Code Breakers: Beta (22 page)

“You three stay here in the protection of the planes,” Vickers ordered, pointing to Petal and the others. She took a rifle and hopped off the ramp. Sasha and the Doc followed. The doc held his weapon like it was a poisonous snake. The three of them remained near the bottom of the ramp, ready to defend their position.

The machine guns within the ramshackle settlement of GeoCity-1 cut through the air. Their rat-tat-tat rhythm created an intimidating war beat. That didn’t bother Vickers and his squad. As one they moved away from the transporter. Fifty meters either side were the other two planes: Condor and Vulture. To the side of those vehicles were the various ‘droid pods, their contents now standing in four groups of one hundred, ready for orders. The deadly machines were equipped with the Criborg-designed high-calibre, fully automatic smart-rifles, and EM, smoke, and frag grenades.

“Impressive,” Petal said, looking on.

“Let’s hope they perform as well as they look,” Robertson said.

“You worry too much,” Sasha said. “They worked great in the simulations.”

Vickers liaised with the infantry leaders and returned. His face set like stone.

“What’s the plan?” Sasha asked.

“We’re going to send the ‘droids in via both entrances to take out the machine guns. We’ll follow up once they’re neutralised. We’ll be able to monitor what’s going on via their ocular feeds. I want you three to remain in cover until I give new orders. Understand?”

Sasha groaned. “General, this is what I’m made for.”

Robertson put a hand on her shoulder. “Just wait, girl, let the General do his thing.”

“That’s an order,” Vickers added. “No need to be—”

A huge explosion erupted near the rearmost transporter. A great belch of dust and dirt flew into the sky in a ball of bright flame and black smoke.

Petal pulled Sasha and Robertson back up the ramp, avoiding the hot fallout from the super-heated sand. The General rushed to his infantrymen and ‘droid squads, readied the attack. Above them, from within the settlement, a lone Jaguar flew out of the thick black smoke, aimed its guns at the ‘droids, and opened fire.

“Disperse and return fire!” Vickers yelled.

The Jaguar’s machine gun fire smashed into the ground, creating hundreds of tiny explosions. A couple of ‘droids were hit and went down, their arms hanging limply by wires, and one droid’s head cleaved in two. At Vickers’s orders, the men and the ‘droids broke formation, spread out into a spiral pattern. They looked up in unison, raised their rifles, and almost as if shooting as a single entity each fired a single shot.

Hundreds of shots slammed into the Jaguar, simultaneously sending it crashing into the ground with an explosion that sounded like thunder. Shrapnel flew through the air with a whine. A fragment of Jaguar fuselage, as large as Petal’s fist, embedded itself inches from her face into the side of the transporter.

“Shit!” she yelled and dove out of the way as more fragments slammed into their craft.

Sasha screamed, fell to the ground.

A molten piece of metal, an inch long, struck her on the thigh, burning a hole through her combat trousers. Robertson was the first to react, dropping his rifle and scrabbling over to her. He pulled her hand away as she squirmed in pain. A dark charred piece of skin had come away, showing the red raw flesh beneath it.

“Petal, quick! Fetch my bag,” Robertson called out.

Petal dashed into the transporter, reached up to the storage boxes, and grabbed Robertson’s medical bag. By the time she reached Sasha and Robertson, she’d stopped squirming, but her face glistened with sweat.

“You’ll be okay,” Robertson said as he took the bag from Petal.

He rummaged inside and pulled out a spray can. He depressed the cap, covering her wound with grey foam.

“It’s an anti-bacterial, ‘Stem-based healing agent,” Robertson said to Petal. “Builds new skin cells within seconds.”

Before Petal had time to say anything, the General was shouting at his troops to regroup and enter the compound. At the same time as they were heading towards GeoCity-1’s gates, the rumble of a heavy truck came from behind the burning wreckage of both the downed Jaguar. Petal armed her rifle, moved into a kneeling position in front of Sasha while Robertson continued his medical attention, and looked down the scope ready to open fire.

Chapter 28

T
he truck stopped, still partially obscured by the smoke. Petal’s heart rate jumped. The gun hummed with energy waiting to be released. The scope had a night-vision mode, but even activated, the fire and smoke blocked her view. She could tell there were at least three, maybe four, people on the other side, but beyond that she had to wait.

Come on, you bitches.

The amorphous blobs became more refined as they moved closer. They were holding weapons. Petal could tell by the hang of their shoulders.

Closer now. There were definitely four of them.

