Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) (9 page)

BOOK: Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2)
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Teresa looked at him and then to the T’Kari who
looked on with nonplused expressions on their faces. Admiral
Anderson continued speaking before she could say any more.


The Raiders started
attacking at roughly the same time as our victory at Hyperion. It
would appear that our victory also weakened the enemy’s outposts in
T’Karan. We’ve found the remains of the Rift entrance, as well as
factories and equipment on Hades. Something remained in this part
of space though, and the T’Kari are now telling us that it might be
to do with a number of their recent exiles.”

Teresa was surprised
at the tone used by Anderson. She knew him well enough to recognize
that he was angry, and perhaps a little disappointed at the
information he’d received from the T’Kari. It didn’t come as much
of a shock to Teresa
, however she was
surprised they had given them so much information to start with.
The slightly taller of the aliens nodded and then spoke with hushed
tones. The translator built into the armored suit worn by the alien
altered her voice. It was machinelike but perfectly serviceable
English.


We brought this
matter up with your Senate, and they assured us that your ships had
T’Karan secure. We were still the victims of three Raider
attacks.”

Anderson scratched his temple with frustration.


Yes, and we
stationed five Alliance vessels around your moons for protection.
The last attack was forced back, and we destroyed the ship before
it could escape.”

The T’Kari representative nodded in agreement.


Yes, and for that
we are thankful. Even so, we arranged an additional contract for
extra security to assist with the protection of our people,
especially after the losses we sustained after the attack on Hades.
APS has provided us with large numbers of excellent operatives.
Without them, the Raiders would have taken even more
slaves.”

Teresa tilted her head to Gun.


The Jötnar are the
most requested of our personnel for this kind of work.
Any time Raiders arrive, they always give
ground. It is like they have a genetic fear of them.”

Admiral Anderson
sighed as though becoming bored with the discussion.


Look, I know where
Spartan was and what happened. What I don’t know is why he was
there. How did he find it?”

“It?” asked Gun, now intrigued.

He said no
more
and waited for Teresa to explain.
She paused for a moment, knowing full well that there were a number
of implied levels of secrecy involved with her contract. The T’Kari
nodded to her in a gesture she could only assume meant it was
acceptable for her to speak.


Very well.” She
looked at them before turn
ing back to the
Admiral. “Khan’s people found a lead, and Spartan was leading four
of our best teams to investigate. The plan was not just to stop the
Raiders. This time we were supposed to capture them, and if
possible, return them to Hades for trial.”

The
A
dmiral turned to the T’Kari.


Your capital? When
were you going to tell us that you were paying Alliance citizens to
conduct private operations in this Sector?”

The
sen
ior of the three remained motionless,
with just her mouth moving.


T’Karan may be
under the jurisdiction and protection of the Alliance, but we will
continue to exercise our right to self defense, as well as to
operate under our own laws on our colonies.”

The other two nodded
politely in agreement. Now Teresa was beginning to worry. The
Admiral seemed to be avoiding the one subject she was most
interested in; that of her husband, Spartan.


What has happened?”
she blurted out, unable to
keep quiet any
longer.

The Admiral leaned
on the table, trying to look as compassionate as a man in his
position could be. The T’Kari listened in, but it appeared they
were already familiar with what came next.


It seems
that
whatever Spartan found has become
more than just of interest to the T’Kari. He found a ship alright,
but it didn’t just have T’Kari Raiders, It was also infested with
harvested Biomechs.”

This caught Gun’s
interest. Like all the Jötnar, he had made it his duty to find and
rehabilitate all and any Biomechs. The harvested creatures were
something else though. Like Frankenstein’s monster, they were
actually constructed from the material of the dead or dying.
Whereas Gun and his fellow Jötnar were actually synthetically
manufactured, but some would argue that their raw material was
still originally sourced from the same place, but perhaps not
directly to their faces. The Admiral stood up and moved back to his
previous position on the other side of the table. He then beckoned
to one of the naval officers, an old, white-haired Captain she was
unfamiliar with. The man tapped something on his secpad, and a
three-dimensional model instantly projected over the table. The
Admiral then continued.


Now, you can see
the main asteroid belt that lies between the second
and third planets of T’Karan. We’ve received
contact from one of our patrol ships, ANS Serenity out on patrol in
this sector. They found Spartan and several others on board a
T’Kari Raider and embroiled in some kind of major
gunfight.”

Gun laughed to himself.

“Yeah, sounds like Spartan.”

Teresa looked less
amused by the story
, however. She had no
doubt he would be involved in such a scenario, but she was also
well aware that Admirals didn’t request to meet with you to discuss
it.

There’s
mo
re to this,
she thought.


A
S
pacebridge opened up right in the middle
of the asteroid field, and the Raider escaped.”

Teresa jumped up at the mention of the ship
vanishing.


What do you mean,
just opened up? Where is he? Don’t you know?”

Admiral Anderson shook his head.

“No, we do not. The ship and the rest of his team
vanished with her.”

Teresa looked
panicked, but
the Admiral lifted his hand
to calm her.


I have spoken with
our T’Kari friends, and they tell me that the whole of T’Karan is
filled with potential Spacebridge sites. They thought all were
either sealed or being monitored. This one suggested there could be
others, and if true, who knows what else is out there. They’ve
already told us of the ones they know about, and we have drones and
equipment monitoring each one. It would seem there are many more
that we don’t know about.”

