Machinations (Olly versus the Mechanoids Book 2) Read online

  After punching the destination into the NAVComp, Olly hit the gas and headed sort of in the direction of the docks, He shot down side streets and through parking structures until he had lost sight of his pursuers. "Computer, monitor police channels. Keywords: Mephisto, strykers, Elven, robbery."

  "Working... Set. Manual monitoring as well?"

  "Affirmative."

  "You’re not Nebish."

  "Does it matter?"

  "No... Alert! Police Units 1387 and 2548 are on an intercept course."

  "Lights off. Mask windows. Go to internal displays. Find me a hauler, either vehicle or empty cargo."

  "Copy. Lights off. Mask Windows," the computer repeated as images of the outside world filled the inside of the cockpit windows. "Target located. Right at next intersection, then two-blocks, then a left. The rig is one-block up on right."

  "Thank you, Nebish, for maintaining your vehicle," Olly said out loud. All of the tech in the car was from this time period. He took the next right, then a left two blocks later. Ahead of his was an empty vehicle hauler with its rear ramp still down. Olly drove up it, then parked and waited. In moments, two police units screamed by, then disappeared into the night. Seeing his way was clear, Olly backed down the ramp, then made his way to their destination with lights on and at normal speed so as to be inconspicuous.

  He followed the NAVComp to the designated coordinates next to an abandoned warehouse. "Go to the back of the building, next to the pier," one of passengers said over the intercom.

  He tapped his earcomm. "I'm here. Where the hell are the reinforcements?"

  "We've been jumped by a diversionary force. Get the hell out of there."

  He tapped the comm off and put the car in gear. He drove to the spot as directed. There was nothing there, just empty pier and water. He parked and opened the doors, then felt his fares exit the car. "Your money is in the case in the back seat," the voice said as the door slammed shut. He suddenly had a premonition. "Computer, emergency interior scan."

  "Warning, explosive device present in rear area..." Olly grabbed the computer module’s bail and tore the unit out of the dash while diving out the side door. The car exploded a moment later.

  "Too bad," one of the strykers said as they each carried a large backpack to the water's edge.

  "Yeah, the guy could drive," another one added. "Mother, we have the devices."

  Iona materialized over the water at the edge of the pier and lowered a ramp to the ground just as a large number of police and military vehicles arrived. The strykers ran into the waiting ship as the approaching forces arrived. Instead of leaving, she continued to hover as two Earth Space Command cruisers appeared to either side of her. They were gnats compared to her, yet she didn't move.

  "What the hell?" Margaux said, but stopped when she saw the burning car. "Olly?"

  CHAPTER SIX

  "There!" one of the officers yelled. Olly emerged from the building and walked up to Iona, an ant facing off against a house cat.

  "Land and surrender, Iona. I won't ask twice," he said as he calmly stood there.

  "What are you doing to me? This is impossible. You are nothing compared to me."

  "I am the only person on 21st century Earth who could control you. That hasn't changed. Now, land, or I will tear you apart."

  A figure ran down the ramp to face Olly. She was humanoid, with fire-red hair and glowing blue eyes. She smiled at Olly, then waved her hand. He was thrown backwards through the air, landing thirty feet away in a crumpled heap. Immediately, the assembled security force, including the two cruisers, opened fire on her and Iona, but the energy bolts were easily absorbed by Iona's massive shields. With a final smirk, the woman re-entered the ship which then rose up into the sky before disappearing altogether.

  Margaux ran up to her unconscious friend and ran a scanner over him while a medical team from one of the hovering cruisers ran over to render aid.

  "How is he?" the SWAT team commander asked.

  "I honestly don't know. Who or what the hell was that woman?"

  No one had any answers.

  ###

  Olly woke up in a hospital bed. He could hear a heated conversation coming from out in the hallway, but he wasn't concerned. What bothered him was the woman who attacked him. If he was the most powerful psychic from the 21st century, then she must be some kind of goddess. The mental blast she threw at him was like drinking from a very large fire hose. He was surprised that he was still alive.

