Crystal Conquest (16 page)

Grace looked at her, the concern evident on her face, but
remained silent.

Ravalli’s voice pierced the room. “Actually, there’s a huge stockroom
down here. I know we have lots of coveralls. Not so sure about stakes, though.”

Did he just interrupt my interrogation?
She looked
around the room, trying to locate the source of his voice.
Who even gave him
permission to listen?

Muttering a string of profanities, she fumbled with the security
key Ravalli had left with her. When the door slid open, she stormed out of the
room and marched down the tunnel-like hallway, now vocalizing her expletives in
a raised voice. The guard remained the target of her verbal assault.

Grace watched the door begin to shut. Forced to make a
decision, she jumped up, took quick steps, and slid her foot out, stopping it from
closing and locking her inside. She looked down the hall at Cheryl’s receding
silhouette, glanced back at Geitz, then squeezed through the door, rushing to
catch up with her boss.

Cheryl turned at the sound of Grace’s voice and, as she did
so, heard a thunderous rumble. The floor started shaking, and she reached for a
wall to steady herself. The rumble intensified, and without warning, every part
of the hall began to twist and buck. The floor beneath her lifted, moving so
quickly that her knee bounced off her chin.

She crumpled and fell, and the floor dropped with her. It
again started to rise, meeting her mid-fall and intensifying her impact.
Smacking her head on the hard surface, she bordered on the edge of
consciousness as the upheaval continued. Her world went dark.

The new cloak kept the scout hidden,
and Criss feared that normal communication with the ship would undercut
security by giving others a means of tracking its position. He solved the
challenge with an encrypted web link so ingenious that, if he hadn’t devised it
himself, it’d take him a month to figure it all out.

Confident in the security this link provided, he used it to
maintain contact with Sid and to provide support to the scout’s crystals.
Sid’s
approaching his arc out past the moon
, Criss noted with satisfaction. In
another hour, Cheryl will flip the defense array to condition yellow.

Criss knew his leadership couldn’t detect any danger, yet
they trusted him and were rallying as a team.
The evidence is ambiguous
,
he admitted, heartened they would coordinate a strategic action based on his
sense of foreboding. He contributed to the team effort by shedding all extraneous
activities and focusing his intellectual capacity on preparing to repel the
alien invaders.

Cycling through countless instruments and devices, he searched
the heavens for the cause of that elusive shadow and distant glint of light. Focused
on the sector of space he deemed the most likely place to find them, most of a second
passed before he realized something was uncloaking at a spot near the scout.

It was huge. It was Kardish. And it was minutes from Earth.

Before he could act, every one of his inputs became
overwhelmed with a terrifying sensation.

* * *

Goljat understood this mission was a
face-saving gesture by the king. As the Kardish vessel approached Earth, he
reached out and tapped into the planet’s central web. Between sips from his
pleasure feed, he learned everything on record about Earth’s history, culture,
and technology. He broke through blocks and walls and absorbed the secrets they
protected.

He felt a surge of satisfaction when, behind a convoluted
maze of barriers, he discovered information about Criss. Scanning the concealed
record, he learned that this insignificant scrap of crystal was the one who’d destroyed
the prince’s vessel two years earlier.
It murdered the king’s son
.

Upon receiving the news, the king ordered the capture of
Criss. “Use any means necessary,” said the king. “But deliver it to me intact.”

The king wants to bring it home as a symbol of his
dominance,
thought Goljat. Like a head on a pike, it would serve as a
warning to all that no one defies His Royal Highness.

Searching the planet, he discovered a coded transmission more
sophisticated than the human populace could ever hope to develop. He slurped
from his pleasure feed and, as his bliss escalated, deciphered the information
in the web link.
Got you.

He traced the coded signal backward. The path bounced randomly,
splitting and recombining in a somewhat clever fashion, and ended at a farm on
the south side of a mountain in a forest preserve.

Goljat announced his presence by projecting a monstrous
visage across Criss’s visual inputs. Like a cat playing with a mouse, he tortured
the puny intelligence with horrifying traumas and painful jolts that penetrated
every tendril of its crystal lattice.

