Unexpected Contact: A Mechhaven Novella

by Greg Sorber

  Sigrid and Tala opened fired at the SPDR mechs as they tried to recover from being slammed into the invisible force fields that surrounded the enclosure. The dual threat of kinetic rounds blasting from their guns and dodging the unpredictable tentacles of the syrampa was too much for them. They were hit with weapons fire or battered by the tentacles. The only thing that saved them was their numbers and that TH3R, Tala, and Sigrid had to avoid the tentacles, too.

  TH3R dodged one of the beast’s appendages, sliding under it as it flew toward him. He activated his stun batons and zapped another tentacle that ventured too close. It didn’t occur to him until after he’d used the baton that it might not be a good idea to reveal that to the enemy, though he doubted it would be long before the enemy tried that on their own.

  The syrampa slammed the SPDR mechs against the force field walls, but they didn’t go down easy. When they recovered, they used their nimbleness to avoid the tentacles, and they were more than equipped to counter attack. They used their vicious claws to slash at the flapping tentacles. SPDR mechs also had an electrical attack they used to fry computer systems or stun their targets. The syrampa didn’t like that either. The syrampa screeched as three SPDR mechs executed a simultaneous electrical attack. It withdrew several of its tentacles back into its crate.

  “They’re hurting it!” Sigrid shouted.

  “If they kill it, we’ll be on our own,” Tala said.

  “I’m not sure who it’s helping more, us or them,” TH3R said.

  The three SPDR mechs who used their electrical attack to stun the syrampa turned their attention to TH3R and his friends. They jumped at the group, claws extended, hoping to slash, impale, or otherwise incapacitate them. TH3R’s eyes flashed gold and critical protective subroutines came online. Instead of leaping away, as had Tala and Sigrid, he jumped toward one of the SPDR mechs.

  TH3R’s aggressive movement surprised the SPDR mech. He caught it in mid-air and, using his momentum, tackled it to the ground. While his enemy was stunned, he didn’t hesitate. In a move he’d practice a million times in his tactical subroutines since the Battle of Frangellan-7. He grabbed his combat knife, on loan from Sigrid, and severed the SPDR mech’s head from its neck.

  Tala jumped away from the one attacking her, engaging it using her stun batons. She put the thousands of hours of escrima practice they had completed over the last several years to good use. She held off the SPDR mech using everything she’d learned and avoided the syrampa as well. When the SPDR mech was distracted by the creature, Tala slipped a stun baton under the mech’s chin and activated the stun charge. The SPDR mech shuddered and slid to the ground.

  Sigrid dodged an attack from the mech pursuing her. She chose not to engage it in hand-to-hand combat. Instead, she pulled her Fury Z5 from its holster. She fired the Fury at close range, peppering its torso with the gun’s powerful rounds. After the final round to its head, the SPDR mech collapsed. Before it could hit the ground, the syrampa clutched it in a tentacle and started battering it around the force field barrier.

  The creature had picked up the other three active SPDR mechs and was swinging them around. They bounced off the force field and onto the ground wherever the beast's waving appendages pounded them. The slashing claw and electrical attacks the SPDR mechs tried to get the syrampa to release them were futile. Instead of releasing them as it had earlier, the syrampa tightened its grip and flapped its tentacles even more frantically.

  One of the SPDR mechs exploded, its self-destruct mechanism activated.

  “They’re trying to self-destruct,” Tala shouted.

  “We can’t let them do that,” Sigrid said, “or all of this will be for nothing.”

  “Let me try something,” TH3R said. “It’s a long shot, but it might work.”

  He’d hoped to try this when he was closer to the SPDR mechs, before the syrampa attacked, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to work or not. He’d never tried emitting sounds on the particular frequency, nor were his oral emitters designed to project sound for that purpose, but they had no other choice if he wanted to salvage the mission. TH3R opened his mouth and a strange sound came out.

  Instead of exploding, the remaining SPDR mechs shook as TH3R emitted the command code on the required frequency to activate the stun charge of the nano-particles they’d dispersed throughout the building and allowed them to see and track them. The SPDR mechs went limp in the syrampa’s compressing grip. It continued to thrash its tentacles.

