Burke sighed and said, "Yes, I think we are all in the same boat at the moment. Follow my orders and we'll get into the station."
"Good kid. Show us in." McCall said.
The Buster K pushed forward under Burke's instructions to reach the emergency bulk head on top of the massive hull. The Buster K was moving slowly toward the location.
"Search light on." McCall said in a low voice while carefully working the yoke and throttle.
"Search light nominal." Beaumont responded. An intense beam of light provided them with a view of only a small square spot on the hull of the space station as they moved forward.
"There!" Burke pointed out of the windshield. They all saw the outlines of a metallic structure. At a closer look they could distinguish a heavy, armored bulk head with all the usual emergency warnings.
"Burke, are you sure we can get in there without getting shot at or worse?" McCall asked.
"Pretty sure. You see, the defense system would have brought us down by now, if it was active. And this port can be opened manually anytime." Burke paused and gulped. Then he said, "But, of course, I have no idea what's behind the airlock."
"Well, there's no way to know if we don't look. I guess that's a risk we'll have to take. We'll find out soon enough." McCall gave Burke a thumbs up and continued with the docking procedure. "Docking clamps."
"Docking clamps now." Beaumont hit the switches that triggered a set of metallic sounds as they touched down on the station. "Docking completed."
"Alright kids, get your guns."
"Who stays on the ship?" Lily looked scared as she asked.
"Nobody. We secure the Buster K like we did before. Ok with that, Julien?"
"Oui, it should be safe. I programmed in an extra security code that only you and I know, Mac." He winked an eye and McCall nodded back his understanding.
"Good, saddle up, people." McCall called out to the group. He got up from his seat and guided Lily and Burke to the lower deck, while Beaumont finalized the security routine. Beaumont waited until the others were out of sight and then pulled out the doohickey before he followed the others.
They decided to go in with full gear, armed and in space suits. Beaumont took his tracking device with him and each of them armed themselves with everything they could find from the Buster K´s armory.
Chapter 10: Rock'n Roll
The four of them went into the airlock separating the ship from the space station.
"Ready?" McCall looked around. Only Lily shook her head.
He put his hand carefully on the handle of the lock, pushed it down slowly, and then held his rifle up at the ready. The others followed suit. When the bulkhead retreated into the opening of the hull, a foul smell overwhelmed them.
"Eeeew, Burke, does it always smell like that?" Lily groaned.
"Uh, no, not really, that can't be a good sign. Be careful, guys."
"Oh man, I smell a rat, even through the stench." McCall said.
They advanced slowly down the corridor. It was dark and quiet and the smell was getting worse the farther they got.
Suddenly, there was a fast movement in front of them. They couldn't see what it was at first. But it was soon apparent. An army of spider-ants was charging them.
They opened fire with everything they had and the bugs in front fell like autumn leaves. The surviving ones in the back retreated.
Burke had a puzzled look on his face. "What the hell?"
"Enlighten us, what is this?" Beaumont gave Burke a sharp look.
"I...I really don't know. They where trained to attack everything within range. I've never seen them retreat before."
"What did I tell you? It's a trap." McCall waved them on down the corridor. They continued walking slowly together as a group. After a few hundred yards, without being attacked again, and with no spider-ants in sight, they arrived at another bulkhead. This one showed considerable signs of an earlier battle.
"What's behind this one?"
"It's the infirmary as far as I know. Yes, the infirmary." Burke nodded.
"Then, what do you think? A trap?" McCall asked.
"I don't know. It appears to be all shut down. And what's going on now is beyond my knowledge. I'd say they've taken over the space station." Burke sounded like he was getting upset.
"Great, I feel so much better. I think we should be moving forward. Objections?"
McCall looked firmly around at the group.
And they all looked back at him.
McCall summoned up his wits and simply knocked on the bulk head door.
No response.
Then he kicked his titanium armored boot against the bulkhead and started yelling,
"HELLOOO! ANYBODY IN THERE? HUMANS OUT HERE!"
