Legacy

18

“Look, all we have to do is get these vehicles into the sunlight,” Sarah said as they examined the large solar panels on the tops of all the vehicles. “These damn things look like they’ll run almost immediately without a charge once the light hits them.”

Kwan was looking at the large roll-up gate that separated the storage area from the outside environment. He shook his head inside his helmet as he turned to face the others.

“That is just one of the problems facing us, Lieutenant. I fear once this gate is open we’ll be faced with the task of getting at least two of these vehicles up the slope of the crater-an impossible task for so few men without tackle and block.”

Sarah slammed her hand down on the smaller of the vehicles. “We’re not getting any breaks here,” she said.

“I see no point in arguing,” Mendenhall said, looking for a release point on the large steel gate. “We have to use this gate for our escape, anyway. Let’s get it open and make a run for it. I’d rather die out there than be caught in here like rats.”

“Will’s right. Let’s get out of here,” Sarah said as she looked at her oxygen readout. “We’re all running low on O.”

Several of the men followed Mendenhall’s lead and started searching. They soon found the simple magnetic lock attached to a large handle that would free the gate. Will pulled the lever down and soon the bottom came loose from the lining of the ancient frame. As six men lifted the gate, they half expected a ton of Moon dust to avalanche inside, but instead they found themselves looking into a large black area. Will allowed his helmet light to penetrate the darkness beyond.

“We have a tunnel,” he called out.

Sarah looked down the long, upward-sloping shaft. The roadway was lined with what looked like aluminum plating. It was then that the idea struck her.

“Of course. The visitors wouldn’t have had a road that led up and out of the crater. They would have built a road that angled out far beyond. There must be a door at the other end of this.”

Kwan stepped forward and saw immediately what Sarah was talking about. A plan began forming in his head.

“Yes, I see your point. We need at least two of the lighter vehicles, because we can’t push anything heavier. We can crowd onto them once we’ve pushed them out of the opening. If there is a gate at the far end, we will have a fighting chance-one vehicle aimed for the Magnificent Dragon, the other for Altair.”

“It’s worth a try,” Mendenhall said, and he and the others raced around to free the chains holding two of the smaller electric vehicles in place.

The sound of the robots’ destructive approach was getting terrifyingly louder. Sarah stepped to the large doorway and looked back up the way they had come. She saw the giant arms of the mechanicians as they pivoted like buzz saws, tearing away the composite material that made up the base. They were only fifty feet away. She turned and ran back inside to assist the remaining twelve men as they started pushing the vehicles free of what had been their home for the past 700 million years.

As they rolled the vehicles out and into the tunnel, they saw the ceiling rip away and sunlight fill the underground chamber. While pushing, they saw the shadow of the first robot swipe at the retreating men. The three-fingered hand missed the last car and slammed into an acetylene-type torch system, knocking it free of its restraining chain. The first robot stepped near it and planted its feet in an attempt to slam its massive hand into the last car, which had caught its wheels on the jamb of the large door that had been used as an environment shield. Sarah, at the rear end of the car, saw something that made her want to shout. Far above the two robots was a figure aiming a weapon down into the subbasement of the bunker. She saw the American space suit and knew immediately who it was and just what he was aiming the kinetic weapon at.

As she pushed the other away from the back of the vehicle, Jason Ryan fired his rifle. The bolt struck the first of the acetylene tanks and passed through it into the second tank. The resulting explosion knocked the vehicle free of the jamb and sent it careening down the tunnel. The robot nearest to the detonation was taken out at the legs. Pieces of the steel-encased leg and wiring from within went flying. One chunk hit Sarah directly in the visor and she saw the spiderweb crack as it raced across the glass. She closed her eyes in anticipation of a horrible death. But instead the crack halted just as someone was pulling her to her feet. As she fought to look back she saw Ryan disappear. The second mechanical giant stepped over the remains of the first and started tearing furiously at the ceiling of the vehicle garage.

