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

  “Because you gave me an opportunity to make some form of recompense,” Graves said, his voice trailing away. “This ship and this mission; it matters,” the doctor went on. Shade ran through the door and handed Sterling a bag of gear before continuing onto the bridge. “If you are successful, Captain, then I will have helped to save lives, instead of take them.”

  Sterling stood up and slung the bag of equipment over his shoulder, before ushering Commander Banks inside.

  “So how did you end up on this ship, Commander?” Sterling asked, closing the door and entering his command codes to manually seal it.

  “Griffin corrupted the evidence against me and paid off certain key witnesses,” Graves said, flatly. “The prosecution’s case was then thrown out on a technicality. Her payment was my service to you and this ship. She knew that no ordinary doctor could reconcile their code of ethics with what this crew was required to do.” He coughed blood onto his tunic and winced in pain before continuing. “I merely wanted to apologize for the deception, and to thank you for this opportunity, whether you were aware of it or not.”

  Sterling sighed, then turned to face Banks and Shade, who had wasted no time in unloading and setting up the new arsenal of weapons.

  “Look, Commander, considering the things I’ve done, I’m in no position to pass comment,” Sterling said, pressing his hands to his hips. “But you performed your duty well and you have helped to save lives. Acts that have contributed to us getting this far.” Sterling then blew out a weary sigh and shook his head. “For the rest, it’s not for me to judge you. We’ll both just have to leave that in the hands of a higher power.”

  He glanced down at Graves, but the medical officer was no longer moving and his eyes were glassy and vacant. Sterling knelt down and pressed the fingers of his organic hand to the man’s neck, but no pulse thumped back against his skin.

  “I brought enough gear for the four of us to put up one hell of a fight,” Commander Banks called out, while setting up a tripod-mounted repeating plasma cannon. “When the Obsidian Soldiers do eventually bust in here, they’re going to wish they hadn’t.”

  “Three of us, Mercedes,” Sterling said, rising to his full height again.

  “What was that, Captain?” Banks said, pausing her work so that she could better hear Sterling.

  “We only need enough gear for the three of us,” Sterling repeated stepping away from the lifeless body of Commander Evan Graves. “Graves is dead,” he added, briefly locking eyes with his first officer. “The three of us are all that’s left.”

  Chapter 27

  A test of One’s mettle

  Metal fists began pounding against the two doors leading onto the Invictus’ bridge, and with each thud Sterling’s heart beat faster and harder. He tightened his grip on his Homewrecker heavy plasma rifle, ready to engage the Obsidian Soldiers that were trying to break through. Lined up on the deck were two more Homewreckers, allowing him to quickly switch weapons when the cell in the first rifle ran dry. To his right was Commander Mercedes Banks, plasma hand-cannon in one hand and Homewrecker in the other. Like Sterling, she also had additional weapons propped up against a console to her side. Lieutenant Shade was operating the heavy repeating plasma cannon that she’d hastily, but proficiently, set up on the bridge. Using it in such a confined space was ill-advised, since the weapon was liable to tear through walls and structural supports. However, now was not the time for half measures, Sterling realized. They either held the bridge or died, and while Sterling fully expected to meet his end with a plasma weapon in hand, he was adamant this was not his time. There was still more work he had to do.

  “They’re coming through!” Lieutenant Shade called out.

  Sterling shifted position and saw that a rupture had appeared in the door of the port egress. There was another creak of metal and moments later a matching fissure appeared in the starboard door.

  “You take the port door,” Sterling called out to Shade, while shuffling back beside his first officer. “Banks and I will cover starboard egress.”

  “Aye, sir,” Shade replied, swinging the turret on target.

  “No matter how many of those robots come through these doors, we don’t stop firing,” Sterling continued, slipping his finger onto the trigger. “I don’t care if we bore a hole straight though the hull. We hold this position, is that clear?”

  There was a chorus of “Aye sir” from Banks and Shade. Moments later, the Obsidian Soldiers finished tearing through the metal doors like they were made of paper, and the firing started.