  Reaching up, he pressed the nurse call button. Two nurses, three doctors, and a pert, dark-haired woman with the air of a leader hurried in and checked him over as if they too were surprised he still lived. Meanwhile, the argument outside got louder.

  "Enough!" he yelled. He looked at the woman. "Who the hell are you? I get the feeling that you are very important, but I don't know why."

  "That's because I've been blocking you from the moment I walked in."

  Dammit, Olly thought. He looked at the medical staff. "Please, leave us alone for a few minutes." Without a hint of argument, they walked out.

  "Still think ESP is hooey, or was that story a scam?"

  He swung his legs over the side of the bed and steadied himself. "A partial scam. A few years ago, I woke up with no memory of my past. All I knew was that I was a getaway driver. I could see glimpses of possible futures and could read and slightly manipulate people’s minds. I found it necessary to convince people that stories of my ESPer skills were just that: Stories. Either that or be sanctioned by the dozens of criminals who made use of my services. I read things when I feel threatened or unsafe. I think the shrinks call it a defense mechanism."

  "What about Nebish?"

  "He was a threat. Who the hell are you?"

  "Ciara Devlin. I'm a Venlanten."

  "Ciara... You consulted with Kalana when I had that Iona problem."

  "That's me. Hey, you've stopped trying to read my mind."

  "I guess I don't see you as a threat anymore."

  "Can you scan people when they're not a threat?"

  "No. Neither can I convince them to do something. I can manipulate computer systems anytime, just not the parts that think."

  "What about Iona?"

  "I was controlling her systems, not her. She fought me something good. It's a lot easier when they don't think. Who was that woman with the glowing eyes?"

  "I don't know, and that's a problem. Tell me about her. What happened?"

  "I almost had Iona contained when she appeared on the ramp. I felt her trying to take control of my mind. Then... Then..."

  "Take it slow. What happened then?"

  "She got angry and hit me with something that caused my body to convulse, at least that's what it felt like. I woke up here."

  Ciara looked at him. "I’m what you would call a royal Venlanten. All that means is that I have enhanced psychic talents. One of those talents is reading souls."

  "I remember that. A bunch of you tried to find where my mind ended, and Iona's started."

  She nodded. "Did you feel threatened back then?"

  "Nope. I just wanted to get the problem fixed."

  "Good, because I want to try it again. Sapient minds sometimes record things when they have a psy interaction. Could I take a quick look? I promise, it won't hurt."

  "Sure. What do I have to do?"

  "Just relax."

  Ciara placed her hands on his shoulders while staring into his eyes. He watched as her eyes went black while her fangs and claws extended. Oddly, he felt no fear, only a calm wash over him. Nana had told him about the Venlantens and how they were almost human refugees from a far-off world who had made Earth their home. She also told him how they became the source of vampire legends. Seeing her fangs and eyes, he could see why." After a few moments of staring, her eyes went normal as her claws and fangs retracted, so now she looked completely human. She sat back and steepled her fingers on her lap. "A very powerful non-Venlanten telepath has left her psychic fingerprints all ov
er your mind. The Cube maintains a list of all telepaths with ESP indexes higher than 4, and she isn't one of them and that's bad"

  "Why is that bad?"

  "Because it means that either she been able to hide her abilities, or someone engineered her."

  "Like my wife was engineered?"

  "Yeah, like Nana, or her friend, Marcus. There's only one person that I know of who could pull off such a feat..."

  "Zoe Muntz?"

  She nodded. "Our little Zoe may be back in business. I need to consult with some people. Meanwhile, I think your wife needs to see you."

  "Was that her having the discussion outside?"

  Ciara nodded. "She seems to be very upset. Should I send her in?"

  "Please."

  Ciara got up, shook his hand, then headed out of the room. Moments later, the door burst opened followed by a very angry Nana running in. "What the hell do you think you're doing running a sting against a group of strykers? Have you lost your mind?"