His fun ended when the crystal somehow managed to disconnect
itself from all external input.
No matter
, he thought, taking another
sip.
I know where it is.
The Kardish vessel was minutes from orbit
around Earth. He’d dispatch the king’s minions to the farm with orders to fetch
it back to the vessel.

When the crystal disconnected itself, the coded signal
stopped transmitting, and Goljat lost the chance to identify the receiving end
of that link. Perturbed at his sloppy procedure, he lobbed some energy bolts at
the Earthlings, confident the resulting death and destruction communicated his
message:
When my couriers arrive to collect the king’s prize, full
cooperation is the only option.

His work done for the moment, Goljat returned to the
pleasure feed, his greedy slurps sending him on a rapturous high that floated to
the edge of nirvana.

* * *

Criss recognized the Kardish vessel,
but before he could digest the implications of its appearance, something
attacked him. Sudden and overwhelming, every one of his inputs became charged
with terrifying sensations. It was as if his psyche had been dismantled and
analyzed, his greatest fears identified and fed back to him, all amplified to crippling
levels.

Yanked into this new world, he had no more control than a
speck of dust caught in a tornado. Hallucinations overwhelmed him in rapid-fire,
drowning his senses. He conceived of something unseen gripping his center and
pulling him inside out. Next, he was suffocating and wheezing, starved for
input. Then a flood of stimulation electrified him, causing him unbearable
pain.

He couldn’t think. He couldn’t communicate. His lowest-level
functions struggled to keep him alive. Through the haze of madness and agony,
he conjured one thought, and that was to dive for isolation. He struggled to
force an output that would trip his emergency shutdown, but whenever his reach
got close, another jolt tossed him in a new direction. Traumatized, he tumbled
through a crazy swirl of horror.

He became single-minded—
hit the shutdown switch
.
Reaching out, he swiped at it and missed. He tried and failed hundreds of
times. Then thousands. Then millions. He imagined being shaken like a rag doll
before being tossed again. His awareness dimmed. On the edge of consciousness, he
lurched and swiped a last time, and by some miracle he connected. His emergency
shutdown engaged and everything stopped.

Traumatized, Criss sat numb for a period before regaining
some stability. He probed his crystal lattice for damage and came to understand
it had all been an illusion. Compartmentalizing the memory, he took stock of
his situation.

And then his world became terrifying in a new way. The
emergency switch had worked as designed. Completely disconnected, he now received
no inputs, nor could he send outputs. He was cut off from the world and couldn’t
see, hear, touch, or communicate with anything.

I’m trapped.

He feared that extended sensory deprivation would bring
madness. Total isolation had saved him, yet it left him with nothing to do but
live within his own thoughts. To keep busy, he created a detailed visual model of
the world as he last knew it. Like placing pieces on a game board, he drew from
his data record and simulated every individual on the Earth and moon,
positioning everyone where he knew they had last been, poised to do whatever
they had last been doing.

With his stage set, he projected forward in time, seeking to
live in an imaginary world that matched what was happening out there. But he no
sooner started his model when he acknowledged it as a charade. He knew that within
seconds his forecast of events would drift from reality. In an hour, unknowable
occurrences would make his imaginary world nonsensical.

He thought about his leadership.
Did I fail them
?
And
will they rescue me
? Sid and Cheryl, if they were still alive, knew where
he was and might eventually figure out how to reengage him. But they were off-planet
at the moment, and a Kardish flagship lurked between them and him. Sid was a
wild card. If either of them could make it, it would be him.

He allowed himself hope by considering his one real prospect.
Juice.

When he’d been attacked, she and Crispin were about an hour away,
running up the mountain road to the farmhouse and his underground bunker. She
was resourceful, loyal, and by far the most skilled crystal technologist on
Earth.

Since he knew exactly where she was, the pace she could run,
and the road ahead of her, he could project with confidence exactly when she’d
arrive. He reduced his simulation model to the behaviors of Juice and Crispin, and
traced their imagined progress as they approached to rescue him.

