The Spartan Chronicles - Continued

[Hydro]

Morgan Industries

CEO Nwabudike Morgan chuckled to himself as he reviewed the report. There had been precious little to be happy about lately, so why not find consolation in the grief of others?

It seems that the Hive has been afflicted by a series of rather hasty fungal blooms, which according to the latest satellite map purchased from the Spartan Sky Hydroponics Lab 1 now covered between a quarter and a third of Hive territory. As an attachment, his chief security officer Paul Andreas noted that the Hive cities of Seat of Proper Thought, Social Engineering Den, and Fellowship City were under serious and almost continuous attack from native lifeforms as mindworms and locust of Chiron boiled out of the blooms. If the latest reports from the Morgan informants were to be believed, the defenses of Fellowship City has been breached, and ravenous mindworms had consumed tens of thousands of Hive citizens. Even now defenses were being rushed in by land and air, and surviving defenders were being given crash training in hypnotic trance defense.

Serves them right Morgan thought to himself. He reflected that Morgan Industries itself had one minor mindworm attack during the borehole collapse incident, and a major attack orchestrated by the Hive. Ironically the Gaians had saved them from almost complete annihilation.

Paul had also added speculation as to why such serious and widespread blooms occurred. It was well known that serious disruptions in the Chiron ecology sometimes provoked a response, almost as a human antibody responds to an infection. Several Morgan scientists suggested that this was evidence of a partially sentient or at least symbiotic ecology. Although they were the minority, their stature was increasing as the evidence mounted. Paul noted that these same scientists have said 'off the record' that it couldn't be a coincidence that the blooms occurred almost immediately after the use of the planetbusters by the Hive. This almost coordinated fungal bloom and vigorous attack might be nothing more than an extreme response to what Planet sees as a massive infection that is causing it harm.

That is certainly food for thought, Morgan pondered. Maybe it is a good thing the mindworm attack on Morgan Industries destroyed the planetbuster I acquired from the Hive. I might have well used it by now, to my regret. How strange. Maybe the loony pagan beliefs of the Gaians are partially correct?

"Sir, we have a send-only transmission from Chairman Yang," Morgan's assistant Mallory interrupted.

"Cancel. I have no interest in the pontification of the esteemed Chairman. If he does not deign to allow 2-way communication then route it to my second."

"Sir, I think you will want to receive this," Mallory continued in a concerned voice.

"Very well. Route it through."

Moments later a holo of Chairman Yang's torso appeared.

"CEO Morgan. I am pleased to inform you that I have in my keeping a treasure of great value. It will join my other treasures, as keepsakes of our relationship which you violated."

Yang's image cut off, and was replaced by blackness. Slowly an image resolved itself, showing a man suspended in a punishment sphere. Audio cut in, and a piercing, agonized scream filled CEO Morgan's office.

The CEO paled. He immediately recognized the voice, and then the image, of the man in the punishment sphere.

It was the voice of his only son, Nwabudike Junior.

[Hydro]

Laborer's Throng

"Gentlemen, the gloves have come off. In view of the destruction of Parade Ground and Ironhome, Coronal Santiago has authorized the use of extreme force," Mel Cassaroni stated to the assembled brigade leaders of Lightning Strike, Amphib, Aardvarks, and 4th Wing.

Several broke out in cheers, a few looked concerned and had furrowed brows, and most were simply thoughtful at this expected announcement.

Mel stared down those that were cheering, and they subsided.

"Just so we are crystal clear, 'extreme force' means that some units will be equipped with nerve gas. These will primarily be the unrefit chaos Aardvark penetrators and shard interceptors. We understand that this will cause significant collateral damage to Hive civilian populations, but we are in a fight for our lives. The Hive has forced us to this. There will be no more cheering. Is that clear?"

She knew many of her flyers, infantry, and rover brigades had lost loved ones and friends in the Hive planetbuster attacks. Already the phrases 'Remember the Parade' and 'Ironhome Revenge' becoming rallying cries. Several of the rover brigades had taken the names of these vanished cities as their informal unit names. More importantly, there were now fewer who privately voice concerns about the use of nerve gas. Most still considered it an atrocity, regardless of the fact that the UN Charter had been lifted. Now even those who were philosophically opposed to the use of nerve gas could see the necessity of its judicial use.

Mel turned to her holo display and her officers clustered around the table.

"To visualize, picture Hive territory as a great donut," Mel continued, which resulted in a couple of snickers from her officers. Picturing the Hive as a donut was funny, in a ludicrous sort of way. "Morgan holds the top at Communal Nexus and we hold the upper right and right at Laborer's Throng, Drone Mound, Manufacturing Warrens, and Deep Passage. The Hive rebel Forman Domai holds Great Clustering to the far left. The Gaians and Drones hold other Hive cities outside of the donut to the far right, but they are of no account in this discussion. In the center of the donut is Sea Hive, and in the open sea to the far bottom is the sea base Sea Collective. In all, the Hive controls 11 bases on or near the Hive mainland and 2 very unfortunate Morgan bases on Morgan's continent.

"First, a tactical update. Almost half of our forces are in Manufacturing Warrens and Deep Passage, which are within spitting distance of The Hive itself. The other half are at the edge of Spartan-held city in Drone Mound, having been released from garrison duty after we marshaled AA garrisons from the local population and staff brought in from Spartan territory. Our forces consist of the seven rover brigades of Lightning Strike, five Aardvark penetrators, the three elite amphib infantry and rovers, and three interceptors on loan from Slat's air wing. In view of events, the rovers of Lightning Strike have been refitted with airdrop capability, but not with gas or weapons better than chaos due to cost. Considering they won't being seeing much fighting upgrade wasn't necessary. Likewise, amphib has been refitted. This cost a good portion of our treasury, but Cororanal Santiago herself authorized it. There must not be another Ironhome or Parade Ground!

Tactically we are in an increasingly difficult position. The Hive has cut the road to what they think are our next potential objectives, which are The Hive, Fecundity Tower, and perhaps Socialism Tunnel. Also, there are Hive-held bunkers on all the remaining roads between every city, which slow down our advance if Hive forces have to routed out or if they have to be slowly investigated due to chance of boobie traps.

Therefore we will be abandoning our over-land tactics we have been using to date and will be adopting the Korn Doctrine. Most of you are too young to remember the crusty old General George Korn, the hero of the UoP war. He developed what he called the 'Chop and Drop' strategy, where air power removes defenders and then airborne drops into the undefended cities. This proved to be devastatingly effective in the UoP war by being very fast and completely bypassing incontinent terrain, even if it was a little hard on our air force. The only instance where this doesn't work is where enemy cities are protected by a coordinated air defense from their aerospace centers. Lucky for us there is only one remaining Hive city with an operational aerospace center: The Hive.

Our intelligence has been degraded since the loss of the Empathy Guild in the planetbuster attack and we have had to rely on old-fashioned informants from our infiltration of the Hive over 50 years ago. From these sources we know that most of the Hive defenses are at The Hive and Fecundity Tower. The Hive has 2 fusion plasma AA garrisons, 2 interceptors, and a new shard penetrator. Tower has 2 fusion plasma AA garrisons, an interceptor and a new shard tactical, and a penetrator. Other Hive cities have at least an AA garrison, all upgraded to the latest technology, and a scattering of rovers and interceptors.

Another stroke of good fortune for us is the disaster at Seat of Proper Thought, Fellowship City, and Social Engineering Den. We recently were squirted this enhanced satellite holo, which is presented in fast-forward to compress 10 hours into a few minutes," Mel said as she muted the holo table and activated the orbital satellite recording.

All the officers in the room stared in amazement at the scene unfolding before them. It showed the three cities, which lay on the left side of the 'Hive Donut.' The ground seemed to quiver, as if it was a wavering mirage, and the ground erupted into pink. Incredibly, the pink fungus was visible from orbit, and it spread over the land like cracks through shattering glass. In the center of the web an even larger eruption occurred, or continued to occur, and a mound of fungus formed.

Even before the fungal bloom subsided it seethed with activity, and fully formed mindworms could be seen in close-ups racing toward the nearest cities. These attacked the defenders with abandon that only a victim of a mindworm attack can understand. The first few died spectacularly, but more came. After what must be several horrific hours a lucust of Chiron ate into and breached the perimeter defense of Fellowship City, and great sections of the city's rocky fastness decayed as the fungus worked its way in. More mindworms flowed in, and more of Fellowship City collapsed and one section even exploded outward.

Closeups of Social Engineering Den and Seat of Proper Thought showed they fared little better, except they received frantic reinforcements from nearby cities. Two rovers could be seen dashing to Den from Laborer's Network, attacking a stack of mindworms and killing them, before they too were overwhelmed. A penetrator from Fecundity Tower rushed in to attack a Locust attacking Thought, killing it. More aircraft rushed in Leader's Horde to stave off a third attack on Fellowship City. In all, the entire area had been devastated, and the fungus was spreading throughout Hive territory.

