Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.25

Chapter 25

Unexpected outcomes.

Commandant Ahern was not having a good day. His morning had started with an inspection of his troops. That was normally a high point in his week, but there had been a tension he had not expected. The lines of soldiers in their bright white armor were always inspiring; that was one of the reasons for the weekly inspection.

The local populace got a good look at the sheer might and numbers of their forces while at the same time being encouraged to consider the soldiers as their own. The more local recruits they had, the better. As time went on, the sullen crowds would start to cheer, and in a few years, they would be as loyal as any other federation citizen. It was another tried and tested control method, and today, it failed him.

He had been doing the Commendant’s procession. Walking along the front lines of troops and stopping to exchange a few words here and there. It was a way to reinforce his command and make the soldiers feel seen and valued, yet the backfire today was massive.

“Why are we abandoning everyone to die, Sir?” The corporal had asked loudly.

Ahern kept a smile plastered on his face as his eyes flicked to the name tag for later disciplinary measures.

“We have to save as many as we can, son.” Ahern gave it his best stern but regretful voice. The voice of a man undertaking a solemn duty with regrettable sacrifices being necessary. “There is just too much damage to save everyone.”

“Sir, we left them to die out there,” The corporal refused to back down. “No one even went to warn them, Sir.”

“Rubbish,” Ahern bluffed. “I sent the orders to warn the civilians myself!” He hoped to turn this situation his way with that comment. Maybe he could set the seeds for his public discovery of the sabotaged terminal.

“Sir,” The corporal looked him directly in the eye, a breach of protocol, “Bullshit. Sir. I route all traffic from your command. No orders were issued.”

“Hmm.” Ahern took a second to let everyone there see how troubled he was. “If that is true…”

“Sir, I checked the records twice, Sir.” The corporal puffed up his pathetic chest and looked proud. “No recorded orders on the command floor regarding warnings or rescues, Sir.”

“I believe you, son.” Ahern barked as he looked at the camera that streamed his inspection to the city squares, “Federation Troopers do not lie. We must investigate the cause immediately!”

“Sir,” The corporal swallowed hard. “I did so; the terminal in your office was deliberately disconnected. I informed my superior, and they examined the security feeds, Sir.”

Ahern narrowed his eyes as he felt his pulse spike. He had not gotten around to changing the recordings yet. He had planned to do that only when he was ready to ‘discover’ the problem.

“Commandant Ahern,” A pair of troopers in Military Police uniforms stepped forward. “Shall we remove this trooper for interrogation?”

“Yes,” Ahern nodded, feeling relief flush through him. “I want Danforth to personally see to it we get to the bottom of this.”

The close call was not really the problem. Sure, it had thrown him in the moment, but anything could be spun. Even if he had been revealed right there, he could always claim it was a resistance plot to frame him. A few loyal men to arrange the outcomes of interviews, a few suicides, not a real problem.

The real problem was the corporal. The little bastard would never have had the guts to say that in public if he hadn’t been put up to it. Someone was moving against him and was smart enough to use go-betweens. That was just their first move, he was sure. Danforth would have to find out who had put the boy up to it and then follow that chain all the way to whoever was behind it.

Of course, there was the possibility that it was Danforth himself or that Danforth would join them. Precautions would have to be taken. Leverage over the man was now his first priority. It had to be. Perhaps some judicious reassignment of personnel, just to ensure his loyal troops outnumbered Danforth.

“Sir, the daily reports for your signature!” The officer called from the office doorway. At least someone still respected common courtesy.

“Thank you, officer,” Ahern forced his eyes away from her scales and thumb-printed the pad. “Prit-Mal, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Sir,” Prit-Mal nodded as she stood at attention.

“Tell me, officer, what do you think about the incident this morning?” Ahern asked. He wanted to know how the rank and file were taking the incident, and she was here and always eager to help.

“The traitor, Sir?” Prit-Mal asked.

“Traitor?” Ahern frowned.

“Yes, Sir.” Prit-Mal nodded, “The corporal has a chain of command. There was no reason to call it to your attention in public. He must be a traitor, surely?”

“Ah,” Ahern smiled genuinely. “I would agree, of course, but we must not use the word before the investigation is completed. Justice must have its day.”

“Sir,” Prit-Mal said, her face a careful blank.

“Don’t worry, officer.” Ahern said warmly, “Danforth will get to the truth.”

“Yes… Sir.” Prit-Mal seemed hesitant and quickly left when he dismissed her.

Ahern drummed his fingers on his desk as he frowned. Was Danforth more of a risk than he knew? He mentally moved Prit-Mal off the list of sacrifices and fall guys and onto the list of his loyal troops.

The scales weren’t that prominent, anyway.

