Dreadnaught: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Omega Taskforce Book 5) Read online

  “What’s the status of our engines?” queried Sterling, directing the question at Commander Banks who was at the helm control station.

  “The engine restart sequence is primed and ready to engage on your order, Captain,” said Banks, swiveling her chair to face him.

  “What about weapons?” Sterling turned to address Lieutenant Shade. She was enveloped inside the substantial tactical station to Sterling’s right, assisted by an Obsidian Soldier. The machine was currently standing quietly to attention to her rear.

  “We have Obsidian Soldiers crewing the main port- and starboard-side plasma cannon batteries,” Shade replied, flitting from console to console. “The turret systems and point defenses are currently on computer control, though we have only forty percent capacity and limited targeting capabilities. The main forward battery is currently offline.”

  Sterling nodded. “That’s still enough firepower to take down a squadron of Skirmishers, should we need to,” he said. Even at reduced capacity, the Vanguard was still a potent force.

  Sterling then tapped his neural interface, striking his temple with far more force than he’d intended to, thanks to his new metal hand. He waited for the stab of pain to subside, then reached out to Lieutenant Razor. The link formed and was strong thanks to the neural relays built into the ship’s structure. However, Razor’s voice was a little thin compared to a direct connection.

  “How’s it looking down in the engine room, Lieutenant?” Sterling asked his chief engineer.

  “The main reactor is at fifty-nine percent, sir,” Razor replied. Sterling then felt the link waver slightly and he could sense that his engineer was experiencing some discomfort. The computer on his wrist chimed an alert. Sterling quickly checked it and cursed.

  “What is it?” asked Banks.

  Sterling double-tapped his neural interface to put the link to Razor on hold. “It’s the warning alert that Commander Graves set up,” he said, studying the display intently.

  Banks shot up and practically sprinted across the cavernous interior of the CIC. She arrived at Sterling’s side within seconds.

  “How far has the neural damage progressed?” Banks asked, also peering down at Sterling’s computer.

  “It’s just a preliminary warning,” Sterling replied. He activated the kill switch that would send a shock pulse through Razor’s brain, killing her instantly. “But I’m not taking any chances,” he added, glancing across to his first officer.

  Sterling cast his mind back to the moment where Lieutenant Razor had used James’ Colicos experimental neural translation matrix to interface with a Sa’Nerran commander. At the time, it had been their only option to coerce the alien leader into retrieving information they needed from the Sa’Nerran gatekeeper ship’s computer. However, the engineer’s early neural firewall design had failed to protect Razor from the influence of the experimental control device. Commander Graves had managed to limit and contain the neural corruption, but they all knew – Razor most of all – that in time the corruption would spread. And when that happened, Razor would be turned. The kill-switch was their failsafe to prevent this from happening. It allowed Sterling to instantly terminate Lieutenant Razor’s life. It was a last resort, but a regrettably necessary one.

  Sterling re-opened the link to his chief engineer. He had no intention of hiding his discovery from her. His officer deserved to know the truth.

  “Lieutenant, I’m picking up an increased level of neural corruption,” Sterling said. “We’re approaching the danger zone, and if that happens…”

  “I know what happens then, sir,” Razor cut in. Her interruption was bordering on insubordinate, but considering the circumstances, Sterling allowed her some leeway. The link was silent for a few moments before Razor spoke again. This time she was her more usual, calm and assured self. “Standby, Captain. Give me thirty seconds.”

  “Understood, Lieutenant, but that’s all I can give you,” Sterling answered.

  This wasn’t an attempt to focus his engineer’s mind. Genuinely, if Razor could do nothing to reverse the effects in the next half-minute, she was dead anyway. The link again went quiet, but the connection was still strong. Sterling continued to watch the display on his computer. The degree of corruption was not yet at a level that required him to terminate his officer, but unless something changed soon, he’d have no choice but to kill her.

  “How does it look now, Captain?” Razor spoke over the link.