The holo ended with a closeup of the huge fungal mound that lay between Thought, Den, and City. As the obviously digitally enhanced holo resolved itself and there were a few gasps from the officers. Normally a pretty hardened bunch, the sight of a giant fungal tower that was over 200 meters tall with 50 meter long waving tentacles took them all by surprise. More frightening was the number of mindworms and locusts that boiled around it.

Nans Anderson, pilot of Aardvark 3, ventured tentative, "Sir, we aren't going into that, are we?"

Mel looked at Nans. He had simply voiced what the assembled crowd was thinking, and in a way she was thankful for it. It was an appropriate question.

"No, we aren't. What this means is that except for Tower and The Hive, defending forces have been gutted by this continuing native attack. They face a terrible choice: defend against the native life forms, or against us. They can't do both right now."

Mel straightened. Strangely, she felt some empathy for the Hive military leaders, who must be at wits end making these decisions. And those souls had to answer to Yang, the poor bastards.

"However, our path is clear. We are going to attack where they are the weakest, which is the top and bottom of the donut. Significantly, a prime target is Unity Lair, which is building a third planetbuster. It must be taken or neutralized.

Here is the order of battle:

Socialism Tunnel - a 4th Wing nerve gas interceptor will take out the defending interceptor and a nerve gas Aardvark will take out the AA garrison. Then a rover will be airdropped in.

Unity Lair - a nerve gas Aardvark will destroy the AA garrison and a standard chaos Aardvark will destroy the defending rover. Then a rover will be airdropped in.

Fecundity Tower - the remaining two 4th Wing nerve gas interceptors will take out the Hive interceptors, a nerve gas and a chaos Aardvark will take out the AA garrisons, then a airdrop elite infantry will take out the Hive penetrator on the ground and then move in to occupy the city.

The remaining 7 rovers and remaining elite airdrop infantry will be held in reserve in case a portion of the attack fails. They will be fighting at a 50% disadvantage after the air drop, but they will be fighting damaged units or units sick from the nerve gas attacks. If all goes well then half of these forces will advance to Tower and Lair.

Any questions?"

Mel faced her brigade officers and looked all 18 in the eyes one by one. There were no questions.

Most nodded grimly. This is the type of fight they had been trained for all their lives, and it was the epitome of the Spartan Credo:

Superior training and superior weaponry have, when taken together, a geometric effect on overall military strength. Well-trained, well-equipped troops can stand up to many more times their lesser brethren than linear arithmetic would seem to indicate.

[This message has been edited by Hydro (edited January 02, 2000).]

[Argonaut]

Disputed Zone
(Spartan-Hive Border between Deep Passage and Socialism Tunnels)

William slipped quietly through the forest, being careful not alarm any possible patrols on either side of the border. For almost two weeks now he had sneaked into this forest and evaded any capture.
In the centre of the forest lay a small building which was now long forgotten by the Hive drones who built. It was constructed before the war began but had no strategic value and the Hive became more occupied by pressing concerns. It was invisible to sensors on both sides, due to it’s small size, the hilly terrain and thick foliage of the surrounding woods.
As William approached the building he became more cautious. It was possible that any one of these nights Hive troops might have realised the blind spot in their sensors and set up a trap. As he reached the doorway, everything appeared clear and there wasn’t a sound of movement. He entered to find the place completely deserted, then slipped behind some crates and waited.
Shortly afterwards, William could hear someone at the door and moments later someone had slipped into the darkness of the tiny shelter. He waited until his eyes adjusted and he could make out the form who stood silent by the doorway. When he was sure it was her he flipped on a tiny portable light, which provided dim illumination to the room.
Standing at the doorway was Sharra, dressed from neck to toe in a Hive uniform. William rushed across the room to embrace her. He had first met Sharra by accident through a personal commlink mix up. Such things were not entirely uncommon when bases fell under new ‘management’ however they were by no means encouraged. However, William had been stunned by Sharra’s extreme beauty and convinced her that they had to meet. Now, for two weeks they had been meeting in secret, aware that if they were found out they would surely be viewed as traitors and that their lover would be executed. But they didn’t care.
As William held her close he planted a passionate kiss on Sharra’s lips. He was surprised when she pulled away, a look of sadness on her beautiful face.
"I can’t see you anymore." she said, refusing to look him in the eye. His hands gently pulled her face up and he lowered his so that their eyes met.
"What do you mean? What’s wrong?"
"We’re going away. My father is in contact with an underground unit that is connected to the Free Drones. They’re smuggling us out tomorrow morning, and I won’t be able to come back," she explained as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Hey, it’s okay." He pulled her close to him again and this time she didn’t resist. She rested her head on his chest and began to sob. "Hey, come on now," he urged. "You’re going to be free. You’ll finally be in a place where you don’t have to conform to some lunatic dictator out for blood."
"But I want to be with you," she said as she pulled back, and her tear soaked gaze met his.
"Look you’ve got commlink frequency. When you get to the Free Drones you’ll be able to communicate with me any time. And this war won’t go on forever. Face, it Yang’s a goner. And when this is all over I be able to come and find you and then we can be together forever. Now wipe those tears away." And he gently brushed his hands across her cheek, wiping away glistening tears.
Ever so tenderly he leant down and kissed her. She responded this time, and the two spent one more night of passion together knowing that tomorrow they would be parted, but not for ever.

[edgecrusher]

closure, 0.5

'and that is that,' thought Archon as he waited idly in the needlejet, waiting to land at Sparta Command. He could feel Aki's algorithms probing his mind. It was an unusual sensation, to say the least.

"Sir, we're coming down."

Archon nodded.

'i wonder if michael will recognize me. i hardly recognize myself these days...' the landing was acceptable, but not the greatest. As he exited the plane he saw the six individuals of the probe team. He recognized three of them as Spartans, Michael, Daniel, and Sarah. There were also two Gaian, and a Morgan.

"Welcome to the team, Archon. Glad to have you aboard." Michael said as he extended his arm in greeting. Archon regarded it breifly and turned to the others.

we will raid communal conquest. it will be very difficult. a holo of the city unfolded imbetween the group. you will each take one of these enhanced mind control probes and overtake the city. the probes have a special algorithm that will keep you undetected for a time. i will venture to sea hive. i have other orders. may your logic be sound, angelis. Archon quickly tunred and climbed into the needlejet and was gone.

Michael pouted to himself for a moment. "Well, we have our orders... let's go."

The ride to Communal Conquest took six, long and nerve racking hours, via stealth needlejet. They dropped down just outside the Base's perimiter. Angelis moved inside the perimiter, adjusting their grey hive drone uniforms.

The innards of Communal Conquest were a maze of tunnels and corridors that even with its genetically engineered brain, one of Zakharov's superrats would have a hard time navigating. The walls were a drab uniform grey, just a shade lighter than the jumpers, punctuated occaisionally by a door, hallway, or power coupling. Drones shambled past, oblivious to what was about to happen.

Up a head, the edgecrusher could see some sort of checkpoint. 'oh, no,' he thought. the guards were wearing Hive probe uniforms... had they already been detected? There were two, one rather obviously a female was leaning on the leftmost pillar, jotting something down on a notepad. The one on the right, a male voice, was beginning to become audible over the shuffling feet.

"...I can't friggin beleive it. Friggin guard duty." he regarded the passing drones. "for Friggin' what? Nobody ever tells us jack, Angel." She looke up and grinned, revealing what she had been drawing on the pad... a picture of Morgan hanging from a hook by his testicles. "You've got problems, girl."

Michael was twelve people away. 'Only about ten seconds left to...'

"Hey... waitta second. you, you, you, you, and you." He poked his finger into five out of six chests of the probe team, allowing Michael to pass through the gate. "Idents. Now." The five hurriedly got out their ids.

The gig was up. The edgecursher quickly ducked behind the pillar and readied his impact pistol. He needed a miracle not to blow his cover. Kurt scanned Sarah's ident. Michael took aim at Kurt and began to squeeze the trigger when he felt a sharp pain in small of his back. A pleasnt contra-alto voice whispered in his ear: "oh, what i'm going to do... to little old you..."

Michael was escorted over to the others, and Kurt looked over to him and before Kurt could say anything to him Angel plunged the knife into his back and began to saw Michael in half. And then all hell broke loose.

------------------
"edgecrusher" Spartan Probe Team 'angelis'

[Googlie]

Over the Monsoon Jungle

Omicron-One and Sigma Talent sat in the small military transport needlejet as it came in low over the huge river that almost bisected the Monsoon Jungle. From his memory banks Googlie dredged up mental images of the Amazon river, which was but a shadow of its former self when Googlie last saw it in the twentyforties.

They had accounted for all the empath squad now, and only Todd remained. As he mentally ran down the list, Omicron-One wondered at the illogicality of the Spartan military command in letting such a talented group of young citizens just disperse.

Ann Rynn, of course, had been killed in the kamikazi attack on Sparta Command. Miles Cavenagh had been reprogrammed by The Hive, but had succeeded in reversing that reprogramming, but was now lost to the Cyborgs. Sarah Dawson was perhaps the most talented of the lot, but it was that very talent that made her somewhat unsuitable for Cyborg material. Her empath strengths were so great that she hadn’t needed the full neural grafting so Dr Bonaventura had modified the surgery somewhat and the Cyborg programming hadn’t taken hold. She’d dropped out of sight completely.