Suddenly the locks started to click and clack, the heavy door moved aside. And they found themselves looking into the barrels of at least a dozen assault rifles.
McCall raised his hands, and recited evenly and clearly, "Human! Planet Earth, Civilian!"
One of the grunts came forward, rifle still aimed at them, and checked the four of them out. Then he smiled and said, "Did you say civilian?"
The soldier was smiling, but McCall remained suspicious. "Well, Air Force Reserve, 65th Air Transport, called the Speedy Rhinos", he pointed his thumb behind him. "And we have one active guy with us who you might be acquainted with."
The officer followed his gesture. "Burke, you motherfucker! Where have you been?"
"I'm here, sir. But what is going on here?" Burke came forward and lowered his weapon.
"Are you kidding me? Everything went wazoo about three or four days ago. And you, egghead, are asking me what's going on?"
McCall wasn't quite sure what would become of this meeting. He checked their surroundings and said, "Maybe we should come in and close this fucking door before Matthew answers that question for us?" He gestured toward the corridor.
There was nothing more for the others to say. The party of four rushed in as more soldiers appeared to secure the opening, and other soldiers closed the bulk head hastily.
"Air Force Reserve, huh? Who are you?" The officer looked at McCall, Beaumont and Lily. He already knew Burke.
Linus McCall turned around and introduced his team, "This is Major Lilian Spector, Royal British Air Force, retired. Here we have Major Julien Beaumont, 65th Speedy Rhinos. And I'm Major Linus McCall 65th Speedy Rhinos. We're also both retired but we're all three listed as reserves in the United Nations Army Status."
"YOU are Linus McCall and this is Julien Beaumont?" The soldier said with recognition and surprise.
"Yep. In color and 3D, but I didn't expect you to know who we are."
In the background they could hear a buzzing of whispers going through the rest of the soldiers and the other personnel. Now that McCall's vision had adapted to the dim light, he realized that the room was filled with at least forty people.
"And where's the rest of your team?" The officer looked behind him, "We were expecting a platoon of special forces."
McCall waved his hands in the air. "Somewhere over the rainbow, but not fucking here. And may we inquire who you are?"
"I am Lieutenant Winslow, the last remaining officer on this installment."
McCall gave him a salute, as did Beaumont. Lily tried at least but ended up almost doing something rude, and then turned away.
Just then McCall recognized something in the back of the infirmary. There was a person bound and gagged, tied to a chair. His head was hanging down toward his chest. It was surely a man and he was bleeding from several wounds to his face.
McCall looked over at Beaumont who had seen it as well.
"And who the hell is this? Who is your prisoner?"
"That's classified."
McCall could feel the exasperation rise inside of him. "BULLSHIT! Classified my butt!“ He felt tired as he looked around. „You can't be serious. We are all locked up together here in a non-functional infirmary inside a dead Space Station! Who are you kidding? Tel
l us who it is already."
The Lieutenant turned around, pointed at the poor being tied to the chair and spoke low and intensely, "This is the asshole who caused all of this!"
McCall turned around and looked at Burke, who nodded. "Yes, it's the guy who gave me the painting."
"Okay, so you got the robot. But now tell me, why is he bleeding?"
Winslow took a deep breath, and then said, "It is far away from being a robot. This one has a mind of its own."
"And he is bleeding. I never saw a robot bleed red blood. Remove the gag and the blindfold, I want to speak to this, uh, to him!"
The lieutenant nodded and a couple of the grunts removed the harnesses harshly. The man blinked his bloody eyes and coughed heavily. Then he looked at his surroundings.
McCall moved up closer to the man who was still tied up to the chair. "Yo, are you the dude who hacked into my ship and the La Fleur, and gassed the colony? Are you the motherfucker who tried to kill us all?"
"Yes, Captain McCall"
"How do you know who I am?"
"I have all of the data, all of it..." His voice grew fainter and his head fell forward.