“If I didn’t know better, I would say that thing was pissed off,” Mendenhall said as he pulled Sarah to the vehicle that had come to rest against the far wall after the explosion. “Who saved our asses?”

“Jason,” she said as she struggled to hit her COM link.

“Jason, we’ll meet you at Altair, do you copy?” She screamed even though she didn’t need to.

Mendenhall didn’t give her time to try again. He placed her where she needed to be and turned the large toggle lever that straightened out the vehicle’s large wheels. Then he waved to tell the six men and Sarah that they should start pushing. Soon they had the vehicle moving at a pretty good clip.

The tearing noises filtered through their speaker systems as the second robot continued its frenzied search far in back of them. Soon they saw light up ahead as the end of the long tunnel came closer. They saw Kwan and his men as they pushed the far outer door open. Then they pushed the first vehicle out into the open sunlight. Sarah and the others maneuvered the vehicle into a spot right beside the first. The men immediately collapsed as the car came to rest.

“It… would… have… been nice… if we… could have… just popped… the clutch,” Sarah said, trying to catch her breath.

“Uh-oh,” one of the ESA astronauts said. Everyone turned toward the spot where he was looking. They saw the small Beatle John. Right beside it a giant hand had reached out of the crater and taken hold of the rim. The robot started to pull its massive chromed body free of the interior. Once it gained a foothold, it looked around as though gathering its bearings. Then, as its horrid red eyes turned their way, the head locked into position. It began coming toward them at a determined gait.

“I think it’s really pissed,” Will said, as he jumped into the driver’s seat and looked at the gauges. Every one of them appeared to be flatlined at zero. Either that or their screens were blank. “We have a problem here,” he said.

Sarah looked into the interior. The charging footsteps of the robot could be felt through the soles of their boots.

“Is there a key?” she asked. She made sure the solar panels were deployed at the correct angle toward the distant sun.

As Mendenhall shook his head at the dumb question, he saw the key placed on the side of the steering toggle. Mendenhall turned it. The panel in front of him came to life. Several of the gauges flew over into the green as the sun’s merciful rays hit the solar panels and generated the energy the car needed.

“Everyone in. I think this thing may work,” Will said loudly as he looked around wildly for the charging robot.

Just as Sarah was about to climb inside the crowded car, she saw the large piece of mineral on the lunar surface. For no reason she could think of, she reached down and picked it up, and then she piled into the front seat.

“Anytime,” she said to Mendenhall.

Will pushed the steering toggle forward, hoping beyond hope that it also served as a throttle. His short prayer was answered as the machine shot forward. Soon they had caught up with Kwan and his men as they raced across the lunar landscape.

“Oh, shit,” Sarah said, as she turned and saw how close the robot was. It had covered a half a mile in as little as the time it took to get the car moving and had nearly caught up with Kwan. The robot covered the last ten feet by diving forward in an attempt to catch the vehicle. The men on the back hugged the metal frame of the car as the three fingers of the giant missed them by inches. The mechanical giant hit the lunar surface and rolled as its momentum carried it over and over across the pitted world.

“What was that?” Will asked as the vehicle jumped a foot from the impact.

“You don’t want to know,” Sarah said, gripping the rock.

“Hey, what do you have that for?” Mendenhall asked. His eyes locked momentarily on the meteorite that she clutched in her gloved hands.

Sarah didn’t answer. Instead, she pointed to the left of the racing vehicle.

“Crap, look!” she said.

On the far left, about three hundred yards away, they saw Jason Ryan as he tried his best to negotiate the light gravity of the Moon. He was bouncing as he tried to hurry back to Altair.

Mendenhall went off course just as the struggling robot gained its feet. The giant head swiveled and it caught sight of its target. Then it saw the man the target was racing for. It started running toward a rendezvous with both. Just as the vehicle approached, Jason saw the robot charging. He leaped into the air and prayed that he had timed his jump well. As the car approached, Sarah stood up, dropping the mineral into the floor of the vehicle. She reached out and Jason actually bounced off the steel hood of the car. He then bounded and almost flew past Sarah’s outstretched hand as well as the other reaching arms of the men who tried desperately to secure him. Finally Jason snagged on to the large roll bar and fell into the back of the vehicle. He struggled to sit up in the bulky suit.

