AMP Armageddon (14 page)

York opened the freezer as its newly installed sodium skin went inactive. Ten seconds later, the freezer was locked with our prize inside.

I spoke. "Frost! How’s it looking out there?"

Frost yelled back over the comm, "I think we have it under control, Sir. They aren’t able to put up much of a fight against forces they cannot see!"

When the freezer light went green, I gave the signal to leave. York and Bradford carried the freezer as the rest of our small team followed. When the portal closed, I had a smile on my face.

Frig spoke. "Jumping back to the Grid, Sir. I take it that the venture was a success?"

I replied, "We got the core. Whether or not we can get information out of it like the last time is yet to be seen."

Frig nodded his head. "I believe Quan can provide whatever answers we need in that capacity. The cores of all participants are supposedly identical."

I picked up the freezer and carried it towards the
Swift
. "Let’s go see what we got."

The freezer was opened and the frozen core removed. Frig connected a speaker, mic, and power supply, and we soon had the Emperor talking.

The Emperor spoke. "I demand to know what is happening!"

Quan spoke. "Hello, Belon."

A growl could be heard followed by the Emperor talking. "Ferdete! How did I know that it must be you that was responsible!"

I laughed. "Now, now, Belon. That is not the Duke you are talking to. And he is hardly responsible for your current situation."

Frig connected the probes with the same phony battery discharge circuit we had used on Quan, and the games began. Twelve minutes into the charade, the Emperor gave in and opened his main circuit panel. Connections were made, and the Emperor’s inhibitor circuit was re-enabled.

Belon spoke. "Once that circuit has been fully enabled, might I ask what it is that you will have me do?"

Frig spoke. "You, Sir, do not have to do anything. Just lie back and think of England."

I looked at Frig with a confused look. "What was that? What did you just tell him?"

Frig shook his head. "Really, Sir. It is from your own archives. I will leave that reference for you to look up."

Frig turned back to his equipment and spoke. "His processors have gone to full usage."

I replied, "So what do we do now?"

Frig smiled. "We wait for the inhibitor to take full control."

I shook my head. "We aren’t going to have to retrain Belon to talk, are we? That will take months!"

Frig replied, "I believe the results may come faster to Belon. It doesn’t appear that any of his memory banks were erased during our grab. The neural pathways may not require rebuilding."

I held up my hand. "I thought the neural pathways were rebuilt because the inhibitor circuit destroyed the pathways to memories that it thought were in violation of its programming."

Frig grinned a rare grin. "They were. In my discussions with Quan on my way here from the complex, I learned of a method to disable the pathway destruction. The simple application of a voltage to a third probe point will hold the gate that controls the pathways open during the inhibitor reset. It should speed the reset as well as re-enable the inhibitor module."

I nodded. "Were there any other little secrets that you learned from Quan that you have kept to yourself?"

Frig smiled. "I will let you know of any further secrets on an as-needed basis, Sir."

I laughed. "You know, you are becoming a real short-armed smart-ass. I’m starting to believe you might even make a good Human!"

Frig shook his head. "I prefer to instead think that I am here to elevate your species, Sir."

The Emperor’s processors quieted to a normal level. Belon’s inhibited core quickly divulged that his brown dwarf complex was located in the Maffie 2 galaxy, a distance of just under ten million light-years, less than four minutes’ travel time with our newest wormhole generators on the destroyer.

I spoke. "York, prep your people. We are going in with everyone this time. I would bet the force surrounding the control room will be substantial."

York smiled. "I think I have a better solution, Sir. Instead of an assault, which, believe me, I am eager to take part in, why don’t we just jump this ship to that exact location and then blink in and out? The room would be gone in an instant. No shots fired."

I leaned my head back as I thought about the brilliance of the suggestion York had made.

I opened a comm channel to Frig. "Frig, York just gave us a better way to take out the Emperor. We just park this boat in the same space as his control room and then blink in and out. No fighting, no mess."

Frig replied, "I believe that to be a viable plan, Sir. I would suggest that we attempt a simultaneous move against the local Belon android using the
Swift
."

I turned back towards York with a smile. "Now we just need a way to coordinate those attacks. Frig, the old Human tech comm system—they had quantum duplex or something like that. Have you made any progress with building what’s needed to make use of it?"

Frig replied, "I have the necessary entangled quantum pairs to construct a single channel, Sir. Perhaps it is time we attempted to put it to use. Meet me in the
Swift
, Sir. I shall be there in a moment."

As I walked towards the
Swift
, a portal opened beside it and Frig stepped through.

I laughed as I approached. "OK, now you are just getting lazy. That walk down here only takes a minute. Keep that up, and you are going to end up with a bad case of pilot’s butt."

Frig shook his head. "Really, Sir? Just when I thought your intelligence might have risen, you bring it back down to its base. Inactivity is no longer a concern while I am wearing the BGS. The built-in muscular stimulus was a well-thought-out addition. We could literally go for months on end sitting in the exact same position with no adverse effects."

