AMP The Core (9 page)

I continued, "Don’t ask me how any of it really works; for me it just does. You’ll have to consult the computer for answers. It has an extensive tutorial system built in. Whoever designed this stuff did a first-class job. OK, I want you to all watch this!"

I pulled up the tactical display and directed the weapons guidance system to target the highest number of Durian ships that it could with a single pass. The displays flipped to a view of the ships as we approached. Rays traced until the optimal set of targets was selected. Fourteen Durian cruisers were in our sights.

I spoke. "Listen for the rumble and watch that display!"

The Swift arced in to the target ships, and as the tactical display changed to a new perspective, the fourteen Durian ships now displayed as red Xs.

I sat back and smiled. "Now we just sit back and let it continue to select targets for us. No fuss, no muss, just sit back and turn up a cup of Delurian tea!"

The Swift made a wide arc as it calculated the next set of targets.

Ashley spoke. "We just destroyed those Durian cruisers?"

I flipped the display to the slow-motion visual. "I backed through the comm, up onto the Orienta, and pulled up one of her camera feeds. This blur is us approaching, this is the result of our coil guns firing rounds at above the speed of light, and this blur is us far out on the other side. The camera on the Orienta is not fast enough to catch us in a still frame. Now we just wait for round two."

Frig spoke. "The physics involved here is far beyond what we have been able to achieve."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, and to think, these Humans did this over a thousand years ago!"

Ashley pointed to the display. "The Durians have backed off. Probably wondering what just happened."

I sat forward in my chair and again punched away at the air of the holo-display. "OK, let’s pay a visit to the Duke’s ships!"

I brought up the target profile of the Colossun fleet and let the weapons algorithms lay out the optimal targeting navigation. As the computer churned away, we changed course towards the Colossuns.

Ten minutes later, we exploded through nineteen Colossun battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Their destruction was complete, and the tactical display began working out the next set of targets.

After our fourth pass through the Colossuns, the fleet turned and fled towards where it had come in from. The Durian ships followed suit. I landed back on the paved lot where we had begun our journey, and we walked back up to the room the others had previously occupied.

Frig looked at my suit. "Remarkable, Sir. This is all simply beyond my grasp at the moment. These technologies are superior to anything we have developed or come across ourselves. I struggle to believe that any of this is actually real."

I replied with a raised fist, "Not only is it real, but we have it. And I don’t think it should be shared with anyone. In fact, Dr. Touchstone, if you can tell me what you need in a lab, I can build it right there in the hold of the Swift, and we can get cracking on pulling more information out of the Duke, out of Quan, or whatever he wants to be called. And it won’t be hard for us to keep this ship hidden from the Gonta. With this food and filter pack on my belt, I can go for three months without eating. It’s a little odd at first, but it’s kind of nice once you get used to it."

The remainder of the afternoon was spent discussing our new technologies. It was decided that the information I shared would not leave the room. The more who knew of our new technologies’ existence, the more difficult they would be to conceal and control.

The Gonta were completely unaware of what had happened, but they were thrilled with the result.

As the situation changed from day to day, the Gonta had begun to slowly exclude us from their meetings. Our spies had managed to find out why. The Gonta had plans. If a massive attack came, the much-easier Human targets on the planet would be a good distraction as they powered up their Carions for an exit. We were in no way shocked by the Gonta’s plans. Once again I was glad to be Human.

The Colossuns and Durians had retreated to a point where they would await a rendezvous with the bulk of their fleet. After a short discussion with Ashley, Frig, and Dr. Touchstone, it was decided that I would travel back to Molov and leave orders with the bots to repair and rebuild what ships they could from our fallen fleet. After a short trip the following day, I returned to Tresha.

I sat down in the conference room with the others. "The bots are replicating themselves and are building more replicators. The estimate is for a peak of forty-seven thousand bots beginning the process of rebuilding those ships. It will take about three weeks to get started. Estimates for the ships themselves range from four to eight weeks for recovery of about 60 percent of what we had. All will be upgraded with the new technology. I also took the initiative to order each of them flown back here as soon as they are complete. The first of the Wrens should show up in about four weeks."

Frig replied, "Will they be able to resurrect the Suppressor?"

I shook my head. "I’m afraid not; that one will take too long. It will provide valuable, already mined resources, though. I was thinking, with that bot army back there, we could build a rather large fleet from scratch if we need to. That planet is strewn with debris that is easily collected and repurposed."

Touchstone spoke. "I did the calculations of where the Grid should be, given its 20 percent fuel level. With the speed at which the Swift now travels, it would only be a one- or two-day journey from here."

I replied, "Yeah, but do we even know where it went? Knowing the Duke, he did not just send that off in a straight line. He would have added an arc to its path so it could potentially be anywhere, covering a whole handful of sectors."

Touchstone smiled. "You forget that your friend here developed a method of tracking the ionic disturbance left in the dead areas of space. We should be able to pick up a trail and then follow that to the Grid."

