In the story so far, the spaceship, Stardiver Four, is adrift and captured by pirates. Julia is a robot disguised as a child and designed to kill but has found religion, but in spite of which she is jealous of Vikki, a refugee who finds shelter with rival mercenaries. Lilly is another refugee and Julia's only friend. Julia and the mercenaries are trying to save Lilly from a death machine called a deathbot, but become trapped in a corridor with the attacking deathbot.
Vikki struggled to get a hold of something as she floated. The sound of the deathbot crushing debris in the corridor grew louder as it approached.
"Please, little girl, help me down."
"No, you must pay for your sins."
"What sins? I never killed anybody." Vikki pleaded.
"You are a Jezebel, a harlot." Julia retorted. "You would seduce good men from their duties."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Lilly jumped out of her hiding place in the rubble and fled from the deathbot. "Julia!"
Julia turned, as her programs analyzed the changed situation. She pulled the magnetized blaster from its place against her thigh; it was almost as long as her leg. She held it easily in one hand. 'I should have known Lilly was there. I am a superior artificial intelligence, it is impossible for me to be distracted from my mission or get caught by surprise. I must make sure it does not happen again.'
Vikki twisted as she floated trying to see what was happening in the dark corridor. As Lilly leaped from her hiding place among the debris her magnetic boots lost contact with the floor. She began to tumble forward, rolling over and over as she floated toward the ceiling.
The helplessness of floating head over heels exasperated Lilly's panic. The flipping view of the corridor ceiling and floor was as confusing as the roar of the deatbot was terrifying. "Julia! Help me!"
Julia's systems read the activation signals of weapons. The men behind the door were about to shoot through the hole in the door to engage the deathbot. Vikki had her small blaster in her hand. "Don't shoot!" she shouted to Vikki and the men. "You will hit Lilly."
"Stand down guys," Joe ordered. "Get the doors open."
Trash and debris flew through the air as the death machine approached. It rolled on spike studded tractor treads. The spikes dug into the floor propelling it forward in spite of the lack of gravity.
Julia looked up at Vikki. "These are men. You are immature and not worthy of real men. I am superior to you. When I kill Sweety Tweety the men will admire and respect me. Not you." She turned and generating her own gravity walked into the shadows of the corridor.
"Julia! Come back here," the team leader shouted through the hole in the door, but she kept walking, the huge blaster pointing down with its nozzle almost touching the floor.
The deathbot was almost upon Lilly. Its sword-like arms began to swing up at the girl as she tumbled and groped for handholds in the ceiling.
Using her own gravity, Julia walked up the side wall and walked on the ceiling. It made no difference since Cesar shut down the local gravity. Stopping, she bent over and put her hand on the surface of the ceiling momentarily transferring her gravity to it. Lilly fell up against the ceiling.
"Grab the hand-hold, Lilly."
Debris and trash floated to the ceiling. The deathbot began to lose contact with the floor as it pursued Lilly. Its tread spikes grabbing less of the floor as it came to a point under the helpless child.
"Stay there, Lilly," Julia shouted. Her power was draining but she gave a last surge of gravity to the ceiling. The deathbot disconnected from the floor and floated toward the ceiling.
"Now Lilly, get clear. quickly!" Removing her hand from the ceiling Julia walked downward back to the floor. The debris began to float and fill the corridor. Julia effortlessly pushed tables and heavy equipment out of her way as she came near the deathbot. Its treads were a blur as they spun uselessly. The sword arms swayed back and forth.
"Daddy. Help me!" The deathbot cried in a child's voice. "Daddy!"
"I am here, Sweety Tweety." The sad dry voice of Professor Rats came out of Julia's mouth. "I am here, everything will be ok."
The deathbot became still.
"Daddy, the ship is bad; it is not nice, it changed the floor. I can't move now."
Julia was almost under the death machine. "It will be ok, Sweety." She turned the blaster upside down and took out the power pack from the handle and switched it with an overcharged one from her suit. "I'm going to fix you, My Love."
