AMP Colossus (21 page)

The Corporal shook his head. "I wanted to clock you when you blurted out our cannon range, Sir. That was something that you don't give out to anyone. The men in the Gun Corps don't even talk about that."

I replied, "Yeah, well, sometimes I have a big mouth on purpose, Corporal. I don't know our exact cannon range, but I would be surprised if it was not a lot farther than ten thousand kilometers. It will be interesting to see if the Duke delivers on his promise of hydrogen. The amount he offered would keep that station running for another year. We wouldn't be jumping anywhere anytime soon, but if we can keep things running for longer, that would be a big plus."

The Corporal spoke. "Just beware of strangers bearing gifts, Sir. You hold that hand out one too many times, and you are likely to draw back a stump."

I replied, "Point noted, Corporal. For now, let's focus on learning as much about this ship as we can. Get everyone together and we will discuss what can be done. Maybe we can get lucky and dig up what the Colossuns are really up to. You said from the security systems you thought you could access anywhere on the ship. If so, I would like to know what the Duke has his commanders doing. And let's see if we can tap into their comm system. That should tell us of any immediate plans."

The squads were assembled, and we went for a walk in the halls with our scarfs over our mouths. I let Corporal Keith lead the discussion about digging through the Colossun systems after he had managed to hack their network.

The Corporal spoke. "If you have any computer skills, please speak up. I could use your help. For everyone else, if I send you a link to explore, please follow the instructions I send with it. If they catch us snooping around, either they will shut us down and possibly space us, or worse, they could start feeding us bad information. So, follow instructions, and if you have anything at all that you are unsure of, ask first."

After our walk, I sat in the room with York and Rodriguez. "Does any of this seem suspiciously easy to any of you? We have our weapons, we have our comm back, and we have hacked into their systems. It just seems like things have gone amazingly our way. That bothers me."

Rodriguez replied, "I know Corporal Keith enjoys poking around in their system, but have we considered the counterespionage factor? Can we test out his arm pad, or any of our gear for that matter, to see if the Colossuns have reverse hacked us?"

I raised the Corporal on a comm channel. "Can you come to York's room, Corporal? We have a few urgent questions to ask you."

The Corporal knocked on the door and York let him in. I had York and Rodriguez carry on a loud conversation as I leaned in and whispered directly into his ear.

When I withdrew, he had a concerned look on his face. "I'm sorry, Sir, but I just don't think that could happen. I placed all of our connections with the Colossun networks into a private, heavily encrypted memory space."

I replied, "Is there any way to check?"

The Corporal thought and then spoke. "I could put a memory monitor on there. It would look for any access and report it to a log file. I could just let that run for a couple hours and see if anything hits. I will stop all the apps I have running, so the file should be empty if there are no intrusions."

The Corporal continued, "I have one more thing, Sir. I was able to pin it down just a short while ago. I didn't want to say anything until I was sure. I have the Duke's comm channel identified."

I replied, "The one he has in his neck?"

The Corporal nodded. "Yes, Sir. And I think I can jam it from my arm pad, Sir."

I stood and began to pace the room. "Don't use it, don't try it. Don't even mess around with it anymore. If they have reverse hacked us, I don't want them to know we can jam the Duke."

The Corporal replied, "I don't know that we can, Sir. I just have an idea of what we might try."

I left York's room a short time later. I needed time to think. My mind was swirling with all that had happened. We had seen nine Verna that looked nearly identical to the Grid. Were they real? We had access to the systems on the Duke's ship. Was it real access? Or were we being led around by our noses?

Once back at my stateroom, I lay back on my bed. My mind raced. The day’s events would not allow sleep, and I was in need of rest if I wanted a shot at thinking things through. I sat up and walked into the sitting room. I poured a small glass of the Duke's Lumian wine and downed it all at once. Soon after, I lost the ability to focus and those racing thoughts turned to thoughts of Ashley, thoughts of home, and thoughts of Frig. I wondered if he would ever find us after we had gone so far off course. It wasn't long before I was sound asleep.

