AMP- Aftermath

by Brian K. Larson

  The rocket impacted in the street in the midst of the squid grouping, sending alien matter in a fire ball before raining back to the ground.

  “Clean up on isle three…” Charlie nervously laughed.

  The group broke out in a full run to cross the street. Rail-gun fire rang out sending them crouching low again as they ran. Kurtis turned as he ran and then ran backwards with his shield shifted to protect them from the incoming gun fire.

  Titus stopped, took a knee and aimed his rocket launcher at another group that formed and was making their way to the seawall.

  “We got trouble!” Titus shouted as he sent his second rocket from his shoulder.

  Preston turned with Hargrove and saw the missile flying at the C4. Hargrove took hold of the firing trigger, flipped the safety off, “I gotta blow it now!”

  The missile detonated over the heads of the moving squid creatures and blew them into smaller globs.

  “Do it now, Major,” Griffin shouted as he opened fire on their left flank.

  Titus dropped his missile launcher and rose his rail-gun and fired to their right flank.

  Hargrove saw more squids approaching the payload, eager to pull the firing pins on their C4, he pressed the button on the remote trigger sending a fireball, which shook the ground, high into the air.

  The seawall ruptured, sending a wall of water into the city streets and covering the alien matter in its pathway.

  “C’mon, move out!”

  The group returned to their feet and took off toward the maintenance shack before blue blaster beams shot out from the nearby alley.

  Kurtis turned once more to absorb each plasma bolt, his shield glistened with each impact, outlining their circumference of protection.

  Water began to flow across the street before they heard more machine gun firing behind the squad of clinkers that had the fireteam pinned down. A war cry echoed into the street, gaining the attention of five of the metallic cyborg now focusing their blasters at the new approaching freedom fighters.

  “Jim?” Hargrove shouted.

  He watched both Jim and Matt charging with Luella and Tonya holding their own shield of protection. Sly kneeled on one knee and rose his own motor gun to his shoulder, firing three rounds into the cyborg mix.

  The cyborg squad was quickly taken down. The water began to flood the citiy’s storm drains, rising to the edges of the sidewalks.

  “Matt, Jim!” Hargrove shouted, “C’mon, I had to blow it early! Move out!”

  J held the maintenance shack open as Sly ran through, followed by Matt, Jim, Luella and Tonya. Hargrove reached the open door and held it open for his fireteam, “J, CB, get to the ship!”

  Once again, Hargrove patted each shoulder as Griffin, Titus, Preston, Mitch, CB and Kurtis entered the small room before he slammed the door shut. Kurtis aimed his hands to the door frame and shot out a beam of energy. Sparks, snaps and pops noised as he welded the door shut.

  Water flooded the small shack and began pouring down the maintenance hatch as the first group climbed down into the tunnel.

  He sent CB down next, followed by Titus, Preston and Griffin before he climbed down and closed the hatch above.

  The group quickly made it to the ship’s door and began climbing in before the water started rushing inside.

  J and Mitch hopped in their vehicles. They roared their way out of the tunnel before the water flooded them.

  Hargrove looked over at the dissolving alien matter they had cut down earlier and smiled as the ground shook with a wall of water heading from the opposite end of the tunnel.

  Preston flipped switches as the group readied themselves for takeoff.

  “We’re sealed up,” Titus confirmed, the water is getting pretty high down here, Major!”

  Griffin made it to his seat and raised the landing skids after Preston took the controls and manually lifted off.

  “Where’d you guys come from?” Hargrove asked.

  “Sly here said we should make our why into the city,” Jim smiled.

  “He thought you might need some help,” Luella smiled with Matt.

  “Oh, he did, did he?” Hargrove nodded toward Sly, “I thought we said to stay behind?”

  “I stayed behind, Major, no?” Sly smirked.

  “Doesn’t appear that way.”

  “We were to your north, so yeah, we got your back, no?”

  Preston skillfully flew the transport as the water rushed under the ship, quickly filling the tunnel.

