Farima: An Afrofuturist Sci-Fi Adventure (The Homo Maximus Saga Book 1) Page 18

  “From the moment we stepped foot on this Jena, our lives have been at risk. Not only my team and I, but also the C.O.M.M. soldiers who I’m sure are fighting to defend this island on the surface right now. It makes me wonder what else you’d do to put us in danger.” Natia says as she keeps the nozzle of her rifle tilted forward.

  “Nothing that you wouldn’t be able to handle.”

  Just as he says that Natia receives a buzz on her Orunmila. Someone has messaged her through Khalil’s private channel. She can see the messages but can’t respond. It isn’t Jeska, it’s the unknown encrypted ID she saw earlier.

  “We are all happy you decided to let us in. The Society is very pleased. We’ll see who comes out on top.”

  The cryptic message ends. No follow-up.

  Natia’s mind expands like a raging fire consuming everything in its path. Her eyes scan the message over and over again as she walks behind the rest of the group. There has to be another explanation, but she can’t think of anything except the most obvious.

  They reach an expanded level containing a lone view port. The dark ocean of the Atlantic surges ominously on the outside. Khalil walks over to the view port, attempting to hide the message he’s just received on his Orunmila. Natia glares at the back of his head, waiting for him to turn.

  He has to know I just got the same message.

  When Khalil turns, a dark grin stretches across his face. “I guess the sun has set on that secret.” He dares to laugh.

  The rest of the group stops and looks back as Natia storms down on Khalil. Just before she has the opportunity to grab him, he pulls out his pistol and points it at the glass view port.

  “Take one more step, Natia, and we all drown right here.”

  Natia screams, “what is The Society? You lowered the shield, didn’t you!”

  “The Society is none of your concern. It is nothing, and it is everything.” Khalil taunts with a vague, intentionally cryptic answer. “Yes, I lowered the shield.”

  Natia’s nostrils flare as she clenches her jaw and balls her fists.

  “All the soldiers we lost trying to stop Acacia. All for you to turn around and subvert everything!”

  She hangs her head and raises her forearm over her eyes to fight back the tears. Adan runs over to her and Ameer, with Araba limping as fast as she can. Natia wants to give up.

  “You bastard! What did you do?!” Adan screams.

  “She stuck her nose in places where it didn’t belong.”

  Natia drops her arms and points at him. “He has a secret channel with someone who just thanked him for ‘letting them in’ and said, ‘The Society is very pleased.’” She pulls it up on her Orunmila, “look.”

  “He wants another war. There are people who he is in league with who are willing to give it to him. What was the plan this time, Khalil? Murder on this island, you barely get out to rally New Manden to another war against the NAS using me.” Ameer spoke with a matter-of-fact tone. “That’s how you triggered the revolution, you instigated it. That’s why you and Taseti fell apart. He didn’t like your methods.”

  Khalil stands silently.

  “That would be in line with what the Investigative Enterprise has uncovered in recent months.” Adan says, “oh yea Khalil, I never trusted you. Spent many hours warning Natia not to take your ‘advice’ anymore. Many people in the IE have looked into your past.”

  “Is what they’re saying true?” Araba demands to know.

  Khalil remains silent.

  “Of course it is.” Natia feels foolish. She should’ve listened to Adan. “I can’t believe I let you manipulate me all these years.” She begins pacing, “you know my grandparents were murdered. My mother never wanted to talk about it. Where were you when my grandparents died right after the signing of the treaty? Were you there as it showed in SAR last week?”

  Khalil’s eyes were dark. “I had nothing to do with that.”

  Natia is ready to beat the truth out of Khalil, but the devices he’d set above begin going off on his Orunmila. The furthest alarm is triggered first, all of a sudden they all begin going off sequentially like dominoes.

  “I say we shoot him and take our chances,” Araba says.

  “You know you have no options, Natia. You need me right now because above you there is only death. Your only hope for survival is to do what was always going to happen. We win the battle. You can’t access any of the mechs without my authorization. So killing me is not an option.” Khalil states and cocks his head to the side.

  More of the device alarms go off.

  “They’re at the entrance where we came into the tunnel system.” Khalil looks high above him.

  There’s the faint sound of mechanical activity in the stairwell far above. Khalil folds his arms as Natia paces.

  “We’re running out of time, Natia,” Khalil smirks.

  Everyone in unison yells for Khalil to shut his mouth using a wide range of profane words.

