Work in Progress 1
This is a work in progress, with the working title of "Jeremy and Darla" based in the Bolo Universe. This work is written by Carlie J Bentley a.k.a. Sinister Moose and Copyright 2009
Sterile dust was kicked up by a howling wind sweeping across small dunes. About a quarter mile from a coastline of an alien world a tired looking and battered ship sat perched on three of it’s five landing legs. If you tried very hard you could make out a few symbols on the side of it, identifying the vessel to those that could read the symbols as the Bre’Tan.
The odd angle at which the huge ship had landed appeared to be the symptom of a much larger problem. Most of the aft of the ship was blackened and the ceram-alloy hull was melted and the spiked slag showed the epicenter of the impact of a pulsed energy weapon.
“It’s completely fragged, I can’t rebuild it here.” Tech Chief Abrams said looking at the damage. “The shields took most of it, but it nicked the containment bottle. We’re pretty damn lucky.”
“Damn.” The only word Captain Becker kept saying repeatedly. He kicked at the partially lowered landing jack and swore again.
Most of the crew of the Bre’Tan was standing out side of the ship looking at the melted hull. The shot had entered just aft of the life support and managed to miss most of the critical systems. The cold of space froze the ceramic alloy of the hull in spikes of slag that radiated in all directions away from the impact. The Captain stared at the Emergency Sealing Foam that filled the two meter hole. Chief Abrams was using a plasma cutter to cut the spikes of ceram-alloy free from the hull and pile them like sticks of wood.
“Bart!” The Captain bellowed.
A skinny three-meter tall man was sitting in the shade of the ship, drawing circles in the dust. His rumpled uniform had no insignia and seemed to always be dirty. He stood too quickly and momentarily lost contact with the ground in the light gravity. He hit his head on the hull of the ship and stooped to walk to the captain in the low G gait of someone used to low gravity.
“Sir?” Bart said, trying his best to come to attention but swaying a little.
“Dig that foam out and re-plate the hull. Give the Chief a hand.” Captain Becker said without even looking at Bart.
It’s not that the Captain was a strict taskmaster or an asshole, he just didn’t work well with civilians. His years of military service caused him to look at people like Bart with complete contempt. Becker had been shot, blown apart and rebuilt so many times he often accused the medics of forgetting to reinstall his soul. His ship was battle scarred and scorched yet he showed no signs of damage on the outside of his body. He didn’t have a single battle scar and he cursed the medic’s efficiency. In centuries past a battle scar was worn with pride to demonstrate to the enemy a lack of fear.
“Sooze! Where you at?” Becker asked into his comm unit.
A static filled reply came, “About three clicks from the LZ, north-northwest, sir and there’s a whole lot of nothing out here.”
“Back to the coop Sooze. We’ll need more hands on this job.” Becker said in reply.
Three kilometers from the landing site two Bre’Tan crewmembers were scouting for anything useful and weren’t having any luck. The lifeless planet the computer called RDG98477 was truly devoid of life. The scouting party just called it Dirtball, because it didn’t warrant a real name. Susan Trask and Jeremy Alders turned 180 degrees and started the hike back to the ship. They weren’t going to hot foot it, because the faster they got back, the more work they would have to do. They were soldiers, and considered mechanics something that someone else did. Susan was an Earth-norm, actually born on Earth and used to more gravity than Dirtball offered. The low gravity kept her from breaking a sweat, for which she was grateful.
Jeremy wasn’t as fortunate. Born in the lunar city of Shepherdsville he was tall, and had a very low mass. He had joined the service at the age of 13, since the Colonial Defense Service needed everyone they could get. At 18 Earth-standard years old he was as tall has Susan and had been trained as expertly. He was already a deadly shot and devious when it came to explosives, but the gravity of dirt ball was more than he preferred and he was laboring under the weight of his pack and weapons.
“Okay Sooze, for the record. This place sucks.” Jeremy said, breathing hard in the light atmosphere.
“Suck it up big boy. We’ve got 2.5 clicks before the work starts.” Susan smiled at him.
“Damn it.” Jeremy spat as his pack started slipping off his narrow shoulders again.
