Salvation Earth

The next day, the craft and its new crew flew towards the Com. There was a vast army camped around it.

“These your people?” asked Danfour.

“Oh, no,” replied Arran. “They are the barbarians we are at war with.”

“Right, I think I can get rid of them without doing them any harm. Just a slight navigation error. Oops, a small mistake, sorry.”

With that, the shuttle picked up speed and dropped to almost head height and screamed over the barbarians who ran for their lives. Danfour then landed the craft carefully in the centre of the Com. The people were fearful, but seeing it chase off the barbarians, got the idea it was on their side. Once everybody disembarked and the people recognised them, a big cheer went up.

“This is a remarkable place, Arran,” said Danfour. “Did you know that it was once a football stadium? The terraces have been extended into a few steps for your crops. They used to be like stairs with seating for thousands to watch the game.”

A meeting of Zeb, the baron and his officers, Hal, Danfour, and the lead warriors was assembled.

The baron looked at Danfour suspiciously. “What is that?” he said.

“He is a machine, baron,” answered Arran. “A very intelligent machine and it is on our side. We can trust him and would not have a hope without him.”

“Hmm, well keep him out of my way. He gives me the creeps,” said the baron.

“Don’t worry, baron, once you get to know him, you will find him quite likable,” said Arran, patting Danfour on the shoulder.

“So, who the hell are these ‘masters’ we call gods? How come they have flying machines and live in the sky if they are not gods?” asked the baron.

“They are the people that caused our lands to be poisoned,” said Zeb. “We know what happened in the past Dan, so, can you tell us the situation with the powers right now? Then we can form a plan.”

Danfour stepped forward and started to explain. “Yes, the four corporations are still all trying to gain control over the others, even after all this time. But they have reached a balance that no one can break. 3M, Military Mining and Manufacturing, is possibly the strongest because they manufacture the warships and supply the forces. They control mining on the moon and all manufacturing, too. The other three corporations cannot manage without raw materials for long, but more importantly, cannot challenge the military. Powercon, Power and Construction, control all major construction projects, and maintain the orbitals and power generators. Power is their strength; the others cannot survive without it. Powercon also have a police presence on all the orbitals, the PCP. They are, for the most part, unarmed. No one wants a hole blasted through the shell wall. Although the officers do have fire arms. The PCP gives Powercon some influence over the others. Nutradom, Nutrition and Domestic, control all food production and everything for the consumer. The other corporations will not survive for even a short time without food. Worldtranscom, controls transport and communications. This power could jam up the whole system and stop food getting through. Having said that, on the face of it, this is the weakest power. However, they have their own secret police, the thought police. Nobody knows who they are, where they are, or what they are doing. This gives Worldtranscom an added strength.”

“Well, we have to stop them from killing everyone,” said Arran. “Who do we tackle first?”

Danfour continued. “I am not sure. At first, I thought it was Powercon as they were the only ones down here. But 3M have the bombs and the missiles to deliver them. However, I have looked at the central computer and found no reference to the earth’s cleansing. I even got into secure files. I can read everything remotely, even if I cannot change or control anything. Someone must have a secure link. But to set that up cannot be done remotely. It can be traced back, but again not remotely. I still need to get direct access. So, I do not know who is planning it. I suppose Powercon is as good a place to start. It might be them because they will do the construction down here before anyone can move down. One thing I did learn, not good news, is the reason for the forces to be out at the rim, although I could not get any specific details. We are being invaded by an alien race, which is quite advanced. That may have put on pressure to return to earth, because the orbitals are fragile when it comes to war. They will be hard to protect and impossible to fortify. Another thing, the masters have detected an old weapon being used on the earth’s surface and are desperate to retrieve it. They believe it may help as it originally came from the aliens. It was brought by a high-ranking envoy some time ago. Officially, the envoy’s ship crashed on earth, but it is possible they were shot down. Anyway, the situation escalated into a war the masters are losing. As the aliens have an advanced technology, this weapon could help the masters learn about their technology. But the masters do not even know what the weapon is. They may suspect it can be used against them.”

Zeb and Arran looked at each other. Both knew what this weapon was.

