital where the intensive care unit was. A doctor came up, alerted by an early notification sent to him via the Central Net and the hospital’s private network, and dragged the stretcher out of the elevator. Exsid walked almost out of the elevator before the marine clasped his armored gauntlets around Exsid’s arm.
“You’re coming with me sir. The Captain wants to see you,” the marine said without any emotion apparent in his voice.
Seeing no other way, Exsid grunted an agreement and stepped back into the elevator as he watched the little girl get wheeled away. He didn’t even know her name yet.
***
The Commonwealth Marine Military Base looked like a Christian cross, floating in space between Rings Three and Two. Sharing their orbital path along with Callisto, it was an efficient way of transporting resources and personnel that required little fuel expenditure from shuttles traveling to and from the Rings and other habitual stations. All four ends of the station were hangers. From three of these hangers, a total of six shuttles left. Two headed for Ring Two, while the rest went to Ring Three.
The cylinder shaped shuttles carried personnel and equipment, more marines and several machines flying to restore order in the Rings. Inside of the station, the Captain of the Commonwealth Marines sat in his command chair, watching Exsid on the holographic deck.
***
White flashes and little gusts of plasma appeared noiselessly on the surface of Callisto. Metal ingots shot out into space, curved ever so slightly by Callisto’s minute gravity. With space and gravity precisely measured around Jupiter the computer knew the tracks the ingots would follow. The metal cylinders slipped silently through space until they reached Ring Five that was still under construction. Specialized fixed magnetic fields grabbed at the cylinders, trying to rein them into the loading bays where they would be melted down and fed into the onboard nanotic factories to be processed.
But an error occurred. The ingots passed through the fields, their orbital trajectories slightly bent by the disturbance of Ring Five’s magnetic captures. Engineers watched as the ingots flew pass and disappeared into little specks that the human eye could no longer see. They brought up the systems to see what went wrong. What they found was that the metal was traveling at velocities over thirty times what they should have been. They ran the trajectories through the computer and noted with dread where they would end up. They tried to report it but their consoles suddenly locked up and froze.
***
Exsid walked back into the elevator and out of the Marines’ temporary command center with a feeling of dread. He was now one of the oldest and therefore most senior detectives according to the marines’ current database. He wanted to contact Darvin over what the Captain told him, but he couldn’t find the right words. Darvin is an unpredictable creature at times, almost as if those eyes of his were caused by a genetic defect that also affected his thought patterns.
Exsid took the elevator back down to the hospital floor level where the little girl was being treated for her injuries. Specialized nanomeds meant for children were injected and being used to rebuild her skeletal structure. Normal nanomeds for adults might screw up the little girl’s developing brain and cause her to have a stunted growth, which was fixable but expensive. He learned that her name was Betty. Looking down at her he finally realized that he should just tell Darvin the information he received from the Captain as bluntly as the Captain told him. It would be a way Darvin would appreciate.
***
Warning symbols appeared on the computer layouts inside of the Commonwealth Marine Military Base. Changes in the local space-time field caused by the gravity of several objects were noted. These objects were traveling at a fast enough speed to do damage to the base’s superstructure and were on a collision course. The computer also sent a warning that the base’s maneuvering thrusters would not be quick enough to move the structure out of the way of the objects coming in fast. Strong magnetic fields kicked in around the base, designed to deflect incoming metal objects such as micrometeorites. However, the computer soon calculated that only some of the objects would be deflected away.
The Captain, who just finished talking to Exsid, issued a general evacuation of all base personnel, essential and non-essential. Over three hundred marines ran to the hangers and to the escape pods. Several transports began to filter out of the hangers along with four fighters. A destroyer, one of the first and still experimental in its design, remained moored to the sole dock large enough to hold it. Holding clamps began to release off of the destroyer.