“You need to hit the gym more. Put some muscle on those skinny bones.” She said poking him in the shoulder and nearly up ending him.
“I’m wiry. I don’t need to be a friggin’ hulk to get the job done.” He said with a look of pure determination on his face but a grin that said he knew she was right.
A glint of light to the north of their position about a half click caught Susan’s attention.
“What the…” Susan said, and only had a moment to knock Jeremy to the ground and flatten out as low as possible as a screaming bolt of white hot plasma scorched the air over their heads, and exploded in the sand a few meters past them.
“Enemy Fire! 2 clicks from the LZ.” Susan said into her comm unit. She grabbed her goggles and pulled them across her eyes. The computer enhanced display flash zoomed on the point of origin of the shot. “Son of a bitch.”
“What!?” Jeremy said attempting to get his goggles in place.
“Beats the hell out of me, it’s fucking massive though. Computer reads it as fusion driven, and it’s fucking mobile. Beat feet Jeremy, it’s coming for us.” Susan said dragging him to his feet.
“Sooze? Where the hell is it, the ship can’t get a fix on it.” Captain Becker said from the command couch of Bre’Tan.
“Cap’ it’s a friggin monster. My goggles say it’s out masses Bre’Tan by a million tons. Looks like it’s got about 8 plasma cannons and god only knows what else. It must have counter gravity drives because it’ll be all over us like hair on a dog in a minute; it’s about five clicks out and closing on us. I don’t think we’ll make it back.” Susan said as she and Jeremy were sprinting across the yellow dust toward the ship in low gravity leaps.
“Beat to quarters. Full Emergency lift.” Becker said through the ships comm. To Susan he added, “Haul ass, Sooze, we’ll be there as fast as possible.”
“Cap’ we’ve still got a big hole back here, we can’t go out of atmosphere. We’ll vent.” Abrams yelled over the whine of the counter gravity lifters into the ships comm.
“If it’s as big as Sooze says it is, we don’t need to lift, we’ll just need to out run it around the limb. But we’ve got to pick them up first.” Becker responded.
Bre’Tan lifted and with a grace that seemed impossible pirouetted pointing her bow in the direction of Suzan and Jeremy. The ship covered the distance between the scouts and the LZ in a matter of seconds. Barely slowing the bow ramp lowered and they scooped the two scouts out of the sand and lifted for a little more maneuvering room.
Four streaks of hellish blue-white fury blasted through the space where Bre’Tan had just been, lighting up the aft shields as they passed through at a tangent. Suzan and Jeremy dropped their gear and headed for the command deck, where Captain Becker was fighting to prevent the unknown enemy from locking onto them.
Bre’Tan bucked and sliced a zigzag line only a few meters above the powdery dust of the planet below. The light atmosphere and the pressure of Bre’Tan’s passing was raising a cloud of choking yellow dust behind them.
“Damn it. If I lift he’ll have a clear line of fire, but if I don’t he can follow our trail easily.” Becker said to no one in particular.
“Captain, I’ve got a firing solution, but we’ll have to bring the forward rails online and point them at him.” Jeremy said from the weapons control station.
“What about the aft rails?” Becker asked sounding calmer than he should have in the situation.
“Wiped out. I might be able to get a shot from the starboard aft rail, but I doubt it’ll hold together.” Jeremy responded.
“Take Hold!” Becker shouted, and a few seconds later, with out loosing speed, the ship spun on it’s vertical axis, pointing the bow at the pursuing enemy. Bre’Tan wasn’t aero dynamic, and didn’t need to be with the field generators and counter gravity engines she was just as fast backwards.
“He’s slow Captain. He won’t be able to catch up.” Susan said from her station.
“Loose weapons Jeremy. Full launch, free fire.” Becker said. “Want to shoot at me you son of a bitch.” He muttered to himself.
“Full rail launch.” Jeremy said.
Projections of anti-matter incased in miniature fusion bottles erupted from the forward rail guns at the speed of light. The effect was nearly instantaneous. Jeremy was a good shot, and drove three thousand shots into the prow of the monster chasing them.
