"Bill, take Marc, Emily, and Juan and go keep an eye on the exits from the LCDD dome, but don't go inside. Jan, Mitch, Cassie, Susan and I are going back to sector zero. Everybody, grab your weapons, lock and load. Let's roll."
"Wait a minute, Jasper!" Walker shouted at me. "Ain't you forgetting a couple of people?" He had rolled over to Dolph.
I walked over to them. "Guys, I'm sorry, but you two should be in the hospital. Dolph, you're not going to tell me you're not hurting. And Walker, the top of your femur was shattered and the artery was clipped, you almost bled out. I'm sorry, but I'm going to be selfish again and ask you two to remain here."
"Selfish?" Dolph asked.
"Yeah. I explained it to Pete once. I want my two oldest friends to remain alive. Now stay put—that's an order."
We grabbed a couple of trams and headed north to sector eleven, then southeast down corridor three to sector zero.
As the slightly damaged tram made its best time Susan took my hand, "Matt," she said, "I can't bring myself to believe Sanyo is a traitor. As Ava, I nursed him to sophonce. I've known him all this time, all his aware life."
"I know, honey. It pains me to think about it. Truth is, I love him like a brother. When this ends, I had planned to watch some movies with him, we both love the old classics." We were quiet a minute, then I said, "Damn, I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's a lie; Pegram’s attempt to make us doubt our own."
We were still two clicks out from zero when we heard gunfire. At five hundred meters, we stopped and dismounted. We remained low and advanced carefully. The barricade we had built at three was still in place, so we rushed to take cover up against it.
As we lay there, I looked about at the others. Susan had taken to turning her identifier off but the identifiers of the others were on and appeared weak and were flashing intermittently.
"Hey," I whispered, and as I did they all flashed off, "our identifiers." Everyone looked about at one another. We were all so accustomed to seeing them there that we no longer saw them at all.
Mitch ventured a peek over the top of the barricade, and then reported to me. "I see three bots, one is inoperative and standing by the elevator shaft, one is behind the console in front of the elevators, and another is behind the remains of the barricade at corridor five. Both are armed and exchanging gun fire.
"Well, who's who?"
"I don't know. There are no identifiers on them, either."
Susan grabbed my arm. "Matt, it's the TWD, the tactical wave disruption device. We never did recover it."
I thought a moment, then whispered, "I'm gonna try something." I mentally turned my voice modulator up to maximum and approached the military crest of the barricade. "Hold your fire!" My words pounded the air in the central lobby area of sector zero. The gunfire ceased.
I turned my voice down to normal. "I want both of you to drop your weapons and move to the center of the area. If I see one laser emitter we will destroy the bot who produces it."
Jan took a peek next. "Matt, they both dropped their weapons and are moving to the center. All their tool covers are closed."
"Okay, move slowly and don't bunch up. Jan and Mitch—you cover the one on my right; Susan and Cassie, the one on my left. Let's go."
We walked to the top of the barricade, across it, and down the other side. The two bots were looking at one another until we came into view, then both sets of optical receivers rotated to view us. The one on the right started to move, coming around the other.
"Don't move!" I shouted. He froze.
After everyone was in place, and the two bots were under guard, I began to look around. I looked under furniture, behind the console even under the wounded bot. He had suffered a great deal of damage and had gone into sleep mode in order to preserve power.
The bot on the left spoke first. "What are you looking for Matt?" It was Sanyo.
"Hey!" the other spoke. "That's my voice!" They both sounded like Sanyo.
"Shut up, both of you! One of you has planted a TWD in here. Do either of you know where it is?"
Of course, there was no response.
"Okay. I'm gonna play twenty questions with you two, at the end of which, if I don't know who is who, I will destroy both of you."
"Matt, that's what he wants, to become a martyr," the one on the right said.
"Matt, he's wrong. Martyrdom only applies to their Bios," the other shouted back.
"They are told to seek self-destruction in an effort to destroy their master's enemies," Mr. Right said.