The next morning I awoke with a headache. The Lumian wine had sent me off to la-la land as I had hoped, but it came at a price. I rang up Bachmin and had him bring me a glass of the cure they had provided before. Half an hour later I was full of energy. I showered and got back in my battle suit.

When I arrived on the bridge, there was an image of the Grid sitting on the screen.

The Duke spoke. "She is beautiful, Mr. Grange. Her technologies must offer comfort, security, and at the same time confusion over how they work."

I replied, "I thought we were a week away, Duke. Is that the actual Grid? If so, I would advise you to keep your distance."

The Duke smiled. "It is indeed your Grid, Mr. Grange. We have our modes of travel that we have not discussed."

All I could think was what a lying ass the Duke was. Of this I was certain.

The Duke continued, "And don't worry, we are outside of the visual range of your station. Your ion cannons could not possibly reach out here. I find it remarkable, though, Mr. Grange."

The Duke was silent for several seconds as he pressed for me to ask why.

"What is so remarkable, Duke?"

The Duke replied, "I find it remarkable that we see no ships! I would think you would have a fleet on patrol and transports and harvesters, yes, harvesters by the hundreds, moving about collecting resources. If you have just come on a long journey, you must need resources for replenishment of your supplies."

I shook my head. "We do pretty good with our recycling, Duke; you would be amazed at how long we can self-sustain."

The Duke again smiled. "The hydrogen gift should arrive later today. I have turned off the jamming of your comm system so that you might contact your Grid and tell them of the resource news."

I replied, "I appreciate that, Duke. Let me go back to my squads, and I will give the Grid a call and a heads-up."

The Duke managed a wide, wry smile. "Why don't you contact them here and now, Mr. Grange. I would be interested to know if they are willing to accept the gift I have offered. I would like this moment to be the moment when we begin to establish good relations with the Human species. Isn't that something that you also desire, Mr. Grange?"

I spoke. "OK, we can do it here and now. Just give me a second to enable it."

I sent an urgent text to Corporal Keith.

Have we been compromised?

A reply came back quickly.

Yes, they have penetrated our net, but not before we got into their security net. I don’t think they know we are in there.

I looked up at the Duke as I opened a comm channel to the Grid. "Here we go. This is Grange. Can you patch me through to the Council?"

A voice replied, "One moment, Mr. Grange, while we verify your credentials. OK, patching you through now, Sir."

The Council was in an informal session. They had been meeting every day to discuss options. Our hydrogen harvesters had been taken out of service until such time as they could be safely put to use. With the Colossuns causing trouble, we couldn’t risk losing the only machinery we had.

Colonel Harper spoke. "Grange! Glad to hear from you. What in the blazes is going on? We got word from the
Granger
that you had left with the Colossuns."

I replied, "I will explain later, Colonel. Right now I have Duke… wait a sec, I can't even remember your name."

The Duke spoke. "My name is Ferdete of Colos. I prefer ‘Duke.’"

I continued, "Duke Ferdete of Colos would like to offer us one hundred million metric tons of hydrogen. No strings attached. Are we interested in accepting this offer?"

There was silence for several seconds as the council members who were present discussed.

Colonel Harper spoke. "We will accept the Duke’s offer, but we will have to make the transfer from out there. We can’t allow a foreign vessel to be docked without first inspecting it, especially one with such a volatile cargo. If they will move whatever vessel they have to twenty thousand kilometers from the Grid, we will send out ships to make the transfer."

The Duke replied, "Agreed."

The Duke tapped the comm on his neck. "Please move the hydrogen stores to twenty thousand kilometers and leave there for transfer."

The Duke turned back towards me. "You have your hydrogen, Mr. Grange."

For the next nine hours, the transfers were made between the hydrogen storage tankers the Duke had sent and our harvesters. After nearly a third of the transfer had been made, a scientist on the Grid screamed for us to stop. The hydrogen provided was 96 percent deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen that the Grid could not process.

