Conquest

-24-

Due to the particulate matter floating around in any ocean and the powerful nature of our lasers, I didn’t know how our weapons would perform in the undersea environment. Tests had shown our projectors were effective at short range, but there were many practical problems. Earth science had developed uses for lasers underwater, such as welding, since the nineteen-nineties. But our weapons were an order of magnitude more powerful.

The intense beams tended to heat up the cloudy water as they passed through it, causing steam bubbles to form, especially around the projector units themselves. This was problematic, as the bubbles obstructed the beam, reducing its striking power. The final result of these difficulties was that our weapons did work, but only over a short range and only for short bursts of duration. Over longer ranges or longer durations, their effectiveness dropped off dramatically.

Still, our lasers were the best weapons we had. I could have tried to design some kind of harpoon with an explosive charge, maybe, but I didn’t have time. I didn’t want to leave the Macros down here unmolested, festering at the bottom of our ocean. I didn’t know exactly what their plans were, but I was certain I didn’t want them to succeed.

We kept moving and reached our battalion gathering point unmolested. Three other companies were there, waiting. There were supposed to be a total of five, including us. I talked to the captain of each company and determined they’d not met any resistance.

Several minutes went by. When the last company didn’t show up, I became concerned. I ordered the rest of the men to follow me, backtracking along the route the fifth company should have taken from the cliffs. Kwon came up beside me as we glided over the seabed on a gentle decline that led ever deeper into the ocean trench.

“Uh, sir?” he asked.

I knew what was bothering him without asking. This looked like a detour that would delay our planned search pattern and put us out of position relative to the other battalions that were moving over the seabed looking for the Macros.

“We are down here to search for the Macros, First Sergeant,” I told him. “One company is missing, that’s evidence of Macro activity.”

“Yes sir, but aren’t their domes supposed to be further ahead?”

“No other units have reported in sonically,” I told him. “They are all probing forward, but not finding anything. I believe there is something nearby, between us and the cliffs.”

“But wouldn’t the company have called in if they met the Macros?”

“Not if their communications man was killed fast enough.”

Kwon made a troubled-sounding grunt. I kept pressing ahead. Spreading out on all sides of me were four companies of marines. If there was something out here, we were going to find it.

When we did, it came as a surprise. My first thought was: the machines have been busy.

They ambushed us. They were worker-type Macros, equipped with huge pinchers. A large number of them were drilling-types as well. As soon as I saw them, I knew we’d stumbled upon some kind of resource, probably a mine. That’s why they were hard to see. They’d been in burrowed holes in the rocky bottom. Like a hundred moray eels, they popped up and attacked when we were right on top of them.

Pinchers clanked hard on battle armor and the leading men were sucked down into holes. I knew then how it had happened. Each company had been equipped with only one hydrophone, assigned to a non-com to lug around behind the captain. If those men had been leading the company and all been pulled down into these black holes, they could have been torn apart down there in the dark before they could engage their equipment. That’s why we hadn’t heard a call for support.

Lasers flashed. My headset was full of chatter. I moved to the nearest opening where a corpsman had been dragged down, flailing. I dove into the hole and Kwon followed. We quickly found a large chamber underneath.

It took three Macros to kill one of my men—at least three of this relatively weak variety. Two held him locked in their pinchers while the third used drilling equipment to burn through the armor. Using a laser drill that could melt rock, the burrower opened up the marine’s suit and once it lost its integrity it popped and the man was instantly killed by the intense pressure at this depth. We were about a mile deep, and the pressure here was over a hundred fifty times that felt while standing on the beach.

“Kill the drillers, kill the drillers! Relay that,” I shouted over my suit radio with the strongest possible signal.

Kwon’s twin beams were already blazing, striking the drilling Macro. I joined him.

“Use pulses!” I shouted. “No long burns, you’ll cloud up the water.”

Both of us fired in bursts, hammering at the driller. The two pincher-armed workers dropped the body of the marine they’d methodically killed and churned toward us. They crawled over the rocky interior of the chamber like steel lobsters.

We soon had disabled the drilling Macro. After that, there wasn’t much they could do to us. We kept wrestling and firing at point-blank range, until they sagged down in bubbling ruins.

Working together and targeting the drilling machines, my four companies made fast work of the entire nest. That could not be said of Bravo Company, who’d run into the nest alone and had been annihilated.

“Looks like Bravo Company gave them hell, at least,” Kwon said.

“Indeed they did,” I said, trying not to grind my teeth.

There had been only about fifty of the machines active when we arrived. I counted my marine dead. Besides the company they’d first ambushed, they’d only managed to kill five men. Still, that was a hundred and five, total.

I gathered my survivors and prepared to move out. This took longer than I was accustomed to, as commands had to be relayed and people took time to do headcounts. I wondered if we should have all gone down as a mass force. The Macros had to know we were down here by now.

I decided it was time to use the hydrophone. Possibly, other units had run into nests like this one. If they hadn’t, they needed to know about the possibility. We were looking for underwater Macro domes with factories inside, but as yet hadn’t found one.

Every battalion was under orders to report a dome the moment they located it. The plan at that point was simple: we’d mass our strength and take it out. Unfortunately, if none of us had yet found a dome to attack, the plan was a failure.

At my call, a corporal came to me with his com unit floating behind him. It was about the size of an ice chest and was tethered to his waist with a silver line of nanites.

