by Isaac Hooke
“Can’t we get Titans, or maybe the new Megalith models?” Bender whined as the deal was going down. “Because I’m telling you, you can never have enough bug spray…” He was slobbering over the Megalith display model, which towered over them all in its full bipedal glory. It was a virtual augmentation, of course, and the actual Megalith required a ten day assembly time after purchase, but that didn’t make the mech any less impressive.
“First of all, a Megalith won’t even fit in Snakeoil’s hangar bay,” Surus said.
“Ooo,” Bender said. “But the question is, can you fit in Snakeoil’s hangar bay?” He winked.
Surus frowned. “No, but I’m sure you can.”
“Touché!” Manic said.
“Second of all,” Surus continued. “I’ve only budgeted a set amount. One Megalith blows the entire mech budget.”
“Yeah, but a Megalith is easily worth ten Hoplites!” Bender said.
“There are some who would disagree with you on that point,” Lui said. “Namely me. In my opinion, a Megalith can only replace two Hoplites, and in the hands of skilled operators, maybe not even that much. Definitely not worth the ten times modifier on the price tag. Besides, we know Hoplites like the back of our hands. Their strengths, their weaknesses. It’s a bad time to be switching mech models before a mission. We had a few missions back in our war days that almost ended in disaster when we did that.”
“Very true,” Rade said. “Hoplites it is.”
Surus walked away with the Artificial salesman to complete the transaction.
Tahoe pulled Rade off to the side when Surus was gone.
“How can we be sure the AI cores are truly blank?” Tahoe asked, shaking his head. “Sino-Korean refurbs… they buy used United Systems hardware and wipe the cores, you know that right? Cheaper that way.”
“In the contract it says they agree to remove the AI cores and replace them with new, factory fresh models,” Rade said.
Tahoe didn’t seem convinced. “Shady mech dealers in backwater outposts like these have been known to renege on contract terms. I’m just saying…”
Rade sighed. “Well, let’s just hope no AIs died. Because we can’t go into this mission without mechs. And this is the only station in the past three systems that carries any.”
Tahoe sighed. “All right.”
When the mechs were aboard the Motley Brown, in the emptied hangar bay that now served as mech bay, Rade had TJ and Bender work with Snakeoil’s maintenance robots to install the AI cores of the old mechs from the backups. The process would take a few days, apparently, but it was something they could do while underway.
While at the station, Surus picked up refined metals for the Motley Brown’s 3D printers, a full complement of Hellfires for the missile launchers, and slugs for the mag-rail point defenses. Surus went all out and splurged on the slugs, opting to go for the expensive, high-grade explosive variants.
“Not even the military uses those,” Rade said.
“Oh I know,” Surus said. “They’re considered way too expensive for way too little added punch. But as far as I’m concerned, even a slight advantage is worth it.”
The fully-stocked starship finally departed from the station, and Rade returned to the tiny closet he shared with Shaw. He spent some time in the mech simulators with the team, using virtual Hoplites modeled after the latest purchases. He spent the rest of his time in the closet with Shaw, usually running different VR simulations with his Implant to make the time pass faster. He was in such a simulation, having a picnic with Shaw on a flower-covered hilltop overlooking a mountain lake, with the virtual representations of the kids playing nearby, when TJ tapped in to update him on the mechs.
“The backup installation is complete,” TJ said. “We’ve got our old mechs back.”
“Any issues?” Rade asked.
“Well, I hope you got a good deal on these, because the armor and ballistic shielding on a few of them is subpar,” TJ said. “Plus the power intensities on all the cobras are a bit low for my tastes.”
“There’s only so much you can check in the dealership environment,” Rade said. “At some point you have to trust the inspection report.”
“Yeah, well,” TJ continued. “Bender and I are having Snakeoil print up some extra parts to reinforce the armor and ballistic shields, and to improve the focusing mirrors of the lasers.”
“Now that’s what I want to hear,” Rade said. “Whatever you come up with, make sure you update the mech simulators, so we’re practicing with something as close as possible to the real deal.”