  He stood up and straightened his gown before walking over and giving her a kiss. "Sorry. It seemed like the thing to do at the time."

  She cuffed him. "I have married a moron. You are so lucky you are cute," she said before kissing him with a vengeance. "Promise me that there will be no more heroics."

  "I promise," he said, hoping he could keep his words.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Zoe was livid as she stormed out of the cargo bay and headed to the Bridge with Alecia in tow. "Ali, what the hell were you thinking? Olly is a Class 1A psychic. He could have turned your brain to pudding with just a single thought!"

  Ali giggled. "He wasn't so tough. Hell, I threw him across the dock like a discarded rag doll. I'm surprised he's still alive."

  "And there lies the rub. Not only is he alive, he's aware of your existence and knows your capabilities. Not only him, but the Venlantens as well. They've probably already scanned him for your psy fingerprints, which means they know I'm involved." She stopped and turned so that Ali ran into her. "I don't like being found. People seem to go out of their way to foil my plans when they know they're mine."

  "Sorry, Mom. I thought you wanted him to let go of Iona."

  "We were working on it. All I had to do was retune the shields so they would block him. You jumped the gun, young lady, and nearly got yourself killed. No more grandstanding, understand?"

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Zoe visibly calmed. "I want you to go downstairs and help the research staff catalog the parts the strykers retrieved from Elven Industries..."

  "But Zoe!"

  "Go! Don't make me tell you twice."

  "Yes, ma'am." Ali headed to the lower levels while Zoe continued to the Bridge.

  "What the hell happened out there?" Iona asked via her robot mobile body.

  "Ali thought she would help us by putting herself in harm's way."

  "Forget to add common sense to the mix before you popped her into the oven?"

  "Don't ever talk about my daughter that way," Zoe said in an "I mean business" voice.

  "Don't get uppity with me, Tralaskan. You and your get are alive only as long as the two of you are useful to me."

  "Forgive me, mistress. I mean no disrespect."

  "See that you don't. Now, what is your progress with my retrieved parts?"

  "I have Ali checking them against the inventory list you so graciously supplied. We have most of them..."

  "Most? We need them all. Each contains a piece of the missing database. What is missing?"

  "Ali will confirm, but I think part 00-0124/a has not been retrieved yet."

  "Did the worm give us a location for 124/a?"

  "Yes, ma'am. It was sold to a group of miners in the Olgath system about six hours from our current position. Mistress, shouldn't we wait until we confirm the piece is actually missing?"

  "Why wait? I'm getting bored," she said as she dropped into hyperspace and headed toward the Olgath system. "You are dismissed. I will call when I need you."

  "Yes, mistress." Zoe almost choked on the words as she walked off the bridge. Seething, she headed down to the storeroom where Ali and the strykers were taking inventory of the parts they had retrieved. When she arrived, she found a stryker--Tomlinson--held against a bulkhead by Ali while the other members of his team aimed weapons at her. "Ali, what has happened now?"

  "He thinks I'm a freak," she said, her violet eyes glowing.

  "Because you read minds or because of your violent outbursts?"

  She turned to face her mother. "I don't have violent outbursts," she screamed.

  "Put him down and let him get back to work," Zoe said calmly.

  Ali grabbed him by his armored neck and squeezed. The sound of blasters going to kill setting filled the room.

  "Mind me, young lady. PUT HIM DOWN!"

  Ali dropped him, then stormed out of the room.

  Sighing, Zoe helped Tomlinson up, then brushed him off. "Ma'am, I don't think she's a freak. Hell, I have nanorobots and grow armor..."

  "She's young. Don't worry about it. I'll make some adjustments to your nanorobots to shield your thought centers. For now, all of you should just think nice thoughts." She looked at the pile on the table. "Do we have everything?"

  "No, we are still missing part 124/a. According to the timestamps of the data we do have, 124/a contains a vital segment of the flight data. We can't proceed without it."

