Broken Soldier (Book One) (16 page)

Bambi put a detailed graphic in his head. It showed
the ship from the outside. She commed him,
If you wish to see
any part of the ship, just think of the area you wish to
see.

Bambi, I want you to show all areas I mentioned
earlier in a transparent shade of yellow, allowing me to see the
remainder in light blue.

The new graphic had very little in blue, but it
still represented a rather large group of rooms or whatever. He
asked, “Can you tell me what those areas are?”

“Yes sir. I shall highlight them, in red, as I do.
These areas, the largest of the group, are maintenance shafts,
cable shafts and air vents. The next groups are waste elimination
rooms and the necessary tubes to deal with the waste material.”

Bambi went through every remaining area that had not
been highlighted in either yellow or blue. Eventually she finished
and he saw seventeen areas she had not spoken of.

“What are those areas, Bambi?”

“I do not know. I am unaware that they exist. Even
as I see they are there, my program tells me they do not
exist.”

“I must look for myself then”

Sir, may I suggest that two robots accompany you. If
there are doors they may be difficult to open and I fear there
could be protection devices close to them, which might be fatal,
when triggered.

Mike noted her use of the phrase ‘I fear’, and
almost ignored it for the time being.

Yes, Bambi, that’s good thinking.
He couldn’t
stop a tiny suggestion that she was sentient.
We will start at
the closest location, which is very near the bridge. Send me two
robots.

Five minutes later, two eight foot tall robots stood
in the passageway, waiting for instruction. Using the comm, he had
them lead the way to the non-existent area. The entrance to it was
inside a room set up as living quarters. He went to the wall, where
the red marker had projected it to be and found that it was covered
with a large mural of a far away galaxy.

He ordered a robot to take it down. Bambi told him,
The robot refuses to do as you have commanded.

Sir, I have never seen this before. Never has a
robot not obeyed the Captain.

Mike directed his attention to the robot and
repeated his order. A simple
I am not allowed
was the
response.

Why not?

I must have the proper code, in order to facilitate
this command.

The damned thing needed a password. What now?

Bambi, speaking with surprise and frustration, told
him, “I am in a void, sir. I don’t know how to react to this
situation. I did not know any of this. However, it is consistent
with Sauran policy, regarding security. I have attempted all of the
passwords I have knowledge of and none of them work. I am sorry,
Captain. I am unable to help you.”

“Well, why don’t we have the robot tear down the
wall?”

It took her a full second to respond. “Captain, if
there is a device to discourage entry, then either the robot will
be unable to open it, or he will be destroyed. Either way, you
should not be present when he attempts it, although I suspect he
will fail.”

“Give me a minute here. I’m going to try a few
things I learned in school.”

Through his MCP, he went into the robot control
program and began checking files, looking for some obscure file
name that could be the security entrance file. He found only one
that could be it. He tried to apply the de-encryption techniques he
had learned and found them virtually laughable in the face of the
far more sophisticated system he was attempting to enter.

When all else failed, his professor had told the
class, “Guess.”

Bambi, do you know the former captain’s
birthday?

No sir.

Do you know his full name?’

Yes sir.

Try using that as a password.

Yes sir.

The robot immediately removed the mural, revealing a
large door. All of the doors on this ship were large, because they
served very large beings.

At his behest to open the door, the robot didn’t
move. The doors merely slid aside and a light came on.

“Son of a bitch. I’m a fucking genius.”

“Yes sir, you are indeed a genius. I never would
have guessed that the Senior Pilot used his own name to enter the
Aggressive Repellent Room. This is where the hand held weapons are
stored.”

“I’ll be damned. Bambi, you know the name of this
location. It’s a small arms vault.”

“Yes sir. Apparently, once you had found the
password, all of the encryptions became available to me, because I
answer to you. I now have all of the unlisted areas available to
me. Many of them are related to war material.”

With a huge grin Mike shouted, “Fucking A. This is
fabulous.”

From behind him, he heard Jo’s shaky voice. “What
have you found, my friend?”

Chapter
9

For the next few days, Jo went through a recovery
process that was far easier than what Mike had experienced. He was
jealous of Jo’s good fortune, yet happy for his new friend.

The day they gained entrance to the small arms
vault, which Mike designated as the SAV, they found hand held
weapons for one hundred and eighty men…well actually, Saurans.
Considering the size and strength of the average Sauran, they were
relatively light and easily handled.

The weapon was much bigger than anything he had ever
carried in the field. For a Sauran, it would have been the
equivalent of a lightweight carbine rifle.

When Mike picked one up, he thought, “This isn’t so
bad, I can handle this, although the armorer will have to make a
few adjustments for human hands.”

He had developed a habit of leaving the active part
his mind open to Bambi, so she could monitor his thoughts and
provide him with info. It wasn’t a surprise when she told him,
Captain, these weapons seem light to you, because you have been
upgraded and can now handle them with ease. Without the upgrade,
these weapons would be unwieldy for you, or any other human. They
each weight forty three pounds. When carrying a fully charged
weapon, it will be more than fifty pounds.

He was amazed at the ease with which he handled the
awkward weapon. That he had been able to pick it up so simply,
without realizing its weight, was further proof of a concern he
had.

When an upgraded man was dealing with a normal man,
he must be very careful as he made physical contact with the
gentleman. Just shaking hands could result in the man’s hand being
crushed.

Also, he would need to walk around on Earth, without
seeming to be unusually strong. It would be important to remain
anonymous, by not drawing undue attention. Mike would give it more
thought, after he immersed himself in the items of the SAV.

Bambi, what sort of ammunition does this weapon fire
and what are its capabilities?

