The Machine

PART IV: Loosing Ground

The noise was deafening as the helicopters flew overhead. Shortly before the ship they left the formation: two flew an arc, the third one flew at low altitude directly over Jax's head.

That was to be expected, he thought. He couldn't imagine that a ship like the one he was standing on could really go undetected. They must have seen it on the radar or the surveillance satellites had sounded an alarm. The ship was damaged and its camouflage malfunctioned. Now it seemed almost entirely out of order. Jax swung his arms over his head and waved stronly. Had they seen him? Maybe.

The helicopters flew a little further and finally landed in the distance where Jax suspected the road. A small and this time only slight shock from his collar drew his attention back. Jax looked down at his guard.

"Get your work done, dog!" the robot called up to him and he obeyed.

Again and again he had to get materials from the storage. Sheets of some light material, but according to the ship's instructions, they were able to close the holes in the hull securely by welding them with some kind of burner. The result was impressive and Jax couldn't help but be a little proud of it.

Whenever possible he looked up now and tried to see what was going on in the distance. He could now make out more vehicles, their dark colors contrasting with the lighter plants. And he saw that something was moving through corn. They came up to him. And they made good progress. His guard noticed that Jax's attention was more and more determined by what was happening in the field.

"Keep working, dog! This is no threat to us." it called to him.

Us? Who did the machine mean? Was that intimidation or did it expect Jax to be afraid of what was coming? Well, he actually was scared, but for a completely different reason. He remembered another warning from the machine:

Destroying me will kill you.

When Jax was about to put the last plate in place, the soldiers finally reached the ship. There were several groups that now gradually surrounded it in a semicircle. They didn't seem to be normal soldiers; judging by their appearance, they must have been some special unit, which was hardly surprising in view of their find. They all had their weapons ready.

"Hey! You up there! Put your hands up!" one of them yelled at Jax.

The majority of the soldiers had now pointed their weapons at him. Of course he obeyed, but another light push of his collar made him look at his guard again.

"You can finish your job, dog!" he explained, seeming to ignore the danger around them.

That seemed to confuse the soldiers a bit. Some of them in turn now targeted the robot.

Jax didn't know what to do. Slowly he lowered his arms.

"Keep your arms up!" shouted the same man as just now, evidently their leader.

The robot answered, but only addressed to Jax:

"You are safe, dog. Go on with your work!"

How in the world could he be safe? Jax wondered. At any moment he could be hit by a bullet from one of the machine guns. The tension was unbearable, he could literally taste it. As if to underline the command of the machine, his collar sent another, this time noticeable stronger impulse. Not bad, but strong enough.

Fuck! OK, then it should be like that, he thought and took his arms down completely. He heard several shots go off and closed his eyes. That's it then.

To his amazement he found that he felt just nothing: no pain, no injury. Slowly he opened his eyes again. The soldiers now seemed to be in a state of excitement. No more shots were fired because a force field had formed around the entire ship. That surely had saved his life.

Now it was the robot to responded. With a few quick steps he moved towards the leader, so that almost all soldiers now had to aim at him. The machine stopped just in front of the man, leaving only the force field between the two. The man raised an arm and used it to hold his people back.

"Your weapons are ineffective. If you attack us, we will defend ourselves." said the machine in a voice that reached up to Jax and made his blood run cold. The machine sounded angry. The tone of voice was unmistakable.

The leader seemed to be evaluating the situation, then he made another gesture with his hand and the soldiers backed away into the protection of the plants.

Impressed and shocked, Jax sank back to his knees and continued his work.

Although his hands were shaking, he managed to weld the last plate. It didn't take long anymore. The seam was less clean than the previous ones, but it seemed to work for the ship. The hologram disappeared, signaling Jax that he was done. Reluctantly he got up, went to the edge and carefully climbed down. Once at the bottom he stopped, unsure what to do now. A few steps away from him he recognized the dark shapes between the corn plants. Oh, there was no doubt that they were watching him closely. Only the force field, barely visible in the blazing sun, protected him. At that moment he was grateful for this protection, because... how could he explain? And beyond that, how could they help him with his situation? He had no idea.

"Come on, dog!" his guard called him and Jax slowly walked back to the front. The robot was still standing there, but had turned back to the ship. Jax was in no hurry. He tried to think, but was having a hard time again. He wished he could just pause time and sort out his options when a high humming sound interrupted his thoughts. The force field seemed to be changing.

From that moment on everything happened very quickly. First the field deformed, then it completely dissolved.

Fuck! What now? He heard the soldiers yelling. At the same moment the machine started moving and ran towards Jax.

It got loud. Something hit his leg and the pain shot through his body. Jax fell back and landed hard on the ramp to the entrance gate. The machine reached him, jumped into the line of fire in one go, and put up parts of its armor. Adrenaline made Jax forget the pain the bullet in his leg caused. He heard rifle volleys hit the machine and saw it twitching under the impacts. It obviously took a while until it could deploy its own force field. Was it damaged too? That would have been very bad!

Something flew towards them in a high arc and landed right next to Jax. He acted instinctively.

"Guard! Duck!" he shouted, hoping that his guard would listen. And indeed... it did. Jax didn't hesitate, grabbed the thing next to him and hurled it away with his last strength. The grenade exploded while still in the air and the shock wave hit him in the face like a hot fist. The robot absorbed most if it and bullets continued to thunder at its shields.

Then finally it had built up its force field. Not a moment too early, because the next grenade was already approaching. This time it bounced off. The explosion hurled sand up to the gate. The machine folded its armor and picked up Jax. Then it made two leaps forward and they were back inside the ship. The rifle volleys were now focused on the entrance. Bullets shot into it, deflected off the walls, and flew in all directions. When the gate closed at last the inferno stoped.

