“… Huuuh, ohhh…”
Bennie looked over to Trudy as they absorbed the amp charge and nodded, “See… it’s all about the gravity…”
“Yes, Beverly and I were joined in sending our self-amp charges into the engines, but Bev’s connected physically with her chip.”
“We have to get the ship airborne again, and then disconnect Beverly from the engine.”
Calvin raised his eyebrows at the two, “Well, that’ll be a sight to see since that ship is grounded… There! Your amp cycle is complete.”
Trudy and Bennie each unplugged their fiber cables and handed them to Calvin, “That’s where our amp charge comes in. We have to levitate the ship and simulate the ship overcoming the gravity of the approaching ground.”
“Ahh, I see… I think…” Calvin stroked his chin as the two ran from the accelerator station. “Oh, wait…” Calvin shouted before running after the two, “This I gotta see!”
Bennie pressed his hand to his temple and sent a message to Major Preston, Meet us at the transport… you have to fly the ship… hurry!
Major Preston stopped what he was doing and dropped his arms to his side as he received Bennie’s message. Standing he looked over to General McKenzie, “Bennie’s got the answer. We need to get to the transport… Titus, you too!”
General McKenzie and Titus stood from sitting next to Beverly and joined the Major in a full run back through the falling rain to the transport.
They quickly caught up to Bennie and Trudy who were already climbing into the ship.
Offering their hands, McKenzie and Preston were helped to the wing of the ship after Titus jumped up and headed to the rear engine room.
“I’ll get the lines cut to the port engine. You’ll have partial control to the starboard engine in a second.”
Preston climbed into the pilot seat and began his systems start sequences as the General climbed into the copilot seat and strapped in.
Bennie stood in the center of the ship and held on to one of the seat straps as Trudy took his free hand and held on to a bar on the craft’s bulkhead.
The two closed their eyes and join in thought, Gravity and distance… gravity and distance… gravity and distance…
The ship’s starboard turbos charged, spinning and screaming their power.
Bennie and Trudy focused on the mass of the ship, fighting gravity, the ship began to lift from the parking lot before they started chanting, “Gravity and distance. Change the passage of light. Gravity and distance. Change the color of right…
“Gravity and distance. Change the passage of light. Gravity and distance. Change the color of right… Change the color of right… the color of right… the color of right…”
Trudy narrowed her brow as she focused on Beverly, Know what is right, Bev… we’ve overcome gravity… we’ve overcome gravity… Wake up, Beverly… wake up, Beverly…
A tear fell down Bennie’s cheek as he listened to Trudy, his mind connected to his mom, he sent his amp charge to her breaking her connection to the ship.
Bennie’s eyes opened wide before exclaiming, “MOM!” turning to Major Preston, “Set the ship down, the connection is broken!”
Preston guided the one engine ship back down to the makeshift landing pad before powering down all systems. General McKenzie shut his systems down before removing his harness, “Are you sure about this, son?”
Bennie and Trudy dropped hands and smiled their answer in unison, “Yes. Beverly is fine.”
Exiting the ship, Bennie ran toward the tent to see his mother as the others quickly followed behind.
Reaching the tent, Bennie saw a smiling Beverly resting upright on a cot, “Mom! You’re awake!”
“Yes, son,” Beverly answered with open arms.
The two embraced as they cried in each other’s arms.
“So, what happened,” Sly asked from the side of the room, “How’d you do it?”
Trudy stepped over to Sly and took a seat to rest, “Bennie and I separated her by raising the ship off the ground. Once we were airborne, we connected to Beverly’s chip and were able to separate her chip from the ship’s systems. We did it with our amp charge.”
“Seems too easy, no?”
“Well,” Beverly added, separating from Bennie, “I was so concerned with saving the ship, my chip connected with the ship’s engine. When the ship powered off, so did my chip. In order for me to disconnect, I had to know we were safe. I had to be told that we were still in the air and safe. That’s when I could separate myself and that’s when I woke up.”
“Sounds like that could happen again,” Sly added.
