AMP Rebellion (26 page)

I replied, "Drop us in there anyway. I want to be as ready as we can be when that control room is ours."

I turned to look at the others in the room. "Do we have the needed equipment to get to that interface?"

Ashley pulled her laser cutting tool from her satchel.

I turned back to Frig. "Drop us in that room and then start moving every one of my squad members in here with us, if there is space for them. When we hit those hallways I don’t want some Durian straggler ruining our parade!"

We soon found ourselves in what appeared to be the playroom of a child care facility. Brightly colored posters adorned the walls promoting clean hands, sharing and fair play. I remember spending countless hours in a similar room as a child. When playtime came I would rush to the corner where the war and space toys were kept. I had endless battles with the other children from military families. It was one of my only fond memories of the time as my father was constantly away.

I pulled out a small plastic chair with fat legs and sat down. Ashley smiled at the sight of the tall warrior sitting on the small chair.

I spoke, "I remember these chairs seeming huge. I used to hate when the bare backs of my legs would stick to that plastic. They made us all wear these stupid little uniforms that were shorts, but they had those straps that went over your shoulders to keep them up. I was constantly in trouble from pulling those straps off the girls’ shoulders just to be a pest."

Ashley replied as she sat down on my lap, "Were there any special girls in your class?"

I smiled as I looked around the room, "There was one, Wanda. I couldn’t stop liking that girl after she punched me in the ear. Funny what I used to find attractive in a girl. I…"

Frig came on the comm. "The Colonel reports having taken the control room Sir. I show clear hallways between you and them. This would be an ideal time to move Sir."

I stood and gave the order, nearly dumping Ashley onto the floor. Frost led the squad out the door and we quickly moved the three hallways over to the control room. When we entered there were four Marines there, they were busy checking every nook and cranny for a hideaway.

Ashley pulled out her torch and began to cut wall plating from the center of the blank wall. A hidden closet was soon found and a doorway cut through to it. Once the surrounding metal had cooled sufficiently I stepped through. The interface was there, waiting for the console I carried.

As I connected the console I spoke, "OK, Miss Elizabeth. Get in here, fire this thing up and enter those numbers!"

Ashley was quickly by my side. The first three locks were opened and the coordinates for our jump were entered.

Ashley looked up at me as she reached for the big blue launch button. "Wish us luck!"

The button was pressed. Several seconds of nothing tore through our souls as we waited for some indication that the gravity drive was active. A loud alarm horn soon sounded in the control room. The deep metallic booms of the drive actuators moving into place could be heard as they sounded through the structure of the great station. Seconds after the last of the giant actuators spun into place, Grid #4 began to move.

For a moment the fighting in the halls came to a halt. Humans could be heard screaming with elation and new hope as they continued the process of removing the menace that had plagued our home. The great station offered a familiar vibration as the gravity drives accelerated, leaving the ships of our enemies behind.

As the Grid began to accelerate I raised the Durian commanders on the comm. "As I’m sure you know by now this station is moving away from your support systems. You will no longer be resupplied or reinforced. I am offering you this one opportunity to end this now and for you to peacefully leave. I’ve already spoken to the Dakar through our liaison and through them to the Prassi. They wish to leave."

The Durian commander replied, "How do we know this is not some trick? You Humans have already proven that you are devious."

I replied, "I think you have a poor impression of us General Byis. You are confusing devious with clever and resilient. We don’t give up easily General. We may go quiet, but we are always working on a solution. None of that matters now anyhow. If you so choose, we will provide you with every transport on this ship to load your soldiers onto. You will then be dumped out to wherever we are, hopefully with enough supplies for you to make it back to where we started. You have ten minutes to decide General."

I continued, "You can save yourself and your soldiers and fight another day. Or you can die here on this ship, or become the slave of a Human master. Just keep in mind General, the longer you wait the longer your journey home will be. This station will be leaving the current sector in about five minutes."

The speed at which the Grid was accelerating was a bluff. I had no idea of how quickly the Grid initially moved, but neither did the Durians. The General and his staff discussed the issue for nearly a minute.

General Byis replied. "We will accept your offer Human."

…..

When the last of the invaders had boarded a transport and that transport was launched out into the surrounding space I sat down with a sigh.

