“Okay,” Calvin nodded, “Sounds reasonable,” he answered before handing Bennie a fiber connector.
Bennie clicked it in and stood at the console, “Okay, Unc, hit us!”
Calvin pressed the final key sequence, sending the gamma waves down the fiber cables and into each of their jacks, charging their chips.
Bennie’s eyes turned a familiar shade of green as Nadine braced herself with the gamma waves hitting her chip.
Calvin grabbed a stool and gave it to Nadine as Bennie began to pour over the flowing data on his screen.
“So far,” Bennie began, his eyes darting across the screen at super amped speed, “The programming is accurate… I’m not finding any discrepancies… … … wait… I think I found it.”
Bennie froze the data on the screen and pointed to a block of data bits to Calvin, “There it is… right there!”
Calvin leaned closer to the screen as Nadine continued to absorbed the flowing gamma waves.
“Oh… oh my…” Nadine managed to say, “Y…you have to… you have to… k-kill m-me… I-I think… I think I’m being compromised…”
Sly focused his gun on Nadine as he watched her eyes change to full green and her facial expression turned to one of malice.
Bennie reached over and yanked out the fiber cable from Nadine’s chip and dropped it to the floor as he instinctively rose a shield to protect the others.
Sly squeezed his trigger.
His rail-gun sent dozens of rail-shot into the Nadine clone just after she closed her eyes and fell to the floor.
Sly stopped firing as smoke filled the tent and their jaws lowered at seeing the Nadine clone sparking on the ground.
“Sly!” Calvin shouted, “What did you do!?”
“She was turning Vanguard! I had to kill her!”
“She wanted us to, if she changed,” Bennie said, looking at the ground with the others.
Calvin turned back to the console and pressed more commands before turning to Bennie, “She transferred.”
“What!?”
“She must have had another clone close by. She transmitted from this clone to another.”
“That’s not good!” Sly interjected before handing the weapon back to Bennie.
“No, it’s not,” Bennie said, taking the rail-gun, “But I know what section of the programming contains the vulnerability.”
“How’d the Vanguard programming find her if this accelerator wasn’t installed on any of the networks?” Hargrove asked.
“Her chip’s wireless began broadcasting. Once her chip became charged up,” Calvin answered, “it quickly found the code vulnerability.”
“Can we fix it?” Sly asked. “Are any of us subject to this Vulnerability?”
“Anyone that had Nadine’s code,” Calvin answered again.
“But we can erase that code and reprogram them so it won’t, now,” Bennie added.
“Yes, I can send programming steps to J and Kurtis’ chips to erase that and replace it with Bennie’s correct code.”
“I’ll get started with writing the new code,” Bennie said, as he typed commands on the accelerator’s keypad.
Seattle Down Town – New Alien Sphere
January 17, 2068 14:54
The new clone body opened its eyes as the tank drained, exposing Nadine’s new body’s nakedness.
Doctor Childress, once again, stood by with a white robe and towel and handed them to Nadine, “Welcome back.”
Nadine lifted her left arm and wiggled her new clone fingers, “Thanks, Doctor. Just glad to have all my parts back on this clone.”
“I must tell you,” Doctor Childress began, “You gave me quite the chase.”
“Sorry about that, Doctor,” Nadine smiled, “I was not operating at optimal specifications.”
“What did you find out? Anything important?”
“Yes, I know they have Jenny in the camp and she is with child.”
“It will go a long way with Xat, upon his return, if you presented Jenny as his prize.”
“They have an accelerator. They also are aware of the isolation programming errors. It won’t be easy to capture her. Are you up for the challenge?”
“Of course, Nadine. Of course.”
Chapter 15
Saratoga Base Camp
January 17, 2068 15:02
Kurtis sat on a three-legged stool with a fiber connection set at his jack, “How long am I gonna have to sit here, anyhow!? I mean, come on, here! At least you could have done is give me a normal chair, my back is killing me!”
“Relax, Kurtis,” Calvin nodded as he faced his controls, “We’re almost done erasing that corrupted code.”