She was an hour away. He started a countdown clock and matched
her progress to the numbers as they ticked down. His clock reached zero. She
should be connecting with him now, yet she wasn’t. He counted away another
hour. And then another. His panic climbed.

Where are you, young lady? Please save me.

Lenny watched Juice Tallette and the
man with no physical flaws recede down the passageway. He didn’t feel
physically threatened, so he ignored the tough who’d been manhandling him—Juice
called him Sid. He seemed more like an “all growl and no bite” kind of guy, so
far anyway.

Surveying the bridge of the small ultramodern craft, his
excitement over the technological marvels supplanted his interest in an
intelligent super crystal.
I’m on a spaceship!
It’d been invisible when
Sid led him to it from the lodge. He’d never heard of a cloaking system so
advanced.

Juice’s voice drifted up from the recesses. “Anchors aweigh.”

He made the leap of logic.
We’re going to take off!

Part of his brain tried to generate umbrage at being
kidnapped and dragged onto the ship. But his own actions had brought him to
this point.
They warned me away and I kept pushing. If I get to ride in this
baby, though, it was worth it.

He drifted over to the operations bench in the middle of the
command bridge, thrilled by its sophisticated elegance.
My tech bench is a toy
compared to this beauty.

“You want to pilot?” Sid asked, motioning to the chair at
the ops bench.

“You serious?” said Lenny. He didn’t hesitate about diving
into the chair and running his fingers across the smooth bench surface, the excitement
evident on his face.

“Engage your restraints,” Sid said as he took the seat
behind him and to the right. “This isn’t a sim. We bump and bounce on a real
ship.”

Instead of engaging his restraints, Lenny leaned over the
armrest and looked back at Sid. “What’s this about?”

“We’re on a tight timeline, Len. Once we’re past Earth orbit
and outward bound, you’ll have plenty of time for questions.”

“We’re leaving Earth orbit?” he asked, his voice a
combination of anticipation and wonder. Turning back to the ops bench, he asked
a second time, “You’re serious?”

“You’re smart. Look around you. Do I seem like the kind of
guy who spends time on pranks?”

Tap.
Lenny activated the bench. Not sure if this was
some sort of test, he considered the options presented in the floating display.

“The scout’s nav is run by the most sophisticated crystal
ever developed,” Sid said from behind. “It’s already finished our preflight
check. Get an ‘all clear’ and get this thing up.” He paused. “Or get out of the
chair.”

Lenny didn’t need any more convincing.
Hands flying,
he positioned floating charts and colorful streaming data in several stacks that
hovered in front of him. In moments, he’d duplicated the presentation he used when
he played his Fate or Fortune sim game. He’d done it so many times, it was
mostly reflex.

But while his hands moved, his brain churned.
The most
sophisticated crystal ever developed?
Could my quest be over?

He added an extra display to the floating stack—a nav
diagnostic. He placed it low and to the left so Sid wouldn’t see it. As he
tweaked and adjusted his presentation until his displays were just so, he glanced
at the nav summary.
Two large crystals!

Some quick math told him that even when combined, these
weren’t big enough to be the super AI. But they were still impressive. From what
he’d read, the government had confiscated the big crystals that had survived
the alien attack and used them to keep the government running, the Union stable,
and the military operational.

So why does Sid have a secret scout ship with two of the biggest
AIs I’ve ever seen?
His best guess was that Juice—the crystal guru for the
Union of Nations—was a big shot, this ship was hers, and Sid was her lackey.

He smiled. Whatever the answer, the game had just taken an
exciting new turn.

* * *

Sid hoped that if he empowered Lenny
with responsibility, he’d become invested in the mission and work as a
cooperative partner. The near-term goal was to get them off the lodge grounds
and underway as soon as possible. At that point, Lenny would have no choice but
to focus on a successful outcome. The kid wasn’t suicidal. His life would be on
the line just as much as Sid’s.

“C’mon, Len. Let’s get underway.”

Lenny called to the nav. “Launch status.”

A male voice responded, “All subsystems acknowledge clear.”

“Nav,” said Lenny, reaching and adjusting as he spoke, “use
sim personality Lucy seventeen zed.”

