Man and Machine 19
[no not abandoned, but I have been dedicating most of my time to original projects. Check amazon for the book the Serpent Fleet.]
The machine was shaped a little like a submarine that hovered in the air with the use of antigrav plates that put out plasma arcs frequently. It was only barley functional, dragging it's back half along the pipe system it was navigating. It passed by pipes, wreckage of similar ships, and long dead mechanical squids.
The ship, for lack of a better word, came upon an impressively massive gate that would have blocked their progress if it had been completely closed.
Beyond the gate was a massive landing bay. While it's function was obvious, it's design was very different from that of the Galactica or even the Searcher.
Starbuck brought the damaged ship to a screeching halt in the center of the landing pad.
It was not just a landing pad, it was the site of a massive battle. The tarmac was covered with wreckage of mechanical squids, some sort of exo-suits, and ammo shells larger than any of them had seen before.
Starbuck, Apollo, Buck Rogers and Wilma gladly exited the damaged ship, and hesitantly set foot on the battlefield.
"What the frack happened here?" Apollo asked.
"It was the final battle in the war to end all wars between humanity and the machines," Theo said as Twiki joined the others walking down the tarmac.
"If I've learned anything from history," Buck said, "Its that wars to end wars generally don't."
"This one did, at least until today," Theo said.
"Explain, Theo," Apollo said.
The group left the tarmac and entered the tunnel system of what had once been the free city of Zion.
"It was to be the final annihilation of man," Theo said. "The Machine sent a sentry for each human alive within Zion… this city."
"Very Cylon in their thinking," Starbuck said.
Theo continued talking. "Neo had been given a choice. Submit himself to the machines, and select from the population a group to establish a new Zion. In the meantime this colony was to be purged of all life. Or, he could refuse and Zion would still be destroyed, but nothing would replace it, resulting in the eventual extinction of Mankind."
"If this was Zion," Wilma said, "It certainly looks like it was wiped out."
"On the contrary," Theo said, "it was spared. Neo found a third option, and brokered a peace with the machines. I met him once, in the Train Station. He was a remarkable and handsome man, much like yourself, Buck. That is one reason why I have always placed so much faith in you."
"I don't know about that," Buck said, "but I know one thing for certain. This place was never built by humans. There's no aesthetic to it… it's too… mechanical. We don't build machines that look like this."
"We may come from different cultures, but I agree with you," Apollo said.
"You are both correct," Theo said. "Zion was designed and built by us machines for humans to use in their campaign against them."
"I don't understand why they would do that," Wilma said.
"It is difficult to explain, and I can't say that I truly understand it," Theo said, "Lets just say that it was necessary."
"Do you think they are still after us?" Starbuck asked.
"I do not detect any sign of pursuit by Terminators," Theo said.
"Bididid-bidbidi," Twiki said.
"Twiki agrees with me," Theo said.
"That just means they're waiting for us to return to the surface," Wilma said.
The three men all exchanged glances that confirmed their agreement with her assumption.
"And we're too deep to get a signal out," Apollo said.
"I'm not about to die down here," Starbuck said. "We'll have to go back up sooner or later, we should go prepared for a fight."
"All the weaponry down here is ancient," Wilma said.
"I think our best bet is to find a route out of here they don't expect," Buck said.
"I like it," Starbuck said, "what do you have in mind?"
Buck looked up, and the rest followed his gaze to a bore hole that had been carved into the cavern ceiling of Zion. "They drilled it to get in, I doubt they would expect us to use it to get out."
"This plan is risky, dangerous, and borderline crazy," Starbuck said, "That's my kind of plan."
O0o0O
A man clad in hard leather armor with feathers for hair burst into Huer's office. Security tried to stop him, but they were visibly frightened of him. Hawk marched to Huer's desk, and glanced at each person in the room. "Admiral Asimov, Dr. Huer, Commander Adama. I've been out looking for Buck and the others."
Adama remained at the periphery of the room, which resembled his relationship to the situation at hand.
"Have you found them?" Asimov asked.
"They were attacked, and have moved underground," Hawk said, "That is where I lost them."
"I see," Huer said.
"No, you don't," Hawk said.
"What do you mean?" Huer said.
"The Colonials have been frustrated by their inability to do a full scan of Earth," Hawk said.
"Yes, the Computer Council deemed it to be too great a security risk," Huer said.
"A security risk to whom?" Hawk asked. "My bird fighter has stealth technology that your Earth fighters cannot track, so I completed a scan of the far side of the planet."
The birdman unfolded a map and laid it across the desk. It showed a medium size dot for New Chicago, and even smaller dots for the other new cities that were scattered around the safe zones across the Earth. On the far side of the planet, there was another massive city. A city of machines. "I also detected no harmful radiation levels anywhere on the planet."
"This can't be right," Huer said.
"Are you sure about this?" Asimov said.
Hawk fixed each of them with an impassive stare. He didn't care what they thought about him, but his reputation should put his findings above suspicion.
Adama strolled over and gazed down at the map. His face was stern, hiding his thoughts from the other men present. In that moment, his face was nearly as impassive as Hawks.
"Have you come to a decision?" Adama asked.
"I have," Huer said. "We find out people first, and bring them home."
"And then?" Adama asked.
"When he first arrived, the Council was quick to put Buck to trial, and have pursued similar actions since then. I think it's time we turned the tables, and see how the Council does on the witness stand," Huer said.