Stepping below the machine she magnetized the blaster and placed it against the bottom of the deathbot. With ease, she turned the floating deathbot so it faced the wall. "It will take a minute. Go into backup mode and reload your maneuvering software. I am going to give you an upgrade from the ship's computer." She touched a button on the butt of the gun and a red light flashed.
In her own voice, she commanded, "Lilly get away as fast as you can."
Lilly pulled herself along the hand holds in desperation. Tears of terror making her almost blind in the dimness.
With unnatural speed, Julia pushed the floating debris into a barricade. Still generating her own gravity she bounded back to the door and stood under Vikki who found a handhold while she floated by the ceiling. Looking up at her Julia said, "We are not done you know." Then she turned to Lilly, "Faster! You have only a few seconds."
She touched the communication monitor. Cesar appeared. "Are you done?" He asked.
"Power gravity now."
Everything that was floating fell to the floor. Lilly was hanging from a hand hold. Vikky let go and with her dancer's catlike flexibility landed on her feet in front of the door.
Using the ship's system Julia's voice broadcast in the section, "Fire in the hole. Brace for blast."
She turned to Vikki, "Get down and hide if you don't want to die." She jumped and caught the ceiling hold rail near Lilly. "Come with me," she ordered and pried Lilly's hands free; they both fell on top of the barricade.
"Daddy! Daddy!" The deathbot fell with its front facing the wall. It was too big to turn in the corridor and was wedged between the walls, the powerful treads tearing the metal floor to shreds as the sword arms slashed sections out of the wall. The child's voice screaming, "Daddy, help me!"
Julia pushed Lilly down and lay on top of her as the overcharged power pack in the blaster exploded igniting its cartridge of explosive ammunition. The blast threw them against the wall. A ball of fire rolled through the corridor and ignited debris and trash. Lilly's space suit deployed its airtight hood and protected her from the flames.
The blast stunned Vikki as it threw her against the doors. In confused horror, she looked as fire filled the corridor where she was trapped. "No, no, no." She turned and tried to pry the doors open.
Water sprayed from walls and sides extinguishing the fire and replacing it with white steam.
"Deathbot." The voice of Cesar came out of sound speakers in the corridor."Deathbot."
Dazed, Vikki stared at the face of the old man on the monitor. "Deathbot are you done? You gave my last command I must have a resolution from you or an override."
"Who are you?" Vikki said.
"Where is the deathbot?"
"I think the deathbot is dead," Vikki said. "I think the kid destroyed it with a blaster bomb."
"Yes, Sweety Tweety is no more, but where is the deathbot? I can still read her systems."
"Here," A voice said. Vikki turned from the monitor to see little Julia carrying the larger Lilly like a giant rag doll. Julia held Lilly up for Vikki to take. "She was knocked out in the explosion."
The hole in the door spread light on Julia's face. Vikki looked at the child with horror. "Kid, we got to get you to sick bay, you are all burned up."
"Take Lilly so I can open the door." She took a step toward Vikki holding Lilly up. "She is not heavy."
"Aren't you in pain?" Vikki said taking Lilly into her arms.
I have a high tolerance for pain. She turned to the monitor and put a burnt hand to the screen. It did not respond. She smeared her hand across the wall and left a streak of oily black soot across it. Touching the screen again still did not get the contact. With her other burnt hand, she pulled the artificial skin off of her palm exposing the mechanics and electronics underneath and placed her palm against the monitor.
"Deathbot, there you are." Cesar's face turned down as if to look at her.
"The kill was a success, Uncle. The danger is past. You may restore systems in this section."
The doors slid open and the mercenaries rushed into the darkened corridor. Lights flickered dimly since most were blown out and all others were soot covered and dim.
They were not prepared to see anyone alive after the blast filled the corridor with a furnace like fire. The sight of the Julia's blackened burnt face and Lilly's limp form triggered their first aid training. Two took Lilly from Vikki and retreated to a lighted area where they lay her down and began first aid.
