AMP Siege (18 page)

As we turned the corner into an immense science lab, Grita placed his hand on my shoulder. "Should time afford it, Mr. Grange, I would be delighted to show you my family style. I may even teach you a few of the family secrets. Anyway, here is the lab. Captain Remi will show you around. Ask him or anyone else whatever you like. They have each been given instruction to fully cooperate."

I thanked the Commander and then began the process of glad-handing the Gonta scientists. There was much to discuss regarding the wormhole generator. After delivering the designs, I found myself shoved aside, as Frig had opened a comm channel to answer questions. I would keep watch over the transfer of our most prized technology for only a short while. A second team of scientists and a third were interested in our combat suits and my prosthetics. The weeks ahead were busy with questions, meetings, exchanges, and more questions.

I often wondered if we were doing the right thing. But we were pregnant with the Gonta-Human child, and there was no turning back. The Gonta were ritualistic in their establishing and following of process and procedure. A first attempt at a wormhole was only weeks if not days away. I longed to set foot on the Grid and to take Ashley in my arms. I hoped to one day have the opportunity to try.

Remi spoke. "Mr. Frig, are you ready to monitor the data from your end?"

I looked over at Frig. "Mr. Frig?"

Frig replied, "The Gonta do not seem to grasp the concept of a nickname, Sir. I have tried repeatedly to explain, to no avail. I just accept it and move on. I am ready when you are, Captain."

The Gonta scientist, using the power that the
Orienta
's generators had to offer, along with the antenna designs of Frig, powered up their first wormhole.

Frig spoke. "Captain, I am reading a signal that is emanating from the coordinates you supplied. The signal is strong and clear. The parameters look clean, if not slightly more stable than ours. I believe the
Orienta
's power feeds to be superior to ours."

Remi replied, "Excellent! I am ramping up the power to full output. Let us see if we can sustain the calculated window of a stable sixteen-meter-diameter aperture."

The power level was set, and the microscopic wormhole began to grow in size. Smiles adorned the faces of all of those involved. That is, until the one-meter-wide-diameter wormhole was reached.

The size of the wormhole held fixed as the sides of the opening began to glow red hot.

Frig spoke over the comm. "Captain, I believe we should abort this test until we can evaluate this data further. You do not have shielding on your end adequate to handle the possibility of a matter explosion as the edges of that wormhole heat up."

Remi replied, "Nonsense, Mr. Frig. We have the demodulator circuits and antennae in a room separate from us. The walls of the
Orienta
will protect us. We must continue if we expect to make progress."

Frig turned towards me. "Don, I believe they are placing themselves at risk. We do not have sufficient information on the physics of an overloaded wormhole to safely proceed. Please—"

A bright flash could be seen on the monitors, followed by a black screen. Our own wormhole to the
Orienta
had been shut down by the safety protocols Frig had enacted after our encounter with the Human signal and the destruction of our Wren. The meter-wide wormhole closed instantly as the flash occurred.

Frig punched away at his console, and seconds later a new wormhole was in operation from our end. The video feed from the Gonta science lab showed the power of destruction the wormhole was capable of. As Frig had envisioned, the matter adjacent to the wormhole edge exploded with the fury of a sun. Scans revealed temperatures well over one hundred thousand degrees. A giant hole, two hundred meters’ diameter, now occupied the floors in and around the Gonta science lab on the
Orienta
.

Frig shook his head. "This is horrible, Sir. That room held nearly half of the Gonta science team."

I replied, "Can you scan the surrounding structure for damage?"

Frig spoke. "I can."

Seconds later the data revealed the level of damage. The science lab, and each of the rooms immediately surrounding it, also the rooms above and below, had been vaporized. The walls surrounding those had absorbed both the blast and the tremendous heat while protecting the Gontas on the other side. The destruction inside the blast was complete, but the
Orienta
had held its own.

Commander Grita took personal responsibility for the accident and applied his full efforts towards both a cleanup and a rebuilding of a new wormhole generator. Even though the explosion had caused a spike in the power draw against the
Orienta
's power systems, their built-in safeties had protected them. One month after the disaster, a new test was ready to begin.

Frig spoke. "Captain Boosa, we are ready when you are, Sir."

