Mechs vs. Dinosaurs (Argonauts Book 8) Read online

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  MECHS VS.

  DINOSAURS

  ARGONAUTS

  BOOK EIGHT

  Isaac Hooke

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, organizations, places, events and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

  Text copyright © Isaac Hooke 2017

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  www.IsaacHooke.com

  Cover design by Isaac Hooke

  Cover image by Shookooboo

  Special thanks to the following Beta Readers who helped out with this book:

  Nicole P.

  Gary F.

  Sandy G.

  Lance W.

  Amy B.

  Myles C.

  Lisa A. G.

  Gregg C.

  Jeff K.

  Mark C.

  Mark P.

  Jeremy G.

  Doug B.

  Jenny O.

  Gene A.

  Larry J.

  Allen M.

  Norman H.

  Robine

  Eric

  And thank you to the following Special Consultants:

  Martin P.

  Don M.

  table of contents

  one

  two

  three

  four

  five

  six

  seven

  eight

  nine

  ten

  eleven

  twelve

  thirteen

  fourteen

  fifteen

  sixteen

  seventeen

  eighteen

  nineteen

  twenty

  twenty-one

  twenty-two

  twenty-three

  twenty-four

  twenty-five

  twenty-six

  twenty-seven

  twenty-eight

  twenty-nine

  thirty

  thirty-one

  thirty-two

  postscript

  about the author

  acknowledgments

  one

  Rade awakened to the sound of an emergency klaxon.

  He sat up and the lights in his stateroom immediately flickered on.

  Shaw arose beside him.

  “Bax,” Rade said. “What’s going on?”

  “An intruder has been detected in cargo bay five,” the Argonaut’s AI replied.

  Rade exchanged a glance with Shaw, who was dressing.

  “That’s where we stowed the package delivered by our most recent client,” Shaw said.

  “I know.” Rade began pulling on his fatigues. “Need some more details Bax. What kind of intruder are we talking about? Man, robot?”

  “Neither,” Bax replied. “Phant.”

  “Phant?” Rade paused. “How is that possible? We scanned the package thoroughly.”

  “Apparently there was a secret compartment, and it was shielded in some way,” Bax replied.

  Rade tore off the fatigues—he wouldn’t need them where he was going.

  “Recall Jackal and Koala immediately!” Rade said. Those were the two robots on guard duty in the respective cargo bay.

  “Unfortunately, I’ve lost contact with the two units,” Bax said. “It appears they have gone offline.”

  “Damn it,” Rade said. “Dispatch eight Centurions to intercept. Have them pause at the armory: I want them suited up and fully armed!”

  “Understood,” Bax said.

  “And sound General Quarters,” Rade said. “Have the crew suit up before returning to their duty stations.”

  As the General Quarters announcement came over the main circuit, Rade glanced at Shaw.

  “With me!” he told her.

  “What about the twins?” Shaw said.

  “We’ll go to them after we suit up!” Rade told her.

  “We need to get to them now,” Shaw said.

  “I doubt the Phant is heading toward them,” Rade said. “But if it is, we won’t be much use to the twins without suits protecting us.”

  “I don’t care,” Shaw said. “Twins first, suits second.” She hurried from the compartment.

  “Shaw wait!” Rade said. But she was already gone. “Damn it.”

  He ran into the passageway after her.

  “I’ll meet you in sickbay,” Shaw shouted behind her. “Bring me a suit.”

  Dressed only in his skivvies, Rade turned around and retreated in the opposite direction. The air felt cold in the passageway, and the deck metal positively frigid against his bare feet.

  “Bax, do you have an updated location on the Phant?” Rade asked.

  “I do,” the Argonaut’s AI replied. “It has possessed Jackal. The Centurion appears to be headed to engineering.”

  Rade glanced at his overhead map. Jackal was marked as a dark red dot on the Argonaut’s blueprints, halfway between Rade’s position and engineering.

  “Send a Centurion to investigate cargo bay five,” Rade said. “Have it check on Koala. See if the offline combat robot’s AI core is recoverable. Also, I want a thorough examination of the ‘package’ our Phant stowaway saddled us with. Cut it open, and find out what else might be hiding in there. Make sure the Centurion is careful not to trigger any traps or bombs.”

  “I will have the Centurion implement full bomb disposal policies,” Bax replied.

  Rade reached the closest armory and hurried inside. He went to the jumpsuit lockers and grabbed a cooling and ventilation undergarment, sliding the holes in the fabric over the hardpoints protruding from his joints, and then began donning his jumpsuit assembly.

  TJ, Bender, and Lui joined him momentarily.

  “The hell is going on?” Bender said, pulling on his own undergarment.