A Marine came in with news, "Sir, we found Sergeant York Sir. They took her arms and legs from her. Other than being full of rage over it, she is in good health Sir."

I could not help but smile at the thought. Ashley stood beside me with her hand on my shoulder. We were once again a free people.

Ashley spoke, "What about Frig and the others on the Suppressor?"

I replied, "They will be fine so long as they don’t let the Durians catch up to them. The Suppressor and the rest of our fleet should be on its way to the coordinates you gave Frig. Once we have stopped they can make contact and send people through if needed."

Ashley offered a coy smile as she spoke, "I guess you may need a new friend to pal around with in the meantime Mr. Grange. Would you have anyone in mind?"

I put my arm around her waist and pulled her close. "Yes I do. Miss Elizabeth. Yes I do. I was really hoping to get to know Michael Felix better. He is quite the hero!"

Ashley struggled to pull away as I continued with my ruse. "But someone has come along that puts Michael Felix far away. And I hope that someone feels the same way I do."

I stood, again pulled her close. The conversation ended with a long embrace and passionate kiss.

With the enemy gone the celebrations began in earnest. People streamed out of their apartments, filling the halls with cheers and excitement. That excitement however was short-lived. Our people were hungry, our systems in need of repair. We had much work to do to get the Grid back to its normal operational status. But we had time. Our jump to a new location would take over a year.

~~~

This Human is asking for your help!

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I sincerely hope you have enjoyed reading this book. The first chapter of the next book in the series is provided below, I hope you will enjoy it as well!

Steve

Two months into our journey to a new sector a rumble rolled through the station. Actuator-11 was offline, sending the Grid in a new direction.

I walked into an ongoing staff meeting and spoke, "Colonel, Senators, we have discovered the reason for the failure. A Durian saboteur had been in hiding since we sent the rest of them packing. He managed to set off an explosive device, damaging some of the equipment that provides power to the actuator. We can repair the damage done to the equipment, but we cannot make corrections to our direction as we had previously entered. We will be stopping somewhere other than our intended destination. Let’s just hope it’s not right beside a white hot sun."

The Colonel replied, "Were we able to catch the Durian?"

I sat at the table. "The Durian blew himself up. It must have been a desperate move or a foul-up on his part as they aren't known to be martyrs. I'm told our direction may be skewed by a full degree. Instead of stopping in a sector with only a few scattered star systems we will end our journey in the thickest part of the galaxy arm. There will very likely be other star traveling civilizations there. Let's just hope they are friendly because we have no space fleet to defend us and as always, our resource stores will be running low upon our arrival."

Admiral Zimmerman spoke, "Too bad Frig can't open a portal large enough to pass a ship."

Admiral Chaulk replied, "If we're making wishes Zimmerman, I would like a magic hat."

Admiral Chaulk had a dry sense of humor and always displayed a serious face. His comment drew chuckles from the other members of the meeting.

Zimmerman shook his head and continued, "If Frig was able to track our location and follow, how long before he arrives with our ships?"

I replied, "The estimates, as I understood them, are just over five years. What should concern us about that is the Durians can be here in less. Their ships are faster than ours. If they wanted to catch us, they could do so before we had another chance to jump. The fastest recorded filling of those hydrogen tanks for the gravity drive is seven years and two months. With those faster ships, we can no longer just outrun our enemies."

The Colonel spoke, "We have several of those hardened Helgron suits for study as well as a few of their blasters. Our lab rats are attempting to replicate them as we speak. If they do catch us, they will have a much harder time taking this station. We know how they fight, we know how they move and we know how they think. But I will have to admit, I would prefer to fight them out there and not in our hallways."

The Colonel gestured towards the space outside of the Grid. That was his domain. Ship-to-ship battles were what his Gray Ghouls had trained for and fought during most of their military lives.

The Colonel continued, "Grange, we have been discussing the fact that this station no longer has a president. The staff here and I are of the opinion that you should assume that roll until such time as normal elections are held. That would likely be once we are settled into our new location."