"Oh come on, you know once we're sophont, we don't accept programing!" came Mr. Left's rejoinder.
"Hold it!" I shouted. The two became still and quiet. I tried to think of some clever, revealing questions. All I could think to say was, "We know the three bots we sent up here Sanyo, Oscar, and Dillon. Which of you is Dillon?
Both pointed to the bot on the floor.
"Okay, which of you shot him?" Each pointed to the other. I glanced at Susan, who only rolled her eyes at me.
"Hey, Rick," the one on the right spoke. "Looks like Major Strasser's been shot. Round up the usual suspects."
I drew down on the other bot. It instantly popped its laser out of its chassis and I emptied a magazine of 5.56 API into it. The bot rolled backward about a meter and went dark. From the holes I'd blown into it, black smoke and small tongues of flame emerged.
"Sanyo, are you all right?" I asked.
He looked up at me and said, "Yeah. But let's not play that game again."
None of the others moved. Susan then asked, "Matt, how are you sure this is Sanyo?"
"That was a line from Casablanca," I said. "I told you we both love classic films.”
"Come on everyone; let's get Dillon to the RMB," Susan said.
Cassie reached Dillon first and bent down to pick him up. Mitch was right there to help. "Thank you, Mitch," she said smiling up at him.
"You're welcome, Cassie," he said, smiling back.
On the return trip, we informed Sanyo of all that had transpired, of Walker's brain child and Susan discovering Pegram had used a quick recharge bed in the LCDD barracks. "We suspect he's still hiding in there because either he or Oscar altered the computer’s files to indicate that dome was a vacuum, didn't look in those domes that we thought sealed."
○O○
Back at sector nine, I took Walker aside into the conference room and closed the door. I sat across from him and explained that Oscar had turned out to be the other mole.
He sat looking at me, expressionless. He looked away and licked his lips. After a moment, he took a deep breath.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
Walker frowned deeply and nodded. "I have the worst luck with friends."
"That's bullshit, and you know it," I said angrily.
He looked up at me, his eyes reddening.
"There are one hundred twenty-nine Bios out there who see you as a hero, and who would gladly be your friend. There are fifty bots and SUBs here who love you like a brother and would die for you, as one already has, saving your life. And you know how Susan, Dolph and I feel. I'd say you've been singularly lucky in the friendship department."
He looked away and I saw him wipe his eyes. "Thanks, Matt," he said quietly.
"Hey," I said with a smile, "what are friends for?"
I then heard a sound I had not heard in a very long time. Walker's stomach was grumbling.
"When did you eat last?"
"More recently than you."
"Very funny. Come on, let's get you some chow."
"Matt, there's no reason for you to know, but the Bios have been living off nutrient pills for several days now."
"No solid food?"
"It's all gone. Most of the emergency rations were destroyed or sucked into space at the hospital. The mess hall dome is in a vacuum; the restaurants are either buried in EFS or have been without power so long the food is spoiled. We ate up what was saved and we're down to the pills. The good news is: we have a lot of pi
lls."
"You can't live on pills."
"No, but rescue can't be too far off." He could see my mind was grinding out a plan. "Matt, I know that look. What are you thinking?"
"Listen, the LCDD dome wasn't compromised in the quake, and it still has power. That means that all the food the Bio members of the Detachment had in their rooms is still good, as well as all the food in the snack bar. We need to root out Pegram anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone?"
"You want to just walk into his trap?"
"The mission is to keep the Bios alive; for that, food and water is a requirement."
"Matt, we have water—"
"Just nothing to eat."
"We ain't starving. You don't have to risk your life for hot dogs."
"We're going to have to make a move sooner or later; we can't have that madman running around here when the shuttles arrive. We might as well move now."
Chapter 22
Another Replacement
I called all the SUBs together and explained my plan. I then got with Doc and Sanyo. I wanted Doc standing by prepared to treat casualties. He was none too happy to have to start again.
