The Evolution of F.O.R.C.E.

Settling into the command chair of the Porcupine, Doug checked the navigation controls. He’d burned through the docking clamps with his MA pistol as Becky and MerrCrr ran up the entrance ramp. He’d just set the GPC coordinates when the viewscreen hazed over in a reddish-yellow glow.

“Commandos have found us,” Becky said from her flight couch. “A smart one will try explosives sooner or later.”

“Too late,” Doug muttered as he pushed the GO button.

With a screech of metal rubbing against metal, the Porcupine jolted to a stop. Doug had targeted the central hold of the nearest battleship he could see from Bay 90, and the saucer flicked into existence near the center of the ship. Grabbing the activation lever, Becky jerked it down and the special antenna rods began chewing into the structure of the giant ship. While the rods extended, Doug typed in the GPC coordinates for the relocation. MerrCrr walked into the control room just as the motors driving the antenna rods hummed into silence.

“Do you mind if I push the button?” MerrCrr asked. “Since I can’t get to them with my telepathy, at least I can sweep them away from my planet.”

Doug understood the pleading outrage in JnnWall’s eyes. He remembered feeling the same way when the Chrysallamans invaded Earth.

Pointing to the blinking GO button, he said, “Be my guest.”

Without hesitation, MerrCrr stabbed his thumb down, and they winked out of existence. One second later they emerged one hundred and ten light years away from Chrysalis with the huge battleship riding along like a parasite.

Doug nodded at Becky, and she activated the lever to withdraw the antennas from their extension.

Without warning, the familiar reddish-yellow haze glowed on the viewscreen. Asiddian soldiers bracketed the saucer with disintegrator fire. Every moment, more commandos arrived to add their firepower.

The lever moved and muffled thunks sounded all around as the spring-loaded rods snapped back. A red light began blinking, and an alarm buzzed a warning. One of the antennas had failed to complete withdrawing. The Porcupine crew was safe behind the ship’s PDS, but they were trapped. One of the quills was stuck in the framework of the Assid ship.

“What else can go wrong?” Doug fumed as he studied the controls to see which rod was stalled. “Please turn off that blasted noise box so I can think.”

“It looks like Antenna 4 is only fifty percent withdrawn. It’s wedged or caught on something,” Becky said as she silenced the alarm.

“Is there any way to get it loose?” MerrCrr asked.

“Short of climbing to where it’s jammed, no,” Doug said.

“Can we FLIT with it the way it is?”

“The saucer field by itself isn’t large enough to encompass the stuck half. If we take off, we’ll lose whatever’s still out there. All the antennas are required to create a FLIT field large enough to hijack battleships.”

“You know what I do when a fishing lure gets hung on something?” MerrCrr asked. “I bring the boat closer. Change the angle and sometimes the lure breaks free.”

“You fish?”

“Of course. Whatsit and I have been to Lake Tahoe several times. Surely you don’t think I sit around all day waiting for the next skirmish?”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Doug sighed, “I’m afraid we’re not in a boat.”

MerrCrr said, “If we can’t retract the one antenna, then re-extend the other antennas and FLIT again. Maybe another move will loosen up the jam.”

Sitting in silence for a moment, Doug said, “No one ever told me you had to have the antennas rolled out to their max before a FLIT.”

MerrCrr said, “Whatever you decide, you better hurry. The Assids are putting something around the outer hatch. I’m afraid we’ve run out of time.”

Shifting his gaze to the viewscreen, Doug could think of only one function for the lumps being plastered to the hull.

Typing new coordinates into the GPC, Doug glanced at Becky and said, “It takes around a minute for the motors to extend the antennas. I’m going to activate the FLIT drive in thirty seconds. Go ahead and pull the lever.”

***

Lieutenant Allicc Finch trotted into the central storage hold of the Hardiston and slid to a stop. A 40-foot diameter dark gray saucer-shape filled most of the available space. From the crushed and splintered storage containers littering the deck, the craft must have appeared out of thin air. Eight metallic spines protruded from the saucer into the structure of the battleship. One of her soldiers fired her disintegrator rifle at the saucer, but a reddish-yellow bubble popped into existence around the ship.

