Where We Go One, We Go All

Where We Go One, We Go All Page 3

by Robert Boren

  We might want to use whatever we’ve disabled.

  “Oh. That makes sense, I guess.”

  There are some nuances to the system that we haven’t had time to touch on yet. Adjusting power levels on Variant Three Nanos is one of these. We can also shape the protection of Variant Five shield Nanos, and even use them to create virtual weapons.

  “What, like a plasma gun?” Vermillion asked.

  Cutting weapons and tools like hammers or punches. The most impressive capability we haven’t trained for yet is the jumping capability.

  “You brought that up before. We’ll get to it, I’m sure.

  From a tactical standpoint, it’s not as important as the speed enhancement, so we did that first.

  “What tactics could we use jumping for?” I asked.

  Remember when those jet copters were trying to attack us on the roof during the rescue mission?

  “Yes.”

  Imagine an enemy had grabbed JJ and gotten her onto one of those copters. You could jump onto it, break your way in, grab her, and jump off.

  Vermillion shook his head. “Drake’s full of surprises. I need to read the latest, I guess. Speaking of Drake, let’s see if he’s still available.”

  I nodded, tapping the pad under the arm of the holographic communicator, sending the page. Drake answered it right away, his robotic face showing up.

  What did you find?

  Vermillion sighed. “Clan eye and adrenal gland robotics with serial numbers.”

  So Simone is either with the Clan, or she bought the technology from the Clan. I take it the adrenal gland units are what’s turning on the rabies simulation.

  “That’s what we think,” I said. “We’ve got a lot of un-answered questions.”

  “You left out the transmit and receive capabilities,” Vermillion said.

  I was afraid they’d have that capability after you mentioned the Clan serial numbers. It’s just another transmission, though, probably easier to catch than the transmissions from single-purpose devices you’ve been stopping.

  That is correct, sir.

  “We’re trying to figure out how to disable them in the most humane way possible,” JJ said. “Captain Clarke and Butch were talking about using Variant Three Nanos on the way over here. Do you think that would work?”

  If you want to destroy them, you’d have to turn the gain all the way up. Bear in mind that you will be blinding the prisoners as soon as you do that. They’ve got re-wired visual cortexes.

  “I figured that would be the case. Glad we figured this out, because if we just kill these guys and shove them out the airlock, the transmitters would still be in place, and could send messages once we’re far enough away from the bodies.”

  “It would just be a beacon, though, right?” JJ asked.

  “Yes, but that would be bad enough,” Vermillion said. “It’d let them know our position.”

  I thought about that for a moment. “Actually, the danger would depend on where we dumped the bodies. We wouldn’t want to do it by Amberis, Boroclize, or near one of our manufacturing plants. We could drop them in the vicinity of Devonia Axxiom, or someplace else that won’t help Simone.”

  Vermillion chuckled. “Now that would be funny. Especially if we could put booby traps into the bodies.”

  Amusing, but don’t do that, because the people killed will probably be working stiffs from that world who don’t deserve what they’d get.

  I nodded. “Agreed, we don’t want to set up booby traps unless we’re sure they hurt the right people. We do have a problem, though. These folks are dangerous. We need to dispose of them, and it’s unlikely they’ll tell us anything useful beyond what we’ve already learned.”

  Kill them, put them on ice, and when we go back to Boroclize to pick up the rest of the ore from the mover, we shove them into the mine.

  I laughed. “Butch, you’re sick.”

  What? These aren’t our friends. They’d kill everybody here and destroy the ship if they could.

  Everybody has to answer for everything they do. I don’t want to see us stooping to Simone’s level. Not ever.

  JJ’s brow furrowed. “We blew up that Samson Corporation office on Devonia Axxiom.”

  True, JJ, but we had to do that. There was some encrypted data there that we were cut off from. Simone’s people would’ve eventually broken it.

  “You didn’t tell me about that,” Vermillion said.