“Well, can you hurry it up, already? Jeez, I don’t know how much more I can take trying to sit here!”
Hargrove kept his gun trained on Kurtis with Bennie while Sly trained a weapon at J.
Calvin stopped to face Kurtis, his hands raised palms up, “Well, I could suspend your erase and move on to J, if you prefer?”
“No… no, no, I’ll, I’ll sit and do this, okay? Just don’t stop now, okay? Jeez, man! You tryin’ to make my cloned body have a heart attack over here, or what?”
“Okay,” Calvin said, lowering his hands and turning back to the accelerator, “There! Bennie, can you confirm we got it all?”
Bennie opened his green amped eyes and looked between Kurtis and his Uncle, “Yes. That’s all of it. Start sending the replacement code.”
Calvin pressed more commands, lighting up the clear fiber cable with several colored ones and zeros.
“Okay, the start of the code has been set and implemented, Kurtis. You can relax now. Your isolation sub-routine is in place and secured. They won’t be downloading any code to your chip any time soon.”
“Just a couple more seconds to finish loading the code,” Bennie nodded, with closed eyes once more. “There! You’re all set, Kurtis… and one more bonus for you, you’re now set as Keeper.”
“You want us to lower our weapons now,” Hargrove asked.
“What!? I’m an official Keeper now? Hey, how’d you do that, anyway?”
“Yes,” Bennie answered lowering his gun from Kurtis, “We can stand down now.” Turning to Kurtis, “I used the data-bit difference between the two codes and had room to add that sub-routine. You’ll actually enjoy the benefits of being Keeper.”
“Huh, well, I didn’t think I would be of any use to any of you after everything I’ve done.”
“Relax, Kurtis,” Calvin nodded, “You’re a valuable member now. That’s all that matters. Everything you’ve done has no meaning now, or moving forward.”
“Gee, uh, thanks? I think?”
“It’ll go good for you,” Bennie smiled, “As long as you don’t mind a target painted on your backside all the time.”
Kurtis stood, looking around to his back the best he could, “Target!?”
“Well, that just is another perk that come with being one of us,” Bennie smiled once more before standing to unplug the fiber cord. With two pats on Kurtis’ shoulder, Bennie motioned for him to make room for J, “It’s all part of the deal.”
“What deal?” Kurtis protested, “I never agreed to any kind of deal…”
J sat on the small stool and looked across to Kurtis, Hargrove and Sly trained their weapon on the large girthed man, “It’s the deal where we allow you to live, remember now?”
“Oh… right… that deal…”
Bennie plugged the fiber cable into J and turned to Calvin, “Okay, Unc, start the erase sub-routine.”
“On it,” Calvin nodded, “Don’t worry, J, it’s just like when we hooked up Kurtis. No gamma waves to activate the code. This is just a link to your chip so we can program it.”
“No worries from me, Cal,” J smiled, “I wasn’t worried about it when Kurtis was plugged in.”
Bennie closed his eyes and focused on the section within J’s chip, “Got it, Unc. Sending the program marker start point.”
&nbs
p; “There is it, alright,” Calvin said, studying his screen. “Starting the erase sub-routine now.”
Green, red, blue, and yellow colored ones and zeros passed from J’s chip into the accelerator before the colored data pattern flowed from the machine to his chip.”
“The program is now sending,” Calvin confirmed.
“Hey,” Kurtis protested, now with hands on hips, “What gives? How come it didn’t take nearly as long with J?”
Bennie opened his cloned eyes and faced Kurtis, “That’s because you insisted on being first. I had to find the sequence markers and write the extraction programming that would only erase the corrupted data. With J, I already located the markers. I only had to confirm they were the same and the extraction routine was already this time.”
Kurtis shook his head and held his temples with his hands, “Never mind, I didn’t expect a lot of technical talk… now, I’ve got a pounding headache! Thanks a lot, for that, by the way… jeez! Do a favor and reap the rewards… I can’t seem to catch a break, here!”
