*
‘Status report,’ Travis ordered as his ship sped towards populated space.
‘Weapon still in pursuit, Commander,’ the mutoid reported. ‘Disturbances in the energy signatures of local stars suggest that the machine is drawing power from them as it passes by. Its speed is increasing exponentially.’
‘Estimate time to planetfall on Eurydice,’ Travis ordered. His only hope now was to land on a populated planet, he thought. He could hide in the crowds and hope that it would eventually get bored and give up searching for him.
‘Planetfall in approximately two point seven one hours, Commander.’
‘How long before it catches us?’
‘Approximately one point nine hours, Commander.’
Travis panicked. ‘Increase speed!’ he yelped.
‘We’re at maximum now, sir,’ the helmsman replied.
Travis thought fast. He’d be cutting it a bit fine, but he might just make it to Eurydice in one piece. He alone. ‘Continue on course,’ he ordered.
TEN
QUEUE-JUMPING
‘What you’re suggesting,’ Avon said quietly, ‘is that we all assist you in committing suicide.’
‘What I’m suggesting,’ Blake countered, ‘is that we make an effort to stop the Berserker killing millions of innocent people. What I’m suggesting is that we don’t give up the fight just because the odds aren’t in our favour.’
‘But it’s not our fight, is it Blake?’ Avon snapped. ‘It’s yours. If you cast your mind back to the point at which we embarked on this idiotic mission, you will recall I wanted nothing to do with it.’
‘Nor me,’ added Vila, but hung his head like an ashamed schoolboy when Gan gave him an admonishing look.
Jenna wasn’t so easily cowed. ‘I think Avon’s right, Blake,’ she said, looking uncomfortable about agreeing with Avon – and even more so about taking his side against Blake. ‘It’s far too dangerous.’
Blake looked shocked. ‘But it’s going to come for us anyway. For me and Vila.’
‘That’s unlikely,’ said Avon. ‘Once it’s reached Eurydice, it’s bound to reset its queue.’
‘And kill millions,’ said Blake. ‘Look, without the Liberator we stand no chance of destroying it. We need high-powered weaponry to break it up once we’ve deactivated it.’
‘If it can be deactivated,’ Avon interjected.
‘It’s a chance we’ve got to take,’ Blake said firmly. ‘Vila, you and I have got to go down to Eurydice to stop it resetting itself.’
Vila looked startled. ‘What? Why me?’
‘Because you’re on its hit list,’ Blake explained. ‘You and I were within its detection range when it was released from the vault, so it’s almost certainly registered both of us. We have no way of knowing who it saw first, you or me, so we’ve both got to get off the Liberator before it comes to kill us all.’
‘Oh.’ Vila opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it again. Slowly, he stood up and made for the weapons rack. ‘I suppose we’d better go, then.’
‘Good man.’ Blake turned to Zen’s configuration display. ‘Zen, estimate time to orbit of the planet Eurydice.’
‘APPROXIMATELY TWO POINT FOUR HOURS.’
Blake looked at Avon. ‘Will that be sufficient time to finish editing the simulacrum?’
‘I could do it in half that time, perhaps less.’ Avon’s answer betrayed no note of arrogance, he was merely stating a fact. ‘There is one other possibility, though.’
‘Which is?’
‘There could be a weakness in the AE105’s computer. Perhaps if you keep its attention diverted, I could locate that weakness and exploit it.’
‘There isn’t time, Avon. Are you sure there is a computer weakness.’
‘Not completely sure, no. But I think Kerralin’s original message was intended as a clue to it. The man may seem shabby and eccentric, but if I’m right then he has to be given an award for both his cunning and his sense of humour.’
Blake sighed. ‘There’s no way we could distract the Berserker for long enough. And while it’s chasing us it will destroy everything in its path. What if it kills someone by mistake? Does it register that kill and reset its queue?’ He turned to see Vila lurking behind a chair, obviously hoping he would be forgotten. ‘Go and get ready to teleport,’ he ordered. ‘Now.’
Jenna looked sternly at him. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’
‘As you said, Jenna, Avon’s right. This is my fault, and that means it’s my problem. I probably can’t do much about it, but at the very least I intend to try.’ Blake turned and left the flight deck, heading to his cabin to prepare himself.
