Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier. (27 page)

Lock down the
house
, he sent over his link to the house computer system.  Immediately the
doors and windows were closed by the outer protective panels he had installed. 
Unlike many of the houses in the islands, his was made of the strongest of
modern materials, and there was no way a wave was going to wash it away.  Glori
was safe, no matter what.  That was his last thought as the wave crested and
came onto the island without breaking like a normal wave.  It came down on the
trees, which dissolved on contact, then continued in to hit the man and the
stables.  In an instant he, the horses and the building had gone the way of the
trees, dissolved away by molecular acid.

Glori looked up
as the window and door barriers slid into place.  She was out of her seat when
the scream of her husband came over the com link, cut off almost immediately. 
Moments later something heavy hit the house, which was now sealed with the
toughest materials known to the Empire.  Whatever it was continued to attack
the house for some minutes before rolling on to wherever it was going.

Glori was almost
in a panic.  She couldn’t contact her husband, but that last transmission had
not been hopeful.  Nothing was coming through the walls of the house, but she
wasn’t sure how long that would last. 
The net
, she thought next,
wondering if her husband’s transmission had made into the planetary
communications and database system.

Like any
Imperial colony planet that had reached at least advanced frontier status, New
Lemuria had a planetary system linked through satellites and ground stations. 
It allowed every colonist access to the planetary communications system over
the great majority of the surface.  It also monitored health and wellbeing, not
in a manner that intruded on the privacy of the individual, another of the
sacred cows of the Empire, but worked on the trip wire principle.  When the
life signs of a colonist reached a near critical stage, the alarm was sounded
through the system, the location of the victim was ascertained, and help was
sent.  Within moments after Chaim Gonzalez’ cessation of life functions the
system was alerted.  When the carrier wave of his implant ceased microseconds
later the alert level was raised as the system realized it might have been a
catastrophic death, the kind that could put other colonists at risk.  Seconds
later, Gloria Gonzalez’ transmission hit the system, within seconds linked to
her husband’s alert.

Satellites
zoomed in on the area, and vids of the island were soon in the system, compared
with the last shots on file, and found that with the exception of the main
house the small land mass had been scoured clean.  As this met the criterion of
an attack by the creature that had been destroying ships and shore
installations, the alarm went up to the highest level, setting off klaxons at
both the Planetary Police and Militia Headquarters.

Within minutes,
more incidents appeared on the alert boards.  Other small islands, boats, even
some tribes of dolphins out at sea disappeared with a cessation of life
functions.  Space borne sensors zoomed in on the ocean off the capital, and it
didn’t take long to determine that something of a denser structure than the sea
water it was flowing through was in five distinct locations, all on a heading
for the harbor and the city.

*     *     *

“So much for
having a difficult time trying to find them,” said Governor Frieze as he looked
over at the other three diners, who had all gotten to their feet, eyes closed
as they transmitted their orders to their commands.

“It looks like
they have some basic intelligence after all,” said Jensen, opening her eyes as
she finished her initial transmission.

“Why do you say
that?” asked the Governor.

“Because they
aren’t coming in like animals,” said M’tabasa, eyes wide.  “They are
coordinated, and are launching an attack on the stronghold of their enemy.”

“If they were
human, I would say their attack pattern is incompetent,” said Suarez, shaking
her head.  “Instead of avoiding the outposts and coming in under the sensor
screen, they are destroying whatever happens to be in their way.”

“The Professor
said they were probably machine intelligences,” said M’tabasa.  “Machine
intelligences that aren’t programmed for war are not that that good at it.”

“But machines
can learn over time,” said Suarez.

“Is this really
important?” yelled Jensen, stamping a foot on the floor.  “We have some very
dangerous creatures heading for the city.”  She looked over at the center of
the table and sent out a command through her implant, raising a holo map of the
area, showing the city, all of the local towns surrounding, islands with
dwellings, and of course ships and boats at sea.  And the images of the five
creatures heading their way, getting closer by the moment.  “We need to get our
people deployed and repel this attack.”

“You’re right,
Major,” said Frieze, jumping to his feet as well.  “Colonel M’tabasa.  Colonel
Suarez.  Get your people deployed at the water front.  I’m sending an alert to
the civil defense system to get everyone into the shelters.”

“Can you get
them there in time?” asked Jensen, turning toward the door in a jog-walk.

“I’m not sure.”

“Then have the
people in modern buildings stay where they are, but seal up the structures as
if a seismic wave was coming in.”

“Like the one
building on that island that survived,” said Frieze, understanding in his
eyes.  “That should work.  Any other suggestions?”

“I think we
should make sure all of our troops are equipped with energy weapons.  Lasers
and particle beams.  I doubt that projectile weapons are going to do much.”

“Not even
explosive weapons?” asked Suarez.

“Any part blown
off one of these things is turned into a separate creature,” said Jensen.  “I’m
not sure that’s good or bad, but I would rather have less of them to deal
with.”

“Incendiaries?”

“That might
work,” said Jensen, thinking for a moment.  “Do your sea dwelling citizens have
any armor or sonic weapons.”

“We have some in
the militia,” said Suarez.

“Then get them
in the water around the creatures.  My dolphins and suited constables were able
to hurt the one we fought under water.”

“We’ll get them
moving,” said Suarez, turning and running from the room.

“And call in any
orbital support you have,” finished Jensen.

“We’re calling
in the system defense frigates,” said the Governor, closing his eyes for a
moment to link.  “But two of them are at least a half hour from orbital
insertion.  One is in orbit, and can be in position in less than fifteen.”

And those
things will be in the harbor in less than ten minutes
, thought the Major as
she continued out the door, sending a signal to her command, ordering the sub
to get into position. 