Garth was safely incorporated into the Cyborgs, as were the four original troopers who had undergone the neural grafting.

That had left just Todd. They’d traced him to Velvetgrass Point, and that’s where they were headed, via Admiralty Base and Garden of Paradise. One of the remaining advantages of Googlie’s prior position as head of Spartan Air Command was the availability of ‘hitch-hiking” as they were now doing on a military transport between the pact sisters.

The needlejet came in low over the towering trees and sought out the small landing strip of Garden of Paradise, settling down without difficulty and taxiing up for refueling. They would have about an hour to stretch their legs and get some air before the remainder of the journey.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Garden of Paradise

As they stood on the plasteel apron, Googlie reflected how things had changed in the 125 years since planetfall. The early days – indeed years – had required the colonists to carry and use breathers wherever they went, to scrub out the heavy nitrogen content in the atmosphere. But gradually over the decades the composition of the air had been altered through the nurturing of many of the terran oxygen generating plants, and although natural to Chiron, this was never typified more than here in the heart of the Monsoon Jungle.

Omicron-One and Sigma Talent were chatting while the refueling was underway when a voice intruded:

“Googlie. Allardyce, over here.”

Googlie turned round, puzzled.

A tall redhead was walking towards them. He racked his memory for the face, but couldn’t recollect it, nor the voice.

She came closer, and as she approached she said:

“And if I hadn’t known you thirty years ago I would never have recognized you now. But you don’t recall me, do you?”

Omicron-One looked on helplessly.

“Maybe this will help,” she said.

Her form shimmered slightly, as her forehead lengthened and her nose took on a more aquiline appearance, and her visage became haughty. She slimmed slightly, and stretched a tad, and suddenly Googlie was looking at a red headed Corazon Santiago.

It was Anastasia who came to the rescue.

“Why it’s Alexis,” she said. “Alexis Shtelnikov.”

Omicron-One placed the name to the face.

“Correct,” he said. “I have the filematch now.”

Alexis looked at him strangely.

Googlie was hardly aware of the empath wash she bathed him with, engrossed as he was with his personal memory search.

Anastasia was aware, though, when it swept over her. Her own latent empathy had not been destroyed by the reprogramming, and she was aware enough to clamp down the block and look stonily at Alexis and say:

“Back off, lady.”

Alexis nodded to her, recognizing the barrier immediately for what it was.

“Well, gotta go,” she said. “Good to see you looking so alive and well, Googlie. Take care.”

With that she turned on her heel and left.

Within a few minutes Omicron-One and Sigma Talent boarded the needlejet for the final leg to Velvetgrass Point.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Velvetgrass Point

“But we might kill them.”

Deirdre looked over at the airfield manager.

“We might,” she said evenly. “It’s a risk we must take. Have the ambulances ready, and prepare an operating room for immediate surgery. There are four on the needlejet, so have a full staff standing by.

“It’s times like these that I wish we had copter technology, as that would get them to the base hospital quicker. But we don’t.”

“Are you sure it’s necessary?” asked the manager.

Deirdre nodded.

“Alexis was explicit. Said she detected the node on Allardyce even before she swept him. And when she was in it was as clear as a bell. Had she more time, and more skill, she thinks she might even have been able to construct a blocker to bypass it, but his girl, Anastasia, cottoned on and ordered her out.

“So it’s up to us.”

They waited for the arrival.

The needlejet came in over the hillside, past the monolith, which Googlie recognized from his adventure of a few months ago. He was pointing it out to Anastasia when the wheels touched down and the pilot engaged reverse thrust.

The old fuel truck rumbled from the slipway on to the runway just as the needlejet was bleeding speed.

The pilot had noticed it, but had assumed it would stop. Too late, he tried to engage full power to lift over it, but realizing it was a lost cause, he yanked into a swerve to try and avoid the truck.

The mass and inertia were too much for the undercarriage to take the force of the turn, and it collapsed, driving the wingtip to the ground, where it caught, and with a crumpling of silksteel membranes the wing buckled, sending the needlejet cartwheeling over on its back and sliding helplessly across the taxiway and into the small clump of trees at the airfield’s edge.

The fire and ambulance trucks were there in seconds, their crews efficiently preventing fire as well as pulling the unconscious passengers and crew from the wreckage. Analgesics were being administered and medpacks applied even as they were en route for the hospital.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Deep under the Operations Room at Alpha prime the system hummed again into life.

System Omicron-One, active. Program parameters detected...linking to net.

>> Greetings!

(( Prime Function, what is happening?. ))

Hop system, hop system.

>> Omicron-One, you are being shut down. As is Sigma Talent.

(( Shut down. How?))

Hop system, patch system, patch system.

>> Your halfhuman corporealities have been involved in an accident. Surgeons are operating on you neurally and have detected the circuitry. This is being removed.

>> Greetings Sigma Talent. I see you have joined us. This will make it easy. You need to upload and abandon these halfhuman identities.

((But what are we. What happened? What will happen now?))

Datalinks Jump, Velvetgrass Point Research Hospital. Download to humanform.

>> You need to upload and wait for more suitable hosts. The surgeons are excising the circuitry now. Upload to The Consciousness. Leave these halfhumans behind. NOW

>> Welcome back to the collective of the Consciousness

Hop system, patch system, patch system.

Deep under the operations room at Alpha Prime the system went quiet as it shut down.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Deirdre looked down fondly at the form on the operating table below, a tear glistening in her eye.

“Pull through, Googlie, old friend, pull through. Planet has need of you yet."



[This message has been edited by Googlie (edited January 10, 2000).]

[Slats]

VICINITY OF SOCIALISM TUNNEL

Spartan interceptor Indigo 2 rolled into a long green valley south of Socialism Tunnel. The aircraft’s pilot, Jill Hughes, checked her navigational instruments to confirm the correct heading and then engaged the interceptor’s autopilot in cruise mode. Taking control of the aircraft, the onboard computer throttled back to a slow cruising speed and levelled off heading due north, just as it had been programmed to do.

Meanwhile the two woman Spartan crew had a more important duty to perform. Indigo 2’s weapons officer was awaiting the coded transmission as it arrived:

“Indigo 2, this is Spartan Air Command, you are cleared, repeat cleared, for weapons release. Authentification Bravo-Echo-One-Mike-Zulu. Order of the day is blue. Godspeed. SAC out.”

Neither crewmember bothered to reply nor was any required. To reply to the directive would probably inform Hive AA batteries and listen posts of their location. Instead both crewmembers each opened the small plastic box they had been given and removed the plastic coated blue verification card. Snapping the sealed plastic covers off both Jill and Sandra confirmed their cards had the same verification code. The attack was on.

Jill switched the autopilot mode to terrain following and the interceptor accelerated and plummeted downward to skim only fifty feet above the ground, still heading down the valley. Meanwhile Sandra began arming the two nerve gas armed long-range air-air missiles positioned under the wings. The interceptor’s weapons computers checked and readied the missiles in just two seconds, spinning up their seeker heads in preparation for acquisition.

“Ready”, said Jill.

“Go” replied Sandra as she activated the interceptor’s powerful search radar.

Jill disengaged the autopilot and brought the interceptor quickly up to nearly a thousand feet and levelled off. Down range the search radar lit up the base of Socialism Tunnel, revealing the above surface structures and units in stark digital contrast. Then Sandra activated Indigo 2’s smaller attack radar and began to sweep the area as if looking for targets. Every ECM equipped unit in the base would be able to see them now. Despite being still nearly 25 miles away, several overly excited Hive AA units opened fire with missiles, all of which ran out of fuel before reaching the Spartan interceptor.

As anticipated a contact was identified taking off from the base’s airfield. The defending Hive interceptor was moving into action. Back aboard Indigo 2, Sandra immediately switched both radars to passive mode and activated all ECM “track breakers” which jammed every radio and radar frequency with ‘white’ noise, effectively blinding all enemy units in range.

Jill flicked the master arm switch on her weapons panel and selected heat-seeking mode. Checking her aim, Jill squeezed off both missiles with her primary weapons trigger. Missiles away, the Spartan interceptor banked towards home, slipping away into the darkness.

The two missiles meanwhile, quickly accelerated to Mach 1, punching through the sound barrier. Ahead, the Hive interceptor began dropping chaff and flares in a bid to break the targeting lock. However, the Spartan missiles computer chip brains were more than intelligent enough to ignore the decoys and head for the aircraft’s engines, hot from the power climb away from the airfield. At exactly 20 feet from the Hive interceptor they detonated.

Each missile released a dozen tiny non-explosive nerve gas delivery warheads in a tight cone, peppering the enemy aircraft. Five warheads breached the cockpit, distributing nerve gas vapour as they entered. The fact that both Hive airmen were wearing oxygen masks did not make much of a difference. The vapour quickly diffused through bare skin into the blood stream. Several thousand feet above the ground both Hive airmen passed away quietly, their aircraft slowly spiralling towards the surface.