I stood and replied, "Ah, no thanks. I’ve assumed that type of position for far longer than I wanted to. There has to be others who are qualified for that."

I looked around the room. Michael Felix sat in a chair beside the wall, away from the main table.

I spoke, "As much as I hate to say it, and I will likely regret this, but Felix over there would be a good candidate. He enjoys the whole politico/administrative thing. Make him your figurehead."

The room turned to look at Michael Felix. He stood and neatened his clothes.

The Colonel spoke, "Well Felix? You interested in running this place? You would of course be answering to this group at the table."

Michael Felix cleared his throat and responded, "It would be an honor and a privilege. I do have experience managing business, people and of course my time in politics, although somewhat short, adds governance to my resume."

The Colonel turned back, "Unless anyone has objections, I think we have our interim president."

The room was silent. I looked back over at Felix and he was turned towards a mirror on the wall and was primping himself.

I thought out-loud, "What have I done."

Michael Felix turned towards me, "You have nothing to worry about Mr. Grange. I will soon have this station operating in an efficient manner. And it will be to the wishes of this… council."

I replied, "Efficient manner… just keep in mind Felix, you screw this up, you get spaced!"

I turned away from Michael Felix and towards Ashley Elizabeth. "Other than bringing news of the actuator investigation, I thought I might try to lure one of your council members away for a bite of lunch. Miss Elizabeth, would you care to join me?"

I jumped as the Colonel banged his big fist on the table as he spoke, "Lunch is good. Let’s all meet back here in say… two hours."

The room quickly cleared as the thoughts of food and a much needed break settled in. I took Ashley by the hand and we walked to a special picnic I had set up in the Alpha bay landing port. With no ships entering or leaving, the giant gravity wall that separated the bay from space was the only thing that stood between us and an instant death.

The panoramic view offered by sitting out on the edge of the gravity wall was the best that could be seen from anywhere on the station. With no traffic moving, the lighting in the port was shut down to the bare minimum. It was as close as one could get to actually sitting out in space, hurdling forward at more than 1,000 times the speed of light.

We sat on a blanket and I removed the cork on a bottle of wine from the Grid vineyards that I had purchased earlier in the day. Two generous glasses were poured. After taking a sip, I leaned back on one arm as I rolled onto my side, my head propped up on my hand.

I spoke as I looked out at the starry sky beyond the wall, "You know, every one of those stars out there has the possibility of a new world to explore or a new civilization to interact with. I was really hoping we could stick it out in the Mensa sector and make a go of Jarhead."

Ashley sat with her legs out to one side, propped up by her right arm. "I think you might have had to change the name if you wanted Humans to settle there. Don’t get me wrong, as a veteran myself, I respect the other vets and their contributions, but that's just a horrible name for a home planet."

I replied, "Yeah, I kind of threw that one out there because I had nothing better at the time. I don’t think anyone ever thought enough about it to push for a change. We had bigger things on our minds."

I took another sip and then set down my glass. "You know, I used to daydream about us."

Ashley replied with a coy smile, "Really, daydream?"

I raised my hand as if to outline the top of a mountain. "We would be walking on a ridge on Jarhead; the cool fresh mountain air would be blowing gently through your blonde hair. I would look deep into your eyes and then pull you in for a long passionate kiss. I look back now and I think that was the moment I fell in love."

With that statement Ashley set her glass down and moved closer. We were soon embroiled in that same passionate kiss that I had imagined. The following day we were standing before a magistrate.

Ashley spoke, "Do you think Frig will be offended that he was unable to attend?"

I replied, "He would have wanted to be here yes, but he has bigger worries to think about now, such as the fact that he will have a new partner in the Swift."

Ashley smiled as she replied, "Maybe he will like the fact that with a few kind words he can have a controlling interest in the decision making."

I replied, "You would sell out against me with that short-armed Gambit cowboy? I guess I didn’t know what I was getting into."

We were quietly married and went about our daily business as the Grid hurdled towards its new destination. Time passed quickly and we were soon faced with a station that was slowing as it entered a new sector.

I sat down to a council meeting to discuss the destination information we now had in hand.

