Extinction

-13-

Sandra caught up with me about an hour later. She came in quietly, but this time I turned to the door and bounced to my feet. I relaxed when I saw it was her.

She raised her eyebrows at me. “Jumpy?”

“Let’s just say I’m looking over my shoulder from now on.”

Sandra took two bounding steps, then flung herself into the air. She knew I’d catch her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and went to work on my face with her lips. Fortunately, my face was healing fast.

“Crow did this, didn’t he? He’s such an ass.”

“He’s got a temper, that’s all.”

“I saw his face. He looked worse.”

“A man can’t help being born ugly.”

She laughed and went back to kissing me, working over the rough spots tenderly. “I’d be super-pissed if I didn’t know these would heal-up by morning.”

“So would I. Look, love, I need to go back to designing the second step with these new tanks.”

“You need a break.”

She was right, in the end. I did need a break. We made love on a plastic chair in the darkest corner. It was just what I needed, and I think she needed it to. I expected Crow or Robinson or even more likely, Kwon, to rap on the door and interrupt us with some new disaster. But they didn’t.

At the end, she slapped me again. I looked at her questioningly. “That’s for nearly getting yourself killed on a daily basis,” she said. “Being in love with you is nerve-wracking.”

I smiled. “I’ve been thinking along similar lines.”

“Now,” she said, “quit screwing around and get your go-carts built. I bet they will attack again tonight.”

“Maybe.”

“Will these new toys of yours be ready by then?”

“Probably not, but with three beam turrets and about two hundred marines, I’m not worried.”

“Liar,” she said, and flounced outside again.

I watched her leave and hoped she would come back again soon. I turned back to that steel bastard known lovingly as Unit Fourteen. I had all the factories churning by now, or I wouldn’t have taken the time off with Sandra. Most were building heavy reactors, brain-boxes, lasers, sensors and turrets. Essentially, all the components that made the stationary turrets operate. But I needed a few new pieces. I needed engines with driveshafts, locomotion systems and treads. Thinking about these elements, I got an idea. Why use treads?

“Fourteen, respond.”

“Responding.”

“What would it take to build the metal equivalent of human legs?”

Hesitation. A long one. I figured that when they were handing out brains, Fourteen had been back at the messhall eating pancakes. “Insufficient information—” it began. I was hardly surprised.

“Okay, forget that question. I don’t have time to verbally describe the specifics of a walking system anyway.”

I frowned. I had to work with what I had. I didn’t have time to design new pieces, I could only reconfigure a new machine with the components I already had. “Let’s talk about a gravity-resist system that is low-powered. Let’s say one that is about ten percent as powerful as a standard system on a Nano ship. How long would that take one duplication factory to produce such a system?”

“Approximately seven hours.”

I nodded. “And what if we duplicated the treads of a standard tank?”

“Insufficient—”

“Okay, okay. Do you have sensory input from the turret above this shed?”

“Fourteen is not linked with—”

“Link with it then.”

“Done.”

“Now, use the sensory equipment to lock onto the APCs we destroyed earlier today. They lie to the east.”

“Done. Auto-defense program reset and off-line.”

I felt a trickle of sweat. I figured there were two other turrets, and I could always cancel this intervention if something started up outside. “Okay, quickly now, scan the APCs. I want you to calculate how long it would take to duplicate the treads on those vehicles.”

There was a long hesitation. Overhead, I heard the turret whine and shift. I dearly hoped that another missile barrage wasn’t incoming right now.

“Components scanned.”

“How long would it take?”

“Answer is variable based on the configuration of the tread in question. Some are only partially intact.”

I closed my eyes, willing myself toward greater patience. “Just give me the estimate of a set of treads for the most intact vehicle.”

“Three point six hours.”

Half as long? I thought about that. It hardly seemed worth the effort to make a vehicle with treads, if that was the difference. I had enough factories that were making nanites now, I could switch their output and they would still beat the ones building the reactors and beam units. I smiled to myself.

We were going to build hovertanks. That would put shocked look on everyone’s face. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. This area of the island was heavily-wooded. We would get choked up on the road just as the enemy had when they came in if we attacked the main base using the same road. With hovertanks gliding along, we could go over the waves or maybe even the trees, depending on how strong the resistors were.

I went through the design for about another hour, until I thought I had it worked out. The tanks would be able to carry themselves, plus a crew of six men, at a height of up to about twenty feet above the surface. What was even better, I figured I could have the first of them ready to fly before morning.

I set all the machines into production and passed out with my head on the desk. I wasn’t even sure what time it was. Sandra came in and gave me something to eat. She saw my exhausted state and badgered Kwon into finding me a cot.

I woke up some hours later with her manning the beam turret. I blinked, bleary-eyed. I realized she must have said something to me. Something meant to wake me up.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Nearly midnight. And we’ve got trouble.”

I bounced up, staggering beside the cot. “What’s happening?”

She pointed to the wall. “We’ve got contacts.”

I saw them now. A dozen beads of metal on the wall. They didn’t look like they were firing yet. But it was only a matter of time.

“Are all the turrets active?” I demanded. “Why didn’t someone wake me up?”

“They just showed up.”

A rapping came at the door. I knew the pattern. The side of the turret yawned open and Kwon leaned in. “They are helicopters, Colonel. Robinson wants to know if we should shoot them down.”

“No. No dammit. Get me a com-link.”

“They can hear that, sir.”

“I know that. Just give me yours.”

I activated the link and set the unit to broadcast. “No one fire until fired upon.”

“That might be too late, sir,” said a voice. I thought it might be Robinson.

“You have your orders.”

No one fired. We waited. After another minute or two, I heard something on the com-link. It was a familiar voice.

“This is General Kerr. Is that you, Riggs?”

“Yes, General. Go ahead,” I said calmly. Inside, I was seething. It was one thing to know your military network might be compromised. It was another to have the enemy commander listening in and calling you on it like it was your cell phone.

“Riggs, we need to talk.”

“We are talking, sir.”

“I don’t mean on an open channel. I know your men are listening.”

Sandra and I looked at one another. I suspected, at any moment, that Crow might jump in and start talking big. But he didn’t. Maybe he had decided I was better at handling such situations. Or maybe he didn’t want the enemy to know he was here with me. For all I knew, he planned to pull out and run when the fireworks started.

“What do you suggest, General?”

“We’ll meet on neutral ground. Man-to-man. Just step to the edge of camp where you slaughtered my men. We’ll talk amongst the dead Bradleys.”

Sandra waved at me violently, shaking her head and frowning. She clearly did not want me to go.

I looked at her for a long second. “I’ll be there in three minutes, General,” I said. “Riggs out.”