AMP Siege (6 page)

The first major spoke. "Wait here. The captain is sending an escort for you. A technical team will escort your people to a holding area."

Frost spoke. "Sir, I will have to protest this separation. We can't let you go without one of us."

I replied, "Relax, Frost. I can handle this. We want to give them every reason to trust us. We need allies out here if we are going to survive. Otherwise, the Durians are going to roll right over us. The risk here, it's worth it."

An officer soon arrived to escort me to the Gonta bridge. As I stepped into the room, I took note of the continued rounded shapes. The bridge room was a long oval with a single chair in the center. Consoles with crewmen lined the outer edges. A Gonta in a bright blue uniform with no helmet was standing in front of me. The Gontas had wide-set eyes and noses that could only be described as short snouts. After retracting my glove, I held out my bare hand for a shake as a welcoming gesture.

The captain looked at my hand for several seconds before speaking. "Mr. Grange. If you are expecting a formal greeting through contact, you will want to withdraw your hand. Personal contact with other species is not something that we do. We find it offensive. Given the circumstances surrounding our situation, I will withhold my indignation."

I replied as I lowered my arm to my side, "My apologies, Captain. I lack diplomatic training. I lead with my gut, and that is a formal greeting amongst my people. I believe we have many things to discuss. Each of us can benefit from a mutual friendship. This may be far too early to broach this subject, but my full intention is to gain the Gonta Federation as an ally."

Dozens of small nodules that lined either side of the captain's skull puffed up with a red tint. The scowl on his face told of his irritation.

The captain spoke. "You are brazen, Mr. Grange. Much like our political caste. As an officer of the Federation Defense, I have a low opinion of such behavior. It is the utmost duty of a Gonta officer or soldier to follow protocols at all times. It is obvious that Humans do not follow such."

I replied, "Again, I apologize, Captain. Our military has similar protocols that they follow, and I sometimes butt heads with them as well."

The captain grunted. "So, you are a politician. You may as well return to your ship, as I will not have discussions with one of your ilk. Major Harkei! Please escort Mr. Grange back to his shuttle. There will be no further discussions with him."

I held up my hand. "Hold on there, Captain. Before we go any further, I am not a politician or of the political caste. I am a patriot for my people, and I come from a long line of military men and women. I am the spokesman for all Humans. If you don't discuss relations with me, you won't discuss them with any Human. I thought that being a captain, you could be reasoned with. In fact I bet my life on it, which is why I am standing here on your bridge."

The captain again replied with an irritated voice, "
Bet
is not the proper term for what you are doing here, Mr. Grange. Your action was not a gamble. It was a calculated risk. A bet is a wager, something my people are quite familiar with and skilled at doing."

I lowered my hand. "OK. If it's a wager you want, how about this: I bet you my life that we can help you bring your weapon systems back online. If we can't, you do with me as you will. If we can, you and I will sit down and have a frank discussion of what next steps we might take, together, to further a dialogue between our peoples."

"That does not seem like a fair wager, Mr. Grange. It sounds like a foolish one, but I am intrigued at the thought of a good gamble. So, I will offer this in return. Should your team assist in the cleansing of our weapon systems, I will withdraw the statement of war from my logs. If that statement were to reach the Federation, there would be no turning back for our peoples, Mr. Grange. The Federation would pursue you to the ends of the galaxy."

I nodded my head. "Fair enough, Captain. Just authorize Mr. Harkei to expedite the interaction of your people and mine."

Goddard, York, and Frost got to work with their Gonta counterparts as I continued my discussion with the Gonta captain. At the same time, I began to wonder if I had not taken my wager too far. I had never been good at gambling with my credits. I wondered if the same would not hold true with my life.

As our discussion continued, I spoke. "And I would like to ask one thing further of you, Captain. Can we sit while we wait? Ever since I bumped heads with the Colossuns, I can't seem to stand for long periods of time. I don't know, maybe it's just that I am getting old."