*
Avon waited for him to leave.
‘Jenna,’ he said quietly. ‘Once he’s teleported down, break orbit but stand off just outside range of the AE105’s detectors.’
Jenna was surprised at the instruction. ‘Why?’
‘I want to test my theory,’ Avon replied, and said no more.
*
Travis was on edge. The fingers on his still-human hand were twitching. He was impatient to get started even though he didn’t relish the task that lay ahead. He relished even less the possibility that, if he did not take the necessary action, the machine would catch up with his ship and certainly destroy him. He checked the fuel gauge on his jetpack. He had about a six-minute burst left. It would have to do. At least he had plenty of oxygen.
‘Time to orbit?’ he demanded.
‘Forty-nine point four minutes, Commander,’ the mutoid answered.
‘Status of the weapon.’
‘Still in pursuit, sir.’
‘Time to contact?’
The mutoid checked the computer. ‘At present speed and trajectory, fifty-seven point seven minutes approximately, sir.’
Travis closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He tensed, prepared himself, and waited.
*
‘We’re nearly in orbit,’ announced Jenna. She glanced down at Avon, who sat probing the holograph projector with a special tool. ‘Is it ready?’
‘It’s been ready for thirty minutes,’ Avon replied dourly. He stood up and resealed the unit. ‘I was just narrowing the pulse transduction conduits to make it a little more efficient, as I had time.’ He laid it on one of the consoles in front of Zen’s main screen. ‘Status of the new simulacrum program,’ he called to the computer.
‘COMPLETED,’ Zen said.
‘Connect and transfer,’ Avon commanded.
Zen gave a little chime. ‘DATA TRANSFER COMPLETE.’
Blake and Vila entered the flight deck. They had both changed clothes and now wore thicker brown leather tunics, protective bands over their forearms, and combat boots. Blake marched to the armoury rack and took a weapon belt, strapping it on. ‘Any sign of Travis’s ship?’ he asked.
‘ONE FEDERATION PURSUIT SHIP HAS ENTERED EURYDICE’S ORBIT. BATTLE COMPUTERS ONLINE.’
Blake nodded. ‘Are there any other hostiles in the area?’
‘ONE UNIDENTIFIED DEVICE IS FOLLOWING THE TRAJECTORY OF THE PURSUIT SHIP.’
‘The Berserker,’ said Blake. ‘Stand by for further instructions.’
‘CONFIRMED,’ said Zen.
Avon held up a hand in front of Blake. He was holding the shiny-surfaced holograph projector. ‘It’s ready.’
Blake looked around the flight deck at the rest of his crew. ‘You all know this could well be the last time you ever see me,’ he said. ‘I don’t want this to be an unnecessarily dramatic moment, but I do want you all to know that I appreciate everything you’ve all done to help me. I know you don’t all share my ideals and for the most part haven’t had anything to gain by doing me any favours, which makes the fact that you did help me all the more surprising and impressive. If I die, all that I ask is that you…’
Jenna interrupted with a kind smile. ‘Don’t worry, Blake,’ she said. ‘We won’t forget you.’
‘Or me I hope,’ V
ila said sadly.
‘You’ll be back,’ said Gan. ‘We’ll be waiting for you.’
‘Thank you,’ said Blake. ‘Cally, can you teleport us to the surface, please?’
‘Of course,’ she said, moving towards the corridor.
Avon had finished what he was doing and handed the holograph projector to Blake. ‘Make it count,’ he said.
‘I plan to,’ Blake answered simply.
He and Vila followed Cally into the corridor.
*
It was time. Travis climbed into the airlock hatch and pulled on his space helmet. His life-support units automatically cut in and he initiated the hatch release sequence. The inner airlock hatch opened and he entered and closed it behind him. It was at times like this that he envied Blake the Liberator and its teleport facility.
He watched the gauge until it registered total depressurisation and then opened the outer airlock and clambered out onto the hull of his ship. He didn’t bother to slam the hatch down – the ship was about to be destroyed anyway. He had ordered the mutoids to break orbit and move just inside atmosphere, and once on the hull he could see the blue sky and clouds of Eurydice’s technologically modified, human-friendly atmosphere stretching out ahead of him.