  “Phant intruder.” Rade shrugged on his torso assembly. “Originating from cargo bay five.”

  “I knew we shouldn’t have accepted that package from the slimy bastard,” Bender said. “Whenever a mission sounds too good to be true, it probably is. ‘I just need you to transport this small package between the Praxis and Vega systems. A simple delivery. Fifty thousand credits.’ Fifty thousand credits for a simple delivery? Too good to be true.”


  “The package passed all our scans.” Lui attached his helmet, and when he spoke again, his voice came over the comm. “As well as visual inspections. We couldn’t have known it harbored a Phant.”

  Rade attached his own helmet, and flinched as the suit injected an accelerant into the dorsal venous region of his hand to reduce his body’s acclimation time to the internal environment.

  He considered attaching a jetpack, but didn’t bother: the addition wouldn’t be all that useful in the tight passageways.

  “I’m detecting what appears to be an automated signal beacon emerging from the package,” Bax announced.

  “Is there a way we can shut it down?” Rade said. “Or prevent the signal from leaving the ship?”

  “Short of jettisoning the contents of the cargo bay and then firing all weapons at the package,” Bax said. “At the moment, no. I have already sent a Centurion down to investigate, as per your earlier request.”

  “Not sure that will be good enough.” Rade tapped in the only alien crew member he had aboard. “Surus. I need you to head down to cargo bay five. The package we picked up from the client in Praxis is sending out some sort of homing beacon. See if you can disengage it. Use whatever means necessary.”

  “Will do,” Surus said, disconnecting.

  There was no point in having Surus suit up for protection against the intruder, as her specific jumpsuit had no anti-Phant emitters: as a Phant herself, she wanted the ability to seep into and out of the jumpsuit at will from her host, the Artificial known as Ms. Bounty.

  More members of the crew arrived at the armory to gear up.

  Rade grabbed a stun rifle for himself and swung the strap over one shoulder. He chose the arcing version, which was capable of stunning multiple Phants at once. There were only two other stun rifles left, these non-arcing, and Bender and TJ took these.

  Rade secured a couple of grenades to his harness, and then grabbed a jumpsuit and undergarment pair for Shaw. He also gathered the child-sized suits and undergarments he had printed up just for such an occasion. Using the remote interface on the suits, he activated the magnetic mounts and was able to bundle them all together into a large ball that he shoved underneath one arm.

  He squeezed out of the compartment and hurried toward sickbay.

  “Once you’ve suited up return to your duty stations,” Rade said over the comm. “I’ll keep you updated.”

  “We’ve beat Jackal to engineering,” Algorithm said over the comm. “Do we have permission to engage with lethal force when the Centurion arrives?”

  Rade glanced at his overhead map and saw that the requested eight combat robots had suited up and indeed reached engineering before Jackal.

  “You have permission to use lethal force,” Rade replied.

  On the map, Jackal’s red dot paused near engineering.

  “We’ve pinned him down,” Algorithm sent. “Sending troops behind to outflank.”

  As he watched, the blue dots of the defenders split into two groups. But just then another red dot appeared directly inside of engineering.

  “Bax, what’s going on?” Rade said as he ran.

  “The Phant has separated from the robot,” Bax said. “It seeped through the closest bulkhead, and has emerged inside engineering in its native form.”

  “Algorithm, get your team in there,” Rade said.

  “Can’t,” Algorithm said. “The door won’t open.”

  “What?” Rade said. “Bax, engage override. Password Rade Galaal, tango beta five niner.”

  “The door won’t respond,” Bax replied.

  “Would you like us to cut through?” Algorithm asked.

  “Not yet,” Rade said. He tapped in TJ, his best hacker. “Get down to engineering and open that door.”

  “Already on my way,” TJ said over the comm.

  “Bax, do you still have access to the main engineering controls?” Rade asked.

  “I do,” Bax said.

  “Then lock out all engineering command capabilities,” Rade said. “Ensure that the ship can only be controlled from the bridge.”

  “Done,” Bax said.

  The Argonaut’s AI core, located underneath the bridge, was shielded against Phants, so Rade didn’t have to worry about losing Bax itself to possession.

  “But keep in mind,” Bax continued. “The Phant may have other intentions. Engineering contains several sensitive components. If one intended to sabotage this vessel, that would be the place to do it.”

  “Noted,” Rade said. “Is Jackal back to normal?”

  “It appears so,” Bax said. “His internal diagnostics have passed all tests.”

  “Then mark the robot as a friendly once more and have Jackal retreat to suit up!”

  “On it,” Bax replied.

  As Rade neared sickbay, Lui came over the comm. According to Rade’s HUD, Lui was already at his duty station on the bridge.

