***ANAD Config Two exiting the ship now*** came ANAD’s voice over the commlink.
“Very well,” Mendez checked ship’s status one last time. “ANAD, maneuver to these coordinates--“ he sent the last reported bearing from Nguyen, “--and hold that position. Form up a frontal shield…assume Config Six Six.” Mendez had pulled that one from the ship’s archive…it would configure the ANAD nanobotic formation into a barrier that should in theory hold off any bots working their way through the shale rock that had Gopher trapped.
“Borer at ninety percent,” Li called out.
Good enough, Méndez thought. “Engage the borer. Robles, get us out of here now! DPS, get your HERF weapon and magpulser spooled up. We may have to fight our way out of this--“
The DPS tech complied, quickly bringing the High-Energy Radio Freq system to power. The magpulser magnetrons were already humming as well. Gopher had quite a bite for any bots that came too close.
The ship shifted, slid a little, then lurched forward with a vigorous shake, like a dog let off its leash.
“Borer operating at ninety-five percent,” said Li. She manipulated her controls, shaping the hemispherical globe of bots that were beginning to chew away at the rock layers surrounding them. “Pressure and temps nominal, configs look good, we’re digging out--“
“Best forward speed, DSO,” Mendez ordered.
Robles shifted his stick slightly and the ship leveled off, then lurched forward and settled into a steady humming vibration. A cheer erupted on the command deck.
“We’re moving!” said Li.
“Gopher moving out smartly,” Robles added. He steadied his stick, feeling the force of the rock pressing against the treads and the hull. “Setting cruise speed…now two point five kilometers per hour.”
“Steer toward that swarm. Nguyen, give us a bearing. ANAD, hold on, okay. We’re maneuvering to intercept.”
Now finally underway, Gopher propelled herself on full tread and borer toward the Config Zero bots, less than a thousand meters to starboard.
“SS1, what are we dealing with here…got any structure on those bots?”
Sergeant Rounds licked his lips and scanned his board. “Acoustics look like Config Zero-type bots, sir. I’ve been able to run the data through filtering, screen some of the seismic stuff. EMs and thermal…too soon to tell. Best guess, Lieutenant: we’re dealing with standard bots we’ve seen before from this source.”
“That’s good enough for me. ANAD, prepare for combat launch…assume Config C-7, opposed entry.”
Clinging to Gopher’s outer hall as she squeezed through the layers of shale and slate several thousand feet underground, the ANAD master responded.
Johnny Winger and the Great Rift Zone Page 20