“At least you’re clone body is still sucking down air, right?” J nodded as his sequence finished.
“There you are, J,” Calvin said, stepping over to unplug the fiber cable. “You’re all set and safe from any Vanguard download.”
J stood and nodded at Bennie, “Okay, so now what about Nadine? How was it she was able to transfer without any host?”
“Well, like I said,” Calvin answered, “As long as there are Nadine clones created and online, she can transfer to any of them at will.”
“Unless her chip is destroyed before she’s able to initiate a transfer,” Bennie added.
“So, that makes it extremely hard to eliminate her,” Calvin finished.
“It’s just good that we’re able to prevent any more of you becoming Vanguard,” Sly added, handing his gun back to Bennie, “Here, I feel better if you hold on to this thing.”
“Yeah, no problem, Sly. No problem at all,” Bennie answered. He took the rail-gun from his hands before clicking the safety on.
General McKenzie entered the tent and stepped over to the group, “How are things going in here,” he said before looking down on the ground at the sparking Nadine clone. “Judging by the looks of things, not so well?”
“The problem occurred when I sent a small gamma wave to Nadine’s chip,” Calvin explained, “Her chip broadcast her signature through the code vulnerability before Bennie and I had a chance to identify the bad code.”
“We fixed it all now, General,” Bennie assured, “I found the code and replaced it with my original isolation sub-routine. Kurtis and J will be good now. They’re the only ones that were affected by Nadine’s corrupt code.”
“Just how did this corruption take place, anyway?”
“It was Nadine. She wrote the code. I can only guess it was by design,” Bennie answered.
“Well, it looks like we’ve seen the last of this model…”
Calvin interrupted the General, “… ‘fraid not, Sir.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“She was able to transfer out of this one and into another active clone within the city,” Calvin answered.
“Crap!” McKenzie cursed, “Did she know about our plans to blow the seawall?”
“No, fortunately we didn’t talk about that, Sir,” Hargrove answered. “Which by the way, Sir, we still need to find a load of munitions for that task.”
“… and I think we better be getting to that, sooner than later,” Bennie added. “We cannot allow this sphere and all those aliens to finish their mission.”
“Well, I don’t intend on letting them!” McKenzie exclaimed. “We’ve lost enough ground. No more!”
“General,” Bennie began, “There is a base in Port Angeles that has a munitions depot. If we can get there, we can arm up.”
“How do you intend on making that trip, young man?” General McKenzie balked, “The shuttle is down and Hargrove’s ship is apparently grounded.”
Major Preston entered the tent as Bennie pointed with his green glowing eyes, “Your Major, here, is about to inform you the shuttle is flyable.”
Major Preston nodded as Bennie reported, “He’s right, General, I just came back from the shuttle. Titus and Trudy have replaced the bad engine. It’s not space-worthy, but she’ll make the trip, Sir.”
“Well done, Major!” McKenzie praised, “Well done, indeed. It’s about time our side gets some good news!”
Bennie stepped over to Preston, “Major, I need you to take Jenny and my mom to the Port Angeles base. They’ll be much safer there while we blow up the seawall.”
Major Preston looked over to McKenzie for approval, who gave a firm nod, “If Jenny is not here for the taking, then that’s another plus, son. You go with them and the Major. Take Titus and Trudy with you. They’ll help you load the ship.
“Right away, Sir,” Major Preston acknowledge with a quick salute before exiting the tent to make preparations for departure.
Bennie nodded as he left on Preston’s heels, “I’ll go get mom and help move Jenny to the ship.”
“Colonel Griffin is with them, he should accompany you all as well,” McKenzie ordered. “The rest of you need to help with securing the line. Where’s the Freedom Fighter’s leader? We need them to start making a way to the tunnel.”
J raised his eyebrows, “Well, I don’t know who exactly is in charge of them, but I’m willing to bet Jim or Matt. I’ll round them up and start planning that route with them. Sly, you stay here. Kurtis, you’re with me.”
“What, you want us to risk my only clone body to make a secure path to some underground tunnel? Jeez, the things I do around here!”