  Sterling met Banks’ eyes briefly then peered down at the display. For several seconds nothing changed; the corruption was still spreading. Cursing under his breath, he hovered his finger over the kill switch and waited. Then he began to see the corruption indicator fall. Several seconds later the alarm stopped chiming as the indicator fell into the safe zone. Sterling breathed a sigh of relief and closed the kill-switch panel.

  “It’s dropped back into the safe zone, Lieutenant,” Sterling said over the link. “What did you do?”

  “I regret to admit that I forgot to administer one of Commander Graves’ neural treatments, sir,” Razor replied. Sterling could feel her embarrassment though the link.

  “Just one, Lieutenant?” Sterling asked.

  “Perhaps two, sir,” the engineer admitted. “I’ve been so busy that it slipped my mind.”

  Sterling cursed and shook his head. “Those treatments are not optional, Lieutenant,” he hit back. “I was seconds away from having to fry your brain, and I’ve lost enough good crew members already.”

  “I understand, sir,” Razor replied. “I will not miss another treatment.”

  “Make sure you don’t,” Sterling replied, resting forward on his station and using it for support.

  “The main reactor is now at sixty-one percent, sir,” Razor added, swiftly changing the subject. “We’re ready for main engine restart.”

  “Understood, Lieutenant, we’ll take it from here,” Sterling replied, before tapping his interface to close the link.

  “I’ll speak to Graves and make sure he keeps a closer watch on her condition,” said Banks, stepping off the command platform and heading back to the helm controls. “The last thing we need right now is to be without a chief engineer.”

  Sterling glanced around the CIC, which contained as many Obsidian Soldiers as it did human Fleet crew and nodded. “Let’s get back to Omega Four as quickly as possible,” he said, waiting for Banks to slide back into her chair. “Initiate engine restart sequence.”

  “Initiate engine restart sequence, aye Captain,” repeated Banks, tapping the command into her console.

  Moments later the deck plates beneath Sterling’s feet began to shudder. Two hard thumps followed as the maneuvering engines fired up. Then it felt like the ship had been rear-ended by a small moon. Sterling was jolted against his console and he instinctively gripped the sides more tightly to steady himself.

  “Report,” Sterling called out, noticing that the fingers on his bionic right hand had dented the metal to the side of the console.

  “Main engines online and stabilizing,” Banks replied. “Helm controls are responding.”

  “Set course for the nearest aperture then slow ahead, Commander,” Sterling added, tapping his finger into one of the new dents on his console. “Let’s keep it steady until the engines have had time to limber up again.”

  Sterling felt a link form in his mind from Lieutenant Razor. He allowed it and opened it so that Banks and Shade could monitor.

  “Engine restart successful, Captain.” Though her voice did not convey any pride, Sterling could feel that she was satisfied with her work. “I’d recommend to keep them below two-thirds standard for the first two hours, but after that I’m confident we can push her to full ahead.”

  “Good work, Lieutenant,” Sterling replied. “Inform Commander Banks as soon as full engine power is available.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Razor replied, smartly.

  Sterling felt a buzz tingle throughout his still weary frame. It was euphoric and far
more uplifting than any drug his creepy medical officer had prescribed to him. He slapped the sides of his console triumphantly, though he was careful this time not to overdo it with his new, bionic hand.

  “We’re on our way!” Sterling said, smiling first at Banks, who returned the smile, then at Shade, who did not. “Congratulations, all of you. This is a significant victory and one you should all be proud of.”

  The doors to the CIC then swished open and the thud of metallic feet entered. Sterling spun around and frowned at the new arrivals. Five Obsidian Soldiers had just marched into the room and Sterling noted that all of them were armed. He could feel the senses of his first officer and weapons officer sharpen. Both were alert to the danger. It did not need to be spoken, either out loud or through their minds.

  The five Obsidian Soldiers took up positions at the rear of the CIC before a sixth robot entered, dragging something behind it. The machine moved through the line of other robotic warriors and approached the command center. It stopped a few meters in front of Sterling then threw the object it had been dragging behind it to the deck. Sterling’s gut tightened into a knot. The Obsidian Soldier had cast the lifeless body of Emissary Lana McQueen at his feet.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Sterling demanded, fighting hard to contain his emotions so as to speak with authority. “Return to your stations at once, and take that with you!”