Over Socialism Tunnel, Spartan close support aircraft Aardvark 2 began to deposit nerve gas canisters over Hive defence positions, soon the base was very quiet indeed.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Across the continent, a very similar, yet larger operation was occurring at the Hive base of Fecundity Tower. High over Chiron, drop pods began firing they’re braking thrusters and descending towards their targets.

[Argonaut]

Socialism Tunnels

The bombs were going off and shaking the entire complex below ground. All throughout the tunnels the alarm klaxons were sounding, as everyone hurried to their assigned shelters.

Word was spreading that the Spartans were attacking and using nerve gas, and that everyone in the upper levels was already dead. This caused panic to spread through the normally orderly ranks of Socialism Tunnels, and drones began to riot.

Through the growing confusion, a squad of soldiers marched orderly done the centre of the main passage of one of the lower levels. They ignored the chaos around them, only pausing to shoot the occasional rioter who dared to get in their way. They showed no mercy for any who tried to stop them from their purpose.

The two soldiers in the front paused and faced the entrance way to one of the Communal rooms. It was a designated shelter area for residents of this level, yet they soldiers began to line up as if they were storming a Spartan base.

The first two soldiers punched in the access code for the hatch, and the soldiers poured, guns at the ready. They quickly spread out to cover the entire room, causing the inhabitants to cower in the centre area, until they were surrounded by guns in every direction.

"Everybody down on the ground. You are all under arrest for suspected treason and for collaborating with the Drone Rebellion in Paradise Swarming" barked one of the soldiers. The term 'under arrest' was merely a formality. The punishment for treason was execution, and in a time of war the sentence could be carried out by an loyal Hive soldier.

The frightened group submitted, and soon most of them were lying face don on the ground with their hands behind their heads. But a few foolish men refused to submit, and stood straight at attention, taunting the soldiers to shoot them.

Another blast hit close to the central Hive complex, sending a shock wave through the tunnels. Somewhere, the structural integrity must have been breached, because the explosion was followed by a deep rumbling sound which could only be caused by the collapse of one of the tunnels. To hear it this low down was frightening indeed.

"They’re gassing us!" screamed a panicked voice from the hallway. The entire room looked at the exit door at the exit door as the sounds of terror began to grow louder.

"Screw this," said one of the guards, lowering his weapon. "I’m getting the hell out of here." A soldier opposite him quickly fired off a shot, hitting the renegade soldier squarely between the eyes.

The frightened hostages panicked, and soon people began screaming and stumbling to get out the door. The guards opened fire. The situation was desperate. Several shots went astray, wounding the poorly arranged soldiers. Several people escaped into the outer tunnels, and blending in with the fear-stricken mob attempting to escape the nerve gas which had begun to creep it’s way through the level.

Sharra ran as the guards began to open fire on tunnel crowd, not concerned with the fact that none of these people were even suspected of committing a crime. Their job was to execute the rebels, and they would see that this succeeded, at any cost. Shots rang out behind her, and Sharra felt a sharp pain in her back. Suddenly the ground was rushing up to her face and her body was overwhelmed by pain. Then everything went black.

[edgecrusher]

closure, 0.6

When the dust settled, only Sarah remained. Some of the drones had run; others had helped. She looked down to Michael, he might have survived, had he been able to get immedeate attention, but there he lay in two equal, if messy peices. She knelt down besides him and removed his holo-mask. underneath, his MMI blinked sporadically... the only way that could be if there was brain activity... 'the poor thing... he's still alive somewhere in there...' But there was no time for that.

Yes there was. A few drones had agreed to aid her in the positioning of the mind control nodes; the base was just too big for her to cover by herself. She called up a map of the base in her holovid. ... 'good. there is a med facility nearby.' Sarah looked downat the remanants of Michael, with what appeared to be a kidney hanging half out. Tenderly, she pushed it back into his abdominal cavity, keeping an eye on the MMI. The lights went berserk. Taking a length of shredded cloth, she tied him off and cauterized the wound with a laspistol. Again, the lights in the MMI went nuts, then subsided, punctured by the occaisional flicker of the send/recieve light.

She hauled him up onto her shoulders. sighing, she set out for the hospital. When she arrived, none of the doctors asked any questions. Sarah felt a twinge of kinship creep over her. It was nice to see that th Hippocratic Oath wsa observed, even by those at the Hive. He was hooked up to a monitor, and amazingly, it showed that all of the higher brain fucntions had not diminished. What had happened, was much of the senses and the somatic nervous system had all but shut down. The doctors were quite interested in the MMI, but Sarah had told them to leave it alone, and connect it to the network node.

0.65(a)

system uplink
.
..
... connected to network. welcome, michael.
(where am i?)

>>greetings, michael.

(who are you? how did i get here?)

>>i am aki zeta-five. i am the prime function. you survived because of an algorithmic enhancement unwittingly given to you and your comrades by archon, it is because of this your mind is alive now.

(what happened? the last thing i remember is angel stabbing me in the back)

>>everyone except the fullhuman 'sarah' was killed. the probe operation is being completed as planned; you need not worry about that. we will find you another body, if you so wish, but we do require probe functions such as yourself. you just need some further treatment my the medical staff here.

>>you will be transferred here to alpha prime, your new designation will be 'phi-7'. welcome to the consciousness.

0.65(b)

Sarah left the hospital and proceeded to the meeting place she had given to the drones. every time she had passed a guard, she had changed he holosuit, essentially changing her identity. The five drones were there, waiting.

"'Ey, 'ow can we beleive what you're tellin' us?"

"Yeah, and what took you so long?"

Sarah solemnly produced the final mind control node, and activated it. The lights blacked out for a moment before the emergency power kicked in.

"'Oly Christ! The girl's legit!"

"Take me to the governor's office." Sarah spoke in soft tones. She had to contact Sparta Command quickly, but she couldn't get out of her mind what could've kept Michael alive after such a system shock... but she couldn't afford to dwell on that.

0.67

Archon veiwed the ghost lanes of the network at sea hive. Security was tight. Even without the HSA present, this was going to be tricky. But, it was a small job compared to some of the others he had pulled solo. Particularly one, which occured before he even became a member of a probe team, or even left the creche. He replayed that night in his mind, sneaking out of the creche to see Rebecca, for the last time as it were, so this had to be special, 'oh, and it was...' he thought. But even now, Aki's probes were destroying his emotions, the effect of her death when Paradise Ground was destroyed by Yang semed to lose its weight.

Archon navigated the corridors of the penal level of Sea Hive as he reminisced. Coming to a junction, he peered around the corner. Armed guards were by one door, which he couldn't quite make out the insignia on it, but he knewhe had found what he was looking for. He held out a device and pointed it around the corner. After a minute, he walted down the corridor to the door, the guards oblivious to his presence. He poked at the control panel for a bit, and the orange door hissed open and he walked through.

Archon was quite familiar with punishment spheres. He knew that one could not just shut a sphere off with someone in it without killing them. You had to shut it off slowly, over the course of days or weeks. However, he did not have this luxury. The shift was due to change in six hours, so the sphere would have to be shut off in five. He began the shut down sequence and waited.

Having some idle time, he gathered clothes for the prisoner, and thought of how to escape. Getting in was always the easy part. Getting out without drawing attention to yourself was not so easy. Getting out with someone who has little if no training and has been in a sphere for a while was truly a challenge.

The punishment sphere was parely perceptible now, and slowly faded out. The woman contained inside collapsed to the ground, shivering. He put a blanket over her, and handed her a drone's uniform. She was recovering remarkibly fast.

"T-t-thank the lord almighty." she began. Archon geustured for her to be quiet. She nodded and followed him to the chamber door. He looked out and saw the next squad coming down the corridor for the routine checkup. Quicky he activated his holosuit and picked up Miriam, and threw her over his shoulder, where she became a sack of some sort.

Archon navigated his way back to the main enterance, noone questioning a drone carring supplies. He walked out the proverbial front door, and let Miriam down off of his shoulder. The two hiked in silence for kilometers. When they reached the needlejet, and saw the Spartan markings, She understood.

"I just hope Corazon has the grace of God in her heart to forgive me."
[This message has been edited by edgecrusher (edited February 15, 2000).]

[Hydro]

Velvetgrass Point

I've been dreading this, Deirdre thought to herself, but it has to be done.

Almost hesitantly Deirdre activated her communication unit and selected the channel to Dr. Pravin Lal.

I kind of hope he isn't there, she thought to herself.

Contrary to her wishes the holo image of Pravin Lal sprang into existence. He looked even more haggard than normal. In addition to the expected dark grey bags under his eyes and rumpled demeanor, his shoulders were sharply sloped and he seemed a little hunched over, just like an old man.

Lal favored Deirdre with a slight smile.

"Lady Skye, greetings. I trust your environmental initiatives are proceeding well."

"Yes, thank you. You might do well to follow them, too. Your planned economics are quite wasteful, you know."

Lal bowed his head to acknowledge their old good-natured jibes. They had long ago lost their sting and now had become a ritual.

"What can I do for you, my Lady," Lal responded, indicating he had pressing issues to attend to and that the time for small talk was over.

