“Coordinate with the Malice and set a course for Lectivus!” He shouted. “We have some precious cargo to retrieve.”
“So you are aware.” One navigation officer started nervously. “That'll take us twelve days at our best speed sir.”
“The passage of time will serve our purposes. While we travel the Holocaust will spread and billions of disciples electric will be ready to do my bidding upon our return. Set the course and get us underway.”
The Rescue Effort
“We have nothing combat ready down there?” Captain Valance asked Paula at the flight control station on the deck beneath him.
“Nothin'. Chief Vercelli started working on the Cold Reaver but didn't get a chance to finish. Other than that we're full up with personnel transports and a couple boarding craft,” Paula reported with shrug.
“The boarding craft, can he get one of them ready for launch?”
“No, one of the personnel craft went berserk and smashed itself into the deck. Lucky we didn't lose hanger two all together. Can't launch anything until the wreck is cleared. Chief says that'll be at least half an hour.”
“Do we have anyone else incoming?”
“Nay sir, the last personnel transport was destroyed before she could get to us.”
Captain Valance sat back in his chair. “Tactical, how are our shields holding up?”
“We're fine. Nothing out there is big enough to penetrate except for that station, and it looks like they have it under control.”
“Good. Cloak the ship if something dangerous has us in its sights.” He knitted his fingers together and leaned his chin on his knuckles as he listened to Stephanie, Frost and Alice's chatter. They were under fire from something, and on the run. “We have three people down there and no way to retrieve them. Does anyone have any ideas?”
For a moment everyone seemed stunned, the sounds of an active firefight over the command chair speaker was the loudest background noise.
“Get down!” Stephanie shouted.
There was an explosion three seconds later, then the sounds of them running, a metal gate or plate metal crashing, more running.
“There's another one. I never realized how dangerous maintenance bots were!” Alice shouted as she fired off several rounds.
“We're gettin' closer ta port, there'll be more,” Frost said hurriedly, fighting for breath as they hustled through the urban terrain.
“Dammit! Anything!” Captain Valance shouted, bringing his fist down on his arm rest.
Ashley turned her seat around. “This ship can go atmospheric. I don't think there's room to land, but we can meet them half way.”
“Chief Grady, do we have enough power to enter the atmosphere and hover?”
“I have five reactors online, if we have enough working repulsor field generators, we can do it.”
“How long will it take to test them?”
“Properly? Four or five hours.”
“There won't be anything left to rescue in four hours, Chief.”
“Give us a minute.”
“All right.”
“Why aren't they under attack?” Alice was heard asking through the communicator.
“I have no idea, but they should be shredded by now,” Frost replied.
The group of a hundred or so mixed armed citizens, most of them well moneyed from the look, stood in a line across the main gate leading to the Port Authority Inspection Point. There were several androids and various robots leisurely cleaning the street within several meters. They dragged corpses into gutters, pushed vending machines upright, and repaired fine electronics like door controls and communication hubs.
“I don't get it. Are those bots just unaffected by the virus?” Stephanie asked no one in particular in a low whisper. They were hiding inside a thick white brick building, looking through a thick transparesteel window. It was open just a crack, admitting a warm breeze.
“If Lewis couldn't resist the virus, I doubt a maintenance bot could.”
A woman and three men crept down the alley ahead and looked onto the same scene. After a moment's consideration one of them stepped out. “We have wounded, can you help us?” he called out to the line of people in front of the broad arched gate.
A sandy haired boy in blue and green robes emerged from the crowd and opened his arms invitingly. “If you are judged favourably by Eve's children the West Keepers will help you.” Spoke one of the guardians. The machines in the street all stopped what they were doing and looked at the solitary man.
He took a staggering step back. “Do you have a medic kit or is there a paramedic that could help?”
“Oh no,” whispered Alice sadly as she looked away.
The androids and robots all rushed the fellow, within seconds he was torn to pieces. Maintenance bots turned towards the alley and began firing high intensity cutting lasers, killing his fleeing companions. When the newcomers were all dead they set back to work cleaning up.
“There has to be another way,” Stephanie whispered.
“We could pretend to join these people, they're all wearing green and blue arm bands, that's got to help us somehow. Maybe we can beg or buy a few from them.”
“Or make like we forgot ours somewhere?” Frost added with a shrug.
“I'm a very bad actor,” Alice whispered.
Stephanie looked at the crowd of people quietly for several moments. “I don't know if we could pull it off.”
“We have a solution,” Came Captain Valance's voice through Stephanie and Frost's communicators. “We're going to go atmospheric and lay down cover fire for you. We're sending a heavy escape shuttle down. Does it look like that group is going to be a problem?”
“You could probably scare them back into the main port if you hit the street in front of the entrance,” Stephanie replied.
“What's going on?” Alice asked, unable to hear the Captain's side of the conversation.
“Captain's looking to make some craters and get us some help,” Frost said a little eagerly.
“He's taking Triton atmospheric?” she asked, her eyes wide.
A rumbling in the distance was her answer, and all three of them looked up. The Triton's broad hull was like a looming, growing stingray shaped shadow against the light blue sky. The five active pulse turrets on the bottom of the hull fired at smaller vessels that darted around it, making weak attacks. It was like watching a behemoth swat away flies.
One of the paired pulse cannons swivelled towards the street in front of the main port entrance and fired. The crowd turned and ran through the port gates. The air pressure shifted, they could all feel it on their faces, as three of the main engines rotated and fired in repulsor mode, glowing bright white. The ship stopped and hovered less than three hundred meters up as the pulse turret reduced two meter circles of sand to slag and glass.
The maintenance bots fired their cutting lasers to no effect as everyone and everything else ran for cover. A blocky emergency shuttle launched from one of the port airlocks and hastily descended. It landed hard in the street beside the building they hid in, kicking up dirt and dust for a city block in every direction. The weight of it crushed stone walkways and a fast food materializer station to rubble under its armoured landing skids.
The trio pushed the window of their hiding spot open and climbed through it as quickly as possible. A cutting laser swept across them to no effect, their vacsuits easily absorbed and dissipated the energy. Then they were inside the shuttle. Alice sat in the copilot's seat and to her surprise Ashley was at the controls. She gave her a brief, excited embrace and checked the copilot's station. “Who's flying the Triton?”