AMP Colossus (24 page)

Less than a minute passed before the Duke came onscreen in the
Deveroe
. "What is it now, Mr. Grange? I am in the middle of a delicate conversation with my brother."

I replied, "Apparently you haven't been able to convince him that he is not needed. It looks to me like you have lost what respect he might have had for you, Duke. I remember getting mad as a kid when my brother wanted to fight my fights for me too. It kind of takes away from one's feeling of self-respect, does it not?"

The Duke sighed. "Mr. Grange, my errant, misguided brother will be leaving tomorrow. He will not be around for the activities that are to come. The King would be displeased if I was short in my dealings with him. It would not be the gracious behavior one would expect out of a royal. And..."

The Duke was silent for a moment and then moved closer to the view-screen in front of him. "Well, well, Mr. Grange. It seems that you are eager for my brother to leave, and I now see why!"

I replied, "What are you talking about, Duke? Why would I care?"

The Duke smiled. "You would care, Mr. Grange, because you were planning an assault! I can see that at this moment you are sitting in the cockpit of a ship, although it does not impress me, I will have to say. And the soldiers standing behind you are a dead giveaway!"

I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. "They are not soldiers, Duke; they are Marines! And you are right. We are coming your way!"

I closed the comm and switched channels to Jon Touchstone. "Cut the web loose, Jon! We are going in!"

The
Deveroe
lifted off and was soon out of Beta Bay and streaking towards the Duke's fleet. The Yacabucci web had been deployed, and all ships were now caught in its field.

The Colonel spoke. "When you said you were coming, Grange, I moved a few people around. Look over your shoulder and you will see them sitting there in the back!"

I turned to look and had a slight smile on my face as first Frost and then Rodriguez, York, and Keith raised their hands. I nodded back in approval.

I turned back to the Colonel. "I pity the crew of the ship we are boarding, Colonel. Those three girls back there are a near-unstoppable force on their own. Corporal Keith, well, I don't know about combat, but he is a big part of why we are here today. I have to say I am pleased, Colonel. Not that you did this for this reason, but I would say you greatly increased your chances of survival by bringing them on board."

The Colonel looked back and grinned before speaking to Ashley. "It's more like I increased their chances of survival by letting them come along with your hubby. He's the luckiest man I know, and for that reason I like to keep him close!"

Ashley placed her hand on my arm. "I'm the lucky one, Colonel!"

I shook my head. "You two better quit that or I'm going to be sick, along with the rest of our passengers. Let's move our focus back to the target at hand. Which one are we going to hit?"

The Colonel replied, "This one here. It looks slightly bigger, and newer than the others. I am guessing that it belongs to the Duke's brother."

My expression turned to a smile. "That would be sweet, Colonel: taking out the Duke's brother before taking him out for the second time. I may just explode from happiness before this day is over!"

The Colonel signaled the command center. "What's the status on the web?"

A voice came back over the comm. "All ships are being held tight, Colonel. The field strength there is already beginning to dissipate. The professor thinks you have about an hour tops before the first of those ships breaks free. Oh, and a number of them are immobile, Sir, but they still have internal power, just at a reduced level. They can't move, but some of the smaller weapons may still be enabled."

The Colonel closed the comm and stood as he walked back amongst the Ghouls that accompanied him on the
Deveroe
. "OK, listen up! Assume the ship we are hitting is hot. I repeat, hot! You plasma crews, you will be first out that cargo door. We need access onto that ship ASAP!"

The Colonel then looked back and pointed. "Frost! You and Keith will be taking the Granges with you. Keep it tight, Frost. I want these two back alive! York, Rodriguez, you will be coming with me!"

We pulled alongside Duke Ferdese's capital ship. The sleek lines and brightly colored ports spoke of a royal with too much money and time on his hands. The Colonel's pilot had selected a spot on the ship's plating that was assumed to be minimally protected. It ran beside the garbage shaft where anything that was not worthy of saving or recycling was expelled. I braced for a horrid smell by setting the filtering on my battle suit to its maximum.

When the cargo door of the
Deveroe
opened, a major barked out commands. "Plasma team, you are live! Let's get some doors opened! We have a duke to fry!"

As the plasma team did their job, the Colonel managed to get one more good slap in on my shoulder. "Grange! Keep an eye on the lady! Follow Frost, as she has the game plan!"

The Colonel then turned towards the first doorway access with an evil grin on his face. "I love this job!"

As the second plasma team made access, Frost turned and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go! If you're lagging, your pants are dragging! You can clean yourself up later!"