"Sanyo, you're my Fire Brigade commander. I want you and about twenty heavily armed bots to act as a blocking force to prevent Pegram's escape, and as a reserve to come charging in, should my plan go badly."
"Why can't some of the bots and I go in with you? We can—"
"I'm sorry, Sanyo, but the SUBs can move faster. That's my only consideration here. You guys bore the brunt of the battle at the Alamo and at the hospital. Now, it's our turn."
As the bots and SUBs were forming up in sector nine, Hartly observed our preparations and sought me out. "What the hell's all this?" he asked, indignant.
"We're going after Pegram," I said.
"Why didn't you say anything to the rest of us?"
"Why would I do that?"
"So we can help. You people have taken all the risks so far, it's time we took a part in our own defense."
"You people?"
"What?" His mock anger turned to genuine confusion.
"You said people, not robots or machines."
"Yeah, well," he looked down at the floor then back up at me, "point is—"
"Mr. Hartly," I stopped him, "the point is, sir, the survival of biological life forms is the mission."
"Sergeant Strum, I have finally come to the understanding that a Cyberneticly Enhanced and Uploaded Human Being is still a human being. And now you, of all people, are drawing distinctions."
I smiled back at Hartly. "Okay, let me put it this way—this is a military mission. Civilians are not allowed."
"Well, that's better. I still don't like it, but it's better."
"Thank you," I said.
"No. I thank you," he stuck out his hand and I took it without hesitating, "Listen, the name's Jim," he added as we shook.
"Okay, Jim, I'm Matt."
"Well, good luck, Matt." He turned and took a few steps and almost tripped over a passing bot. He stopped and looked down saying, "I'm sorry, are you all right?"
○O○
My little detachment of five SUBs and twenty bots headed off toward the LCDD housing dome, Susan walking at my side.
"Matt," she said in a very low, barely audible voice, "you keep talking about your plan; don't you think it time you let the rest of us in on it?"
"My plan? Honey, my plan is to go get Pegram. Dead or alive."
"You're kidding, you're winging this?"
"Partially. No doubt Pegram is holed up inside the barracks some place. Sanyo's guys will guard the only other exit out of the dome on its north side, and the rest of us will enter from the south and move directly into the barracks building and start clearing it. There are four floors, so two SUBs to a floor and I'll put Bill on the roof. Pegram will have only three choices, fall back or try to escape. Either way, we'll eventually catch him."
"What's his third choice?"
"He has most likely prepared a place in there to fight from."
"Yeah, he wants to be a martyr," Susan said.
"How long has he had to prepare?" I asked.
"Almost fifty hours."
"Damn, he could be really hunkered down in there after two days."
Arriving at the entrance into the LCDD dome, we were met by Bill, Marc, Emily, and Juan. I sent Cassie and Mitch in to scout a nonlinear route to the other tunnel on the opposite side of the dome. Sanyo and nine of his guys were already at that exit. The other ten were guarding this point of egress.
As we waited, Emily made an interesting discovery. "Matt, look at the airtight doors here. They have been intentionally jammed open. This has to have been done recently, because the dome has been sealed since the quake, when we thought it a vacuum."
At that moment, Cassie and Mitch returned, at a dead run.
"Matt, Susan," Cassie began, "we found one hundred twenty-four of the canisters the terrorists brought in from their lander. They were empty."
"Do you have any idea what they had contained?" Susan asked.
"No," Mitch said, "the only things printed on the canisters except that sword with the two stars were two vertical lines with a single dot out to their right side."
"That means nothing to me," I said.
"Well," Susan observed, "what could it be besides weapons, ammunition, and or explosives? He may have set up booby traps. Keep your eyes open."
We were still without communications, so once sufficient time had elapsed and we were sure everyone was in place, we nine SUBs made our move. We entered the dome and headed for the nearest entrance to the barracks which was on our left. We were not halfway there when Pegram's voice exploded into the dome so loud it filled every nook and cranny. We could not see him, but obviously, he could see us.