  Tala and Sigrid were struck by tentacles and sent flying. Before TH3R could move to aid them, a tentacle wrapped around his leg and yanked him off the ground. His body hit the ground hard as the tentacle smacked him down. If he’d been human, he’d have been knocked unconscious, or even killed by such a blow. The creature dragged him across the ground before picking him up again and flinging him into the air. He had a moment of relief as he oriented his body to land, but it caught him mid-air with not one, but two tentacles. One tentacle wrapped around his legs, the other grabbed his arm.

  TH3R heard shouts coming from Tala and Sigrid, who were recovering from their own tussle with the appendages. He didn’t have time to listen. They fought hard, but he could tell the atmosphere of the enclosure was effecting them. The pressure the syrampa exerted on him was tremendous, and if he didn’t act quickly, it would tear him apart. They needed to end this soon. He reached for his knife, pulled it from its sheath, and sliced at the tentacles.

  The writhing limbs were in constant motion, making it difficult to make an effective slash. He had to wait until just the right moment, and then slice. TH3R slashed the knife at the tentacle holding his legs. The pressure release was automatic. But with the pain he’d caused the beast, it was swinging him with even more ferocity. He sliced at the tentacle holding his arm, but try as he might, he couldn’t reach it.

  TH3R could only think of one way to break free of the monster’s grip. He didn’t like the idea, and it would put him at a major disadvantage for the rest of the fight, but if he didn’t, he’d be as beaten and battered as the SPDR mechs, maybe worse. He couldn’t reach the tentacle, but there was one thing he could reach. When Sigrid gave him the knife, she’d said they were sharp. He’d tested it against the SPDR mech’s neck and it was effective, as she’d said. It had worked well on the creature’s tentacle holding his legs. He was thinking about it too much — he slashed at his right arm, just below his elbow.

  The knife slid through TH3R’s arm, but it wasn’t a clean cut. It almost made it all the way through, but the thrashing of the tentacles made it difficult to get the proper leverage. As far as Sigrid knew, the attaché mech didn’t feel pain, but the damage to his arm couldn’t feel good, especially since it was dangling by only a small piece.

  He made another slash with the knife, and this time it went clean through. The severed arm flew away, gripped by the syrampa, and TH3R dropped to the ground. It was a hard landing.

  Sigrid and Tala grabbed him and dragged him to another section of the enclosure, where the syrampa’s tentacles had not yet invaded. The syrampa continued to sling the disabled SPDR mechs around.

  “Your arm!” Tala examined his damaged appendage.

  TH3R looked at his severed arm. He shrugged and said, “We can’t let the monster destroy them.”

  “So you’re saying — we have to save them now?” Sigrid asked.

  “Yes, at least some of them, to make all this trouble worth it.”

  “I told you both I had an idea on how this might work. Let’s hope I’m right. Cover me,” Sigrid said.

  She pulled out a small instrument. Why she had it on her, she couldn’t say. Intuition was the closest thing she could call it. She’d just had a feeling it would come in handy at some point. It was the same type as the one she’d seen Chruckariat use.

  After her encounter with the syrampa, and when she’d regained her wits, she’d interrogated Chruckariat and got as much information as she could. She’d also learned as much as she could about the creatu
re.

  She took a deep, painful gulp of noxious air before she put the small flute-like instrument to her lips and played a tune. The first few notes sounded off. They weren’t correct. She’d only heard it once before, and she’d been exhausted and breathing in too much alien atmosphere to pay close attention at the time. The syrampa continued to thrash about, and some tentacles headed in their direction.

  Sigrid adjusted her hands, winced as she took another breath, and played again. This time she tried to relax, tried to form the sound into more of a suggestion than a command, an invitation to rest, not an order to sleep.

  The syrampa responded. The tentacles thrashed less violently. They banged the SPDR mechs around a little less. She kept playing. When she ran out of notes, she started from the beginning.

