Mechanical (6 page)

Day Two, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

For the first time, they stood outside the hangar, in a giant training area and firing range. Tom let his Serpent sensors follow the very tall electrified fence that encircled the range as much as he could. The range was miles wide in every direction, filled with small craggy valleys, low hills and scattered vegetation. The scars of the military forces' presence were clearly visible, with deep craters, black scorches on the earth, and metal and rock fragments scattered throughout.

            Tom turned his head around, letting his sensors perform a full sweep of the area. Not far from them was a heavily reinforced concrete bunker with a host of surveillance cameras and antennas hanging from three tall, nearby masts. The enormous hangar itself was several miles away, the firing range's fence enclosing it well away.

            Another thing a few miles away that made Tom do a double take as soon as he saw it was a town, complete with roads, buildings, small gardens, advertisement signs, working traffic lights, lit-up stores, gas stations—the works. An urban combat training site, Tom realized.

            It was still two or three hours till dawn but the Serpent's sensors had no trouble seeing in the star-filled night.

            "Look at the stars, Sir," Sergeant Jebadiah whispered. Tom followed the sergeant's example and craned his head up, letting his sensors fix on the stars above. Tom did not feel he was breathing—he hadn’t since he had woken in the lab a few hours ago—but now he felt how his breath stuck in his throat, though his lungs, throat and face were all safely asleep inside the Serpent's body cavity.

            "They are … beautiful," Tom whispered. The Serpent's optical sensors enhanced and sharpened every star, nebula and planet in their field of view. The colors were breathtaking, vivid and alive, pulsing with a radiance Tom had never seen before. The stars danced, huge fireballs of life burning with unrivaled magnificence. The two planets Tom could see were actual worlds, with clouds and their own moons and landscape and even their own rotation. It was more than Mars and Venus.

            It seemed to Tom that all he had to do was just lift his Serpent's black armored hand to reach out and touch alien worlds. It was an uplifting experience, just to bask in that sight.

            "Idiots," Ramirez whispered, bringing Tom shuddering back to earth, shaking at the coldness in the Marine Corps lieutenant's voice.

            "The firing range will give us the opportunity to test the abilities of your Serpents, testing their capabilities, your control of their abilities and their limitations. You've got to learn to pilot your Serpents as well as you'll be able to, in order to succeed in the mission and not put to waste the billions of dollars already invested in this project. We will only have one opportunity against the enemy and we must take advantage of it. We have less then seventy hours to complete your training course," Captain Emerson said unperturbedly, his pleasant Serpent's voice steady and calm.

            "Yes Sir," Sergeant Jebadiah said.

            "Questions, Sir," Ramirez said, making Tom turn to him in amazement.

            "Yes, Lieutenant."

            "Aren't you going to tell us that you'll be working our butts off, that anyone who doesn’t complete the course will be required to do it again, that failure is not tolerable and all that bullshit?" Ramirez's voice was quite insolent and Tom cringed on the inside.

            "No, Lieutenant. Because of our unique circumstances, failure to complete the course can only occur because of a pilot's death," Captain Emerson said evenly and without anger.

            To Tom's surprise, Ramirez nodded silently and approvingly, and he said nothing more.

            "The first thing you'll learn is how to pilot the Serpent. The Serpent is piloted by your mind, the same way you control your own body. However, there are differences. The control and feeling of the Serpent is not like that of your body. The Serpent's capabilities are far superior to those of your own human flesh-and-blood body. You must really start piloting your Serpent. Position target," Captain Emerson said. Tom realized the last sentence was not directed at them; the Captain had activated his medium range communication radio link.

            Standing there out in the field, Tom realized something else as he looked at the three other Serpents. Sergeant Jebadiah's Serpent was standing at attention, its hands and feet in exact regulation position, every one of its sensors directed at the Captain, occasionally moving or tilting his head slightly as if to hear and understand the Captain better. Ramirez’s serpent stood with a slight slouch, apparently at attention, but its hands were constantly moving behind its back, its head always in motion, scanning around him at all times.
Ramirez trusts no one and nothing
, Tom thought. The Captain himself stood completely motionless, hands at the sides, his Serpent ramrod straight.
The model of calm command, perfectly in control,
thought Tom.

           
How do
I
look to the others?
Tom asked himself.

            A noise from the direction of the base's huge hangar made all of them turn their heads. A heavily armored Hummer jeep, its headlights two blinding spotlights in the darkness, trundled slowly in their direction,
leaving a black cloud of hot smoke behind it. It stopped about thirty feet away from them, its engine idling.

            "The first thing to remember is that the Serpent is a one-thousand-five-hundred-pound personal battle tank and not a human or biological body. Remember, the limitations and the practices you had in your body are not relevant now. This training exercise will teach you this. Your mission is to catch the Hummer. You have less than two minutes."

            "Catch it, Sir?" Tom asked.

            "Stop it dead, Lieutenant Riley. Lieutenant Riley, commence," Captain Emerson said. He made a small motion with his hand and the Hummer roared away into the night.

            "Should I start now or—"

            "One minute, fifty five seconds remaining, Lieutenant Riley," Captain Emerson said matter-of-factly.

            Tom stared at him and then took off.

            He ran. It was the first time for him, running with the Serpent, and it was nothing like running in his own body. The Serpent was fast. Its long limbs moved in giant strides. Tom did not breathe hard or feel effort of any kind; he only felt and heard the wind of the Serpent's motion.

            It was quite exhilarating in its own way. It was not unlike flying at low altitude, watching the terrain zooming past him at terrific speed, a speed he felt only as the wind howled louder and louder around the Serpent's frame.