“Will do,” TJ said.
“By the way, how about the AIs themselves?” Rade said. “How are they doing?”
“A few are exhibiting signs of Imposter Syndrome, but that can be expected from AIs who’ve just been restored from backup copies,” TJ said. “We’ve got them all running the complete VR counseling package. I expect they’ll be combat ready by the time we reach our destination.”
“Good deal,” Rade said. “Keep me apprised of any issues that come up.”
“You got it,” TJ disconnected, leaving only the mountain hilltop.
Rade stared at the virtual kids running across the virtual meadow. He told Shaw, without looking at her: “You know, I could almost believe the kids are really here with us. Almost believe we were actually basking here beneath the sun, surrounding by mountains, enjoying a meal. Except I can’t feel the rays of the sun on my face. Nor the grass on my hands. And the food never reaches my lips.”
“But you can feel this.” Shaw extended a hand and gripped his.
“Yes,” Rade said. “You’re the only thing that’s real. You, and the cold deck beneath me.”
“Would you prefer we return to that dark closet?” Shaw said.
He smiled wanly. “No. I need this environment. Something idyllic to forget what’s coming. Rather than that claustrophobic alcove.”
“And what’s coming, exactly?” Shaw said.
“I don’t know,” Rade said. “But we’re going to have to fight. Probably for our lives.”
Shaw nodded slowly, then returned her attention to the illusory kids, and watched them play for a moment. “You know, I used to never want kids. I didn’t want to be bolted down. Stuck in one place. But then I realized it didn’t have to be that way. That we could bring them with us. Or so I thought. Because it seems like, we can’t keep doing this. Can’t keep bringing them with us.”
“Then we’ll do what we’re doing now,” Rade said. “Drop them off for babysitting whenever a mission comes up.”
“I’m not sure I can live that way,” Shaw said. “Especially considering what happened. Don’t you see? The mission never ends… there is no ‘between missions.’ The kids were supposed to be safe aboard. But then an unexpected attack came.”
“That was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence,” Rade said.
“Was it?” Shaw asked.
“Yes,” Rade said. “We made a mistake. Assumed that Ms. Bounty hadn’t been compromised. It won’t happen again. We learn from our mistakes.”
Shaw was quiet for a time. Finally: “I hope so, Rade.” She hugged him. “For our sake. And the children’s.”
THE MOTLEY BROWN took the Gate from Qi Yu to Kuangshi after paying the appropriate bribe to customs. In Kuangshi, they flew past the Sino-Korean mining bases that operated on the moons of the out-system planets, and headed toward the second sun of the binary system.
Snakeoil flew a little close to that sun for comfort, reassuring Rade that “the heat armor would hold up.” He used the gravity of the sun to slingshot the Motley Brown to the far side, where the Super Earth was awaiting.
“Any queries from the mining companies in the system?” Rade asked Snakeoil. “Asking what we’re doing, nosing around the farther sun?”
“Nope,” Snakeoil said. “But I’m sure they think we’re some sort of scientists slash explorers. Or simply nuts.”
Rade took his place on the bridge as a virtual obs
erver when the planet came into view.
“There’s our Gate, just as expected,” Snakeoil said.
Snakeoil had given Rade access to the tactical display, and the external nose cam, and he saw the Gate on both. It was a circular structure about ten million kilometers away from the planet, in a similar orbit.
“So Zhidao left it intact after all,” Rade said. “He could have easily dropped a missile behind him, programming it to destroy the Gate after he left.”
“Maybe he wants us to follow him?” Tahoe said. He was also on the bridge as a virtual observer, but piggybacking on Rade’s feed so that he wasn’t visible to any of the bridge crew. “Part of his entertainment?”
“I don’t know,” Rade said. “Maybe he couldn’t be bothered to destroy it. But whatever the case, we have to be ready for a trap on the other side.”
Snakeoil nodded. “Maggot, sound general quarters.”