“90% impact Captain. It’ll take a minute for the scatter to clear, but that should stop him.” Susan said watching her monitors carefully. “Break Break Break. Incoming!” Susan said nearly shouting.
Bre’Tan heaved on her side and changed direction to the scream of her counter gravity engines. The shots that ripped through the space she had been occupying was now a blaze of actinic white light that washed out all of the starboard sensors, and sent alerts howling through the ship.
“What the hell was that!” Jeremy said, holding on to the arms of his station chair.
“That was a full hellbore release kiddo. That’s a gods damn Bolo.” Becker said pouring on every ounce of speed Bre’Tan could muster.
“Oh shit.” Susan said quietly.
“Find out what version it is Susan. We need to know how to kill it.” Becker ordered.
“What’s a Bolo?” Jeremy asked.
“Long story kiddo, let’s just say they should be extinct.” Becker replied.
“Oh hell.” Susan started, “There ain’t no justice. Cap’ it’s an XL.” she said staring in awe at the Bolo’s statistics on her display.
Jeremy leaped out of his seat and went to Susan’s console to look at her readout. The Bolo XL massed over 1.5 million tons and was armed with enough weapons to destroy the planet it was sitting on, and survive. The main guns were twin Hellbore plasma cannons at 100 centimeters each. Just to make sure it was deadly enough it had six other Hellbores ranging in size from 40 to 80 Centimeters. According to the readouts it carried over 200 infinite repeaters, and when freshly supplied it carried about 8000 missiles of various capability. The Mark XL was also a man-machine hybrid. Instead of installing a human body in the command center to work with the artificial intelligence, they actually pulled a human’s consciousness out of a body and incased it inside the personality center of the Bolo. It was really gruesome and nearly impossible to destroy.
“Contact is in motion Cap’. It’s in pursuit again.” Susan said over her shoulder.
“We’ve gained ground on it. It shouldn’t be able to get a firing solution.” Becker said and then ordered, “Find me a hidey hole or an island somewhere we can make repairs Sooze.”
Jeremy returned to his station and had a huge grin on his face. “Now, that’s a fucking gun!” He said out loud.
Becker chuckled and said, “Did you find you a new girlfriend kiddo?”
Jeremy flushed from the neck up even the tips of his ears glowed red. “Really big boom stick. But why’s it firing on us? I mean we’re human, I thought they were supposed to be designed to fight the Dogs, or Melconians?”
Susan turned from her search for a place to hide and said, “They have a nasty habit of going batshit crazy. The hybrid mind can’t handle time alone. If they’re not fighting they have to be shut completely down. If they’re left to stew they start thinking everyone is the enemy.”
“Can we talk to it?” Jeremy said.
“I doubt it’ll answer, but you can give it a shot. But for god’s sake bounce the signal off a relay or something. It can triangulate and blast our ass off if you don’t.” Becker said giving Jeremy the frequency for the Dinochrome Brigade’s Command channel.
Jeremy keyed the frequency and opened his comm set. As soon as the channel was opened there was a loud shrieking like a woman screaming emanating from speakers. Jeremy lowered the volume and keyed his microphone.
“Hello?” He said over the noise. The noise abruptly stopped.
Jeremy repeated, “Hello?”
“Unit of the line, seven-four-xray-lima-stroke-delta-alpha-rover. Why is the enemy using the Brigade command frequency? How did you break encryption sequences? Identify yourself?” The soprano feminine voice sounded strained and tired.
“We’re not the enemy. We’re human.” Jeremy tried.
“Negative, this is a ruse to confuse me. You are the enemy and will be destroyed.” The Bolo responded.
“Seriously, we’re not your enemy. My name’s Jeremy, what’s yours?” Jeremy continued.
“I am unit of the line seven-four-xray-lima…” The Bolo stopped suddenly.
“There ain’t no justice Cap’, she’s got us locked.” Susan said.
“Jeremy, give it up, she’s gone.” Becker said from the command couch.
Jeremy turned back to his microphone and said, “Bolo, the war’s been over for three hundred years now. You guys killed the entire enemy. There’s no body but humans left, and there’s not much of us left. Hold your fire, give me a chance to talk to you.”