With that, we were through the doorway and onto Duke Ferdese's ship.

Frost yelled back as we moved forward, "Keep an eye on that field strength. We are sitting at 83 percent. If that drops below 45, they will have pulsers available. At 25 percent, if they have blasters, they can use those too. At the end of this hallway, we go left, and then split off from the Colonel's team at the first stairwell on the right. Stay focused and we will get to where we are going!"

The Colonel looked back and nodded as we entered the stairwell going up. After climbing three decks, we again turned to the left and continued down a long hall. The first two sentinels appeared from a right-side room entrance. Frost fired.

Ak-ak-ak-ak!

The sentinels rocked back as the rounds penetrated their chest armor. The web had taken their shielding offline.

Frost spoke over her comm. "This is Frost; we just hit the first two sentinels! They went down easy with an AK. Their armor may be inactive in the web. It may also be best against pulser rounds, but it ain't much against kinetic!"

As we passed the two disabled sentinels, I stopped cold. "Frost! Check this out. That is blood if I've ever seen it! These are not androids!"

Four more entered the hallway in front of us and charged our position.

Ak-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak!

Three of the four sentinels fell to the floor. I stepped up and took my first shot with an explosive round.

Ak! Bam!

The remaining sentinel was blown in half as the explosive round entered his abdomen.

Frost turned to look at me. "What was that, Mr. Grange, and where do I get one?"

I replied, "Sorry, Frost. If you paid a visit to the gun range sometime, you might have been able to pick one up. Maracus had it on display the other day when I went by. I walked out with it and all the rounds he had available. I only have a couple hundred rounds in my pack, so I will have to use them sparingly!"

We continued to push forward towards our intended target, the three decks that held the royal palace rooms. Sentinels charged at us from every direction as we moved. Each fell quickly in a pool of his own blood. I began to get the feeling that the real Colossuns were the sentinels, and they were only the slave warriors of the android royals.

Ashley spoke. "I have no issue with killing the enemy, Don. I have done it many, many times in the past. But these sentinels don't seem to be motivated. If the Duke rules over them and they are his personal guard, I would expect a more vigorous fight out of them. It's like they are rolling over for us!"

I replied, "Well, the field strength has already dropped to 65 percent. Let's just get to our target and then move on to the next one."

I continued, "Frost! What is our target?"

Frost replied, "Ferdese! We just have to flush him out of whichever room he is in. You indicated that the Duke never left his royal decks; the Colonel thought that might be the same for this one. So, we are going to sniff him out and take him with us!"

I spoke. "Whoa! Wait, what?"

Frost again replied, "Staff wants him back on the Grid. The Colonel and Admirals want to see if any intel can be had from him, and Touchstone wants at his AI. So, we snag 'em, bag 'em, and drag 'em. You have any issue with that?"

I replied, "None at all. Let's get this done!"

As we came down a long hallway, I glanced at the jewel-encrusted walls. It seemed gemstones were the same from sector to sector. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and gold were prevalent. I pushed open a door to my right and was immediately stormed by four sentinels. I fell hard backward, and my AK fired up into the ceiling.

Ak! Bam!

With a swiftness that I had not seen and would not have expected, Ashley pulled a knife from her battle suit and jabbed it into the back of one of the attackers. She then stomped down hard with her new prosthetic leg as she pulled the knife back out. As a second sentinel lunged for her, she moved like a graceful cat, slicing just under where his helmet met his battle suit. Orange sentinel blood began to gush from his throat as he fell past her to the floor.

As I wrestled with the two sentinels on top of me, Ashley returned, again thrusting her knife up under the arm and into a slit under the sentinel’s body armor. A bloodcurdling scream was released as he rolled off of me, exposing the last sentinel to Ashley's blade. Before I could react further, she dove on the remaining sentinel and shoved her knife up into another exposed slit in the sentinel’s armor. The sentinel went silent.

Ashley lay on top of him, looking me right in the face. She smiled a smile that sent shivers down my spine. On the field of battle, she was not the pleasant and warm individual I had come to know. She was a cold-blooded, highly efficient killing machine. I suddenly came to realize why she had risen so quickly in her military career, and why she was so highly respected by others I had spoken to. I could only be thankful that she was fighting for my side.

I pushed the dead sentinel over, stood, and brushed myself off. Ashley had a strange half smile on her face. It was not one of happiness, but one of determination. She had protected the man she loved, and I was grateful.

