Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (7 page)

“
So this warship is
controlled by that thing?” asked Porter, pointing at the pipes.
Spartan heard him and was struck by how little some of the people
of his age actually knew about what had happened in the past. The
stories of the artificial brains controlling ships in the War had
been a great scandal at the time. Now it appeared, it was nothing
much more than old and irrelevant history.

“
Yeah,
” Khan muttered. “They
install the gear, and the pipes feed the brain.”

Khan turned his attention back to Pontus.

“What about him?”

Spartan looked a little confused. He tapped a button
and the visor of his suit hissed open to reveal his face in clear
detail.

“
I don’t
know.”

He looked at
Pontus
and recalled the last time he’d
seen the man. It had been in the last days of the War. Hundreds of
Alliance marines had been sent to rescue the survivors of destroyed
warships in the area. In reality, the planet had been the site of
the enemy’s main Spacebridge that led directly into Alliance space.
Pontus and his comrades had been there, as well as machines of war,
Biomechs, and legions of troops. Victory at Hyperion had ended the
War but also given them the information needed to travel far into
space, information that conveniently linked them directly to the
shattered worlds of the T’Kari.

“Pontus, you and your comrades tried to control our
people through your facility on Terra Nova. Remember?”

He saw nothing, not
even a basic glimmer of recognition from one of the
enemy’s masterminds. Spartan decided to take a
slightly different, and potentially more dangerous,
route.

“
Your brother,
Typhon, y
ou must remember him? I killed
him with my bare hands two decades ago.”

Again there was
absolutely nothing from the man’s face. The ship started to shake,
and both Khan and Spartan realized it was commencing an engine
burst. If it accelerated away while they were on board, they would
become trapped on the ship. Spartan didn’t even hesitate. He swung
his arm around and blasted the control system, pipes, and
machinery. Chunk of plastic, metal, and finally blood, sprayed out
in globs of free-floating mess. The rumble from the ship died at
just the same time. An indicator light flashed on his suit; it was
from the Alliance frigate ANS Serenity.

What the hell are they doing here?

Another message,
this time a priority message from their transport came through over
the sound system. Though he was an Alliance citizen, this operation
had been fully funded through trade agreements between his
teetering APS Corporation and the
T’Kari
on Hades.

“
Alpha, we have an
Alliance frigate on intercept course; they’ll be here within forty
minutes.”

Spartan looked to Khan who showed no sign of emotion
on his face.

“
If we tell them,
then they’ll seize the ship, and we lose the contract,” he said
plainly.

Spartan sighed. APS
Corp really needed this business, and the security contracts on
several of the key T’Kari mining installations in New Charon would
keep them going for another five years. He also knew what the
threat of the Biomechs had been, and could be again. Khan looked at
his changing expression and knew right away what his old friend was
thinking. Spartan connected directly to the communications officer
on board the warship.

“
This is Security
Manager Spartan of APS Corporation. We’ve discovered potential
Biomech activity on this vessel. Advise an exclusion zone until the
situation is under control.”

There was no
immediate reply before a surprised sounding woman’s voice came
back.

“
Spartan, I know who
you are. This is Alliance controlled space, and I am preparing a
boarding party of marines to search all ships in this area. Stand
down and prepare to be boarded.”

He hit the disconnect option and looked back to his
team.

“
We need to secure
any prisoners and get out of here. Alliance can mop up, but we have
work to do. Let’s go.”

He moved in the
direction where Pontus had first appeared, while the other three
followed with Pontus in tow. It meant he was forced to pass
directly alongside the machinery and equipment in the center of the
ship.

No guards other than a few substandard Biomechs. Why
is that?

They found
the open doorway where Pontus had come from. The
room on the other side was filled with pods laid out in a massive
lattice. In the center a cluster of them were all open, but there
were no signs of people or anything else nearby. Spartan pushed on
to reach the left-hand cluster. The pods were dark, but as he
approached, the hardened glass flickered and the pod lit up. He
looked at the figure inside with horror.

“Gods, have you seen this!” he cried out.

Khan stopped at his
side, looking at three pods before he spoke.

“
Each one if
different, and there are creatures I’ve never seen. Some look like
T’Kari. There are two more humans to the right.”

Spartan moved over
to one of the pods in question and looked inside. He stared
intently at the face. He looked on in fascination as though gazing
at some great miracle before shaking his head and pulling himself
back. It contained a man, but a man he was all too familiar
with.

“What is it?” asked Khan suspiciously.

“
Typhon, he’s in
that pod and still breathing.”

Khan moved along the ceiling and lowered himself
down to look.

“No, it’s not possible. I saw you kill him on Terra
Nova.”

Spa
rtan pushed up to the ceiling
so that he could pull his bodyweight behind while looking down at
the pods. He counted over a hundred, of which only two more
contained humans. He noticed at least five T’Kari figures, but none
looked familiar to him. The others contained creatures or people he
couldn’t even imagine to have seen before. He finally stopped and
turned back to join the others near the entrance.

“
There are different
types of pods in this place.
”

Khan looked back in
the direction
they’d come from as if
expecting danger. Spartan pulled himself down to the floor, and his
boots clumped as they made contact with the metal floor.

“
The ones running
around the outside all contain Biomechs of one type or another.
Some of them are open, probably contained the creatures that
attacked us. The others in the center are a mixture of different
creatures, including people like us...and him.” He finished by
pointing at Pontus. Several dozen of the outer pods lit up, and
light flashed down the sides of the units. Hisses and a gas or mist
gushed from the seals. Then one by one each one started to
unlock.