“Now that we know about that issue, we’ll be able to prevent it from happening,” Beverly smiled up at Bennie after lying back down, “At least I hope that’s the case.”
“Well, you had us all scared to death, mom!”
“Sorry, son, but we had so many losses, I couldn’t bear to lose everyone we had just rescued.”
“We’re all safe now, mom,” Bennie said, tears forming on his eyes.
J and Sly stood near, looking over Bennie and Beverly. J rested a hand on Bennie’s shoulder, “We are all safe, for now, Ben.”
“I don’t know how long that’ll be really, no?” Sly added.
“He’s right,” Nadine nodded, “They’ll just reanimate and attack us again. Jenny, or her baby, didn’t take them all out.”
“Just how do you know that, Nadine?” Bennie said as he shot to his feet. Turning, he faced his scowl-covered face at his old foe, “Tell me! Now!”
Nadine raised her hands defensively, “Settle down, Bennie, I’m on your side… forever!”
“Forever is a long time,” Bennie argued.
Kurtis shoved his way between Nadine and Bennie, “We’re both on your side now… They tried to kill us too, ya’ know! This is my only clone body, and I don’t wish to be deactivated by bullets today, so, so just back off!”
“Kurtis is right! J, Kurtis and myself were being shot at by Doctor Childress as we made our way from Olympia…”
“… and he almost got us twice!” Kurtis interjected.
“Relax, Bennie,” J said, glancing between Bennie and Nadine, “Nadine and Kurtis are the real deal here. But more pressing, there is more happening out there than you know.”
Nadine held her stump of an arm as evidence before Bennie, “Yes, as in our sun bombarding through the smoke clouds is likely to burn us or even kill us.”
“What do you mean, Nadine?” Bennie asked as he grew a puzzled look.
J raised his eyebrows to Bennie, “The sun broke though and began burning everything in sight, including our town car and Nadine’s arm.”
“Does that mean, the Van Allen Belt hasn’t completely rebuilt?” General McKenzie asked.
“That’s what it sounds like to me,” J nodded.
“Seems we’re okay as long as the smoke doesn’t clear,” Nadine added.
“So, within the city,” Bennie pointed around him, “With all the smoke from the city fires, that’s what’s keeping us from frying into Crispy-Critters?”
“Pretty much,” Sly said. “How much time do you think we have before those aliens regenerate?”
“I’d say we have only a few hours, Sly,” Nadine added. “And that’s why Kurtis and I need some face time with Calvin.”
Bennie stood forward, “What do you need with my uncle?!”
J sat Ben back down to a chair, “Relax, Bennie my man, she’s one of us now. She helped us get out of the city. Hell, she’s the one that release Kurtis and myself from the Core! Just hear her out, now.”
Nadine rose her eyebrows, “Thanks, J,” before addressing Bennie directly, “All of us, including Doctor Childress, had Calvin’s isolation subroutine, that you wrote, I might add and we need to figure out how the Doctor was identified before we are turned back to Vanguard!”
General McKenzie spoke up, “Major Hargrove, please escort Kurtis and Nadine to Calvin’s accelerator tent… at gun
point… don’t leave them out of your sight, clear?”
“General,” Nadine said with raised hand, “I assure you, I’m just as worried about being changed as you are. Feel free to keep those guns trained on us at all times,” turning to Bennie once more, “Sound okay by you, Bennie?”
“Well, okay… but you better be on the up and up, or I’ll take you down myself,” Bennie reached for spare rail-gun and trained it on Nadine, “I’m going with!”
Nadine smiled at the young man, “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.”
“Hey!” Kurtis blurted, “Just don’t get all trigger happy now, okay? This is my only clone, you know… I don’t take lightly to guns being pressed in my back either, so just watch it, okay!?”
Kurtis held his hands up in the air as Hargrove and Bennie escorted the two from Jenny’s tent to see Calvin.
Chapter 14
Asteroid 253 Mathilde – CSMO Mathilde-3
January 17, 2068 14:27
“Captain Parsons, Sir?”