  “We’ve got to make another pick up!” Mitch protested, “Jack and Kent! They’ll drown out there!”

  “Do as he says, Major,” Griffin ordered, pressing commands on his console.

  Titus unbuckled and headed to the hatch, only seeing Griffin had already opened the inner air lock door. Entering the airlock, he slid the outer door open. The rush of water was nearly overwhelming the two soldiers outside.

  Titus reached his hand out and grabbed Jack first. Pulling him out of the water and to the safety of the ship.

  Next Kent swam against the rushing current of water, rising up from the 99th street tunnel. Grabbing his arm, the two locked hands as the water rushed waist high before yanking him to safety.

  “Go-Go-Go!” Titus exclaimed, slamming his fist on the emergency actuator, sliding the outer door closed.

  Preston rose the ship from rescuing the two and headed toward the Saratoga Base.

  Chapter 21

  Downtown Seattle

  January 18, 2068 11:42

  The ground quailed under Nadine and Doctor Childress’ feet as they stood at the center of their alien sphere.

  The seawall that held out the high waters of Puget Sound ruptured with a fireball, creating a catastrophic crack in the seawall causing eminent failure.

  Water burst through the tunnel complex, the saltwater of Puget Sound filled all of the underground parts of Seattle. The waters rose above the city streets and sidewalks, dissolving any alien presence above ground. The waters continued to rise several feet above the city streets, flooding every building above the second story.

  Below ground, Nadine panicked as she watched the water slowly flow around the sphere, only being protected by the cement walls of the underground.

  “Doctor, isn’t there anything we can do?”

  “No, Nadine, I’m sorry. We have no defense for this planet’s highly corrosive water!”

  “What do we do, then?”

  “I suggest we take to higher ground, Nadine, unless you like the idea of dissolving when the water breaches our sphere walls!”

  “And what?” Nadine protested, “What about our new sphere and the soon to be arrival of our people?”

  “Most of the cement structure that houses this sphere can withstand the water. It’ll hold it out for now, but just to be sure, we need to take refuge in one of our downtown buildings,” Childress urged. “Might I suggest anywhere above the third floor?”

  “Very well, Doctor. Do you have a way up? I don’t think the builders put a turbo lift to the buildings above.”

  Doctor Childress pressed commands on a touch pad that suspended in front of him. Holding a finger on the touch panel, he traced a path through the sphere that would lead them to the upper sections.

  “Here,” Childress exclaimed, “See this?”

  “Yes, what is it?”

  Childress rolled his eyes and sighed toward Nadine, “Are your circuits working at all, Nadine? That’s the causeway to the human dwelling above us!”

  “Okay, nice job, Doctor. And yes, my circuits are working above operational parameters. It’s your circuits that are in question, but I digress. So how long will it take us to get there?”

  “If there are no problems, we can be there in five minutes or less.”

  “Doctor, I’m not entirely sure this is the most prudent action.”

  Childress pressed two commands and then one last button press, “There, I just sent the pathway to your chip. You should know the way out in case we are se
parated.”

  “Are you listing to me, Doctor? I do appreciate the floorplans,” Nadine replied as she grabbed his floating touch pad and held it up to examine, “but I still say there is another course of action we should consider.”

  “What’s wrong now, Nadine?”

  “I’m viewing the breach in the seawall. They did this, you know.”

  “It’s not looking good, Nadine. Not at all!” Childress looked at the screen over Nadine’s shoulder.

  “The entire cyborg army has been reduced to goo and is now dissolving. The entire line of X models that were filling the streets to secure our line have either dissolved or have taken refuge in some of the higher floors in the building above the flood.”

  “Exactly what I’ve been telling you we must do! Move to higher ground, Nadine. Even the X models know enough for that!”

  “Doctor, I think when Xat arrives, I will put you in for a complete diagnostic.”

  Doctor Childress went on, ignoring Nadine, “Well, at least we didn’t lose them all. We have to look on the bright side.”

