AMP Armageddon (13 page)

I replied, "Are you saying we haven’t been using it?"

Frig shook his head. "No, Sir, it has not been in use. We believed the sodium skin to have adequately blocked all signals."

I replied, "Well, flip the thing on, and we will be ready to go!"

Frig again shook his head. "I’m sorry, Sir. It is not that simple. The signal inhibitor worked by allowing the inner hull of the
Swift
to absorb signals before they reached the Tantric armor layers. With the sodium skin, the signal being emitted is on the outer hull. I have several test plates that appear to solve the problem; we will, however, need to cover the ship’s exterior with a new coating and connect the inhibitor to that coating.

"The plates have sodium mixed with radium and beryllium. The radium and beryllium produce an excess of neutrons that the sodium skin will pass along its surface, almost acting as if it is in a liquid state. The result will be the absorption, by these other materials, of the signal the sodium electrons emit. That charge is then bled off through the inhibitor.

"If my calculations are correct, we should also see a 3 percent increase in the skin’s ability to absorb energy from external energy fields, such as large ion weapons."

I laughed. "Right, if your calculations are correct. When have they not been? Anyway, I find all of what you just said a bit scary."

Frig replied, "Why is that, Sir? I can assure you that the radium, when combined with these materials and used in this manner, is safe. When it is inactive, the radioactive emissions will be minimal, and when it is active, they are nonexistent."

I again laughed. "No, the scary part of all that was that I understood what you just said. It’s funny, I used to find your technical talk kind of annoying. I was grateful for what you were doing, but I had almost no interest in how you did it. Now, for some reason, that all seems fascinating to me. And that, my friend, I find scary!"

The following morning, a team of bots was used to apply the new coatings on the destroyer. The testing commenced immediately after. By late in the afternoon, the new coatings were determined to be a success. The destroyer’s skin, when active, would now be completely undetectable to all known sensors, including those of the Duke.

I spoke. "Frig, my friend, you are indeed a genius! Now, can we apply the same update to our BGS suits?"

Frig frowned. "I’m afraid not, Sir. The inhibitor circuits required to bleed off the charge are too large. I will attempt to shrink the design; however, at the moment, I won’t hold that out as something that is promising."

I sat down next to Quan in the hold of the
Swift
. "Quan, other than how it works, what can you tell me about the active sodium technology? Where did you get it?"

Quan replied, "The active technology was developed by Humans just over a thousand years ago. My adaptation of that technology is identical to that which was taken from the Humans. Virtually all of the technologies employed by myself and the other participants were taken from others after they were developed."

I leaned back and crossed my arms. "So, you didn’t develop technology of your own?"

Quan replied, "My initial programming was as an applied science aide. Research and discovery are not prime motivators. Making best use of existing technology is."

I turned towards Frig in the copilot’s chair. "Did you hear that? The Duke is not a discoverer of technologies; he is just a thief. I wonder what he could have accomplished over the last million years had his programming been geared towards research."

Frig replied, "Perhaps we should consider that our good fortune."

I nodded. "Or perhaps he would have discovered a new dimension and moved on to investigate it. I hardly consider our current circumstance as fortunate for us. Hey, are we done with the testing of the new coating yet? I’m getting kind of anxious; like York and Frost back there, I want to get something going."

Frig pulled up several tables on his holo-display. "My analysis is almost complete. We have not tested this ship at speed. I would suggest a minimal test at 100 SOL for at least three minutes’ time. If all parameters check as safe, we should be ready to jump whenever you are ready."

I stood and moved to the pilot’s chair. "All you had to say was go, Frig. I will have your results in three minutes."

I patched through a comm to all of the Marines and crew on the destroyer. "We are heading out to perform a three-minute test of our active skin, after which we will be moving to the first observation point. For our Marines, I’m afraid this might not be the part of this expedition that you will enjoy. However, I would like you to use the opportunity to capture and study data on the species we will be observing. At some point, we may be forced into a fight with them. So, try to be as thorough as you can."