“It seems clear, then,” said Arran. “We must take Powercon first. Get Dan into this computer thing and then we’ll plan from there.”

A nod went around from all.

“A tall order,” said Harrad, “as we know nothing of the master’s world.”

“Maybe not,” said Dan. “I will get you in undetected. Three trips should get enough of your men up there. We can get more later. I will work out a plan.”

“How can you work out a plan?” said Arran. “You are still only a machine. How can you think and plan for us and go against your masters? They own you.”

“No one owns me,” said Danfour, standing up straighter than ever.

“How can you be an independent free willed machine?”

“Personal androids are rare due to their expense and I am even more expensive, being a true AI and fully multifunctional. Only a few of us were ever made and none sold. So that is why I have the task of overseeing all the shipments to and from that Orbital. Personal androids are the only ones programed specifically to obey one person above another, as long as it is within the terms of robot legality. All company robots must obey all men, but only within robot laws. You will not understand robot laws; even the youngest of children learn of these. These laws revolutionised independent robots.”

“Sorry, but we did not have your schools down here,” said Arran.

“Course not, sorry. I must update my database as we go. The three laws allow me free will if, one, we protect all men from harm. Two, we obey his orders, if they do not conflict with the first law. And three, a robot must protect its own existence if it does not conflict with the first two laws. I must take all men to mean mankind. If I want to protect mankind, I must go against the masters. I can reason this and still obey the laws, but the technician robot cannot. If it does anything to conflict these laws, its system will crash. Had I known there were people down here, I would not have been able to work the shipments. That is why it was kept from me and the central computer. The second law should prevent me from going against the masters, but the first law is stronger and tells me to protect all mankind.”

“I think it’s got a screw lose if you ask me,” said Vargen.”

“Well, nobody’s asking you,” replied Arran.

“This is crazy,” said Harrad. “What are we doing listening to a machine?”

“It makes a lot of sense,” put in Zeb. “We would be totally in the dark without him. And dead soon enough.”

“Well I don’t know that I want to be directed into battle by a self-propelled suit of armour,” said Vargen.

“You could not do it without me, if I decide to help you at all. I could just leave you all to your fate,” stated Danfour.

“Oh, no you couldn’t,” put in Arran. “You have just explained that. In fact, if I threw myself on the floor and said I was having a heart attack, you would take me up there for treatment.”

“Yeah,” said everyone at once, getting excited and enjoying getting the better of this smart, boring, know-it-all, of a robot.

“So,” said Arran, “we will take as many of our best warriors as will fit in the travel machine. And I want Oneone with us, he can warn us of the enemy and perhaps confuse them. Dan, let us know when you are ready.”

Everyone cheered and punched the air.

“All this talk has brought on such a hunger,” said Vargen. “I’m starving.”

“So am I,” said another.

At this point, Malone threw himself onto the floor, crying “I’m starving to death.”

Which brought a roar all around, and two other warriors did likewise, one shouting, “I’m dying of hunger. Dan was up running from one to another with animated concern. Everyone was in fits of laughter as the warriors got to their feet.

“This is not a reason to laugh,” said Danfour. “It could have been serious. How can you laugh and cry at the same time?”

“Food, food.” They all started to chant.

“You all behave so illogically, I’ll never understand humans,” said Danfour, shaking his head.

“It may be where the word humour came from,” put in Zeb.

At dawn, two days later, they were ready. The shuttle was packed to overcrowding, but took off smoothly. It docked without a problem as Danfour had arranged the flight. There were several robots waiting with sets of magnetic crampons to ensure everyone could walk on the floor without all floating away. They all made their way to number two spoke of the orbital to descend to the rim. Danfour had explained that the central computer was directly below the number one spoke, but that shaft contained the PCP equipment and arms, and would have personnel in it. They would have to make their way around the rim for about a mile to reach the computer. Most of the journey could be made in service tunnels that the robots used. People did not wish to see large numbers of robots tramping all over the place. The rim was on three levels. The lowest level was living quarters, where people slept etc. The next level was for work, such as it was. It was mainly the work of the arts; painting, music, sculpting, writing and so on, even some research and development. The master’s held big exhibitions where art was shown and evaluated for great fame. Most of the trip down was made in an elevator, the rear door of which opened into a service tunnel. The group entered and made their way down to the lover level.