I replied as we stepped up into the
Swift
’s hold, "Yeah, I will have to admit that I never felt better. I mean, look at these cannons I now have for arms. I’m starting to think the Colonel may not be the only muscle-bound monster around here."

Frig spoke as I sat at the table beside Quan and Belon. "Wait right here, Sir, while I get the quantum comm set up."

I leaned back in the chair I had sat in and crossed my arms. "I am still blown away by the tech we had back then. We could have easily ruled our galaxy and as many others as we wanted, if we wanted."

I was startled by Frig standing directly behind me. "Whoa, please don’t sneak up on me like that, it’s creepy. And what is that big-ass needle for?"

Frig grabbed the top of my head with his free hand. "I need you to lean your head over, Sir. I have an injection to make into that chip in your neck. This will enable one end of the quantum comm channel."

I leaned my head over. "Do it now before I change my mind. You know I hate needles."

After the quick injection, I brought my head back straight and winced at the pinch of pain that I was feeling. "OK, how is it that an injection is going to add that comm to the control chip?"

Frig replied, "Excellent question, Sir. The fluid in the syringe contained the quantum particles as well as a mixture of nano-bots. The bots are working to place the particles in a housing the controller chip has available for this task. The files taken from the Defender suggest up to a twenty-minute insertion time will be needed. You will need to remain in that position, and please do not touch the area in and around the chip, Sir. That will only prolong the procedure."

I sat patiently for ten minutes before I heard a tone inside my head. "Wait, I just heard something. A tone sounded."

Frig replied, "That would be the processor for that implant rebooting. You should hear a warble sound similar to our comm, telling you that the channel is active."

Several seconds later, a warble sounded just as Frig had said.

I spoke. "So, what do I do with that?"

Frig shook his head. "You answer it, Sir. Use the thought commands you have been using to communicate with your HUD computer. It should be no different. Just think
answer
."

I focused and thought of answering the comm channel. A short tone indicated a connection. Following the tone, I was inundated with sounds and words echoing loudly in my head.

I winced and looked back at Frig. "This is horrible! It’s like a torture chamber of sound!"

Frig replied, "Focus your thought, Sir. You have to learn to control the thought interface that feeds the quantum comm. Perhaps focusing on a single item or person will help."

I followed Frig’s suggestion, and the noise quickly quieted. Frig pulled a chair up in front of me and sat down.

As he looked directly at my face, without moving his mouth, he spoke. "Sir, you should be able to hear my voice coming through that quantum comm channel, directly to the audio interface of your implant."

I replied out loud, "OK, now that was just freaky. Are you saying we can open a comm and hear each other’s thoughts?"

Frig remained rigidly still as a response came over the comm. "The interface has a connection that may be turned off at any time. Think of closing the channel, and it will close. Think of opening the channel, and it will signal the other end of the comm link that a request has been made to open the channel. You may also negate the warble indicator if you don’t wish to answer an incoming comm."

I replied with a thought, "OK, this is going to take a little getting used to."

Frig closed the comm channel and spoke. "The quantum comm—I believe your ancestors referred to it as a QE comm—offers us a number of advantages that we could only dream of before, Sir. Communication between the quantum entangled pairs is not only secure, it is completely undetectable. And, in theory, it should be good at any distance."

Frig continued, "I was thinking about our raid on Belon. If you were to take the
Swift
to attack the android, I could take the destroyer to the complex. We can coordinate our timing over the QE comm channel."

I replied, "Give me a minute here; I am still freaking out a bit about having your voice in my head."

Frig spoke. "Sir, at a future point, we can add more channels to the implant. Perhaps a direct line to Ashley would be one that you would desire."

I shook my head. "I could make a thousand jokes about why that would be a bad idea. But, if we could get the old Ashley back, that would seriously be awesome. I can’t tell you how many times we have been apart that I would have given almost anything to hear her voice and know that she was safe."

Frig replied, "I can understand those feelings, Sir. Why don’t we get started on that process by eliminating Belon."

I nodded. "I like the way you think, my friend. I will take the
Swift
back to the Klatt system."

I then turned back to Quan. "Quan, why did you not make use of the QE comm system?"

Quan replied, "The comm system in question was unnecessary. With a portal constantly open between the complex and my android extension, the communications were always instant as well as secure. I had no use for the quantum entangled pairing comm of the Humans."

I turned back to Frig. "What are the possibilities of a constant wormhole running to these implants?"

Frig replied, "I would place that at near zero, Sir. We do not have the power capabilities offered by those brown dwarf enclosures."

I stood from my chair. "Well, we are about to go to one of those complexes. Maybe after whacking Belon, we keep it for ourselves."

Frig shook his head. "I believe these complexes to be too dangerous. If they exist, they can be abused. If we destroy this complex… Quan indicated it took nearly a hundred thousand years to construct. I think we would all be better off without its existence."