  "Well, we are on course to where we think it is. Tell the others and prepare for another excursion. Luckily, we'll only be dealing with some civilian miners. Nothing to fret about. Now, can I trust you kids to behave?"

  "Yes, ma'am," a female by the name of Trilia said while cuffing Tomlinson. "Right, moron?"

  "Yes, Captain," he replied.

  "Good. I'll go find Ali and tell her the good news." She walked out leaving her people to prepare

  ###

  Clangor Tang, ex-engineer at Elven Industries Ltd., sat at a steel table in an empty room with only a glass of water as a companion. The door opened and a tall human male in his early sixties walked in and sat down across from him. "Hey, Clangor, how's tricks?"

  "I don't understand. Who are you?"

  "My name is Earth Security Detective Chief Inspector Gabriel Adon and I am the only thing standing between you and a really long prison term."

  "Prison term? For what offense?"

  "Illegal dissection of a deceased sapient being, organ trafficking, illegal transfer of technology for personal gain, the list continues for four pages. You're looking at twelve life sentences to run sequentially."

  "What living being? I'm a damn engineer!"

  "Who worked on the body of the mechanoid named Iona, a sapient being from the Omega Nebula. Yes, she's not from around here, but that doesn't mean you show her remains disrespect while she is in your care. She's not some conveyance you strip and fence her parts."

  "I... Fine, what do you need?"

  Gabe handed over a picture. "We are trying to track down this part. Who did you sell it to?"

  Clangor looked at the picture. "Yeah, the primary energizer module for the NAVComp system. I adapted it for use in a mass logger system and sold it to a group of ore miners in the Olgath system. Their leader's name is Mara Trinity..."

  "Isn't that an Earth name?"

  "Yeah, older lady, human, medical doctor, and she's their leader. Anyway, she contacted me through the miner's guild, who got my name from a miner I did a job for."

  Gabe wrote some notes in a folder, then closed it. "Good. Guards!" Two Katalan females walked in and helped Clangor to his feet. "These ladies will take you to a holding area where you will stay until a team returns with the part."

  "Hey, I told you everything. Why am I being detained?"

  "You're a flight risk, you're untrustworthy, and you're an opportunist who wouldn't think twice about telling Zoe and her crew that I'm looking for the shit you sold. Bottom line: you either stay here in a lovely apartment or at a supermax facility in the Gobi Desert. You choose."
>
  Clangor shook off the grips of his guards and straightened his jacket. Taking a guard in each arm, he said, "Ladies, please escort me to my quarters."

  The guard on his left smiled. "Of course, sir, this way." She and her partner led him out of the room leaving Gabe to make a call.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Team one hit the ground and double-timed it to the mining town before the Mugwump stopped its post-landing bounce. They arrived in orbit and immediately detected weapons fire, so they went in without waiting for their backup, the Ventosian Cruiser Mekla, to arrive. Leaving a marker buoy in orbit, they performed an emergency deorbit which pushed their reentry shields to their limit before leveling off and coming to a stop just outside town. Once the majority of the team debarked, Alue Sergeant Trent and Weck Scout Glean stayed aboard with Necrue Pilot Sergeant Murphy to run weapons as Murph flew air support.

  Team 1 stopped at the edge of town as Colonel King checked the area with scanner and field glasses. He saw two stryker cyborgs dragging a woman into the street from a building on the left, so he signaled his two strykers--Nana and Corporal Marcus Wen to flank the three. Once they were in place, he signaled the rest of the team to cover him before stepping out into the open street with his weapon up and activated. "Let her go, NOW!"

  One of the strykers turned toward the colonel and got shot by King for his trouble. The other dropped the woman and turned to run when energy blasts from between buildings on either side of street sent it to its knees. King ran up and helped the woman as Marcus, Nana, and the rest of the team took defensive positions around them.

  "Sergeant Mersa, check her. Ma'am, are you Mara Trinity?"