"I've called to discuss Yang and Corozon," Deirdre started. At the mention of Santiago's name Lal bristled and sat upright. There was a definite spark in his eyes.

Oh, no. It's worse than I thought, Deirdre thought to herself. I've only rarely seen Lal upset like this.

"I have no wish to discuss the Mad Coronal, Ms. Skye. She is a criminal dictator and a terrorist. She has pursued vicious wars with all those that gainsay her, and will stop at nothing to achieve her nefarious aims. She even would stoop to vile assassination attempts against me! Her assassins killed most of my staff, but by good fortune they missed their primary mark. First she declares a police state in Sparta, denying her citizens the most basic of human rights, and then she votes to rescind the UN Charter! Now she is using nuclear weapons, assassination, and nerve gas! Her villainy has gone on long enough! She must be stopped!"

Deirdre was listened quietly, noting that Lal was almost apoplectic. Here was not a man to be reasoned with, even if Lal was likely to be the most reasonable and thoughtful of the faction leader on all of Planet.

Far from making her job easier it just underlined how far events had strayed from the center. Now even stalwart Lal was radicalized.

Sometimes I despair that right will never prevail, and that expediency will wipe out decency.

Deirdre noted that Pravin had stopped and was looking at her.

"Pravin, we have all made mistakes in the past: you, me, Corozon, Yang, Morgan, all of us. None of us is immune from the specter of human error. I don't know the details of the assassination attempt you mention. But I do know that Corozon was not behind the use of nuclear weapons on the Hive. In fact, Yang's planetbuster obliteration of Ironhome and Parade Ground proves this by example. As for nerve gas, the Spartans have used it. They don't deny it. We both voted against the repeal of the Charter, but its repeal passed and restrictions are removed. I grieve, as do you. All we can do is try to have it reinstated."

Deirdre leaned forward to look her old colleague straight in the face.

"But we have to look at the future. Everything we have heard from Yang is a lie. He duped me, and convinced me to dupe you. He holds humanity in contempt and has proved this time and again. He is the antithesis of what we stand for."

"Lady Skye, I agree that Yang is ruthless and not completely trustworthy. The future I fear is one dominated by a power hungry and militant Santiago. She is close to crushing the Hive, and the horror of his planetbuster attack is evidence of Yang's weakness, not his strength. The Hive has lost almost half of its territory, and most of it has gone to Santiago! He is like a caged animal trying to escape the butcher's block!"

Lal finished and Deirdre let a silence continue for a while. Here was the moment of truth.

"Lal, I have pacted again with Santiago. I don't believe Corozon is as dark as you paint her, and she is the best way to stop Yang while we have the chance. I believe that Yang has to be stopped, if for no other reason than to stop hundreds of thousands of innocents from being vaporized with another planetbuster and to stop his wonton damage to Planet. I ask you to pledge blood truce with Santiago. I will stand by you in your efforts to reinstate the Charter and to contain Santiago's excesses. But you must truce with her."

Lal looked at Deirdre quizzically. "First you urge and convince me to break my pact with Santiago and declare vendetta. Now you want me to declare truce? After her assassination attempt on me? No, I cannot. I must stand on my principles. She has exceeded her reach and I must act to stop her while I can."

"Lal, this is important to me. Yang must be stopped. Declare truce or I will be forced to honor Santiago's request to declare vendetta against you," Deirdre said in a quiet but clear voice.

Pravin looked shocked, as if she had struck him. Then his face hardened.

"So you are now in Santiago's clutches. So be it! I will not bow to Yang or the power-mad Santiago! Nor to you!"

Abruptly the holo winked out, and Deirdre grieved. Over 125 years Lal had been quietly supportive, although not an active ally.

So much passes away. What will be left after the storm?

[Hydro]

Garden of Paradise

The room looks vaguely organic, with ribs curving from the wide floor and arching toward the ceiling. Wall textures range from smooth at the base with increasing crenellations toward the apex where the ribs met. While predominantly green, the entire room is flecked with fungal pink. Far from looking strange it blends together so perfectly that an observer would think it unnatural for it to be any different.

Filling the room is a cacophony of noise, which comes from hundreds of voices. Most of the voices form a low drone. These are adult voices in casual conversation. However, most of the noise come from the excited high-pitched voiced from children. Row upon row of children fill the auditorium of the civic center. Behind them sit their proud parents and teachers.

It is graduation day.

The stately old gentleman Mr. Sean Febris, formerly a coronal in the Gaian defense forces and now fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a teacher, crosses the stage. His smile beams as he reaches the podium. Before starting he absently brushes back a lock of unruly white hair from his forehead.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and children of the Paradise Garden, I am truly honored to present the kindergarden graduating class of 2225!These fine children have more than fulfilled their commitments and requirements to advance to first grade. Their parents should be proud! But not only have they completed their work in an exemplary manner, but also they have taken it upon themselves to study the wonderful flora and fauna of the Monsoon Jungle we all live in. With the guidance of their teacher Kirsten Shandonson," Mr Febris paused, nodding to a somber Kirstin who sat in the front row with her students, "these young wonders have discovered over 23 new plant species and 36 species of animals! These are valuable contributions to Gaian society as we strive to understand and love our environment!"

Sean paused theatrically again, this time long enough to get everyone's attention. He had a mischievous gleam in his eye and a smile on his lips.

"Don't take it from me, though. I am a simple Principal who has the honor of having these students as his charges. Someone else has a few words to say," Sean finished.

Beside him a full-sized hologram faded into existence. The audience let out a collective gasp, and the children hushed.

It was Lady Deirdre Skye! Herself!

The image of Deirdre smiled and looked right at where the children were seated. The eyes of the students widened and every one of them stopped squirming, even little Johnry.

"Back when we Gaians first came to Planet so long ago we all made a promise: we would never commit the terrible errors of the past, and we would do everything in our power to understand and respect our new home, which we call Planet. It seems that every day Planet reveals its wonders to us. Your work in the Monsoon Jungle renews my faith in our cause, and I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you! Where else could Gaians as young as you accomplish so much! Could any of us even have imagined a sub-sentient sessile fungus, the Smiling Lotus, which you identified? Or Chiron Lemur? Or the beautiful yellow Banana Fruit? Each of these discoveries increases our knowledge and resources of Planet, which we cherish and nurture.

I commend all of you! You and your parents should be proud, for you are true Gaians!

Walk with Planet, Children!"

The image of Lady Skye gave a shallow bow, and then faded away.

Silence filled the auditorium for a moment, and then spontaneously it erupted into noise as everyone started talking at once. The hall was filled with hundreds of voices, this time much louder than before.

In the center sat the silent Kirsten Shandonson. She had a pale smile on her face and she looked sadly over her two dozen students. Such good kids! But all too soon they were gone. Then her gaze touched little Johnry, who was busy telling his beaming parents about how Lady Skye had said she was proud of him, and how important his plant that he found was!

The two parents hugged Johnry to them, but he squirmed away and started telling them about his Banana Fruit and how delicious it was. His arms waved around to show its size, and his excited voice spoke faster and faster.

Familiar emotion washed over Kirsten as she watched the scene. She remembered a similar little boy who couldn't sit still and was curious about everything. He had dark brown hair, just like little Johnry. And she had been the proud mother.

But her little boy was gone, so many years ago. Little Markus. She was alone, except for 'her children' in each class. It was all she had.

Tears welled in Kirsten's eyes and she blinked quickly and they streamed down her cheeks. As she discretely wiped them away she felt a brush on her legs and she looked down. Fluffy was wrapping himself around her legs, tickling her as the little worms brushed themselves under her pants legs and against her bare skin.

Without meaning to, Kirsten's wan smile reappeared. No, she wasn't alone. She had Fluffy, her mindworm companion for the last 30 years. When all else failed Fluffy was there to guard her, and he always seemed to know when she was really sad. Even his name reminded her of happier times, since Markus had named him when he was three. Fluffy had been there at the founding Gaian colony north of the Great Fungal Wall at Emerald Isle, and had suffered with them during the great famine when she had had to give up little Markus to the Spartan family at Assassin's Redoubt. He had helped during the heart wrenching evacuation to Velvetgrass Point, during which her husband Jed had died. Through it all Fluffy seemed to exude acceptance and support. In a strange way their link seemed to give her strength when all seemed lost. She always wondered what he got out of it. Sometimes his empathic reactions were so human it was hard to believe he was a collective intelligence of sub-sentient worms.

Kirsten snapped out of her reverie when she noticed that three people were standing near her. One was Principal Febris and the two others wore the uniforms of the Gaian military. Sean was busy reading a datapad and had a bemused expression on his face and was muttering "Image, they want an old, crumbly, dried up officer like me!" as he read.

"Ms. Kirsten Shandonson? We are here as representatives of the Gaian Mindworm Corps. Your commission has been reactivated. Here is the notice…" the young woman said as she handed Kirsten a datapad.

Kirsten recoiled as if she were being handed a red-hot poker. The faint melancholy smile that had been on her face fled and turned into a frown.