Static returned from the speakers. Jeremy looked back at Susan and she said, “Still got us locked up, but no weapons have been freed.”
“What’s your name Bolo?” Jeremy asked again softly.
“Unit of the line… We are… Darla.” The Bolo responded.
“Hi Darla!” Jeremy chirped into the microphone, “Nice to meet you.”
“We do not trust you, however analysis of your voice stress patterns demonstrate that you are not attempting to deceive us.” The Darla machine responded.
Bre’Tan sped across the barren wasteland to gain distance on the Bolo, which was still following them doggedly.
“Damn it, Jeremy, get her to secure weapons and stop chasing us.” Susan said over her shoulder.
“Hey, Darla, would you mind releasing your lock on us, and stop moving. You’re scaring the bejesus out of us. Please?” Jeremy said and allowed a little fear in his voice to translate through the microphone.
“The enemy flees. We pursue.” Darla responded.
“If you stop chasing us, we’ll stop running, I promise.” Jeremy said. The Bolo stopped and released weapons lock on them. Jeremy turned to Captain Becker and said, “It’s okay, go ahead and sit down here, she won’t chase us.”
Becker brought Bre’Tan in for an awkward landing and she settled on her remaining good landing jacks.
“See Darla, we’re the good guys too. We only fired on you because you tried to shoot us.” Jeremy said.
“Your voice patterns indicate you are speaking truthfully, Jeremy. But make no attempt to flee, or you will be destroyed.” Darla said with a hint of menace in her voice.
“Chief, Bart, you two get on repairs and make it quick. We’ve got a batshit Bolo out there. I don’t know how long we’ve got.” Becker said into the microphone.
“Got it skipper.” Came the reply.
“Darla, how long have you been stationed here?” Jeremy asked the machine.
“We have been at post for three hundred ninety-four years, three months, nine days, four hours, and 28 minutes.” Darla responded.
“Wow, that’s a long time, how old are you?” Jeremy asked.
“We have been operational for three hundred ninety-nine years, nine months, nine days, nine hours and nine minutes.” Darla responded.
The odd repeating of the number nine, caused everyone in the command deck to raise their eyebrows and look at each other.
“That’s funny, all of those nines in there Darla. Are you sure about that number?” Jeremy asked softly.
“There is a four-nine-point-zero-three-seven percent probability for inaccuracy. I am only operational at six-two-point-one-eight-four percent base capability. I have damage to many systems from my last engagement with the enemy.” The machine said with a hint of question in its voice.
“Got it!” Susan whooped from her chair, and gave a little hoot of triumph, “I have the deactivation code to put that bitch to sleep.”
“What? You can’t do that. She’s alive… you can’t just kill her.” Jeremy said leaping from his seat.
“It’s sweet that you’ve developed a crush on her and all kiddo, but she’s rogue, and needs to be put down before she kills someone, or worse yet, kills us.” Susan said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Jeremy, Sooze is right. While she’s talking normally now, she’s probably calculating the fastest way to kill us with the least amount of energy required.” Captain Becker said gently attempting reason.
“Under normal conditions Captain Becker, you would be correct. However, we have been analyzing the current status of the Concordiat and we have found that the situation as described by Jeremy is completely accurate.” The soft voice of the Bolo sounded completely rational and sane, with a hint of understanding.
“Damn it Jeremy, close the comm circuit. She doesn’t need to hear what we’re saying.” Becker barked.
“It’s not Jeremy’s fault Captain. While we have been talking we have easily taken control of your computer systems. They are rather primitive in comparison to a Bolo of the Line.” The calm soprano said practically purring.
“Darla, you didn’t have to do that. You can see that we’re no threat to you.” Jeremy said, while he shared the horrified expression of the others on the command deck.
“Bolo DAR, what are your intentions?” Becker said evenly to the air around him.
“We have no intentions Captain. We will do nothing to bring harm to your crew, or any surviving citizens of human kind. I am currently scanning your system to find the very code that will completely eliminate our existence. Operation Ragnarok will end with me.” The Bolo Darla, sounded placid.
“Darla, you can’t, it’s suicide. You’ll die.” Jeremy pleaded with the killing machine.