"Sergeant, you disappoint me. Surely I pose a threat greater than a mere handful of bots and nine puny SUBs warrant?"
"I was going to come alone for you, Pegram, but my friends wouldn't let me."
"I was hoping you'd all come, including the gas bags."
"Wow, you are a seriously conceited individual. I thought your pseudo-religion forbade self-aggrandizement?"
"You've made your last feeble joke, Sergeant. I am, however, going to be the one to make the last magnanimous gesture. Reach over and take you lover's hand, Sergeant, so that you may die touching."
Susan stepped up next to me and took my hand.
"Don't let him scare you, hon," I said. "He's mad."
"Never underestimate a madman, darling," Susan said softly.
"You think me mad, do you?" Pegram's voice bellowed. I'd forgotten that, as a SUB, he could hear us.
"You're bent on self-destruction, what would you call it?" I shouted back, my voice weakly echoing in the dome.
"My cause will return the world and all mankind back to a time when it was in league with the earth and with Tuhan, whose breath gave the world life. No more will man seek to leave the Earth. He will never again find himself trapped in a body not of divine making. This abomination you and I, and all these others find ourselves a slave to is but a herald of things to come, if mankind does not reverse its trek toward a future of subservience to the machine!"
"Pegram, you're obviously a smart man, surely you know nothing you do here will win you that goal."
In a more rational voice, he said, "Of course, you're right. My little victory here will have little impact in the great strategic plan.
"Remember what I told you on our first meeting, I will boost the morale of my people immeasurably, and my example will serve as a recruiting tool for generations. There's considerable advantage for my cause through my sacrifice. Now, Sergeant, look up into the zenith of the dome."
All eyes looked up. There, we could see two hundred forty-seven packages attached to the ceiling, arranged in a circle around the apex of the dome.
"Do you recognize those devices, Sergeant?" Pegram's voice boomed. "Those are breaching charges. I'm three short tho
ugh; to get to Ava, one had to be used on the blast door under the elevator, and two were used on the vault door. Regardless, I have enough here, as you can see, to open up a hole that will suck the air out of JILL in seconds."
Now I understood why the airtight doors had been jammed open. And with the large blast doors that led into the BSC having been destroyed in the attack on sector nine, Pegram's threat was real.
"I did not attain my goal," Pegram continued, "and in large part, that is due to your interference, but I will become a martyr to my people and I will take every Tikus on the Moon with me."
At that moment, a violent motion to our right caught everyone's attention. On a balcony of one of the billets on the third floor at our two o'clock position, two men were fighting. My eyes allowed me to zoom in.
It was Walker and Pegram!
Somehow, Walker had managed to get here, get himself up to the third floor, and behind Pegram. Walker, my brave friend Walker, a one-legged Bio, jumped Pegram, a one-armed SUB. Walker didn’t stand a chance.
Walker’s surprise attack must have startled Pegram, but he quickly recovered. I watched as he slammed Walker against the balcony wall with his one good arm. He pressed his right shoulder into Walker's chest keeping him pinned; then with his left hand, he first pulled the pneumatic cast from Walker's leg, then the metal brace. With his great strength, he smashed his fist repeatedly into Walker's injured knee. I knew that each blow was rendering the bone into fragments. He then grabbed Walker's leg, bent it straight out at the knee and then twisted it around backward. Walker's screams could have been heard from here even by human ears.
Pegram then threw Walker from the balcony, and just as Walker's body cleared my line of fire, I opened up on Pegram with my HnK.
My rage was so great that I jerked the trigger down and sprayed the area around the balcony. As a result, I missed. Pegram ducked into the billet and out of sight.
I looked down where Walker had hit the ground. The low lunar gravity meant, of course, he did not fall as he would have on Earth, but he was obviously hurt badly. First, I saw a blood trail leading to an open doorway. Inside, I just caught sight of Sanyo and his guys pulling Walker into the building.
The Battle of Broken Moon Page 30