The microwormhole was initiated and tested, followed by a running of the full test. This time, however, only enough power to keep the full wormhole open and stable was used. The test was a resounding success.

I patted Frig on the shoulder. "Congrats, man. The Commander says they can produce three more of those in a week’s time and then one per day thereafter. Hopefully with this first one, they can start training their men on its use. Grita assured me that the next five will be used for scanning the Colossus Empire. This should give them their first full view of what they have been up against."

Frig replied, "I have been thinking about that blast from the generator accident, Sir. I have kicked around a few designs, and I believe we could make a formidable weapon from the data we have gathered."

I sat in a chair and spun it in Frig's direction. "How so?"

Frig tilted his monitor in my direction. "We know that the size, duration, and distance of a wormhole are tied to the antenna size and the power applied. I believe I can build a bomb of sorts, with its own antenna and power supply, that will replicate the explosion from that disaster, albeit on a smaller scale."

I leaned forward as I looked at the display. "What kind of destructive power are we talking about?"

Frig spoke. "I believe a bomb the size of the full wormhole, one meter in diameter, could be constructed to inflict 60 percent of the damage we saw on the
Orienta
. A smaller version could be used to clear a room."

I nodded my head. "So, you open a portal, push one of those in, and close the portal up behind it? Wasn't the temperature in that area still extremely high for a couple hours? I would assume that if you are planning to clear a room, it is because you are wanting to send someone in there afterward."

Frig pointed to a number on his display. "I have calculated that the room-clearing bomb's temperature would drop back to a level easily handled by our battle suits within two minutes following a blast. For the larger bomb, that number might be as high as forty minutes."

I spoke. "When can we have these built?"

Frig replied, "I have Gy and Rita working on one of each. If they test out properly, I believe the Gontas would be able to ramp up production almost immediately. They are a very resourceful people, and I have been impressed with their work ethic."

Frig's estimate of the Durians’ arrival on the edge of Gonta space had dropped to only six months. If we were going to bring a fight to the Colossuns, it would have to be done in short order.

I found myself seated in George's office after a round of fine-tuning on my prosthetics.

George spoke. "Your power cells have proven to be more efficient than planned. With a normal day’s activity, they may go as many as fifteen months before a recharge or replacement. Full combat, heavy use, should yield at least three months. Rita believes she is close to a breakthrough that would extend their use even further."

I replied, "How is York doing with her refit?"

George grinned. "Splendid. I was able to take the lessons learned from your surgeries, and after applying them to hers, we have seen a halving of the recovery time. Part of that may be due to York's willpower and focus. She is a machine as compared to you. I was able to give her a number of other enhancements that we had been working on as well."

I sat up in my chair. "Other enhancements? What are we talking, Doc?"

George picked up his display, tapped in a few strokes, and turned it towards me. "As you can see here, we added support to this area of the skull where your neck connects. We added these interleaving structures through her brain matter that should cut down significantly on trauma from a concussion. She should be able to take quite the punch, Don."

I spoke. "What is this down here, around the abdomen?"

George enlarged the image on the display. "Ah, the remaining soft tissue was still an issue. York has a new exoskeleton of sorts, and each of her internal organs is now protected by the same structure technology that we inserted into her brain. So far, she has not had any complications from these insertions. She is now much more cyborg than Human on a percentage basis."

I replied, "I'm betting that she loves that. How about Frost, has she opted for any of this?"

George shook his head. "She is a stubborn one, prefers to be all natural, as she calls it. Even though the exoskeleton design places it under the skin, she said it would make her feel like she was wearing clothes all of the time. She has some strange comments, Don. I sometimes wonder what makes her tick."

I laughed. "Just don't ask her that, George, or she might show you. If Frost likes herself the way she is, then so be it. So, Doc, these updates you gave to York, can they be done to me in a timely manner?"

Again George shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Don. Diane's Tantric fusions were made with an alloy that allowed us to build upon them. We would have to recoat all of your bones, which may not even take correctly, and then open you up again for the structure inserts. If you were interested in doing battle with the Colossuns, which I hear could come at any time, you would not have sufficient time to heal. Because of where you already are, we are talking three to four months of operations and recovery before you could begin your retraining."

I replied, "Retraining? Why would I need to do that?"

