Conquest of Earth (Stellar Conquest Series) (6 page)

***

“Hard rad and thermal spike on the Weapon’s position, Captain,” Scoggins cried exultantly. “Detonation consistent with Marine tac nuke.”

“I’m not celebrating until I know that wasn’t a Final Option scenario, Commander.”

“Of course, sir. But even if it was…”

“I know.” Absen didn’t want to think about the potential cost. “Move in carefully. I want to be damn sure that monster is down. Scoggins, send a sensor drone to take a look, no stealth. Let them see it.”

Five minutes later the high-velocity sensor drone crossed over the Weapon’s position, drawing no fire. “Readings show subsidence on the surface. Looks like the laser is toast, sir,” Scoggins reported.

“Outstanding. Bring us in low over the command center. Johnstone, try to punch a signal through to the Marines. Ford, have your gun crews keep a sharp lookout on point defense. We still have Sentries, mines and active orbital platforms out there.”

“And if the orbitals fire on us?” Ford asked with upraised eyebrow.

“Defensive fire only. In a very short time, those may be our allies.”

The Sekoi Blend chuckled. “Who?” He moved his queen’s knight to threaten Ezekiel’s king’s bishop.

On the other side of the room Trissk prowled randomly, poking at brass and wood controls, which Ezekiel had ordered
Steadfast Roger
to disable, of course. Along the opposite wall, Spooky Nguyen paced a more deliberate course to and fro in front of a row of viewports, smoke trailing alternately from his lips and cigar.

“Trissk, I meant. I wonder if a ball of yarn would distract him?”

The gray-skinned alien stared at Ezekiel for a moment and then shrugged. Ezekiel realized that human reference was probably a bit too obscure for the Sekoi. “A traditional plaything of the domestic felines of Earth.”

“Ah. It is your move.”

“So it is.” For want of something better to do, the human Blend took Bogrin’s knight with his queen’s bishop, a sacrifice initiating a series of poor trades.

“Your mind is not on the game.”

“I know. This trip is taking a long time. Maybe we shouldn’t have brought Trissk along. His brain doesn’t mesh well with the bio-VR we’re in, so I can’t slow our time senses further, and he doesn’t want to fight any more illusionary opponents.”

“You could put him to sleep.”

Ezekiel shook his head. “Not against his will, I won’t. Start down that road and I’ll be no better than a Meme Blend. It’s already hard enough to convince people I’m human without playing godling.”

Bogrin moved a rook. “Check.” He stood up. “I have an idea, which should have come to me before.” Walking over to Spooky, he spoke a few words in the slim Vietnamese highlander’s ear and then returned to the chessboard.

“What did you say?” Ezekiel asked.

Instead of answering, Bogrin flicked his eyes in Spooky’s direction. Ezekiel watched as he crossed the room to Trissk and bowed. The Ryss’ eyes lit up and a moment later a circular sparring mat appeared on the floor of the room as the walls receded to accommodate it.

“Brilliant. That should keep him busy for an hour or two.”

“I think you underestimate your Mister Nguyen,” Bogrin replied, watching the two step into the circle. “He is a master of human unarmed combat styles, and has become quite adept at the Sekoi disciplines as well. If Trissk is willing, he has a lifetime of study ahead of him.”

“Great. Let’s make the Ryss even more combative.”

Bogrin stared at Ezekiel. “I see you do not understand the martial arts.”

“Not my thing, I guess.” Ezekiel moved his remaining bishop to fork Bogrin’s two rooks.

“Neither is chess,” Bogrin replied as he sent his queen across the board toward Ezekiel’s king. “Mate, I believe.”

“Suckered again.” Ezekiel shrugged and tipped his king, then stood up to look at the bank of steampunk-inspired controls, dials and gauges. “How’s the search coming,
Roger
?”

The living ship replied, “I have twenty-three Sentries suborned thus far, and several more should be taken within the next day, but as you know, the space in the outer Solar System is quite large. Statistically, it could take months to find your mother.”

“That’s assuming she is out here rather than on Earth or elsewhere. If we can find our old base, at least we’ll have a starting point.”