“We can wait for
you,” said Kama over the com.

“You can fight
the boat without me.  So get the
Argonaut
into position and get ready to
attack.”

She would miss
the boat, but there was an undersea battle suit waiting for her on the
waterfront.  This time she would get close and personal.

*     *      *

The city
resembled a scene from an old monster movie, the kind that came along with the
Exodus ships as part of their cultural database, and that were experiencing a
revival on the core worlds.  Sirens sounded as people on the streets ran for
shelters, some underground, some in the many modern buildings.  Cars were
taking to the air, filled with those who preferred to get away from the unknown
danger heading their way.

Other aerial
vehicles, these of a military configuration, came speeding in from the landing
pads outside the city.  All sped to their places, hovering in place where they
could take the waterfront under fire.  There were some near misses as the
scores of vehicles jockeyed for position.  Other vehicles moved out into the
harbor, where they joined the military and police patrol boats in forming the
first line of defense.

Ground cars and
aerial transports were also converging on the harbor, disgorging militia in
light combat armor and police in even lighter riot armor.  Armored cars and
light tanks joined them, turrets traversing to cover the approaches to the city
from the waterfront.

“We’re in
position,” came the call of Suarez over the tactical com.

“Acknowledged,”
said Jensen as she sealed herself up in her suit and stepped toward the water. 
In moments she was totally immersed, suited dolphins and humans forming up
around her and moving out.  She picked up more dolphins and some orcas on her
HUD, many of them without suits, but equipped with the sonic amplifiers that
most used in their fish herding activities.

“Everyone ready
for this?” she asked over the local com.  The acknowledgements came back over
her command circuit, but she had to wonder how many of them really were
prepared for this battle.  “Then let’s go.”

She engaged the
propulsion of her suit, keeping her speed down to twenty knots so the unsuited
cetaceans could keep up.  She wanted them in the background, sniping with their
sonics through openings, while her battle suited people had the ability to
avoid the pseudopods of these things with their superior speed.

“They’re in the
harbor,” came a call over the command net, coming from an aerial attack ship. 
“We’re moving in for the attack.”

And now we
find out if this strategy is going to kill them, or just drive them off,
thought the Major.  She knew the Governor would be happy with the second
result, driving him from his city.  She wanted the first, making her own job
easier.

*     *     *

The five
Gatherers
making
their way into the harbor could smell their prey through the
waters.  They could also feel the activity of boats and ships of various types
moving through the water.  And several things beneath the water, small, and one
large object.  Something splashed into the water to the front of the center
creature.  It sent out waves of its own sonar and identified a small object,
not more than a meter in length, floating in the water to its front.  It
approached swiftly, intent on capturing whatever it was, when a beam of sonic
energy blasted from the object and hit its body with the force of a hammer. 
The
Gatherer
recoiled from the strike, then forged ahead to again try to
engulf it.  And again the sonic beam struck, this time disrupting almost a
cubic meter of its substance.

More objects
struck the water, making the same kind of splash, then some more that hit with
a different sound.  More sonic beams struck out, hitting all of the creatures,
then the roar of an explosion sounded through the harbor as a strong
conventional warhead detonated.

One of the
creatures wanted to retreat, but the thoughts of the others through their
quantum connection overruled it.  The collective decided that they would
destroy this city, and if taking some damage was the price of it, then it was. 
They rolled on, ignoring the hits by sonic waves or the concussion of
explosions, which, while they disrupted cubic meters of the creatures they
struck, did not really endanger the massive creatures.

One of the
creatures rolled over one of the sonic projectors, its molecular acid eating
into the casing over a period of minutes until it reached the inner circuitry
and rendered the device useless.  More of the objects dropped, but now that the
Gatherers
had decided to push through the pain, there weren’t enough of
them to stop the huge creatures.  They hit the rolling sea bottom and advanced,
rising up above the water and pushing their hundreds of kilotons of bulk onto
the shoreline.  Where they came under attack from new and different energies.

*     *     *

“Here they
come,” shouted a strident voice over the com.

Colonel Isabella
Suarez stood in the turret hatch of an Allosaur Mark III medium tank, tapped
into the command and control net of her militia, and watched what looked like a
slow motion wave rolling over the seawall.  Other parts of the creature rolled
up the sides of docked fishing boats, immediately eating away at the hulls and
the superstructures.  Suarez looked at the disposition of the one battalion,
reinforced with a couple of support companies, that had been available here. 
The other two battalions were scattered about the planet, their members’ homes
among the other towns and villages.  Transports were being scrambled to try and
bring in a couple of companies to the capital, but the Colonel doubted they
would get here in time to affect the battle.

The light
infantry were all behind cover, as ordered.  Even though they weren’t fighting
what appeared to be a conventional foe that could shoot back, the Colonel
didn’t believe in taking chances.  The Planetary Police were for the most part
standing in the open, in their riot armor, holding up shields and gripping
mostly sonic stunners, though the tactical team had heavier armor and particle
beams.  The two platoons of the militia armored company that were stationed in
the capital were arrayed behind the infantry, with the Colonel’s tank in the
exact center.  And what artillery they had was still in the process of setting
up in the hills overlooking the city.

“All units,”
said Suarez over the com.  “Prepare to fire on my command.”

The police were
not hers to command, and she could only hope that they didn’t do something
stupid.  Standing out in the open was to her a stupid move.  The police
probably thought their armor was protection against anything this creature
could do.  Which was not a given.

One of the boats
at the dock crumbled into pieces under the attack of the acid, followed by a
section of the wooden dock.  The Colonel didn’t want to think what the things
could do to an unprotected human, and was hoping that she would not find out.