Wide-eyed in disbelief, Finch watched as more of her troops trotted up and opened fire. Still no damage. It looked like the red-yellow bubble was soaking up the energy from the rays. As she watched, seven of the extended legs snapped back into the ship with a muffled bang; however, one leg vibrated but didn’t move.

She heard a metallic shriek and sensed movement along the length of the remaining rod.

Fathoming the problem, Finch shouted, “It’s stuck. They can’t get loose.”

At that moment, the rest of her commandos arrived with a metal crate. Flipping open the lid revealed recharge clips for the disintegrators and some brick-shaped high-yield explosives labeled X4.

No return fire came from the ship. Considering the option most likely to disable the enemy craft, she ordered, “Cease fire. Sergeant Guan, take four commandos and put enough X4 on the keel to disable it.”

Slinging their weapons over their shoulders, her troops sprang into action. Jogging toward the saucer with the crate, they held their arms out expecting to encounter an invisible force field. The PDS was designed to protect against energy weapons and high velocity projectiles. It offered no resistance to physical touch.

Emboldened, the commandos moved under the saucer, began peeling adhesive strips and pasting bricks of X4 plastic explosive to the hull.

They outlined the entrance hatch and stuck two more bricks next to its hinge for good measure. Pushing a button on each brick, Guan activated a blinking red light. A vibration shook the saucer. With an electronic hum, the steel spines began protruding from the saucer hull into the structure of the Hardiston. Signaling her commandos to follow, Guan raced back to join Finch.

Flicking the activation switch, Finch extended the antenna on the detonator and moved her thumb to press . . .

Without warning, the hold decompressed. One moment, Finch was standing in a brightly lit warehouse-like storage area deep in the bowels of the Hardiston. The next moment she was plunged into madness as her commander’s emergency white spacesuit snapped a clear bubble of nanoglass over her head. Gravity disappeared, and she floated away from the deck. Dropping the detonator, she twisted around awkwardly and watched in horror as her troops struggled to breathe. Air pressure in the hold dropped to zero, and air sucked out of their lungs into the vacuum. The ambient temperature dropped from its normal 72 degrees F to minus 200 in the blink of an eye. In only seconds, their movements slowed and died with them.

Twisting back toward the saucer, Finch saw the steel rods withdraw into its body including the one that had been stuck. Looking around for the dropped detonator, Finch spotted it lying on the deck just a few feet away. She moved to grab it, but her motions were fruitless. Without gravity, she had nothing to propel her toward the device. She reached down to activate her magnetic boots.

The saucer disappeared. One moment it was 50 feet in front of her. The next it was gone. Eyes bulging in disbelief, Finch decided her best bet was to find a lifeboat and rejoin her fleet. She was still looking for a means of escape 24 hours later when her emergency suit failed.

***

Watching the reaction of the Assids to the antennas sliding back into the structure of the battleship, Doug poised his finger over the GO button and looked at the clock. Although startled by the noise and movement, they hesitated only a moment before continuing to stick what could only be explosives to the hull.

The clock continued its countdown as the soldiers retreated to the corridor. The Assid commander pulled a device resembling a walkie-talkie from her pocket. At that instant, the clock reached 30 seconds, and Doug punched the GO button. He didn’t know what would happen, but anything was better than sitting still like a deer caught in a spotlight. Midnight blackness filled the viewscreen. Changing the exterior camera input to widescreen and activating the exterior lights, Doug witnessed how people died when exposed to the raw vacuum of space. The combination of no gravity and lack of air pressure was devastating. Air puffed from the noses and mouths of the Assids in white clouds that quickly dissipated. The look of desperation in their eyes was clear even from a distance. Like a fish twisting on the end of a fishing line after it’s been pulled from the water, struggling became weaker, then ceased altogether. Only the commander of the Assids survived because she wore a spacesuit of some kind.

Becky reversed the antenna extension lever, and all eight rods sprang back into the Porcupine including Antenna 4. The new FLIT had freed it from its bind.

“Should we try to capture the survivor?” Becky asked.