Sir, the weapon is known as the Small Hand Held
Death Projector. It has a series of rapidly rechargeable
capacitors. Upon discharge, it thrust a surge of charged ions down
its length, at a speed that the user sets, usually .00001 the speed
of light for assault. Also, the volume of ions will affect the
impact results and it is adjustable. Near the bottom range of ion
weight, the force will strike the target at nearly 7,000 miles an
hour. As long as the ion volume has been dialed down, the damage
will be limited. At that force there will be little feedback to the
user, allowing him to remain on target. He will have available
three hundred surges, or in human terms, shots.

By using the weapon in constant firing mode, it will
be completely out of shots in less then two seconds. A charged
battery can last through five reloads, before it needs to be
replaced. Each weapon has fifty capacitors and they burn out after
being used two thousand times; which means the weapon has enough
total capacitor usage available for one hundred thousand shots,
before it needs to be rebuilt. Robots handle that.

“That’s incredible. How much force does it impart to
the target?”

“The weapon was designed to inflict damage or death
to biologic opponents. At its lowest setting, which is .00001 light
speed and minimum ion weight, it will cause a Sauran to experience
severe pain, although he can still fight. At that setting a
non-upgraded human would be knocked unconscious and probably suffer
severe injury, or death.

“At its a setting of .0001 light speed, it can burn
a hole completely through a Sauran, a Thorian, or a Januki. This
setting is used when boarding another spacecraft, or when it is
undesirable to damage the surrounding area too badly.

“At its maximum setting, it will burn through a
variety of lightly armored vehicles and fortifications, although
there are different fortifications for which it is not very
effective due to their extreme density and shielding.”

Mike was taking in everything with militaristic
glee. He didn’t realize it, but he kept bouncing back and forth,
between speaking and coming.

He queried Bambi,
So, if I set this at maximum
power, I could blast a hole right through this ship.

No sir, you could not. These are Sauran weapons,
meant for Sauran use. The weapons have been programmed to prevent a
setting that would damage a ship, which was owned or controlled by
Saurans. It is primarily a boarding assist weapon. On a higher
setting, it can open an access point for the purpose of subduing
the crew of the assaulted ship.

He continued to look the weapon over. “Hey, I don’t
see a trigger here. How do I fire this thing?”

Check your MCP. You will see a pip indicating the
presence of the weapon you are holding. Open the file and it will
tell you the overall condition of the weapon, the last time it was
fired, how many shots remain in that load, how many more loads can
be utilized before it is necessary to replace the battery and how
many shots before the weapon must be rebuilt.

At first Mike thought it was a waste of time to
review all of that info. In an emergency, he wanted to be able to
point and shoot. This could slow you down. His new, extraordinarily
quick mind read the info and instantly new that this weapon had a
full load, but needed to have a fully charged battery inserted,
before it could be used.

“How do I aim and shoot it?”

There is a small camera in each weapon. You can
receive the picture it sees through your MCP. It will provide you
with a targeting reticule for aiming purposes and it will
automatically adjust for distance, temperature, wind, humidity,
height variance and density of object to be hit. It will provide a
recommendation of power setting for you and it will fire when you
give it the command.

Mike traversed the weapon toward the other end of
the room and saw the sighting reticule and all pertinent targeting
info, as he moved the wide oval barrel around. It was easier than
one would expect, due to his mind’s ability to absorb and analyze
what it saw, with lightening speed.

He had Jo pick one up, but he was still groggy from
the upgrade, although Jo seemed to like the idea of having a weapon
in his hand that could kill Saurans.

They spent the rest of the day in the SAV, as Bambi
explained all of the other items in the vault. There was storage
for batteries, magazines of ammo, addition sighting devices and
hand grenade equivalents. Also, there were longer weapons, which
were really just larger versions of the carbine he had first
handled. She told them of its power and it was impressive.

Just one shot from one of these could blast a hole
in a shuttle. And they had a very long range. A single warrior
could knock down a fast moving jet a hundred miles away, due to the
amazing targeting sights on the thing. This would have come in real
handy in Iraq.

When he mentioned that, Jo told him, “Mike, that is
a good example of why we can’t just hand off these weapons to the
people of Earth. Humans are still working out their differences and
I’m sure there are some governments who would carelessly use this
power to destroy their adversaries. The turmoil this caused would
divert resources and prevent progress toward a worldwide
government.”

Mike loudly announced, “Jo, do you have any idea how
much the people of my country fear the idea of a worldwide
government? They would fight it tooth and nail and we’d never be
able to develop the defensive ability we need. What we need is a
way to recruit warriors who will fight for the planet and not be
mentally aligned with any one nation, even my own. They must be
loyal to our cause…the cause of a free Earth and a free Thorian
world.”

Sir, if I may make a suggestion.
Without
waiting for Mike to give her authorization to proceed, Bambi commed
to both of the biologics,
The Saurans have been using a method
of mind control for a thousand years. All of their men are
programmed for extreme loyalty. I realize you would be reluctant to
implant such devotion to your cause in your warrior’s minds, but it
would work.

They would not have to subdue their opinions, as the
Saurans do, or as their slaves must. But, once you have given an
order and the men have been allowed to voice their opinions on it,
they would follow the order, regardless of their dislike for it.
The Saurans considered it to be good discipline and a necessity for
a smoothly operating military.

Mike gave it quick thought and said, “We may have to
do that with the first of our warriors. But I don’t like the idea
of an endless stream of robots that were once freethinking human
beings and are now not much more than slaves held captive in their
own minds.”

Bambi, I want you to occasionally remind me to
review the policy of enforced loyalty. It should be reviewed
continuously and never should a warrior be restricted from voicing
his opinion, before he has to perform a horrible command.