Chapter Twenty-Five
The marines found quarters on the enslaved ship, but Anatu and Agrippa mostly stayed on Little Big Ship. It took constant vigilance to keep the cloak up to full strenght to cover the bigger ship.
Agrippa and Amelagar made good use of one of the empty state rooms when they had time and both appreciated the bathroom facilities. But still it was not enough. They worked so hard, they rarely got to disappear together.
They’d been orbiting, cloaked, but still had no clear idea how to get all the temples at once.
They were all gathered on LBS’ bridge, brainstorming ways to take out the cloning temples.
Agrippa rubbed her head; she was sure her ryhov looked as dull as she felt. Amelagar, who stood behind her, massaged her neck.
“Bombing them would not be enough. Most of the temples are underground and the bombs will not penetrate. It was designed not to be very effective if turned on the clones.”
Amelagar spoke without stopping the wonderful movement of his magic fingers. “The moment we start bombing the temples, the planetary defence system will target us.”
Colonel Farnham looked thoughtful. “You said they have no enemies.”
“No,” Amukkan answered. “Agrippa?”
She shrugged. “No enemies I know of.”
“They have never battled in space? Tell no stories of ancient enemies or glorious battles?”
“No, they destroyed the people living on their moon, but there is no record of any other battles or even exploration.”
The marine looked pensive. “Only people with experience of war would have such sophisticated weapons. Why would they have such defences and even build space ships if they don’t have a history of exploration or don’t have any enemies.”
“You said they started cloning millions of years ago. Maybe they have knowledge of a space war that they lost that they do no talk about. But it could be that the clones retained that knowledge through each cloning. They sure are acting like they expect to be attacked.”
“Something attacked those beaten up ships and gave them a good hiding,” Scotty said.
Amelagar exchanged a look with Agrippa. “Or they attacked an enemy that fought back and did a lot of damage to them. It would explain their paranoia and insistence on building battle ships for space exploration.”
Amelagar raised his hand and the marines shut up. “We cannot afford to sit and speculate. We will take a decision, plan it, and carry out the attack. No matter the cost to us.”
“I have to see my human again,” Anatu squeaked.
Sergeant Bjorn said in a whisper, “If that wrinkly bitch says that one more time I’m going to beat the crap out of her. President’s wife or not.”
“You can try puny human,” Anatu said without looking up from her tablet.
Sergeant Bjorn looked disconcerted for a moment.
Agrippa suppressed a moan of pleasure as Amelagar kept massaging her stiff shoulders. She voiced the thought that kept coming back to her. “If we can get down to the surface and if we can infiltrate the temples, we could make sure we destroy them.”
Everyone straightened and the atmosphere changed, became determined.
“We have to find a way to get down there undetected?” Colonel Farnham said.
“And to destroy all of the temples at once?” Amelagar added.
Agrippa put up her hand. “I may be able to help with that.” It was a good thing that Amelagar stood behind her. She did not want to see his face when she told them.
“There has been a Tunrian resistance movement for centuries now. They call themselves The Souls.”
“Weird name for a resistance group,” Scotty said.
“I’ve heard weirder.”
Sargeant Bjorn sneered. “Doesn’t sound like an effective bunch. Centuries and they haven’t made any difference?”
Agrippa jumped up, but Amelagar was there first. “You do not insult her people.”
“Marine,” Colonel Farnham snapped.
Scotty held up his hands. “Fine, fine.”
“Please continue Agrippa,” the colonel said.
“I can send a short signal and if the resistance is able to monitor, they will open up a window for us to take the ship down.” The resistance had asked her to run simulations on such a scenario. It seemed like centuries ago, when she’d been hurt because they never spoke to her in person. And at the same time she’d felt so proud to be part of the resistance.
“How do you know how to contact the souls?” Amalagar asked so low and quiet and vibrating with danger, everyone fell silent.
She wrung her hands together. “They recruited me shortly after the clones took over my education.”
Quiet fell over the bridge. Even Anatu’s tapping on her tablet stopped.
“You didn’t think to mention it before now?”
She held out her hand to him and after a long moment, when he did not reach out to her, she dropped it. Did she lose him? Did he hate her now? He ryhov burrowed deeper into the folds of her skin.