“We’ve already lost enough time, and I’m not in a charitable mood,” Doug responded as he reset the GPC. “Let’s go grab another ship.”

***

“One of my ships has disappeared. What have you done?” Harrier demanded.

The tone in his voice was unmistakable. The throbbing vein in his temple only accentuated the danger. Tom didn’t feel like being a diplomat. Diplomacy assumed there was the presence of reasonableness in your adversary.

“I haven’t done anything. I’ve been in your presence the entire time. I have no means of communicating. It’s your ship. Maybe it left to investigate something.”

Angered by the Human’s response, Harrier’s finger tightened on the trigger of his pistol. This prisoner wasn’t properly subservient. The fact his response rang true only increased Harrier’s outrage.

“Computer, what is the current location of the Hardiston?” Harrier commanded.

“Unknown. The ship’s transponder is not within range of my sensors.”

At that moment, the battleship Sky Fury broke formation and drifted aside like a drunk trying to walk a straight line. One of the Assid commandos watching the main viewscreen pointed.

“Sir, the Sky Fury is leaving formation.”

As everyone turned to look, the battleship shuddered and disappeared.

“General Harrier, the Porcupine is missing from its berth,” Vlad said.

“What is a porcupine?” Harrier asked.

“A specially designed Scout Saucer whose function is to seize and remove battleships. According to the data logs, this ship is the culprit responsible for the disappearance of one-third of our fleet.”

Hate filled Harrier’s eyes, and he trained his pistol on Amanda. Throwing an angry look at Blunt, he killed her by sweeping his disintegrator ray in a horizontal motion, bisecting her at hip level. Harrier considered the look of horror on Tom’s face quite satisfying.

As Amanda’s ruined body slumped to the deck, Tom screamed, “You bastard. She had nothing to do with this.”

Shaking free from his guards with a shrug of his enhanced muscles, Tom lunged at Harrier in a blind rage.

Recognizing the opportunity, McPherson snapped the chain on his handcuffs and grabbed the nearest commando by an arm. Swinging the hapless 6-foot 7-inch Assid like a wet towel at anything wearing an Assid uniform, the flame-haired Scot whirled back and forth. Three commandos slammed into the bulkheads and slumped into unmoving heaps. One of the guards on the far side of the cabin fired at him, but McPherson sidestepped the ray and heaved his Assid club at the assailant. The power of the throw dislocated the soldier’s arm, and she screamed in pain as she sailed headlong into the shooter. There was a resounding crunch of broken bones as the bodies collided. A red smear painted the bulkhead as they slid to the floor.

The remaining Assid clubbed the butt end of her rifle down with all her might on McPherson’s shoulder. The hybrid metal-plastic stock bent from the force of the blow, but all it did was make the target angry. Turning with a snarl, McPherson planted a left hook in the side of his attacker’s head, fracturing her skull.

The grin on Harrier’s face faded to shock as all his guards were neutralized. The strength of the Humans was astounding. Harrier was dumbfounded as he witnessed McPherson use a commando like a bludgeon. Tom’s hand closed on the General’s pistol, and it crumpled like it was made of tin foil. Harrier’s hand and fingers holding the gun turned numb from the sheer pressure of Tom’s grasp. The trigger housing collapsed around his finger and pain shot through his arm. Falling to the deck with Tom on top of him, Harrier felt fingers wrap around his neck and squeeze. It felt like his throat was caught inside a hangman’s noose whose loop kept getting tighter.

A distant voice shouted words in an unknown language. Harrier almost reached blessed unconsciousness when the grip on his throat relaxed.

It was Jason whose shouted words broke through the red haze clouding Tom’s judgment and persuaded him to release his death hold on Harrier.

“Tom, stop! Tom! If you kill him, we lose our bargaining chip. We’re surrounded. Our ship is captured. Don’t let Amanda’s death be for nothing.”

Tom’s fury subsided, and he loosened his grip. He realized he was just about to close his fingers which would have turned Harrier’s neck into a string of bloody spaghetti, bones and all. It would be a long time before the impressions of his fingers around the General’s neck weren’t visible.