“Months?” Bogrin said as he stepped up beside Ezekiel. “Perhaps we should change our strategy. Eventually the situation will be untenable. What is the English translation – ‘cabin fever’?”

“Yes. When it gets unbearable, we’ll leave the Sentries to keep searching, and rendezvous with
Conquest
…or perhaps try to sneak down to Earth to make contact with the resistance movement.”

“If there is such a thing.”

Ezekiel rounded on the ponderous alien. “You better believe there is, and I guarantee my brothers and sisters are at the center of it. They’re brilliant, and Mother trained them for every contingency. Don’t underestimate them.”

“Don’t underestimate first-generation Meme blends either, my friend. Until they become thoroughly corrupt with power and bored with naked excess, they will be loyal to the Empire. If they have any inkling that there are disloyal Blends among them, they will ruthlessly hunt them down.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Bogrin shrugged. “In any case, what has been, has been.
Conquest
’s arrival in-system will work in any resistance movement’s favor, just as it did on Koio. Hope of freedom is a powerful energizing drug. If there was no movement before, one will spring up. Many will die on the road to liberation.” He chuckled incongruously.

“That’s what I love about your people, Bogrin. Always up for a laugh.” Ezekiel turned to watch Spooky and Trissk sparring.

Eventually the Marines found what they were looking for: an armored blast door, relatively unscathed. Fire suppression sprinklers continued to drench the corridors nearby with water spray, reducing the dust and improving visibility. After the fog of combat, the rain showers made for a surreal scene.

“Cutting charges,” Bull said, gesturing. Two sappers quickly began laying out the shaped explosives. As they did, Bull ordered the rest to spread out and keep watch. Repeth figured he was just being careful, for she could hardly credit the possibility of a counterattack. Any force not accounted for undoubtedly waited behind the blast door for a last stand.

“Listen up,” Bull said. “We need to take this command center intact. That’s the whole point of the assault, and the lives of our friends we just lost. Use frag and shock grenades, but no plasma or heavy rockets unless you absolutely have to. You hear me, Massimo?” Ben Tauros pointed a finger at the warrant officer.

“Sure, boss.” The Italian smiled disarmingly through his transparent faceplate, now beaded with spray. Repeth knew the gunner enjoyed blowing stuff up…perhaps a bit too much for even a Marine.

“Charges set,” one of the demo NCOs reported.

“Take cover,” Bull ordered. “We go in fast and heavy.”

Once they were ready came the warning: “Fire in the hole.”

A moment later the blast threw fresh dust into the air to compete with the falling spray, and Bull led the charge into the smoking breach, . “Stun grenades!” he yelled, and Repeth rolled several of the flash-bangs past her commander’s feet. These explosives would hardly touch a Marine in armor, but would shock and confuse lesser threats.

Ignoring the slight danger of the grenades, Bull strode forward with First Squad at his back. Repeth took Second Squad rightward down a corridor. She heard the blasts on her external pickups, but encountered no opposition. Moments later she led her troops into a large, round, deserted command center, meeting Bull’s squad entering from the other side.

Three pools of briny sludge showed where Meme had been before escaping down their flush tubes – but to where? Had they withdrawn to the Weapon redoubt and died, or did they have a hypervelocity escape drone?

“Why didn’t they blow it?” Bull asked conversationally, looking around. “With no one here, what do they have to lose?”

“Are we sure there’s no one here?” Repeth asked, eyes roving over the consoles, some made for Meme pseudopods and eyeballs, some for the manlike hands of Purelings.

“Quarter and search by twos,” Bull snapped. “Take prisoners if you can.”

Massimo got to play with his heavy laser once more, using it to cut open another armored hatch to expose a separate room filled with human-style consoles…and people. When Bull burst in, with Repeth right behind him, three men and two women, garishly outfitted in pure yellow-gold clothing, raised their hands and stood silently next to powered-down control boards.

“Jackpot,” Bull said, slapping down a Marine’s rising weapon next to him. “Cease fire!”

“Now we know why they didn’t self-destruct,” Repeth remarked, sliding her pulse gun into its slot on her armor. “Blends.” She keyed in the command to open her faceplate and fold back her gauntlets. Otherwise, to the people in front of her she would appear a faceless metal golem.