  “Let’s do this and get it over with. We’ll deal with him when we’ve rid this place of these androids.” Natia begins plotting the overthrow of Khalil Buhari from Endonis Technologies and the ECIC in her mind. When the opportunity presents itself to expose the man she once called her mentor, she’s taking it. Whether he’s dead or alive.

  They continue their descent for another two minutes before reaching the bottom. They sprint through a long, empty corridor fifty yards in width and a mile long. Natia can feel that there is something gargantuan up ahead as a massive, thick blast door dozens of feet in height stands in their way.

  “If you had killed me, well good luck getting through here,” Khalil says. Another retina scanner appears from cloaked visibility. This time, he also speaks a sequence of random words confirming his identity.

  The lurching sound of grinding metal gears retracting echoes throughout the tunnel. The blast door locked in place begins to rise. The bright light from the battle arena floods into the dark, expansive tunnel they stand at the end of. Up ahead, Natia witness’s history for the second time in her life. Two turtle mechs, T-Walkers as they’re known, stand in pristine condition. They tower dozens of feet into the air and are forty yards in length. The mechs bear a black matte finish with an expansive concave “shell” that extends over the series of twelve wheels the size of cars, six on each side.

  “I thought the T-Walkers had legs?” Natia refuses to let the technological wonder of Khalil amaze her again.

  “The old model did.” He points to the one on the right. “That’s the one from the war. That’s my baby. The one beside it is yours and has never seen combat. I thought the legs were too much and too limiting. The wheels allow for a much faster mech.”

  “So T-Walker is a tad outdated now, I’d say.” Araba mocks as Adan helps her walk.

  “C’mon hurry. They’re not too far behind us!” Khalil yells as he begins running for the one on the right. “Once I’m in and safe, I’ll open the other mech for the rest of you.”

  Khalil waits as an on-ramp extends from the underbelly of the turtle mecha. Which despite being called a “turtle,” the twin mecha lack what can be properly defined as a head. Instead, a bulbous truncated pyramid juts forward from the body, halfway down from the apex of the shell. Once the ramp touches down, Khalil hurries in and the rest of the group watches as it retracts. They can see Khalil moving around inside the bulbous head-like extension. He disappears inside, out of Natia’s line of sight.

  C’mon. This is taking too long. Natia thinks, feeling exposed out in the open. She dares to look back at the open entrance, expecting to see Taseti and his army of androids emerging from the black tunnel at any moment. Finally, the ramp for the other T-Walker begins its descent.

  Natia, Adan, Araba, and Ameer all hurry inside. The interior of the mech is dark but voluminous. Circular lights line the ceiling in a checkered pattern, creating an amber glow on the inside. A bewitching wave of energy washes over Natia as she stands within the dark and deadly space. The devices used t
o man the mecha are spotless and shiny, which the lights bounce off of.

  “These things can hold twenty men and women comfortably,” Natia speaks. “Just don’t touch anything.”

  “Welcome to my world everyone.” Khalil’s voice booms over the intercom. “Natia, you will have to pilot this thing and we don’t have long so this must be quick. Your mind has to become one with the mech’s A.I. It will work vicariously through you so that whatever you think, it’ll do. You don’t have to press a button, or even move. It’s all mental. These mechs have received more upgrades than the wheels alone. The one you all are in has never been used before. So you’re the first people to step foot inside who isn’t me.”

  The group begins looking around and spreading out.

  “These mechs are state-of-the-art. You will find a weapons locker inside, but hopefully, you won’t need it. If you look along the wall where you all came in, there are chairs stationed in front of consoles. Those are separate weapons stations. I suggest everyone with two hands grab one and help out.”

  “Ameer isn’t grabbing anything,” Natia speaks into the air. “Ameer just sit over there.”

  “Delaying the inevitable will not save us, Natia. This is what he was meant to do. At the press of a button, I can call up the Farima. When the Farima is unleashed, it’s over. We can end this now.”

  Natia turns to look at Ameer, who sits huddled with Araba and Adan. The boy is frightened and terrified. Natia can see him clenching his muscles.

  “He was not given a choice!” Natia yells towards the ceiling. “This discussion is over!”

  “Fine, we’ll do this the hard way. Go inside the command hub, the large circular head you noticed outside. That is where you must be to control the vessel.”

  The door leading to the command hub opens up. Natia walks in and notices it’s much more spacious inside than it appears on the ground down below. She looks out and can once again sees the raised blast door. It seems so far away now. A tiny black rectangle in a massive ovular arena. She now has a much better view of the scale of the underwater facility that Khalil calls the Battle Arena. Silver metal, she assumes keletronium, reinforces the floor, walls, and ceiling. It is entirely empty, save for the twin T-Walkers.