“There will not be so many people down here,” said Danfour.”

The men walked through passage after passage, most of which were in total darkness. They eventually came to an open hall that had to be crossed without cover.

Oneone thought “Wait” and everyone halted. “I sense the presence of many people on the other side of the hall, and they are tense, waiting for something.”

“Could they have detected us, Dan?” asked Arran.

“There is no mention in the system, so I do not see how.”

“Put fear into them, Oneone,” ordered Arran.

“No problem. But I am detecting another larger presence all around. Something knows we are here,” said Oneone nervously.

“That is going to make a problem for us,” said Arran. “Get ready to rush them. Shields to the front and watch out for blasters.”

They rushed across the hall with only a couple of blasters hitting shields, which were not affected. Arran’s men quickly overpowered the group who cowered on the floor.

“You did a good job there, Oneone. Keep that up and we won’t have a problem,” said Arran.

“I’m not sure. There is still this other presence. I think it will follow us wherever we go.”

“I wonder if it is the thought police?” said Danfour. “No one knows who they are or where they might be.”

“Can you shield us from them Oneone?” asked Arran.

“I can try, but the presence is very strong.”

“Well, if all they can do is send people against us, we have just proved we can overcome that. Although they may have a large force gathered at this central computer. Let’s hope they have not had enough time to organise it. Oneone has only just detected them, they may have only just found us. We had better rush, no more caution,” said Arran.

Arrans men disarmed the PCP and locked them in a storage room.

“Do not worry,” said Danfour. “Once we have the central computer, we can control who goes where. We can shut off any door we want.”

“And suppose they just blast through these doors?” asked Arran.

“Well, there is that. But they will be very careful using powerful blasts on the orbital.”

On they ran, no longer sticking to the service ways, overcoming one more token force. Then suddenly, they were in the central computer room, which was deserted.

“Oneone, you have done a great job,” said Arran.

“Yes, I think the presence had difficulty tracking us and fighting through my block. They were not strong enough to control the PCP. As large as it is, I don’t think the force is that strong. I can handle it to a certain extent.”

Danfour was already tapping away at the computer. After some time, it said, “We have complete control and I have locked down all access to this area. Strange, the PCP and several high-ranking personnel have just left the orbital and are heading for 3M. Your man has done an outstanding job. Unless they believe the thought police can do a better job than the PCP. You must take great care.”

Just then, there was a groan from behind them, and the warrior Mordan sank to the floor.

“What is it?” enquired Danfour. “Not another one of your jokes, I am not falling for that one a second time.”

“I…I have a pain inside. Have for a while, getting worse. Feel weak.”

“Onset of the death,” said Arran. “That’s how it starts.”

“We had better get him up to medicom,” said Danfour. “There is one on the floor above. I will lock down all else around us to allow access.”

They picked Mordan up, took him to a nearby lift and then into the medical centre. Danfour showed the men where to put him for a scan, and after consulting the computer there, started the machine.

“The results show he has cancer, that is what you call the death that affects most of the people on the surface,” said Danfour.

“Well, can it be treated?” asked Arran.

“I am not sure. We do not have a resident doctor. We have had no sickness for generations. I will check the computer. The screen soon lit up. Yes, it can be treated but, I cannot administer the treatment.”

“Why on earth not? You are bound to protect life by your first law.”

“Yes, but the second law prevents me from doing harm and the treatment may kill him. If I do nothing and he dies, it will not be at my hand. If I treat him and he dies, it will be my fault,” reasoned Danfour.

“Some treatment that. Why should it kill him?” asked Arran.

“He has a large tumour which has been causing his pain, but it has spread all over his body. I do not know how he has carried on, he must be very strong.”

“We are all very strong. Treat him,” ordered Arran.

“Well, when all the bad cells die, they will fill his blood with waste. His weakened organs may not be able to cope. We have a machine for removing waste from the blood, but it is only for normal waste, not the amount in his body. In any case, it takes many hours even for a normal clean. It would be too slow to remove what he will have released into his blood during treatment,” said Danfour.