York poked her head into the back hatch of the
Swift
. "Sorry to interrupt your lovefest, Sirs; we were just wondering where we are headed first."

I looked at Frig. "Pick a Grid and let’s go check it out."

Frig pulled up the data on his HUD and entered the coordinates into the nav system for a species known as the Klatt.

I waved my hand towards the Grid. "Please transfer the data on each of those species over to the Colonel. I gave him the basics from when you first did the scans; they will want the full information."

We moved back to the bridge and were soon jumping the forty-seven-light-year distance to the Klatt.

As we popped into the star system in which the Klatt Grid was located, Frig spoke. "Sir, there appears to be ship activity going to and from that planet. I will perform a deep passive scan for the computer to look for signs of an observing fleet. When that is complete, we can gather information on the Klatt."

I replied, "What I don’t get is how this species has ships already that are going down to that planet. It makes me wonder if all species are being treated equally."

I walked down to the docking bay and stepped up into the
Swift
. "Quan, when this War of Wars is being set up, do all of the species start with the same gear?"

Quan replied, "Yes. This is a competition between the four participants. All species begin with the same equipment."

I continued, "If one of the species initially has ships moving down to a planet and another does not, would that be considered a violation of the rules?"

Quan replied, "If the Grid is located within a star system, it is possible that they are interacting with a local species, in which case they would possibly have access to ship technology."

I brought Frig up on the comm. "Frig, I think the Duke may have put us in a bad location. The Klatt are probably just interacting with a local species, which would seem to give them a big advantage over us, excluding what you and I have contributed to our people, of course."

Frig replied, "Sir, the deep scan of the system has been completed. I have four anomalies to investigate. I will focus the sensors on the Grid and the planet it is in stationary orbit around. We should be able to pick up signal transmissions between those ships and that station, after which we should have a lock on the Klatt language."

I moved forward in the
Swift
and sat in my pilot’s chair. "Is there anything I can do to help with those four targets?"

Frig swiped away at several screens on his holo-display before sending the data to the
Swift
. "Begin with this one, Sir. There is an excess of ion emissions at this location. It could be residual from a wormhole jump, or perhaps ion venting when a smaller ship undocked from a larger one. Study the data from this location. If it looks anything but purely natural, we will investigate further."

Ten minutes later, I had an answer. "I have identified the anomaly as the ionization around a comet. It appears to be coming straight at us, which gives it the appearance of a single point. Send me over the next one if you could."

Frig replied, "Coming your way, Sir. The data from my first investigation yielded a small cluster of free-floating asteroids. Our sensors picked up the reflected energy coming from the star in this system."

After a close look through the data Frig had given, I spoke. "Frig. I think you need to take a look at this last one. Remember how we had difficulty detecting the Durian ships because the only emissions they left behind were nearly identical to the background noise of the space beyond? I am seeing a similar thing with this, only there are five identical noise patterns emanating from this one location."

Frig replied, "Most excellent catch, Sir. That is a natural impossibility. I will investigate further."

I walked back to the bridge as I spoke over the comm. "Can you take us over there without being detected?"

Frig replied, "If what Quan has told us about the Duke’s sensors is true, we should be able to open a portal beside their location and slip through."

As I walked onto the bridge, I spoke. "What do we do for propulsion to move us through the portal?"

Frig swiped his holo-display until a diagram showed on the wall display. "With the portal generator on this ship, we can open a portal at any location around the ship’s immediate area and then sweep that portal across our location. We do not need propulsion for a simple jump."

I replied, "Wow. I didn’t know we could do that. I thought it was opening a portal in front and then we were passing through it. That will let us jump to anywhere in our range without firing up our engines, ion or BHD."

As Frig punched in the coordinates for our jump, he spoke. "I believe that is how the Duke is able to transfer each of the species. A portal is opened beside them, and they are swept into and through it as it moves across their location."

