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Authors: Martin Wilsey
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brought the G-rail to bear on the drone and pulled
the trigger. He wasn’t perfectly on target, so when he went to
adjust the weapon to be on target it wouldn’t budge. He let off
the trigger so he could move it again.
This time, he positioned it so the target would fly into the
weapon’s path, and pulled the trigger. He waited, watching the
drone approach the crosshairs.
When the drone crossed into
the weapon’s sights, the weapon fired.
McDonald was knocked from his
feet . Not from any recoil, but from the
quake in the surface that resulted when the distant mountain peaks
were completely sheared off. The G-rail hung there for two more seconds
before falling to the apron. Its power display faced McDonald,
reading 6% in red.
He could hear alarms in his comms
unit. “Vittori, what’s happening?”
“ The shockwave cracked the
seals on three outer airlocks and an empty residence. We’re
holding pressure, though …” Vittori spoke quickly. She was suddenly on the
edge of panic, all professionalism having vanished. “Fuck me raw,
Tom. The primary long range QUEST comm array is gone.”
“ What do you mean, gone?
Did we sever a cable?” It was dawning on him as he stood and looked
in the direction of the distant communication facility. The entire
communications installation had been beyond the drone.
“ Oh my God… no real-time
comms?” he said.
“ Turned to powder, sir.”
Vittori was collecting herself now.
Matthews stepped up beside
McDonald. He had retrieved the G-rail and shut it down. Removing the
depleted power pack, he handed it to his stunned boss, and said,
“Are you all right, Sir?”
McDonald turned to
Matthews. “I want that fucking thing in the vault with all the
power packs, and then get your ass on a shuttle and assess the damage.” He
looked back at the hangar opening. “Take Hearn with you. No
discussions over the radios. It’s all monitored by that god-forsaken AI.”
McDonald stepped through
the grav- wall into the hangar. Matthews followed reluctantly.
McDonald took off his
helmet and scratched his nose. Eyes lowered; he said to Hearn, “I think I
just killed Emerson, Tyler and Garcia at the comms
station.”
“ They were all
stupid assholes
anyway, ” Hearn said indifferently as he admired
the weapon. “Tyler was a mole for the Chancellor.”
***
“ Emerson, Tyler, and
Garcia are confirmed dead. They all had full-time comm link HUDs, and they
all flashed off at the same moment,” Vittori said. “Even worse, we
have lost the Quantum Entanglement Synchronous Transmitter,” The
two of them were alone in the control center, and she could not
meet McDonald’s gaze. “No real-time two-way comms with Earth,” She
felt responsible.
Good, he thought to himself. He was going to blame her in his
report anyway . He looked forward to her efforts to avoid that blame. She
was fit, had excellent grooming, and was... durable.
“ I want a status report
ready for conventional transmission in thirty minutes. I’ve already
sent a burst transmission reporting that we are not dead and that
the prisoner is secure. I do NOT want any of the Chancellor’s ships
in my sky. Is that clear?” He was leaning on her hard.
“ Sir… Tom. I’m sorry.” She
finally looked up. The cold professional scientist was gone. Her
eyes welled with unshed tears.
McDonald placed a hand on her
shoulder. “I know. We’ll sort it all out later. In private.” He
paused, squeezing her shoulder. “We don’t have the bandwidth on the
secondary comms, so don’t send the raw data, but tell them why we
are not sending it. It would take 78 minutes to get
there.”
“ Yes, sir.” Vittori was
collecting herself.
“ Vittori… Kristin. I think
we were set up.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the base. “I
think that son of a bitch knew something like this would happen, and he
did nothing to stop it.” He could see the lie take hold in her
eyes. She had been hoping that somehow it
the trigger. He wasn’t perfectly on target, so when he went to
adjust the weapon to be on target it wouldn’t budge. He let off
the trigger so he could move it again.
This time, he positioned it so the target would fly into the
weapon’s path, and pulled the trigger. He waited, watching the
drone approach the crosshairs.
When the drone crossed into
the weapon’s sights, the weapon fired.
McDonald was knocked from his
feet . Not from any recoil, but from the
quake in the surface that resulted when the distant mountain peaks
were completely sheared off. The G-rail hung there for two more seconds
before falling to the apron. Its power display faced McDonald,
reading 6% in red.
He could hear alarms in his comms
unit. “Vittori, what’s happening?”
“ The shockwave cracked the
seals on three outer airlocks and an empty residence. We’re
holding pressure, though …” Vittori spoke quickly. She was suddenly on the
edge of panic, all professionalism having vanished. “Fuck me raw,
Tom. The primary long range QUEST comm array is gone.”
“ What do you mean, gone?
Did we sever a cable?” It was dawning on him as he stood and looked
in the direction of the distant communication facility. The entire
communications installation had been beyond the drone.
“ Oh my God… no real-time
comms?” he said.
“ Turned to powder, sir.”
Vittori was collecting herself now.
Matthews stepped up beside
McDonald. He had retrieved the G-rail and shut it down. Removing the
depleted power pack, he handed it to his stunned boss, and said,
“Are you all right, Sir?”
McDonald turned to
Matthews. “I want that fucking thing in the vault with all the
power packs, and then get your ass on a shuttle and assess the damage.” He
looked back at the hangar opening. “Take Hearn with you. No
discussions over the radios. It’s all monitored by that god-forsaken AI.”
McDonald stepped through
the grav- wall into the hangar. Matthews followed reluctantly.
McDonald took off his
helmet and scratched his nose. Eyes lowered; he said to Hearn, “I think I
just killed Emerson, Tyler and Garcia at the comms
station.”
“ They were all
stupid assholes
anyway, ” Hearn said indifferently as he admired
the weapon. “Tyler was a mole for the Chancellor.”
***
“ Emerson, Tyler, and
Garcia are confirmed dead. They all had full-time comm link HUDs, and they
all flashed off at the same moment,” Vittori said. “Even worse, we
have lost the Quantum Entanglement Synchronous Transmitter,” The
two of them were alone in the control center, and she could not
meet McDonald’s gaze. “No real-time two-way comms with Earth,” She
felt responsible.
Good, he thought to himself. He was going to blame her in his
report anyway . He looked forward to her efforts to avoid that blame. She
was fit, had excellent grooming, and was... durable.
“ I want a status report
ready for conventional transmission in thirty minutes. I’ve already
sent a burst transmission reporting that we are not dead and that
the prisoner is secure. I do NOT want any of the Chancellor’s ships
in my sky. Is that clear?” He was leaning on her hard.
“ Sir… Tom. I’m sorry.” She
finally looked up. The cold professional scientist was gone. Her
eyes welled with unshed tears.
McDonald placed a hand on her
shoulder. “I know. We’ll sort it all out later. In private.” He
paused, squeezing her shoulder. “We don’t have the bandwidth on the
secondary comms, so don’t send the raw data, but tell them why we
are not sending it. It would take 78 minutes to get
there.”
“ Yes, sir.” Vittori was
collecting herself.
“ Vittori… Kristin. I think
we were set up.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the base. “I
think that son of a bitch knew something like this would happen, and he
did nothing to stop it.” He could see the lie take hold in her
eyes. She had been hoping that somehow it
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