“Now, sir?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Power this thing up and aim it at the closest gathering point.”

He worked the controls, tapping at metal nubs and scratching his armor over beads of metal that moved under his rough touch. In order to make sure the com unit was durable, I’d built the shell entirely of constructive nanites. My marines were clumsy in their suits, especially underwater. We tended to dent equipment, but these systems naturally smoothed themselves out. Smart-metal made an excellent material for infantry equipment.

“Battalion One calling Battalion Three,” I said. “Respond, please.”

I waited for a time and made the request once every thirty seconds. After three repeats, I began to worry slightly, but then a voice came back. It was tinny and difficult to hear using this system.

“…here…” my earpiece squawked, after a period of crackling static.

“Battalion Three,” I said, “calibrate your equipment, please.”

Silence for another half-minute, then finally: “Is that better, Colonel?”

“Much. Who am I talking to, please?”

“Captain Sloan, sir,” came the reply.

I smiled. He had been Warrant Officer Sloan, but after surviving two of my campaigns, I had decided to move him up. He’d shown more smarts than many of my Ivy League champions ever had.

“Sloan, good to hear your voice,” I said. I quickly described the enemy nest we’d tangled with. After ordering him to relay the warning, I asked him if he’d made contact with the enemy.

“Just one machine, sir. We figured it was a foraging scout. We took it out and haven’t seen any enemy response.”

“You probably won’t at this point of the invasion. The enemy is weak now, that’s why we are coming after him. Like ants, they’ll build workers first and—”

“Got it at the briefing, sir,” Sloan said. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve received a call from Battalion Six. Mind if I listen to them?”

“Go right ahead, they might have something interesting to report.”

I waited another minute or two. When Sloan came back, he sounded excited.

“They’ve got another entrance, sir. Just like the one you found, but larger. They are in action now.”

Entrance? I thought. It took about three seconds—sometimes I’m slow. “Captain Sloan, where does the entrance lead?”

“Unknown, sir. Battalion Six reports strong resistance at a cave entrance of some kind. Sounds like what you encountered.”

“Relay this news around the other battalions on the southern flank,” I said. “I want everyone to know what we’re facing. They are to relay back their status and try to maintain their position on the seafloor at their gathering points.”

“I’m on it sir,” Sloan said, “but it will take me a few minutes.”

“Roger that. We’ll do the same with the northern units. Riggs out.”

I handed the set over to the non-com who was dragging it and had him relay my messages. I felt uneasy. I didn’t like being down here at the bottom of the cold dark sea. I didn’t know what was happening to my men. We could be losing this battle, winning it, or perhaps idly standing around, mostly ignored by the Macros.

“Kwon!” I roared.

“Colonel!”

“Take a squad down and investigate the corners of these tunnels. Find out if they go deeper. Do not enter unexplored tunnels, just report back to me. You got that?”

“On it, sir,” Kwon said, bouncing away over the rocky bottom. He rounded up a team and headed down into the holes around us.

I rolled out a computer scroll—it was really like a tablet computer, but mounted on a plastic mat. It filled my faceplate with a blue-white glow. I flattened it on a boulder and looked over the scene. I was in Battalion One, in the center of the formation. There were ten battalions in all. Most of the others were off to the north and south, but several were directly ahead. They’d made the dive first, and had moved the farthest out into the underwater trench. If we were already in contact with the enemy at two points, there might be a pitched battle going in other spots. I now felt I’d screwed up in regards to the hydrophone equipment. One unit per company was not enough. If the unit was lost, the company would be out of contact for the duration. If the Macros caught on, they could target our hydrophones. We could then be divided and swallowed up one company at a time.

Taking a deep breath of stale air, I tried to think clearly. This place was oppressive—worse than space. The trouble was you couldn’t see anything around you. At least in space, there wasn’t much to obscure your view of the enemy. Out there, I’d always had a pretty good idea of what I was up against.

Kwon reported back several minutes later. “No tunnels sir. At least, we didn’t see any. I think they really were mining here.”

“Good going. Prepare the men to move out in three minutes. I’m not standing around here any longer than that.”

“Excellent, Colonel,” Kwon said.

I could tell he didn’t like this place anymore than I did and I’d made his day by giving the order to move out. Moments later, Captain Sloan finally got back to me. By that time, I was ready to demote him.

“Colonel?”

“Riggs here.”

“None of the other battalions have met the enemy, sir.”

I felt immediately relieved.

“But Battalion Ten,” he continued, “the one directly north of you, isn’t responding. No one has been able to get into contact with them.”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. Five companies lost? Or at least, unable to respond?

“Okay Sloan, your team and mine are the closest to Ten’s position. We’ll go investigate, double-time. I want all the other battalions to move to the large cave entrance Battalion Six located. We have a definite enemy contact there, and we have to keep the pressure up.”

Very soon I was gliding through the dark waters again, going deeper still into the ocean. Occasionally, there was a clicking sound in my suit and a fresh trickle of cold seawater ran down to wet my toes. The nanites worked hard to weld the microscopic hole shut again, and all was well. I wondered just how deep these suits could go—how much pressure from the billions of gallons of water above they could take. Would men begin popping like eggs at a given depth? I’d never had the time to test them under these conditions.

But most of all, as I slid through the burbling quiet, I thought about the Macro factories and their protective domes. I’d expected to encounter them by now. Where were they?