===<<<>>>===

Nellie marveled at the state of her yard. She was so used to seeing it quiet and mostly empty that all the activity was something of an adjustment. A quick talk with Duke had confirmed that he was more than happy to take any of her guests who wanted to move there, but most had asked to stay. Only a handful had taken the offer, mostly those with young children.

Another great surprise had been the delegation led by Karl who asked for work to do. It seemed they wanted to earn their keep. Nellie was more than happy to let them, and Salem had quickly begun organizing them into work parties. They certainly needed more salvage, and it seemed they had a willing workforce. Sure, the nanites did it a lot faster, but they had to be hidden. What was even better was that there was plenty of salvage to be had these days. It wasn’t just the now unguarded and abandoned scrap fields but all the empty villages, abandoned vehicles, and more.

Their current target was an outpost set up by the Feds, then abandoned completely when they withdrew. It certainly didn’t make sense to Nellie; why not take everything with them? Still, why look a gift horse in the mouth?

She watched as Tiny easily maneuvered the large wall section, placing it precisely and holding it still while a pair of the basic units welded it in place. She was starting to see the attraction of the boxy Fed buildings now. They could be sliced up easily and then reassembled in no time at the other end.

“The control tower will be done sometime tomorrow morning,” Salem reported as she joined Nellie on the wall. “Housing units probably the next day, and the facilities building will be another two.”

“That’s fast,” Nellie said, “Are they getting enough rest?”

“Of course,” Salem said, sniffing as if merely suggesting otherwise was an insult to her abilities. “I attribute their efficiency to enthusiasm and not a little relief at having something to do other than worry.”

“It certainly helps to keep busy,” Nellie smiled at seeing Baz’s shuttle coming back with another load of supplies suspended beneath it. “Once the facilities building is up and running, we will start manufacturing the needed parts.”

“I have to ask -again- if that is a good idea,” Salem said. “It is hardly likely to remain un-noticed for long.”

“We are starting to move beyond that,” Nellie said grimly. “You’ve seen the readings on those clouds.”

Everyone was trying very hard not to think about the situation with the clouds. A solid few weeks of readings had confirmed the situation was getting worse, not better. Added to the dust already in the atmosphere, the clouds almost completely blocked out the sun.

They had to install a bunch of exterior heaters just to keep the workers from freezing while they worked, and there was no sign of change. If anything, the clouds were getting denser. Lucy’s program had no information on the weather effects something like this would cause, but Nellie had at least dim memories of the horrors of nuclear winter. They had discussed it, ever so briefly, in school. She didn’t remember much, but she did remember the key point.

If it lasted long enough, everything died.

Given the lack of any positive change in the readings, Nellie was betting this would last months, at least. So, she and Lucy had a long talk. It was time to stop hiding everything and start making moves to do more than just survive. Of course, they couldn’t out the nanite secret, but they had to start using their advantages. First, they had Lucy, with all her knowledge of AIs, an intimate knowledge of the synthetics from her alterations to Baz, along with making her own body. They also had unprecedented access to materials, given the abundance of salvage on offer. It all added up to an opportunity not to be missed.

There was a downside, of course. Two, actually.

Their low-profile nature was going to be blown if their plans came to fruition. Their only hope of remaining hidden and ignored at that point came from no one coming out here anymore.

The other problem was that for everything to work, Nellie would have to be a little more open to more upgrades. Personal ones. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Lucy; it was just that, given her recent admissions, Nellie was nervous. After going back and forth for a while, she had come to one conclusion… if she didn’t do it now, she never would.

“Lucy,” She called quietly.

“Yes, hun?” Lucy sounded distracted, as she usually was when working on her own projects.

“Tomorrow, once the control tower is up,” Nellie said.

“What about it?” Lucy asked.

“The upgrade, we’ll do it then.” Nellie swallowed hard and fought a wave of nausea. She heard nothing from Lucy for a moment, just the sound of her own anxious breathing.

“Are you sure?” Lucy asked, clearly paying attention now.

“No,” Nellie admitted. “But I’m never going to be. Time to bite the bullet.” She left unsaid that she was trusting Lucy with this, despite everything. If she had to say that, it wasn’t trust.

“Thank you,” Lucy sounded really happy, “You will NEVER regret this.”

Keeping busy was the order of the day for Nellie as well. Her guts were twisting with worry, but if she didn’t have to think about it… it wasn’t too bad. That was her mantra as she lifted off in the large shuttle to go and pay a visit to Duke. From there, she would run supplies to the village, then head over to get some more scrap, followed by a run over to check out the situation at the Fed outpost they were dismantling.

If she managed all that, she should have less than a minute or two for food and some HyperDrive. She checked her schedule one more time and tried to find one more thing to cram in. Anything other than think about tomorrow.

Nellie pointed the shuttle toward Duke’s place and tied her implant into the controls. Practice with her HUD would provide an extra distraction.