“Sounding General Quarters,” the Motley Brown’s AI said. The ship’s AI had a slimy voice that matched its name. “Engaging Material Condition ZEBRA and charging vipers.”
ZEBRA meant all the breach seals between decks would close, ensuring maximum subdivision and ship tightness.
“The Builder will be arriving in a week or so,” Surus said. She was also piggybacking on Rade’s feed. “I’ve already ordered it to pass through when it gets here, so that it can begin constructing a return Gate.”
“Zhidao may be working on a return Gate of his own,” Rade said. “If he hasn’t already built one.”
“If so, we’ll dismiss the Builder,” Surus said. “They’ll be content to keep their deposit.”
Rade kept his bridge link active for the next hour, and watched the Motley Brown reach the Gate.
“Launch telemetry drone,” Snakeoil ordered. “I want it to pass in and out. Program it to begin decelerating well before it reaches the Gate, so that it doesn’t spend more than a second or so in the destination system.”
“Launching drone,” the ops specialist said.
Rade watched the blue dot representing the drone on the tactical display. It began to slow down as it reached the Gate, so that it was moving at almost a crawl by the time of contact. The blue indicator vanished from the display.
“Drone just passed through,” the ops specialist said. He looked up. “It’s not coming back.”
“That means either there is no return Gate…” Snakeoil began.
“Or the drone was destroyed,” Rade finished for him.
Snakeoil nodded. “All right. Maggot, status on the weapons?”
“Vipers are fully charged, and Hellfires are ready to fire,” Maggot replied.
Snakeoil glanced at his astrogator. “Well, take us in.”
“Aye, boss,” the astrogator said.
The Motley Brown approached the Gate, which slowly grew wider and wider until Rade could no longer see the peripheries on the external camera feed.
The constellations jumped.
“We’re through,” the ops specialist announced.
Snakeoil leaned forward. “So what do we got?”
“There’s definitely no return Gate,” the ops specialist said. “Nor any signs that our prey has started building one. I’m also not detecting any nearby traps on passive sensors: no waiting ships. And no mines, or other traps, but of course it will take some time until our thermal signature registers system wide.”
“Though any nearby objects would have already noticed our presence,” Snakeoil said. “That rules out automated traps.” He glanced at Rade. “Is it possible Zhidao never expected us to follow?”
“Oh he expected it,” Rade said.
Snakeoil nodded, then turned toward his ops specialist. “Our drone?”
“Still intact. I’m recalling it.”
“No,” Snakeoil said. “Send it out. Let’s get some stats on this place. The drone can serve as a decoy at the same time. As soon as you get a bead on the probable ecliptic, I want you to move the drone outside that plane. Arc it outward and have it come in from stellar north. Conversely, astrogator, once we know the ecliptic plane, I want you to arc us outward as well, moving below the plane by at least fifty million kilometers, with the intention of coming in from stellar south.”
“Roger that,” the astrogator said. “Waiting for Maggot to determine the probable ecliptic plane once planetary motion is measured.”
“Have we identified all celestial objects yet?” Snakeoil asked.
“No,” Maggot said. “Working on it. So far I have identified four gas giants, and a potential asteroid belt.”
“All right, keep me updated,” Snakeoil said.
A few seconds later, Maggot said: “Well this is interesting. Passive sensors are picking up the thermals of what appears to be a ship on the far side of the system. Signature matches that of a Sino-Korean Builder class vessel.”
“A Builder?” Snakeoil said.
“Yes,” the ship’s AI replied. “It is building a Gate nine hundred million kilometers away from our present position, above a Slipstream leading out of the system.”
Snakeoil glanced at Rade. “So that answers our question on whether Zhidao hired a Builder or not.”
“You’re assuming that the Purple actually hired it,” Rade said. “I’d assume he hijacked it.”
“Probably a good assumption,” Snakeoil said. “Comms, try to hail it.”