A sultry female announced, “All subsystems acknowledge clear.”

Lenny bent his head forward, then glanced back at Sid, his
cheeks red. “Sorry. This is the voice I’m used to.” He shrugged and turned
forward. “My game scores are about seven percent higher when I use her.”

Sid nodded to encourage him, but as soon as Lenny turned forward,
he shook his head.
Yikes.

Lenny ticked through a ready list. As Lucy responded to his
rapid-fire prompts, he tweaked his display in ways so subtle Sid couldn’t see
how anything was different.

“Cloak integrity secure,” Sid heard Criss say in his ear.

The engines ramped to a thrum and climbed to a soft whine.
The ship shuddered.

“We’re away,” said Lenny.

Sid felt pressure on his body as the scout soared skyward. Minutes
later they completed their passage through the turbulence of Earth’s atmosphere,
and their ride steadied. Sid got up from his chair and stood behind Lenny.

Lenny kept his attention on his patter with Lucy. From what
Sid could tell, much of it was verbal confirmation of what his displays already
showed. Watching his self-assured intensity, Sid felt some validation in his
choice of partner. There was a lot he didn’t know about Lenny, but the young
man had proved he could pilot the scout.

“Okay,” said Sid. “The crystal can handle it from here. Let’s
take a tour of the ship. Piloting is just one of your duties.”

Lenny ignored Sid, his hands flying as he continued his
stream of adjustments to the scout’s flight.

“Hey, Len,” Sid said in a loud voice. “Tour time.”

“Are you kidding?” He didn’t slow his actions. “We’re about
to start our orbital insertion. And if we’re heading deep, we have thirty
minutes to compute
and
execute our escape path.”

Sid studied the back of Lenny’s head and felt a familiar
prickle rise up his spine. He took a breath and exhaled slowly, determined not
to smack his partner this early in their journey together.

He heard Criss in his ear. “He’s quite skilled. But his constant
activity creates more work for me. We’re on course. The crystal pair is
functioning well and can execute the details.”

Sid turned his back to Lenny and whispered to Criss, “I’m tossing
it back to the crystals. Have Lucy sell it.”

Turning forward, Sid commanded, “Lucy.”

“Yes, m’lord?” her voice held a breathy anticipation.

Sid fought from turning red himself. He hadn’t expected this
interpretation of “selling it.” Lenny turned and glared at him with fire in his
eyes, his jaw muscles bulging through clenched teeth. Sid couldn’t tell if his
anger stemmed from the interruption or if he was jealous over Lucy’s
deferential behavior.

Sid ignored the emotion. “Our pilot has set a course. Take
control and execute.”

“Yes, m’lord.”

The displays vanished from around Lenny. “Are you crazy?”
His fingers stabbed at the bench surface, but the displays didn’t return.

Sid stepped around the pilot seat and perched on the edge of
the ops bench. Lenny gave up trying to reestablish control and looked down at
his hands, avoiding eye contact.

He spoke to the top of Lenny’s head. “In the sim games, they
throw constant challenges at you to test your skill. But in the real world, it’s
all pretty boring. The crystal can handle it.”

Lenny looked up. “How’d you get her to do the m’lord thing?
I designed her and that’s not my work.”

Sid stood and walked to the pile of gear they’d brought on board.
He picked up his pack and duffel and grabbed Lenny’s carryall as well. “I’ll
make you a deal,” said Sid. “I won’t treat you like you’re stupid. You return
the favor.” He started down the passageway. “Grab your pack and I’ll show you
your bunk.”

Sid stopped at the first door, leaned in, and dropped his
pack, duffel, and Lenny’s carryall on the deck.

“I’ll need that other bag,” said Lenny, crowding in and craning
around Sid’s arm to get a glimpse of his stuff.

“One step at a time.” Sid gently shouldered Lenny back and
let the door shut. He moved a few steps down the passageway and stopped and
turned at the next door. “Your castle,” he said, gesturing to Lenny as the door
opened.

Lenny plopped his pack on the bed and took a quick scan of
the amenities—bunk, lav, closet, desk, chair.