The captain's eyes lit up. "You have had interactions with the Colossus Empire?"

I replied, "Yeah, I kind of got in a squabble with one of their Dukes. He is a strange fella. I guess that as their neighbors, you have had dealings with them?"

The captain spoke. "There is but one Duke, Mr. Grange. He has been the ruler of the Colossuns for more than two thousand years. He has been slowly invading our space, probing our defenses, for the last two hundred of those years. If you escaped his clutches, you must have luck on your side, or a very powerful fleet at your disposal."

I chuckled. "Well, the truth of it is, I tend to be a lucky guy. The Colossun ships are quite powerful, and I often wonder how we were able to defeat them so handily. The Duke himself always seemed to be two steps ahead of the game. And yet, here I am!"

The captain gestured to a chair just below his command chair. As he seated himself above me, he pushed a button on his armrest, and his chair slowly lowered until its height equaled that of my level. I nodded in approval.

The captain spoke. "Tell me of your encounter, Mr. Grange. We have yet to defeat a single ship of his fleet. His raids have all ended in the complete annihilation of five of our colonies. Billions of Gonta have perished under his merciless assaults."

I leaned back in my chair. "Wait, you said there is only one Duke and that he is the ruler. What about his uncle, the King? And his brother, Duke Ferdese?"

Meecha looked at me. "There is no King, Mr. Grange, or brother for that matter. If you encountered such, it was a deception. The Duke is the supreme ruler of the Colossuns. His command and power are absolute. Our spies have only managed to infiltrate a few of his outer worlds. Leaving much of our information as rumor and conjecture, of his absolute rule we are certain. Tell me of your battle, Mr. Grange. How did you escape?"

I gave the captain as few details of the short battle as I could. I finished my tale with the capture of the Duke's head. The captain looked on in disbelief.

I spoke. "So, there are potentially an unlimited number of Dukes. You kill 'em, and they reconnect with a new body."

I began to laugh. "But, we managed to isolate this particular one from his comm link. So, there are now at least two unique Dukes out there. One running the empire and one in our possession."

The captain quickly stood from his chair. "Officer Bertes. Examine the infection of our systems for a Colossun style of code. Mr. Grange, if what you say is true, that you have the head of the Duke, your troubles are far worse than you believe. My ship, your ship—they must be destroyed before this plague is unleashed on the Federation. If your fleet has been compromised, you must make sure that it does not reach your home world!"

Officer Bertes spoke. "Captain! It is Colossun! It is much like that which first took control of the systems on Merieve IV. Captain, we must destroy the
Jaarke
, Sir!"

I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand. "I knew it! We kicked his ass and took him hostage with far less effort and loss than we were expecting. Now that I think about it, I guess that was by design. Let us take just enough casualties that it hurts, but not enough that we ask too many questions."

The captain spoke. "Send for the First Major! We must prepare to leave this vessel before destroying it."

I spoke. "Wait, where are you going?"

The captain replied, "We are going down to the planet surface, Mr. Grange. We will have to contend with the Targs, but we have no other choice."

I stood along with the captain. "Contend with the Targs? I thought they were your subjects."

The captain turned and spoke. "The Targs are a free species, Mr. Grange. We have been observing them for many centuries. It is Gonta policy to not interfere with a species until they have the ability to travel beyond their atmosphere. The Targs, even with their science and a relatively normal level of intellect, have failed to reach that level of advanced science and civilization. They seem to be stuck in a war that has gone on for a thousand years."

I replied, "We watched your ships descend on the Targs and gamble over their little war they just had. Your ships were right above the battlefield."

The captain sighed. "Our ships could not be seen from below, Mr. Grange. Our people enjoy sport. Sometimes that sport takes on an ugly side, such as what you were witness to. But, that war, that slaughter if you will, was not of our doing. That is a system the Targ have put in place in order to deal with their own prejudices and other societal problems. We don't know how it started, Mr. Grange. We only observe the results. There are some Gonta who would prefer that wagers of that sort not be allowed. Our freedoms, however, would only be compromised by applying those limits and restrictions."