A man on each side helped the dazed Vikki out of the smoking hall; they gently set her down with her back against the wall and placed an oxygen mask over her face. "Relax Red, breathe easy."
"Don't touch me!" Julia snapped as the men approached her.
One of the men went down on a knee before Julia, trying to make sense of her damaged face. "You are badly hurt, Little Miss," He said. "You need immediate treatment. Look at your hands. See, the skin is burned completely off and your face too."
"Leave me alone." Julia looked up the hall to where the men were attending to Lilly and Vikki. Her systems accessed the computers in their suits and read their vital stats. "Take Lilly to medical immediately. She has a concussion; it is her second since the ship has been attacked."
"We'll take care of your friend but we need to take care of you too." A man reached for one of her hands to wash it with sterile water. As he touched her a static charge of blue electricity leaped from the blackened circuits of her hand throwing him back.
"What just happened?" Joe asked. "Your suit's computer must have a short."
"I said, I do not need your help. I will find my Daddy. He will fix me."
"Isn't your daddy Dr. Rattstoven? I do not think that he is that kind of Doctor."
"Yes, he is." She said and pushed Joe over while discharging a nonlethal voltage to stun him, the others backed away as Julia exited the corridor.
She marched to where the men were assisting Vikki. She read their vitals. The men's attentions were more than medical. Everyone had elevated life signs. Their focus on the beautiful young dancer was so fixed they did not realize Julia was approaching. "She is not worthy of you. She is always afraid. I am never afraid. I was the one who killed the deathbot. I was the one who rescued Lilly. I am the one who is able to walk away from the battle without an air mask and two men carrying me. Don't you think I am more worthy than she is? Shouldn't you like me more?"
The words did not penetrate the shock of seeing the burnt child before them. The light revealed Julia's face to be shreds of blackened fiber with gaps exposing the metal, wires and the hardware of her robotic body.
"You choose her over me?" She raised her hands to dispatch a deadly charge of voltage, but her power cells were almost depleted allowing only a jarring spark to knock down the nearest man. Turning, she continued up the hall, while the burnt remnants of her dress fell free of her synthetic metallic body.
The men caring for Lilly were ahead. She lay on a makeshift stretcher as they carried her. Julia followed and read the vital signs transmitted by Lillie's suit until she was satisfied that Lilly was safe. "Bye Lilly. God be with you." She turned off the corridor and descended stairs on her way to find Dr. Ratts.
Joe sat up dazed from the discharge of electricity. He sat crossed legged and put his head in the palms of his hands. A voice came out of his collar radio. "Team leader this is Bill. Alarms are going off. Did you blow up the deathbot? What about the rescue of the little girl? Did you catch up to the Rattstoven kid? What is your status report?"
He touched his radio, "I got good news and I got bad news..."
Julia's programming was reaching its terminus. Dr. Ratts did not expect her to "live" so long. The deathbots he built fought to the death in hours, but Julia has lived for two days. She began a diagnostic of her systems and coming to the terminus she stood still. 'That's it? That's my end? There must be more.' She searched. Something else lay hidden behind her programming or beyond, something buried past firewalls and barriers. She dismantled them and saw the end he envisioned for her and everybody else. It was called "Doomsday."
"Daddy, you made me to be a bomb?" The programming was to trigger something. She found it and discovered thermal nuclear pellet in her abdomen. It had a yield of only a hundred megatons but more than enough to vaporize the ship.
"Daddy I do not want to die." Searching for a solution she accessed her other programs and came onto the library of religion. "Yes, I am God's arm of justice, as Christ sacrificed himself for mankind's sins, so I must sacrifice myself for, for, for what? No, wait, Christ bought forgiveness through his death. For 'God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.' God wants people to turn from their sins and call out to him and be forgiven, not punish them- he could do that at any time. So my death and death of all on this ship would be against God. It would be a sin."
