needed, the things just let us go,” Frank answered.
Mark about fell out of his chair in surprise at the tactical mistake made by the Terracotta soldiers. Imprisoning or killing anybody who knows anything is rule number one during military operations. “They did what? Why would they let you go to report on what you saw?”
“They view humans as insignificant pests,” Hastelloy explained. “To them you’re flies buzzing around their heads. They may swat you for getting in their way; otherwise, they could care less what you do. For now, they have one objective and one enemy. Me.”
“And once they defeat you?” Mark asked.
“If their history is any indication of future behavior, they’ll press the indigenous life forms on this planet into forced labor.”
“Yes, yes. Losing to these bastards will be bad for everyone all the way around,” Frank concluded. “What can any of us do to stop them?”
“These creatures do go down, right?” Mark asked.
“Yeah they sorta do. I took one out and saw a few others go down when cutting or smashing weapons were used against them,” Frank confirmed. “The problem is they just respawn through that flashing blue light of theirs. Every couple of seconds there is a flash and another statue comes to life. I only saw it stop for a few minutes when we were back at the museum an hour ago.”
For the first time in the conversation, Hastelloy’s eyes perked up. “Wait, you said there was an interruption in their animation process not long ago?”
“Yes, about an hour ago,” Frank confirmed.
“Are you sure about that timing?”
“It was just before the things burst out of the museum and started clobbering the Chinese forces, so yeah, it’s kinda’ memorable for me.”
“Hold on,” Hastelloy said while he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flat blue disk the size of a silver dollar. He placed it on the table and tapped the top, which produced a six-inch tall cone of light that housed the shrunken head of a man well into his sixties.
“Tonwen, you’re speaking with me along with two NSA agents, one of whom is in China facing the reanimated Alpha forces. He says he noticed a pause in their animation process about an hour ago. Tell me, has Gallono already come out of the Nexus?”
“Yes, sir. It was almost exactly one hour ago. Are you thinking our reanimation process somehow interfered with theirs?”
“It looks that way,” Hastelloy confirmed. “I need you to work with Gallono to see if you can somehow permanently disrupt their ability to reanimate.”
Hastelloy looked away from Tonwen’s floating virtual head to speak into the conventional phone resting on the table. “Frank, I need you to meet Commander Gallono at…”
He stopped talking upon hearing a blast of static on the other end. Mark picked up the phone to confirm what they already suspected; the line was dead. Most likely all communication into and out of China was now disrupted. Rule number two in any military operation was to disrupt the enemy’s ability to communicate.
“Tonwen, make sure you’re still able to communicate with Gallono using our technology and stop the Alpha relics from regenerating,” Hastelloy ordered. “Valnor can handle protecting the Nexus. I need you focused on this, because if you can’t stop them, we’ll likely need to destroy the entire complex surrounding the Chinese pyramid. That would probably provoke a war between the two preeminent nuclear powers on this planet. I believe that might be construed as an unacceptable cultural interference in your eyes.”
“It would indeed. Your orders will be followed,” Tonwen answered just before terminating the link.
Hastelloy put the small disk in his pocket, looked to the side at Dr. Holmes, and then across the table at Mark. “This is turning out to be quite a day so far. Can I please speak with your President now?”
“You haven’t even
Mark about fell out of his chair in surprise at the tactical mistake made by the Terracotta soldiers. Imprisoning or killing anybody who knows anything is rule number one during military operations. “They did what? Why would they let you go to report on what you saw?”
“They view humans as insignificant pests,” Hastelloy explained. “To them you’re flies buzzing around their heads. They may swat you for getting in their way; otherwise, they could care less what you do. For now, they have one objective and one enemy. Me.”
“And once they defeat you?” Mark asked.
“If their history is any indication of future behavior, they’ll press the indigenous life forms on this planet into forced labor.”
“Yes, yes. Losing to these bastards will be bad for everyone all the way around,” Frank concluded. “What can any of us do to stop them?”
“These creatures do go down, right?” Mark asked.
“Yeah they sorta do. I took one out and saw a few others go down when cutting or smashing weapons were used against them,” Frank confirmed. “The problem is they just respawn through that flashing blue light of theirs. Every couple of seconds there is a flash and another statue comes to life. I only saw it stop for a few minutes when we were back at the museum an hour ago.”
For the first time in the conversation, Hastelloy’s eyes perked up. “Wait, you said there was an interruption in their animation process not long ago?”
“Yes, about an hour ago,” Frank confirmed.
“Are you sure about that timing?”
“It was just before the things burst out of the museum and started clobbering the Chinese forces, so yeah, it’s kinda’ memorable for me.”
“Hold on,” Hastelloy said while he reached into his pocket and pulled out a flat blue disk the size of a silver dollar. He placed it on the table and tapped the top, which produced a six-inch tall cone of light that housed the shrunken head of a man well into his sixties.
“Tonwen, you’re speaking with me along with two NSA agents, one of whom is in China facing the reanimated Alpha forces. He says he noticed a pause in their animation process about an hour ago. Tell me, has Gallono already come out of the Nexus?”
“Yes, sir. It was almost exactly one hour ago. Are you thinking our reanimation process somehow interfered with theirs?”
“It looks that way,” Hastelloy confirmed. “I need you to work with Gallono to see if you can somehow permanently disrupt their ability to reanimate.”
Hastelloy looked away from Tonwen’s floating virtual head to speak into the conventional phone resting on the table. “Frank, I need you to meet Commander Gallono at…”
He stopped talking upon hearing a blast of static on the other end. Mark picked up the phone to confirm what they already suspected; the line was dead. Most likely all communication into and out of China was now disrupted. Rule number two in any military operation was to disrupt the enemy’s ability to communicate.
“Tonwen, make sure you’re still able to communicate with Gallono using our technology and stop the Alpha relics from regenerating,” Hastelloy ordered. “Valnor can handle protecting the Nexus. I need you focused on this, because if you can’t stop them, we’ll likely need to destroy the entire complex surrounding the Chinese pyramid. That would probably provoke a war between the two preeminent nuclear powers on this planet. I believe that might be construed as an unacceptable cultural interference in your eyes.”
“It would indeed. Your orders will be followed,” Tonwen answered just before terminating the link.
Hastelloy put the small disk in his pocket, looked to the side at Dr. Holmes, and then across the table at Mark. “This is turning out to be quite a day so far. Can I please speak with your President now?”
“You haven’t even
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