Broken Soldier (Book One) (12 page)

Jo corrected him, “They are Saurans, not clowns; or
is that another of your insulting references?”

“It is definitely an insulting reference. Now, let’s
talk about this list of potential warriors you have shown me. I
have designated about two hundred whom I think could be interested
in joining you. But how do we find them.”

“That has already been done. If you recall, I had
been searching through records of wounded soldiers. All of these
men are either at home or in a hospital of sorts. The people of
your world certainly have been effective at putting the old and
badly damaged warriors away. It’s as though the government is
ashamed of them and wants to keep them hidden.”

Mike grimaced and confessed, “I’m ashamed that you
have noticed the truth of it. Humans don’t like to be reminded of
the horrible consequences of war. By downplaying the condition of
these men, the elected officials don’t have to take responsibility
for their decision to send them to war. Not that a war is
unavoidable sometimes.

“When evil tyrants refuse to exercise reasonable
control over their ego, it can lead to war, no matter how willing
the other side is to compromise.”

“Yes, Mike. That is certainly true. When the Saurans
attacked my people, we had just reached an agreement that was
unpleasant, yet we thought it led to peace with them. We were very
naive.”

“It sounds like our history. We had a guy with whom
we made a peace agreement, between several countries and his. Then
he invaded them a few months later. Millions died.”

Jo told him, “Yes…Adolf Hitler. I learned about him
when I was doing research on your planet’s history. A remarkable
similarity to what my people faced, except it cost us billions of
lives, our freedom and our world. I pray that it doesn’t happen to
your people.”

“As do I, my friend.”

Mike couldn’t stop his mind from working on Jo’s
problem.

“Jo, I’ve been thinking, warriors aren’t going to be
enough. You’ll need people who have knowledge of physics and the
concepts of space travel. They would appreciate the knowledge boost
you offer and because they would already have the mindset of a
scientist, they could do a better job of learning for the entire
human race.

“The trouble is I haven’t any idea as to how to get
them to join you.”

Speaking without evil intent, Jo said, “We kidnap
them, as I did you.”

Mike laughed. “Jo, when I went missing, people
probably thought I got dragged off by a bear and eaten. Other than
my son, there is no one who cared if I disappeared. But a
scientist, he would definitely be missed.”

Jo suggested, “Don’t forget we do have something to
offer. When we upgrade them, they will regain their youth and have
access to amazing technical information. Perhaps that would entice
them.”

“You know what? I bet that could work. An old
scientist who is reaching the end of his years and suddenly he has
a chance to expand his brainpower and experience new science beyond
his dreams. I’ll have to work on that.

“Our biggest problem will be removing so many people
from the planet, without raising concerns.”

Jo spread his hands out face down and said, “Perhaps
one of the people on your list will have some ideas for us to
consider.”

With a big grin, Mike responded, “You can bet you
sweet ass on it. Some of these people are brilliant. We are going
to be buried in ideas. I hope we’ll have the time to explore
them.”

“Once you have been upgraded, your mind will work at
incredible speeds. You’ll be able to process hundreds of
interesting items simultaneously. And all the while, your body will
be doing all of the other things it does to keep you alive, only it
will do it better.”

“You’re pushing again.”

“Yes I am. The sooner you have the upgrade the
sooner we can begin.”

“Tell me about the upgrade again. What will it be
like to go through the process for a human.”

“As I told you days ago, it is painful. You cannot
be heavily sedated, because that impairs the procedure. After Bambi
reviewed your medical response to the regrowth of your legs and
eye, she believes you would be able to have a mild painkiller as a
salve to the discomfort. The process shouldn’t last for more than
four or five days.

“If you choose to accept the full warrior upgrade,
it could last a few weeks. There is simply no way to be sure, as
humans have never been completely upgraded before. You would be the
first. As bad as it sounds, I urge you to suffer this process. For
the rest of your long life to come, you would be nearly impervious
to many forms of harm.