I nodded. "Hmm. I think it may be time to start getting the Colonel and his men involved in some planning. You know, with these BGS suits, we could drop onto that station and take up whatever positions we wanted, without ever being seen. Add in our enhanced fighting capabilities with these prosthetics, and I don’t know, but I would think we would have an unstoppable force at our disposal."

Frig spoke. "We should begin study of that cesium reactor on the Swift also. I believe it may provide the power to open multiple wormholes from a single location."

Touchstone added, "And we should get Quan back out of the freezer and see what else we can draw out of him. We know the Duke knows about wormhole technology. What if he is somehow responsible for us being pulled away from our home galaxy to begin with?"

I replied, "Well, what are we sitting here for? Let’s get down to the Swift and see what we can get going."

Frig spoke as we walked. "Sir, if the numbers you have given me on that reactor are correct, we may be able to outfit the Swift with its own wormhole generator. I wish I could figure out a way to get around the size restriction of the aperture."

Touchstone joined our conversation. "Have you experimented with opening a wormhole within a wormhole? Perhaps we could also solve our distance issue if we could originate a new beginning point at a prior endpoint."

Frig thought for a moment and then replied, "Hmm. I haven’t given that avenue much thought. I’m not sure what results would be achieved by the crossing of dimensions."

I spoke with a sarcastic tone. "Well, maybe it’s time we ran a few experiments, don’t you think?"

Frig replied, "I suppose if we wanted to take the chance of opening a rift in the space-time continuum, we could just give it a go. I might even be willing to let you work the controls for that experiment, Sir."

I took a moment to think before I responded with a half smile. "A rift, I got ya. You want to put the old Grogarian sloth at the controls in case something goes wrong. I see where you are going with this one. I would think it might be safer for us all if it was run by someone who is expendable, you know, maybe someone with stubby arms!"

Ashley rolled her eyes. "You two never get tired of it, do you."

We stepped up into the hold of the Swift, and everyone got to work. I explained the bots to Ashley and the good doctor while Frig sat at his console and continued to go through the Swift’s new systems. Twenty minutes later, the two bots I had on board were configuring the replicator to produce the first piece of test equipment that Dr. Touchstone would need for his mini-lab. An hour later, the bots began work on the next piece.

As I sat in my chair looking around at the others, a warble came over my comm. "This is Grange."

The Colonel replied with an agitated voice, "Grange! Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you for the last hour!"

I spoke into my comm. "I’m down in the quad, Colonel."

The Colonel replied with a growl, "I’m looking down at the quad and it’s empty. Where are you and the others hiding? I want to discuss strategies with my A team."

I disabled the active skin, opened the rear hatch of the Swift, and stepped out. "Can you see me now, Colonel?"

The Colonel was quiet for a moment. "OK, I don’t know what you have cooking down there, but I’m sure you will fill me in."

The Colonel walked out of the building, around a stand of plants, and up to the Swift. "Grange! That looks like the Swift. What happened to the Tantric?"

I gestured for the Colonel to come aboard. "Right this way, Colonel; it’s our new secret weapon. And you better sit down, Colonel. I have a story that’s going to blow that battle suit right off your back!"

I closed the hatch and re-enabled the active skin. "We are now invisible from the outside, Colonel."

I pressed a few buttons on my console and brought up an image of Earth. "You know what that is, Colonel?"

The Colonel replied, "It’s a planet, so what?"

I shook my head. "It’s not just a planet, Colonel. It’s the planet. Our origin. Our home!"

Harper looked closer. "How would you know this?"

I began to tell the story of the protector. Of Man’s origins and of how we came to be in the galaxy known as the Triangulum. I then moved on to the protector and the technologies that were made available to me.

I stood and turned around so the Colonel could see the BGS. "This suit, you can wear it indefinitely. It has a food pack, a filter pack, and a power pack that have to be replenished, but spares can be kept around and they are a simple snap on, snap off. No more having to eat or hydrate yourself, and no more going to the restroom."

The Colonel offered a strange expression. "What do you mean, no more going to the restroom; how is that possible?"

I shook my head. "It’s creepy, Colonel. You just go in the suit, and the gel circulating inside takes care of breaking it down while the filter recycles it."

The Colonel winced. "I can already hear the grumbles from the men. It doesn’t look like much. How does it offer protection from blasters and physical contact? It’s hard to beat our current battle suits."

I replied, "Well, let me show you, Colonel. Stand up and take a punch at me."

The Colonel cocked his head slightly to one side. "What?"

I repeated my request for a punch. The Colonel stood, pulled back his massive fist, and came straight for my jaw. I gave the command to enable the active skin on my BGS suit, and in an instant I was seemingly in another plane of existence. Colonel Harper’s balled fist swung through the space that my jaw had previously occupied. He lurched forward after expecting to make contact. When the Colonel had righted himself, I disabled the active skin.

I flipped back into existence where I had stood before. "Oh! Swing and a miss! Sorry, Colonel, only one swing per customer!"

As a precaution, I stepped back. The Colonel had a penchant for getting agitated, and a real blow from his huge fist would have sent me reeling. I gestured towards his seat, and the Colonel sat back down.