  “A trio of Marauder class vessels in the system have changed course,” Lui said. “They’re on an intercept trajectory with the Argonaut.”

  “Likely up to no good,” Rade said. “How far away are they on our current trajectory?”

  “About two hours,” Lui said.

  “Enough time to come up with a battle plan, if need be,” Rade said. He remembered the signal beacon coming from the package and tapped in Surus. “Any luck on that beacon?”

  “I managed to shut it down,” Surus said. “Using a well-placed shot from my blaster. However, any recipients would have already received their instructions.”

  “Yeah,” Rade said. “We have three Marauder class vessels bearing down on us. Two hours away.”

  Rade entered sickbay. A portion of the compartment acted as quarters for the twins. The two combat robots cum nannies, Cora and Dora, stood watch. The four-year-olds sat upright on their small beds on the far side of the compartment, no doubt awakened by the earlier klaxon and General Quarters announcement. Shaw knelt in front of them, trying to comfort the pair.

  Rade set down the jumpsuit and undergarment ball in front of her and deactivated the magnetic mounts so that the various-sized suits and undergarments unfolded.

  “It’s in engineering,” Rade said.

  “I heard.” Shaw removed her fatigues and began donning the undergarment.

  Rade glanced at Cora and Dora. “Help the twins get suited up. Then report to the nearest armory and get suited up yourselves. Afterward, return here.”

  The robots moved forward to assist the twins.

  “Mommy, what’s going on?” Sil asked as Cora helped her undress.

  “Nothing, sweetie,” Shaw answered. “I told you, it’s just a drill.”

  “Keep your eye on the overhead map,” Rade told Shaw. “Move the twins if you even get so much as a whiff that the Phant is coming this way.”

  “Oh I intend to,” Shaw said. “What about you? What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to engineering,” Rade said.

  “Be careful,” Shaw told him.

  “Always am.” Rade entered the tight passageway outside and lowered the stun rifle so that he would be ready to fire.

  “I’ve made several course updates,” Lui said over the comm. Ordinarily, as Astrogator Shaw would have been the one piloting the ship. But since she wasn’t on the bridge, Lui had taken over the astrogation for the time being. “The incoming Marauders keep altering course to intercept.”

  “If we turn around,” Rade asked. “Can we outrun them?”

  “These are Marauder Model IIs,” Lui said. “About four times the size of our own Marauder. With twice the cargo and engine capacity. So no, we can’t. If we turn around, we’ll have a day, max, before they’re within weapons range.”

  “Start working with Bax on a strategy,” Rade said. “If you think you need more time to prepare, I’ll give the order to turn us around. But otherwise, no point in delaying the inevitable.”

  “Understood,” Lui replied. A moment later: “Uh, boss? Engines just went offlin
e.”

  “And now we’ve lost weapons systems,” Manic said.

  “Damn it.” Rade glanced at the overhead map. The red dot of the Phant was still located in the middle of engineering.

  “Bax, is there no way you can stop the Phant from cutting off key systems?” Rade said.

  “No,” the Argonaut’s AI replied. “Speaking of which, we’ve just lost life support.”

  Rade tapped in Shaw. “Please tell me you and the kids have finished suiting up?” He pulled up their status indicators on his HUD and had his answer before she spoke: green across the board.

  “We’re all in suits down here,” Shaw said. “Cora and Dora have gone to the nearest armory, and should be back soon. I’ve told Cora to bring an extra rifle for me, since you neglected to do so.”

  “Sorry about that,” Rade said. “Though I’m not sure a laser rifle will be of much help, anyway.”

  “Then have one of the men bring me a stun rifle,” Shaw said.

  “The suits will protect you well enough,” Rade said. “If for some reason the Phant decides to come to sickbay, I’ll be right there behind it.”

  Rade glanced at the tactical display, which showed the Argonaut in relation to the other ships and celestial objects in the system. The three Marauder class vessels were about an hour and fifty-three minutes away, according to the latest calculations.

  “Fret, see if you can hail those Marauders,” Rade said over the comm.

  “No response,” Fret said a moment later.

  Rade neared the area where Jackal had been pinned down. He saw the dark smears on the edge of the bulkhead where laser fire had darkened the metal.

  He rounded the bend. The hatch ahead that led to engineering was recessed slightly, forming an alcove of sorts. Dressed in jumpsuits, the eight Centurions dispatched there had formed defensive positions within the alcove. They were protecting TJ, who seemed to be interfacing with the door.

  “How are we doing, TJ?” Rade asked.

  “Ah, you know,” TJ said. “Could be better. Being awakened in the middle of the night to suit up and service a door isn’t my idea of a good time, but hey.”