“
This isn’t a Raider
ship. N
o way is it just cruising through
New Charon and initiating attacks. We’ve found something else,
something unexpected,” Spartan said.

“Like a Spec Ops ship?” asked the youngest
operative.

Spartan looked
surprised, but also a little impressed at the suggestion. A Spec
Ops ship would make sense, at least based on the information they
already had. He seriously doubted it would be of any used as a
Raiding ship with its interior filled with pods and their unusual
cargo. In the past, he had worked on all manner of covert
operations, and this ship would certainly be ideal for the
insertion of indoctrinated figures into different
societies.

Maybe
this is designed to train and drop off agents into different
worlds?

He
then remembered the number of Raiders currently
making their way back from the crippled ship. The scans had shown
they were T’Kari, or at the very least, they were wearing the armor
and spacesuits of the T’Kari. The problem was why were they on
board the Alliance ship if their sole purpose was to insert
operatives into different societies? Then it dawned on
him.

Of
course, t
hey must be looking
for intelligence or supplies. Maybe even body parts for use in
their Biomech creatures.
He turned and
looked at the pods.
This
could be a factory
ship just
as much as it a Spec Ops vessel.

He sighed, now
becoming more than a little annoyed at what he’d found. Back in the
War, he’d spent time aboard one of the enemy’s transports and
discovered similar pods where Biomechs were being constructed. The
similarities were obvious between the craft, but the discovery of
Pontus and Typhon was completely unexpected. If nothing else, this
had changed things from a simple piracy issue to one of
Alliance-wide security. That meant he was now obliged to inform the
Alliance authorities, but he was stalling, knowing full well it
would end up as a major loss for him personally and for his
company.

“
We should
move
, those things are opening,” Porter
Reade, the younger of operatives suggested as he pointed to the
nearest pod.

Khan looked at the
movement and lifted him arm, ready for any sign of danger to either
himself or the rest of the unit. Spartan nodded firmly in
agreement.

“
Yes, we need to get
off this ship, but I want answers as well. Can you get that pod
open?” asked Spartan, pointing to the unit containing
Typhon.

Porter was also the
most highly rated when it came to advanced electronics and
programming. It was the key reason Spartan had pushed for him to
join the dwindling company
. It was just
this kind of job for which his talents were hopefully ideally
suited. The young man nodded and jumped up, kicking at the wall. He
moved effortlessly through the open space and grabbed at the pod.
At the same time, the first two pods on the outer side of the ship
opened to reveal the sinister shapes of Biomechs.

“Keep them busy!” shouted Spartan.

The first was
riddled with holes before it could even climb out, but the second
was much quicker. Even the way its legs moved suggested stronger
limbs and a greater intelligence. Spartan took careful aim and
struck one leg before it vanished behind the other pods. Khan
started to move forward, but Spartan lifted his fist and signaled
for him to stay.

“No, we need to be ready to leave. Stand your ground
and cover him.”

Khan took aim with
his own weapon and waited for the creature to show its face. At the
same time more of the pods opened, and the long limbs and vicious
skulls of the creatures appeared. Spartan knew they were now in
trouble, but he had to get the body of Typhon. If they could obtain
intelligence from him, it could be worth more than any discovery
they’d made so far. It might even save his company. He tapped the
connection to ANS Serenity once again.

“
This is Security
Manager Spartan. We have discovered large numbers of prisoners and
Biomechs on board the target ship. Please dispatch boarding parties
as soon as possible. We have Pontus and Typhon in
custody.”

The reply was almost
instantaneous.

“Spartan. Is this a joke?”

He looked directly
at Pontus, still being held to avoid him escaping, and sent a still
image from his suit’s cameras directly to the warship.

“
See for yourself.
We have about a hundred prisoners, and they are all related to the
uprisings.”

This time there was a much longer pause.

“
Spartan, there are
standing orders for the capture and execution of any remaining
commanders of Echidna, the Zealots, or their allies. Can you stop
her from powering up?”

Spartan took aim and
fired at another two of the creatures but like the previous one,
these had gone to ground.
He glanced
about but could find none of them. He turned to his left and back
to his team.

“Porter, how much longer?”

The young man lifted a hand but continued to
work.

“Just a few more seconds!”

The suit’s intercom came to life with chatter from
the other squads.

“
Alpha, the T’Kari
are back, and they’re on their way to you. We held them back as
long as we could, but they have machines with them. You need to get
out of there!”

Spartan looked to Khan who had received the same
information.

“Machines?” he asked incredulously.

“
Yeah,” replied
Spartan slowly.
“I don’t want to find
out. We are out of here, now!”

Luckily the pod
hissed open, and Porter quickly dragged the unconscious body of
Typhon and moved back toward them. A shape at the doorway caught
their attention, but it was Lovett and two of his squad.

“
The rest are
heading back to the transport. We have the T’Kari prisoners but you
need to move it! They’ve taken control of the engine room, and I
can promise you...”

He was cut short
by
a massive vibration through the
ship.

“
Spartan, a
S
pacebridge has just opened in the center
of the debris field. Are you off the ship yet?”

The small
group
moved as quickly, all trying to
move the prisoners as best they could. As they rushed away from the
hideous interior, the creatures scuttled about, maneuvering to find
the best position to attack from. Spartan pushed past the mashed
machinery in the center of what was the command part of the ship
and noticed three T’Kari warriors connecting up cables. One spotted
him and aimed a rifle.