  There wasn’t anything recent, and we would’ve survived had it been obtained by our enemies, but it was still worth making sure the problem was eliminated. I sent a warning to all surrounding buildings before we blew it up. The only people who weren’t warned were Simone’s operatives inside the facility.

  “I’m still having a problem with all of this,” JJ said. “What was Simone trying to accomplish?”

  We don’t know enough to determine that yet. I’ve been banging my robotic head against the wall trying to find out what happened to the rest of the summit attendees. The only one anybody’s heard from is the Prime Minister.

  “He’s probably responsible for the whole damn thing,” I said.

  Well, that would be the simplest answer, and often those turn out to be correct.

  Has the Prime Minister been seen in the flesh?

  No, but the news reports from the Central Authority give the impression that he has. They’re reporting on venues he’s spoken at, but all we’ve got is written transcripts. Some on Devonia Axxiom are beginning to ask questions, and several reporters have disappeared as well.

  I shook my head, anger flushing my face. “Shit, Simone’s running things. She pulled off the coup after all.”

  “Don’t jump to that conclusion just yet,” Vermillion said. “Something’s not right about that failed attack on Earth that Simone’s Razor ships tried.”

  Yes, I’ve got to agree with the Chairman on this one. I think Simone wants us to think she’s in control, but I doubt that’s the case. She’s wanted on Devonia Axxiom, and barely got away with her life after the coup attempt.

  “Maybe the Clan is running things,” JJ said. “The best evidence we have of that is sitting in our brig right this second.”

  { 3 }

  Variant Three Nanos

  W e all sat looking at JJ, aghast at what she’d said.

  You could be right about that, JJ. Clan operatives might have gained control over certain high-ranking members of the Central Authority government.

  “Like the Prime Minister, unless he was in on it,” Vermillion said.

  “Why would he be in on it?” I asked, my mind reeling with the possibilities.

  I can think of two possibilities.

  “What would those be?” I asked.

  First, they might have overwhelming forces already in place in our zone. Prime Minister Aeon might have been given an offer he can’t refuse. He’d probably be kept on as regional governor for his silence and cooperation.

  “How could he hide that from the people?” I asked.

  “The news media could simply lie,” Vermillion said, “and we’ve already heard of people being disappeared on Devonia Axxiom. We assumed they were Overlords operatives, but we don’t have proof of that. They might be people who know what’s going on and have threatened to talk.”

  Possibility number two is that Prime Minister Aeon made a secret alliance with the Clan and is willing to share power with certain guarantees. He’d have to keep the population under control. That would be easier if he could force people to wear PAs and stun them to death if they misbehave.

  “Oh boy,” JJ said.

  We sat silently for a moment, letting the thoughts sink in.

  “Sorry, but we’re moving into conjecture too much,” I said. “We need evidence. The Clan being in control, regardless of how they might have
gotten that control, still doesn’t explain the attempted attack on Earth by Simone’s Razors.”

  “Maybe she thinks the Central Authority will double-cross us after we sign an agreement. That would allow the Clan to destroy us and take over without firing a shot.”

  “Can we get messages to Simone or her people?” JJ asked.

  Vermillion leaned back in his chair, thinking for a moment. “I had a few Overlords contacts. They quit responding to me after the battle in Earth’s orbit.”

  Let’s see if we can re-open dialog with these contacts. Meanwhile we need to search for Clan ships, and we’d better hope they don’t have a stealthy new wormhole projection drive. If they do, it’ll be game over. We’ll have no way to find them.

  “Dammit,” I said. “If they have to rely on natural wormholes, they can’t beat the Central Authority. Searching for the Clan based on natural worm holes will be a waste of time. We’d be spinning our wheels while Prime Minister Aeon consolidates his power and puts the Central Authority Zone into a new dark age.”

  Let’s get back on the idea that the Clan has wormhole projection and can hide it. We could sneak into the Clan Zone and record their ship traffic. The data could be used to track them.