Typically, during the harvest process, the harvesters would scrub out the vast majority of the naturally occurring deuterium. Deuterium, having an extra neutron, played havoc with our fusion reactors. The scrubbing process to remove deuterium was applied once again when the hydrogen was transferred to the Grid storage tanks, and then again for a final time as it was pumped into the fusion reactors. Every effort was made to reduce its occurrence before the hydrogen was put to use. The Duke’s hydrogen was heavily contaminating our system.

Colonel Harper spoke. "Grange. This hydrogen is crap. Tell the Duke thanks but no thanks. We don’t want his already processed garbage. It is going to take us weeks to scrub that stuff out and bring our tanks back into balance."

I looked at the Duke as he raised his arms slightly into the air to make an "oops" gesture. "I am so sorry, Mr. Grange. I didn’t know this was deuterium that had already been extracted. The manifest just says ‘hydrogen.’ I would seek to provide more, but that is all we have available in this section of the Empire. If you would like, I will make more available, but that may take several months to harvest."

I replied, "I think we are OK, Duke. We appreciate the gesture. We would be willing to talk trade for resources, though. Would the Empire have any interest in that?"

The Colonel’s voice then came over the comm. "You can tell the Duke he can stop trying to hack our systems over the comm. If he is trying to establish friendly relations, he’s off to a bad start."

I spoke. "Hold on, Colonel; let me put you on speaker."

The Colonel continued, "Listen, first you bring us deuterium, and now your people are trying to hack into our systems through the comm channel. If you are trying to establish a relationship of trust, you sure are going about it the hard way."

The Duke responded, "My apologies, Colonel. I will see to it that the attempts to connect to your systems are stopped."

The Duke touched his neck. "Please cease all attempts to connect to the Human systems through their comm channel."

The Duke again slightly held out his arms in a gesture. "Mr. Grange, I am certain that neither you nor the good Colonel are the highest-ranking officials on your station. I would like to begin a dialogue with whoever that would be. Your station is in violation of our sovereign territories. I wish to discuss that matter with whoever is in charge."

The Colonel shot back, "I am in charge here, Duke. If you have something to say, you can say it to me."

The Duke replied, "OK, Colonel, if that is how you want it. I will be putting together a delegation to do an inspection of your station. I will expect a safe corridor to be set up from my ship to one of your landing bays. If my delegation determines that you are not an invading force, then we can begin discussions on compensation."

The Colonel was silent for only a moment. "Compensation? Look, Duke, we are sorry that we entered your territory. This is space; there are no painted lines. If you would like to trade for resources, we will soon be out of your space. I think compensation is unwarranted, and to be frank, it will not be paid. As far as your delegation goes, we would welcome a diplomatic team, but not for any inspection. This station is our sovereign space, and unless you somehow find yourself here by mistake, you will not be calling the shots here. You mentioned an invading force. If that was your determination, what would you then propose?"

The Duke replied, "If it is found that you are here with ill intent, then you will be asked only once for a full and complete surrender."

The Colonel laughed. "I can tell you now, Duke, that is not going to happen. Either we can trade like civilized peoples or, I suppose, we can fight. I will leave that decision up to you."

The Duke’s expression turned from that of a pleasant diplomat to that of an angered and spoiled child. "I have a large fleet that should be arriving tomorrow, Colonel. We will see who has to make a decision then."

The Duke turned to face me. "You will be…"

I did my best quick draw and aimed the blaster at the Duke’s head.

The Duke spoke. "Mr. Grange. I had such high hopes for you, but this transgression cannot go unpunished."

As the Duke began to raise his hand towards his neck, I responded, "I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Corporal Keith!"

The Corporal answered over the comm. "Yes, Sir?"

I continued, "Can you bring me that piece of red velvet that we had talked about?"

The Corporal replied, "Red velvet, Sir? Are you sure?"

I spoke as I kept one eye on the Duke. "That’s right, Corporal, red velvet; bring it!"

The Corporal responded, "You got it, Sir. Red velvet, coming up."

Our plan was put in motion. There was no turning back. The Corporal alerted the others, who immediately brought up their arm pads.

The Duke tapped on his neck comm, but nothing happened. The weapons officer spoke over his console. "Sir, the sentinels—they are all converging on the docking bays. And I no longer have control of my weapons."