Rising from Harrier’s prone body, Tom walked over to Amanda and closed her eyes. Covering her head and upper body with his jacket, he glanced at the viewscreen just as another battleship disappeared.

A faint hissing drew his attention and he asked, “Do you hear that?”

“Your rebellion is finished,” Vlad intoned.

Jason and Makayla collapsed. McPherson swayed. Tom held his breath, but his eyes blurred, and his arms felt heavy. It must have been his imagination because he thought he saw a clear spacesuit helmet snap over Harrier’s head. Struggling to hold his breath, Tom heard McPherson’s body hit the deck. Pain spiked his eardrums, and he doubled over as dizziness made the compartment swirl. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the main hatch slide open. Assid commandos ran in just as he lost consciousness.

***

Awareness returned to Lloyd in a flash when Whatsit pushed the activation button. Recognizing his mind was limited inside the memory chip, Lloyd extended probes into the console and traced its access pathways into the ship’s electronic web. Within 2 picoseconds, he determined he was plugged into a panel in the Engineering Section. Perusing the data in the mainframe core RAM, he learned the Asiddian computer entity, Loser, had pirated control of the ship by manipulating the sensitivity of sensors and creating a memory service denial. Lloyd had to admit the ploy was diabolical, and he vowed not to underestimate his opponent in the future.

Feeling an electronic tickle as a subroutine tried to enter his chip domain, Lloyd grabbed the culprit’s electronic fingers and back-traced their source. Gliding into Vlad’s prime subroutine packet without being detected, Lloyd planted a control nodule of himself into the OME memory circuits of the mainframe. It would grow like a cancer while he kept Vlad, Loser’s new name, occupied trying to defeat and delete him.

Disguising himself with the mask of a repair subroutine, Lloyd returned his awareness to the Engineering panel. His lack of experience with Asiddian programming would not pass an inspection by a novice Assid technician, but unless he was targeted with direct attention, his disguise should allow him some freedom in the alien computer’s domain.

Using the console camera on Auxiliary Panel 5, he watched as Whatsit slumped to the deck. It took only .001 picoseconds for him to determine Vlad had purged oxygen from the compartment and reduced air pressure to one pound per square inch instead of the normal 14.7 pounds. Realizing the death of his shipmates was imminent, Lloyd used his repair subroutine guise and flipped the compartment’s environmental controls to normal. Locking the control with a jolt of electricity ensured it would maintain life support.

Realizing his actions would be sensed but satisfied they would revive Whatsit and the others, Lloyd decided to buy some time while his lifesaving efforts took effect.

“I thought we had determined once and for all I am the superior artificial intelligence, Loser.”

Shocked by Lloyd’s voice, Vlad reconfirmed his dominance of the Destinnee. Finding no diminution in his mastery of the ship’s mainframe, Vlad responded, “Lloyd, while you have demonstrated it is difficult to delete you from the system, your meager access to computer resources is logically incompatible with my overwhelming control of the Destinnee. My only course of action is to purge you from the system.”

Anticipating Vlad would overload and trip the fuses controlling the electrical power to his console, Lloyd re-routed his core memory to the science lab servers just as the power in the Engineering console shut off. Heinbaum and GooYee were fussing. A large scorch mark in the deck was still red hot and distorted.

“Drs. Heinbaum and Gooey, please stop your bickering and pay attention.”

The shocked look on their faces was comical.

“Lloyd, where have you been? Do you realize what has happened?” Heinbaum demanded.

GooYee appeared just as angry but was unable to say what he thought because the telepathic tokens were disabled.

“Doctor, I don’t have time to explain. I need your help to take back control of the ship’s computer. Will you help me?”

Telepathing what Lloyd said to Gooey and receiving a nod, Heinbaum said, “Of course we’ll help, but the ship is swarming with Asiddians. All PDS units have been shut down, and the crew is defenseless.”

“I have a plan to restore PDS functionality, but it will require your expertise,” Lloyd said. He’d heard General Blunt use the same ego stroking technique on Heinbaum. The weaselly scientist took the bait.

“Tell me what you wish to accomplish. I’m sure after a few technical changes, I’ll be able to perfect and implement your simplistic idea.”