  The syrampa relaxed, dropping the SPDR mechs. It retracted its tentacles back into its container. As soon as all the appendages were once again inside the crate, Tala, with TH3R’s help, sealed it shut.

  They turned their attention to the SPDR mechs. TH3R had killed one, as had Sigrid. Tala had stunned one at one point, but the syrampa had grabbed it. Of the four they hadn’t killed, all were damaged. Two of them might not be salvageable. The other two had suffered some damage, but could regain functional status with some careful repairs.

  It wasn’t a perfect operation, but they’d lived through it, and they would most likely be able to get some good intel out of the SPDR mechs that had survived. If not actionable intel, they had six complete or partial SPDR mechs that could be examined, and that would be valuable as well.

  Sigrid drew her weapon and pointed it at someone running into the enclosure. It looked like an employee, a xeno-biologist, by what it said on his name tag.

  “What did you do to our syrampa?” the xeno-biologist asked. “You better not have hurt it or interrupted its reproductive cycle.”

  “Reproductive cycle?” Sigrid shook her head.

  “Yes, it will breed soon, providing us with multiple specimens to sell to other preserves and fund our research for years to come. If you messed that up, we’ll be suing you for damages.”

  “Really? Where have I heard that before?”

  Chapter Ten

  The force field disengaged long enough for the command shuttle and its escort fighters to glide through before it reengaged, protecting the mountainside landing bay on Frangellan-7 once again. After the brazen attack on the military headquarters of the AOIS several years before, most politicians and military strategists advised the General to move the headquarters to a safer location. General Dirksen to her credit refused, stating that if Frangellan-7 wasn’t safe, then nowhere was. She also pointed out that if there were another successful attack on the planet, heads would roll and no one in the military chain of command would escape her wrath.

  TH3R didn’t have any doubts the General was good for her word. While there were many gaffes, flubs, and missteps in the events leading up to the Battle of Frangellan-7, the enemy had executed a well-orchestrated and devious infiltration and follow-up orbital bombardment. Since then, the General, Tala, and himself had worked non-stop to root out any SPDR mechs on the planet, and how to make their safeguards scalable to the entire AOIS and TexaNovan security apparatus.

  The shuttle hissed as it vented exhaust and other gasses. Once the pilots had completed their landing procedures, the loading ramp lowered. Even though the landing bay was inside one of the most secure places on one of the most secure planets in the galaxy, two TexaNovan marines from the General’s security detail proceeded down the ramp first to make sure there was no danger for their charge. TH3R acknowledged Sergeants Katy Doone and Sam Worth. They were the only survivors from the platoon of TexaNovan marines that had come to the General’s aid during the battle. Once they’d recovered from their injuries, General Dirksen transferred both of them to her security detail. She never forgot the people who helped her, and she preferred having proven staff nearby at all times.

  Satisfied there weren’t any threats to the General’s safety, Sergeant Worth signaled for General Dirksen to exit the shuttle.

  General Elaine Dirksen descended the shuttle’s ramp, head down, reviewing something on her datapad. She was always reviewing reports on troop movements, supply lines, or other political machinations. Doone and Worth saluted as the General passed. She looked up from her datapad and returned the salute, then noticed TH3R and Tala waiting near the transport vehicle that would transport them deeper into the base.

  TH3R felt a nudge on his arm. Tala handed him a cup and saucer of hot tea she’d poured from the thermal container she’d brought along. It was Lapsang Souchong, General Dirksen’s preferred beverage. Out of instinct, TH3R reached for the cup with his right arm. Tala shook her head. He repositioned himself and took the cup with his left hand.

  For all intents and purposes, he was ambidextrous, but his neurotronic pathways developed habits similar to humans and he defaulted back to his routine with little thought. He wondered if Tala was testing him. She’d been very helpful in assisting him with preparing his uniform and other tasks that were easier to complete with two hands. She was weaning him from her aid and would end it sometime soon. He was grateful she hadn’t chosen the day when General Dirksen returned to base to cut him off.