“Sending hail message, all frequencies,” the comm officer replied. “It’ll take forty-eight minutes for our hail to reach them, and another forty-eight for an answer to come.”
“So about an hour and a half,” Snakeoil said.
“That’s right,” the comm officer said.
Ten minutes later, Maggot announced: “I believe I’ve identified all celestial objects and determined the ecliptic plane.”
“Setting course for below the ecliptic plane and accelerating as per standing order,” the astrogator announced.
“Thank you,” Snakeoil said. “Maggot, give us the lay of the land.”
The tactical display Rade had overlaying his vision updated, and it revealed different planets and moons orbiting two closely-bound stars.
“We have two binaries orbiting a common barycenter,” Maggot said. “One hot, one cold. They are detached: each star is within its Roche lobe.” A quick lookup on Rade’s Implant told him that the Roche lobe was the region around a star within which any orbiting material was gravitationally bound. It formed a tear drop shape, with the Lagrangian apex of the drop pointing to the other star.
“Outer planets are composed of three Jovians and one brown dwarf,” Maggot continued. “An asteroid belt separates the inner system from the outer system. As for the inner system, the closest planet to the twin suns is tidally locked, a Mercury equivalent with lava oceans on one side and frozen seas the other. My guess is the core is geothermically inactive. Second planet is a Super Earth located right where the habitable zone begins. Spectral lines indicate a potential oxygen atmosphere. Third planet is in the center of the habitable zone, but is has no magnetosphere—the solar wind has ripped away any atmosphere, turning it into a Mars equivalent. Fourth planet is just within the habitable zone. I’m detecting regular radio signals, but otherwise no satellites or other evidence of space-based travel. I believe the signals are some sort of broadcast, but it is unlike any human-based broadcast I have ever seen. An analog coding of some kind. All of this taken together makes me believe the fourth planet is inhabited by a mid to late Tech Class I species.”
“We’re sure the Sino-Koreans have never sent any colonists this way?” Snakeoil asked. “Maybe when the Kuangshi system was first explored?”
“It is possible,” Maggot said. “But according to the public records, the Sino-Koreans never got around to building a Gate here.”
Rade shook his head. “Assuming that’s true, then the Sino-Koreans had extraterrestrial life sitting on their doorstep all this time and never knew it.”
“Life,” Snakeoil said. “I’ve actua
lly discovered a new life form.”
Tahoe was observing the proceedings, and chimed in: “Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to rush to judgment until we’ve decoded some of those radio signals for ourselves, or at least visually confirmed what the surface of the planet looks like?”
“Probably a good idea,” Rade said.
“Maggot, have you detected any other ships besides the Builder so far?” Snakeoil asked.
“Negative,” the Motley Brown’s AI responded. “If there are any other ships here, they are running silent.”
Snakeoil glanced at Rade’s holographic image in the center of the command stations. “There are only a few ships capable of such stealth operations. All of them are robot manned.”
Rade nodded. “Such a ship suits Zhidao perfectly. Allowing him to jump from robot to robot as needed to adjust any commands he might have, or to reprogram their cores. But I have a feeling he’s not using a stealth ship. A ship like that isn’t the easiest thing to acquire, not even for a rogue Phant. Unless he’s managed to worm his way close to the top of one of humanity’s governments or intelligence agencies.”
“I wouldn’t put it past a character like Zhidao,” Snakeoil said. “From what you’ve told me about him.”
“Still,” Rade said. “I think we’ll find the Volare hiding behind a planet or moon somewhere. Probably the Tech Class I planet. Life is always of interest to Phants. Or rather, the conversion to geronium that life offers them upon death.”
Snakeoil pursed his lips. “That planet would certainly draw his interest. But it would also be the most obvious place for him to hide. If he wanted us to follow, like you suggest, then I suspect he’s lurking elsewhere. Ops, fire off another drone and keep it here. With the first drone entering from stellar north, while we come in from stellar south, between the three of us we should be able to spot any ships that might be hiding. We’ll concentrate our attention on any blind spots later.”