Trail of Evil - eARC Read Free Page A

type of robotic version of death one could imagine. And worst of all, Alexander knew that his only child was in the midst of all of it.
    “COB!” Alexander shouted over the flurry of bridge activity.
    “Aye, captain,” the Chief of the Boat or U.S. Navy Command Master Chief Jeff Coates answered.
    “Get me a walk around the boat from the Quartermaster of the Watch and tell me for certain if we’ve been boarded. I don’t trust these alarms and in the past I’ve seen what these types of AICs can do to spoof electronic systems. I want Mark I eyeball sensors on everything!”
    “Aye, sir,” the COB replied and quickly retreated out the bridge hatch.
    “CHENG, this is the Bridge.”
    “CHENG here. Go, sir.”
    “I want to know as soon as the FTLs are back online and I also want the QMT spun up and get every one of our people out of there as quickly as possible.”
    “Well, sir, we can’t do any of that until the FTLs are back online because they’ve overheated the QMTs. The transport paths just are not gonna function.”
    “Who designed this freakin’ ship?” Alexander muttered to himself.
    Alexander, your wife is trying to reach you, his AIC, Abigail, pinged him in his mind.
    What does she need, Abigail? He thought back to his artificial intelligence counterpart.
    She has Penzington online and has a location for Dee.
    Patch her through, Abby.
    Alexander!
    What is it, dear?
    I’ve got Penzington on the ground. Somehow she’s managed to get a signal back through to me on my personal QM link.
    How’d she manage that? Alexander asked rhetorically. He knew that where there was a will, there would be a way when it came to Nancy Penzington. The former CIA operative was as clever as she was resourceful and had more lives than a damned cat. Patch me through.
    Go sir, his AIC replied.
    Sehera, why did Penzington contact you instead of me? He thought.
    That doesn’t matter, Alexander. The point is, Dee and DeathRay are overwhelmed and they need an evac, quickly! What are we gonna do about it?
    I’m working that as fast as I can, Sehera. Transfer the coordinates that Penzington has found to me and we will start bringing hell to THEM. If I have to land this ship on that damn planetoid myself, we will do that. Hell, you know what? That’s not a bad idea.
    Alexander turned and shouted to the con. “Screw this fighting from up here! Put this ship on the ground, coordinates on my mark!” Alexander thought to himself, Abigail, transfer the coordinates to the con; make sure the helmsman gets it right. Alexander didn’t necessarily trust the kids he had managed to recruit for this mission, but he certainly trusted his AIC that he’d had for almost a century.
    “Aye, sir!” the helm shouted. “Bearing on mark and dropping altitude. At what rate, sir?”
    “As quick as you goddamn can!” Alexander said.
    “Yes sir!”
    The nearly three-kilometer long battlecruiser Sienna Madira descended like a rock falling in low gravity onto the planetoid that didn’t appear to be but a few times larger. As the ship was brought down, it took on massive fire from the automated antispacecraft systems on the planetoid. The robotic systems began attacking the Sienna Madira , firing weapons as well as throwing themselves into the hull plating. There were breaches here and there, but the small robots were no match for the large battle cruiser.
    “CO!” Commander of the Ground Combat Mecha US Army Brigadier Gen. Tonya “Hailstorm” Briggs shouted.
    “Go, Hailstorm!” Moore replied.
    “Sir, the AEMs and the Tanks are getting strafed to hell and gone. I need more air cover!”
    “Understood! Air Boss! You heard the man. Get me some FM-12s on those flying bots!”
    “Aye sir!” Commander of the Air Wing Captain Michelle Wiggington shouted her response.
    Hello, Alexander, a voice rang in Moore’s mind, a voice that wasn’t Abigail’s and wasn’t anyone he knew. The voice was overbearing and violating.
    What the hell is that?