Her finger twitched a fraction as the first person walked out from beyond the smoke and at the same time her implant buzzed.

Gerry!

She accessed the message.

—
Where are you
? Gerry asked over their VPN.

—
By the transporter on the far side of the group. Is that you walking through the smoke?

Through her scope she saw the lead person drop their weapon, look up and wave.
It was! It was them.

She dropped the bulky rifle and sprinted across the ground until she barrelled into Gerry, surrounding him in a hug. He pulled her into a warm embrace.

“Screw me, am I relieved to see you, Gez,” Petal said aloud, her face buried into his chest.

“It’s so great to see you again,” Gerry replied, hugging her close.

Eventually he let her go and stood back, taking a good look at her. “You’re looking real healthy,” he said.

“All the Doc’s work.” Petal appraised him, replied, “And you ain’t looking so bad yourself. New eye I see. No pun intended.”

“One of the various upgrades courtesy of them up there.” Gerry pointed into space.

As they looked at each other, both grinning wide, the air split with a new barrage of machine-gun fire, and the sub-bass
thwump
of the laser rifles. The battle sounded well under way, and via her comm channel she heard the General lead the troops and ‘droids into the main areas of the city, catching the Red Widow fighters in a pincer movement.

“Well? Ain’tcha gonna say hi or something, girl?” Gabe stood out from behind Gerry. She rushed him and hugged him tight.

“Thanks for springing me from the clink,” she said. “And sorry I doubted you.”

Gabe shrugged, “S’ok, girl. No offence taken.”

“We should get going,” a female voice said. “I don’t like standing out here so exposed.”

Enna, along with Cheska came out of the smoke.

“Enna, Cheska!”

After sharing formalities, Petal informed them what had happened to her, who Sasha and the Doc were, and what was happening in the city. She patched everyone through on to the same comms channel. At Gerry’s request, Petal led Jess, Malik, and the other injured citizens into the transporter, along with the two servers.

The young girl, Jess, was immediately familiar. Petal recognised her as the girl she saw when she first escaped the Red Widow compound. Gerry had explained her involvement with finding the server. She wanted to talk with her, find out more about her, but she needed to be alert while the General led the ‘droids and his men.

By the time they had arranged everyone and regrouped, Vickers had shut down the machine guns and mobilised his force to storm the various buildings, flush out the remaining fighters. He confirmed it over the comms. “Gun installations neutralised. Red Widow fighters are retreating to defensible positions inside. I’m sending in the ‘droids. Everyone outside stay calm and wait on my orders.”

Petal and the group were standing by the ramp awaiting his next communication. Sasha stood, limped only slightly. The healing compound had done its job remarkably.

Robertson talked with Gerry and Enna, getting acquainted, while Gabe told Petal of his adventures of infiltrating the Widows. Vickers addressed the group and said. “I need you lot to stay outside, mop up any escapees. We’re in full control. Wait—”

A loud explosion of simultaneous rifle shots crashed out from within the rough stone city walls, followed by screams and shouts. But they were not by Red Widow fighters.

Vickers’s voice took on a panicked edge, tight and desperate, “Jesus, they’ve, oh God, there’s a problem... the ‘droids! We’ve lost control of the ‘droids—”

The General screamed at his squad to fall back, find cover.

Petal grabbed Gerry and Gabe, pulled them into the transporter before ushering the rest inside. Jess sat at the bottom of the ramp, wide-eyed and confused. Petal picked her up and with the help of Malik got her seated securely into the plane.

“What’s happening?” Jess said, her voice quiet and shaking.

Petal patted her head softly. “Just procedure. Everything will be okay. You stay nice and safe there, okay?”

The girl stared at Petal, her head cocked to one side like a dog trying to listen to their owner. Robertson, standing at the top of the ramp, spoke through his comm. “Vickers, what the hell is going on there?”

“They’ve gone rogue! Red Widows have hacked into, and assumed control, of the ‘droids. We need to leave now!”

As Robertson prepared to respond he saw Vickers climbing over the wall of the city, followed by two of his men. Their fatigues were ripped and torn, charred with laser energy. The General hit the ground with a thud. Two of his lieutenants helped him to his feet. Together, they ran for the transporter, ordering the other planes to take to the sky.

Within seconds, dust billowed up beneath their giant VTOL props as they lifted themselves into the air. The engines to Petal’s transporter kicked into life, and along with Sasha and Robertson, she climbed the ramp into the aircraft. While they seated themselves, Petal remained at the bottom, waiting for the general and his men.