The next room we entered had Duke Ferdese sitting in an opulent chair. He was more or less catatonic. I could only imagine that the Yacabucci field was playing havoc with his android circuits.

Frost gestured to two of the other Marines in her squad. "Let's drag his ass out of here and get back to the
Deveroe
! Colonel! This is Frost! We have the target, Sir. Heading back now!"

The Colonel replied, "Will meet you there, Frost. Out."

The Colonel ordered the rest of our assault team back to the
Deveroe
. As we moved back onto our ship and the cargo hatch closed, I took note of the enormous hydrogen harvester pulling alongside Duke Ferdese's ship.

I turned back towards Ashley and smiled. She smiled back.

The Colonel spoke. "Looks like everything is going to plan so far, Grange. We have one full harvester heading back to the Grid, we have detonators planted on fourteen of the ships we assaulted, and the web is still at 52 percent. Our fight is done for the day. We are heading back to the Grid with our cargo."

I replied, "That's OK with me, Colonel. I don't seem to have the fight in me that I usually do."

The Colonel looked over. "I've seen that look before, Grange. I hope you aren't planning on going all humanitarian on us. We are hardly out of trouble yet."

I replied, "I can hold my own, Colonel. I guess I'm just in a little shock over seeing my wife in action back there, that's all."

The Colonel chuckled and turned with his evil grin. "You did know that you married a Marine, Grange. Whatever it was you saw back there, that is what we are all trained for!"

The twenty-four ships that had been taken by the Colonel’s men had cost us only four casualties. Two were burns from an exploding plasma cutter, and the other two concussion injuries from the same. When we landed on the deck at Beta Bay, there were six guards waiting to take possession of Duke Ferdese. Once out of the Yacabucci field, he was once again fully aware and in disbelief about the turn of events. He yelled continuously as they carried him away that this was the doing of his evil brother.

I turned back to the Colonel. "You know, Colonel, there is one more duke out there. I would love to see the two of them facing off with each other. The web has stabilized, and the harvesters are doing their thing. What do you say we take the
Deveroe
back out and snag us another duke?"

Frost was standing behind the Colonel and grabbed his arm. "Oh, Colonel, please say yes! Please!"

The Colonel shook loose of her grip. "I told you before, Frost, to never touch me again!"

The Colonel then looked back at me. "It might slow their response a little if they don't have either of their leaders."

I spoke. "Let's do this, Colonel! If you want, you can tell everyone I gave the order."

The Colonel replied, "What? So you can take all the credit? I don't think so, Grange. This is a joint operation. Now get your ass back on that ship, and let's get us another duke!"

The harvesters continued to run as we assaulted the Duke's ship. Again, the sentinels were weak under the effects of the web, and the Duke was easily apprehended. On the ride back towards the Grid, the Duke regained his awareness.

I spoke. "Hello, my friend! And welcome to the world where Humans rule!"

The Duke replied, "Mr. Grange! What have you done to my data feed? I don't have broadcast! Are you jamming my data channels?"

I spoke. "Why, yes we are, Duke. And this is something you are going to have to get used to. This Duke is now
the
Duke. Everything that happens from here on—it dies with you when you die. There is no recovery with a new duke body when it's all over. You are now an individual! You are unique! How does it feel?"

The Duke looked from side to side at the Marines who surrounded him. "Do you think I fear you, Mr. Grange?"

I replied, "Well, Duke, if you don't, you should. Everything you do from here on out, every experience, every recording, every decision—it is only kept in memory right up here in your noggin. And, I would guess it is a limited memory store, and that at some point it will be full and you will have to start dumping things. How does it feel to be limited, Duke?"

The Duke thought for a moment. "I have underestimated your species, Mr. Grange. You have more determination than other species I have dealt with. I will take this as a learning experience."

I looked at the Duke. In an instant his expression had changed, and I knew he was about to act. Before I could move, the Duke stepped back and pulled the two Marines that held his arms hard together. He then swung his fist, punching the next-closest Marine in the chest, sending him flying back into the near bulkhead. The Duke then turned and raised his fist towards Ashley, who was caught off guard.

I pulled the trigger.

Ak! Bam!

The Duke's torso was nearly torn in half as an explosive round from my still-loaded AK did its nasty work.

I then stepped over to a stunned Duke. "You can feel pain, can't you? It won't kill you, but your programming tells you it hurts."

I reached down and pressed a spot on his neck. A snapping sound could be heard as his head unit separated from his body. I grabbed the Duke’s head by the tendrils and picked it up.