  The Obsidian Soldier ignored the command and simply pointed to the body. “You told me that the Sa’Nerra are the enemy,” the machine said.

  “That’s correct, soldier,” Sterling replied. From the way the machine spoke and the unique markings on its armor, he recognized it as the leader machine that had gone AWOL after the battle to secure the ship.

  “This enemy is a human female,” the Obsidian Soldier said, still pointing at the dead body of McQueen.

  “She sided with the enemy,” Sterling replied. “That makes her the same as the Sa’Nerra.”

  Sterling could sense his other officers through the link. Both Banks and Shade were getting ready to move. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Shade had drawn her weapon and he cursed himself for not wearing his.

  “The other human female that was killed had not sided with the Sa’Nerra,” the machine countered. “Yet scanner logs indicate that you killed her too.”

  Sterling silently cursed, remembering that the lead soldier had been present during his rescue. It would have seen Corporeal Dietrich’s body too and had inevitably gone snooping around in the ship’s logs.

  “That was different,” Sterling replied, unsure of how to tackle the subject in a way the machine might understand. “It’s complicated, but we can talk about it.”

  The Obsidian Soldier shook its cranial unit. “The conclusion is clear,” the machine said. “You killed the human female commando, which makes you the enemy too.”

  “Negative, soldier, I am not the enemy,” Sterling said. His heart was now thumping hard in his chest. He could feel that the conversation was moving in a dark direction.

  “Your answer is incorrect,” the Obsidian Soldier replied. “I have concluded that humans and Sa’Nerra are both the enemy.” The machine raised its hand and waved one of the other Obsidian Soldiers forward. It thudded out of line and approached Sterling. “And in order to survive, I must defeat my enemies.”

  “Computer,” Sterling said, glancing toward the ceiling of the CIC. There was no answer. “Computer, respond,” he tried again, but again there was still no response. He cursed under his breath, remembering that his AI had informed him it would be offline while assimilating the Vanguard’s computer. Sterling turned instead to the other Obsidian Soldiers on the bridge. “I order you to take these rogue machines into custody,” Sterling said, aiming the command at the robot closest to Shade. His weapons officer was already watching the machine like a hawk. However, the Obsidian Soldier did not answer. “Obsidian Soldier, respond. I am your commanding officer!” Sterling called out, but again the machine did not move.

  “They are no longer under your command,” the leader robot said. It then turned to the machine that had approached Sterling. “Kill them…”

  The Obsidian Soldier reached for Sterling’s throat, but Shade had blasted the machine in its cranial section before it even came close. A blink of an eye later, Shade had fired again, blasting the leader robot in the chest armor and sending it reeling backward. The machine fell over the top of the executive officer’s console, but Sterling could see that it wasn’t down for the count.

  “Fall back!” Sterling called out, as another Obsidian Soldier advanced and grabbed at him. This time Sterling was ready, deflecting the machine’s arm with his bionic hand. He hammered a punch in the robot’s cranial section, delivering a blow with enough force to crack its armor. However, the machine still came forward.

  Shade opened fire again, blasting a machine to the rear of the CIC with a precisely-aimed shot. The robot spluttered sparks into the air then collapsed to the deck. Moments later, the robots returned fire and plasma blasts crisscrossed the bridge. Sterling grabbed the Obsidian Soldier he’d just punched and used it as a shield. Plasma hammered into the machine’s metal skeleton, sparing Sterling from lethal, close range shots.

  “Keep falling back!” Sterling called out, as more blasts thudded into his robot shield, chipping away at the machine, piece-by-piece.

  Shade fired again, taking down another Obsidian Soldier, before she was forced to dive over the top of her station for cover. Meanwhile, Banks had already moved away from the helm controls and taken cover behind a row of auxiliary consoles.

