CHAPTER 20
THE RAIDERS MEET A ROBOT OF DEATH
The defenders retreated before Whitey's skilled tactics and well-trained troops. "Something is wrong, I can feel it," Whitey muttered. The echoes of battle filled the corridor but it wasn't right. Was it the confines of hallways and corridors?
"Drone!" He commanded.
A small saucer the size of a hand was launched over his head. It flew forward and turned right going down a larger side corridor.
"Home in on the noise, that deep rumble." He told the man with the control pad as Whitey pulled a small screen from his pocket and watched the images the drone sent back.
"What is that?"
Pirates in black and rangers in white were mixed together as they fled down the corridor. Behind them was a machine that rolled on six large black rubber wheels. It came steadily. Men turned and fired at it but the machine rolled on.
The machine had a three-meter gripping claw on the front that opened and closed with crushing force. Above the claw were two arms with whirling saw blades. The arms kept flailing about threatening the men it pursued.
"They are coming this way," Bill said.
"What is it?" Whitey wondered out loud.
"It looks like a tree harvester." A man behind him said. "It is a farm machine we use back home to cut down trees. I worked one as a kid."
"OK. Let's fall back to a side corridor or exit." Whitey commanded. "Bryon, you said you used to work one of these, what are its weaknesses?"
"Hydraulic hoses. It needs someone to operate it. Fuel, it is gas powered."
"What! Inside a ship like this! It will use the oxygen and poison the air."
"Right. That is the smell, the carbon exhaust."
"Does it have a brain or control panel?"
"It is driven from the seat, you use levers."
Whitey stood at the side corridor watching the deathbot chase men past him. The deathbot was only yards away.
"Bryan, what are the wheels made of, are they solid rubber or air-filled?"
"Usually air filled, but solid is not unknown."
"Boys," Whitey felt better knowing an enemy's weakness. "Go live and use armor piercing rounds. Take out the wheels."
The corridor was filling with a flood of men who sought refuge in the side passage with Whitey's raiders.
"Boss, we can't get a clear shot with all these refugees in our way." The side corridor was becoming a crush of pirates and rangers.
"Everybody back! Give us some room!" Whitey yelled.
As the machine came to the side passage Whitey's marksmen fired hardened rounds at its wheels. The machine stopped and slowly turned to face the corridor the men were backed into.
Looking over his shoulder Whitey saw the narrow hall was a dead end with locked doors at the back.
"Take out the wheels boys," Whitey's voice was low and tense. "Take out the wheels."
Marksmen knelt on one knee. Weapons shouldered and the roar of weaponry was answered with the explosions of burst tires. The men cheered.
"Boss This way." A side door was pried opened. The men surged through into a library. Whitey's men took positions around the edge of the room their weapons trained on the rangers and pirates.
"B team. Disarm everybody and take prisoners." Whitey ordered, "A team, with Bryan, find the back door and get behind that thing and shut it down."
The back door was the main entrance to the library and easy to find. "A" team came around the side to get behind the machine. It was flailing from side to side, the saws gouged and tore the walls. The spinning hubs had ground the rubber wheels and filled the hall with foul smoke.
The back of the machine sloped down over the motor, and Bryon climbed over the rumbling deathbot. The thrashing machine kept throwing him off balance.
"Bryan," Whitey's voice was in his ear piece. "Don't sit on the seat. It might be booby-trapped. Use a lanyard mine."
"Good thinking, Boss." Bryan pulled a small black box out of the weapons vest he wore under his armor. A metal box was built over the dash of the machine. "You must be the brains," Bryan mumbled. "No offense but I am going to blow your mind." The magnetic mine attached itself with a click. The lanyard unrolled as he slid off the back and dashed around the corner to the corridor. After a look around that all was clear, he pulled the lanyard until the mine exploded.
The deathbot shuddered and the arms lowered to the ground where they remained silent.
"Good work," Whitey slapped him on the back. "Who would make such a thing?
The curious men looked at it in dread wonder.
"It is not Ranger work." One of his men observed.
"Could it be some cargo gone mad by a radio signal?" Another mused.
"No, look," Bryan pointed to the cover of the motor. Words were painted, "Death to all."
Whitey stalked back to the library where the prisoners were waiting. Most sat in chairs or on the tables. The nearest man in black uniform was seated with legs outstretched and hands behind his neck as he reclined. With one hand Whitey pulled him to his feet until their faces were inches apart. Spit splattered on the pirate's face as Whitey yelled. "Is that machine one of yours? Is it?"
"No sir, not mine."
"Idiot, is it part of her plan to kill us all?"
"I dunno."
"That was some kind of doomsday machine. Where did it come from?"
"Ratts, I suppose. He is the professor or a scientist or something. A genius with robots and machines. The story is that he has a hundred battlebots on board."
Whitey tossed the man down.
His men looked at him awaiting his orders. "We are withdrawing."
"Boss," Bill spoke up. "There are civilians on this ship, women, and children. The rangers do not have our armor piercing weapons. A lot of people are going to die horribly if we don't help.
"Is that right?" Whitey looked at a group of rangers." You don't have armor piercing weaponry."
"Nothing like you guys," said a ranger. "We have only small arms."
Too much was happening at once, a battle was orchestrated confusion but there was something nagging in the back of Whitey's mind.
"Bill, did he say Ratts? A professor or something?"
"Yes. Why?"
"If he is who I think he is, it changes everything. None of us may get out of this alive."
(c) Adron
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