McCall looked fiercely at Winslow. "Tell me again that this guy is a robot! Bullshit!"
"He is tricking you, Captain, he was trained and programmed for that!"
McCall considered that the Lieutenant could very well be right for a moment. But he couldn't get rid of the feeling that something in this room was wrong. Matthias, if he was a robot, he should have been able to rip off all of the restraints and kill everybody in the room.
"Why did you try to kill us?" He asked.
"I..I.. it wasn't my intention."
"Huh? I remember an attack by a patriot and a drone that almost cut our heads off down there on the beach!"
"That was an accident, believe me. I lost control of the defense system."
McCall turned around and faced Beaumont. "Do you believe this?"
"Hardly, but we made it. I would have expected more efficiency from an artificial intelligence."
The being who was Matthias grimaced. "I would have thought so too. But the security routines were better than me."
"Oh, what the hell, bullshit seems to be your middle name, robot!"
"I am not a robot!"
Matthias looked directly into the eyes of McCall.
McCall held the stare and what he saw made him unsure. The feeling he got was that the being facing him was very human.
"Does it matter?", Winslow spoke up, "If he's not a robot, he's a traitor! You know what we do with traitors?"
McCall avoided a response. Instead he asked, "And why did he come back? He stole a shuttle from the colony to get here."
"MY Lady Rose!" Lily yelled, moving toward Matthias, but McCall grabbed her with his free hand and held her back.
“Please, hon! Not now!” He said and locked eyes with her for a moment. She took a deep breath and eased down.
"I don't know." Matthias answered, "Something wasn't functioning as expected." Then he began laughing, almost breaking up, with a maniacal expression. "I thought I had everything under control. I thought my training had prepared me to take over, but..."
"Your training?" McCall bellowed, "fuck you!" Then he glanced over at Winslow furiously, so as to keep the Lieutenant at bay.
"That was not part of his training, believe me. He was trained as a perfect soldier in combat, not as a hacker and pirate to attack civilian installations."
Matthias grinned and lifted his face to Winslow and said, "You should have paid attention Lieutenant."
Winslow was ready to jump Matthias but McCall stepped between them.
"Captain McCall," Matthias looked at Linus, "that's the way they've been treating me ever since I got here to this installment. Because I'm just a 'fucking Robot' in their eyes."
"Then, what are you?" McCall shoved Winslow harshly aside and moved up closer to the prisoner. "I'm listening", McCall was irate, "But why? Nobody, neither me, Julien nor anyone in the Sirius Colony harmed you in any way. Most of us are war veterans. But maybe that is the reason? You are one of the people left behind after the Mars war?"
"No Sir, a person left behind after that war is standing in front of me."
That was almost too much for Linus McCall. He shivered because he was ready to kick this guy in the balls. But he took a minute and composed himself. He turned around to look at Beaumont, Lily, Burke, Winslow and the others. Then he moved his focus to a group of scientists. "Who is responsible for this? You?" He pointed a finger toward one of the senior looking men in a lab coat.
The man looked startled and nervous. His name tag read 'Schulz'. "Nein, No, we didn't make him". he said uneasily. "He was sent to us from McChord, all the way from Earth,"
McCall looked around at Beaumont and Lily and then said, "I feel so secure that we have the military with us. Are they even human?"
"I know this one!" Lily said suddenly, pointing her finger at Matthias. "That's the prick I hit and who fell through the window at the Inn."
McCall frowned.
Suddenly Matthias laughed, writhing with his hands tied, "you didn't accept my proposal."
"Proposal? You swine! He wanted to lick my...."
"Whoa! Too much information!" McCall yelled and put a hand over Lily's mouth.
Lily bit him in the hand.
"Ouch! Stop that!" He grabbed her around the shoulders and hauled her away from Matthias. After taking a deep breath McCall looked back at Matthias and tried to be more objective. "I still don't understand quite what your goal is, Mr. Non-Robot. Wherever you came from, what you're doing could be called sick. It could be passed off as Brick Jordan's revenge. Is that what this is?"