“I didn’t even think about them until now. I never thought I’d see Tundra again.”
He looked at her for a long time. An angry speculative look, as if he distrusted everything about her now. “You are sure the resistance can get us to the temples?”
“Yes, they would’ve bombed the temples long ago, but they don’t have the explosives to reach that deep.”
Still staring at her, Amelagar said, “one problem, this ship doesn’t land.”
Agrippa and Anatu exchanged a look. She took a deep breath and said, “actually it does land.”
“Say what?” Scottie said.
“I thought maybe we might need that ability and I asked LBS to try to adapt and a few days ago he confirmed to me that we could make some changes to make him capable of landing.”
Scotty snarled, “it’s a bloody ship, a piece of metal, stop talking about it as if its alive.”
The ship shuddered violently and the floor under the colonel’s boots surged and he fell to one knee. Swearing he staggered upright.
“Do not speak of Little Big Ship with disrespect. He is helping both our peoples,” Anatu snarled. She widened her eyes at them.
Anatu hastened to say. “Yes, without LBS, we cannot complete this mission. We could not have come this far without him.”
“I swear if you were not married to—”
“Do not insult my human.” Anatu’s shoulders dropped. “I miss him,” she mumbled and one of the marines groaned.
“Great, you’ve set her off again.”
The ship shuddered again and did not stop this time.
“Marine, if you ever insult our fellow marine LBS, again, you will be on guard duty for the rest of your life,” Colonel Farnham barked.
“Yes sir.”
Through all this Agrippa felt Amelagar’s gaze burning through her. Anger came off him and it amazed her that no one else seemed to notice.
“Contact your resistance.” Amelagar said and walked away without looking back.
She wanted to follow him, to explain, but she had to carry out his order first. She sent the message.
They waited three days for a reply and during that long wait, Amelagar ignored her. She tried to talk to him and he ignored her. Just like her family had ignored her after the clones took her for training. The others picked up on the way Amelagar avoided her, but no said anything.
Code scrolled over her tablet. Instructions and co-ordinates. “We made contact.” It was a relief to focus on something other than Amelagar’s anger.
Colonel Farnham frowned. “How will we land a ship in a city unobserved.”
“We will go dark and land far from the cities. The resistance will help us get to the temple. That is if we can convince them to trust us.”
“I thought giving us the passwords to get down safely meant they trusted us?” Sergeant Bjorn said.
“No. I don’t think so. They recruited me when I was a child, but I haven’t seen any of them. I don’t even know their names. They gave me this code to contact them if I found anything useful to fight the clones.”
“Colonel Farnham, you, and the other marines will stay on the ship. Your strange skins will get us all into trouble.”
The marines seemed resigned. They left the clone ship behind Tundra’s moon. The marines did not have to do much but monitor the ship and make sure they stayed in orbit with the moon between them and Tundra the whole time.
Agrippa, Anatu and Amelagar sat on the bridge of LBS. They were about to pass the planetary defence system and Agrippa barely breathed. They did not stand a chance against the firepower of the four defence platforms that orbited Tundra.
At last they reached the coordinates The Souls had sent them.
“What if it is a trap. They might think we are clones. Or the clones may have intercepted my message and its not the resistance waiting for us down there.” Nightmare scenarios flashed through her mind.
“We will deal with problems as they happen. Let’s get out and see who we are dealing with. Keep your weapons ready.”
They were about to leave the ship when Amelagar stopped them. “Anatu will you give us some privacy?”
The female cyborg melted away and Amelagar turned to Agrippa. “You will never again keep secrets from me.”
“I promise I won’t.” The relief was so great that her legs gave way beneath her. He wasn’t made at her anymore.
He caught her in his arms and kissed her and she couldn’t hold back a sob. “I thought you hated me now. I can’t stand the thought of you looking at me with distrust.”
“I trust you Agrippa and I am still angry. That does not mean we are not together anymore.” He looked at his time piece. “We have to disembark.”
She nodded and called Anatu. The door opened and they walked down onto the grass. They stood looking around at the desolate area. “After earth this place is even uglier than I remembered,” Anatu said bluntly.
“They’re here,” Amelagar said, barely above a whisper.
Two figures came out of the dark. They were dressed in the grey one piece all naturals had to wear. The thought of ever having to live here again, to have to wear what the clones told her to wear, do what they told her to do was frightening.