“Holy bouncing ball, Batman,” he said as he slapped Will on his oxygen pack.

“I hope you can lift off at a moment’s notice, because in case you haven’t noticed we have the landlord of this place right on our ass.”

Jason turned and looked at the robot, which had switched course and was again trailing them at a fantastic speed.

Sarah leaned forward and caught sight of the first vehicle with General Kwan and the remnants of the Chinese Special Forces team. They also had three of the ESA men aboard. They had actually slowed so they could turn in case the worst happened when the mechanized killer made its leap. Now they were off and running again. That was when Sarah realized that the game would be played in their court. The general and his team would make it to Magnificent Dragon and word would reach home that the only thing they found that may help their future cause was buried outside the crater, not inside.

“Okay, Will, everything depends on you,” she said through her COM system. “Jason, how badly will an immediate liftoff screw up the rendezvous with Falcon?”

“We can adjust for that once we’re up. It may take a while but we’ll manage. The Chinese may have it worse since their command vehicle just passes overhead. Falcon is due in forty minutes. We may just make it.”

The lunar rover shot over a small rise and that was when they saw the tall structure that was Altair. The ladder looked inviting, but Sarah knew they couldn’t even approach it until they lost the murderous automaton pursuing them.

“We need a plan,” she said as Will swerved the vehicle around a small crater. “We know we can’t shoot it out with this thing, so as soon as we dip down into the lowland in front of Altair, you have to get out and make a run for it. I’ll lead the damn thing off and then join you after I trip him up somehow.”

“Oh, that ain’t happening, buddy boy. There’s no way I’m jumping ship when you try this stupid plan,” Ryan said as he saw that the robot had gained on them.

“Look, you most of all have to get inside Altair and fire that thing up. Don’t wait for me. I’ll make it,” Mendenhall countered, looking at the grated floor of the lunar rover. The meteorite was still there next to Sarah’s booted feet. He swallowed and looked at Sarah. She saw the look on his face and turned away.

Will cut the control toggle sharply and the vehicle turned to the left, leading away from the lander. When the robot changed direction to follow, he again tilted the toggle to the right. The vehicle responded. Then he steered for the crater closest to the lander. He made it to the far side and stopped.

“Everyone out!” he said, as the men hanging on to the back jumped free.

“No, you can’t beat this thing!” Ryan said, tightly clutching the roll bar.

“Get out, Jason. That’s an order.” Sarah turned to face Will. She ripped at a large, bloated patch at her shoulder and tore it free of her environment suit. As she did, small droplets of water were freed and fell gently to her lap. As Ryan jumped free of the vehicle with a loud curse, he was grabbed by the four others and hustled away, though he still strained to look back at Mendenhall.

“I saw your interest in the meteorite. Use this and the O transfer tube from your backpack. That will give you the reaction I think you’re looking for.”

Mendenhall reached out and took the water pack. Then he looked at Sarah, who couldn’t wipe away the tear that was rolling down her cheek.

“Take care of that Navy guy. He’s a real dick when it comes to blaming someone when the right result isn’t achieved.”

“I will,” she said, taking his gloved hand into her own smaller ones.

“Tell the colonel that I said this was his final test. Ask him if I passed. If not, tell him I think he needs to relax a little on the grades.”

Sarah just nodded as she stepped from the vehicle. She reached in and took the small meteorite, tossing it to Mendenhall.

“See ya, Will,” she said with a choked voice.

“Not if I see you first.”

Sarah stepped back as Will Mendenhall shot out from behind the crater. He sped to the right when he saw how close the robot was.

Sarah watched for a split second and then started bounding for Altair fifty yards away.