George set the display down and spoke. "With the new exoskeleton and structural enhancements came a new set of connections to the nerve endings on each of her stumps. You would have to receive the same, which would mean that your brain would have to learn all of your motor skills for a third time. With your training ethic, I believe the whole thing to be a nonstarter. So, tell me about some of your parameters; how high can you jump?"

I sat back in my chair. "My best vertical leap, from flat footed, is eleven and a half meters. That is in standard gravity, of course. My forward leap at a full run is thirty-six meters. I have leg pressed a thousand kilograms for ten reps in a row, and I can pretty much do unlimited push-ups, with a tech sitting on my back. For foot speed, I topped out at ninety-one kilometers per hour."

George replied, "Impressive. I am sure you are wanting to ask, and the answer is yes, York should be able to best most of your parameters by 10 to 15 percent at least. We will just call her this year’s model and you last year’s."

York popped her head into George's office. "Oh, hey, Mr. Grange. You have any interest in going for a run? I was just about to sprint to the stern of the
Suppressor
and back. Any interest?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so, York, not after what George has been telling me. I don't need to be seen running around with some freakish, hybrid cyborg. People would talk."

York laughed. "OK, Mr. Grange. No need for jealousy. We are both on the same team."

I waved her on. "Go have your run, York. I have other work to get done."

With a single step, York vanished from the door threshold. I heard only a single foot plant before she reached the end of the hallway nearly sixty meters away. Silence followed.

As I stood from my chair, my arm pad warbled. "This is Grange."

Frig spoke. "Sir, the Gonta believe they have located the Grid. I am preparing the wormhole for your transfer."

I replied, "It may be go time, Doc!"

With the great news on my comm, I sprinted from George's office all the way to Frig's lab. The flights of stairs were especially fun, with a single bound between each floor. When I entered the lab, two technicians were waiting for me beside the rail.

I spoke. "Fire it up!"

As soon as I had lain out flat, the wormhole opened and the techs shoved me through. I again rolled out into a stand and began walking towards the wormhole generator that had made the possible hit.

As I entered the room, I spoke. "What do we have, boys? Tell me some good news!"

The Gonta in charge looked up with a frown. "I am sorry, Mr. Grange. False alarm. We happened across a rogue moon that matched the size and coloring of the Grid. The alert went out before we had a full viewing."

As I walked back towards the transfer room with a dejected look on my face, my arm pad again warbled. "This is Grange."

It was Frig. "Sir, the second team on the
Orienta
has what they believe is a positive hit. I am getting the data feed now. It looks like we found her, Sir. As you had predicted, there are nine other partial structures in close proximity."

I spoke. "The Verna! I'm heading to team two now. And Frig, thanks for all of your efforts on this. It means the world to me!"

The Gonta in charge of team two was busy identifying the multitude of Colossun ships in the surrounding space. "That's fifty-five of those mega battleships such as the one the Duke inhabits. And that is in that single cluster alone. There must be a thousand of them parked between all of those docking nodes."

A second Gonta spoke. "Sir, those two stations in orbit around that planet—they are not stations, those are ships as well, Sir. And they appear to be fully mobile."

The Gonta in charge spoke on his comm. "Commander Grita. Please proceed to Central Command. We are sending a feed with the initial data breakdowns your way."

I turned and headed for the command room. Grita and his other commanders were filing in.

Grita spoke. "Mr. Grange, come in. We are about to get our first look at the Colossun home fleet. Have a seat over here by me."

I replied as I sat down, "Thank you, Commander. I appreciate that you are including me."

Grita smiled. "We are partners until the end now, Mr. Grange. What I get to see, you get to see."

The first images began to appear on the command room screen. "Ah, your Grid. She is beautiful, just like the Carions. Even with those few noticeable battle scars."

I replied, "Yeah, we have taken a few beatings in our time. How long before we have close-in scans? I would like to know if my fellow Humans are still aboard."

Frig came on my comm. "I am performing a scan inside the Grid as we speak, Sir. I should have results in a few seconds."

My anxiety level began to spike as I awaited the scan data. The few seconds seemed like an eternity.

Frig spoke. "I have readings for about five hundred million, Sir. It appears that we are a bit shy of a full load. Some of them must have been moved."

I replied, "See if you can tap into the Grid's systems and get an accurate count."