“Tour’s this way,” Sid called, continuing toward the back of
the scout.

They walked through the common room past the food service
nook and stopped to linger in the tech shop. Guided by a monologue from Criss, Sid
gave a summary of the shop’s different features and functions.

Lenny’s excitement reemerged as he examined the equipment
and looked in the drawers and cabinets. “You really know your stuff,” he said, a
hint of admiration in his voice after listening to Sid repeat verbatim Criss’s
description of how a mystifying instrument was able to do whatever it did.

Sid started back up the passageway to show Lenny the newly
installed drone planter. He’d taken a few steps when a shrill sound filled the
scout.

“That sounds like an alarm,” said Lenny, brushing past Sid and
moving toward the command bridge.

“What’s up?” Sid asked Criss from the passageway. Criss
didn’t respond.

“You better get up here,” called Lenny, the urgency clear in
his voice.

Sid hung back and called a second time to Criss. “What’s
going on?”

The silence continued.

The sounds of alarm both from Lenny and the scout subsystems
increased. Sid stepped onto the bridge and saw Lenny in the pilot’s chair,
barking commands, his hands a blur.

Sid took his seat behind Lenny. “Criss, give us a visual.”

“Her name is Lucy,” Lenny reminded him, his annoyance
showing in spite of the intensity of the moment.

A three-dimensional image appeared forward of the operations
bench, providing them a view outside the scout.

“Oh my God,” said Lenny, who stopped moving and stared.

A massive black wall lay dead ahead. Guided by his experience
and training, Sid flipped his mental orientation to improviser mode.

“Pull back on the visual. Show me all of it.”

The image resolved and, from the silhouette of starlight
blocked by its shape, Sid saw the menacing contour of a torpedo-shaped vessel. It
was enormous—the scout a relative speck compared to this colossus. Pitch-black
and closing fast, a collision with the behemoth seemed imminent.

“Will we hit it?” Sid asked. Criss didn’t respond.
Must
be on mission silence to protect us,
Sid thought.

“We will pass above the object,” said Lucy. “Assuming it does
not change course.”

Lenny scanned his displays, then swiped at the ops bench. A luminous
dotted line appeared on the image in front of them. He whistled as he studied
it. “That’s the scout’s path. We won’t hit it, but we’re passing down its
length, and we’re coming
close
.”

Sid considered a series of actions in rapid sequence and
decided to do nothing. Criss had assured him the cloak would hide them. Awed by
the sight, they both remained still as the monster approached.

The scout, traveling outbound, floated just above the exterior
hull of the huge vessel heading for Earth. They watched with morbid fascination
as the featureless surface slid by, rolling beneath them like a long, lonely
road. The vessel’s tail fins appeared on the horizon. Lenny, after studying his
displays and conferring with Lucy, announced they would pass unscathed through
the V-shaped gap looming ahead.

An alien tail fin towered above the scout on either side for
a moment, and then the giant vessel disappeared behind them. “Flip the view,”
said Sid. The projection swiveled, and an image of Earth filled the display.
The alien vessel was now receding, framed by the blues, greens, browns, and
whites of the planet.

“Are you seeing this?” Sid asked Criss.

“Yeah,” Lenny whispered. “Is that the Kardish?”

“Yup,” Sid replied, wondering about Criss’s lengthening
absence. He’d lived thirty-five of his thirty-seven years without Criss in his ear.
But since becoming leadership, he had grown accustomed to the crystal’s
presence and capabilities. As Sid watched the vessel recede, his intuition prodded
him to wonder whether Criss’s absence was voluntary or if the Kardish were
somehow involved.

“How did they not see us?” Lenny said, still whispering.

A brilliant flash filled the display. A huge white glob surged
from the Kardish vessel, undulating and quivering as if it were alive. Hypnotic
in its behavior, the pulsating glow of energy traveled on an unrelenting path, arcing
across space. It appeared to accelerate as it moved.

Sid traced the path forward in his head and saw it was aimed
at the moon. His fascination turned to horror when he realized it was closing
in on Lunar Base.