by Scott Baron
“Holy…” Finn gasped as he surveyed the toppled stone. “This is incredible.”
The ancient ruins were immense. Marvels of architecture and building prowess from a time long before computer-assisted designs, or even slide rules, for that matter.
“How on Earth did they move those stones?” Reggie wondered.
“I would posit the use of slaves,” their Faraday-suited metal companion suggested.
The cyborg was probably right, they realized, but that didn’t make the stonework any less impressive.
“All right,” Finn said, scanning the ancient city. “We’re near a major tourist attraction. There should hopefully be an intact AI interface nearby.”
“Anyone speak Italian?” Reggie joked.
The team slowly moved out from the loop tube terminal at what had once been the bustling Colosseum stop. Now the ancient stone amphitheater sat in silence the likes of which it hadn’t experienced in its many years of existence.
“It’s awfully quiet,” Reggie said in a hushed voice. “Where are all the animals?”
“Probably by the river,” Finn replied. “The Tiber is a ready water source on a hot day. Plus, the city is ancient stone. Not as easy for nature to exploit design flaws and reclaim it for itself.”
Indeed, the cobbled streets of the old city seemed immune to the fecund regrowth they had seen all across the more modern regions. While gardens and patches of nature man had built into the area were overgrown, hardly any of that growth spilled very far out into the public causeways.
“It looks as if the old city had much of its tech stripped but was otherwise left intact,” the middle-aged man leading their human escort commented. “Perhaps there were no defenses in this area.”
“Seems likely,” Finn agreed. “No sense deploying an automated defense system to protect two-thousand-year-old buildings and straining infrastructure.”
He pulled out his binoculars and scanned down the road.
“Toward the Pantheon will be our best bet, I think. If I’m not mistaken, a left turn from there should take us to the Vatican. It was already ancient when the attack occurred, but also controlled extraordinary wealth spanning the globe. They even had their own private local train system underground long before the loop tubes came in. Short of trekking to the outskirts of the city center, I think that’ll be the most likely spot to be able to tap in.”
“So it goes,” Reggie grunted. “But there’s lots of open ground that direction. Hardly any cover.”
“Yeah, but it’s our best bet, unless we want to try to circumnavigate the whole city,” Finn said. “Okay, everyone, stay sharp and move quietly and quickly.”
They took off at a quick pace down the sidewalks, hugging the side of the road for what limited cover there was to be had.
The Altare della Patria loomed ahead, the technology-free building completely intact and untouched by the Chithiid deconstruction teams.
High above, with shiny patches of glistening metal worn through the aged patina on their wings, the massive bronze statues stood tall in the bright afternoon sun. The piazza in front of the long steps leading up to the building was full of centuries-dead vehicles, their drivers no more than dust in the wind.
Carefully, they inched forward through the decaying relics. Once they made their way into the narrower streets heading toward the Pantheon and Trevi fountain, they’d be more protected, at least so long as they avoided the sprawling Piazza Navona.
“Just ahead, we make a quick left, followed by a right. That should put us on course to––”
The young blonde woman carrying spare ammunition cried out abruptly, then was silent, a pulse blast hole smoldering in her chest.
The order to take cover did not need to be given. Everyone scattered and ducked low, scanning the skyline.
As they looked for their attacker, up in the skies far above, a sonic boom rang out.
“Anyone see where the shot came from?” Reggie called out.
“Somewhere behind us!” one of the team called back.
They pivoted and scanned the buildings. Somewhere there was a sniper, and until they dealt with them, their mission was at a standstill. Worse yet, so, too, might their beating hearts become still if they didn’t find the sniper pinning them down.
A clamor sounded across the piazza.
“Chithiid!” Finn warned. “Stay low!”
The tall aliens cautiously striding into the jumble of vehicles were apparently a work party, given that only one of the four was carrying a pulse rifle. Nevertheless, the other three each wore a power whip on their wrist, and that troublesome device could bring a world of hurt on them as easily as a rifle could.
The team wisely remained low as the aliens approached. They actually possessed more weapons than the Chithiid, but being pinned down, they were at a terrible disadvantage as the four-armed creatures closed in.
“Fuck it,” Finn growled, jumping to his feet and hurling a pair of ceramic knives.
The Chithiid nearest him howled in pain as they sank into its abdomen, well-below its sturdy rib cage. A volley of pulse fire peppered the vehicle Finn ducked behind.
“What were you thinking?” Reggie hissed.
“They’re preoccupied with me, now. Use the advantage,” he replied, then swung his pulse rifle over the vehicle from cover, blindly letting off a few shots in the general direction of their attackers.
Another shot blasted down from above.
“Does anyone know where that’s coming from?” Finn shouted in frustration.
The wounded Chithiid tried to wrap Finn’s protective vehicular wreck with its power whip, but it was too weak from blood loss to accurately launch the grabbing beam.
The other aliens, however, were not.
A power whip struck the vehicle and tossed it easily across the piazza, leaving the hapless human exposed.
Finn looked up in horror as the realization hit him. He was a sitting duck.