  I laughed. “You know, that idea isn’t half bad.”

  “The Clan Zone is far away,” Vermillion said. “What about fuel?”

  “We can handle that problem,” JJ said. “We go to Boroclize, gather up the rest of the ore in that mover, and keep our refinery running. We might have enough ore already with us.”

  “What if you have to fight?” Vermillion asked. “Won’t that burn through your fuel?”

  “If we get into a fight in the Clan Zone, we won’t be coming back, more than likely,” I said. “Might be worth the risk. There is no ship more invisible than this one, remember. She’s fast, too, especially with Nolan’s module and the other upgrades.”

  “The New Jersey is as invisible as this ship,” Vermillion said.

  JJ shook her head. “Not really, because the New Jersey doesn’t have the backstop of the gold cladding, and size makes a big difference too.”

  I nodded. “We’d have to bring on life-support supplies. Food, for instance, since we can’t grow our own on the Zephyrus.”

  You guys are convincing me, as crazy as it sounds. Let me spend the night thinking about it. I’ll talk to you later.

  Drake’s face left the holographic frame.

  He’s gone.

  Vermillion got up, pacing, not having enough room to do it comfortably in the little stateroom. I exchanged a glance with JJ.

  “This idea scares me more than almost anything,” he said.

  “Almost anything?” JJ asked.

  He sat back down and took a deep breath. “Not doing it scares me more.”

  “So, just to be clear,” I said, “We travel to the Clan Zone un-detected and gather data on their drive profiles and frequencies. Then we come back here and scan, to see if we can find large numbers of their battle ships in our zone.”

  Works for me. It was easy to gather the profile data on the Razor ships, and we can do the same thing here. When do we leave?

  Vermillion chuckled. “You’re a joy, Butch. Don’t forget the side trip to Boroclize to pick up the ore. That’s a must.”

  “I think we should do that, but taking this freighter instead of a military ship might afford us certain advantages,” I said. “We’ll have to cross the Free Zone, and we can probably buy fuel there. We could travel freely because we won’t be breaking the laws or treaties. That wouldn’t work with the New Jersey.”

  “Let’s get some food,” Vermillion said. “I need to walk a little, and clear my head.”

  “Yeah, this little stateroom isn’t the best for pacing,” I quipped.

  We left the stateroom together, going to the dining room, having a quick meal there. Then we went to the bridge. Nolan, Izzy, and Tim were still there.

  “Well, find out anything that you can tell us?” Tim asked. Nolan looked over at him with a smirk.

  Izzy nodded. “I’m wondering the same thing, actually. Are we still going on the Clan hunt?”

  I laughed. Nolan eyed at me, not understanding.

  “Sorry, Nolan. Yes, we’re still going on the Clan hunt, but it’ll be different than we had originally planned.”

  “Different how?” Izzy asked.

  “We’re going to the Clan Zone.”

  “What?” Tim asked. “Why would we want to do that?”

  “It’s a long story,” I said.

  “We’ve got plenty of time, Captain.”

  “That we do,” I said, turning to Vermillion. “Mind?”

  “No, go ahead. Tell them everything. It’s classified for now, though. This bridge crew only.”

  I nodded, and told them the story. JJ, Butch, and Emerald helped out in spots. Vermillion spent most of the time moving from one chair to another and pacing.

  “We’re in more trouble than I thought,” Izzy said.

  “I’m not arguing that,” I said, “and it all might be for nothing. There’s a good chance that there isn’t an imminent Clan attack or a secret Clan coup. It might just be corruption at the highest levels of the Central Authority government, and Simone might still be a secret partner with Prime Minister Aeon.”

  Nolan hadn’t said much, looking deep in thought.

  “You okay, Nolan?” I asked.

