Insidious (34 page)

Bren bit off his question.
Any evidence that they killed a Red?
He tried to stay on only as a listener to the channel. He took an active role only with the ASSAIL channels.

“The ASSAIL units are over five minutes away,” said Bren.

“Looks like this spinner is going to stick with hit-and-run tactics,” Henley said. “We don’t see any evidence we got anything. No bodies, human or otherwise.”

Bren saw that two more marines had been hit and one of them was already dead.

“We’re going ahead with the plan,” Henley said. “Maybe those mines damaged the spinner.”

Bren reviewed the incursion plan yet again. The two hydrogen cell factories were last. The Avalon board and control plan involved waiting until the UNSF had more time on the AI cores, and longer to get control of the station’s systems before going into the largest and most complex parts of the station. Thankfully, the factories were pressurized but without oxygen, in order to avoid the danger of explosion. The factories were fully automated. Engineers who worked on the factory floors needed breathing masks, as did marines who intended to go there, but the ASSAILs could operate there without augmentation.

“Meridian,” Bren transmitted. “Suggest alterations to the mission plan to increase chances of success of primary objectives.”

The response was immediate.

“Flood either hydrogen cell factory with oxygen and ignite it. The station would be destroyed. This serves to disable the enemy allowing capture and study.”

“We aren’t willing to sacrifice the people on board that station, or even the station itself.”

“Preservation of the station is not stated as a primary objective. Only capture of aliens, or failing that, neutralization of aliens on the station.”

“If you fail to capture or neutralize the cyborgs, then we probably will destroy the station, but not before.”

“These constraints seriously hinder the mission. They greatly increase chances of failure.”

“Understood,” Bren said. He started to brood about the outcome of the mission. They only had four machines left in action. If the Red hadn’t been damaged by the mines, could they hope to prevail? He checked the team’s armor in his PV. Each ASSAIL had several of the armor fractures. A hit by a high velocity projectile in the right place could take any one of them out.

The ASSAILs moved into the first factory. Somewhat like the previous factory on Tanelorn, the hydrogen cell factory didn’t have a single open floor. The machinery rose several stories high, riddled with access tubes that allowed engineers and bots to maintain it from the inside. To Bren it was like a three-dimensional version of the Guts. So much equipment and machinery built into a tiny space like a complex engineering puzzle.

Meridian had to bend its legs a little to fit inside the access tube.

“This is worse than I realized,” Bren transmitted.

“What do you suggest?” Henley replied.

Bren considered the open tube on Meridian’s frontal camera. He didn’t even want to mention Meridian’s suggestion. He knew the UNSF wasn’t ready to consider destroying the station unless the
Vigilant
was in danger of capture, although Bren estimated four ASSAILs against one spinner to be even odds. If there were more than one, they’d lose.

“Maybe we can enlist some of their own maintenance robots to scout it out. If those things could pinpoint the Red’s location, it might make a difference.”

“Okay. We have a handful of automated scouts of our own. I’ll hand them over to your cores.”

“Give your pointers to Meridian,” Bren said.

“Will do. Is Meridian the leader?”

“Yes,” Bren said.

At least it speaks for them. And I don’t really know why. It might be because Meridian always enters the breach first, or just because I usually watch the action through Meridian’s camera.

Bren brooded over Meridian’s behavior for long minutes while the scouts received programming from the AI cores.

If Meridian’s behavior means it’s about to go out of our control, giving it slave machines could prove to be a mistake.

Various other robots were entering the factory area. Bren’s PV showed five recon bots that belonged to the space force as well as another four maintenance machines that had been suborned by the BCP electronics warfare people and handed over to the AI cores. The maintenance machines were flat work platforms mounted on magnetic treads that could move around the maintenance tubes of the factory. Bren watched the marine reconnaissance machines with interest. They looked like agile, six-legged insects. Watching them move gave Bren a chill.

They’re too lifelike in their movements. They really look alive.

The ASSAIL units spread out. Each machine moved in front of an access tube leading into the giant mass of the factory. Two of the scouts scurried into the tunnels ahead of the ASSAILs. About fifteen seconds later, the larger war machines followed them in.

“Here we go,” Bren said aloud. Once again, he felt frustrated. His role lay in preparing for each board and control operation; all he could do now was watch the results.

Bren’s PV centered a pane that kept track of the machine locations in a two dimensional map of the factory viewed from an “Earthside up” aspect. The factory was large; Bren figured it could take half an hour to clear it. But it didn’t take long for the intrusion to be noticed.

“Contact near Oblivion,” Bren noted. Both scout machines ahead of Oblivion winked out. Bren switched to Oblivion’s cam to get a look, but he couldn’t get a signal. The PV showed Oblivion backing up with Nergal and Orion coming in to support it on both sides.

Bren winced. Neptune and Orion had started firing into the factory. It didn’t seem possible to Bren that both machines had a direct line of sight on the Red, but he couldn’t be sure. He’d seen the cores shoot through walls before. He knew the machines had senses superior to a human as well as a razor intellect that could elect to take shots through walls to kill foes out of sight.

“Neptune reports that the Red is wounded!” said a handler. Bren saw confirmation in his own PV. He also saw that Neptune had a growing number of the fractures.

All four remaining machines were firing now. Bren wondered where all those rounds were ending up. Did the machines only fire when they had a backstop? Or did they consider depressurization of the factory a necessary evil? Bren guessed that Admiral Jameson wouldn’t be too angry if they depressurized or even destroyed the factory as long as they got the Red.