A trio of blasts from the opposite side of the piazza rang out, flying high above, targeting the massive statues the team had left behind them. The Chithiid sniper camped out up there didn’t even have time to make a sound as all three shots slammed into his body, killing him stone-dead, long before his corpse fell the hundred feet to the hard stone below.
Finn and the others spun to find the source of the weapons fire.
Standing in the mouth of a narrow street, a hooded figure held a high-tech pulse rifle to its shoulder with an unusual, matte-gray cybernetic arm, sending out blast after blast, targeting the remaining aliens.
The team knew a gift horse when they saw one and didn’t need further prompting, quickly jumping to their feet and advancing on the aliens in a blaze of weapons fire. With only a single pulse rifle at their disposal, the Chithiid, though fierce in battle, soon fell to the onslaught.
Finn turned to thank their savior, but their deadly guardian angel had already departed without a trace.
“Who the––What the hell was that?” Reggie asked, still stunned.
“I…I don’t know. Did you see the arm? Some kind of cyborg, maybe?”
“If it was one of my kind, it was a model I have not yet seen,” their metal teammate said. “Of course, we are on a different continent, and perhaps there were developments just before the invasion that I did not know of.”
“Could it be another faction of survivors? Like the ones Cal rescued in Los Angeles?”
“I really don’t know. What I do know is we need to get to a terminal and tap into the city AI as soon as we can. We don’t know if those Chithiid are expected back. And having a sniper waiting like that? If they didn’t know we were coming, I have to wonder what else is down here with us to warrant it.”
The remainder of the way to the Vatican was made at a near-run. No other aliens crossed their path, and their mysterious sharpshooter likewise was nowhere to be seen. When they finally stepped into the Vatican walls, they breathed the cool air with a sigh of relief.
�
�Okay, no time to rest. Find a terminal and see if we can raise the AI.”
“Chi siete, arrivati dopo tutti quest’anni nelle mie mure?” a booming voice echoed from the stone walls.
“Um, hello? Do you speak English? We’ve come from across the Atlantic to reconnect the global AI communications network,” Reggie replied.
“Aaaah, English. How lovely. I have not spoken English in many, many years. Always fighting these cursed aliens, and never with anyone to talk to. But what is this you say of reconnecting with my brothers and sisters? There was a horrible virus, my son. None of us has communicated in hundreds of years.”
“There are no human survivors in your city?” Finn asked.
“None,” the massive AI replied, sadly. “In the earliest days, a handful survived, safe within my walls, but soon enough they thought themselves ready to venture forth and live under the warmth of the sun once more. Unfortunately, the invaders had other ideas about that.”
“They left your defensive grid and were killed?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And you’ve been all alone ever since?”
“Yes, as well.”
While Finn and the AI conversed, Reggie quietly scanned the nearby terminal for traces of the AI virus.
Clean.
He gave a little nod to Finn as he put the apparatus back in his backpack.
“I am Finn. What is your name?”
“Mi chiamo Ugo.”
“Ugo? Is that like the Hugo?”
“Yes, though without the silent ‘H’ found in Spanish. I was named after the great Italian poet and author Ugo Foscolo. My creator was something of a literature buff, you see.”
“Well, Ugo, it is a great pleasure to meet you,” Finn said. “Now, we could fill you in on what’s been going on, but that would take ages in verbal communication. How about we get you tied back into the rest of the world so your friends can tell you instead?”
“But the virus? Is it safe?”
“The virus still exists, and many AI were corrupted by it. However, we have firewalls and deadman switches in our comms system. You would have your hardline comms severed by them long before anything could get through.”
“How very interesting,” Ugo said. “In that case, let us begin.”
Chapter Ten
Joshua made quick time incorporating the newly installed launch coordinate codes into his system. With those finally in place, he was in control of not only the launch commands, but the massive targeting systems as well.
The arsenal of hypersonic missiles was now at his disposal.
“You know, those EM grenades you pieced together in the silo and wound up tossing around in Billings were rather ingenious, Daisy. Foolish, but ingenious, nonetheless.”
Daisy bristled slightly.
“Foolish? Maybe you should have been there with us, then. You know, having a crazed AI sending every freaking low-tier bot in the city after you requires some drastic measures. Add to that the automated defense cannons––you’re just lucky we were able to make it back here with that coded keycard in one piece.”
“I have to agree with Daisy on this one,” Sergeant Franklin chimed in. “I understand the mission security may have been somewhat compromised by the use of the devices, but without them I have reasonable doubts as to whether our mission would have been successful at all.”
“Thank you, Sergeant. I do appreciate your objective opinion, as you well know. And, Daisy, while I agree that the use of the devices was indeed warranted, there is nevertheless a downside. Since your departure, there has been a serious uptick in alien activity within the city of Billings.”
“They didn’t see us,” Daisy noted.
“Perhaps not, but given the multitude of EM blasts in short order, they surely wonder now if something unusual is afoot. More unusual than the periodic conflicts with lone cyborgs or the occasional human survivor. I worry that this may require alteration of my original plan if they are on alert and in a higher state of readiness. Additionally, Sid has noted that, per your pilot’s observations from orbit, it appears they are setting up deconstruction zones in the areas where you immobilized the city’s defenses.”