I opened a comm channel onto the
Swift
. "Quan, how is it that a species is transported using the complex? How do they pass through the portal opening?"

Quan replied, "An open portal is moved across the location of the item to be transported."

I looked at Frig and nodded. "Interesting. Quan, when a species is transported to a new galaxy for the War of Wars, what happens from the time they are swept through the portal until they arrive on a Grid?"

Quan replied, "The subject enters the portal building that has been selected to move that individual. Once through, a mini probe of their brain is performed, after which target memories are suppressed using neural pathway blanking pulses. The subject is then stripped of current gear, and any prostheses are detuned to a standard average plus three percentage points of functionality. A final portal sweep places the individual at a designated endpoint."

Frig spoke. "Quan, these neural pathways that have been blanked—can they be restored?"

There it was, the big question that I had been wanting to ask. Could our people’s memories be restored? Would Ashley ever remember who I was and what we had? I anxiously awaited an answer.

Quan spoke. "The neural paths may be restored if the blanking pattern used is maintained. As an option for rewarding a winning species, the patterns would normally be maintained. A subject’s memory cannot be restored unless a valid beginning point has been maintained or can be established."

As I sat in the captain’s chair on the bridge, I waved at Frig to proceed with our jump. "Quan, how would I be able to restore a species’ memory? Or could I?"

Quan replied, "The memory restoration process is identical to the initial memory suppression procedure. A subject is swept into the portal building, the pattern restored, and the subject is then swept out to the new destination. The controls for performing such a task are located in the main control room on the complex. Those controls can only be accessed while interfaced to me."

I spoke to Frig. "Looks like we can’t destroy that place until we have restored the memories of our people."

Frig replied, "Sir, I believe we have to stop the DNA injections! Any person who has received one may not be able to successfully have their memory restored. They may physically be different, including which neural pathways are in use. That serum may make restoration an impossibility."

I raised my hands. "Well, crap! What are we supposed to do? If we leave them as is, the Duke can sweep them away at any time. That includes being dropped into a fight without notice!"

Frig spoke. "We should return to the Grid immediately and stop the injections, Sir."

Frig powered up the portal generators, and within seconds we were once again parked beside the Grid.

I raised the Colonel on the comm. "Colonel, we have to stop those injections immediately. If we continue, we may not be able to restore everyone’s memories, and I can guarantee you that they would want them restored. And Colonel, can you tell me if Ashley has had her injection yet?"

The Colonel sent a quick message before he replied, "The process has been stopped. And I’m sorry, Mr. Grange. Miss Elizabeth had the injection yesterday."

I spoke. "How many of our people have received it, Colonel?"

The Colonel replied, "About sixty-five thousand to date. We were only a few days from ramping that number up to five hundred thousand per day."

I turned back to Frig. "Take us back to the spot we were. We need to find these other androids as soon as possible and eliminate them when we do. We probably only have a month before that serum begins to take full effect."

Frig replied, "Sir, I am not certain that the serum will have an effect on the neural paths. It was merely an assumption of a possibility on my part."

I shook my head. "Regardless, we need to take down the androids anyway. The sooner the better."

After a jump, we sat beside the location we suspected might hold a hidden fleet.

I spoke. "Now, how do we prove they are there?"

Frig replied, "We open multiple microportals and we scan. We will know very quickly if ships are indeed there."

Thirty seconds later, the data popped up on the holo-display.

Frig spoke. "We have thirty-six ships in formation. The lead ship has a deck with no bio life-forms. I will attempt a scan for an android similar to the Duke."

I raised the
Swift
on the comm. "Quan, you said the sodium skin came from the Humans. Would the other androids have that technology as well?"

Quan replied, "Only if it was developed or captured by a species under their management. The brown dwarf complexes for all participants are identical as far as I know. As part of the agreement, we are not to attempt to spy on or to capture another’s complex. That would only bring about the wars that we previously terminated with the agreement. The sodium skin was only added to my complex after the Human discovery of said technology."

