Angela fed possible configurations onto the net and the Marines looked them over.
Tanis proceeded to give out the orders. “Dvorak, Trist, I want you to head to the comm shack at the far end of the dock. The NNs are all maintaining connections to it, so it’s quite possible that our culprit is down there. The rest of us will do a standard grid sweep across the rest of the dock. Don’t forget to load those configs into your structural scanners. I’ve also got the net source signatures of the NN connections from the 701. They’re on the tac net as well. Check every piece of cargo that’s making a net connection for that route.”
The Marines all saluted and dispersed to the grid locations that Kowalski laid out.
<We’ve got an idea here.> Simon’s comment came over the broad channel on the engineer’s net. <It’s entirely possible that what we’re dealing with is not an MDC emitter at all, but more of a trigger device.> <Go on,> Tanis replied.
<Well, we’ve been thinking that anything that would emit the MDC beam would have to be pretty obvious; it would need a large waveform guide, either ES or physical, and there are only so many configurations for those. The most obvious ones would be the main comm hookups for the Intrepid, but they’re not rated for nearly enough power and would trip and/or fry long before you could emit this type of wave from them.> <So what’s the end result of all of this?>
<Well, we think the weapon is the Intrepid.> That possibility had never even occurred to her. <How could the ship be the weapon?> <ES ramscoops are essentially, as you know, is really the base of any MDC. The Intrepid has the most powerful one ever created.> <So you’re saying that somehow this system will trigger the Intrepid’s ramscoop to create an MDC field effect on itself?> <Or on the ring and they’ll just let it spill over onto the ship. Even if it doesn’t I somehow think it will go very badly for the Intrepid.> <Lose/lose for us and win/win for Strang,> Tanis said. <So how do you think they’re going to trigger it?> <We’re still working on that, as well as trying to see if we can find the control software and shut it down. Even if the Intrepid doesn’t dock, I’m betting that this thing will still make the ship direct an MDC field at the ring.> <Impetus for us to figure this out.> Tanis’s tone was somber.
<Er…yes, sir.>
Tanis passed the information to the Marines and followed after Dvorak and Trist who were making their way across the dock toward the comm shack. If what they were dealing with really was just a trigger and it was using the waveguides to generate some sort of cohesion beam then it was even more likely that the answer was in the comm gear.
She hopped on a hover heading to the far end of the dock and brought up the records for the comm shack. Sure enough, a service entry was logged last month, a full twenty weeks before any scheduled maintenance—with no record of malfunction being filed.
“Seems a bit suspicious,” Tanis muttered to herself. She passed the information to Trist and Dvorak along with the details of the repair job. The chance of the info about logged repair being related to the actual work done was slim, but it was a place to start. The hover dropped her off near the comm shack and Tanis kept an eye peeled for anything suspicious as she entered the room.
All ship to station net traffic would pass through the equipment in the shack and since this dock was reserved for larger ships, a lot of systems were crammed in the twenty-meter-long space. After a moment’s search Tanis found Trist and Dvorak already hunched over consoles.
Not wanting to interrupt them, she turned and examined the room, looking for the largest conduit which would likely be connected to the trigger device. Several large plasma lines ran out of the room and onto the dock. Tanis followed them and saw that they terminated at an array of beam emitters and receivers.
They were mounted to a column that ran down from the dock’s ceiling. The design allowed them to rotate and slide into the best position to make a Link with a docked ship.
Tanis pulled up the specs, matching each device in the array to the design blueprints. As expected, something was not right. One emitter looked like a G1 TR3, but was not.
“Aha!” Tanis realized that her vocal proclamation wasn’t all that helpful. <Aha!> <You’ve got something?> Simon asked.
Tanis put a visual of the added component on the tactical and engineering nets. Lively debate ensued between Dvorak, Trist, the engineers and several of the AI.