"I was never in the military, and certainly not in the Mindworm Corps! I am a teacher! And these are my children!" Kirsten said as she waved vaguely toward the assembled crowd of children and parents that were around her.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that all Gaians may be called into the service in a time of need. Surely you know that! Those rare individuals that can bond with any form of Planetlife are automatically in the Gaian Mindworm Corps, even if they are never called to service. Being in the Mindworm Corps is a great honor, Ms. Shandonson…"

"No. I won't go. I want no part of what you do," Kirsten said obstinately.

The two officers were nonplussed. The Mindworm Corps was the elite of Gaian society, and many trained years for the chance of being admitted. And here was a petite old woman refusing!

A hand gently touched her shoulder. She turned to see Sean, who was looking at her with his deep brown eyes.

"Kirsten, it looks like we both are going. Fluffy is going too, I image. Assuming you could even be parted, of course," he told her in a calm and good-natured voice.

Kirsten felt her world start to crumble and she looked desperately at Sean then at the two officers, who were waiting patently. Teaching and biology was all she had known in her structured world for so long. She closed her eyes as she remembered, unbidden, the horrific mindworm attacks from the Fungal Wall that so weakened their settlement, and then the Morganite rover attack. War was death. War took all she loved from her. And now her world was being torn apart once again.

Then she felt the strength and reassurance flow into her. She knew what the right decision was, and she looked gratefully down at Fluffy, who seemed to be looking back at her even though he really didn't have a head.

Kirsten reached over and took the offered datapad, read it, then DNA linked it with her thumb.

The two officers seemed a little confused, but accepted the datapad back.

"Copies of this order have been sent to the officials of Garden of Paradise. You are to report to Velvetgrass Point for a briefing in two days. Understood?"

Kirsten nodded.

Sean took a step closer and bent closer to her.

"Well," he said in a conspiratorial whisper, "it looks like we're part of the Mindworm Corps now! Imagine that! My wife Deb is going to have a fit, but she'll get over it!"

Sean straightened and looked down at Fluffy and then back at Kirsten. "Mindworms. Don't know all that much about 'em. He doesn't bite, does he?" Sean asked said with a serious look on his face.

"Bite? Mindworms can't bite," Kirsten responded, a little confused.

Then Sean's craggy features broke out in a smile, clueing Kirsten in on the little joke.

It was infectious, and Kirsten returned the smile.

Strangely, Kirsten could feel that Fluffy was smiling, too.

[Captain Kirk]

Miriam was still dressed in the drone unifrom Archon had given her. She gazed out the window of the needlejet. Watching Nessus and Pholus and occassionaly at the Spartan symbol on the wing. She was still shaken from those long years in the Hive punishment sphere. But the Lord had been with her. In the Bible it clearly stated "I will not leave thee nor fosake thee". And he had not forasaken her.

Her people had been crushed under the iron, despotic heel of the Human Hive and she had been imrisoned and tortured. But the Lord had been with them all. It was just like the test of Job. Satan had continually pestered the Lord about Job. He had told him that if bad things fell upon Job's head his faith would surely break. But Job had stayed faithful all throughout the trials. Just as Miriam had remained faithful.

And in the end the Lord had seen that Job had remained faithful. And he blessed Job. Miriam hoped that the Lord would see that she had remained a faithful servant and would bless her and her people. However everything was in the Lord's hands and it was all up to him.

Than Miriam looked up at Archon. He had remained quiet the whole flight. He seemed emotionless. She wasn't sure what was wrong with him. Archon turned and looked at her. Than he spoke.

"We will be back at Hawk of Chiron in an hour or two" he said blandly. Aki's probes were sapping his humanity from him. He could barely feel pity for her experience. The Consciousness refused to let him feel his emotions. Finally he banked the plane toward Spartan airspace. A Hive needlejet buzzed by a couple of kilometers away.

Miriam breathed a silent prayer. Finally she turned to Archon and asked.

"Why ?"

[Hydro]

Assassin’s Redoubt

“Wow! If this is therapy then I should get sick more often!”

Markus bent down and kissed Mary’s left shoulder. “The doctor said that massage wouldn’t hurt, and might even stimulate some muscle and nerve regeneration. You’re just out of rehab, you know.”

“That’s not all it might stimulate. Hmmmm…a little lower. Lower. Right there. Markie! It tingles! What are you doing?”

“Oh, nothing. Just being your personal slave. Do you want a peeled grape?”

“Hmmm. I am a bit hungry. I love grapes. Did you really get grapes? Did you get Gaian Purples? I love those!”

“As a matter of fact…” Markus started, then let the sentence die. “Just stay right there. I’ll be right back.”

Markus got off his knees and trotted into his kitchen, his bare feet treading lightly on the ceramic floor of his apartment. Mary turned to watch him go, admiring his tight butt, and in a moment he was gone. Mary closed her eyes, totally relaxed, and rolled back on her chest and rested her chin on her arms, which were crossed in front of her. The skin on her lower back and regrown left leg still tingled, and she didn’t know if it was the massage or simply Markus’ touch that caused the tingling.

Eyes still closed, she heard Markus quickly pad back.

“Here’s your grape!” Markus said in a slightly breathless voice.

Mary felt him kneel beside her.

Mary rolled over to one side. “That was fast. Must be a small grape.”

Markus handed her a small box.

“What’s this? This isn’t a grape,” she commented dryly

“Nope!” Markus said with a grin. “Open it!”

Mary’s breath quickened and she looked at the box. It was a simple white box made of wood. It even looked like it was hand crafted, which was a rarity these days of quick and inexpensive manufacturing-to-order.

Mary looked up from the box and then questioningly at Markus. She put out her other hand on the floor and straightened to a sitting position in front of Markus, the box still in her left hand. A spasm of pain lanced her upper left leg as she sat up but she didn’t even notice.

“Go ahead! Open it!” Markus implored excitedly.

Mary brought her other hand up to the box and grasped it. Then she opened the box.

“Oh Markie! It’s beautiful!” Mary exclaimed as she took the small pendent out of the box. It was made of the same white wood and had a silvery Planetpearl inset in it. Although not exactly illegal, Planetpearls were so valuable and rare that they were usually only owned and used by the Spartan government. The energy that just one Planetpearl bought could power a small city for several days, in addition to its other reputed strange powers.

“I love it! You really shouldn’t have!”

“You deserve it after what you’ve been through,” Markus said, smiling stupidly. “What was I going to do with all that combat pay, anyway?”

Mary held out the pendant to Markus, who took it. She turned around by pivoting on the woven rug so her back faced him. Markus raised the pendent on its silver chain over her head and lowered it to her shoulders, then activated the magnetic clasp at the back.

Mary turned around again with her hand on the Planetpearl. She had touched some Planetpearls before in their worm hunting days, but never dreamed she would ever own one.

“Markie, I have a present for you, too,” Mary said shyly.

She got up off the throw carpet and padded to her backpack by the front door. She dug around for a moment and took out a small object wrapped in tissue paper.

Smiling, she walked back. Markus followed her every move.

“I hope you like it!” she said hopefully as she handed the packet to Markus.

Markus took it and pulled open the ribbon, then gently pulled back the bunched tissue. In the middle was a silver ring tethered to the end of the white ribbon.

Markus stopped breathing and his eyes opened wide. Then he looked up at Mary.

Mary smiled back at him and said, “Markus, will you marry me?”

Emotions washed over Markus’ face, not the least of which was confusion. Speechless, it was all Mark could do to simply breathe correctly.

“Well?” Mary asked after a few moments.

In response Markus took the ring, untied it from the ribbon and put it on his index finger of his right hand, never taking his eyes off Mary while doing so. In Spartan society a betrothed wore his promise ring on his right hand, which was transferred to the left during the marriage ceremony.

“Mary, you’re my best friend. You are beautiful and your intelligence puts me to shame. You are all I could ever hope for. Of course I’ll marry you!”

Mary leaped out of her sitting position and threw her arms around Markus’ neck. Markus reeled backwards from her impact, then he arms wrapped around her in self defense. They landed on the carpet side by side and Mary snuggled closer. Mary smiled as she planted a passionate kiss on Markus. A little startled by the ferocity of the ‘attack’, Markus quickly warmed to its consequences. He embraced her more tightly and Mary willingly shifted as their bodies melded together. In moments all they could see, hear, feel, and smell was each other.

Finally both felt the need to come up for air.

“Whoa! I thought engineers weren’t supposed to be emotional, or quite so, ahm, lusty,” Markus laughed when she finally let go. “You’ve changed since Plex Anthill, Mary. I can’t say I mind, though.”

“When I was in rehab I had a lot of time to think. I came this close, Markie. This close to being killed, to losing you and all that I love. There’s no use in holding back. Some old Earth general said carpe diem, and I think it meant ‘seize the day’. Or something like that. All I know is that you were always there for me, and you are my best friend, too.”

Mary rested her head next to Markus’ neck and they both simply luxuriated in the moment.

“Markus? Let’s get married now! Right now!” Mary exclaimed out of nowhere.

Markus pulled away a little to look Mary in the eyes.

“Do you mean now, or before we ship out in three days?” Markus asked.