The nav officer was next. "The
Griffer
,
Minias
and
Coulpus
are all moving, Sir. I don’t have control of their helms, nor can I raise the first officers."

I looked at an angering Duke. "Your staff here on the bridge—they seem oblivious to the fact that I am holding a blaster on you. You Colossuns are full of curious behavior."

The Duke replied, "If you are going to kill me, Mr. Grange, I would urge you to do it quickly. I will not be so quick to kill you once I have regained control."

I spoke. "Oh, I don’t doubt that, Duke, but I don’t think that is going to happen today."

The Duke replied, "I have four thousand sentinels on this ship, Mr. Grange. What is it that you think you are going to do?"

The Corporal came back on the comm. "Looks like phase one is ready when you are, Mr. Grange. Just give the word and I will execute."

I looked at the Duke as I gave the order. "Space ’em, Corporal."

The sentinels had been given orders to assemble in front of the port doorways on the docking bays. In an instant, the Corporal turned off the gravity fields that held the atmosphere inside. All four thousand of the Duke’s sentinels were sucked outside at once.

The weapons officer spoke. "Sir, almost all of the sentinel guards have been blown out of the bays, Sir. They are floating in space." The weapons officer stood and drew the attention of the others on the bridge as I held my blaster on the Duke.

The Duke spoke. "Those were my soldiers, Mr. Grange. I have twelve thousand more on my other ships!"

I spoke. "Yeah, about those, Duke. Mr. Keith, execute phase two!"

The weapons officer banged away at his console, but his efforts were futile; we had control. "Sir, weapons are coming online!"

The Duke spoke. "Mr. Grange, watching you die a slow death will be a pleasure!"

The weapons all fired at once as my squads used their arm pads in one all-out synchronized assault. The rail guns began to bury rounds deep into the hulls of the two mega-battleships that had maneuvered in front of us. The
Griffer
and the
Coulpus
were quickly ablaze. At the same moment, thirteen of the twenty-six large pulse cannons fired rounds into the broadside of the
Minias
, taking out her port guns and heavily penetrating her outer decks. The Duke’s anger grew as the three escort ships of his group were rendered useless and struggled to survive.

The comm officer then rose and charged at me with no weapon.

Pzzzt!

A wide hole opened in the comm officer’s chest as his rib cage split apart.

I spoke. "Anyone else?"

The bridge was silent.

"Rodriguez, take the squads and begin a sweep of the ship. I want every Colossun remaining rounded up. If they offer resistance, don’t hesitate to take them out."

I looked at the Duke. "It didn’t have to be this way, Duke. Our exchanges could have been beneficial to both parties. Now, we are going to have to figure out what to do with you and your crew. I would advise you to tell them to not resist. It will only end badly for them. I’ve seen my Marines at work, and they are very thorough and very skilled at what they do."

The Duke replied, "The lives of these crewmen are meaningless, Mr. Grange. I can always get more. The Empire does not exist because of a few petty Vesha."

I spoke. "I have yet to figure you out, Duke. The choices you make all seem foreign to me. They are not logical. You allowed us to keep our guns, you allowed us to keep our arm pads, you allowed us to walk your ship freely. I get the feeling you are playing me."

The Duke showed a wry smile. "Do you feel like you are late to the party, Mr. Grange? Perhaps the Colossuns are intelligent and remain one step ahead of you. Perhaps you are not equipped to play the game you are involved in. Although, I will say the destruction of my ships and the spacing of my sentinels was well played. My intelligence officers failed me on that one, and they will pay dearly for that. But no matter, Mr. Grange. I remain several steps ahead of you. As you continue to pursue me, those steps will become apparent."

York entered the bridge. "Mr. Grange, the sweep is nearing completion. We have all of the personnel in the ship’s logs accounted for except for two, and we should have them in the next few minutes. They are all in the docking bay where we had the sentinels lined up."

The Duke spoke. "Mr. Grange. That is shocking. You would space my crew when they don’t even threaten you?"