The captain of Matilde-3 glanced up from his console as the mining dredge cut its path across the surface of the asteroid. The cutting teeth and conveyer belts moving the precious material into the refining, made grinding and chattering sounds across the hull of the CSMO.
“Whatcha got, Phillips?”
“Yes, Sir, I’ve got Tracinski on the horn from Matilde-2. He’s got Dillan for you.”
Parsons donned his headset and with pointed finger answered Phillips, “Put him on.”
The radio crackled in Parsons ear before Tracinski’s voice echoed, “One moment, Captain Parsons, I’m patching you over to Captain Smithton now.”
“Captain Parsons? This is Dillan. How things going over there?”
“We’re cutting the surface at 100 Meters Per Hour and our CSMO storage is nearly full of those awesome metals. We’ll be done with this pass in a few more hours. What’s up, Dillan? I know you’re not just calling me to check our progress, are you?”
“Right, Nick, I’m not.”
“Okay, Cap’n, what’s up?”
“We just received a message from Colonel Petersen.”
“Colonel Petersen, Sir?”
“Yep, it came in on a secure channel and I need to play it for you.”
“What’s going on, Cap’n?”
“First thing’s first. I need you to stop all mining production and dump all your stores. Then leave your cutters behind and join me in orbit around Matilda.”
“You want me to dump weeks of hard work? There’s gotta be something pretty big that the Colonel is asking.”
“It is, Parsons, or I would never ask you and your crew to abandon your hard work behind, but something’s going on and he needs every CSMO in the belt.”
Captain Parsons cupped his hand over his mouth piece and barked commands to his bridge crew, “Stop the mining and prepare the CMSO for takeoff… minus our cutters,” Parsons raised his finger toward the confused bridge crew, “No arguments, just do it! Do it now! Let me know when we’re ready… that’s an order, now!”
The CMSO crew dove into action, the mining dredge cutting teeth and treads came to a grinding halt, sending the deafening quiet throughout the entire ship.
“Okay, Dillan, we’re preparing the CMSO for departure. What’s this message all about?”
“Okay, I’m sending it over to you now. Stand by.”
Parsons view screen flickered before Colonel Tucker Petersen’s image came into full view.
“Captain Smithton…Dillan… greetings to you and your crew. I wish I was sending this communique under more favorable conditions, but I’m not. I’ll cut right to the chase. You need to get Matilde-2 and -3 off the asteroid and prepare for our arrival. I’ve sent messages to every CSMO operation in the belt and everyone is already on their way to your location. It seems your Mag-ring is the only one that still has a link to Earth’s multi-ring. I know, I know,” Tucker’s hands motioned before the view screen.
“You’ve got weeks of mining ore that needs picking up and delivered, but that’s not important at the moment. Make sure you convert enough air and water to fill those stores before you dump your load and leave your tread section behind.
“The aliens are returning to Earth and so we need everyone’s help in bringing them down. It’s a really long story and I bet your wondering why you haven’t seen any transports coming. That’s because there aren’t any to send. When we chased after them, they left our planet in ruins.
“Salvage-5 and my crew will be arriving in a few hours. The other CSMO’s should be arriving shortly after we do. We’ll talk more in person, Dillan. Just share this with M3 and be ready. That’s all for now, Tucker out.”
Parsons clicked the view screen off once Tucker’s image faded into static, “Wow, Cap’n, sounds like a real cluster…”
“… never mind that, Parsons! Just get your CSMO ready and out to the mag-ring A-SAP.”
Parsons nodded his orders, “We’ll make preparations now. See you at 500 kilometers and in formation at the ring.”
Parsons cut the channel and began barking orders to the CSMO bridge crew, “Open a ship-wide channel!”
“Channel open, Sir,” Phillips acknowledged.
“Attention! This is your Captain speaking. Cease all mining OPS. Begin separation procedures from the tread section and prepare for emergency takeoff. We are under orders from Colonel Tucker Petersen of Salvage-5. Parsons out!”
Parsons cut the channel and continued barking orders as he began powering up the flight control systems.
Phillips shouted his console statuses, “Ion turbines and thrusters online... Avionics online...engine systems are green and go, Sir.”