“Furthermore, I wish to point out that you truly are
a warrior now. From the reports I have read, you are an excellent
man with weapons of many types. With a full combat upgrade, you
would be able to handle thousands of weapons from all over the
galaxy. The speed with which you could learn to utilize those
weapons is beyond your current comprehension.”

Jo paused, when he saw the deep concern on Mike’s
face.

He asked the alien, “If I do this, Jo, I’ll go all
the way. If I’m going to suffer, I might as well do it for a few
more days. Once I’ve gone through all of this, I’ll never have to
do it again.”

“That’s true. I’ve seen Saurans go through repairs
and upgrades. Of course they don’t react, as I suspect you
will.”

Mike shrugged. “Maybe I won’t have any bad
reaction.”

“I wish I could give you some hope in that regard,
but it would be false. Bambi’s assessment is based on the human
genetic history that is in the ship’s library. Your genes will
react, as other similar genes have done. Those records are based on
millennia of tests performed on several different races.
Unfortunately, I feel certain that this estimate is correct and you
will suffer great pain.”

“GREAT PAIN. You never said great pain before.”

“I don’t know for a fact that it would be that bad
for you, but I don’t wish to mislead you, Mike. I feel a friendship
growing here and I’ve not had that for more than two hundred years.
I don’t wish to see my new friend in pain, but I won’t lie to him
either.”

“Oh Jesus.”

“Yes. It is appropriate that you make a request of
God. Only he can see you safely though the gates of the demon’s
home.”

Mike looked at him in wonder, and then recognition
struck. “Oh, you mean the gates of hell.”

“Yes. I believe that would be the correct human
term.”

They talked for hours. Mike was concerned about how
to proceed, if something went wrong with his upgrade. He wanted to
be sure that the medical unit would make a complete record of
everything involved, so that it could get the procedure right with
the next human, even if he ended up a vegetable. He had to explain
what that meant to Jo, who cringed, as he did.

“Another thing, Jo. When we go back to Earth, we’ll
take the big transport, and let’s call it a shuttle. I think my
human friends will accept the term better. We will need to carry as
many med units as possible, so we can begin to repair their bodies
on the way back here. How many do you think we can squeeze in? Keep
in mind we’ll need provisions for perhaps two months.”

Without hesitation, Jo answered, “Fifty six units
plus supplies.”

“Are you sure? That’s one hell of a lot of med
units.”

“The small shuttle you saw was actually very small.
You were in a room, if you recall. The med unit itself wasn’t that
big. We can stack the men up and repair them, as we travel back.
Actually, several of them will be fully repaired before we leave,
that will leave space for more men. Taking in that consideration I
would say we could easily bring back two hundred.”

“TWO HUNDRED! How in the hell are you going to do
that?”

“We’ll bring stasis containers with us; they’re
relatively small. After the men have been repaired, we’ll put them
in stasis and attach those units to the outside of the large
shuttle. They’ll do us no good, until we return to the ship anyway.
I’m afraid the upgrade equipment is a little too large for any
substantial number of them to be of use on the shuttle trips to
Earth. And we don’t have enough of those either. I’ll have Bambi
begin fabricating more of them immediately.”

The conversation went on as they ate and Mike made
sure to create a list of foods he wanted to bring back for
replication. Jo told him that could be done on the shuttle, as the
food replicators weren’t really that big, although they might have
to bring back a few less men.

“Food is an important factor for a warrior. We’ll
bring the food replicator. Also, we want to bring back a supply of
various types of weapons. Human warriors will be familiar with them
and perhaps Bambi can work with a few of the armorers we’ll pick
up. With her knowledge, she might even be able to make improvements
to the weapons.”

Jo asked, “Armorers?”

“Yes, those are men who repair and build small
weapons for soldiers. They may prove invaluable.”

“Ah yes, I can see how they might be helpful. As for
human weapons, Bambi will download all of the various types and
design information for the weapons you wish to duplicate. The
fabricators will be able to manufacture them, as needed. Yet, I
suspect they will be of little use out here. Humans must learn to
use the sort of weapons they will face against the Saurans.”