“Agrippa?” the tall female stepped forward while the male with her hung back.
Agrippa nodded and steppe forward. “Yes, it’s me. Thank you for getting us down here safely.”
“I am number one and that is number two.”
Anatu snorted, but Agrippa just nodded.
“Why did you want to come down here? Your message only said you had useful information.”
Agrippa looked at Amelagar and he nodded. She prayed these people could be trusted. That they wouldn’t end up captives of the clones. “We are going to blow up all the cloning temples.”
The woman laughed and then stopped when she saw their serious faces. Interest sparked in her gaze. “How?”
“We have explosives and if we can get deep enough into the temples undetected, we can blow them all up. But we would have to coordinate it so that they are all destroyed together.”
“It cannot be done.” The male, number two came forward.
The female held up a hand and drew the male away. They stood talking in whispers and gesturing wildly. At last they came to stand in front of Agrippa and Amelagar. As agreed, Anatu hung back and tried to look harmless. She was smaller than most female cyborgs and with her ryhov could easily pass for a natural.
“We will come back tomorrow. There is a small possibility that we may assist you. Be ready with the explosives to go at short notice.” They melted back into the shadows.
“Back on the ship,” Amelagar said so softly, she barely heard him.
They all got back onto the ship and went to the bridge. “LBS, you will monitor for anyone approaching us. Wake us, but quietly. The three of us will take turns doing guard duty.”
Agrippa had the third shift, but she didn’t sleep at all. She and Amelagar had shared a bunk, but all they did was hold each other. That was enough for Agrippa to feel safe. Still, she worried about what would happen if The Souls return. Or if they didn’t return. She’d always thought them larger than life and it was a little disappointing to realize they were normal tunrians with fears like anyone else.
The next morning the same man and woman came walking up to them. They had to have come in a vehicle and left it out of sight.
“We have a contact that is willing to get you past the control points and to the temples. You have exactly four hours to meet up with him, set the bombs in the six cloning temples and get back to your ship and take off. We will get you the new code to get safely back in space by the time you get back.”
They followed the two resistance to a vehicle that blended in with the surroundings. A tall male clone, clearly of the Apsu clan with his rigid bearing and the arrogant dismissive way he looked at them. That and his pitch black straight long hair that was unique to that cursed clan.
“Clone,” Anatu hissed.
Agrippa stilled and glared at the two so called resistance fighters. “You betrayed us. You are not of the souls.” Fear nearly crippled her. Next to her she felt Amelagar tense.
Number One shook her head. “He’s helping us.”
Agrippa shook her head. “He’s Apsu, if you are really resistance, you know how vicious he is.”
“I know everything about that clan. I won’t say you can trust him, but he wants the temples destroyed as well.”
Number One shrugged. “For now.”
Amelagar stepped in front of the clone. He was slightly taller than the clone and more muscled, but they were a good match. “If you betray us clone, I will make sure you beg for death.”
The clone sneered. “You may address me as Exultant Vice Regent Apsu, machine.”
Amelagar’s fist balled and he grew taller. Agrippa quickly grabbed his arm. “We are here to do a job. If he betrays us, you can kill him.”
Amelagar did not look away from the clone male who continued to lean casually against the vehicle, but his eyes were sharp. “Can you get us into the temples, clone?”
“Yes.”
Amelagar didn’t budge. “Why would you betray your own people. If you can betray them, what is stopping you from betraying us?”
The male sneered and somehow managed to look down on all of them. “I don’t care about any of you cyborg freaks. I am helping you to ensure the survival of my people. That is all you need to know.”
“This one will betray us and we all going to die before I see my human again,” Anatu said sullenly.
Amelagar sneered back at the clone. “Then he will die.”
“Do you have the explosives?” Number One asked.
“Yes.” Amelagar kept staring at the clone, his curled lip showing his contempt.
“We will go to the outskirts of the city. You will meet me at the two checkpoints and I will get you through.”
Amelagar tensed even more. “Why are you not coming with us?”
“You will come from a natural slum and I will approach the checkpoint from the other side. I will get you through and you will pretend to be naturals going to do menial work in the temples.”
“If you betray us, clone—”
“I know, you will try to kill me.”