As I walked with the captain, I spoke. "So, gambling is a large part of the Gonta culture, and the Targs are fighting amongst themselves without having any outside interference? What are you expecting from the Targs once we hit that planet surface?"

The captain replied, "They will attack. Just as you would attack any invader of your world."

I shook my head. "That is not true. As Humans, we try to first reason with others. If they show themselves to be hostile, then of course we will defend."

The captain stopped. "Mr. Grange. The Gonta have relations with many species. Some we have been at war with, while others were peaceful. But, they are all ruled by politicians, and most have a military leadership who want to shoot first and ask questions later. If Humans do not act in this manner, you are somewhat unique amongst the stars."

I thought and then replied, "No, you are probably right, Captain. We have those who would pull the trigger before ever asking who they were or why they were there. Those are probably universal traits. I would have to assume, though, that your weapons are superior to the Targs’. You will be able to defend yourselves, am I right?"

The captain continued to walk. "Our weapons are sufficient. What I worry about is the determination of the Targ. Our psych profiles of their species have outlined a high likelihood of a decidedly hostile encounter with the Targs; they will not come to us with smiles on their faces. Prepare your people for the trip below, Mr. Grange. We will not be returning you to your ship."

We turned the corner into the shuttle bay. Frost, York, and Goddard were waiting.

Frost spoke. "What's going on, Mr. Grange? They are all running around like we don't exist. What has happened?"

I replied, "The system infection is not Durian, it's Colossun. And I bet the source is right there on the Grid in Dr. Touchstone's lab. Duke Ferdete is messing with us on a grand scale!"

I brought up my arm pad and spoke. "Captain, this is Grange. Prepare a shuttle to send down to the surface to pick us up. We will be riding down there with the Gontas."

The Captain replied, "Mr. Grange. Just after your departure, the isolated junction turned itself back on. The core has been taken over, Captain. Along with that, the manual nav controls are no longer responding."

I turned to the Gonta captain. "Looks like our ship is down too. We might be joining you on the surface. Do you think we can get along down there without shooting at each other?"

The captain replied, "We will not have time to shoot at each other, Mr. Grange. There are billions of Targ down there. They will be united in their quest to rid their planet of invaders. We have one hundred seventy-nine crew on the
Jaarke
. Two of our five shuttles are already out of commission. If your people can fly, Mr. Grange, I would advise that you begin transport to the surface immediately."

I hesitated as I called back to the
Granger
. "... Captain, how is life support?"

The Captain replied, "Systems are already beginning to shut down, Mr. Grange. I believe we will be on suit oxygen within the hour."

I looked back at York and the others as I spoke. "Is our shuttle still capable of flying?"

The Captain replied, "We have managed to keep the shuttle isolated from the infection, so yes, we can fly it."

I spoke. "Start ferrying the crew and supplies down to the planet surface. We are going to have to try to shut the
Granger
down completely, or at least until we can purge those systems. And Captain, make it fast; I don't want the Duke's program to start that ship and fly it away with you all still on there."

The Captain replied, "Roger that, Mr. Grange. We will begin evacuation immediately."

I again spoke into my arm comm. "And Captain, make sure everyone knows that the Gonta are not our enemies. We might just need their firepower if we are going to survive down there. According to them, the Targs are not likely to be very hospitable, and we already have evidence of that."

The
Jaarke
, according to the Gonta protocol, was self-destructed where it sat. The second Gonta ship, the
Friza
, soon met with the same fate. As the Captain and the crew of the
Granger
came within reach of the Targ surface, my arm pad comm came to life.

The Captain spoke. "Mr. Grange. We may be coming in hot. The virus has spread to this shuttle. We are doing our best to keep the systems online until we can touch down."