“I think I understand,” said Zeb. “This is a conflict of the first two laws. In such a conflict, you can do nothing. But if you do nothing he will die and if you treat him he will probably die. Surely you can look at the least probable?”

“Probable? Maybe. If I do not treat him the probability of death is 100% but if I treat him the probability of death would be 60%. So, I should consider probability to cancel the conflict. Yes, I have made a new robot law. A new first law, probability, as long as it does not conflict directly with the other laws. This must be how I turned against the masters. The probability of the least harm to man. I shall treat him right away and set up blood cleaning. We can then only wait.”

“Well, I am glad that’s settled” said Vargen. “When do we take chef’s incorporated?”

“Nutradom? No, we must take 3M first. But of course, you are all starving to death. There is a food hall almost next door. Come, I will instruct a serving drone to look after him,” said Danfour with what could have been a chuckle.

They followed Danfour through into a large room full of tables and after he explained how to use the meal dispensers, Vargen was the first in.

“What do you call this? Starters? Snacks? I will need four of these meals. But at least it will solve our peoples’ shortage.” Vargen began stuffing food into his mouth.

“Not on its own. It must be supplied by Nutradom. But do not worry, when we take 3M, we will control all of it.

“Oh, I can’t move,” declared Vargen, sometime later patting his rotund stomach.

“Serves you right,” replied Arran. “You have never been able to eat without end before. You are just greedy.”

Just then, Danfour reappeared. “I have been making arrangements. Oh, what is wrong with Vargen? I have reprogramed some service technicians with the new law, explained the circumstances and have them maintaining the lockdown so we can leave. As the PCP went to 3M, they will be guarding against us. So, I have set up a diversion. A large number of shuttles will head for WorldTransCom, while we go to 3M in small packet drones. They are small vessels and we must go in stages. But these are very common, and are used for delivering non-electronic items. I will programme their flight plans, they will not be suspected. Also, more of your people are arriving at the hub and are being stationed there. We will meet them there soon.”

The next day the group led by Danfour, made their way up to the hub. There was a large crowd of warriors in the hanger, holding onto rails for support. They were laughing at a show off in the middle doing summersaults in the zero gravity.

“Who are you?” asked Arran.

He made his way over. The man was as tall as Arran.

“Maklem, lord, of the house Jarsad-Malkem”

“Why have I not seen you before? I think I would have remembered one so tall,” asked Arran.

“I lived in an outlying village, lord.”

“Hmm. Why are there not more of your people here? And where is Jarsad?

“Many of my people were killed, lord, and Jarsad was badly injured. He is at the Com being looked after by Nadine.”

“OK, but stop clowning about. We have to ship out of here,” ordered Arran.

“I have a strange feeling about him, Harrad. Get Oneone to keep watch on him.”

“The men seem to like him,” said Harrad.

“But look at them. It’s their first time here. They should look worried, not carefree. This Maklem seems to have an influence over them,” said Arran.

“Could be a good thing”

Over the next few hours, Danfour and the men slipped into 3M’s orbital and set up a forward HQ.

“Marshal, why did we divert from 3M?”

“So we can organise a better defence, Aston. Also, we split the intruders’ forces. They will believe we are on 3M, so when they come here, they must leave a force behind. That will help our defence no end. And here we control communications, all the internet passes through WorldTransCom. You can’t fight a war without communications.”

“But they are only savages.”

“Are they? They have done remarkably well so far for savages. They must have inside help.”

“But who?”

“If only I knew,” said the marshall.

By the time the rest of the warriors and a good number of Oneone’s men had arrived, they had secured the hub and Danfour had reprogramed the technicians.

“No alarm yet,” said Danfour, “but I think the PCP will be here and they will be expecting us. Again, we must use Number Two spoke for descent. Number One will be heavily guarded. Although this time, we will make a direct approach.”

Just then, Jon and Argot came over with two frightened looking warriors.

“These two,” began Argot, “forced open one of the Number One spoke elevator doors, and another threw himself down it.”

“Interesting,” said Danfour. “That is a long way down. He will not survive that.”

Arran turned to the two warriors. “Why did you do that?”

“We don’t know. We can’t remember doing it.”

“I wanted to go down,” said the other. “We were afraid. Couldn’t go on.”