Admiral Zimmerman spoke, "We should come to rest a quarter of a light-year from a young blue star. We have five hydrogen harvesters ready to begin work on refilling our tanks. The system has four planets. None are inhabited that we can tell. We should be able to pull resources from two of them. We have two harvesters ready when we stop. I realize these numbers are not adequate, but we need more resources to build more ships. It will take us most of six months to bring the needed harvesters online. From that point we should begin immediate work on warships. Those big guns surrounding this station are all we have for defense."

I stood and spoke, "I would like to volunteer as a pilot for one of the harvesters going down to those planets, my beautiful wife and I that is. We travel as a team now."

The Colonel replied, "Always having to poke your nose in things Grange. We have trained pilots to fly those things and we need those resources."

I replied, "We will take one of those pilots with us Colonel. I’m starting to see why I became a Messenger in the first place. It will do me good to get off this station, but only if Ashley now comes with me."

Admiral Zimmerman spoke, "Nobody has issue with you doing just about anything you want Don. But those harvesters only support a crew of two, and one of those needs to be a pro. We have the entire Grid relying on those two harvesters. So, if you go, you will have to go without Mrs. Grange."

Ashley stood and spoke, "Go on your little adventure Don. You’ve earned it and I will still be here when you get back. I can always use a little ‘me’ time."

I stepped around the table and planted a big kiss on Ashley in front of everyone.

The Colonel spoke, "You know Grange, those displays of affection used to be all cute between you two, but now it’s just sickening… hahahahaha!"

I replied, "It’s not sickening to me Colonel. And thanks for the opportunity everyone. I’ll do my best to get that first load of refined ore back here for final processing."

I stood and left the room to prepare for two days on a new planet. After gathering my duffel bag I began to make my way to Beta bay and to the harvester that waited. When I arrived at the harvester a tech was waiting.

The Technician spoke, "Mr. Grange, the Colonel sent me down with this. It’s a new hybrid suit with some of the things we learned from the Durians. It should offer you far more protection than a battle suit. The Colonel says the atmosphere on that planet looks active. If there are high winds this should protect you from flying debris."

I replied, "Thanks, and tell the Colonel thanks, but I don’t plan on being outside."

The tech persisted, holding out the hybrid suit. "Sorry Sir, I was told that if you didn’t put this on, the mission was going to be scrubbed."

I replied, "Scrubbed? It’s a harvest run. There is no mission."

The tech persisted.

I spoke, "Fine, I’ll take the suit."

I threw the suit over my arm as I picked up my duffel.

The Tech stood in my way.

The Tech spoke, ‘Sorry Sir. I was given instruction to help you suit up before you got on that ship Sir."

I grumbled as the tech snapped, zipped and pulled the suit into place. The hybrid suit had a soft rubbery feel to the exterior.

I spoke, "You know, it doesn’t feel all that bad. It’s a bit more flexible than our battle suits. Kind of comfortable in the right places you know.

The tech then pulled out a metal pipe. "It feels nice doesn’t it Sir. Almost like a thin coverall."

I replied as I rubbed up and down on the arms with my hands. "Not bad at all…"

The tech then turned and swung the metal pipe violently at my crotch as he screamed. My only reaction was to go rigid as I waited for an impact which never really came. At the instant the pipe made contact with the suit the inner layer hardened. The pipe stopped abruptly as the energy from the mass was spread across the suit's entire forward surface.

I looked angrily at the tech. "I should beat you over the head with that pipe!"

The tech replied, "Sorry Sir, the Colonel insisted that you be shown what the suit would do."

I replied, "So the Colonel thought it would be funny to hit me in the crotch?"

The tech chuckled, "No Sir. That was the other guys in the lab Sir. They thought it would have a more lasting impact if you will. That was the only test Sir. You are free to board the harvester now. And one last thing Sir, the manual for that suit has not been fully written yet. You will find a temporary copy in the harvester’s memory. I would suggest you read through it on your way down. It will be erased in a couple hours as that harvester computer is not meant to be very secure."

As I turned back towards the ship Ashley was standing with her hands on her hips.

Ashley spoke, "That was an impressive demonstration there big guy. Have you been holding back on me?"

I replied, "Har, har. I almost pee’d myself when he brought that pipe around."

With the few minutes I had left I shared more small talk, gave Ashley a long embrace and then boarded the harvester. Duane Freeman was sitting in the pilot’s seat waiting.