The three security squads split apart as they left the meeting. The yellow light leading Zander’s group on wasn’t terrible, and it was a damned sight better than flashing red lights and alarms from TV shows. His group didn’t have to take an elevator; they just had to walk down a long corridor. A very long corridor, Zander realized, as it was flat, straight, and just ran off into the distance ahead of him.
“This place is too fucking big,” Zander muttered. “You could fit a hub’s population in it.”
“Feels like it, and it being so empty feels eerie,” Blocat said, his snakes looking all around. None of them had deployed their helmets yet, and the air was breathable, giving them the best field of view they could have.
“The quiet is unnerving too,” Shelia said, her encased tail flicking behind her in agitation.
“Ghost ship,” Zander murmured. “Origin, did you have a crew?”
“Not since the Antecedents turned us loose to conduct our tests,” Origin replied. “I believe after we finished them, they were going to crew us with people like all of you. There are many rooms for people to live in.”
“How long ago did the Antecedents turn you loose?”
“A few millennia.”
“And you hadn’t finished your mission?”
“We were close, but Tester insisted we meet every small goal, so we weren’t done.”
“I may have been in error, given what has happened to us,” Tester said softly. “I fear I have doomed us.”
“We’ll pull you through or out,” Zander said. He wanted to cut the worry off before it could bloom in his squad. Having an advanced AI showing fear and worry would only spike theirs. “I haven’t done the impossible multiple times to fail today on a milk run.”
“Milk run?” Tolbert asked.
“Easy duty.”
“You think this is going to be easy?” Pwanlu asked, a little incredulous.
“Compared to the other shit I’ve been through, yeah. Tedious, aggravating, and probably will take far longer than I want, but it won’t exactly be difficult.”
“Why are you so sure?” Conna asked.
“Cuz, I know something you all don’t seem to realize.”
When Zander didn’t elaborate, Meltimu bit on the prompt. “What’s that?”
“The Entoma love antecedent tech above all else, so when we do encounter them, who do you think they’re coming for?”
The six with him all went silent as the realization began to sink in.
“You’re the bait?” Shelia asked, shocked beyond everything she’d felt so far. Zander was a pilot. The fact that he was there at all was beyond the pale, even if he had trained them. Training doesn’t lead to actual injury and death. But he was aware that the Entoma would want him first and foremost, and yet he walked ahead of them as if he were invincible.
“More like the trap,” Zander grinned, glancing back at the six behind him. “Killing bugs is easy work. Especially if I have help. Mind your fields of fire and do your job. If you do that, what do I have to worry about?”
“Zander? How big are your balls?” Tolbert asked.
“You can’t hear them clanking and dragging?” Zander said with a laugh.
That broke the tension, and the group felt more of their tension bleed away. If the man who would be the target of all the bugs they encountered could be so loose and calm, then why couldn’t they be?
The hike took time, but the group was in the best mindset by the time Maker silently warned Zander that he was approaching the line where Entoma could be. Zander slowed and brought his gun up into a ready position. His doing that got the others to focus as they continued down the hall.
“Are we not going to check the rooms?” Blocat asked.
“Maker is working with the scanners. She’ll see the Entoma or the fact that the sensors go out. We have a warning, but being ready is never a bad thing,” Zander said. “We’re just nearing the line of where they could be, so we start being on alert.”
The others accepted that, but Shelia cleared her throat. “Should we deploy our helmets?”
“Not yet, but when you see mine trigger, that would be a good time for it,” Zander said.
“Now is good,” Maker said over the intercom. “Scanners spotted beetles and worms just ahead of you, then they went out. I’d expect atmosphere to go next as soon as they breach the hall.”
“Copy that,” Zander said, and his helm sealed around his head.
Blocat hissed as his snakes pulled in tight just before his helmet snapped up and around his head. “Maker, can we expand my helm an inch in the future? It is far snugger in here than the simulations.”
“Copy that,” Maker said directly to Blocat’s helmet.
Zander held up right where he was and took a knee, balancing his rifle across his leg as he waited. The others took up firing positions around him, with Conna keeping an eye on their rear and directly above them. The moment stretched out for a few seconds before a section of the wall ahead crumpled, and then air went gushing past them toward it. The hard thunk of a bulkhead door slammed down to preserve the ship’s atmosphere. The magnetic boots kept the group secured to the deck. Zander was the only one who felt the pull, as he had only one foot fully locked, the other being just his toes, while he knelt.
A few heartbeats of anticipation grew as everyone waited for the Entoma. Then, between one blink and the next, the bugs surged out of the new hole. Beetles scuttled along walls and ceiling while the worms undulated across the floor. All the Entoma seemed unaffected by the lack of atmosphere. Once the horde appeared, the squad opened fire. With the horde, a grenade might have been a good call, but the shrapnel could easily have come back towards the group, so Tolbert erred on the side of caution.