“I thought you said there are no weapons on
board.”

“No. I said there are no designs for them in the
fabricators. The Saurans who went to Earth certainly carried
weapons with them. So there must be a source for them somewhere on
the ship. We will have to look around and see if there is such
information available. I find it hard to believe that the Saurans
wouldn’t have the ability to fabricate weapons on demand.”

Mike agreed, saying, “From everything you’ve told
me, that seems logical.”

Jo changed the direction of their discussion to
another topic. “Mike, you mentioned females. Should we make a list
of them for retrieval?”

“Ah yeah…well ah, no. Not this trip. We’ll look into
it a little later. If we go for women, they’ll have to be selected
very carefully and they must be told exactly what they’re getting
into.”

“Of course. Just like the men. The choice will be
theirs.”

Finally, they had reached a point where Mike could
think of nothing else. Jo hadn’t made any more suggestions and he
hadn’t made any references to upgrading. The absence of his
constant prodding was conspicuous.

Mike stood up and announced, “All right Jo. I’ll do
it. But let’s do it now, while I’m in the mood. I might change my
mind later. What part of the ship do we go to for this?”

Jo spoke seriously. “I had Bambi set up a special
upgrade unit for you right next to your quarters. I will need to be
near the bridge and I’ll want to monitor you personally, although
Bambi will have control of this complicated process.”

Jo headed toward the door and said, “Come, I’ll show
you.”

They walked down the passageway to a door forty feet
away from his quarters. Now that he had made the decision to
proceed with the alien alteration of his body, he had a strong urge
to renege. Mike felt as though he had been sentenced to death and
was walking the last steps to his doom.

When they entered the upgrade unit, he found it to
be welcoming. It had soft padded chairs for both human and Thorian.
The walls were covered with light green fabric and it looked to be
padded, as well as the ceiling. There was a flat padded bed against
one wall and it had stations for strapping down the patient. Mike
had been told that was necessary. He didn’t want to talk about that
part of the process, so he deliberately ignored the bed.

“Why is everything padded?”

Jo pushed on the wall, verifying the softness of it
and explained, “As I have warned, I believe you will go through
periods of great pain. You may act out violently at times and I
wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“How very thoughtful of you.” Mike had spoken
facetiously, but Jo hadn’t taken it that way.

“You are quite welcome. It is the least I can do for
the savior of our two races.”

Rather than shoot back a harsh comment, Mike let it
go. Instead he told Jo, “Look, I’m only going to experience the
pain this one time, so I want everything. If I’m going to suffer, I
might as well get the full upgrade package, with all of the combat
goodies that this crazy thing can give me. After seeing that damn
Sauran, I know I’m going to need it.”

“It is a wise choice, my friend and a courageous
one. Only a warrior thinks like that, I’m sure. I am proud to call
you my friend.”

“Jo, you say that as if you’ll never see me
again.”

“In truth, I shall not. The human I’ve grown to
like, respect and admire, will be gone. For this brief period, it
has been wonderful to be superior in mental capacity above all
those around me, although you were the only person present.

“After you have completed the upgrade, we will
communicate more frequently by direct mind transfer and it will be
at an incredible speed. I shall miss the slow verbal communications
with the Sergeant who won my trust, as I attempted to earn his. The
new man…the Captain of this ship and of our new Army, will be the
same man at heart, but the speed of your thoughts will quickly
change you. To use one of your colloquialisms, no longer will
either of us be in Kansas.”

Mike laughed nervously and asked, “Will you still be
assaulting me with my own pet phrases”

“Oh yes, that won’t change. But the enjoyment of
those moments will probably end quickly, due to the speed of your
thoughts.”

Mike commented, “Evidently, we must both pay a
price. And don’t forget, you promised to have an upgrade, if I did.
I’m going to hold you to that.”