Every little helped.

===<<<>>>===

Crush-Cha knew when to not make waves. Sometimes, causing a problem was the right choice; other times, you had to know when to shut up. This was one of the latter. He wasn’t sure how Brix didn’t see it, but there was more going on here than a simple farm.

The ever-friendly Duke had warmly accepted the soldiers; they had been fed, sheltered, and even allowed to keep their own gear and weapons. That was the first thing that made Crush suspicious. Who the hell let hundreds of soldiers in without even a modicum of worry? Where were the safety precautions?

Then, when they were assigned to the walls to guard against attack, Crush got a look at how big the place was. It was massive. Beyond massive. Still, he had spent the first day watching the skies for all the ships coming and going. There hadn’t been many. There certainly wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

To say Duke was farming on an industrial scale would not do the place justice, so where the hell was all the food going? It would make sense to scale the place back with everything going on. Duke had every bit of it running and seemed stressed about not having enough people to run it all.

In short, Crush had decided this place must be some kind of emergency food supply for the planet set up by the Feds. It just made sense to him until it didn’t.

The emergency was here. The food was needed, and where were the Feds?

No one came to collect it. Sure, shuttles came and went, but nothing like a city would need, let alone multiple ones.

The most damning thing had been when Crush had decided to go and have a look around himself.

He had been caught almost immediately, which was not only insulting, but Duke had just laughed and told him to go where he liked.

Besides the bruised ego at being caught, it was the laugh that pissed Crush off the most.

It was the laugh of a man with nothing to fear. To make it even worse, Duke was right. What could Crush do if he found anything?

Was he going to stop Duke? How? With what army? Right now, the only army around needed the Duke’s food, warmth, and shelter. It was a stark realization for Crush. He really was out here on the edge now. No backup coming, no one to call for help. When he first escaped from the Feds, Crush had been alone, but it had only felt like a temporary problem. He had planned to join the resistance and start the process of throwing them off the planet.

This was different.

He had met the resistance, and they were… optimistic. What they were not was a threat to the Feds in the cities. Given what had happened to the planet, Crush was willing to bet that any organized resistance was likely finished. At least outside the cities. Besides, even if they managed to chase off the Feds, then what?

Crush sighed and leaned against the parapet of the wall. At this point, did it even matter what Duke was doing? The darkness beyond the wall seemed to suck the hope out of him. He felt lost. Lost and alone in a sea of endless darkness.

For the first time in his life, Crush wondered if this was how Des had felt.

He blinked. Was this how the Captain felt?

It may have taken a while, but for the first time, Crush-Cha was able to see things from the other point of view. From the Captain’s point of view. She had been completely alone in a strange place, with no one to help her except the nanites. He went over every action in his mind and was clear about one thing. If the Captain had wanted to spread the nanites, she could have.

Easily.

Standing in that corridor, having just been fired on by Tor-Am, what would he have done? He was uncomfortably self-aware enough to know he would have shot the girl without a thought. There would be no other choice. Not with how people reacted to nanites.

Not with how he reacted.

In the moment, Crush had never even considered he might have been wrong. On the contrary, he remembered the feeling of righteous anger perfectly. Convinced he was doing the right thing, he had opened fire without a moment’s hesitation.

He thought it was Des all over again. Another person he admired showed they were… corrupted or something.

Picking up his rifle again, Crush continued his patrol. Sometimes it was like this; sometimes, a new experience brought you up short and bitch-slapped you in the face with the fact you were a fool. If you were lucky, it was soon enough to fix your mistakes. If not, well, you learned to live with it and hopefully do better next time.

As he approached the next tower on the wall, Crush wondered if he would live long enough to get the chance.

Pushing open the sliding door, he noticed one of Duke’s people was working on the turret. The massive things needed constant maintenance, but it was normally done during the day.

“Up kind of late, aren’t you?” He asked, subtly adjusting his grip on his rifle. Sabotage was unlikely, but he was naturally cautious.

“Oh, hey,” The figure pulled back and grinned at him. He had met her a few times now, Vicky her name was. Kind of strange, as were most of Duke’s people, but one of those Duke trusted the most. “Couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d run a few tests.”

“Careful with that,” Crush warned, “Lack of sleep can mess your head up in all this darkness.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience?” Vicky asked as she dove back into the guts of the turret.

“Wish I wasn’t, but yes,” Crush admitted.

“I’ll call it after I’m done here,” she replied. “I just want to ensure these things are working up to spec. There’ll be worse things coming past us soon.”

“Well, I better get back on patrol,” Crush nodded to Vicky and slung his rifle over his shoulder, “Try some exercise if you can’t sleep. I find it helps.”

“Really,” Vicky gave him an assessing look as she wiped her hands on a rag. “Fancy a shag?”