humanity had created its starships, to make them feel comfortable. That explained the poisonous atmosphere – an effective defence against an unprepared enemy – and maybe even the gravity. It made a depressing kind of sense. Humanity had searched endlessly for the Killers and their homeworld, but no one had taken a serious look at the thousands of gas giants. They could have millions of inhabited worlds right under the noses of everyone who searched for them.
“Suit, open a link to Captain Kelsey,” she ordered, grimly. Her conclusions would already have been sent out to the MassMind and the Community – the MassMind would study her theory and model out the possible dimensions of the Killers, now they knew more about them – but that wouldn’t help the team. “I need to talk to him.”
***
Chris was feeling pushed back as he unleashed another burst of arrows into the heart of a Killer machine. Several mechanical arms and legs disintegrated under his fire, but the remainder of the machine kept coming. The suit sensors warned that some of the cutting tools the machines carried had monofilament blades and even clouds of remote nanotech, explaining how four of his men had been killed so effortlessly, despite their suits. It was oddly reassuring, in a way; the Killers evidently hadn’t been able to solve the problem of controlling vast clouds of nanotech either. If they had the entire team would have been wiped out within seconds.
“I see,” he said finally, as Paula finished outlining her theory. “Are you sure about this?”
“I think so,” Paula said. “I’ve been looking at everything we know about the Killers – and everything we’ve found out on this mission – and it all fits together.”
“And we don’t have a way to get out of here now,” Chris confirmed, dryly. The Killer machines ignored the remote drones, which were still watching the enemy advance, and they were confirming that the way out to the hull and escape was firmly blocked. If they could use their plasma cannons, it would be a different story, but that would just have killed them all. It might be worth the risk as a final resort, but nothing else. “All right; send the additional drones forward and then prepare to follow them.”
He selected an EMP grenade from the list of possible weapons, locked it on one of the Killer machines, and fired it towards them, before turning and running for the far exit. The other Footsoldiers were already ahead of him as the EMP grenade detonated, sending an electromagnetic pulse against the Killer systems, but not entirely to his surprise they showed no signs of being affected. It wouldn’t have bothered the armoured combat suits either.
“Here,” Tom Pearson said. He picked up the strange Killer machine and pulled it after him, dumping it in a position to slow down pursuit. Chris smiled and nodded before pointing him down the corridor and running after him, avoiding a flashing blade by a millimetre. The starship seemed to be shuddering now, as if it were channelling power to something else, or perhaps fluctuating the gravity field to confuse them. “Sir, it…”
He stumbled against a silver wall and fell right into it. Chris stopped and stared in horror as the wall literally swallowed Tom up, despite his struggles. He reached out and caught his comrade’s hand, pulling him with all the strength of the suit’s mechanical muscles, but he couldn’t budge him from the wall. A moment later, Tom shoved him back, just before he fell into the wall and vanished. His icon vanished from the display.
“Don’t touch the walls,” Chris shouted, as they kept running towards the heart of the Killer ship, the bridge Paula had identified. Other traps kept appearing and grabbing for them as they moved, from a pair of tiny mechanical crab-like creatures to a sudden crippling change in the gravity field. Without
“Suit, open a link to Captain Kelsey,” she ordered, grimly. Her conclusions would already have been sent out to the MassMind and the Community – the MassMind would study her theory and model out the possible dimensions of the Killers, now they knew more about them – but that wouldn’t help the team. “I need to talk to him.”
***
Chris was feeling pushed back as he unleashed another burst of arrows into the heart of a Killer machine. Several mechanical arms and legs disintegrated under his fire, but the remainder of the machine kept coming. The suit sensors warned that some of the cutting tools the machines carried had monofilament blades and even clouds of remote nanotech, explaining how four of his men had been killed so effortlessly, despite their suits. It was oddly reassuring, in a way; the Killers evidently hadn’t been able to solve the problem of controlling vast clouds of nanotech either. If they had the entire team would have been wiped out within seconds.
“I see,” he said finally, as Paula finished outlining her theory. “Are you sure about this?”
“I think so,” Paula said. “I’ve been looking at everything we know about the Killers – and everything we’ve found out on this mission – and it all fits together.”
“And we don’t have a way to get out of here now,” Chris confirmed, dryly. The Killer machines ignored the remote drones, which were still watching the enemy advance, and they were confirming that the way out to the hull and escape was firmly blocked. If they could use their plasma cannons, it would be a different story, but that would just have killed them all. It might be worth the risk as a final resort, but nothing else. “All right; send the additional drones forward and then prepare to follow them.”
He selected an EMP grenade from the list of possible weapons, locked it on one of the Killer machines, and fired it towards them, before turning and running for the far exit. The other Footsoldiers were already ahead of him as the EMP grenade detonated, sending an electromagnetic pulse against the Killer systems, but not entirely to his surprise they showed no signs of being affected. It wouldn’t have bothered the armoured combat suits either.
“Here,” Tom Pearson said. He picked up the strange Killer machine and pulled it after him, dumping it in a position to slow down pursuit. Chris smiled and nodded before pointing him down the corridor and running after him, avoiding a flashing blade by a millimetre. The starship seemed to be shuddering now, as if it were channelling power to something else, or perhaps fluctuating the gravity field to confuse them. “Sir, it…”
He stumbled against a silver wall and fell right into it. Chris stopped and stared in horror as the wall literally swallowed Tom up, despite his struggles. He reached out and caught his comrade’s hand, pulling him with all the strength of the suit’s mechanical muscles, but he couldn’t budge him from the wall. A moment later, Tom shoved him back, just before he fell into the wall and vanished. His icon vanished from the display.
“Don’t touch the walls,” Chris shouted, as they kept running towards the heart of the Killer ship, the bridge Paula had identified. Other traps kept appearing and grabbing for them as they moved, from a pair of tiny mechanical crab-like creatures to a sudden crippling change in the gravity field. Without
Similar Books