“Neptune has been destroyed,” someone said aloud in the Guts. The voice held the same emotion Bren felt at that moment: fighting against a sinking feeling of doom.

Bren noticed that Meridian had turned away from the epicenter of the violence. He eyed the display. The turn continued full circle until Meridian fell into line behind Nemesis. Bren immediately became suspicious of Meridian once more. Had it positioned itself behind Nemesis for self-preservation?

“Nemesis is taking fractures.”

Nemesis was throwing glue grenades with its tentacle. Meridian opened fire. It stitched three shots into Nemesis. As the machine fell, Meridian sent three more rounds through the dead chassis.

Hoffman groaned. Bren shook his head.

“So, that’s it. We have a rogue core,” Bren said aloud.

“Wait. I’m not sure,” Hoffman said.

“Claw has been destroyed,” Meridian announced.

“You shot Nemesis as well,” Bren protested.

“The course was necessary to assure success of the mission.”

“It was impossible to disable the creature?” asked Henley. Bren realized that with the marines waiting outside the factory, Henley had probably been following the ASSAIL team as closely as Bren.

“The cyborg was disabled. It underwent a voluntary disintegration,” Meridian said.

Henley cursed. “So many men dead and we still haven’t learned anything about the aliens.”

“A great deal of data has been gathered about the enemy,” Meridian said.

“Good, we will carefully review your mission summary,” Bren jumped in. “Please return to the Guts as soon as Colonel Henley declares the factory secure.”

Of course, Bren was really talking to Henley:
Let’s not discuss it any further until the cores are shut down.

He could send Henley private messages through the links. He decided to make it a point to do so in the future. If the cores were smart enough, they’d be able to read between the lines of human communication, despite being only a few hours old.

“Neptune’s hardware is up, but the machine is unresponsive,” said a handler. Bren checked the machines in his PV. Meridian and Oblivion were already heading back toward the Guts.

“The machine has fractures … maybe something got cut that doesn’t show on the hardware diagnostics,” Bren said.

“Neptune was compromised by the enemy,” Meridian said. “It had to be shut down.”

Compromised. As if the Reds’ physical combat capabilities aren’t fearsome enough.

Bren started pacing in the Guts. He was still pacing when the clanking of the machines became audible. Bren listened. Meridian was actually making less noise. He realized there had never been an audio problem. He traded glances with Hoffman. The handler looked at Bren questioningly and then he turned to stare at Meridian. Bren saw Hoffman’s face darken. Had he realized the machine was actually quieter?

“Post-mission report is complete. Ready for shutdown,” Meridian announced.

Bren felt intensely uncomfortable now, because the machine knew it was here to be turned off. The procedure was bad enough when he believed the machine only knew in the last second or two.

He didn’t say anything but concentrated on the shutdown procedure. He only looked into the ASSAIL’s black eyes as he deactivated the power sources. He held his breath, half expecting the power down wouldn’t work, and that the machines would stay alive, and start giving
him
orders. But Meridian drooped and its running lights dimmed. The machine was once again dead.

Bren fell back against the nearest bank of equipment. He allowed himself to rest only for a couple of seconds.

“Hoffman. I need to talk to you for a minute,” Bren transmitted. Hoffman gave Bren an odd look. He was probably wondering if Bren spoke with the link because of Bren’s link bias or if he needed privacy.

“Yes, sir. What’s up?”

“Have you made any changes to Meridian, any alterations to the core seed, or changes to the pre-mission module?”

“No, sir. I know he was acting a little differently, but … we did start them earlier this time. He’s smarter.”

“Look, I know you and I have bent a few rules here and there, but if I find out you’re holding out on me—”

“No. I’m not. I don’t know what’s up with Meridian. He went in with the same pre-mission module as the others.”

Bren scowled but he believed Hoffman. Bren wasn’t sure that anything had gone wrong with Meridian. This was the third mission the machine had survived, each time in the face of high casualties. Sometimes men or machines were just lucky.

“We need to pay special attention to Meridian’s sterilization. I have a bad feeling about what’s going on with him. I don’t like these oddities.”

Hoffman nodded. “Sure, sir. Whatever you say.”

Bren could tell from the tone of Hoffman’s voice that he thought Bren was making a big deal out of nothing.

Perhaps so
, Bren thought.
Perhaps not.

***

“We have three good possibilities for our next incursion,” Devin said. “Carthage, Camelot, and Synchronicity.”

As Devin talked, a pane opened in each person’s PV displaying the stations on the plane of Earth’s orbit around the sun.

“Carthage deserves consideration because we have an unconfirmed report that people there are wearing the gear. The problem with this station as a target is that we don’t think it’s been taking any of the anomalous material shipments from Earthside corporations.”

Bren paid as much attention as he could manage to Devin’s information. He watched her carefully for signs that she had forgiven him for his display of interest over the Brazilian operative. Bren figured that he might have blown it with her a second time. Women always added turbulence to his life. Sometimes it was welcome, other times it distracted him too much from his work.

Devin added pictures of Carthage to the channel. Bren thought it looked larger than the stations they had visited already. The supporting materials indicated that Quantix Corporation produced hydrogen cells at Carthage for energy storage in spacecraft and space stations. The official reason for a deep space orbit was for access to hydrogen barges coming in from the outer solar system when Earth wasn’t a convenient rendezvous.

“We have Camelot on our top list because it’s jointly owned by Reiss-Marck and Bentra, who we know have been involved in this mess, whether knowingly or not. We think it may have been involved with the shipments. At the very least some of the shipments have gone to or through Camelot.”