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  “This is what we have trained for, and it is a chance to possibly reclaim our place in the city.” She settled into place and removed the headset. In under three minutes, everything was in place and they were moving across the silt and sand toward the wreckage.

  Dif was shredding the metal into pieces that would fit in the machines, so Duel had Kab lean down to scoop up handfuls of the metal, and she walked him over to the containers.

  She carefully drained off the dirt before placing the metal chunks in the container, and then, she went back to Dif’s side and she started shredding the metal alongside him.

  She was reminded of projects as a child when they were shredding paper for recycling. They didn’t use a lot of paper in the valley, but it was a nice skill to master.

  When she had a decent pile, she scooped it up, got up again and walked it over to the container. When she was done with that, she picked up Dif’s pile, and then, Myx’s pile filled the new container that was now sitting and waiting for more metal.

  It was going to be an odd few hours.

  * * * *

  Xaia looked up and saw that the materials were arriving. She exhaled and kept working on the coding that would let the nanites spread into a four-layer sheet across the surface of whatever they struck.

  “Pilot.” One of the coders was looking at her.

  “Yes, Minya?”

  “The team working on propulsion just sent a signal through. They think they have found a chemical trigger but need some help with the scale.”

  Xaia blinked, “Right. We don’t exactly do this on a regular basis. The scale for the bot’s weapons is something that we have left behind.”

  “Correct. Liatho is in the chem lab, and she needs guidance.”

  Xaia sighed and stretched, she hated splitting her focus.

  Elder Lameera cleared her throat from the corner. She hadn’t left. “I have a background in chemistry. I believe I can be of use. I will call in the other elders to resume their occupations as well.”

  “That would be helpful.” Xaia was grateful. She needed to get some samples of the energy substance that was used in the power cells. It wouldn’t do to program the nanites without telling them what their meal was.

  “Has the first round of samples from the power cells been analyzed?” Xaia lifted her head when she couldn’t find a record on her monitor.

  One of the women working around the lab looked at her. “The cells are just entering the warehouse. No samples have been taken yet.”

  Xaia nodded. “Well, that is going to change quickly. I need to know what I am feeding the nanites. Without that info, nothing moves forward.”

  She left her lab and headed out to the warehousing area. Two researchers were already lifting an intact cell out of the container, but Xaia went up to them and she cleared her throat. “Could you pull a broken one next? I need to get at the interior for an isotopic match.”

  The heavily protected women looked at her. “Pilot, this isn’t a safe area. You need to be wearing protection.”

  Xaia tapped her suit. “Radiation shielding. It was a nice touch from the elders. I designed the fabric a few years ago, and it is pleasant to see that they found a use for it.”

  She watched over them as the pulled another cell. It was half a metre square, and she grabbed it carefully, walking it over to one of the worktables.

  She looked around and under the table until she located the kit, and when she had the right instruments, she pried open the crack in the power cell, and she pulled out a chunk of the glowing green material. She sealed it in a small container and brought the cracked, large cell back to the growing pile in the radiation containment area.

  She put the instruments away and picked up the sample. Humming to herself, she went inside to the analytical wing. If she could get the specific power signature and make sure that it didn’t match anything else on Hera, she would have her target and the fuel for the nanites, all in one.

  Ai murmured in her ear. “Hold the sample up to the lens, and I can record the readings.”

  Xaia paused. “That is... thanks.” She paused in the hall and opened the container, looking down at the glowing stone.

  A few seconds after she looked, he said. “I have it.”

  The readings scrolled through her mind. “That is really effective.”

  “Thank you. I can also assist with the coding. I do know how to program nanites after all.”

  She blushed. “I confess, it had slipped my mind.”

  “Well, you have remembered now, so allow me to help.” Ai’s voice wasn’t irritated, it was earnest.

  Xaia nodded, sealed the container, and headed back to her lab. He was right. He could do it far more rapidly than she could, but they would see if he could deal with the new nanites that they had encoded. His knowledge was two hundred years old. Times had changed.

  Chapter Three

  Cio finished her task of picking the power cells out and setting them aside and then shredding the metal into chunks that could be repurposed easily.

  Lido had a nagging feeling that they were missing something. They needed something that wasn’t there. Something that they could aim at.

  “Shit! We need a practice target. We need to make a fake ship.”

  Cio asked, “Do you feel that is necessary?”

  “We are going to create a weapon with a very specific effect. We are going to need to test it on a live target, so to speak.”

  “I will relay this. Just a moment.”

  Duel’s voice came to her. “Does it have to be to scale?”

  “What?”

  “Does the target have to be to scale?”

  “Um, no, we just have to make a small ship the size of a rover and make it fly with the power cells as its energy source.”

  “Got it. Relaying the information to Xaia. Stand by.” Duel’s voice was amused.

  Lido sighed. “I am so much better with plants.”

  Duel came back. “She cursed a bit but agrees. So does Elder Lameera. They are assembling a team to put a decoy together, but they are not happy about it.”