Meanwhile, the Captain keyed in a sequence that began to separate the command center from the rest of the base. Loud clicks sounded off all around as locking pins withdrew into their holes. A klaxon blared as everyone was shoved down into their seats as a massive hydraulic system lifted the bridge out of the base. Ion thrusters then kicked in, slowly propelling the bridge away from the rest of the base. But the Captain worried if they could get far enough away…
***
Exsid walked back to the elevator, trying to figure out the next best move before he called Darvin and let him do something s
tupid, again. He stared at the general map of the Ring without a single thought going by. How do you find a person with no information on where they could have gone and when they disappeared during the recent Rebel attack?
Exsid walked out of the elevator and outside into the ground floor of the Ring. He could think of no way at the moment. He had to meet up with Darvin and see if he noticed anything while he was running around during the attack. It was during that thought when Exsid got the general recall from the police department. Hopefully the Chief might have some information for him to start with.
***
The Commonwealth Marine Military Base released a gel dispersal that was designed to absorb impact and slow down objects. Yet, even with this countermeasure combined with the magnetic shields to try to deflect the ingots onto a new path, most of the ingots slammed into the armor surrounding the base. Some only dented the armor while most tore into the structure. Deep inside the base, one ingot flew in deep enough to hit the fusion power plant. The toroidal chamber was punctured and several of the fragile neodymium magnets surrounding the fusion chamber were shredded by the metal cylinders.
Superheated plasma, no longer guided in a perfect circle by the magnetic fields from the rare earth magnets, lashed out into the room that held the toroidal chamber. The plasma melted the rest of the magnets, causing the rest of the plasma inside of the fusion chamber to release itself on tangent velocities from where it was when the magnetic field was shut down. The result was a concentric ring of plasma ripping out into the interior of the base. Over a hundred marines who could not make it to an escape pod or a transport died instantly. All of this happened in less than a second from when the toroidal chamber was punctured.
The Captain looked in disbelief as the base was ripped apart from the inside. The bridge shuddered as one of the metal ingots hit the rear of the command center and weightlessness filled the bridge. “Damage report!” the Captain yelled.
“Sir, the thrusters were damaged from the impact. Engineering reports it can be fixed and power rerouted within a few minutes,” a voice on the bridge said. But the Captain did not look past his Exovision to see who spoke to him. Instead he only saw the computer’s timer on when the plasma shockwave would hit the command vessel. His last sight would be staring at that timer when it hit one second until impact.
***
Almost thirty minutes after the destruction of the Marine’s base, Exsid arrived at the temporary Police Headquarters. He checked in with the Chief and saw that he really was the last senior detective remaining. They had brought together the whole police force of the Ring to consolidate what was left. In total, only a hundred and ten officers remained out of the original four hundred officers from the three police stations. One Chief remained. Of the other two one was missing and the other was found dead, riddled with bullets.
Chief Burns survived due to sheer luck. When the blast took out and leveled the police station, he was reaching under his desk for a dropped pen. The desk saved him, literally, as the whole room crashed down on top of it. At the moment he was having all the surviving members in one single room for what they all guessed was for planning their next moves. Regaining control and the general safety of the populace was their top priority.
“Let’s quiet down people so we can get down to business,” the Chief said as he waited for them to stop talking to each other. The mood was somber, everyone thinking about how most of their brothers were dead or missing. Even the Chief paused for a few minutes to collect his thoughts when he saw how few of them were left. He could only think of how many civilians in the Ring were left out of the original two hundred thousand.
“We need to plan out our next series of movements. First is damage control. EMTs are going to need some escorts and that will use up half of our current workforce. We do not know where the rebels have gone, but reports have shown that several spacecraft have left the hangers and flown into the blind spot behind Callisto. Those of you on patrol duty with the EMTs will be designated Alpha Force. You will receive a heads up in your Exovision on who’s who after this meeting. Team Bravo will-”
A loud bang reverberated through the crowded room as the back door swung open and hit the wall. Darvin strolled through without caring for trying to sneak in because he was late. He visited a Medidrone right before he got to the room, flagged down by the few medics there as he strolled in. The medics strapped the sleeve like device on his arm. It filled him up with specialized medical nanobots and a slurry of a pasty material that Darvin had no clue what it was. But it was still in the process of fixing his arm internally.