Tanis took the moment to review the arrival time of the Intrepid. It was getting close; within thirty minutes they would be making the seal. The outer hatches had already opened and the atmosphere on the dock was being held in by an ES field. If she looked carefully at the mass of local traffic through the opening it was possible to see a pattern clearing to allow the colony ship through.
<We need to tell them not to dock,> Tanis said.
<We need to tell everyone not to dock, and clear the ring while we’re at it,> Lieutenant Simon said. <We can’t find the control software; it’s probably on a timer. If this thing triggers without the Intrepid to absorb the effect it’s going to bounce back off that ES shield and nail the ring.> <It’s not an MDC, it’s just a trigger beam. What will it do to the ring?> Simon paused, and she could see calculations being done on the engineers’ net. <We’re not certain, but we think that since it’s essentially a stasis beam it will cause the ring to seize. It may tear it out of alignment with the other rings. It would almost certainly collide with another ring in that event.> <That’s almost worse than the MDC!> Trist exclaimed.
“I’m cut too; we’ve lost all Link to any nets outside of this dock,” Trist said.
“I’ve got no external wireless connections,” Dvorak added.
Tanis looked up to see one/two running toward the comm shack. “Taylor. Someone’s dampened the dock. Check outside and see if you can get—” The whine of railguns coming from the dock’s entrance interrupted her.
“Aw fuck,” Private Weber cursed. “Never a dull moment with you around, Major.”
“Glad to oblige.” Tanis tried to contact two/three on the discreet Link that military teams could use at close range.
<What’s your status, Kowalski?>
<We’re near the entrance. The regulars there are gone, we’re trying to hold these mofos at bay, but nothing here is holding up against their rails.> He put data up on the tactical net showing over a dozen attackers, some wearing heavy armor.
Tanis pulled up a map of the dock and examined it. <Fall back to coordinates F/3.1, behind those steel crates; they’re full of some high-density raw alloys that should stop whatever those rails are flinging.> <Yes, sir, thank you, sir.>
Kowalski initiated a local combat net which Tanis extended to Trist before marking two/three’s current position and destination on it. She turned to one/two. “Weber, you stay with Dvorak and Trist. You two try to determine how to disable that thing.” Tanis pointed up at the emitter. “We could just blast it, but who knows what sort of failsafes and detectors it has.”
“Yeah, I’m typically against blowing things up that we don’t understand.” Dvorak’s tone was dry, but Tanis could tell it masked concern.
“The rest of you, we’re moving to position G/4.2. We’ll set up cover for two/three and try to catch whoever this is in our crossfire.”
“I’m guessing that it’s someone who wants to stop us from disabling this little party trick here,” Taylor said.
“Or just someone with amazingly bad timing,” Perez grinned.
“What, like your jokes?” Weber asked.
“This is the second time I’ve been attacked today.” Tanis sighed. “I’m beginning to think some cosmic force wants me dead.”
“I’d bet more on simple human forces wanting you dead…sir,” Perez replied.
Tanis cast him a futile quelling glare and the fireteam moved out, hopping on a hover
traveling in roughly the right direction. Tanis stayed back, monitoring two/three as well as Trist and Dvorak’s progress.
Two/three had managed to reach their position with no injuries and were returning fire on the attackers. Their feed of the enemy was on the combat net and Tanis saw they were fighting more of the same heavily-armed men from the conflict on Mars 1. The count came to be under forty enemy.
<Coordinate fire on their forward ranks,> Tanis said. <We need to halt their advance until backup arrives.> <It’s weird that backup isn’t here yet,> Salas commented. <I mean, we have several platoons within a klick or two.> <Don’t get your hopes up,> Dvorak cut in. <This dampening extends past the dock from what I can tell. I doubt anyone knows anything is up—not until the monitoring AI realize they’ve lost comm with the TSF guards at the dock entrances.> <What’s ETA on that?> Tanis asked.
<Based on the current alert level, it should have already happened—they’ve probably subverted some monitoring systems. I’d bank on at least ten minutes before that’s detected.> <Chances are that this will be over in ten minutes,> Reddy grunted.