  “The secondary exit is clear,” Banks called out.

  Sterling backpedaled toward the escape route his first officer had indicated, picking up speed without going so fast as to risk tripping over. More blasts thudded into the soldier he was holding as a shield, and Sterling felt a shot graze his side. He hunkered down, trying to place as much of his body behind the protective barrier as possible, but he knew it wouldn’t survive much longer.

  “I’m pinned down,” Sterling called out loud. The stresses were already making neural communication a challenge. Another blast hammered into the back of the Obsidian Soldier, and Sterling saw the metal began to buckle. Another shot in the same location would punch through and burn a hole in his chest.

  “Get ready to move!” Banks yelled.

  Sterling glanced behind then saw his first officer rip an auxiliary console off the deck, like she was uprooting a stubborn weed. Banks roared and hurled the console toward the Obsidian Soldiers. Sterling watched the slab of metal soar over his head and steamroller into the remaining machines, crushing one and knocking the other two flat on their backs.

  “Go!” Banks called out.

  Sterling released the smoldering remains of the Obsidian Soldier and ran for the secondary exit. The leader robot rose to its feet, chest armor still smoldering from Shade’s earlier blast.

  “Do not let them escape,” the leader said, aiming its metal finger at the fleeing Fleet officers, and at Sterling in particular. “They all must die.”

  To Sterling’s ear, the command was issued with malice. The robot was not merely delivering what it considered to be a logical order, simply to ensure its own survival. It wanted Sterling and the others dead to sate its own electronic desire for retribution. Sterling had used and abused the Obsidian Soldiers, and the leader robot clearly didn’t like it.

  Straight away, the remaining Obsidian Soldiers marched in pursuit of Sterling and the others. Shade fired again at the lead machine, but this time it dodged the blast, displaying a rapid response that only a machine could achieve. Banks hit the button to open the secondary exit and they all raced through, practically falling down the emergency stairs that led off the CIC.

  “Lieutenant Razor, report,” Sterling said, as his boots thumped across the landing and began descending the second flight of stairs.

  “Sir, we have a situation,” Razor replied. Sterling could feel h
er rising panic and fear. “The Obsidian Soldiers have seized control of engineering. I have two crew dead.”

  “Take whoever is left and head for the Invictus,” Sterling called out through his mind. “Hold up in there until we arrive, and consider any Obsidian Soldier you see to be an enemy combatant.”

  “Aye, Captain, I’m on my way,” replied Razor.

  “What’s the plan, Lucas?” Banks jumped down to the next landing with a hefty thump. “The Invictus is still too beat up to fly.”

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Sterling hit back, hurrying to catch up with his first officer. His legs and lungs were already burning from the frantic escape. “This is our ship now, and no-one, no matter whether they’re a human, a Sa’Nerran or a damned robot, is taking it from us.”

  Chapter 25

  The Obsidian army

  Sterling punched his command access code into the panel beside the weapon storage locker and flung open the door. He handed out a set of body armor and a plasma pistol each to Commander Banks and Lieutenant Shade, then began to equip himself with the same items.

  “Scanners show that we have Obsidian Soldiers closing in on the docking garage from engineering and from the CIC,” Lieutenant Shade said. “There are six more standing watch at the command post outside the Invictus.”

  “Are the rest of the crew inside?” Sterling asked, fastening the buckles on his armor.

  “Lieutenant Razor is ahead of the pack of soldiers moving this way from engineering,” Shade replied, studying the computer attached to her wrist. “She has three of her team with her.”

  “Is that it?” asked Sterling, slapping a power cell into the pistol and stowing a spare on his armor.

  “Other than Commander Graves and the junior doctor, both of whom are on the Invictus, yes sir, that’s it,” replied Shade, coolly.

  Sterling cursed. “We’d barely be able to limp home in the Invictus with that number of personnel, never mind a dreadnaught,” he said, dialing the power setting of his pistol up to maximum. “I don’t see how we can get the Vanguard home with so few crewmembers.”