  Lido slumped in relief. “I am just happy that I remembered that before we used all the metal for the weapons.”

  Duel chuckled. “Me, too. Well, it seems like we are out of things to do.”

  Lido cleared her throat. “I agree.”

  “Do you? Good. I believe that we have left some personnel behind at the city.”

  “I agree to that as well.”

  “I think a few of us need to go for a walk.”

  Lido looked around at the motion on the surface as the inhabitants of the valley collected every bit of spare scrap metal that they could find.

  “A few of us need to stay here. We don’t want to leave them undefended.”

  “Agreed. If I can get the maps from the elder, we are going to collect our guests.”

  “And if you don’t get the maps?” Lido had to ask.

  “I already have them. I am just going through the proper channels.” Duel’s voice was precise and clipped. She was going. There was no doubt about that.

  * * * *

  Xaia paused as Ai relayed the request. She didn’t disagree, but she really wanted to be one of the ones who saw the aliens first.

  “Duel promises to send you images directly as soon as Kab can send.”

  “Right. I will find Elder Lameera.”

  Xaia checked the assignments and found Lameera in the nanite-generation lab. Xaia headed over to the lab where Lameera was working to create nanite factories. They were thankfully alone in the lab.

  “Elder Lameera?”

  Lameera leaned up from the microscope. “Yes, Pilot?”

  “The bot pilots would like to go and get the alien sleepers. We would keep two pilots here, including myself, and we would be available if it was necessary.”

  Lameera pinched the bridge of her nose. “If I say no?”

  X
aia cleared her throat. “I would not recommend it.”

  “Very well. You and who else?”

  “Lido, I believe.”

  “Right. What do you need?”

  “The maps into the underground bunker where the Nine are being held.”

  “Right. Let me get to a terminal.” Elder Lameera went to the terminal in the lab, and she brought the file up. “I guess you can translate that to the other bots?”

  “It has already been done.” She smiled. “Thank you. We are running on adrenalin, and the faster we can conclude these tasks, the better we will all be. Do you think the city will try to stop them?”

  Elder Lameera placed a hand on Xaia’s shoulder. “They would be fools not to.”

  Xaia looked upward as if she could see through the hundreds of feet of dirt between her and them. “Good luck.”

  She nodded to the elder and returned to her lab. She had a weapon to create.

  * * * *

  Duel smiled. “Ladies, we have authorization. Lido, keep them safe.”

  “I will. You bring the Nine back to the valley. They will see light again.” Lido’s voice wobbled a little.

  Duel wished she could give Lido a hug. “We will keep you apprised of our progress and will let you know when we are returning. We might need clothing, food, and lodging for them.”

  “Got it. I will be standing by and waiting to let the elder know about your progress.”

  Duel looked at the other bots and sent the signal. “Are you ready?”

  Corbyn chuckled. “We are but watch where you step.”

  Duel snorted and turned Kab. It took one long stride to get him clear of the workers and an exaggerated lift of his foot to get her completely out of their bustling territory.

  They took a few strides, and then, their group sprinted and finally ran back to the city, slowing only for the bridge.

  Corbyn made a comment as they approached the city. “Are you serious?”

  Duel laughed. “I guess you just saw the placement of the access port.”

  “It is under the damned bee hive!”

  Hima chimed in. “Really? Do we move the hive?”

  Kiida added, “It depends on how deep it goes. We can try.”

  Nyvett grumped, “This is why I never took the outside jobs.”

  Corbyn laughed. “I protect folks like you.”

  Nyvett snorted, “Not me. I would never be silly enough to head for the bees.”

  They were having this conversation as they slowed to enter the broken gates. The walk through the empty grass and forested lands—past the new tower—was quiet until they reached the hive of the crimson bees.

  Corbyn let out a grunt. “I really don’t like this, even if we do move it, they are going to keep robbing the site, and that means that we are going to be next to them.”

  Kab chimed in. “We are going to protect you, and one of you will remain topside to deal with any humans who decide to investigate the group of bots clumped next to the bees.”

  Corbyn muttered, “What the hell.”

  Duel watched on the monitor as Myx stepped forward, dug his foot under the edge of the soil next to the hive, and then, he kicked upward and out, sending the hive over the wall and spilling only a few bees out of the colony.

  Now that he was done that, Myx crouched and scraped his fingers over the site until the chime of metal on metal rang in the air.

  Corbyn’s voice was amused in Duel’s ear. “Huh, it is here.”

  Myx dug the access port out, and the ten-by-ten cap was exposed. He sat back and waited.

  Duel chuckled. “I am guessing that that is the cue.”

  Kab spoke quietly, “I can’t go down there, obviously, but take the weapons for your own defense.”

  Duel nodded and had Kab kneel. “I will. Nyvett, will you be our security up here? Hima has medical training, and it may come in handy.”

  Nyvett didn’t hesitate. “Of course. Your bots are safe.”