“NAV Check,” flight tech Al Jones continued, “Navigational gyros engaged, prepare for orbital sequence...Course set and verified.”
“Tread section status,” Parsons ordered.
The comm channel broke the static from the lower decks of the CSMO, “All four tread pins are pulled… exploding bolts armed for separation…. all personnel evacuated from drive section and have been accounted for… all airlocks to the drive section are sealed… separation procedures are complete… ready for departure, Sir.”
Parsons took the control stick on his left, wrapping his hand around its grip, “We are green for takeoff…”
Pressing a command sequence on his console’s touch screen, four small explosions were heard as Parsons detonated the separation bolts. Pressing more commands, the CSMO began firing its take-off thrusters, “Ascending to 1500 meters and holding,” Parsons reported.
Pulling back on the joystick controls, the CSMO lifted its nose and separated from the CSMO drive section rising above the surface of 253 Mathilde. Firing all the ship’s thrusters he righted the ship and headed to the jump ring coordinates provided by Captain Smithton on the Mathilde-2.
“Full power to ion drives,” Parsons again reported to the crew, “Speed set to 45,000 KPH… 5,000 kilometers to jump ring”
Meeting up with Mathilde-2 in orbit around the asteroid, the two CSMO’s, minus the mining dredge’s drive sections, headed to the mag-ring to wait for the arrival of Salvage-5.
Saratoga Base Camp
January 17, 2068 14:33
Bennie and Major Hargrove delivered Nadine and Kurtis to Calvin’s tent.
Calvin jumped from his stool, “Hey! Please put the guns down, okay? I really hate those things pointing at people… like me.”
“Don’t worry, Unc,” Bennie nodded with the barrel of his weapon that continued being trained on Nadine. “They’re not meant for you. We need them on Nadine and Kurtis here… you know, just in case they decide to turn on us!”
Nadine stepped over to Cal, “He’s more than right to keep those guns pointed at our chipped heads, Calvin.”
“What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry, Unc, “We just need you to figure out what part of the isolation code the other side has been able to penetrate.”
“Wait, wa
it, you’re going too fast. Penetrate? The isolation sub-routine shouldn’t allow any detection…”
“That’s the issue we’re here to see you about, good ol’ ‘Uncle’ Calvin,” Nadine smirked, “Just before I released Kurtis and J, here, from the Core, I loaded Doctor Childress with the same isolation sub-route that Bennie programmed. It still resided within my chip, so I was able to utilize it.” Nadine briefly turned to Bennie, “That was some brilliant programming I might add, Mister Bennie.”
“That’s why Doctor Childress was turned,” Kurtis whined, “Jeez, how many times do we have to explain this stuff? C’mon, we’re running outta time and I really don’t want to have bullets plugging my only clone body, now, let’s get to it, shall we? Plug us in and do some kind of diagnostic or something and figure out what you can do to keep them from downloading their code, already!”
“Relax, Kurtis,” Nadine snapped, “We’re before the great Calvin Jones now. If anyone can figure out how to patch our chips, he can. Isn’t that right, Mister Jones?”
“Yeah, yeah, I think so,” Calvin said, scratching the back of his neck. “Okay then, let’s get one of you hooked up.”
“Not so fast, Cal,” Nadine added, “Make sure your accelerator isn’t networked with any of the other units around in the city, okay? They could find us if it is, at lease that’s what my circuits are telling me.”
“I assure you,” Calvin said with raised hands, “This unit was pulled from the Saratoga. It’s never been networked with any of the earth-based accelerators.”
Calvin began running up the accelerator and handed Nadine a cable, “Just click that in and I’ll start running some diagnostics on your chip.”
Nadine hesitantly took the cable and reached behind her neck and clicked it into position.
Calvin turned to the machine and set various dials and changed a few settings as Bennie shoved his weapon in Sly’s hands.
“Here!” Bennie demanded, before turning to Calvin, “Keep this trained on her. Cal, set me up with a cable. It’s my code, I should be the one to scan for errors.”
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