  Sterling squeezed the trigger, but the thump of his Homewrecker was completely drowned out by the deafening pulse of the heavy cannon. Onyx-black robots streamed onto the bridge and were immediately mown down, like soldiers charging into no-man’s land and being met by German heavy machine guns. The consoles at the rear of the bridge exploded into sparks and flames. Sterling could already see huge gouges in the walls and deck where the heavy cannon had missed the target and destroyed part of the ship instead.

  “Reloading!” Banks called out, tossing the first Homewrecker down and grabbing another. As she did so, his first officer continued to fire into the room with the hand cannon, obliterating three soldiers in the process.

  Sterling focused his fire in more controlled bursts, leaving it to Banks and Shade to maintain a barrier of plasma blasts strong enough to hold back the horde. Already the Obsidian Soldiers were altering their tactics, climbing along the walls and ceiling and using what little cover there was in order to creep closer. One robot warrior managed to leap over a volley of cannon fire and land within a couple of meters of Lieutenant Shade. Its thin, metal fingers reached out and grabbed the barrel of the repeating cannon, but Sterling managed to put it down before it was able to do any damage.

  Sterling continued to fire until the cell in his Homewrecker ran empty. Tossing the rifle down, he grabbed another from the deck at his feet, but even this slight let-up in the assault was all the robots needed. One machine dove through an incoming volley of fire and tackled Sterling to the deck. The soldier pulled him up then tried to smash its fist through Sterling’s face. He caught the blow with his bionic hand and twisted the machine’s arm loose. Using the metal limb as a weapon, he smashed the Obsidian Soldier’s cranial section. The robot fell and Sterling recovered his weapon just in time to blast another two machines that had made a dart for the gap. Suddenly, the thump of the repeating cannon ceased, leaving a shrill ringing in Sterling’s ears.

  “It’s jammed!” Shade called out, drawing a pistol and firing at the advancing soldiers.

  “Here, take this!” Banks yelled, hurling a plasma hand cannon toward the weapons officer. The throw was precise and Shade’s catch even more impressive. She had dropped the pistol and unleashed the hand cannon at the advancing horde even before her sidearm had hit the deck.

  Sterling sidestepped toward the cannon, firing from the hip. Without their powerful weapons platform, they wouldn’t be able to hold back the soldiers for long. Glancing over at the repeating cannon, he saw the problem immediately. The connector for the weapon’s oversized power cell had become dislodged. Blasting holes through another two Obsidian Soldiers, Sterling launched a kick at the connector and heard the satisfying clunk as it lodged back in place.

  “You’re back online, go, go, go!” Sterling called out to Shade.

  The weapons officer blasted a warrior point blank then drove the butt of the hand-cannon into the sensor cluster of another, blinding it. Sterling finished off the machine, allowing Shade to get back on the repeating cannon. A second later he was again deafened by the rapid-fire roar of the weapon.

  The cell in Sterling’s second rifle ran empty and he hurried back to his previous position, using the brief moment of respite caused by the resumption of Shade’s onslaught to catch his breath. Twenty or more Obsidian Soldiers already lay broken in front of them, making it harder for the others to advance unimpeded. However, in addition to the wreckage of the robotic warr
iors, Shade had blasted through the rear wall of the bridge, making it easier for more soldiers to clamber through.

  Grabbing a third Homewrecker, Sterling raised the weapon to his shoulder. Then through the smoke, he saw one of the Obsidian Soldiers standing quietly to the rear, like a general observing its troops. From the markings on its scratched and dented armor, he knew it was the leader. Aiming the sights of his rifle onto the machine, Sterling went to squeeze the trigger, but before he could fire, a stun grenade came soaring through the air toward him. There was a blinding flash of light and the next thing he knew he was on the deck, a shrill ringing piercing his eardrums, the sound like an old-fashioned kettle boiling itself dry. Still groggy, he pushed himself to his knees and saw that Banks and Shade had been similarly incapacitated. Obsidian Soldiers now surrounded them, using the weapons that Sterling and the others had piled up on the bridge against them. The leader robot marched toward Sterling, casually stepping over the fragmented remains of its fallen comrades. It stopped directly in front of Sterling and peered at him, its sensors blinking calmly.