Tanis realized that in those ten minutes the Intrepid would be making its seal. Whoever was orchestrating this party had to be making certain that all appeared outwardly normal on the dock. She thought briefly of the TSF guards and a feeling of guilt assaulted Tanis momentarily. She should have warned the guards there to be on the lookout for trouble. Their names were added to her list.
Tanis steeled herself and addressed the teams. <I think we have to consider ourselves to be on our own for this one, folks, but if it’s do or die in the next ten minutes, then it’s going to be do or die on our terms.> With her nanoprobe net extended, Tanis gathered an aerial survey of the combat zone. Sure enough the attackers were trying to flank the Marines. It’s what she would have done. A quick run through the cargo manifests revealed several things that could be of use. A crate ten meters away contained automated servitors to be used for scrubbing air ducts in environmental processing plants in the colony station. They were equipped with scalpeling lasers that could remove deposits and corrosion with ease. She sent a command to the crate to unseal, and a quorum of nano flew over to activate the servitors.
<I’ve got some bots moving in to cover our right flank—they should hold, or at the least alert us to the enemy’s position, but we’re open on our left flank. Altair and Reddy, I want you to take up a position in around those blue containers. I’ve put cargo density on the combat net; find a solid something and lay down suppressive fire. I don’t care what you mow through—in fact, destroy as much of their cover as you can.> Altair and Reddy signaled green on the net and Salas and Arsen lobbed several concussion grenades before opening up with their assault rifles. The action gave their squad mates ample cover to get in the best positions to return fire.
However, the moment they ducked down to reload, the enemy delivered a withering assault with their railguns. Molten plas and steel sprayed out from each impact.
<Heads up people, those rails are firing plasma at us.> <Aw fuck,> Perez swore. <Just what my day needs, having a limb blown off and then melted.> <I don’t think it actually works that way,> Taylor said.
<Or at least not in that order,> Weber added.
Despite the Marines’ best efforts, the enemy was advancing. There was only so much they could do against an enemy that outnumbered them four to one and had superior firepower.
<Angela, I know you’re busy with Dvorak and Trist, but why isn’t this dock’s security system engaging?> <I’m guessing it’s jammed,> Angela replied. <Not really that surprising.> <Yeah, but jammed centrally, or locally?>
Angela’s avatar grinned. <I gotcha. Let me see if I can take manual control of the suppressors. Gonna need a few of your synapses to do it, but I’ll try to use stuff you don’t need right now.> Tanis got that distracted feeling she experienced whenever Angela was using a substantial part of her brain to help work through a difficult problem. It was almost like a buzzing going on in the back of her mind, causing segments of code or raw mathematical theorems to flash through the background of her thoughts.
<I’ve got control of the individual suppressors,> Angela said after a few moments, <but there is a physical disconnect on the power conduits for their firing mechanisms. I’ve located it here.> A position flashed on the map of the dock. <You’ll need to climb up there and reconnect the line.> <Of course I will.> Tanis sighed.
<Well, not you actually; whoever goes up there stands a good chance of getting shot and Trist and Dvorak need me to help them work out this thingamabob on the comm system.> Tanis chuckled. <A little self-preservation, eh?> <Well, right now if I die, we all die.>
<I can’t say I disagree with that.>
Tanis laid out the scenario to her two squads. Taylor spoke up as soon as she was done. <Weber and I will take it. We’re in the best position and we’ve got some experience with stuff like that.> <Then it’s yours. We’ll cover you.>
The two men dashed from their position, rolling and sliding across open spaces to present the smallest targets possible. The power junction was on a catwalk seven meters above the deck and while a few crates rose higher, much of their climb would be in the open.
“Good luck,” Tanis whispered. < C’mon Marines, let’s lay down one hell of a distraction.> In a coordinated effort, grenades were lobbed and fire spewed out of assault rifles and slug throwers to hide the movements and destination of Taylor and Weber. Combat net showed they were almost at their goal and just had the climb ahead of them. Tanis saw they had opted to scale the back of a radioactive waste storage container rather than take the more exposed ladder along the wall. It would be quite the leap to the catwalk, but the two men must have thought they could make it.