The absence of the usual sound of the guns firing made Zander’s lips curl up. Space was silent, and he was reminded of it now. If not for the gravity of the ship and their magnetic boots, they might have been sent flying backward. He hadn’t been positive if Origin still had gravity where they were, which is why they used their boots to lock in. Seeing the bugs splatted was what really made him smile, even as he had to reload. It wasn’t a few bugs but a damned swarm of them.
The surge was suddenly gone, and Zander barked an order to reload a partial if necessary. He did what he ordered, tucking the partial back onto his rigging. He scanned the mess ahead of them, checking nothing was still struggling forward.
“Fall back,” Zander said. “Maker, we’re going to pull back behind the closed bulkhead door. Going to need a stopgap airlock. I hope that Defense has a lot more ammo being made because I think the behemoth that impacted here left everything behind.”
“Copy that, Badger,” Maker said. “Fall back, and I’ll get working on better ways to help slow shit down. That wasn’t even close to a majority, and I’m having the others pull back, too. This isn’t going to be nearly as quick as we’d hoped, not with what you just encountered.”
“Badger,” Tolbert began, “should I have used a grenade?”
“Fuck no. Not without cover between us and it. Around a corner, into a room, or if we have anything we can hunker behind, but not in the open like this. We don’t need injuries,” Zander replied. “You did the right thing.”
“Why are we falling back?” Conna asked.
“We already burned a third of our ammo,” Zander said. “We’re going to resupply and stock up further. Maker is also working on things to make this less intense for all of us.”
Reaching the dropped panel that sealed off the ship, they waited a moment before it pulled up enough for them to get under before it dropped again. A moment later, a burst of air blew into them.
“Let’s go,” Zander said, leading the way. It was a little down the hall when he spotted the gun emplacements. “Crish, you ready for fun?”
“I was, but the hatch dropped. If they come out for me, I’ll be good. Maker said she’s going to drop a decoy in the hall for me. It should draw in the Entoma who get close. Go reload and see what else she’s plotting.”
“Copy that,” Zander said.
The others in the squad glanced at the emplacements as they went past. They hadn’t seen them when they’d gone out, but coming back, they were obvious. The guns looked far larger than what they carried, and a couple of the squad whistled softly.
“Can I get one of those?” Pwantu asked as he ambled after the others.
“Not today,” Zander chuckled. “But with your size, you could easily carry an M2.”
“What is an M2?”
“The Ma Duece,” Zander said as he jogged down the hallway back toward where they’d started. “A legendary heavy machine gun. But honestly, Maker can make something better, I’m sure.”
“A nice light railgun, if we brace it in a harness on your back and have it extend up to you, Pwantu,” Maker said. “Would take a few days to really go over everything, and this isn’t the time, but you and Meltimu could likely handle them. I’d never allow them on Dreams, we’re talking hull-punching power. But fighting Entoma like this, sure.”
Pwantu’s eyes gleamed. “I look forward to it.”
“Maker, what are you planning for us?” Zander asked.
“An oldie but a goodie,” Maker said. “Claymores. With small sensors geared for Entoma. I can even get them delivered into the Entoma’s path without you all needing to be there.”
“So we’ll be clean up?”
“In a perfect world,” Maker said.
“I’ll take what works best,” Zander said. “How are the others?”
“Pulling back. They had a rougher time of it as neither of them had a pilot acting as a beacon. No injuries, but less mass swarm and more of a slow retreat as the Entoma kept trying to surround them.”
“Claymores do sound good. Let me know how the emplacements work with the decoys.”
“Copy that.”
“We will be losing more of my ship,” Origin said. “But if Maker’s estimates are correct, it will greatly reduce their speed at the very least. Oh, and the mecha have started their clearing.”
“Rasisar, what’s it look like?” Zander asked.
“Like a skeleton infested with eggs,” Rasisar replied. “Honestly, this isn’t good. We’ll be slow as we have to ensure we’re stable as we work. The very back end is thoroughly stripped to struts. We want to clear with lasers as we go forward. I’ve asked the captain to send all pilots out. We’ll let the juggernauts clear the struts, as they can’t go into the ship. The rest of us will spread out and do our best to clear slowly as we advance.”
“Copy that.”
“It’ll work,” Defense said. “You’ve already given us more time, and Maker has me working on these new weapons to use.”
“Just follow my lead, and I’ll show you the way,” Maker said. “Tester, how are those decoy scanners coming?”
“Nearly done with them. I never thought to use them as a beacon.”
“I’ll teach you a lot of things, just stay calm and let us keep all of you safe.”
“I’ve calmed the others,” Origin said. “I’ve pulled Engineer out of harm's way. She is still functional but reduced. If her previous home gets eaten, she will survive.”
“Good,” Maker said. “I want to keep as much of you intact as possible. Including all of your sisters.”
Zander stayed quiet as he led his group back, but he did ping Maker silently. So why are all the AIs beside Origin female, at least in voice?
A question I can’t answer yet, but if I work enough with Origin, I can likely get into their files. I want to get into them so I can check exactly what they were sent to do and why. I don’t want to startle them while we’re dealing with the Entoma, so baby steps for now.
Copy that, Zander thought back.