“Jeremy, we’re sorry. We do not wish to bring you sorrow, but we are very tired, and we are dangerous. Your captain and Susan are correct. We should be completely destroyed. Our primary function is to kill and we no longer have purpose.” Darla said sounding as tired as she claimed to be.
“Wait! Darla, I have an idea, hear me out. We can give you a purpose.” Jeremy said, standing and shouting at the speakers.
There was a very long and disturbing silence from the machine.
“Jeremy, I have found the appropriate file, and will execute it in three minutes.” Darla said.
“We can use you, Darla. Scan our records; we’re constantly under attack from raiders and pirates. I’ll bet I can incorporate you and some of your weapons into our hull, then you could live on and help us.” Jeremy said all of this in a rush, and then noticed a very stern look from his commander.
“You said it yourself Darla, our computer systems are weak in comparison. You could live on as part of Bre’Tan, and you would have us as company. There would be plenty of enemy’s to destroy, and nothing they have could hope to stand against you. What do you say?” Jeremy continued.
“We have scanned your systems and find truth in your words Jeremy. However…” The bolo started and then paused.
“Darla?” Jeremy said.
“Captain, you must move Bre’Tan, immediately, we detecting a small vessel approaching your coordinates with weapons armed. We estimate a nine-seven-point-nine-eight percent probability that they intend to attack you. Weapons lock. Move now captain, we suggest a heading of two hundred ten degrees.” The bolo shouted through the speakers.
“Take hold! We’re rabbiting.” Captain Becker said through the ships comm.
“Captain, that trajectory will take us straight into the Bolo’s sights. We won’t stand a chance.” Susan shouted over her shoulder.
“Trust me, Susan, if we wanted you dead, you would be dead already.” Darla said through the comm system.
Bre’Tan lurched into the sky, and surged forward straight to the gun barrels of the possibly crazed bolo. They covered the distance in a matter of seconds, screaming past the hulking mass sitting stationary in the yellow dust. The sensor clusters of Bre’Tan finally noticed the raider and started sending alarms through the ship.
“Captain, please land directly aft of our position. I will provide cover for your vessel.” The bolo commanded, and the confidence in her voice was enough to make Becker follow her directions.
Bre’Tan grounded so close to Darla, they nearly touched hulls. A wave of static discharge filled even the air inside Bre’Tan, causing everyone’s hair to stand on end. A massive concussion rocked the barely stable ship on its landing jacks.
Darla released a single 40-centimeter Hellbore and the approaching raider only had time to notice a blinding light before being completely atomized.
“Captain, the raider has been neutralized. I scan the mother ship of that vessel in orbit, and it will be within firing range in fifteen-point-nine seconds. Do you want us to engage it.” The bolo asked.
“That’s the son of a bitch that blew a hole through my hull. Darling, you have my permission to obliterate that bastard.” Becker said venomously.
Again there was a huge build up of static in and around Bre’Tan, and one of the massive 100-centimeter Hellbores released a hellish fury skyward. There was a long silence, and the three inhabitants of the command deck looked at each other.
“We detect no further hostile agents in near orbit. Do you have injuries?” Darla asked.
“No, we are five by five, and grateful to you Darla.” Becker said with a relieved sigh.
“Jeremy, your proposal is acceptable to us. With your Captain’s permission, we would enjoy combining forces with Bre’Tan.” Darla said.
“I’m afraid we will have to discuss this first Darla, if you would allow us privacy for a few moments.” Becker said to the air.
“I will withdraw my connection from your computer network, and await your decision Captain.” Darla said and then the bolo went silent.
“Darla?” Jeremy asked without using the microphone.
Pressing a button the arm of his command couch, the captain said, “I want the entire crew in the conference room immediately, beat feet people.”
The entire crew of Bre’Tan assembled in the cramped conference room. The air was stifling and there were many people with nowhere to sit.
Standing at the head of the table, Captain Becker asked for quiet and got it before saying, “Okay people, here’s the deal. Our Jeremy, has managed to broker a deal with a Bolo Mark XL, which would bring us back online with enough fire power and computing power to really make a difference out there. Now, this bolo has been alone on this planet for a couple of centuries, it’s possible that she’s crazy, but she’s demonstrated no interest in killing us. That being said, Jeremy has suggested that we take the useable parts of this behemoth and integrate it into Bre’Tan. I want your thoughts on the matters at hand, and we need to be quick about it because she’s waiting for a response.”