Tanis swung a probe into their area to see a pair of the enemy on the opposite side of the container the Marines were climbing. She sent the feed to Weber. Upon reaching the top of the container he crouched and lobbed two conc grenades over the far side. Twin blasts ripped apart several crates and Weber leaned over the top and delivered a barrage of slugs from his assault rifle before continuing with blasts from his pulse rifle, while his automatic reloader fed fresh ammunition into the AR.
Taylor had used the distraction to make the leap to the catwalk. He crouched low, unfastening the cover to the power conduit’s coupling. A plasma pellet hit the catwalk near him, half blasting and half melting a portion of the structure away. The unsteady surface shook and swayed, but Taylor held his position while Weber threw his last grenade at the attacker who had made the shot.
<Almost have it,> Taylor said as another shot struck near him. The cover was off and he was reconnecting the coupling. He was fastening the cover when another plasma pellet sliced through the railing behind him and tore the catwalk under him off the bulkhead. He was wrapped in the twisted metal as it fell six meters to the deck below. Weber swore both audibly and over the net as he jumped down from his perch and raced to where Taylor’s body lay—what was left of it.
<He’s gone.> Weber’s tone was low and pained.
<We’ll mourn him later,> Kowalski said. <Keep that flank secure, they’re trying to rush us.> <They’re in for a surprise.> Angela brought the dock’s security systems online. Pulse particle turrets lowered from the ceiling and opened up on the enemy. Angela didn’t care what she hit—her only concern was that as long as it wouldn’t cause a blast big enough to kill the Marines or Tanis it was expendable. The attackers were forced back, and though they were able to take out the turrets one by one, they lost over fifteen of their number in several seconds.
<What’s our status on the device?> Tanis asked.
<We’ve located the software running it and are cracking it now,> Trist replied. <It has several failsafes, so we’ve got multiple worms wo
rking their way in from oblique angles. Give us three more minutes and we’ll have it neutralized.> <You sure we just can’t shoot the damn thing?> Perez asked.
<If we do, the plasma surge will just dump out onto the dock when it tries to fire. It won’t be detrimental to the Intrepid or the ring, but we’ll all die.> <Last resort then,> Tanis said. <Three minutes is cutting it damn close, though.> Her words were emphasized by a slight rumble that passed through the deck plate as the ring made magnetic grapple with the Intrepid.
<They’ve got reinforcements coming in!> Kowalski called out. <We’ve got to fall back.> Tanis looked over the updates flowing into the combat net. At least another forty enemy were entering the dock from other entrances and the Marines were once again in danger of being flanked.
<This is too open here,> Tanis said. <Fall back using the plan I’ve laid in. We’ll create a perimeter around Dvorak and Trist.> <Not a lot of dense cargo there,> Jansen replied.
<There will be.> Tanis accessed the automatic loaders, tapping into several haulers and agrav pads loaded with dense items. She configured them to move into positions to cover the Marines as they retreated.
<Mighty sweet of you, Major,> Perez said. <Always nice to have cover when I run.> <Shut it, Perez,> Kowalski said. <Just shoot that bastard trying to kill you on the left.> <I see him, I see him.>
Things were getting tense; the fireteams were pulled back as tight as they could manage around the comm shack, but the plasma rails were chewing up the cover. Tanis was trying to bring in more cargo, but their attackers had wised up and were shooting any haulers or grav pads they saw.
A low boom echoed through the dock and Tanis knew that the Intrepid had completed its docking procedure. It was just over a minute early. Any moment now the ES shield would drop and the trigger mechanism would fire. She saw the Marines all shift, their posture showing that they were taking a last stand approach to the fight. They’d go down as heroes.
“We’re so fucking close,” Dvorak swore. “Just one more goddamn minute and we’ll have this bastard cracked.”