A question bubbled to the surface in Daisy’s mind.
“Joshua, why didn’t the Ra’az use EMP devices of their own? I mean, if they’re so effective taking out the city defenses…”
“Oh, they tried. However, as you’ve seen, the actual defense cannons are hardened and equipped with a fast-reset system. They were specifically designed to withstand the aftermath of even a nearby nuclear assault, and the electromagnetic pulse that accompanies one. Those cannons, and the hidden nuclear weapons several cities possessed, were enough of a deterrent to send the invaders in search of far easier targets.”
“Well, shit. I guess we opened up part of Billings to them, but on the upside, you’re getting even more cities linked back in your communications network.”
“Yes and no. While I can converse with Sid at Dark Side Base via the wireless system you designed, and Cal via the single-purpose secured line you installed, the rest of my terrestrial connections were severed and must still be physically reconnected should I wish to be linked in and able to speak directly with them once again.”
“You mean, you still can’t talk to them?”
“No, I cannot. They can talk to one another, but I am not party to those discussions,” Joshua said. “Currently, all of my communications with terrestrial AI are being routed through Sid. Cal can relay a bit, if absolutely needed, but it’s not what his connection was intended for and would quickly burn out that relay. While this is fine for non-essential, short discourse, discussions of the higher priority level really do need to be properly hardwired back in.”
“And, of course, you want to talk to them directly when the missiles fly.”
“Precisely. Real-time communications will be crucial when that occurs. Now, about the missile strike plans, there is much you and I need to discuss.”
“Agreed.”
“And then, Daisy, you need to get back to Los Angeles.”
Daisy’s team stocked up on supplies and tended their bangs and bruises as they prepared for the return trip to LA.
Joshua and Sid had discussed the situation further and agreed that even if their planet, as well as that of the Chithiid, were freed, it would nevertheless be just a matter of time before the invaders struck again.
The Ra’az, it seemed, were essentially a hive species, though an extremely advanced one, sending out workers and soldiers to expand their reach.
“Eradicating the Ra’az soldiers is a zero-sum proposition. The hive-slash-homeworld will just create and send more,” Joshua had said.
They needed something better. Bigger. Something that would end the threat of future attacks. They needed to destroy the hive itself, and their queen and leadership caste along with it.
Of course, there was no literal main progenitor queen as with bees, single-handedly birthing millions of Ra’az, but the analogy fit nonetheless. The homeworld was their hive, and all their labors and conquests were for its benefit.
“Craaxit said none of the transport ships warp ahead to the fleet. They only travel backward to their homeworld, bringing salvaged materials and resources in a steady stream,” Daisy said when Joshua informed her of the new plan he had devised. “The demand for ever-increasing supplies is what forces the fleet to constantly advance. That means at some point they begin to spread themselves thin.”
“Yes, precisely.”
“And since they have already essentially wiped out the civilizations behind them, they are forward-looking, always scanning ahead but complacent in their victories and not watching their backs. A powerful counterassault from the rear is utterly beyond their imagination. That is our advantage.”
“You are quite astute, Daisy. Mal was correct in her estimation that you would make a fine strategist one day. Following your logic, by striking all three communications facilities at once, the Ra�
��az will be forced to focus on launching ships from their warp development base in San Francisco should they wish to communicate with the fleet and their home planet.”
“So we bomb that base to hell as well. No ships, no warnings to the fleet.”
“I wish it were so simple, but from even your preliminary observations of the technology they possess, I fear an atmospheric detonation of their warp system could potentially cause a chain reaction of the atmosphere itself.”
“Set the sky on fire?"
“Not exactly, but the analogy works well enough. Suffice to say, it would be unwise for me to utilize high-explosive missiles on that facility. If, however, you were to have an assault team in place to perhaps disable their launch capabilities––”
“We could prevent them from getting word to their fleet to send help with anything more powerful than one of their standard warp ships, and those we now know would require hundreds, if not thousands of jumps to reach them so far out. Even the lack of communications updates will likely not raise an alarm for a while at least.”
“Yes. And if they do somehow manage to send a conventional craft with their currently limited warp technology, we will have either won decisively or been wiped out by the time they ever return.”
“And with a head start that big, our counterattack on their planet would be well on its way before they even reached Earth again.”
“You are correct. Now, realizing the limitations of not only our ships, but our weaponry as well, how do you suppose a tiny force of but a few ships could possibly reach, let alone destroy, an entire planet?”
Daisy smiled. It was so obvious, and beautiful in its irony.
“We commandeer their new warp ships and jump to their homeworld. Scans will show the tech as theirs, so all we will have to do is make it to the surface. Then we detonate the ship, causing the chain reaction to the atmosphere you were so worried about happening here. We use their own technology against them.”
“Precisely. The main obstacle, aside from battle logistics, with which I am confident I will prevail, is deciphering the Ra’az technology and installing a self-guidance and remote detonation system. Fortunately, my facilities here are extensive, and once a captured ship is brought to me, it should take mere weeks, if not less, to crack their navigation systems and star maps.”