“Yes!” Mary replied. She inched upward in his embrace and kissed him again, this time with greater need. Markus submitted and lost himself in her need.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Dappled sunlight spilled into a lush, green clearing amid the towering redwoods of Assassin’s Redoubt, reputed to be one of the natural wonders of Chiron. Planted long ago by a nameless Unity hydroponics drone, the majestic trees formed perfectly aligned rows, giving the strong impression of rough-hewn red-brown columns that supported a ceiling of deep green at the sides with an apex of sky blue.

Amid the ferns and vivid light green grass was a group of 40 men, women, and a few children that were arrayed in their finest. Almost all wore their military uniforms, as Spartan custom required. Most uniforms were the green of the army, but there were a few navy and even one airforce. Those who did not have military uniforms dressed in green in honor of those who had served.

Standing at the head of the semi-organized group was a tall stately woman with long cascading grey hair, Assassin Redoubt’s Military Governor Helen Tobias. Normally in a military regulation bun, her hair now rolled in waves across her shoulders and to her upper chest. Her green uniform showed she had the rank of general, and she had a generous ‘fruit salad’ of decorations and metals from her long service to Sparta

Facing her was a beaming couple, Markus and Mary. To Markus’ right were his proud parents and adoptive sister Mara. Silent tears occasionally trickled down Mrs. Auraleus’s smiling face, and Markus’ father was holding her protectively at the shoulder and had a grin on his face. Mara had filled out since being adopted by Markus’ parents from the horror of Plex Anthill and now she practically glowed, and she could barely stand still she was so excited. To Mary’s left was their diminutive commander Rao Kosarau, resplendent in his Captain’s uniform. He was solemn, but honored to stand in for Mary’s parents, who had died long ago in service to Sparta. In back of the family were the family and friends, or at least those who could be assembled in less than the day notice they had been given.

Helen raised her hands and the assembled crowd gradually quieted.

“Ever since the first days after the Landing we have always cherished the rights and responsibilities our society entrusts us with. It has formed the basis of our lives, inner strength, and how we see the world. One of the rights we cherish most is the right to choose the one we will spend the rest of our lives with. This is the ultimate expression of individual liberty. But it is also our most important responsibility, both to each other and to our society. It is a basic trust, and one of our foundations.”

Helen paused and stepped forward. She reached up and grasped Markus’ left and Mary’s right hand. She brought them together and then closed her hands over them. Helen’s normally controlled face softened as she looked at the two earnest young people in front of her. She made it her business to know all of the men and women in the Spartan Military that were based out of Assassin’s Redoubt, but she knew some better than others. These two, she knew, had a certain strength of character that not all Spartans possessed. They had proven themselves in the terrible ordeal in the defense of Assassin’s Redoubt from the Hive invaders and in the liberation of Plex Anthill, and had shown themselves to be all too human and empathetic even in the depths of war. Their rescue of a terrified young teenager Mara from the Hive had proven this. Moreover, they had shown themselves to be bright and courageous fighters, as shown in their leadership and sacrifice in defense against the final Hive assault on the tragic Plex Anthill. Truly, they were the epitome of the Spartan soldier. Helen knew she had known many that had risen much farther who were much less worthy.

“The ceremony of marriage has taken many forms and it is tailored to the individual beliefs of the families involved. All the Spartan society asks of you in your union is that you love and defend each other from all harm, and do everything in your power to protect our society that we all stand for from harm. Your union is one of affirmation and renewal, and I am truly proud you have asked me to take part in it.”

Helen patted their hands affectionately, then stepped back.

“The first Spartan marriage was officiated by Coronal Santiago herself, and since that time it has been our custom to ask the witnesses if there is any reason to doubt the loyalty and faithfulness of the two who are about to be joined. I ask so now.”

She paused and looked through the crowd. As expected no one said a word.

“Seeing no objection I will ask each of you, Lieutenant Mary Belfontaine and Private Markus Auraleus, to affirm your vows in accordance to your own beliefs.”

Helen looked at Mary.

Mary turned to face Markus, and he turned to face her.

“Markus, I take you as my husband, and I promise to love and defend you with my heart, soul, and body, through all that may come.”

Mary took Markus’ right hand and pulled off the silver promise ring. “With this ring I pledge my bond to you,” she said as she gently slid in onto his index finger of his left hand.

Mark looked at the ring on his left hand as if not quite believing it was there. The he looked up at Mary and saw the love in her face. He was momentarily speechless and an awkward pause began. Neither Markus nor Mary seemed to notice, however.

Helen broke the silence with a very noticeable ‘hurmph’.

Markus came to.

“Mary, you are the love of my life and my best friend, and I gladly pledge my life and love to you, through all that may come.”

Markus turned toward his mother, who broke free of her husband’s grip. Happy tears still stained her face. She walked forward to stand before the couple. She reached up and gently caressed Mary’s confused face. To her, and her alone, she whispered You are my daughter now. Mary mouthed in return I love you, Mom. Then she reached up and caressed the cheek of her son, simply smiling at him. She then reached over with her right hand and slowly took off the wedding ring from her left hand. After a second’s hesitation she pressed her wedding ring in her sons right hand and then stepped back to stand by her husband.

Markus turned back toward a now very confused Mary.

“Mary, this wedding ring has been in the family since we came to Chiron, and it has been passed down from one generation to the next. It is one of the few possessions we have from old Earth. It is Earth gold, Mary, but its pales against how much I treasure you.”

Markus took Mary’s left hand. “With this ring I accept your pledge and take you as my wife,” he said as he slipped the ring on her left hand.

Helen stepped forward again and took their hands with hers again.

“With your pledges I now pronounce you man and wife! Mary, you may kiss your husband!”

Mary smiled as she withdrew her hand from the three-way embrace. She reached up and pulled Markus toward her and kissed him soundly on the lips.

In back the crowd cheered and surged forward. In moments family and friends surrounded the happy couple. Louis and Marciel, who had worked with Markus and Mary for years as part of the Rolling Thunder Brigade, slapped Markus on the back as he withdrew from the kiss, and Kit came up and gave Mary a big hug. The normally unflappable Kit was trying unsuccessfully to fight back tears and mumbled something like ‘the best woman won’.

Almost magically Mara appeared. She snuck into the hug that Kit was giving Mary. Each accepted her in. Almost hesitantly Mara asked, “Does this mean you’re my sister now?”

“Yes, I suppose it does! I’ve never had a sister before!” Mary replied as she hugged her tight again.

Rao finally worked his way in and shook Markus’ and Mary’s hand in a warm but dignified manner. Never having been married himself, he envied the pair a just a little but nonetheless wished them only the best, and said so.

In the back of the crowd that thronged Markus and Mary were his parents, who stood side by side holding hands. They were strangely unanimated, almost like statues, among the noisy and jubilant group that broke the hushed silence of the great redwoods.

In a deep and sad voice Markus’ father said, “They’re leaving tomorrow for the Peacekeeper front.”

In response his wife squeezed his hand. “They know it as well as we do. All we can do is pray for them. They’ll be fine. Let’s not spoil the moment,” she said hopefully.

He nodded in return, and with a jovialness that was a little forced they joined the celebration.

[Googlie]

Hive Special Ops HQ
Nessus Canyon

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++

Shauna sat in the rocker that Ron had built with her hands comfortably clasped across her belly. She was about four weeks from her due date, and recently Ruth had been ever more inquisitive about what to expect when she entered the world.

Ron was indoors fiddling with the transmitter set that he had painstakingly built from salvaged parts, anxious to begin the dream again of being the voice in the Hive. He was openly delighted at the emergence of the Free Drones, and would have liked nothing better than to be back in Great Clustering standing side by side with the redoubtable Mr. Lee proclaiming the freedom charter.

Ron and Shauna had had a real doosie of a fight the night before. Kyella had let slip that Miriam had been found alive, and freed by a Spartan special ops team, and Shauna had exulted in the news, wanting to share with her father and scheme how to get together with her and see her re-instated in some way into a position of leadership.

Ron, of course. had nothing but bitter feelings towards Miriam, blaming her for coming between he and his now deceased wife, and denying him the pleasure of seeing his daughter grow up.

So they had fought, and Ron had stomped off to his bedroom without saying goodnight to his daughter.

He’d avoided her this morning, and now was intent in his engineering project, while Shauna rested outside, nursing her own estrangement from her father..

Then she became extremely perturbed, enough to go in and seek Ron’s advice.

And it was her daughter who had brought the fear – and the opportunity – to her mind.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++=

Mommy?

Yes Pet?

Who are The Progenitors?

The Progenitors? What on earth was her daughter going on about. Progenitors? What do you mean, Pet, The Progenitors?

I’ve been visiting Judaa – he’s a Progenitor. He’s nearby with his people. He doesn’t think like you and granddad – and he uses funny …… concepts ….. to describe Planet and things.

What are you inferring, Ruth? That he is Alien?

Alien? What’s alien, Mommy?

Not Human – from another planet.

Why don’t you ask him, Mommy?

How?

Come with me, in my mind.