“My God,” one of the women gasped, raising a hand. “Jill Repeth.”

The other Blends turned curiously toward the speaker, then back to Jill and nodded in agreement. “It does appear so,” one of the men said. “My received memories are very clear.”

Bull moved aside and told the Marines behind him, “Spread out and secure the complex. The Smaj and I got this.” Once they had gone, Bull pointed at the woman, watching carefully. “You. Talk.”

The tall, dark-haired woman who had first spoken kept her hands in view and moved to her right, away from her fellows. Once she was well out of reach, she said to Repeth with a steady gaze, “Welcome home. I’m Leslie Denham.”

“Holy shit,” Repeth replied. “One of Skull and Rae’s kids?”

As she spoke, one of the men in yellow moved with lightning speed, plunging a hand into his sleeve to retrieve a pistol, which he pointed at Leslie. “Traitor!”

Leslie was already moving behind Bull, who stepped in front of the muzzle, apparently confident nothing that size could penetrate his battlesuit. The bullet
spanged
off his chest, adding a small ding to the Star of David painted there.

At the same moment Repeth drew her own backup weapon, an ancient PW5 Needleshock pistol, and drilled the Blend in the gut before he could get off a second shot. The man folded as the electrical charge stored in the round caused his muscles to convulse, knocking him unconscious to the ground. “Anyone else want a little taste?” she asked as she swept the pistol left and right.

The others backed away, shaking their heads. Leslie stepped out from behind Bull and kicked the man’s fallen pistol into a corner. “You certainly took your time,” she said.

“A little thing called the speed of light got in the way,” Jill deadpanned. “Humanity has a colony at Gliese 370 now.”

“I know. I’m highly placed. My siblings and I have been working for decades behind the scenes, preparing for your arrival and our liberation.”

“You buying this, Reap?” Bull asked.

“For now…but she might be an imposter. How can we tell, with Blends? They could have caught the real Leslie Denham and stolen her memories. The only one who will know for sure is Ezekiel.”

“My brother’s alive?” Leslie asked, her face delighted.

“Yes, he’s fine. At least, he was a few days ago.”

“Do not listen to the traitor,” one of the yellow-clad women said with venom.

“If I’m a traitor to the Empire, obviously they
should
listen to me, Fiona,” Leslie retorted.

“Unless you’re just pretending to be a traitor,” the woman replied, “and I’m helping convince them…Llewella. Or should I call you
Leslie
now.”

Leslie sneered at the other Blend. “You’re not nearly as clever and twisted as you think you are.”

“That’s not what you said the last time you shared my bed.”

“I fooled you in to thinking I enjoyed it, didn’t I?”

“Ladies, ladies,” Repeth broke in. “Don’t make me shoot you both.” She gestured with her PW5 at Fiona, who had taken a step toward Leslie.

“We should have brought a Blend with us,” Bull grumbled.

“As I recall, you vetoed that yourself. You said you didn’t want to trade a Marine away for a noncombatant,” Repeth said.

“Let’s just get them to
Conquest
and we can confirm her identity,” Bull replied. “Leslie, here’s your first test. Patch us through to Captain Absen on the following frequency,” and he gave her confirmation codes and a freq for voice comms.

Leslie took a seat at a console and switched it on. Jill watched her with growing confidence. Something about the way the woman moved reminded her of Skull Denham, and more pointedly of her mother Raphaela. Also, Blends, like Meme, were notorious egoists, unlikely to suicide no matter what the gain. That also made their loyalties questionable…but Rae’s children had been born Blends, not made up of Meme and mind-wiped humans. They lacked the memories of life as a Meme, and hopefully, their amoral attitudes.

“Io Base, this is
Conquest
,” came Michelle’s smooth tones after a few moments. “Drop your ICE for cyber verification.”

“Done,” Leslie replied after inputting a code and waiting for the signal to make its round trip. Repeth knew
Conquest
was probably swooping toward their position now that the Weapon was out of commission, but doubted they’d use the TacDrive. In normal space, the boat would take at least an hour to arrive.