The Broken Cage (Solstice 31 Saga Book 2) (34 page)

“What the hell are you people doing?” Po pushed her way through and finally came to stand with the barrel of the Frange right against her chest. “She wasn’t the only prisoner on Baytirus. We
all
were! And, we are NOT free, yet.”

Hagan was suddenly not as certain. He was looking at Barcus.

“They called them a word that the AI would only translate to scarecrow. They crippled their own tech to keep it away from him. Away from her.” Wes screamed, “The defense grid here. It’s not for defense. It’s for permanent quarantine. A prison.”

“This was set up by the same bastards that destroyed the
Ventura
? Is that what you are telling me?” Hume asked, storming forward.

She stood between the suits, and the lasers swung away from her. “That grid was set up by the same people that have been doing genetic experiments on Po and her people?”

Po stood next to Wex. She remembered her on her knees beside Barcus.

“To hell with them,” Hume barked as she accessed controls on a cuff device. “Warmarks: Stand down override. Authorization, Hume, Baker-Seven-Niner.”

The suits retreated and the weapons stowed away. They were no less intimidating.

“Where the hell did you get two Warmarks?” Jimbo asked, as Hume walked to the nearest war machine and opened a chest plate to reveal a control/status panel. She was obviously very experienced with them.

Hagan looked uncertain. He was staring at Wex and then Barcus. Becoming less certain.

“I, er um, we have sixteen of them in the lifeboat, sir,” Hagan answered.

Holding his side, Barcus asked, “How are you driving them?”

“I have a specialty HUD upgrade. It also identifies…them.” Oddly he was pointing at Barcus absently, not Wex. “But, I’m not driving them, ECHO is. The AI.”

Barcus, Jimbo and Hume stared at Hagan.

“You have an ECHO-class AI on that lifeboat? An Extreme Combat Hellfire Operations AI? What the hell is going on here, Jimbo?” Barcus growled, before stepping aside and throwing up an alarming amount of bloody chunks onto the hangar deck.

“Can we load this boat up and get the hell out of here? I need a nap.” He paused, and continued, “Sir, we will have five months to figure it out.” Barcus spat out another chunk.

“Captain.” It was Hume, calling out. She stood in front of the lifeboat. “There are also two Javelin modules over here.”

Jimbo looked at Barcus, who with a broad, bloody smile said, “Em must have gone back. Stu, did you bring these here?”

“Yes, sir. It was on my task list,” AI~Stu replied, actually sounding abashed. “After the plutonium was transferred to the fuel pods.”

“Load those up as well,” Worthington said. “We’re going home.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

The Interim Report

“At this point, we have decided to submit this as an additional, interim report. The narrative attached is too important to await the full, final report. The recovered backups of the Emergency Module, the Shuttle Transport Unit and the
Sedna
have provided significant additional insights.

“Please note: The medical records found on the
Memphis
indicate that the following personnel received an ECHO module update to their Deep Brain Implant Matrix: Barcus, Worthington, Hume, Cook, Beary, Hagan, Muir, Elkin, Kuss, Shaw, Wood and the woman from Baytirus named Po. This detail was never mentioned by any of the survivors during questioning. Only one of the sixteen Warmarks were ever recovered.

“Conclusions: This report invalidates the charges leveled against Roland Barcus, regarding the destruction of the
Ventura
. It also calls into question assumptions regarding his role in the Solstice 31 Incident, and the deaths of 110 million people on Earth, on December 22, 2631.

“The Winter Solstice of 2631. The longest night in the history of Earth.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: The Memphis Recovery Team Digital Forensics Interim Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team. March 9
th
, 2663.

<<<>>>

Acknowledgments

I have several people to thank for their help with this book. I will begin, first and foremost, with my wife, Brenda. Thank you for your patience, as it appears I go deaf while I’m writing. Thank you for your encouragement and ideas. Thanks for all the help and love every time I need maintenance or require repairs.

Thanks go to my son, Gray, and daughter, Cady. Thank you for making me proud of you. Thanks for making it so easy to be your dad. I miss you guys.

Thanks go to my editors, Helen Burroughs, Kelly Lenz Carr, Dave Nelson, Karen Parent and Marti Hoffman.

I’d like to thank my friends Tony, Donna, Rob, Dewey, Nancy, Dave, Jimbo, Roberta, my brother Carl and all the people at the Loudon Science Fiction Writers Group and Writers Eating DC for your help, support and inspiration.

Again, I need to specifically thank Chris Schwartz for not pulling punches on the feedback, helping me kill favorite characters and reading the damn thing so many times.

Oh, and my cat Bailey. Best cat in the known universe.

About the
Author

Martin Wilsey is a writer, hunter, photographer, rabble rouser, father, friend, marksman, storyteller, frightener of children, carnivore, engineer, fool, philosopher, cook and madman. He and his wife, Brenda, live in Virginia where, just to keep him off the streets, he works as a research scientist for a government-funded think tank.

For more information:

Blog:
http://wilseymc.blogspot.com/

Web:
http://www.baytirus.com/

Email: [email protected]