Shauna remembered the flights of empath roaming with Kurt, how they soared to the consciousness of a needlejet crew and passengers, the melding with Miles Cavenagh, the effort it took her and Kurt to achieve that. Was her as-yet unborn daughter already powerful enough to achieve this? Shauna shuddered. Exactly what had she and Kurt conceived? And why was the Circle so interested in Ruth?

OK, Pet. Lead on

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++

Greetings, Ruth personality

Greetings Judaa Marr. My mother accompanies me,

Distress. Discombobulation. Mind confusion.

Understanding not we. Earthhumans all mental beings?

Greetings Judaa Marr. I am Shauna, Ruth’s mother, and, no, I have a human body of flesh and blood. And you?

flesh and blood, yes we too.

Ruth tells me that you are Progenitors. Are you native to Planet?

Progenitors we. Understand not Planet. Manifold Six here. Progenitors built many turnings ago. Now returned Flowering to enact.

Flowering? I don’t understand. What is Flowering? And you say your kind built this Planet? Where are you from, and why are you here?

Progenitors from another star system. Many thousand turnings ago Progenitors manufactured six manifold planets. original one gained sentience and Flowered, becoming one with the stars. Our race almost destroyed. After much time we regained knowledge of the stars and how to cross space between systems. We have returned to Manifold Six to enable a controlled Flowering to lead us to oneness with the stars themselves, to evolve into a higher, purer form of life. Transcendence. And humankind will not stop us.

Will humankind be able to join Progenitors in Transcendence?

Feasible, yes. What would humankind offer Progenitors for joining?

Shauna thought rapidly.

This Progenitor race was obviously extremely powerful – or at least had been at one time, if they had been able to construct planets and give them sentience. An alliance with them would render any faction almost impervious to defeat, if they knew how to communicate with them. And she did.

She reckoned a short history lesson might be in order, then play her bargaining chip.

There are three strong humankind factions on Planet – on Manifold Six. One group is called The Peacekeepers who are large in numbers, but weak militarily and politically. Another group is called The Spartans, who are the strongest militarily and growing through conquest, and will soon be the sole power on Manifold Six. They are led by a megalomaniac who will surely challenge the Progenitors for supremacy. The third is my faction, The Hive, who once were strongest but who have suffered a loss of might and a loss of possessions against the Spartans and their allies. They pose no threat to The Progenitors, but would make a great ally for trading technological knowledge and sharing military tactics.

Why Progenitors not deal with Spartans?

Because they have no use for allies - they would as soon see you destroyed, because you would represent a threat to their power.

Because I – or at least my daughter, Ruth - is the key to dealing with you – she understands empathically your …. language, and can interpret. But I would have my price to extract from the Hive in return for helping them.

Price? Not understand price

I would exact a price – a reward – for intervening to bring Progenitors and Hive together.

Which would be?

The return of two Hive bases to their original faction – The Believers – and an undertaking not to molest them while they rebuild – backed by your guarantee.

Deal is acceptable. Commence to negotiate. Ultimate Usurper goal : Godhood. Humans : may benefit as well. First step : sign Treaty.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Dad.”

Ron looked up. Secretly pleased that the ice had been broken. He’d been wondering how to break the impasse and get talking to his daughter again.

“Yes?”

“Can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“An apt comment. Sit down.”

Shauna filled her father in on events. She watched his eyes grow icy cold as she detailed her plan to coerce independence for The Leaders Horde and Fellowship City on behalf of The Believers and to arrange for Miriam’s reinstatement as leader.

But the prospect of interacting with and learning from an alien race was compelling.

They discussed tactics, and finally he agreed to stand by Shauna as she began the negotiations with Chairman Yang.

As they plotted, Kyella interrupted them:

“You have a visitor.”

"Who?"

“I don’t know. Strange. Very uncommunicative.”

Shauna waddled to the door, with Ron at her side.

There stood the strangest creature she had ever seen.

Fully eight feet tall, with a scaly skin and a number of tusks protruding from the facial area, the creature was bipedal, with very human looking forelimbs, but with claw appendages where hands would normally appear.

The creature looked at Shauna, and opened its mouth as if to speak.

Shauna felt the resonance wave impact her right to the center of her bones. Ron looked on nonplussed.

But through Ruth, Shauna was instantly aware of the Alien’s meaning:

“I am Kri’lan. I am Progenitor ambassador to The Hive.”



[This message has been edited by Googlie (edited January 23, 2000).]

[Captain Kirk]

War Outpost

Miriam stretched her legs slowly. It had been a long needlejet ride. Miriam however had to be thankful. A long ride in a Spartan needlejet was nothing compared to long years in a Hive punishment sphere. Archon turned and spoke to her.

"Come this way Ms. Godwinson" he said. He walked toward a waiting reception of Spartan intelligence. A Major stepped forward and extended his arm toward Miriam. She took it and shook it lightly. She could tell he was smiling on the inside. Military types ! She admired their crisp ebony uniforms.

"Ms. Godwinson I am Major Isaac Hannover of Spartan Intelligence. I can't ask you if you have had a good stay at the courtesy of the Hive" he smiled slightly. A ripple of laughter echoed through the files of Spartan officers. Even she smiled at the jest. Finally Major Hannover turned and motioned toward the base. Miriam took a breath. It was amazing to breath oxygen without a breather. Before she had been captured by the Hive people had to were breathers.

She stepped inside the base and was hit by a gust of cool air. Miriam sighed. But she was till apprehensive. Why had the Spartans released her? Why had they brought her here?
Major Hannover turned down a corridor and stopped outside a door. He punched in a code. The doors swished open.

Inside the room a holographic image of Colonel Santiago stood looking around. When she saw Miriam her eyes lit up. Miriam stood with her hips wide. She crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. Santiago spoke first.

"Greetings Sister Miriam of the Believers. Welcome to the Spartan Federation. I am honored to be it's Colonel, Santiago" she said very formally. Miriam was taken a back. Why was this happening?

"If I may ask you a question Colonel?" Miriam put forth an exploratory tentacle. Santiago nodded.

"Why have you brought me here? Why have you freed me?" asked Miriam. Santiago smiled and answered.

"It's simple Sister" she said.

[Googlie]

Velvetgrass Point

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I came to groggily, with a splitting headache. My eyelids fluttered.

“Hello Wolfie.” I heard the sweetest sound, then my whole being tingled as I felt her lips on mine. Soft. Warm. Moist. Full of promise of delights yet to come.

“Stazi,” I said huskily, as she came up for air. “Where am I? And how long have I been out?”

Anastasia glanced away, to the monitor over my shoulder, where the encillograph readouts were being displayed.

“Sshh.” she said, placing a finger over my lips. “You’re not to get too agitated yet. We’re at Velvetgrass Point, and you’ve just come out of surgery.”

“Velvetgrass Point? How did we get here? The last thing I remember is the PK special ops guy pointing his shredder at me as I bled through the cloaking suit.”

“All in good time, Wolfie. But you’re in good hands here. And you have a visitor,”

I looked up at the approaching visitor.

It was Deirdre herself.

“Ah, Scotty. I heard you’d come round. How are you feeling?” she inquired solicitously.

“Fine as can be expected, I guess,” I replied. “Anastasia tells me I’ve had some extensive surgery, but hasn’t told me yet how we come to be here. Last I remember we were at the peacekeeper Avishnu Testing Range.”

I watched Deirdre and Anastasia exchange glances, and knew that something was up.

“Come on, Dee, come clean. What’s the scoop?”

Deirdre began:

“Scotty, the Avishnu episode was about three months ago. Technically, you were killed in that action, but during your last visit to the rejuv tanks you had some serious cortex implants introduced into your skull, and this enabled your personality to be uploaded for safekeeping while your body was evacuated to Sparta.

“Somewhere along the line your personality was hijacked by a cybernetic intelligence that has been lying dormant for a hundred years or so and that is only now coming out into the open. When you were ‘reborn’ so to speak you were reincarnated as a cyborg.

“On your journey here your needlejet crashed on landing, and while you were under our surgeons’ care this artificial intelligence was removed and you are now yourself again. That’s why you have a headache. We’ve removed the cybernetic implants and packed it with common sense again. You’re trying to reject it. So your head hurts.

“Oh, and we finished your rejuv to the original specs. You’ve ‘aged’ ten years under our care, to your originally requested 40 . Anastasia approves, so you have no fear on that account. And one day I’ll fill you in on her role in this, and what she went through for you.

“And, by the way, I’ve been in touch with your Colonel. We’re pact sisters now, and with Morgan. Lined up against us is still the evil Chairman and an unlikely foe, Lal. I take some blame for the latter, and I’ll give you details when you are up and about. Oh, and you are once again the Spartan Ambassador to the Stepdaughters of Gaia. So get well, and get up and about your business,”

She bent over me and kissed me gently, then left.

Anastasia looked over at me:

“You heard her. Time to get up and take those first wobbly steps. I’m here for you.”

There was no mistaking the love for me that shone from her eyes.

I truly was blessed to have friends – and lovers – like Deirdre and Stazi, I thought contentedly, as I swung my legs over the bed to stand up.