It was too late. The ‘droids blasted their way through the wall, bore down on the General and his men, cutting them to the ground like rag dolls with a volley of gun blasts.

“Vickers!” Petal screamed and uselessly held out her hand, willing him to keep going, to reach the rising ramp of the transporter.

The General spoke in ragged breaths over the comm. “Go! Leave! Head for the Dome. I was wrong. I was so wrong. I’m—”

A single shot to the head finished him off.

A ‘droid stood over his dead body, looked up at Petal, and raised its rifle.

The pilot of the transporter fired up the engines, sending the plane higher. The ‘droid’s shot missed, ricocheted off the thick graphene-steel shell.

Holding onto a strap at the rear of the plane, Petal looked out onto the scene of the ’droids marching out of the city and gunning down the last of Criborg’s infantry personnel. The ramp slowly rose, but before it could completely seal shut, she saw the clouds of dust from an advancing force in the distance. The Red Widows are on their way. It wouldn’t be long now.

Before the ‘droids could mobilise and shoot the plans from the sky, the pilots engaged evasive manoeuvres, dropping a billowing cloud of thick black smoke. They gained altitude to get beyond their rifles’ range, and obscured themselves beyond the cloud cover before heading for City Earth.

Petal slumped to the floor of the hull. It had all gone so bad so quickly. Their entire military squad wiped out by their very own invention. Petal kicked out at the plane and screamed. All her previous hope and confidence drained away in one single frustrated display of fury.

The others sat shell-shocked. She made her way through the aisle to her seat. She turned to Robertson and Sasha. “I thought you said they were good? Reliable? Their software was okay, you said!”

Sasha shook his head. “They were. The techs checked them before we set out.”

“Then how the hell?”

Gerry stood from his seat, approached Petal.

“I don’t think Red Widow are as backwards as they make out, technologically speaking.”

Petal looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a lot of data flowing out of Darkhan on the Meshwork. It spiked before Vickers spoke. It appears they have some elite level hackers in their ranks.”

“Or we have a rat on the inside,” Sasha said, wiping her eyes, no doubt full of grief for her general.

“Like who? We’re all that’s left,” Petal said.

Gerry shrugged. “It’s no one here. The data clearly came from Darkhan.”

Petal looked to Robertson. “I assume you’re in control of Criborg’s people now, Doc?”

He appeared to have aged a decade in the last few minutes. She wondered if he wouldn’t have preferred to stay underground. All those years he had waited and now his compatriots get taken out within minutes. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he crumbled. It appeared his initial reluctance was justified.

“It, it looks that way,” he said after scanning the transporter.

“So what’s the plan?” Petal said.

“Fall back to City Earth, I suppose,” he said, slumping his shoulders. “Regroup. See if we can get support from The Family. Otherwise, we’re on our own.”

“Don’t worry, Doc. We’re used to that,” Petal said.

Chapter 29

W
hile the transporters headed to the Dome, Gerry scanned the Meshwork, tried to find a trace of the data spike he’d detected earlier, just before the ‘droids went wrong. Whoever had sent the data certainly knew how to cover their tracks.

All along the route, the data had been scrubbed so there were no hints as to what the information might have contained.

“Doctor Robertson,” Gerry called over the aisle. “How do you access the ‘droids?”

The rotund scientist lifted a weary head, raised his greying eyebrows. “They’re on a secure peer-to-peer network with each other. A single ‘droid acts as a router to carry and receive instructions to the others.”

“Okay, so we need to access that main one and take control, right?”

Robertson shook his head. “I tried that as soon as I heard Vickers’s message. It appears they’ve been taken offline.”

“Then how? Oh crap. You didn’t make them autonomous, did you?”

“That was their strength,” Robertson argued, as if trying to defend their very creation. “Each one was its own distinct artificial intelligence. Each one recognised itself and acted accordingly within a set of parameters, controlled and communicated by the designated router-droid. The idea was that in a war scenario, they’d be able to think for themselves when their instruction criteria changed quickly, or if their connection to their controllers was severed or jammed.”

“Well, it seems your ‘droids hate us, if this was their decision.”

“No, they can’t feel.”

“Whether they can or can’t, it’s clear the software ain’t worth a damn.” Gerry shook his head. How the hell could this guy create something so dangerous and put it into the wild without some kind of safety backup?

Gabe leaned forward from his seat behind Gerry. “Chill, man. We’ll figure this out. They’ve been hacked once, we can do it again, yeah?”