He wasted no time firing his rockets and heading for the ground below, curving his trajectory so that he would not plunge into seas or crash into mountains but instead soar over land and sea until he found a safe place to alight. He knew his fuel would not hold out for long, but he was expecting some help in making a little extra distance soon. The AE105 itself would do this, even though it did not intend to.
Travis heard the explosion of his ship, destroyed by the weapon, and a few seconds later felt the shockwave hit him and kick him hundreds of miles across the sky in seconds. He instantly shut off his rockets, planning to use them to steady and steer himself off the wave’s impetus as it decayed. It was going to be a bumpy ride, but at least this way he would stand a chance. Fortunately the rocket-jump suit was designed to absorb most of the force from the fringe of the blast and he was close enough to its extremity not to be too concerned about the more dangerous inner belt of force. For a while anyway.
On the horizon a city rushed nearer, and Travis prepared for landfall.
*
Blake and Vila materialised in a small alley between two tall buildings and looked around. There was no-one there, and he activated his bracelet communicator.
‘Down and safe,’ he reported.
He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead they headed out onto the street just in time to see Travis whoosh over their head. The airborne Commander was heading down one of the main roads towards the centre of the city, and Blake and Vila started in the same direction.
A flash of lightning whipped over their heads in the same direction that Travis had taken.
The Berserker had arrived.
INTERLUDE III - STATION AMBER, TWELVE MONTHS AGO
‘She killed them, you know,’ Ban Kerralin said, as he probed inside the complex circuitry of the machine. ‘Well, I say killed. Not in the physical sense, I suppose. She had them brainwashed, their memories erased. Do you know, they wouldn’t recognise me now?’
The tiny precision tools went back onto the tray in exchange for different ones, which he used to poke into the machine again. ‘That’s as bad as death. At least, I think it is. I mean, they’re not the same people, are they? The people they used to be don’t exist any more and now some pre-programmed, model Federation citizens plod around inside their bodies, going about their daily lives without asking questions, without wondering why they’re so docile and obedient, never thinking that it might just be nice to spit in the faces of the monsters that made them.’
Another change of tools. More probing. A part of the machine jerked suddenly. ‘Oops! Sorry.’ Another prod of the tools and the machine went back to normal. The engineer smiled, then sighed. ‘I wouldn’t want to live like that, you know,’ he continued. ‘Life in a permanent state of somnambulance… no. Not for me. That’s why I’ve decided to die. I’ve got a plan to take Servalan with me, of course, but there’s a chance that it might not work, and so you, my sweet, are my back-up.’
He closed the android’s cranium up and kissed her red hair. ‘Now then,’ he smiled. ‘Let’s see how well you respond to your programming, eh?’ He reached over to a computer console and typed in all of the activation codes. The screen flashed up a message that a voiceprint would be required to complete the activation sequence. ‘Activate,’ he said.
The android’s eyes were shut. ‘Please wait,’ it said in a sweet, gentle voice. ‘Assimilating local data.’ It was quiet for a moment. ‘Ready.’
Kerralin stood in front of its seat. ‘Identify yourself,’ he commanded.
‘I am the Assault Engine One Zero Six,’ it said.
‘And your purpose?’
‘My purpose is subversion, infiltration and eventual destruction.’
‘Destruction of what?’ asked Kerralin.
‘The designated subject of my attack has been registered by image print for recognition and has the name Servalan,’ the AE106 informed him.
Kerralin grinned. ‘Excellent. Activate Offensive Program Delta Sixteen.’
‘Ready,’ said the AE106.
The android opened its eyes. Its pupils dilated.
‘Hallo,’ Kerralin smiled as if he were addressing a whole new person.
The AE106 blushed, its cheeks flushing red as it realised it was naked. ‘Who are you?’ it stammered in slight panic. ‘Where am I? What’s going on?’
Kerralin hurriedly handed the machine a dressing gown. ‘It’s quite all right, my dear,’ he said. ‘You’ve had a medical examination. You’re all clear, but you might be a bit disoriented. I’m sending you back to Federation Space Command shortly, and you should recover your memory on the way home.’ He made a show of checking his computer records. ‘Sorry, I lost track a bit,’ he said. ‘What’s your name again?’