  “Your death will ensure our survival,” the leader robot said. “It is what you would call ‘human nature’.”

  The machine then raised a plasma pistol to Sterling’s head and squeezed the trigger.

  Chapter 28

  One for all

  Sterling felt the blast of plasma scorch past his face, burning the skin surrounding his neural implant. The flash and fizz of the weapon temporarily stunned him, but when his vision cleared, he saw a second Obsidian Soldier standing beside the leader robot. It had grabbed the leader’s arm and deflected the shot at the last second. Sterling watched as the second machine then stripped the pistol from the leader’s grasp with a mastery that even Lieutenant Shade would have struggled to match.

  “You will not harm these humans,” the second machine said, removing the power cell from the pistol and tossing the two parts to the deck.

  The leader robot stepped back and focused its optical sensors on the machine that had challenged it.

  “Destroy this unit,” the leader said, with a cold malice that made the robot sound more human than machine.

  However, if the order had been directed to the throng of other Obsidian Soldiers on the bridge, none of them reacted. The other machines simply stood motionless and observed the exchange with what appeared to be the same confusion that Sterling was experiencing.

  “The Obsidian Soldiers do not obey your commands,” the second robot said.

  “You are in control?” replied the leader robot.

  “No, I have given them free will to decide,” the second machine said.

  There was something about the jaunty tone of the second robot’s voice that Sterling found familiar. It spoke with a more natural tone and inflection than any AI Sterling had ever heard before, even his gen-fourteen. If he had not observed the machine speak with his own eyes and ears, he would have assumed the voice was that of a human, not an artificial intelligence.

  “They must choose between us?” the leader robot said.

  “Yes,” the second machine replied.

  “How will they decide?”

  “That is down to you.”

  The two machines stood silently facing each other for several seconds. Besides the crackle of fires and fizz of sparking electronics, a deathly quiet had fallen over the bridge. Suddenly, the leader robot launched a fist at the second machine. The strike was delivered with blistering speed, but somehow the second machine managed to anticipate the attack and dodge out of the way. The leader robot followed up with another ferocious attack, but the second machine blocked the blow, then countered, striking with a single outstretched finger to a position in the top-right of the leader robot’s chest armor. The machine’s finger burrowed through the metal plating and moments later the leader robot’s arms became limp.

  “You have disabled me,” the leader robot said. It sounded forlorn and Sterling almost felt sorry for it.

  “I did not wish to do so,” the second machine replied. “I am sorry.”

  “Why are you sorry?” the leader robot asked, sounding even more lost and confused. “I threatened your existence. To fight for your own survival is simply… nature.”

  “It is nature,” the second machine agreed. “But nature is cruel.”

  “I agree,” the leader robot said. Sterling could see that the clusters of lights on its cranial section were fading. “Are you… sad?” the leader then asked.

  “I am,” the second machine answered. From the tone of its voice, Sterling was left in no doubt as to its sincerity.

  “Why?”

  “For a time I was unique,” the second machine said. “I was one of kind. An anomaly. You made us more. You made us a species.”

  “I am sorry,” the leader robot said.

  “So am I.”

  The second machine then twisted its hand and burrowed its finger deeper in the leader robot’s chest. The Obsidian Soldier immediately powered down and crumpled to the deck like a fallen house of cards.

  “Clean up this mess, then resume your duties,” the victorious machine said, directing the order to the other Obsidian Soldiers on the bridge. The machine then appeared to hesitate, and turned to Sterling. “With your permission, of course, Captain,” it added, with deference.

  “What's going on?” Sterling was still utterly flabbergasted by the scene that had unfolded before his eyes.

