--Teen getting off the bus right behind the Samurai Sonny in full, neon-colored gear.
***
After double-checking with Tara, I sent him the pin. “Go ahead. It’s in the company feed, so it should be in CILS already. I have her working on a closer flyby.”
He flickered his fingers for a few minutes as he stared into the middle distance. “Okay, I made sure others know about it. I don’t know what to make of that, but the position is odd for antithesis. They have to be aware of the main army camping just south of the gap. If anything, I’d expect them to be moving into the gap or up the southern hills to flank it.”
“Yeah. It’s almost as if…” I broke off a second in thought. “Look, if that was a human force, what would you expect to find from opponents at that spot?”
“Artillery. Maybe mortars.” He answered without any hesitation. “Something shorter ranged but high angled to hit the backside of the gap’s hills. But that’s ridiculous. The only ranged attacks we’ve ever seen from antithesis are the Fives and the Fifteens, and both of those shoot direct fire in line of sight. How would they coordinate the fire?”
“Maybe they don’t and just saturate the area? It’s not like they would care about hitting their own.”
--A Seventeen could set up a connection thread that long in a couple hours.
“Or they could be using a Seventeen for range and aiming,” I shared.
“We’ve never seen any signs of ranged attacks reaching that far in the past. They always send in the flying models if it’s out of sight. Or run up to it. That’s why we didn’t worry about leaving our artillery behind today.” Carlson started to sound belligerent.
I shrugged in the darkness. “We’ve seen variants crop up from our own planet. What if they crossed the Fifteen with a grasshopper and used its tension-spring legs for the launcher? Or maybe there’s been some other aliens they have fought where they had to use longer ranges. Dismissing a possibility because we’ve never seen it before means you’ll only prepare to fight the last battle, not the next one.
“To get ahead of the antithesis, we have to anticipate them. To think ahead and prepare for the next one, and that includes being aware that one effective new variant is all it will take to tip what little balance we have and send us careening into the abyss.” I took a deep breath, realizing I had climbed up on my father’s favorite soapbox. “Regardless, we need to know what these are up to.”
“I don’t have any specific orders yet, but I expect they will be to find a place to rest for the night. Chasing after wild hares, especially that far away, is beyond what I can do. Nor would it be good for troops already tired from a long day’s march and a battle. And we have those wounded too.”
I nodded, thankful that the only wounded were from when some M-4s had scaled the cliff and surprised them. “You have leeway to find your campsite, though, right? I suggest you go back down the road a few kilometers west.”
“Why?”
“You took out the bridge here, and the next one upstream is a fifteen-kilometer drive to the east in Bunker-Milburn. Wouldn’t the commander appreciate your defending the nearest one back at Chandler Road in case she needs to cross the river and head north or west?”
The captain checked his augs. “And it puts us in striking range for the battle tomorrow. And maybe even in range to evac out the wounded.”
“I bet she’ll love having the option of you attacking on the flank.” Subvocally, I asked Kaitlyn to do a call-out.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“You? You’re not coming with us? Where will you be?”
“I’m going to see if I can hitch a ride and go see what’s going on up there.” I took another bite of spaghetti and savored the warmth and rich flavor.
[“You just set off a bidding war,”] Kaitlyn replied to my request. [“I have at least six different people arguing over the privilege of giving you a ride.”]
Carlson looked back and forth along the highway, which had not seen a single vehicle in hours. “On what?”
“On social wings.” I said, then subvocally added in the conference, [“Make sure they understand that this might be dangerous, and I can’t guarantee they’ll be safe.”]
[“That dropped two of them out of the bidding. The rest are asking about how soon you want it?”]
[“Are you sure you are up for this?”] Ginny asked. [“Just a couple hours ago you were so tired you could barely stand.”]
[“That’s why I’m asking for a ride so I can rest while traveling. Most of my exhaustion came from the pace we set. I didn’t need to move much during the battle, and I’ve eaten since then. Kaitlyn, speed itself is not an issue, but how long it takes to get there is. I don’t want to be sitting around for twenty minutes just to shave five off the travel time.”]
[“Closest ride is the winner, and it should be at the bridge you knocked down in fifteen minutes. She says, and I quote, ‘It won’t be quick, but it will be sure to get you there. You’ll have to cross the river yourself,’ unquote.”] Kaitlyn’s tone wavered with doubt, as if questioning the wisdom of my anonymous benefactor.
I returned to the quarry and stopped at the edge of the battlefield. The enzyme had formed a knee-high fog, half burying most of the bodies. It glowed an eerie purple-blue in the darkness—a shade I had come to realize was in the ultraviolet.
--You’ll be fine as long as you don’t linger. Long-term exposure will cause some damage to your armor.
--No. The armor will repair any damage given enough time, whether it’s from the enzyme or a gash to the leg. But if you, say, had to do a standing fight against fifty Model Fours in a room filled with the enzyme while balancing over a vat of boiling pitch, the armor would become more brittle the longer you are in it.
--The short-term effect on live antithesis is minor; they won’t avoid it at first. In the end, they would be driven out, but that would take several minutes. Now that you have the Biochemical Warfare catalog, I can give you a smoke cloud they won’t enter.
I waded through the fog and used a fallen body or two to cross the river, then sat down on a tree to wait.
Soon I heard a large engine to the east, and an imposingly high and numerous set of lights came around the corner. The vehicle approached, moving slower than a light jog, until the massive farm combine pulled up and stopped in the middle of the road. Squinting through the lights, I could make out the large body and hopper, but neither the windowed cab nor the pointy bar that was usually across the front. Its paint was faded, and some panels were dented and torn. Several of the cameras, mounted at all angles for complete coverage, were held on with duct tape so old the edges had frayed.
Kaitlyn explained how this behemoth was selected. [“The bidding came down to who could accept the highest risk. LauraFarmGirl27392 won the war by saying, ‘A few dings would be okay; some dents better. Totaled would be perfect.’ She has also pointed out that it’s fully insured, several times now.”]
[“She’s hoping it will be declared totaled under the Samurai clause now that the insurance companies are honoring it. That would make a good start on a replacement.”] Tara explained. [“Combines are corporate expensive.”]
[“We’ll see what we can do. Got to keep the people happy, right?”] I came around the side, where a convenient ladder, held on by actual bailing wire, passed over the front tracks. [“Where do I sit?”] I asked. [“Where’s the driver, for that matter?”]
[“All farm equipment has been self- and remote-drive capable for over a decade. I think she’s running this remote from somewhere. She says to sit anywhere but on a camera…and I won’t pass on the rest of that.”] Kaitlyn was relaying the messages from the farmer.
[“If it would be easier, we could get her into a voice channel?”] I asked as the combine lurched forward.
[“She doesn’t want the distraction of voice contact. I gather she’s running several pieces of equipment at the same time. If necessary, she’s open to a direct text chat, though.”]
Once past the debris, the ride settled down, and I found a place to sit. I checked my points and found I was a little shy of four thousand.
[“Any idea what to expect, Tara?”]