I turned back to Quan. "Quan, if you had to build a new complex, how long would it take you this time?"

Quan replied, "With the technologies available, and the designs already complete, a new complex, if a suitable brown dwarf star could be located, would take approximately a thousand years to construct."

I turned back to Frig. "That tells me we need to get on with this as soon as possible. All these androids and all of these complexes need to be destroyed, now. Anything less and these galaxies will have the same problem again in a thousand years."

I walked over to my pilot’s chair and looked back.

A warble sounded on Frig’s QE comm. "Yes?"

I thought a reply. "Get your ass up and get this destroyer out to that complex! Hey, I could get used to this!"

The comm channel shut off.

I spoke as a smiling Frig stood. "Now, that was just rude."

As Frig stepped out into the docking bay, a portal opened to the bridge, and he stepped through. I had to again shake my head.

York and Frost joined me on the
Swift
. I closed the cargo door and powered up, slipping quickly out into the free space around the destroyer. Twelve seconds later, we were moving through a portal into the Klatt system. After a deep passive scan, I looked over the data returned from our sensors. The Emperor’s fleet remained where it had been before.

York spoke. "That makes it easy, Sir. I do have a question, though."

I replied, "Go ahead."

York pointed towards the Emperor’s location on the holo-display. "If you are going to use the blink-in-and-out strategy we talked about, why did you bring Frost and me along?"

I smiled. "You two are the contingency plan in case something goes wrong. Heck, we might even get on that ship and find out that Belon is not even there. I just want to make sure we can get him, York. That’s all."

York replied, "The more I see you in action, Sir, the more I can see how it was that you rose up to where you are. You are constantly making those decisions that only come from a true leader."

I offered a half smile. "The truth is, York, that I had a tremendous amount of help along the way. My decisions haven’t always been the best, but the people surrounding me have been. That is exactly why I have you and Frost here with me. If my half-assed plans go awry, I know I have you two here to help straighten things out."

York nodded. "Again, Sir, the thoughts of a true leader."

I held up my hand as I looked over the holo-display. "OK, enough of the ego inflating. Let’s focus on the task at hand."

After a second jump, we were floating just outside the Emperor’s main battleship. A quick scan told us that Belon was not there.

I opened a QE comm to Frig. "I have to scan the other ships, but be prepared for us to have to wait. Remember, the Duke was taking a week to get a new android body out to his fleet."

Frig replied, "I believe the Duke to be purposefully slow in that regard. He wanted us to win, and he knew that we needed time. I would have to believe that Belon would send a new android through a wormhole directly from the complex."

I selected a deep passive scan of the remaining ships. As the data loaded onto the holo-display, I browsed each of the other ships.

York spoke as she watched from over my shoulder. "There! That is the Emperor right there!"

I replied, "OK, it looks like he is on the move. Put together a plan for taking him out. Study that ship and all the personnel on it."

As York and Frost flipped through the information on Frig’s holo-display, I continued to look over the data on the remaining ships. One never knew when a useful piece of technology could be obtained.

As I flipped through the data screens of a cruiser, I stopped. "Ah, York. Looks like we might have multiple Belons. I have one on this cruiser as well."

After a thorough investigation of the data, our initial assessment was confirmed. There were two Emperor Belons moving about in the fleet.

I opened the QE comm to Frig. "We have two androids that we are going to have to take out. I’ll send York and Frost after one, and I will take on the other."

Frig replied, "Hold that thought for one moment, Sir."

Fifteen seconds later, a proximity alert went off on the holo-display. Five active sodium skins had been detected floating just outside of the
Swift
’s position.

Frig spoke. "I sent you an additional five Marines, Sir. Make use of them as you see fit."

I replied, "Wow. I am so not used to this. We can move people where we want to move them, and when we want them there. I am going to have to get over the old way of thinking about how we react to different situations."

I sent orders to the five to power over to the cruiser. I moved the
Swift
inside the battleship where York had seen the other Belon and dropped her and Frost off in the cargo hold. With a quick jump, I had the
Swift
inside the docking bay of the cruiser. I blinked the ship in and out just long enough to exit through the sodium skin.

I smiled as I spoke to the five BGS Marines who had just joined me. "Let’s go get us an Emperor! Wait for my command before firing. We want his to be a clean kill. York, you and Frost copy that?"

York replied, "Copy, Sir. We should be catching up to Belon any moment. I’ll let you know when we have him in our sights, Sir."

After traversing several decks, we came to the hallway that contained the Emperor. I stuck my head through the wall and observed Belon at his finest. His large android body was walking back and forth in front of six officers from his fleet while yelling and swinging his arms wildly.

Belon raged, "Why do I have officers! Why have the six of you been elevated to the ranks you now hold? It is because you have a duty to protect me. A duty, I might add, that you have failed at doing! I think it is time we had a shake-up of my officer corps!"

Belon stopped in front of the second officer from the left of the line. "Commodore Belis, should I spare your life? Are you worthy of my trust?"