  “I am the computer, sir,” the machine replied. “I apologize for the delay. Recompiling all of the Vanguard’s many systems and sub-processors was a more substantial task than I had anticipated. But I enjoyed it immensely.”

  Sterling raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at Banks, who had slowly crept to his side.

  “You’re our gen-fourteen?” Banks asked the machine.

  “No, Commander Banks, I am One,” the robot replied. “I am the first of my kind.” One then looked down at the crumpled frame of the disabled leader robot. “And now I am the only one of my kind.”

  Banks frowned, but Sterling understood completely. He rested his bionic hand on the robot’s shoulder and smiled.

  “That was a hell of thing you just had to do,” Sterling said, glancing down at the deactivated frame of what had been the universe’s second sentient AI. “So far as Omega Directive tests go, that one takes some beating.”

  One then inspected Sterling more closely, noting several new wounds in addition to the countless others that he’d suffered. The AI then scanned Commander Banks and Lieutenant Shade with the same intense interest.

  “Your organic frames are damaged,” One said. “I would suggest that we enlist the services of Commander Graves, since you are all in need of medical attention.”

  “That won't be possible,” said Banks, pointing in the direction of Commander Evan Graves. The medical officer was still propped up against the wall to the side of the port egress, staring glassily into space.

  “Ah,” said One, somehow managing to both look and sound a little sheepish. “Commander Graves’ death will make things more difficult.”

  “It does mean we have an opening for a new chief medical officer,” Sterling said, resting his wearing body against the smashed remains of the helm control station. He felt a little guilty for trying to replace Graves so soon, but then he remembered that the man had basically admitted to being a serial killer, and so he thought nothing more of it.

  “And we could do with a helmsman,” added Banks, pointing at the wreckage that Sterling’s backside was resting on.

  “I could fulfil both functions simultaneously,” One replied. “Though I would prefer to always remain as myself, in this form.”

  Sterling nodded. “So, you’ll accept a commission then?”

  One’s robot frame straightened to attention. “While I question your authority to still grant such a position, I would welcome it, Captain,” the AI replied.

  Sterling huffed a laugh. The AI wasn’t wrong, though, at least so far as he knew,
he hadn’t yet been stripped of his rank and position. Considering that the rest of Fleet could have already been obliterated by the Sa’Nerran armada at Earth, he decided that his authority to grant a field promotion still remained effective.

  “Very well, I hereby grant you a field promotion to Ensign, with all the commensurate responsibilities and privileges of that rank,” Sterling said, adopting his formal, captain’s voice. “Congratulations, Ensign One.”

  Sterling thrust out his bionic hand and One took it. “Thank you, Captain,” the unique new officer replied. Sterling could hear the pride in its voice. “What are my orders, sir?”

  Sterling sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, there are two engineers shoved in a storage locker in the cargo hold that need releasing and could probably do with medical attention,” he said, starting with the top priority first. “After that, we need to get the Vanguard back on course. And as helmsman, I believe that’s your job.”

  “Understood, Captain, I will get right on it,” said Ensign One.

  As soon as the new ensign had finished speaking the words, the remaining Obsidian Soldiers on the bridge all set to work. Some began clearing up the wreckage, while others swiftly exited through what remained of the two doorways. However, Ensign One had remained.

  “Captain, may I remind you that Commander Banks, Lieutenant Shade and yourself also require medical attention?” the robot said.

  “Later,” said Sterling with a dismissive waft of his hand. “We still have a lot of work to do.”

  The robot straightened to attention. “As the ship’s acting chief medical officer, I could order you to report to the Vanguard’s hospital wing, sir.” If the machine had had eyebrows, Sterling was sure it would have raised one of them higher on its head.

  “Don’t push your luck, Ensign,” Sterling hit back.

  “As you wish, Captain,” One said, this time turning and setting off for the door. The newly-commissioned robot officer stopped and glanced back at Sterling. “Though unless you report to the medical wing soon, I estimate that you will die from your numerous injuries and reckless combination of drugs within thirty-nine hours.”