“I will not try. I will succeed,” Amelagar said with such vicious assurance, Agrippa shivered.
The clone got into the vehicle and drove away and the two resistance fighters motioned to a group of buildings in the distance. “We brought clothes for you. Get dressed and then we will go to meet that arrogant clone.”
Agrippa took the clothes and bile rose in her throat. “I thought I was done with these awful things.”
“Maybe, if you can do enough damage to their temples, we can make a few changes.” She hesitated and then said. “We contacted your family as you requested, but they do not wish to make contact with you.”
Agrippa looked down and nodded. “I understand.”
Amelagar took her in his arms and held her until Number One cleared her throat. “Get dressed, we don’t have much time before we have to meet the clone.
Walking through the ghetto where her people lived, Agrippa realized how truly bad things were. They went to a small shack where more resistance people waited for Number One. She’d thought LBS small and living with the other people on board difficult, but she’d had it good compared to these conditions.
At the first checkpoint the clone waited as promised. He got them through easily, but they’d relaxed too soon. At the second check point, a clone with an arrogant swagger stopped them and asked for their papers. He took one look at the papers and took up his communicator. He crumpled to the ground, a surprised look on his face.
The clone put away his weapon. “Help me get him out of sight. Number One get one of your people to man this checkpoint.”
The clone made to drag the body into the small guard office, but Amelagar easily picked it up and placed it inside. He closed the door.
“Why did you do that?” Number One hissed at the clone. “We could have talked our way out of trouble or bribed him.”
“Not that one. He has peculiar taste and was already planning how he would use the females. Come on, we have to hurry.”
They walked behind him and entered the first temple. The attendant inside frowned when he saw them. “There is no cleaning scheduled for today.”
The clone shot him. “Hurry, down there, set the bombs and get back here so we can go to the second temple.”
They hurried down the stairs. It soon became apparent that she was only holding Amelagar and Anatu back. “I will wait here.”
They didn’t argue, just increased their pace until they looked like two whirlwinds going down the steep winding staircase. She chewed on her foreclaw until they came into sight again. Without a word they went back up and carefully approached the entrance. The clone stood waiting for them.
The second and third temple was easy, but the fourth one had too many clones going in and out. “We will have to be satisfied with blowing up three temples,” Amelagar said.
The clone shook his head, his eyes cold. “No, this is where they clone people. It has to be blown up.”
“Why would you want to destroy your people?”
“I am not destroying them, I am saving them.”
“By blowing them up?”
“I will not explain myself to a machine. How do we blow up this temple.”
Amelagar stared at the temple for a while and then said thoughtfully, “if you are allowed inside, you can plant the bombs.”
The clone sneered and Agrippa wondered if that was his normal expression. “I go where I please. Give me the bomb and get back to the ship. You know the route. Walk fast, but look as if you belong here.”
Amelagar explained where and how to set the bombs and the clone took the small pack and walked to the temple.
Number Two spoke for the first time. “You will have to get back to your ship on your own. We orchestrated riots for today which should make it easier for you to get away.” He handed over a piece of paper. “The coordinates.”
“Thank you. I hope this helps you defeat the clones.”
Number One looked thoughtful. “They might destroy each other and make our job easier.”
Everything went fine, until they were almost out of the ghetto. A group of young men gathered around them. “Hand over what you have and we will only hurt you a little.”
Agrippa feared her heart would explode out of her chest. But she’d underestimated Amelagar. He kicked and punched and within minutes all the young men were lying on the ground, groaning.
Agrippa and Anatu exchanged glances and ran full out for the space ship. LBS opened the ramp for them and they ran in. “Take off, take off now,” Amelagar shouted. “Agrippa, input those codes.”
Agrippa put in the codes and then she turned to Amelar and could feel her ryhov drain of color. “Will the explosion harm my people.”
“Not if they are outside the temples. From what I saw down there, the explosions should destroy everything, but the depth of the temple will contain the explosions underground.”
“I really hope you are right.”
They left orbit and flew to the dark side of the moon where the clone ship waited. It opened its hangar doors and they flew inside. The moment they landed inside, Agrippa threw herself into Amelagars arms and he held her tight. “I didn’t think we’d make it,” she whispered.
“I had my doubts too.”