To his own surprise, Jax felt relieved.

"We have to leave, dog!" the robot explained without dropping Jax down. Instead, he carried him to the center of the corridor and another door opened. Beyond there was the bridge. A narrow row of windows took up the entire front. Here, too, sunlight penetrated and cast long streaks through the dusty air. The place was of course as abandoned as the rest of the ship.

"Dog is hurt." the robot noted and the pain in the leg prevented Jax from a sarcastic comment.

"You are in pain, dog." added the robot and carefully placed Jax on the floor at one side of the room. Then it opened a flap in the wall and took out a small suitcase. The machine held it out to Jax and he took it.

How had his guard just addressed him? That was weird!

"Open it, dog!" ordered the machine in its usual tone and Jax did as he was told. It was a first aid kit or something. Inside were bandages, vials and more he wasn't able to identify. The robot pointed to an ampoule with red and yellow markings and to a device into which this ampoule had to be clamped. Then it meant Jax to press that thing at his arm and Jax understood.

The pin prick was short and almost painless. Jax waited eagerly while the substance was rushing through his body. It took a few moment for the effect to kick in. Then his eyes went wide. The pain was instantly gone. The panic was gone. The fear was gone. He was doing brilliantly!

"We have to leave this place, dog!" the robot repeated emphatically and pointed to the middle of the room. There was some sort of seat, apparently for the pilot, but nothing more! No consoles, no instruments, just one seat.

"You have to go there, dog!"

You?! The robot helped him to his feet and he hobbled over to that stange looking seat. He had never seen one like this before. The shape alone! From the front it looked more like a cocoon in which another person had left a very plastic impression of himself. Apparently he could sink into it completely and then he would be completely surrounded by this thing. The inside was covered with shiny, black padding that looked like rubber.

"We have to take off now, dog!" the robot insisted urgently and as if the outside world wanted to support that, a strong explosion caused the floor to shake. Jax glanced outside and saw that the helicopters were up in the air again. Apparently the soldiers had withdrawn. And new black dots appeared on the horizon. The machine was right. Now and here it was absolutely right.

Jax threw himself into the seat. To his astonishment, it felt like made only for him. The outer shell began to move around him. The sides closed a little to hold him tight. There were anatomically shaped handles for his hands. He wrapped his fingers around them so that his hands became fists. Then they sank into the armrests together with his arms. It was like the ship was literally eating him up. It was grabbing him and holding him tight.

And Jax grinned.

"No seat belt?" he smirked to the robot, who had now stepped up next to him.

"No, dog!" he replied laconically.

It was definitely the pain reliever. That stuff was better than anything he's ever had before. He felt awake and powerful. Now he was completely fixed in his seat and it didn't bother him a bit.

Suddenly he felt something on the back of his head and soon it was burning like fire. Well, actually it didn't hurt at all, but Jax knew it should. Since he couldn't move, his only option was to ask his guard:

"What's happening here?"

It glanced at him and explained:

"Ship will connect, dog."

Jax got big eyes. It will ... what ?!

It was definitely time to panic. But as hard as he tried, none did arise inside him. The burning turned into a throbbing that he soon paid no more attention to. Another shock wave shook the ship. A missile hit the bow and the explosion deformed the shell. Jax saw the trajectory. It had come from one of the helicopters. From the left one. He zoomed in and now he was able to see cockpit and pilots. The right helicopter fired, two missiles this time. They took an oval trajectory and hit the side shields. Jax had been able to raise the shields again just moment before the impact but still felt the jolt in his stomach. The shield buffers absorbed a large part of the energy, but more than half of them were out of order anyway and the rest would soon be full.

Jax knew all that because the connection had been established. It wasn't that he saw anything else. His gaze was still fixed on the thick glass in front and the sky behind. But at the same time he was elsewhere. He was all over.

He was the ship.

And apparently the ship needed a pilot. It took him completely. What an irony, he thought. If this was how imprisonment felt, then he didn't need to worry. Quite the reverse actually! That was exciting.

"Hot!" he said more to himself.

"Yes" the robot confirmed.

"Dog" Jax added jokingly.

"Yes, dog." repeated the machine.

Jax brought the fusion chamber to operating temperature and preheated the rear engines. He switched off the artificial gravity. They wouldn't need it for the time being as he was completely fixed and the robot would help itself. A low rumble went through the ship and through him as the engines fired. The surrounding plants immediately turned to ashes and the ring of fire spread into the field. Another jolt shook him when the hull detached from the ground. And right again when another missile struck. If the shields failed, they were done, Jax thought. He fueled the merger, pushing the energy distribution system to the limit.

Steering was of course a completely different topic. Yes he was the ship now, but that didn't automatically mean he had a feel for flying. Obviously he wasn't a good pilot but to his luck the ship helped him and stabilized the trajectory after each maneuver. He slowly gained altitude. Once they reached the stratosphere, he could use the quantum core without endangering himself or the planet below. Then they would be safe!

Something on the edge of his scanning radius required Jax's attention. Two more missiles flew in his direction at high speed. He interpolated their trajectory and knew it wouldn't take long till they reached the ship. These two were of a completely different caliber. If the shields would have been in good condition then... yes... maybe. But they weren't and that was a problem. A big one! Jax increased the angle of ascent so that they were now steeply racing up into the sky, and he increased the output to the maximum limit. They already had left the last clouds behind them. So close! The ship was vibrating. Jax felt the hull comming under pressure. Lines burst, subsystems failed, but nothing vital. Good!

The first missile had almost reached them. The impact was imminent and it would be devastating. Where the hell was the defense the robot had spoken of? In any case, the guns on board had no ammunition!

The machine had lied.

"Oh fuck it!"

The quantum core ignited and in the exact same moment everything tore into white nothing.