Will came close to panicking when he saw that the robot didn’t change course. It went after the men on foot instead of turning and following the vehicle. He turned the rover sharply to the left, bringing it up on two wheels and nearly tipping it over. The vehicle shot forward as soon as the tires gripped the dust. He steered straight for the robot, which had targeted as its first victim the bouncing Sarah as she made her way toward the rest of the men. It took a few seconds for the alien rover to cover the distance. Will braced himself as the front end of the vehicle slammed into the giant’s foot. The robot stumbled, fell to one side, and rolled. Mendenhall bounced over one of its legs and felt a serious blow to the chassis of the solar-powered car. He could feel a harsh grinding through the seat as he pushed the rover to the right. He chanced a look back and saw the robot rise its feet with a look at Altair and the men climbing its ladder. It was as if the robot were memorizing its location. Then it turned and sprinted toward the slowly retreating Will and the damaged lunar rover.

“Well, this was a good idea,” Will muttered, as he reached behind himself and pulled free the line for transferring emergency O from one tank to another. Then he gripped the meteorite and the water bag. He started to knead the plastic-lined nylon. The water inside felt a bit slushy from the zero-degree temperature. He placed the meteorite on the passenger’s seat and tore open the water bag, and then tugged on the stitch-covered air hose. Just as he poured the water onto the rock, the robot slammed its large fist down and into the back of the rover.

Sarah was the last through the air lock. She closed and secured the hatch and was rewarded with a green light and the sight of the others getting into their seats. Ryan disappeared up the ladder to the command deck. Sarah passed the other men as they silently strapped themselves in. She then climbed the ladder and poked her head into the command deck. Ryan was prepping Altair for the launch sequence that would send them back into space.

“Jason?”

“Stay with the others, Lieutenant. I don’t need you here.”

Sarah closed her eyes at Ryan’s hurtful words. She moved slowly down the ladder and to her chair. Without being aware of what she was doing, she reached out and strapped herself in. All the while she couldn’t hold her grief as she looked from face to face of the men that Will Mendenhall had saved.

Will felt the rover flip upward. He didn’t realize at first what had happened. He knew he was airborne for the briefest of moments before the rover came crashing back to the lunar surface. He was upside down and felt like his back had been busted in two. Then he started to feel his legs and arms and knew that he wasn’t dead yet. He did, however, see the killer machine standing over the smashed rover, as if examining its downed prey.

“Yeah, keep looking, asshole,” Will said as he found the oxygen line and pulled on it just as the robot spotted him in the upside-down wreckage. It had just started to reach for him when Mendenhall applied the O to the wet meteorite. He dropped the rock and tried to scramble out into the open. As he fell to the rover’s ceiling, he momentarily wedged himself in tight between the two front seats.

“Shit,” he cursed. He felt the shaking of the vehicle as the giant reached for him. As the three fingers closed around his right leg, the robot’s attention was snatched away by a bright, momentary flash that filled the airless void. Will closed his eyes as he realized that his plan had worked. His friends were free from this nightmare world. As the robot watched, the two upper decks of Altair separated from the first and shot upward like a bullet in a soundless chamber. Will saw a brief image of metal skin as Ryan blasted Altair free of the Moon’s hold on it.

As he watched Altair rise into the black sky, he realized his leg wasn’t being held by the robot. He chanced a quick look to his right and saw that the meteorite was starting to glow a silverish color. He thought about lying there and going up with the chain reaction, but decided that he would rather find some other horrible way to die. Mendenhall began to crawl as fast as he could. He made it clear of the wreckage and turned over onto his back just as the giant metal beast lifted the rover from the lunar surface. Mendenhall could see the chain reaction beginning as the mineral continued to grow hotter.

“Jesus,” he said, and turned over onto his stomach and found himself on the rim of Shackleton’s sister crater, Andromeda. He looked over the edge of the deep hole in the ground and made his decision-the robot could die alone.