            Navigating—placing the Serpent's clawed feet—was as easy as running on a fitness treadmill. His sensors mapped out each step with ease and the talons on the Serpent's feet grasped earth, rocks and whatever was on the ground with magnificent and frightening effortlessness. 

            Some part of Tom's mind thought that there was something strange here. The Serpent had a different balance than his own biological body—a different body shape—and the Serpent's clawed feet were certainly different from Tom's own feet. But still, Tom had no problem running and keeping his balance. Tom knew that a walking or running man needs to see six feet ahead in order to avoid pitfalls and obstacles, and he figured that the Serpent needed to see at least twenty feet ahead. Still, running in the Serpent was effortless, exhilarating and seemed eminently stable.

            The details of the ground zooming beneath him were crystal clear, yet passed so fast it almost made Tom giddy. The feeling of power returned, flooding Tom's mind. It didn't seem he was flying anymore, it seemed to him he was exploding across the training range, like a powerful rocket. Nevertheless, Tom felt he was completely in control. It just made him feel still more powerful.

            Tom gradually became aware of a little window that popped up in his field of view. It showed him how fast he was moving, the drain on his power core, the amount of heat he was radiating, and a lot of other information, some of which Tom didn't understand.

            Tom now glanced ahead and was surprised to see the Hummer was gaining distance on him. Its V8 engine filled the night with a loud roar and smoke that was quite visible to the Serpent's sensors. It was moving in a large circle around the other Serpents and was slowly but surely getting away.

            "You can do it, Sir! Go get him!" Sergeant Jebadiah's voice shouted in Tom's radio transceiver.

            "Sergeant, maintain radio silence. Lieutenant, thirty seconds for mission termination," Captain Emerson's voice was pleasant as always. 

            In his mind, Tom gritted his teeth. He pumped harder with his arms, lowered his head and willed his legs to move faster.
Am I doing thirty miles an hour or forty miles an hour?
he wondered.

            Tom sensed something else now, something coming from within him, within his Serpent. It was a steady whine, slowly growing stronger: a vibration traveling down his body till he felt it from the tip of the aerials on his head to the black armored talons on his feet.

           
The power core,
Tom thought in surprise.
I'm actually feeling the Serpent's power core.

            Then the sky and ground tumbled around Tom so fast he couldn't make out what was what. Rocks, plants and earth flew in all directions. Crashing noises filled the Serpent's hearing sensors and Tom felt powerful blows against the Serpent's head and torso, and then the left leg.

It took forever for the universe to come to its senses and for Tom's Serpent to finally stop its tumbling. Tom found himself laying face down in the dirt, his Serpent’s arms spread out, its left leg doubled under him and its right bent to the side.

Tom felt a long, powerful Serpent's hand grasping one shoulder and another grabbing his left arm. Tom was pulled up, and he gave his Serpent's body a quick check. As far as he could tell, he was all right. Even his right hand and arm, which had taken heavy blows, seemed barely scratched, the black matt armor barely touched.

"Are you all right, Sir? That was one hell of a tumble," Sergeant Jebadiah said, still holding Tom's shaking Serpent.

"I'm—I'm okay," Tom said. The sergeant held him a moment longer and then let him stand on his own. Tom was really surprised that his Serpent was all right.
This is quite a tough weapon,
Tom thought.
And now I will have some scarring of my own,
Tom thought as he walked back to Captain Emerson and Lieutenant Ramirez, accompanied by the sergeant.

            Tom glared at the Hummer that was waiting thirty feet away from them. Of course, nothing was seen on Tom's impassive black faceplate. Even so, the Hummer honked playfully twice.

            "Let's debrief Lieutenant Riley's failure," Captain Emerson said, making Tom wince in his mind. "Notice the way he ran. Body poised forward, head lowered, arms moving in concert. It is a perfect running poise for a human but a pose unsuitable for a personal battle tank. Remember, you are now piloting a weapon, a mechanized walking tank. Old habits from using your own biological body must be suppressed when using the Serpent. Sergeant Jebadiah, your turn. Two minutes to complete the mission, stopping the Hummer. Go!" Captain Emerson said in the same, even tone.

            Even his commands are given in a flat voice, Tom thought. The Hummer roared away, its large tires showering the area behind it with earth and rocks. This time, Tom had the opportunity to the watch a Serpent run. It was quite a frightening sight, the black armored monster moving with lithe, flexible motions no human could ever reproduce. The spikes and aerials on the Serpent's black, horned head made it clear that this thing was a monster.

            The sergeant took to heart what the captain had said and kept his Serpent's stance upright, with its arms close at his sides, and its head always scanning for obstacles ahead. Giant strides landing in perfect equilibrium ate up the distance.
The Serpent's strength is daunting
, thought Tom. Its motions were so powerful nothing living could stand against it and survive.

           
Why is this frightening me
? Tom could not help asking himself.

            In spite of adhering to Captain Emerson's commands, the sergeant still failed to catch the Hummer. The four-wheel-drive armored vehicle returned to the waiting Serpents a good ten or fifteen seconds before Sergeant Jebadiah's Serpent. It even cheerfully honked twice to greet the sergeant on his return.

            "Sir! I failed, Sir, but I did what you told me to do, Sir," Sergeant Jebadiah saluted.

            "At ease, Sergeant. You were already told the Serpent is not a biological entity. How did you try to catch it, soldier?"

            "Sir, I did what you told me. Body straight, arms at the sides of the body, sensors scanning the terrain for obstacles. But the darned jeep was just faster, sir," Sergeant Jebadiah said, his Serpent still standing at attention.