Frig spoke. "Sir. I have located an android with a signal signature similar to the Duke’s. Crew transmissions are being interpreted as we speak. I expect a language lock any minute."

I opened a comm channel to Sergeant York. "Sergeant, we think we have a lock on one of the androids. Prep a team of six. I will be going with you. We will want to destroy the body and freeze the core before bringing it back through the portal. This should be a
bam
,
bam
in-and-out maneuver. We aren’t looking to destroy anything. We want to capture that core so that we can interrogate it."

York replied, "We can be ready in five, Mr. Grange. Will you be meeting us here for a briefing, or should we come to the bridge?"

I looked at Frig. "Where do you want to open a portal from?"

Frig replied, "I will provide a map of the area surrounding the Emperor."

I looked back as I headed for the bridge hallway. "The Emperor? We have the language decode, then?"

Frig nodded. "I will transfer the translator files to each of you."

I walked onto the docking bay deck to a waiting York and her team.

York spoke. "I’ll go through first with Frost, Bradford, and Elroy. You follow with Higgins, Jacobs, and Smythe. The cryo unit is ready and charged, Sir."

I opened a channel to Frig. "We are ready when you are."

Frig replied, "You should see the translator files on your HUDs. Upload them to your language processors. You should also see the map layout of Emperor Belon’s quarters. If you remain in position, I will open a portal in front of your location. Gravity appears to be set at 12 percent above standard, so you may want to adjust for gravity if so desired."

I replied, "We don’t have hybrid suits anymore, Frig. The BGS doesn’t have gravity compensation built into it."

Frig replied, "You are correct, Sir. However, those of you who have prosthetics can make those adjustments."

I replied, "Right as always. Thanks for the reminder."

Several seconds later, a portal opened in front of the team. York hopped through first, followed by her mini squad. When I blinked out and powered through, I was brought into a room that was equally opulent as that which the Duke had called home. White stone columns lifted to a high, domed ceiling, while images of the Emperor adorned the walls.

Unlike the Duke, the Emperor had adopted a more impressive android body. Four strong legs protruded from a central torso. The torso rose up, splitting into a V shape that held what could be described as both a forward and a backward arm on the outer frame of the V. The Emperor’s head, a simple white sphere with numerous flashing lights, floated, suspended in a transparent housing in the center of the V.

I raised my coil gun and spoke. "Happy birthday, Belon."

I squeezed the trigger before the three-and-a-half-meter-tall android could react. The torso exploded at the lower leg joints, sending the remains of the Emperor into a far back wall. The Emperor, however, was not done. The four arms immediately became his transport.

I fired a second and a third tungsten round, but the Emperor was on the move. "Who shall desecrate my honor with an unprovoked attack on my vessel!"

I laughed as York and her team opened up with ion blasts as they spread out to better cover the room. The Emperor bounded from one wall to the other, swung from protrusions on the ceiling, and fired wildly from a blaster of his own.

The Emperor yelled, "Show yourselves and I will spare your lives!"

Frost spoke. "Mr. Grange, we have incoming troops. Looks like Malgon soldiers, at least fifty—the species he has running these ships!"

York spoke as she continued to fire. "Stop their progress, Frost! We don’t need them getting a lucky shot off at this freezer!"

I fired a round that caught Emperor Belon in the right shoulder, knocking two of the arms from their joints. York then found her mark with an ion bolt to one of the two remaining arms. The Emperor had lost his mobility. My next round sent the remaining torso spinning like a top and crashing against a side wall.

As we rushed up to the now-helpless head, York spoke. "Sir? How do we get it out of that shell?"

I smiled as I shoved my hand through the transparent defense and then blinked in and then out again. A portion of the shell disappeared into the void of the sodium skin. Several more blinks and we had our core.