The beast saw Will stand up. It lowered the damaged rover and as it did, the small meteorite fell free of the vehicle and landed in the lunar dust at its feet. Mendenhall saw the small flamelike glow and made the leap outward into space. Very soon the limited gravity grabbed hold and he started heading down. Almost at the halfway point in his descent the chain reaction reached its critical stage. The explosion from high above pushed Will with dramatic force toward the opposite wall of the crater. He hit with such force that he felt his right leg snap in two. He screamed and then he landed, sliding down the crater wall. When his slide toward the bottom stopped, he opened his eyes and looked at the star field above him. He was glad he had saved the Altair, and Jason and Sarah. He knew that they would never be able to speak of Will Mendenhall again without choking up.

Will smiled through the pain of his broken leg.

“Yes,” he said aloud as he lay on the side of Andromeda.

He would like that very much.

Hugh Evans was once more sitting with his red eyes glued to the main viewing screen. It had been an hour since the remote telemetry team had ordered John away from the crater after six separate observatories around the world saw one large blast on the surface of the Moon preceded by two smaller ones. He feared the worst as John the Beatle moved northwest from Shackleton in an attempt to verify if Altair ’s landing site was still there, or if had lifted off as they hoped. What worried them at NASA far more than anything was the newly formed crater that John had had to bypass as it struggled to reach the landing site. They surmised that there had been another large detonation on the surface not a hundred yards from where Altair once sat.

As Evans watched he must have missed something, because the others in mission control gave out a collective cheer as the view of the landing area came into focus in John ’s camera eye. There, turned over and crushed on one side, were the four landing struts of Altair. They were sticking up at an angle. Hugh wanted to ask them what they were cheering about when he finally saw. The command and crew decks of Altair were gone. They hadn’t been there when the landing package had been knocked over by the huge explosion.

“Long-range radar, I want a tight scan of anything in orbit around the Moon. Get me evidence that Altair and Magnificent Dragon are both in the sky.”

Mission control jumped back into action. John was turned around to study the effects of the explosion. The Beatle came close to the rim of Andromeda as it made a wide turn. That was when someone on the floor shouted.

Evans looked up and saw what the camera had picked up.

“REMCON, stop John!”

The remote kept traveling and it took two minutes for the rover to make it back to where it was due to the time delay. By that time they were all standing, as a full-view shot of a space suit came into view. As they watched the main view screen, the man inside that suit rolled over. He saw John looking at him and waved his hand, and then lay down again.

“My God, someone was stranded on the Moon,” a tech said.

Hugh Evans slammed his pencil onto his console.

“That man is alive and we’re going to keep him that way until we know for sure if he’s stranded.”

“The only hope we have is to get him air, and hope the Russians make a successful landing,” CAPCOM said from below.

“Yeah, we need that, and we also need the luck that we haven’t had for the past two weeks! Now let’s start with problem one, how to get John to give this man some oxygen.”

On the main view screen, little John the Beatle turned away and started its own rescue operation.

Hugh Evans was damned he was going to lose one more man on this godforsaken mission.

The turmoil was just settling down.

The American aircraft had requested permission to land three hours before.

The blue-on-blue aircraft.

The president of Ecuador had raced from his home and the armed forces were placed on alert, watching the aircraft as the last of the surviving German and Polish commandos, the Australian, Japanese, New Zealand, and Vietnamese embassy guards, were escorted by the American Secret Service agents on board. The only surviving member of the Vietnamese soldiers refused to give up an old and battered M-14. With the intervention of Captain Everett and a few very angry soldiers, it was decided that the man known as Tram could board the aircraft as long as he carried no ammunition with him. After all, they were boarding the most secure aircraft in the world-Air Force One.

The president personally greeted each soldier as they settled into the comfortable seats. They were given appetizers and for the first time in forty-eight hours the soldiers had no fear of being shot at or terrorized by machines that were supposed to have stopped operating more than 700 million years before.