  Dif knelt, and Kiida didn’t say anything. It was obvious that she was going.

  When all the bots were kneeling, each of them pressed a palm up over the opening, creating a shelter from the returning, foraging bees that were suddenly homeless. The four bots had created a bee-proof vestibule.

  Duel looked at the bees, and she took a deep breath, unlatching from Kab putting on her lens, and then, she got armed.

  She held one of the pulse guns in her hand as Kab lowered her, and she fired at the bees, knocking them out of the sky.

  She heard more weapons, and she and the others were lowered to the ground, inches away from the protected zone.

  Duel darted inside and looked at the door beneath her. She flipped open the access panel, and Kab gave her the code to open it. The click and hiss of escaping air was at once encouraging and horrifying. They were going into a tunnel not made by the hands of their direct ancestors. It was frightening.

  * * * *

  Kiida watched Duel open the hatch, and she smiled at the nervous look on the other pilots’ faces. It was nice that she wasn’t the only one freaked out.

  They had to go in and retrieve the members of the Nine, but it was unknown territory in the most direct of ways.

  The alien landscape of the surface that they had been on wasn’t somewhere that they normally frequented, with the exception of Corbyn. Going into an ancient structure where the tech was unknown and the reinforcement was suspect took a lot of nerve.

  Kiida took a step forward, and the others took a step back. There was a dim lighting system beneath her, and it illuminated the ladder’s rungs. She didn’t hesitate. She lowered herself to the edge of the hole and began the descent.

  There was time to chat when they were on their way to lower through the dozens of levels below.

  * * * *

  Kab spoke to Dif. “Do you have your signals?”

  “They are ready and waiting. I sent the primer when we left the valley.”

  “Good. I am activating the units and bringing them out of their sleep.”

  “Do you think the pilots will be upset that we had this information?” Dif seemed a little hesitant.

  Kab chuckled. “They are adaptable. Once they figure out what was done, they will simply question and then acknowledge it.”

  “You don’t think that they will harbour ill will that we kept this from them?”

  “No. We are giving them the information when they need it. That will go a long way toward helping them adapt to it.”

  Dif asked, “How long do you think it will take?”

  “I think they will be descending for an hour, and then, they will spend another finding and decanting the Nine; from there, it will be at least another hour up, if the fabricators are on line to produce clothing for them.”

  Dif let out a hiss. “Forgot about that. Putting the units online right now. They should be in production when the pilots arrive.”

  Kab kept his hand over the entrance, and he waited. He would be here if Duel had any questions. He just wished he could have provided all the information up front, but his programming stopped him from giving any information that was not required by the situation. As far as he was concerned, the folk of the valley needed to know it all, but that wasn’t an option. He was held back by the strictures of him being an AI. The Nine would be able to tell them more.

  Kab was waiting for the release of full disclosure. The valley needed it, and it would set things on their proper paths for the future of the occupants of colony planet Hera.

  * * * *

  Corbyn finished watching for incoming crimson bees and followed the others into the tunnel. She holstered her weapon, and rung after rung, lowered herself to the level below.

  She looked around at the others and smiled. “Do we know where we are going?”

  Kiida nodded. “We are doing alternate ramp coils with direct descents like this one. No electric transport to the lower level. We have to do it the ha
rd way.”

  Corbyn looked around at the gathered pilots. “Well, since we have had a sedentary few hours, it is time for some exercise. Let’s run.”

  The groans were followed by laughter, but they all turned toward the slope in the floor, and they ran along the coiling path that would take them further into the depths and closer to their targets.

  It was a group exercise of necessity. Every minute spent in the city was leaving their home undefended. They needed to move.

  Chapter Four

  Xaia settled on making a human-sized prototype. The nanites would act the same no matter the size.

  “We have gotten the gas compression and release to work, but using the test robot will be a better choice. It wouldn’t do to blow your hand off, Pilot.”

  Xaia looked at the large prototype, and she nodded. “That sounds fair. Is there a reason that we used one of the gas guns?”

  “They are rated for the pressure that we are going to be using. It seemed safer as we are scaling them up, not down.”

  Xaia nodded. “Right. Is the first charge prepared?”

  “It is waiting at the test range. We made several samples of both the weapon and the ammunition. All we are waiting for is your approval to proceed.”

  Xaia stretched and grabbed her cup of water. “Let’s go.”

  Her brain was crammed with calculations of expansion rates and fluid surface tension ratings. They had to separate the power cell crystals from the nanites or the charges would explode before they were even in the weapon. That was not the ideal result.

  She grabbed the prototype that she had been given and held it by the barrel as they walked through the halls. Everyone was tense, and no one needed to see a live weapon outside the test areas.

  Xaia headed up to the test area—a sheltered expanse just beyond the ridge that protected the rear of Bot City—in order to get a basic idea of what their current weapon selection was capable of and how much of a charge it needed.

  The test area was busy with women carrying trays of test rounds and others working on a vast selection of the exact same pistol.