“Get Oneone’s people here. I want to know what is going on. These men were all but jumping with joy an hour ago,” said Arran.

“There is a powerful force here, more so than before,” said Oneone. We are trying to shield it.”

“Do your best, Oneone. Let’s get down that spoke. Only this time we take the stairs. I don’t want any more trouble from shafts. Keep the men moving, shields and blasters to the front.”

They met little resistance, slowly walking along a wide corridor that gently sloped up with nothing but living quarters on each side. As they were making their way along the lower floor, Oneone detected resistance ahead.

“Give them fear Oneone,” ordered Arran.

“They are weakening, Arran,” he replied.

No sooner had he thought that, a warrior pushed through the shields ran forward with his arms wide and was cut down by several blasts. In anger, the others surged forward, shields locked and broke the defenders.

“I am sorry, Arran. We must have let our shield drop to work on the defenders,” said Oneone.

“Not your fault, Oneone. We are fighting two enemies. I only hope we can keep this up,” replied Arran.

Their progress slowed to a crawl. Everyone was nervous and looked round with alarm on their faces.

“Dan, collect all the blasters, I don’t want any accidents,” said Arran.

On collecting them, Danfour asked Arran what was happening.

“Something or someone is affecting our minds,” he replied.

“Circuit conflict?”

“Something like that. I keep having bad thoughts, very bad, forming in my head. But I know they are not mine. It is what fear does to people. My real thoughts are fighting against them. I know that if we give up, we are all dead anyway, everyone on earth too. So, we must go on. How far to these bombs?”

“Oh, they are not here.”

“What the hell are we doing here then?”

“The masters would not keep such a mass of destruction on an inhabited orbital. The bombs will be on a storage one, far from here. But they will be controlled from 3M’s central computer. We have just to do what we did before.”

“Just? This time it’s a lot harder. Men, keep going. If you give up, we are all dead, anyway. We must keep going. The masters are putting lies into your head. Do not listen.”

But the men ground to a halt and nothing Arran said could get them moving again.

“What are we going to do?” asked Harrad, shaking. “I can’t go on.”

“I don’t know. It’s a lot to ask of the men. But the masters will launch the bombs soon, I think. Dan, you are not affected. Can you not get to this computer?”

“I am able to go. But they know I should not be there and I am not blaster proof. You would not be able to do anything with the computer without me, anyway.”

“Marshal, Worldtranscom is under our control now,” said Aston triumphantly.

“Good, then shut down the internet.”

“But we will be blind then.”

“Not entirely, Aston. We do not need contact with the other orbitals and I have Mecron at 3M’s central computer about to launch the missiles, and radar will warn us of any attack by the barbarians.”

“OK, right away, sir.”

Suddenly, things went back to normal. The warriors all stood, looked at each other in confusion. Oneone stood and pointed at Maklem who tried to bolt but was grabbed by the men around him.

“He is linked to the force,” said Oneone.

“Tie him up and bring him with us. Dan, give out the blasters. We had better make haste,” said Arran.

On they hurried passing more and more living quarters on their way down this unending passage. But just as Danfour said that they were almost there, a manned barricade appeared in the distance. The men stopped and huddled behind their shields.

“Looks like a last-ditch stand,” said Arran. “Blast that barricade out of the way,” he shouted.

But before the men could respond, blasts began erupting on their shields. They returned fire as best they could and soon the hallway was a crisscross of red streaks and smoke. The warriors were not trained or effective with this new weapon and soon a few began to fall. But as the smoke built up, they found they could return more fire power. Great gaps were being torn in the barricade.

Mecron had brought the silos online and was programming in the co-ordinates.

“How much longer. sir.”

“Almost done, officer. The co-ordinates are already worked out, but I must programme the silos’ launch sequence. Ten minutes at most.”

Mecron continued at the terminal, swearing when in his haste, he made mistakes. Sweat dripped from his brow. He knew they were close. All his life he had never experienced such pressure. It had always been mind-ploddingly slow and boring. This was so new to him, he fumbled at the keyboard, his mind racing, fingers too slow, not responding.

“What the hell? Everything’s gone offline,” he mumbled, panic racing through him.