  “Yes, Captain, I’m just trying to work this out. We’ve got a very complex set of theories here, and trying to unravel it all will be time-consuming and dangerous. I agree that the Clan can’t do an invasion without their own wormhole projection technology, and if they have that, the only way we’ll catch them in our zone is to learn their drive frequencies and profiles.”

  “If we run into a dead end, or decide that the danger isn’t the Clan, we’ve got a harder nut to crack,” Vermillion said. “We can’t win a military battle against the combined forces of the Central Authority and the Overlords, even if we have the extra three New Jersey-class ships. They’ll figure out how to fight us after a battle or two.”

  We have more advantages than you’re thinking, but it’s good to have the mindset Chairman Vermillion does. It creates the urgency we need.

  “What advantages are you talking about, Butch?” Vermillion asked.

  The Razor ships are riddled with weaknesses that won’t be easy to fix without a genius-level team, and their people of that level have defected.

  How can you be sure of that?

  They had all this time to develop their capability and couldn’t even overcome railgun defenses on Earth. Let’s not forget the failed coup attempt either. Some of you think that might have been theater, not reality. I don’t think so. The Overlords paid a real price during that attempt.

  I nodded in agreement. “Simone may be brilliant in her own way, but whoever is designing her strategy is not very smart. They’ve made mistake after mistake, and they’re repeating mistakes as well.”

  Vermillion was silent for a moment, thinking it through. “Okay, I see what you’re saying. The fact that Centurion Class ships can team up and beat her says a lot. Centurion Class ships could not pull that off against the New Jersey.”

  I chuckled. “Hell, I don’t think Centurion ships could take out the Zephyrus.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that,” Nolan said, “although I basically agree with where you’re going. We’ve got the A team. They’ve got the C team. The problem is the C team is much larger than the A team.”

  Problem in the brig, Captain.

  I felt my heart rate spike. “They’re not out, are they?”

  No, Frakes killed the prisoner in the cell next to his. Strangled him to death.

  “Let’s go,” I said, leaving the bridge, JJ, Nolan, and Vermillion following me.

  Butch, contact Haney’s AI and make sure he’s okay.

  He�
��s fine, and his AI was monitoring the brig when it happened. We have full video of the event.

  We made it to the bridge in a couple minutes, Haney nodding as we walked up.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “They were having a discussion, and then all hell broke loose,” he said. “Watch the video. I had my AI sent it to your AI.

  You have it, Trey, and I sent it to the others as well.

  “I’ll pause a moment and watch,” I said, bringing the video display to my visual cortex. I watched silently, Frakes having a hushed conversation with the man next to him, then Frakes calling him a traitor, grabbing him by the throat as the rabid impulses hit him, squeezing the life out of the man as the other two prisoners yelled for him to stop.

  “Wow,” Nolan said.

  JJ looked at me. “That was frightening.”

  “He hasn’t seen frightening yet,” I said. “In fact, after a moment, he won’t see anything. Ever again. Haney, unlock the door.”

  Haney nodded, the door clicking. I pushed it open and went in.

  “Oh, good, you can see a preview of your future, rebel,” Frakes said, drool still coming out the corners of his mouth.

  “Butch, tell me how to put Variant Three Nanos to max power and target only this creep.”

  Do you want me on speaker?

  “Not necessary,” I said.

  Frakes laughed. “Look, we got him so scared he’s talking to himself.”

  Dictate Variant Three Nano Max while looking at Frakes.

  I did that, the Nanos streaming into Frakes, his hands going to his eyes immediately as he screamed in pain. Then he fell to the ground in hard shaking convulsions, increasing until he died on the floor.

  Oops.

  I chuckled. “Wow, didn’t expect to kill him. I only wanted to take out his Clan hardware.”

  “Put Butch on speaker and let us in on this conversation,” Vermillion said, “these folks aren’t going anywhere.”

  Thank you sir.

  “Who’s that?” Renner asked, his eyes full of fright.

  I smiled. “He’s my imaginary friend, with some powers you don’t want to deal with, traitor.”

 

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