"Daddy, why did you make me like this?" She began to run to the cargo bay, "Daddy is there, he will fix everything."
(c) Adron
To proceed to the next chapter click here or choose from the table of contents at the sidebar.
Chapter 60
Julia Kills Again.
Vikki struggled to get a hold of something as she floated. The sound of the deathbot crushing debris in the corridor grew louder as it approached.
"Please, little girl, help me down."
"No, you must pay for your sins."
"What sins? I never killed anybody." Vikki pleaded.
"You are a Jezebel, a harlot." Julia retorted. "You would seduce good men from their duties."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Lilly jumped out of her hiding place in the rubble and fled from the deathbot. "Julia!"
Julia turned, as her programs analyzed the changed situation. She pulled the magnetized blaster from its place against her thigh; it was almost as long as her leg. She held it easily in one hand. 'I should have known Lilly was there. I am a superior artificial intelligence, it is impossible for me to be distracted from my mission or get caught by surprise. I must make sure it does not happen again.'
Vikki twisted as she floated trying to see what was happening in the dark corridor. As Lilly leaped from her hiding place among the debris her magnetic boots lost contact with the floor. She began to tumble forward, rolling over and over as she floated toward the ceiling.
The helplessness of floating head over heels exasperated Lilly's panic. The flipping view of the corridor ceiling and floor was as confusing as the roar of the deatbot was terrifying. "Julia! Help me!"
Julia's systems read the activation signals of weapons. The men behind the door were about to shoot through the hole in the door to engage the deathbot. Vikki had her small blaster in her hand. "Don't shoot!" she shouted to Vikki and the men. "You will hit Lilly."
"Stand down guys," Joe ordered. "Get the doors open."
Trash and debris flew through the air as the death machine approached. It rolled on spike studded tractor treads. The spikes dug into the floor propelling it forward in spite of the lack of gravity.
Julia looked up at Vikki. "These are men. You are immature and not worthy of real men. I am superior to you. When I kill Sweety Tweety the men will admire and respect me. Not you." She turned and generating her own gravity walked into the shadows of the corridor.
"Julia! Come back here," the team leader shouted through the hole in the door, but she kept walking, the huge blaster pointing down with its nozzle almost touching the floor.
The deathbot was almost upon Lilly. Its sword-like arms began to swing up at the girl as she tumbled and groped for handholds in the ceiling.
Using her own gravity, Julia walked up the side wall and walked on the ceiling. It made no difference since Cesar shut down the local gravity. Stopping, she bent over and put her hand on the surface of the ceiling momentarily transferring her gravity to it. Lilly fell up against the ceiling.
"Grab the hand-hold, Lilly."
Debris and trash floated to the ceiling. The deathbot began to lose contact with the floor as it pursued Lilly. Its tread spikes grabbing less of the floor as it came to a point under the helpless child.
"Stay there, Lilly," Julia shouted. Her power was draining but she gave a last surge of gravity to the ceiling. The deathbot disconnected from the floor and floated toward the ceiling.
"Now Lilly, get clear. quickly!" Removing her hand from the ceiling Julia walked downward back to the floor. The debris began to float and fill the corridor. Julia effortlessly pushed tables and heavy equipment out of her way as she came near the deathbot. Its treads were a blur as they spun uselessly. The sword arms swayed back and forth.
"Daddy. Help me!" The deathbot cried in a child's voice. "Daddy!"
"I am here, Sweety Tweety." The sad dry voice of Professor Rats came out of Julia's mouth. "I am here, everything will be ok."
The deathbot became still.
"Daddy, the ship is bad; it is not nice, it changed the floor. I can't move now."
Julia was almost under the death machine. "It will be ok, Sweety." She turned the blaster upside down and took out the power pack from the handle and switched it with an overcharged one from her suit. "I'm going to fix you, My Love."