  “What bright side? When Xat-Anah arrives in just a few short hours in orbit. He’s going to blame you for this mess, not I.”

  “Oh, come on, Doctor, you can’t be serious.”

  “I had everything perfectly under control… until you arrived, that is,” Childress finished under his breath.

  “Neither one of us will survive Xat-Anah’s arrival if we don’t do something besides argue between us!”

  “I totally agree, Nadine,” Childress said, pointing at the touch screen, “Uh-oh, look at this.”

  Nadine took her fingers and spread them, zooming in on what Childress was alerting her to, “I see. We have this corrosive water leaking through the outer cement walls. It’s going to start dissolving the sphere at an accelerated rate once it comes in contact.”

  “Which is why we need to leave…”

  Nadine sighed before Childress continued, “There is too much that needs being done before we leave!”

  Childress grabbed the touch pad from Nadine before continuing, “Perhaps we should assign what resources we have within the sphere to that section. They need to stop the water at all costs!”

  Doctor Childress typed on the touch screen as Nadine watched over his shoulder, “Five metallic and a dozen X models. I hope that they can stop this water.

  “Using the outer dirt and sand around the sphere, I will command them to construct sandbags and layer them around the sphere where it is the most vulnerable.”

  “Okay, that’s a good start, Doctor. I see you are at least performing at normal operational parameters again.”

  “I do get a little wood on the ball, sometimes,” Childress grinned.

  “Okay, Doctor, that’s all we better do from here. Let’s move out while we still can.”

  “Oh, now it’s all your idea to move to high ground, I see.”

  “Can it, Doctor…”

  Childress abruptly interrupted Nadine, “Fine! Once we’re safely above ground, I’ll grow an interface console and begin to program the launch sequence.”

  “But Doctor, the sphere isn’t launch ready.”

  “Well, what else do you suggest we do?”

  “Well, if you think we can launch this sphere and float it above ground, why not do that from here. It will save time not moving through the sphere before we attempt to save the complex. Let’s not panic, okay, Doctor?”

  Nadine grabbed the touch pad from the doctor once more and began typing commands, “I can see our resources are keeping the water from contacting our sphere. There might just be enough time to complete the sequence.”

  Childress crowded over Nadine’s shoulder, reaching for the touch pad before Nadine yanked back, “If we bypass most of the sphere’s systems and only finish growing any required systems to enable the launch, that would facilitate the advancement of our launch sequence.”

  “Yes,” Doctor Childress nodded. “Well done, Nadine. You appear to also be performing at normal operational parameters.”

  “Thank you, Doctor, but I suggest that I am operating at above parameters, m’kay? And I also get wood on the ball at times,” Nadine winked.

  “Xat-Anah will be proud of us,” Childress boasted.

  “Not so fast, Doctor. Xat-Anah can be extremely hard to please. We need to solidify our standing with Xat by presenting him the Jenny human.”

  “Would not Xat be pleased enough by my saving this sphere? However, I would agree that presenting Jenny to Xat-Anah would solidify our standing. But I don’t understand how we will get our hands on her.”

  “Oh, thee of little faith…”

  Childress interrupted Nadine, “… we don’t have faith. Remember? We’re alien clones. We’re not from this world…”

  “Are your circuits beginning to malfunction again, Doctor? It’s merely a figure of speech common with these humans.”

  “And I could say your clone is not capable of taking a joke, Nadine. Something else that is common with these humans.”

  “How about stop trying to be more human and more Sirius for once?”

  Childress shot Nadine a glare before he continued, “Now, let’s work together and grow our console and program the transference sequence.”

  Grabbing each other’s hands, they faced one another and closed their eyes, “It’s something that J taught me with my last clone. I never thought it was possible, but even as clones, we can join our chips together though our wireless capabilities and increase a self-amp charge.”

  A golden glow flowed around the pair as a console flowed up from the floor in a semi-liquid state before turning more gelatinase. The alien matter traveled across into a large, two-person, panel with legs extending down into the floor. The alien matter grew several touch panels with displays of various systems and statuses.