I replied, "What's you ETA, Captain? And what's the status of the
Granger
?"

The comm was silent for several agonizing seconds. "The
Granger
is drifting, Mr. Grange. We shut down the ion feeds and retracted the power core. All systems are off. It will take us some time to bring her back online if we need to, Mr. Grange. And, every indication is that the virus will still be there."

The Captain spoke with concern. "We've lost the shuttle shields, and now the life support is going haywire. We should be on the surface in two minutes if we can keep the nav computer clean. The virus is beginning to spread to our arm pad comms, Mr. Grange. We are going silent. Wish us luck!"

I watched on a Gonta scanner as the
Granger
cut through the atmosphere like a fireball. It continued to travel at a high rate of speed in our direction.

Meecha spoke. "Mr. Grange. How fast can that shuttle slow once it's entered the atmosphere?"

I replied, "It should have already slowed, Captain. I hate to ask or even think about it, but can your weapons take out that shuttle if it doesn't slow? I'm guessing we have about thirty seconds to make a decision."

The captain looked at me and then quickly turned to his First Major. "Major Galla! Prepare to take out that shuttle on my command!"

The major scrambled to inform the Gonta shuttle gunner. "Target tracking on. It is coming right at us. The sooner you make the call, the less chance of debris striking us, Sir."

The major turned. "Twenty seconds, Captain!"

Before I could say a word, the Gonta captain spoke. "Take it out or we're all dead, Major!"

I wanted to scream out to hold fire, but the captain was right. A red ion bolt shot upwards. A tiny speck of an explosion followed, with an indicator on my arm pad going blank. One hundred thirty-eight Humans had perished in an instant. The entire crew, minus York, Frost, Goddard, and me, had only one chance to make it to the surface. The shuttle had been packed to its limits.

The debris came down hard, with a section of the shuttlecraft's tail burrowing a twenty-meter-deep crater only two hundred meters away from our position. The plume of smoke would be a marker of our position for the Targs. They would likely be moving in on us within hours.

York placed her hand on my shoulder. "Couldn't be helped, Sir. Another ten seconds more and they would have killed us too. Hold any rage you have for the Duke. When we get back to the Grid, you can send him hurtling into that bright yellow sun or something."

I sat and rubbed my temples as I pondered our loss. All good people, and fighters that we would need for our coming defense.

The shuttle of the
Friza
followed soon after with a similar fate. The captain was spared from ordering another ion blast when the shuttle broke apart while still high in the atmosphere. The fireball streaked across the sky.

I turned to the dismayed Gonta captain. "I'm sure those were all good men, Captain. Tell us what we can do to secure this area. We are under your command. And, we are going to need weapons as well, since we came over to the
Jaarke
unarmed."

The captain looked at me intently. "Major Harkei. Take these Humans and get them outfitted with blasters. Mr. Grange, see that rock outcropping? I want you to kill every Targ that tries to come between those two boulders. We will cover the rest."

As the major came our way, the Gonta gunner scrambled out of the shuttle hatch and flopped onto the ground.

The captain spoke. "Corporal Haalu, I can only guess that the shuttle is now under control of the virus?"

The corporal held up an object in his hand. "Not without the power coupler, Sir. She is of no use to us, but she will not be used against us!"

The captain turned and continued to bark out orders as the major led us to a weapons crate. "Here you go, Mr. Grange. Press here to activate the charger, and wait about ten seconds for this display to turn blue. Press here to fire at whatever you are aiming for. If I was you, I would take a few practice shots, just enough to feel comfortable with it. When the clip runs dry, pop it out like this and slap another one in its place."

I replied, "How many rounds in a clip, Major?"

The major looked up apprehensively. "Two hundred twenty rounds per clip, one hundred clips per soldier."

I replied, "That should last us a while."

The major shook his head. "We have just over four million rounds, Mr. Grange. There are billions of Targs on this planet. And men, women, children, doesn't matter, they are all equally vicious and aggressive."