I spoke. "This suit is just like the ship. The skin on this thing, when activated, makes physical contact, or contact with any form of energy, irrelevant. I turn this on and I can float through walls. Each glove has an ion blaster, almost as powerful as our blasters, a coil gun that shoots tiny tungsten rounds at a quarter of the speed of light—they have a huge impact—and a micro-BHD so that you can pull yourself around. I haven’t tried the BHD yet, but I will."

I continued, "And one of the best things of all, Colonel: you can fire these weapons while blinked out."

The Colonel replied, "Blinked out?"

I nodded. "When the skin is active, they, the original Humans, they called it blinking in and out. I would guess because you kind of disappear and reappear. The Defender, the craft the protector flew—it only had two of these BGS suits on it. While they are supposed to be universal fit, I believe we would have to make some alterations for you. I’m a decent-sized guy, and it’s about stretched to its max. We can have the bots make one for you when the doctor is done with his equipment needs."

The Colonel smiled. "I should like that. Only, I’m not sure about that whole waste-recycling thing. Even for a Marine who has been through just about every disgusting thing out there, during combat as well as training, bathing in your own waste is not something you long to do."

I replied, "I agree, Colonel, but seriously, I’ve been in this suit for days on end now, and the thoughts about what’s going on rarely enter your mind."

I continued to show the Colonel the Swift’s new systems. The BHD drive system, the active skin, and the cesium reactor were points of particular interest.

When I got to the Yacabucci generator, I turned to Frig. "I haven’t had a chance to use the Yacabucci with the new power source. What effect should I expect if I were to use it now?"

Frig turned back to his console. "The Yacabucci is extremely sensitive to the power that can be applied. Let’s see, my calculations suggest that with this single-point web, we should be able to hold several Durian battleships in place at once. Hmm. I believe the system would also be instantly available. There would be no requirement for a buildup of the energy in the web, as this reactor could supply the field with all the power it requires."

I looked back at the Colonel. "Is this ship sweet or what! Everything we had is better. And the new technologies—they are just more than we could have hoped for. Colonel, for the first time since we escaped the Durians, I now feel like we have a fighting chance to win!"

The Colonel sat back. "The big question is, can we make use of this tech in time for it to do us some good?"

Jon Touchstone spoke. "Colonel, I have one more piece of equipment that I need for my work. We can then have the bots work on a BGS suit for you."

The Colonel began to shake his head as he stared off towards the wall.

I turned towards him. "What is it, Colonel? Something wrong?"

The Colonel turned towards me with his signature evil grin. "No, nothing wrong. I was just thinking of the damage York could do with one of these suits. Doc, why don’t we make the first suit off the line be for her. I’ll be happy to take the one after that."

I looked around at the hold of the Swift. It was crowded. As the others talked, I thought about the ships being reworked back on Molov. I wondered if we would be better off resurrecting the Raider fleet before working on the Wrens. On the one hand, I was all for destroying the enemy ships with a fly through, while on the other, I wondered if the time would come that we would need to board a ship. What if Humans were taken prisoner? And how else would we get the Grid back from the Duke? It would be a question that I would have to raise with the others.

Frig spun around in his chair. "Sir! The Swift’s log says that you underwent genetic surgery on your flight back. What would possess you to do such without first consulting with George or with Dr. Touchstone?"

I thought for a moment. "Everything that I had come to know about our Human ancestors told me it was worth taking a risk. Frankly, I will have to say that ever since I let the bots do that, my energy levels have certainly been higher. I wasn’t sure if it was because of that or maybe because of this BGS."

Ashley spoke. "It has done wonders for your skin, Don. You have a more youthful appearance somehow. And that thinning hair, I believe it is getting thicker."

I turned and flipped a button on the holo-display. My face appeared before me. Ashley was right. Whatever the DNA injection had done, my face, hair, and skin all had a firmer, thicker, and smoother look.

Frig brought up a log of my bio-stats from when I had first slipped on the BGS. It was true, my heart rate and blood pressure were lower; even the rate at which my body sloughed off dead skin cells had fallen dramatically. Whatever the modifications had been doing, I liked it.

I looked around the ship at the others. "Who wants to go for a ride out to Molov? It’s an eight-hour round trip. We could drop this replicator and these two bots off here and pick up a few more from the planet’s surface."

The Colonel replied, "I think it best if I head back and have a word with my staff. You can save me a joyride for later."

Ashley spoke. "I know we are wanting to keep this tech secure, but the doc and I are going to need space for trying to unravel Quan’s secrets. I think it might also be better to keep him isolated from this tech as well. The game would certainly be over if this got back to the Duke. And our friend Quan there, he still considers himself one and the same."

I replied, "Are you sure it’s safe in those buildings?"

Ashley shook her head. "That compound of four buildings was set aside for the doc and me to make use of. There is no one else there. We can have the Colonel post a few men around, and it will be as secure as we can get on this planet. We have already swept them for signals to see if the Gonta were listening in on our conversations. If they are, they did an excellent job of concealing it."

I again replied, "Is there a conference room or some other large room in there that would fit the Swift?"