  General Dirksen approached, with Doone and Worth trailing behind her. Tala snapped to attention and executed a crisp salute. TH3R was about to do the same, then realized he couldn’t return the salute with his right hand. Out of respect, he was going to salute with his left hand. He almost spilled the General’s tea before he realized he couldn’t salute with his left hand, either. In the end, he ended up bowing. It was an odd gesture coming from an AOIS staff member, as both the Imperium and Arcturan monarchies bowed to denote rank and status. General Dirksen smiled. It wasn’t often he was thrown off by a dilemma of etiquette.

  Tala saved him further consternation and opened the transport door for the General. TH3R took a seat facing her, as did Tala. Doone and Worth took the front seats and set the transport’s destination. They each rocked forward as the transport accelerated. General Dirksen balanced her cup and saucer, careful not to spill her tea. As the acceleration leveled off, General Dirksen took a sip of tea and purred in satisfaction.

  “How was your trip, General?” TH3R asked.

  General Dirksen sipped her tea again, savoring the strong, smoky flavor she preferred, before sighing. Then she said, “God save me from the stubbornness of TexaNovans. No offense, Doone, Worth.”

  “None taken, ma’am,” Sergeant Doone said.

  “Those politicians and command staff were tools,” Sergeant Worth said.

  “So the strategy meetings didn’t go well?” Tala asked.

  “The TexaNovan politicians and some of their top military leaders just wanted to make sure they had a say in our strategic objectives. In the end, we didn’t change a thing, so the meetings went well. Our new Minister of Defense, Tor Vang, showed himself capable of holding his own with the TexaNovans. Other than that, it was a complete and utter waste of my time.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, ma’am,” Tala said.

  General Dirksen looked at TH3R’s folded and pinned right sleeve. “I’d have expected you to have a replacement arm installed already. What’s the hold up?”

  “It turns out my model isn’t as standard as I thought. There are no replacement parts in the nearby star systems and because of the war, there are manufacturing and transportation delays, so my replacement arm isn’t scheduled to arrive for another month.”

  “That’s unfortunate.” General Dirksen took another sip of tea. “We still have a lot of work to do. Let me make a few calls.”

  “I understand, General. I’m adapting to only using one arm. My productivity is increasing each day. I used your name wherever I could to help speed up the process.”

  “I’m sure you did.” General Dirksen handed her empty tea cup to TH3R, who set it aside. “But there’s a difference between getting a request fro
m the General’s attaché mech and getting a call from the General herself.”

  TH3R nodded. “Understood.”

  “I can help him, too,” Tala said. “I don’t mind helping.”

  General Dirksen looked over at Tala. “You look much better than your last encounter with an SPDR mech. The lieutenant bars look nice on you, by the way.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. I was careful when I needed to be careful, and daring when I needed to be daring.”

  “That’s great,” General Dirksen said, “but you still needed outside help. It’s a good thing I called in Sigrid for backup. How is my goddaughter doing, by the way?”

  “Goddaughter?” TH3R asked.

  “You’re Sigrid’s ninang?” Tala asked.

  “What? She didn’t say anything about it to you?”

  “No, General Dirksen. She said nothing along those lines,” TH3R confirmed.

  “The only thing she said was you like to keep your secrets, but I think it’s like ninang, like inaanak,” Tala said.

  After General Dirksen’s intervention, TH3R’s arm was delivered in two weeks instead of four. And that was without ordering a replacement from the Corporate Protectorate, which was the last place he wanted to receive an arm from.

  Receiving a replacement arm and having it installed were two different matters. A specialist had to travel to Frangellan-7 to connect TH3R’s new arm. As sharp as his knife had been, and the cut as clean as he could manage while fighting for his life, it wasn’t surgically precise. It took multiple procedures to prep both the remaining stump and his new metalo-polymer arm.

  Recovery from the procedures took longer than any of them expected. TH3R was up and functioning in no time, but optimizing the functions of his new arm took a surprising amount of therapy. By the end of the month, TH3R was functioning near optimal levels again, for which everyone was pleased. Tala, while happy to aid her kuya, had duties of her own to complete and stressed about falling behind. General Dirksen chafed at the delay in implementing her plans. Every delay could cost lost lives.