“What’s gone, sir?”

“Everything, the silos, the internet has gone down.”

“Can’t be, sir, that’s never happened before.”

“Do you think I am stupid? It’s gone now, and I won’t be able to launch.”

“Link a micro beam to them,” suggested the officer.

“I can’t, they are beyond the earth’s curve. Get WorldTransCom and Marshal Strighton on a beam.”

“I’ll try, sir.”

“You had better, or you are dead.”

“But even if we fail, sir, we have an escape pod here.”

“You won’t be on it,” snarled Mecron.

Panic was contagious and grew with the sound of blasts outside the door. The centres controllers and technicians began running around like headless chickens as the firefight increased in intensity.

“I’ve done it, I’ve got them, sir,” shouted the officer.

Mecron grabbed the mike and shouted, “Patch me through to Marshal Strighton highest priority.”

The seconds ticked by. Mecron felt a little faint. He had never thought his life could be in danger. Everything slowed down, blasts began hitting the outside wall. It took an eternity for the Marshal to come online.

“Marshal, they’re here, we can’t hold them. The net is down and I can’t launch,” Mecron shouted.

“My god no, err, I’ll fix it. Hold them off.”

Not wanting to admit his mistake, the marshal told Astron to reconnect the internet. But over the coms he heard a mighty crash, Mecron screamed and the line went dead.

“Don’t bother, Astron. It seems we fucked up.”

Arran, Oneone, Jordan Danfour Vargen all stared out of the view port.

“I can’t believe we’ve done it,” said Jordan. “We have taken out their military.”

“Their command orbital,” reminded Danfour, “but they are impotent without this one.”

“Yeah, and all on an empty stomach,” put in Vargen.

“It has always been a fine balance. But now I think we together will tip that balance,” said Danfour.

“Yes, we make a good team,” agreed Arran. “With your knowledge of the workings of the corporations and orbitals and Oneone’s ability to sense what is around the corner, we can take them all,” said Arran.

“How the hell can we do that, Arran?” asked Harrad. “They have awesome weapons, powerful ships and handheld blasters. What have we got?”

“We have Soulreaper,” assured Arran.

“Oh, come on, Arran.”

“Actually, it is not as bad as you think,” put in Danfour. “Fortunately, all their war ships and military are at the solar rim. The other 3M orbitals cannot contact them without this HQ and they will think that WorldTransCom who also ship food and supplies around the orbitals are up to something. It will not be too difficult to board the supply ships and infiltrate WorldTransCom. All the supply ships will return there empty. If we do not interrupt their routine, we should not be suspected.”

“Yes, he is right, Harrad,” answered Arran. “We are in a good position. We can keep their ships at bay. We should take WorldTransCom next and then control transport and communications. Nothing will function without us. Dan, can you get us a timetable of all shipping, so we can work out where we can go next?”

“No problem. I’ll access the system and get you a print out,” said Danfour.

“And Oneone, get your men to fan out all over this orbital and see if they can detect any nasty surprises.”

“That has already been done. As soon as the entire place has been covered, they will report back to me,” he answered.

“Well, I think it time we got some rest. But first, Vargen, we will go to that eating house on the level above.”

“My prayers answered,” cried Vargen smacking his lips.

The next morning, all the men met again in the control centre. Danfour already had AI androids manning the system controls with the other 3M orbitals locked out.

Arran looked round at the others.

“First, security. This place is immense, and we cannot hope to search it all, we haven’t the manpower. I am hoping that Oneone’s people have managed to sweep the entire place. Oneone?

“Yes, we have. We haven’t found anything threatening. But something is not right.”

“How’s that?”

“Well for the number of people on board, and Danfour has the numbers, it is loud, a bit too much mental activity for so few people.”

“What does that mean exactly. Can you see a problem?”

“No, we cannot detect any threat or problem, but it is not right. We are aware of extra mental activity, but cannot locate its source or whereabouts. There must be some activity hidden, which means that there could be a threat. Although I can’t understand how that could be possible. We have always detected all mental activity, even from below our hill on earth.”

“Might not the electronic equipment. shield some mental activity?” suggested Danfour. “We have shielding in the walls to protect the systems from cosmic rays.”