Chief Abrams’ spoke up quickly, asking, “How much weight will these additions mean? I mean we don’t want to give up space or add mass that we can’t handle.”
“Understood Chief, it’s something we’ll have to discuss with the Bolo.” Becker responded.
“Waldoes.” Jeremy said, looking at the others expectantly. When no one showed any idea of what he was talking about, he continued, “From what I’ve just dug up, the XL has everything from nanomachines, to repair droids, and even load out waldoes. According to this, she’s more capable of repairing our ship than the Chief is. No offense Chief.”
“Okay, Jeremy has a point. This entire operation will hinge on the Bolo handling most of the transfer of tech from her hull to ours. Anyone see any other drawbacks?” Captain Becker said to the murmur of slightly nervous conversation.
“There’s no way we’ll be able to mount those monster hellbores. We couldn’t generate enough power to get a shot out of the chamber, unless of course we transfer her fusion drive.” Bart added.
“It seems no one has objections to actually attempting this so I’m calling for a vote. Anyone opposed speak up right now, it’ll be the last chance.” Becker said scanning the room for anyone with concerns that would stop the procedure and he saw none. “Okay then, that settles it. Jeremy, go welcome your girlfriend aboard.”
Jeremy bolted from the meeting and ran to the forward loading ramp. He was shaking with excitement, and could barely stand still while the huge ramp dropped with a solid thud into the yellow dust. He trotted down the ramp and approached the mammoth machine.
“Darla? Can you hear me?” Jeremy said craning his neck to stare up at the machine.
“We hear you Jeremy. What was the decision of the crew?” Darla’s soprano voice chimed through external audio transducers.
“I’ve been sent to welcome you aboard Bre’Tan. How does that sound?” Jeremy beamed at the durachrome machine.
“We’ve been considering the logistic requirements as well as the potential benefits for Bre’Tan. The list of improvements is substantial. Would you like us to list them for you?” Darla said, sounding almost happy.
“I have a pretty good idea already. All I need to know is what we can do to help. After that you can get started as soon as you would like.” Jeremy bowed to the machine adding, “Welcome aboard, Darla.”
The human-machine hybrid mind of the gigantic Bolo devoted nearly all processing and control power to organizing and directing her drones and repair subsystems. Her nanomachines began breaking down the molecular structure of the Bre’Tan hull and using her own hull as a donor the new ceramic-chrome-alloy that was the result of the combination promised to be not only stronger, but offered a strength and density much higher than either hull could provide on it’s own.
Darla’s undamaged containment bottle, which was much larger, was installed in place of the Bre’Tan’s bottle. Rows of 40 mm infinite repeaters were installed along the sides of the newly reconstructed hull. Darla installed one of her twin bore hellbore turrets on the top of Bre’Tan, giving the ship two 60 cm hellbores to fend off enemies.
The work continued for nearly two weeks as a multitude of systems were installed and integrated with Bre’Tan. Darla was meticulous in all calculations and consulted Captain Becker about every modification. Interior spaces were rearranged to accommodate Darla’s personality and survival centers and her computer core. Modifications to the structural integrity of Bre’Tan were made to allow for the integration of Darla’s larger counter gravity drives.
Before making the final move of Darla’s personality from the now functionally useless Bolo, Darla created a missile pod and mounted it on the dorsal plane of Bre’Tan, making it the most capable ship in the known universe.
The transfer was initiated with great fanfare as the entire crew of Bre’Tan created a parade line through which the hybrid mind of Darla traveled on the back of a missile waldoe. Once in place the fully repaired and augmented ship Bre’Tan was christened Dar’Tan, the first ship of the Raptorchrome Flight.
The new exterior of the ship was not chrome, but because of the combination of Durachrome and Ceramic Alloy, was matte black, and because of the molecular perfection of the finish, it had sheen in sunlight that made the finish odd to look at.