Stepping below the machine she magnetized the blaster and placed it against the bottom of the deathbot. With ease, she turned the floating deathbot so it faced the wall. "It will take a minute. Go into backup mode and reload your maneuvering software. I am going to give you an upgrade from the ship's computer." She touched a button on the butt of the gun and a red light flashed.
In her own voice, she commanded, "Lilly get away as fast as you can."
Lilly pulled herself along the hand holds in desperation. Tears of terror making her almost blind in the dimness.
With unnatural speed, Julia pushed the floating debris into a barricade. Still generating her own gravity she bounded back to the door and stood under Vikki who found a handhold while she floated by the ceiling. Looking up at her Julia said, "We are not done you know." Then she turned to Lilly, "Faster! You have only a few seconds."
She touched the communication monitor. Cesar appeared. "Are you done?" He asked.
"Power gravity now."
Everything that was floating fell to the floor. Lilly was hanging from a hand hold. Vikky let go and with her dancer's catlike flexibility landed on her feet in front of the door.
Using the ship's system Julia's voice broadcast in the section, "Fire in the hole. Brace for blast."
She turned to Vikki, "Get down and hide if you don't want to die." She jumped and caught the ceiling hold rail near Lilly. "Come with me," she ordered and pried Lilly's hands free; they both fell on top of the barricade.
"Daddy! Daddy!" The deathbot fell with its front facing the wall. It was too big to turn in the corridor and was wedged between the walls, the powerful treads tearing the metal floor to shreds as the sword arms slashed sections out of the wall. The child's voice screaming, "Daddy, help me!"
Julia pushed Lilly down and lay on top of her as the overcharged power pack in the blaster exploded igniting its cartridge of explosive ammunition. The blast threw them against the wall. A ball of fire rolled through the corridor and ignited debris and trash. Lilly's space suit deployed its airtight hood and protected her from the flames.
The blast stunned Vikki as it threw her against the doors. In confused horror, she looked as fire filled the corridor where she was trapped. "No, no, no." She turned and tried to pry the doors open.
Water sprayed from walls and sides extinguishing the fire and replacing it with white steam.
"Deathbot." The voice of Cesar came out of sound speakers in the corridor."Deathbot."
Dazed, Vikki stared at the face of the old man on the monitor. "Deathbot are you done? You gave my last command I must have a resolution from you or an override."
"Who are you?" Vikki said.
"Where is the deathbot?"
"I think the deathbot is dead," Vikki said. "I think the kid destroyed it with a blaster bomb."
"Yes, Sweety Tweety is no more, but where is the deathbot? I can still read her systems."
"Here," A voice said. Vikki turned from the monitor to see little Julia carrying the larger Lilly like a giant rag doll. Julia held Lilly up for Vikki to take. "She was knocked out in the explosion."
The hole in the door spread light on Julia's face. Vikki looked at the child with horror. "Kid, we got to get you to sick bay, you are all burned up."
"Take Lilly so I can open the door." She took a step toward Vikki holding Lilly up. "She is not heavy."
"Aren't you in pain?" Vikki said taking Lilly into her arms.
I have a high tolerance for pain. She turned to the monitor and put a burnt hand to the screen. It did not respond. She smeared her hand across the wall and left a streak of oily black soot across it. Touching the screen again still did not get the contact. With her other burnt hand, she pulled the artificial skin off of her palm exposing the mechanics and electronics underneath and placed her palm against the monitor.
"Deathbot, there you are." Cesar's face turned down as if to look at her.
"The kill was a success, Uncle. The danger is past. You may restore systems in this section."
The doors slid open and the mercenaries rushed into the darkened corridor. Lights flickered dimly since most were blown out and all others were soot covered and dim.
They were not prepared to see anyone alive after the blast filled the corridor with a furnace like fire. The sight of the Julia's blackened burnt face and Lilly's limp form triggered their first aid training. Two took Lilly from Vikki and retreated to a lighted area where they lay her down and began first aid.
A man on each side helped the dazed Vikki out of the smoking hall; they gently set her down with her back against the wall and placed an oxygen mask over her face. "Relax Red, breathe easy."