Matthias started laughing and shook his head.
Lily stepped in, "Naw, I think he's just an asshole. A stupid, fanatic wannabe dictator. Another Hitler, Stalin, Po Hao. Not my kind of guy."
Matthias was still laughing until he coughed again.
"This is going to nowhere." McCall was getting close to using force against Matthias. Beaumont could see the exasperation in Linus' face and came up to him.
"Linus" he looked at his partner, "Stop it. He won't say anything. Even if you kicked him in the family jewels."
"Yeah, and I'm just about ready to do that, let me tell you."
Their voices were low, almost whispering.
Then Winslow joined in the discussion. "What then? Can we dispose of this piece of crap now, or what?"
"What good would that do? We need to know the whole story." McCall glanced over in Matthias' direction, "and we need to know what's behind all of this. Was this his doing or was he programmed to do this."
Matthias grinned with a mad look in his eyes when he heard that, but said nothing.
Without warning a loud thump shook the entire station. Everybody lifted their weapons and aimed them as a precaution toward the door. They could hear scratching noises from the other side of the door.
"Winslow?" McCall called.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Will we hold up under another attack?" McCall looked worried.
"I don't know. These bugs have tried to get through here a dozen times. I imagine the bulkhead should withstand a few more."
"A few more? Great, I feel so much better." McCall turned around to make sure that Matthias was still tied to his chair. He wasn't going to leave anything to chance. Then, suddenly, the light on all of the screens came back to life and the scratching at the door stopped. The room shook again and a metallic, hollow sound rumbled through the entire station.
"That's a ship! A ship has docked!" Winslow whispered.
"Yeehaaa, the cavalry has arrived." McCall said.
Winslow gave McCall a grim look as he recognized his ironic, dry tone.
"Go to hell, grunt!" McCall thought, but said nothing. He just winked his eye at Beaumont. Then he looked over at Matthias and said, "Matthias, just one question."
Matthias looked up and answered. "What do y
ou think? Did they come for me? Will they bring me back?"
McCall was confused.
"Okay, I give up. Where are you from? What are you? Sorry if I'm repeating myself."
"I grew up in a small, rural town you might know. Carnation, in the state of Washington, United States, Planet Earth. My parents had a nice house on the Tolt River."
"Really? Well it's a small world, my great grandma used to live there once." McCall grinned.
"I know. I know your family history well, Captain McCall." Mathias said. Then he took a deep breath.
"You might not believe what I have to say. But I'll tell you my story. I might not have been born like the rest of you. But I went to kindergarten, preschool, grade school and high school. Then I studied at the University of Washington, Cal Tech and MIT. But the people who raised me weren't my biological parents. They were with the military."
"Understood. But again, in the name of god, why would you want to do something like this?"
"I thought I could be better than you."
"You who?"
"You", he looked around at the people in the command center, "You, you, and all the rest of the people in the universe."
"Yeah right. You're better than everybody by risking the lives of an entire colony."
Lily jumped forward, ready to scratch his eyes out, but McCall grabbed her by her waist and swung her back to Beaumont who held her tight.
"Matthias," McCall began, "you do know that you sound like one of the dictators Lily mentioned before.“ He rubbed his brow and paced back and forth and finally said,
„I don't know what and who you really are. I only have your word. But what you're saying just scares me." McCall looked around at the people gathered in the room and asked, "What about you guys? Did you know who and what he is? Gimme a break, I was in the military. And I just don't believe it."
Burke came forward and said, "Sorry Captain McCall, but he was introduced to us as special forces, a synthetic with advanced talents, but nothing more. Nothing more!" Then he shrugged and tried to hide behind Lily and Beaumont.
Winslow spoke up, "That's right. He was supposed to be some big-ass specialist from Earth to help us with the training and programming of the spider-ants."
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