The president finally made it to the forward portion of Air Force One. He saw the man he was looking for as he sipped on a bottle of water outside the main conference room, where a makeshift medical clinic had been set up. The Air Force had wanted a C-130 Hercules to bring the troops back to American soil, but the president wasn’t about to be denied the chance to thank every man individually for his sacrifice before their governments snatched them away for debriefing. Niles Compton saw his old friend and nodded.

“Good to see you, baldy,” the president said, and took both of Niles’s hands into his own, spilling the water he was holding as he shook hands vigorously.

“You too.”

“How’s Jack?”

“It was touch-and-go for a while, but it looks better than it did. I think he’s going to ask for a raise after this.”

The president nodded and gestured toward the conference room. On the way he shook hands with Pete Golding, who never wanted to venture outside the Event Group complex again. Then he shook hands with Appleby and Dubois, and then finally with Charlie Ellenshaw. He thanked them all and followed Niles into the conference room.

Colonel Jack Collins was sitting up on the bed with several other wounded men around him. The most severely wounded had been taken to four hospitals in the Quito area with a guarantee of protection from the Ecuadorian government. Collins was arguing with Everett and Sebastian about something and they were having a hard time helping the doctor keep Jack on the gurney. They all stopped when the president stepped inside. Jack could see that the man was still shaken from his brush with death aboard Marine One. He was white and his hands were still bandaged.

“What’s this all about?” the president asked, standing in the doorway. Then he reached out and took Everett’s hand. “It’s good to see you made it, Captain.”

“Mr. President,” Carl said. Then he stepped aside and introduced Sebastian Krell.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Major,” the president said as he shook the German commando’s hand. “I understand you think these two are a bad influence on you and your men.”

“They are, sir,” Sebastian said, shooting a glance at Collins.

“I think your own chancellor wants a few words with you. Something about a promotion, I believe-probably for breaking people out of jails.”

Sebastian smiled and stepped back.

“Colonel Collins, I take it you don’t like my aircraft,” the president said as he held out his hand. He saw the still bleeding bandage Jack was sporting after the surgeon had removed the bullet and part of his fourth rib. He had a liter of blood dripping from an IV.

“No, sir,” Jack said, taking the president’s hand and shaking it weakly. “It’s just that I don’t like to be told I can’t do something I’m capable of doing.”

“And that is?”

“I want to see Alice and the senator.”

The president released Jack’s hand and looked from the colonel to Niles. The sound of Air Force One spooling up its engines reverberated throughout the aircraft.

“Then you’d better hurry. The pilots are particular when it comes to people fastening their seat belts around here. Captain Everett, Niles, assist the colonel to his feet and show him into the bedroom, please.”

Jack saw the look the president gave Niles. He turned away as Everett helped Jack off the gurney. It was a short walk across the hall to the presidential sleeping quarters. Niles reached out and tapped lightly on the door. Alice told them to come inside.

When the door opened, Jack saw the senator stretched out on the large bed. Alice was sitting beside him with her feet tucked under her legs. She had a hand on Lee’s and she smiled when she looked up and saw Collins.

“Thank God you made it, Jack,” she said.

Jack cleared his throat as he looked from Alice to the senator.

“How’s he doing?” he finally managed.

Alice reached over and brushed some of Lee’s silver hair off his forehead.

“He died twenty minutes ago, Jack. Niles and I were with him.”

Collins felt his heart fall for the woman he was now looking at.

“I… I…”

Alice stood and walked over to Collins. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

“He said to tell you and Mr. Everett, and that little girl Sarah, that he said good-bye.”

Jack lowered his head and Everett closed his eyes. Niles turned and opened the door with tears in his eyes and allowed Jack and Carl to leave. He looked at Alice and she shook her head.

“Now, you know that kind of display would only get you yelled at,” she said as she wiped a tear from Niles face.

“Yes, it would. But not anymore.” Niles turned and left the presidential bedroom.

Air Force One started rolling soon after, taking the body of Senator Garrison Lee home for the last time.