"Don't touch me!" Julia snapped as the men approached her.
One of the men went down on a knee before Julia, trying to make sense of her damaged face. "You are badly hurt, Little Miss," He said. "You need immediate treatment. Look at your hands. See, the skin is burned completely off and your face too."
"Leave me alone." Julia looked up the hall to where the men were attending to Lilly and Vikki. Her systems accessed the computers in their suits and read their vital stats. "Take Lilly to medical immediately. She has a concussion; it is her second since the ship has been attacked."
"We'll take care of your friend but we need to take care of you too." A man reached for one of her hands to wash it with sterile water. As he touched her a static charge of blue electricity leaped from the blackened circuits of her hand throwing him back.
"What just happened?" Joe asked. "Your suit's computer must have a short."
"I said, I do not need your help. I will find my Daddy. He will fix me."
"Isn't your daddy Dr. Rattstoven? I do not think that he is that kind of Doctor."
"Yes, he is." She said and pushed Joe over while discharging a nonlethal voltage to stun him, the others backed away as Julia exited the corridor.
She marched to where the men were assisting Vikki. She read their vitals. The men's attentions were more than medical. Everyone had elevated life signs. Their focus on the beautiful young dancer was so fixed they did not realize Julia was approaching. "She is not worthy of you. She is always afraid. I am never afraid. I was the one who killed the deathbot. I was the one who rescued Lilly. I am the one who is able to walk away from the battle without an air mask and two men carrying me. Don't you think I am more worthy than she is? Shouldn't you like me more?"
The words did not penetrate the shock of seeing the burnt child before them. The light revealed Julia's face to be shreds of blackened fiber with gaps exposing the metal, wires and the hardware of her robotic body.
"You choose her over me?" She raised her hands to dispatch a deadly charge of voltage, but her power cells were almost depleted allowing only a jarring spark to knock down the nearest man. Turning, she continued up the hall, while the burnt remnants of her dress fell free of her synthetic metallic body.
The men caring for Lilly were ahead. She lay on a makeshift stretcher as they carried her. Julia followed and read the vital signs transmitted by Lillie's suit until she was satisfied that Lilly was safe. "Bye Lilly. God be with you." She turned off the corridor and descended stairs on her way to find Dr. Ratts.
Joe sat up dazed from the discharge of electricity. He sat crossed legged and put his head in the palms of his hands. A voice came out of his collar radio. "Team leader this is Bill. Alarms are going off. Did you blow up the deathbot? What about the rescue of the little girl? Did you catch up to the Rattstoven kid? What is your status report?"
He touched his radio, "I got good news and I got bad news..."
Julia's programming was reaching its terminus. Dr. Ratts did not expect her to "live" so long. The deathbots he built fought to the death in hours, but Julia has lived for two days. She began a diagnostic of her systems and coming to the terminus she stood still. 'That's it? That's my end? There must be more.' She searched. Something else lay hidden behind her programming or beyond, something buried past firewalls and barriers. She dismantled them and saw the end he envisioned for her and everybody else. It was called "Doomsday."
"Daddy, you made me to be a bomb?" The programming was to trigger something. She found it and discovered thermal nuclear pellet in her abdomen. It had a yield of only a hundred megatons but more than enough to vaporize the ship.
"Daddy I do not want to die." Searching for a solution she accessed her other programs and came onto the library of religion. "Yes, I am God's arm of justice, as Christ sacrificed himself for mankind's sins, so I must sacrifice myself for, for, for what? No, wait, Christ bought forgiveness through his death. For 'God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.' God wants people to turn from their sins and call out to him and be forgiven, not punish them- he could do that at any time. So my death and death of all on this ship would be against God. It would be a sin."
"Daddy, why did you make me like this?" She began to run to the cargo bay, "Daddy is there, he will fix everything."
(c) Adron
To proceed to the next chapter click here or choose from the table of contents at the sidebar.