“I can’t find them on the network,” Gerry said. “How can we even attempt it if we don’t have a connection with them?”

“Red Widow do,” Gabe said with a slight grin on his face.

“Yeah, and? Got a trick up your sleeve, Gabe?”

“Let’s say I learned some things during my time there, man. Give me access to Omega, and I’ll find ya an access point.”

“We’re approaching the Dome. Awaiting orders,” the pilot said over the public address.

Everyone on the plane turned to look at Gerry, waiting, expecting.

The weight of responsibility threatened to crush him, but he thought about everything he had fought for, bled for, and realised this strange group of people needed someone to help focus them, provide leadership.

Robertson was among the others looking to Gerry for guidance. Even Enna and Gabe were waiting. It seemed everyone had deferred to him. Looking at Jess, now wrapped in someone’s clean coat, he saw the fear in her eyes.

She’d barely spoken a word since he took her out of harm’s way in Darkhan. He then thought back to when he found Steven in his old house, looking like some kind of starved fugitive. He had to step up and take responsibility. Even if it was to make sure the kids had at least some kind of future that didn’t involve them being killed or enslaved.

“Malik, can you square it with security and let us in?” Gerry said.

“I should be able to. Give me a minute,” the City Earth security officer connected his discrete ear communicator to the City Earth security channel. While he was chatting, Gerry addressed Gabe. “Can you work with Alpha and Omega? Let’s see if we can disrupt Red Widow’s tech, or whatever it is that has taken over the ‘droids, and get them back in our control.”

Gabe grinned and nodded, made his dreads wobble around his old face. He moved up the aisle to join the others. He patted Gerry on the shoulder as he passed. “On it, man,” he said.

“As for everyone else. Those with military experience or skills please liaise with Cheska over here and form some kind of tactical plan in case we need to fight either Red Widow or The Family. From now on, we’re all one group, one people. We look out for each other. Understand?”

A group chorus of ‘Yes’ went up, enthusiasm and strength coming back to their faces as Gerry’s plans and leadership started to seep in, his tasks focusing their efforts.

“Enna, any issues with you and The Family we should know about before we go into the Dome?” Gerry asked. Although she was his aunt, and had previously looked out for him, the nature of her relationship with The Family as a whole was always vague and undefined. He wanted to be sure of her motivations and alliances.

“I’m not going with them, if that’s what you mean,” Enna said. “My place is down here. All the work I did was only partially for them. It allowed me a freedom to work away from their tyranny in return for certain information. But trust me, Gerry. They don’t know everything that I’ve been doing here. They know almost nothing of the servers and my work with the transcendents. I’m not looking to give up that technology.”

“Probably best you stay out of harm’s way and help Gabe to infiltrate Red Widow’s control over the ‘droids?” Gerry said.

“I can do that.”

“Good.”

“We’ve got clearance, Gerry,” Malik said from further up the aisle. “I’ll send the pilot the info.”

“Thanks, Malik. Okay, everyone. Here’s the plan as far as I see it. We know for a fact that The Family plan to nuke the place. They’re done with us. Look.” Gerry pointed out of the side window of the transporter. “Even now they’re evacuating the supposedly important people and leaving everyone else to survive on their own. They’ve abandoned the human race. Hell, they don’t even think they’re human anymore.”

“Bastards,” Petal said. “Utter bastards.”

“Right,” Gerry said. “The plan is we go in, stay together, and I’ll go meet with this ambassador who’s going to try and convince me and Petal to return with them. But frankly, screw that. We’re not going anywhere. This city was my home, it was the symbol of hope and safety for humankind, and I’m not going to let it go up in smoke. I’ll talk to them. Try to buy some time.

“Petal. While I’m dealing with The Family, I’d like you and the Doc here to piggyback my connection with their station and get into their computers. Let’s see if we can disrupt their weapons systems, perhaps incapacitate their nuke capability.”

“Got it,” Petal said. “Just give me the word and I’ll see what I can do.”

The transporter arced and started its descent approaching the Dome. The city loomed large through the small side windows, glowing with its interior light like some kind of magic orb. The pilot steered the transporter inside, landing it on the runway. When it came to a stop in a designated space, the ramp lowered.

Outside stood a tall, thin man wearing a light grey suit. He waved at Gerry. From the fashion of his suit, Gerry knew it to be The Family’s so-called ambassador, but he also knew this
man
was no such thing.