‘Keelian,’ said the AE106. ‘Keelian Vardor.’
Kerralin felt a lump rise in his throat. After years of work, he had finally finished. And she was perfect. He thought of all the plans he’d made when he started working on her. All the things they would do, the places they would go. She would have made him famous. The toast of the scientific community.
But things had changed. Now there was only one plan. Only one place for this amazingly lifelike android to go.
He led the girl to an annexe of his lab where there were some other clothes waiting for it, borrowed from stores. From there, it was easy to sneak her aboard a ship. He had even found her a job for when she eventually reached her destination. The Supreme Commander wouldn’t notice this plain little thing among her tailoring staff.
ELEVEN
CONTACT
Travis was slowing down, but he knew that attempting to land would be dangerous. There were buildings in every direction. He was starting to think that heading for a city might not have been the best idea, but on the other hand a hillside wouldn’t have provided as much cover when the AE105 attacked. There were plenty of people in the city to hide behind.
It had occurred to Travis that Servalan had told him to let Blake have the weapon because she had gambled on it killing Blake and the Liberator crew destroying it in return, but so far neither had worked out.
He saw a large building ahead. It was a Federation Economic Study Centre – a college for people who would one day become politicians – and there were plenty of windows. Travis aimed for one on the fifth floor and steered himself into it. The glass shattered under the impact of his spacesuit, and people screamed and took cover under desks and tables as Travis slammed into the back wall of a classroom. He slumped down into a sitting position on the floor, a little shaken but conscious, protected by his space helmet. He pulled it off and took a breath of the local air. Students were clambering out from their hiding places, some with cuts on their hands and faces. The tutor lay spread across her de
sk, a spray of glass shards lacerating her throat, blood pouring into a growing puddle on the polished floor.
Travis gave the corpse a look of distaste as he shrugged off his jetpack, dumped it on the floor and marched out of the classroom.
*
‘What was the theory you wanted to test?’ Jenna sat with shoulders slumped in her navigation chair.
‘Call it a contingency plan,’ Avon answered, turning to Zen’s screen. ‘Zen, have you completed the adjustments I ordered?’
‘RECALIBRATION OF THE FORCE WALL COMPLETED,’ Zen confirmed. ‘A LIGHT FIELD CAN NOW BE PROJECTED OVER A DISTANCE OF SIX HUNDRED SPACIALS.’
‘And how far are we from the AE105’s detector range?’
‘FOUR HUNDRED SPACIALS,’ Zen reported. ‘PROJECTIONS WILL BE VISIBLE TO THE AE105 AT EXTREME RANGE, ALTHOUGH LIBERATOR WILL NOT.’
Jenna raised both eyebrows. ‘A light field?’
‘Just a minor modification to the force wall system,’ Avon said. ‘It might solve our problems a little more quickly than Blake’s plan, and probably with less mess.’
‘Isn’t interfering with the force wall dangerous? Would the recalibrations reduce shield effectiveness?’
‘No. Shine a torch on a wall, it’s lit up, but it’s still a wall.’
‘And what good will shining a torch on our force wall do?’
‘That depends on what shows up in the torchlight.’ Avon checked something on one of the computer consoles. ‘Battle computers to optimum capacity,’ he ordered Zen.
‘CONFIRMED.’
‘Align projection field with the best possible location for detection by the AE105 and power up for activation. Clear neutron blasters for firing.’
‘CONFIRMED,’ Zen said again. ‘ACTIVATION OF LIGHT PROJECTION FIELD WILL OCCUR IN SEVENTEEN MINUTES.’
*
Blake and Vila hitched a ride on a freight transporter heading into the city. Tracking Travis wasn’t difficult. They followed the path of destruction made by the Berserker. There were craters everywhere, full of ash and debris, and some shattered walls and cracked building facades, but so far no bodies.
They jumped down off the transporter and Blake gave the driver a wave of thanks. The college ahead of them was a wreck: windows smashed, concrete cracked. The machine must be trying to drive Travis out into the open and destroy him or else crush him in the building’s rubble, Blake thought grimly. And then it would kill everyone else.
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