Gun seemed intrigued at this information.

“Yes, I saw the information on Hyperion about this.
There was a map of different stars. It was like a network of
tunnels.”


Exactly, though our
information until now has been, well, somewhat scant,” replied the
Admiral.

He then nodded to
the Captain nearby, and he changed the model of the asteroid belt
to a number of images from the ruins of Hyperion. Teresa and Gun
instantly recognized some of the designs.


This design only
shows the
access points to the Network in
Alpha Centauri, as well as the key nodes in other star systems and
galaxies. What it doesn’t show is the detailed maps of other areas.
T’Karan, for instance, all it shows is one connection in and a
dozen more heading back out. Each of these is being guarded by
drones and T’Kari and Alliance patrols.”

Teresa tried to
absorb the information, but the thought that Spartan, the person
she cared about the most other than her children, simply overrode
her other thoughts. With every extra word they spoke, she imagined
the horrors he might be facing with creatures, machines, and alien
worlds, all of them light years away. The Admiral continued
speaking, but his words started to fade into background noise.
Eventually, it lowered, and she looked back at the Admiral to see
him staring at her, waiting for a response.


Well? What do you
think? Are you up for this
operation?”

She looked over to
Gun who actually looked quite excited at the prospect. She
considered asking for confirmation
, but
the idea of explaining that she hadn’t been listening was far from
ideal. Instead, she nodded politely before asking one last
question.

“What about Spartan?”

The Admiral looked
to the T’Kari and spoke quietly before moving back to her. His face
was serious, and it was clear that whatever had been discussed was
significant to both the Alliance and the T’Kari.


If this mission
succeeds, it will give us our only chance of finding him. More
importantly, I think this is the only way we will be able to bring
him back home. We need to understand the rest of this Network, and
the only way to get the information is by performing a full
reconnaissance of Helios and all Spacebridges from it.”

Gun snorted at the comments.


Spartan is no fool.
He has Khan with him, and I have no doubts about those two. Spartan
and I used to cause heads to roll, but with Khan, pah!” He turned
to Teresa.


I wouldn’t be
surprised to see them in control of that Raider ship and enjoying
the sights of Terra Nova in the next few days.”

He did his best to
reassure Teresa
, but even Gun found it
impossible. Teresa tried to smile, but she couldn’t manage it.
Spartan had gone missing in the past, but this time it was
different. By entering one of the Spacebridges, he had travelled to
a destination that could be anything from a light year to thousands
of light years away. There simply wasn’t a way to track him down
other than visiting every star for thousands of light years, a task
that would take centuries and resources that simply didn’t exist.
The whole idea was in fact an almost impossible task. The door
opened behind her, and in walked two marine guards. They stepped to
the side and waited in silence. Gun nodded to the Admiral and then
moved out and through the door. Teresa started to follow him but
paused, and then turned back. Admiral Anderson had a concerned,
serious expression on his face.


I know you must
have doubts
, but the knowledge this
expedition could obtain will help secure Spartan’s life, and
guarantee the safety of the Alliance. The T’Kari are willing to
share critical data with our leadership, in exchange for our
military support in leading this expedition to Helios. The
Taskforce will assemble at Hades in three days. I will pass on the
details to you.”

Teresa nodded, still having no idea what she had
just agreed to.


There’s just one
thing,” s
he finally said, now desperate
to learn anything.


What are
w
e expecting to find there, and how will
it help us or Spartan?”

The Admiral moved
around the table
, placing his hand on her
shoulder. To most it would be something too familiar, but their
history was complex, and the trust between them could only be
earned through struggle and combat.


Helios is
apparently the
center of something
important. The T’Kari have not been there for a long time, but they
say it will give us all the information we need to map and protect
the Network once and for all.”

Teresa was
unconvinced. This was the first she’d heard about
Helios
, and the idea they would arrive to
find a map detailing the arteries of space sounded like a fallacy
to her. The Admiral could see her confusion, so he hardened his
tone slightly.


Teresa, this
operation is critical
, and for it to work
it will require a combined effort that includes people from both
our societies, T’Kari and the Alliance. Now you and Spartan have a
colorful past, which is true. But one thing nobody can argue with
is your ability to get the job done, and the T’Kari have already
seen this. They want you on this operation...and so do
I.”

The room was quiet
for a moment as he let his words sink in.


Extraordinary times
call for extraordinary measures, and we need every man, woman, and
child, even Jötnar to be ready. You weren’t there for the meeting
of the Joint Chiefs when we briefed the President. There are
concerns, serious concerns that Pontus and his cronies could show
up at any time. We have the intel on Helios, but how is it going to
affect us? The Alliance can’t afford any more schisms. We need
strength, and we need unity. More importantly though, we need a
full and complete picture of what the hell is going on out
there.”

Teresa looked up at
him and thought of Spartan, and the people that worked for their
company. What he said sounded interesting, but she had other
commitments now. The Admiral could see her hesitation and sensed
the moment was now. He reached into his jacket pocket and handed
her his secpad. She held it up, noticing it was the front page of
her own military dossier. She looked back at him in
confusion.


We need you back.
As of thirty minutes ago, your corporation’s contracts in T’Karan
were terminated, as were all those in the remaining PMC
Corporations. I understand that in the next hour your senior
executives will be forced to ask for emergency financial aid, or
have your assets liquidated.”

BOOK: Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2)
8.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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