  “Are you sure we have enough resources to make the sphere transference?” Doctor Childress asked.

  “Shhh, yes, Doctor, there is enough. Trust me.”

  “Trust is something I’ve never quite mastered. I am afraid that I cannot trust you.”

  “That’s something I can’t help you with, Doctor.”

  Childress held his eyes closed, the golden glow continuing to envelop the two of them, “I have scanned the resources available to complete the sphere transference and I am not seeing enough to complete this task.”

  “Yes, there is, Doctor,” Nadine broke from her hold, stepped back after sending lightning bolts of energy down her arm, aimed at the Doctor.

  Focusing the lightening discharge, she disintegrated the Doctor. His screams only silenced after his body fragmented, vanishing after his arms were held out in front of him in a panic at what Nadine was doing to him.

  “At least there is now, Doctor,” Nadine smirked as she withdrew her weapon. “Now, the clone that was once Doctor Childress has been reabsorbed and is now added to the required resources.”

  Satisfied that the sphere had begun the transference process, she took off toward the exit the Doctor showed her.

  “Once I arrive at my destination, the sphere will be nearly thirty percent transferred. Xat-Anah will be most pleased with my operational performance.”

  Nadine checked the status of the X models holding back the rising waters from Puget Sound and nodded her satisfaction, “Most excellent, we should be transferred before the water breaches on this sphere.”

  Nadine paused for a moment as she grew a slight smile across her cloned face, “Now, there’s a thought. I just happen to have a clone body on the seventh floor of the Federal building. Seems as if there is power still in that building. How fortunate and my clone is online.”

  Nadine closed her eyes and settled comfortably in a chair she had grown. Her eyes instantly popped open. She looked around the dark room. She stood in the center of the room with electrical sparks showering from the ceiling across the way as bear wires sparked as they were being moved in the wind coming through a bank of broken windows. Several ceil
ing tiles had fallen to the ground and computers were smashed by fallen I-beams.

  Looking down each of her cloned arms and the rest of her body, she smiled, “How nice. Not one scratch. Now, to grow another comm panel so I can monitor the sphere transfer progress.”

  Holding her hands out in front of her, she melted parts of her body skin and flowed it across to each hand as it formed her new touch pad.

  She released it and it became suspended in front of her. Taking her right index finger, she began to manipulate the screen, “Wonderful! The sphere transfer is under way. Ten percent in five hours. Twenty in three additional. Thirty percent at the ten-hour mark from now. Well before Xat-Anah’s arrival.”

  Nadine manipulated more settings and subconsciously nodded her satisfaction, “My clone within the sphere will transfer automatically. I have another clone that’s accessible… let me see,” Nadine pressed more commands on the touch pad, “I have one more fallback clone still active at the Olympia complex. I’ll use that one as a last resort, though. It was a bitch trying to travel to Seattle the last time,” Nadine laughed, “Oh yeah, I was on their side that time. I won’t have those issues next time. I am functioning way above operational specifications.”

  Nadine continued monitoring the sphere transfer progress as the waters of Puget Sound continued eating away at the cement structures, the X models kept working at blocking the encroaching corrosive water.

  Downtown Seattle

  January 18, 2068 11:45

  Preston lowered the transport to their make-shift landing pad near the crashed Saratoga. Griffin lowered the landing struts as the thrusters fired below the ship, bringing it gently to the ground.

  Griffin tapped his headset, “General McKenzie, Colonel Griffin here! We need to prepare for the rising waters!”

  Griffin’s earpiece rang in his ear as he unbuckled his harness and joined Major Preston in the center causeway. The rest of the crew were exiting the open door that Titus manned.

  “We’re already sandbagging our line. The water is rising, but it’s mainly in the downtown sector.”

  “Understood, Sir,” Griffin answered as he jumped down from the transport wing, “Keep those sandbags going! From what we saw, the main surge is going to be about three to five feet once the underground has finished filling up. We’ve got maybe thirty minutes before we start to see the water rising on our line.”