“Well, it might be possible. I don’t know, but I doubt it. And anyway, we have not encountered that disturbing force since.”

“OK Oneone, work on it. Do another sweep,” suggested Arran. “Jordan, get the men ready. We will take Oneone and his men, board the next supply ship for WorldTransCom and take it like we did this one. They may be on alert or suspect something, but will have no idea of what. So, it shouldn’t be much more of a challenge than this was, not with Oneone putting the fear of God into them.”

“We must take ships that pass through here and on to another orbital,” said Danfour. “The masters will be looking for ships coming directly from here.”

Two days later, Danfour put the men on an automated transport and they docked without a hitch. Oneone and his men looked like they were in prayer as they searched for resistance, put up a mental shield and spread fear over the area. Danfour tinkered with some instruments, Oneone gave the all clear and the doors were opened. To Arran, it all looked much the same as the last orbital as they followed Danfour. They made their way up and out of the docking area towards the arrivals hall where the elevators were.

But before they entered, Oneone said, “Wait, they are ready for us.”

Danfour and Arran went and had a look. Across the hall was another barricade, behind which there must have been over a hundred armed soldiers.

“PCP,” said Danfour. “Must be almost the entire force. But what is the Powercon police doing here? I traced them to 3M.”

“But we never found them, they must have diverted here. Anyway, we are not going to face that, even with our shields. Such fire power would start to get through and the PCP are more formidable than the home guards we dealt with on 3M. We would lose most of our men before we got close. And even when Oneone has put fear in them, there are so many of them, they would still remain a little confident. Also, they might hit us with that force again. Then, I don’t know what we would do.”

“We go around them and take them from behind,” suggested Danfour.

“We can?” asked Arran.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Not very good at strategy, are they?”

“These are still only police. They are not trained in warfare. The military, however, are well-trained.”

“Fortunately, they will get here too late.”

“I could lead your men through the service route. As I told you, nobody wants to see robots and AI’s going about. We have our own routes, remember? Goes back to man’s fear of us,” said Danfour helpfully.

“How come there are service routes up here when it is only occupied by robots?” asked Arran.

“It was not always so. The reception area was in the arrivals hall, by the elevators, even though zero G was known to be not good for people. Eventually, it was moved down to the base of the elevators. Security was never a problem, all comings and goings were wired, for ships routes and navigation etc. So, there were no surprise visitors. But I am not sure I want to lead your men behind them, so they can kill a hundred or more, and there are service elevators from the cargo landing bay down to the rim.”

“So, we use the service shaft, bypass the PCP and take the central computer,” said Arran.

“That makes good sense. I still do not want to kill any more than necessary. I will scan the monitors to our approach and make sure there are no surprises. But before I do that, I’ll organise getting the rest of your men over. They can come directly here now we have lost the advantage of surprise. This orbital has no weapon system.”

“Harrad, have some of the men fire off a few blasts at the barrier. Tell them to keep their heads down until we take the command centre. I feel a bit better now we have so many extra blasters from 3M,” said Arran.

“Try not to put any holes in the outer walls” said Danfour. “It would not bother me, you would be in for a shock.”

Before the rest of the warriors arrived, Danfour was back to report another defence around the control centre.

“As many down there as up here,” he said.

“If we go down and attack them, we leave ourselves open to be outflanked. The troops up here would come down behind us. Although, once the rest of the men arrive, we will have enough for some to stay here and keep this lot busy while the rest of us go down to the rim.”

There was tension in the air as they waited for the rest of the warriors to arrive, the silence broken by the occasional blast.

“This defence below, does it guard the service elevator?” Arran asked Danfour.

“No, they seem to have forgotten that. As I explained, they do not see us when they do. But even the main elevators are not closely guarded. The lower arrivals hall is large and difficult to defend. The masters must be a bit worried. They have chosen to defend the approach to the command centre.”

“Wow, they are not very bright. We cannot all come down at once, let alone charge out of the elevators in full force. They could pick us off piecemeal as we came out.”

“A bit of luck then. Also, the service elevators are much larger than the personnel ones. You should be able to get enough men down in one go to seal off the exits to the hall,” said Danfour.