Extinction

duplicate the treads on those vehicles.”

There was a long hesitation. Overhead, I heard the turret whine and shift. I dearly hoped that another missile barrage wasn’t incoming right now.

“Components scanned.”

“How long would it take?”

“Answer is variable based on the configuration of the tread in question. Some are only partially intact.”

I closed my eyes, willing myself toward greater patience. “Just give me the estimate of a set of treads for the most intact vehicle.”

“Three point six hours.”

Half as long? I thought about that. It hardly seemed worth the effort to make a vehicle with treads, if that was the difference. I had enough factories that were making nanites now, I could switch their output and they would still beat the ones building the reactors and beam units. I smiled to myself.

We were going to build hovertanks. That would put shocked look on everyone’s face. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. This area of the island was heavily-wooded. We would get choked up on the road just as the enemy had when they came in if we attacked the main base using the same road. With hovertanks gliding along, we could go over the waves or maybe even the trees, depending on how strong the resistors were.

I went through the design for about another hour, until I thought I had it worked out. The tanks would be able to carry themselves, plus a crew of six men, at a height of up to about twenty feet above the surface. What was even better, I figured I could have the first of them ready to fly before morning.

I set all the machines into production and passed out with my head on the desk. I wasn’t even sure what time it was. Sandra came in and gave me something to eat. She saw my exhausted state and badgered Kwon into finding me a cot.

I woke up some hours later with her manning the beam turret. I blinked, bleary-eyed. I realized she must have said something to me. Something meant to wake me up.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Nearly midnight. And we’ve got trouble.”

I bounced up, staggering beside the cot. “What’s happening?”

She pointed to the wall. “We’ve got contacts.”

I saw them now. A dozen beads of metal on the wall. They didn’t look like they were firing yet. But it was only a matter of time.

“Are all the turrets active?” I demanded. “Why didn’t someone wake me up?”

“They just showed up.”

A rapping came at the door. I knew the pattern. The side of the turret yawned open and Kwon leaned in. “They are helicopters, Colonel. Robinson wants to know if we should shoot them down.”

“No. No dammit. Get me a com-link.”

“They can hear that, sir.”

“I know that. Just give me yours.”

I activated the link and set the unit to broadcast. “No one fire until fired upon.”

“That might be too late, sir,” said a voice. I thought it might be Robinson.

“You have your orders.”

No one fired. We waited. After another minute or two, I heard something on the com-link. It was a familiar voice.

“This is General Kerr. Is that you, Riggs?”

“Yes, General. Go ahead,” I said calmly. Inside, I was seething. It was one thing to know your military network might be compromised. It was another to have the enemy commander listening in and calling you on it like it was your cell phone.

“Riggs, we need to talk.”

“We are talking, sir.”

“I don’t mean on an open channel. I know your men are listening.”

Sandra and I looked at one another. I suspected, at any moment, that Crow might jump in and start talking big. But he didn’t. Maybe he had decided I was better at handling such situations. Or maybe he didn’t want the enemy to know he was here with me. For all I knew, he planned to pull out and run when the fireworks started.

“What do you suggest, General?”

“We’ll meet on neutral ground. Man-to-man. Just step to the edge of camp where you slaughtered my men. We’ll talk amongst the dead Bradleys.”

Sandra waved at me violently, shaking her head and frowning. She clearly did not want me to go.

I looked at her for a long second. “I’ll be there in three minutes, General,” I said. “Riggs out.”

— 14-

It was just before midnight and the forest was full of peeping creatures. Things buzzed, rustled and occasionally thrashed about in the dark trees. I’m a trusting soul, so I didn’t take along my reactor and beam projector. I did have a 9mm pistol at my hip and I wore my combat suit, with the full vest underneath. Kevlar and nanites would slow down anything but a headshot, I figured.

Kerr stood in the dark, smoking. I’d never seen him smoke before, but he’d always seemed like he should have had a cigar. I was mildly surprised to see he had a pipe in his mouth. The bowl glimmered orange and although the aromatic smoke was invisible in the night, I could smell it.

“You’ve already let me in too close, you know that, don’t you Riggs?” General Kerr asked me.

“Yeah, I know that.”

“You are too far from your defensive line. My boys-if they were hiding in those trees over there, for instance-they could pick you off right now.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And I know I could kill you with my bare hands in less than one second.”

Kerr gave me a hard look. “That wouldn’t fix your situation.”

“Neither would your sniper.”

Kerr nodded. “Okay, Riggs. You’ve gotten stubborn about this situation. I understand that.” He pointed around at the broken Bradleys. His finger was sweeping and accusatory. “Your stubbornness killed a lot of fine men here, Colonel.”

“I didn’t order the attack.”

He worked on his pipe again for the better part of a minute. He had a lighter that flashed a metallic gold when he flicked it into life. I almost asked him why he preferred a pipe. It seemed like a lot of trouble to have to relight it all the time. But I just stood there, waiting and wondering if his pipe was some kind of signal to a sniper. I guess I wasn’t in the mood for pointless chit-chat.

“Is that why you are here, General?” I asked finally. “To smoke and threaten me?”

“Did you ever figure anything new out about the Blues, Riggs?”

“Since the last time we talked?”

“Aren’t you curious about them? We’ve come up with another theory as to why they can’t leave their world.”

I blinked at him in the darkness. He waited. I let him wait a few long seconds. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Okay. Tell me your theory.”

“They’re all dead. Extinct. That’s why their robots are running around, doing mad, pointless things.”

I thought about it for a few seconds. Finally, I nodded. “You could be right.”

“My nerds give that answer the highest probability,” Kerr said. “But we can’t really know the truth. Anyway, I’m here to tell you one thing: This power-struggle is over. It’s finished-as of right now. You can keep your weapons and maybe even the island. No one really cares. All you have to do is hand over the camp with the alien