“Didn’t say you were on the fire team, Kurtis,” J answered, “But you are Keeper now, so you’ll have some special advantages if we do encounter any clinkers or squids.”
“Okay, okay. Just lead the way, already, so we can get this over with!”
Bennie entered Jenny’s tent and knelt by her cot. Taking her hand, he looked into her slowly opening eyes. Beverly stood at her head with Griffin giving her support after recovering from her ordeal.
“Ben?” Jenny weakly said, “Is that you?”
“Yes, Jenny, I’m right here,” Bennie squeezed her hand, “We’re going to move you away from the city, Jenny. We need to protect you and Eva from what’s coming.”
“I-I know, Bennie. I am aware of everything being planned. You still can project pretty loudly,” Jenny tried to chuckle.
“Take it easy, okay? We have the shuttle repaired, thanks to Titus and Trudy’s amped work.”
“Beverly?” Jenny called out, “Mom? You’re coming with me, too, right? That’s what am understanding…”
“Yes, Jenny, and it’s okay to call me Mom. After all, I am the grandmother of your child.”
“Yes, I know… I know Eva will be arriving soon, Mom. Hours… maybe two days at the most. That’s what she’s telling me, mom. I’m scared…”
“You just relax, now, Jenny,” Beverly knelt with Bennie by her side, “We’ll all be right by your side. You don’t have to worry about a thing, okay? Just relax and we’ll get you out of here.”
“I think- I think I can walk… someone help me up.”
Beverly supported her back as Bennie moved her legs over the edge of the cot.
“Just sit here a moment,” Beverly nodded, “You take as much time as you need…”
“No, we need to get out of the city now. No time to take it easy… help me to my feet, okay… let’s go!”
Bennie’s eyes lit up as he held her arms, helping her to her feet. The golden glow enveloped Jenny and Beverly as she rose.
From the added strength, Jenny took her first step and then the next as she made her way from the tent.
Black rain drops fell from the sky as they made their way to the shuttle. The ship’s engines already whining the turbos to full power.
Reaching the ship, they helped Jenny climb the short step
to the outer wing and then into the ship. Helping her to a seat, Bennie buckled her in and then secured his own harness. Beverly sat next to Titus and Trudy while Griffin sat in the right pilot seat.
Griffin looked over to Major Preston and nodded, “Looks like we’ve got all systems operational. Close us up and take us to Port Angles.”
Major Preston cinched his straps just a tad tighter before grabbing the flight controls. The whirring servos told them the outside hatch rolled and sealed closed.
“Taking off in 3… 2… 1… skids up!”
The sleek-looking shuttle lifted from the ground, its landing struts retracked into the ship’s carriage before turning a hundred and eighty degrees. Its nose dipped slightly before rocketing north to the Olympic Mountains and the Straits of Juan de Fuca.
Chapter 16
253 Mathilda Jump Ring - 253 Mathilda-2
January 18, 2068 05:23
Dillan sat at his flight console, ensuring their current settings were programmed to receive the incoming ship.
His ear buzzed with static before he heard Tracinski’s voice break through, “The flight deck is ready to receive, Dillan.”
“Stand by, Tracinski,” Dillan answered as he switched comms, “Salvage-5, 253 Mathilda-2, you’re cleared to land. Over.”
“253 Mathida-2, Salvage-5,” Captain Samantha Rothschild answered over the comm link, “I read you. Skids down in 3… 2… 1… locked and secured… close the bay doors and pressurize your landing bay. This is Captain Rothschild signing off.”
“Roger that, Sam, and good to hear your voice again.”
“Good to be heard,” Dillan’s ear rang before the comm link returned to static.
He unbuckled his harness and floated out of his seat, “Rickson, you have the con. I’m heading aft to see the Colonel.”
“Understood, Sir,” the second in command acknowledged.
Dillan made his way down the narrow causeway of the CSMO before arriving at the ship’s landing bay. Tracinski had already closed and sealed the bay and the pressure was nearly ready for the airlock doors to open.
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