“Darvin… Where the hell were you?” The Chief asked and looked as annoyed as he sounded.
“Watching the news. Sorry I’m late. Hey Exsid,” Darvin replied nonchalantly. What Darvin said was true, he was watching the news as the Medidrone was working on him.
“Sit your rear end down Darvin,” Exsid tried to whisper to Darvin as quietly as possible, but the room was designed to make every sound heard to everyone in the room. A few of the other officers chuckled. Exsid brought a hand to his face and sighed to himself.
“Seriously, am I the only person who watches the news these days?” Darvin asked.
It was then that everyone noticed the attack on the Commonwealth Marine Military Base.
Chapter 4
The development of the first colonies on Mars was due to the need for a temporary way station between Earth and the Asteroid Belt. This is similar to the development of Hawaii before and immediately after the period of World War II. The first station was on top of the shield volcano called Mon Olympus, where there were barely a few miles of thin atmosphere. Later, the inside of the mountain was transformed into a giant Arcology with energy being generated from thermoelectric generators using the dormant volcanic activity below and the space above. With Mars being declared a colony in its own right in the early 23rd century, it began exploiting the water found below its surface and a large terraforming project was started. As of the early 25th century, Mars is now the largest exporter of water and supplies the Earth Ring’s hydroculture facilities.
-The History of the Earth Commonwealth
Exsid watched as the detached command center of the Marine’s base was wiped out in the blast wave from the ruptured fusion chamber. He remembered the way the Captain talked to him, what the Captain asked of him to do and how Exsid agreed to do it even though he had his own reservations about the task. He figured now was a good time as any to bring it up. “Chief, I spoke with the Marine Captain about half an hour ago. He asked for help in finding a missing person.”
“There are a lot of missing people right now Detective. What makes this one more important over the rest?” the Chief asked.
“A Marine General disappeared during the rebel attack, sir.”
“A Marine General?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So we have a Marine General and a Police Chief missing?” The Chief seemed to mutter to himself.
“I would like to head a small team to investigate.”
“I cannot spare any personnel or supplies in this chaos. Use Darvin and update me when you get some new information.” The Chief paused as he considered his next words. “The rest of you are assigned to task teams to be spread around the Ring. Everyone head out. This place here is our new temporary headquarters. If anything else happens retreat back to this point. Our fallback point is a hillside located in the park. If you have any questions speak to your Sergeants. Dismissed.”
Most of the officers got up without saying a word. Most of the conversations happening now were being conducted through their Exovision and Exolinks. Everyone started to move out of the room except for Exsid and Darvin who were both summoned through their Exolink by the Chief. Looking at each other without saying a word, they moved up front to where the Chief was addressing everyone. Exsid couldn’t help but to glance at Darvin’s smug look and his silver eyes. So much like his father’s…
“Exsid, sometimes I
really think Darvin is rubbing off on you. What the hell were you thinking bringing that up during the meeting?” the Chief asked as his brow scrunched together.
“Sir, I thought it was best for everyone to know in light of recent events.”
“Let me worry about who needs to know what. Let me tell you something, we got a few more than a hundred officers for controlling a population the size of a little less than two hundred thousand. I even authorized the use of riot control grade powered armor but even with that we are going to be shorthanded. Now you want everyone to know that not only are we understaffed and under-equipped but we are also facing the disappearance of a major military figure?”
“Putting it that way, sir, I think Darvin has rubbed off on me.”
“Hey now,” Darvin said off on the side.
“Shut up Darvin, the only reason why you’re still Detective with all of those civilian complaints is because you can crack those few cold cases,” Chief Burns said.
Exsid saw Darvin coming up for a rebuke, but jumped in to change the subject. “What did you want to talk to us about Chief?”
“That General you said was missing was meeting with the Chief that also is currently missing. I need you two to go over to the remains of the other precinct and see what you can find.”
“We got a spare cruiser we can use?”
“No, you are on your own in that area. Use the shuttles only when you need to. There’s been a report that the Rebels used that system to move around so quickly.”
Rebels of Jupiter Page 4