  Any second now. Natia thinks as she takes a seat in the lone chair built on a platform that extends out like a plank hovering inside a bulletproof ball. Inside, it’s as if she’s a fish sitting in a glass bowl shaped like a hexagon. The sides arch around her, symmetrically in three-hundred and sixty degrees. The massive flat-faced, truncated window protrudes out in front of her and appears around twenty feet in diameter.

  “I must say, the craftsmanship is impressive. Flawless and meticulous. I can tell you put much time into building it.” Natia says. She’ll never admit it to him, but she’s glad she didn’t kill him after all.

  “Well I had help. The machines did most of the work. I just designed the thing.”

  Natia takes a long, deep breath and closes her eyes. She rolls her neck stiffly to work out the kinks and loosen muscle tension.

  “Please tell me this isn’t glass all around me.” Natia dares joke in a dark moment.

  “No, you think I’m crazy?”

  “Is that a serious question?”

  “It’s reinforced, Keletronium. Much thicker than it looks, but with a little material engineering magic, it’s one-hundred percent translucent. That can change if you want though, might be smart. Look above you.”

  Natia raises her head and sees what looks like a helmet descending from the ceiling. There are metallic patches laced around the interior.

  “Put that on. Begin the mind-mapping process immediately. My sensors are showing they’re just outside the blast door. They know what’s coming. This is it.”

  Natia lets the helmet wrap around her head. It’s cold to the touch at first, but she can feel it meshing around the contours of her skull, finding the perfect grip.

  I know this thing is about to read my mind. As invasive as it is, I just want this to be over. This walker gives me that power. Natia wonders if Khalil can read her thoughts while this device is on her head and pushes the idea from her mind. She’s read up enough on this technology to know that the more concentrated and focused you are, the better results you achieve.

  “Hello, Natia. I am the intelligence that has been tasked to destroy androids with you. It is surely a pleasure to finally be one with you.” The A.I.’s male voice is deep, like Khalil’s and reverberates throughout the command hub.

  This is creepy. Natia thinks.

  “How about first we get some protection, huh? With your permission, I would like to darken the windows.”

  “Sure,” Natia confirms.

  “Here are your weapon systems currently active.” The A.I. speaks.

  All of a sudden, a massive array of weapons pops up in front of her on augmented reality displays. It was like ordering from a menu at a local seafood hall.

  “I want the one that blows androids up the best.” Natia can’t help but smile—finally. She knows she deserves it.

  “I know the perfect one, ma’am.”

  “So Khalil actually put a nice A.I. in here. I’m even more impressed.”

  “The way I speak is a reflection of your ideal conversation. I will be whatever it is you want me to be.”

  “I want you to kick metal ass.”

  That’s when they emerge.

  Natia finally sees the androids walking into the Battle Arena. Taseti leads them out in front—his energy sword hangs on his shoulder.

  “Just tell me when.” The A.I. says.

  Natia turns and looks back into the interior of the mecha where the others are. “Strap in! We’re about to be under attack!”

  Adan begins praying while he punches buttons at random at a nearby battle station.

  Araba grabs Ameer and holds him close.

  Khalil now speaks directly to Natia seemingly in her head since they were now linked to the same artificial mental network, or AMN. “Wait for them to all get in, Natia. I’m going to shut the door behind them. We take the fight above water where we have a fighting chance.”

  “Wait—what?” Natia thinks and Khalil hears it.

  “Just watch.” He thinks back in the AMN.

  Natia watches as the androids begin streaming in. Their weapons are all pointed towards the two mechs. Dozens at a time, followed by hundreds. The A.I. she’s connected to begins counting them inside her head. She can see it tagging each individual android with a number through the various displays in front of her. Before her, she has a full three hundred and sixty-degree field of view. She can see all sides of the mecha, the underbelly, and the top.

  Once they’re all inside, Taseti raises his sword high into the air and begins screaming. He sprints forward in a battle charge as the androids follow behind. Natia sees the blast door closing behind them. Then a shocking vibration rocks the entire underwater facility, causing it to rock back and forth. Now detached, the facility floats to the top of the ocean, bringing war as its load.

  The attackers are thrown off balance and they begin falling and flailing around on the floor. This lasts for a few minutes until it stops all of a sudden. Natia looks onscreen and can see that the ceiling is beginning to open up. Instead of water splashing down on them and drowning them all, the rays of the sun shoot down on them instead.

  Now I see why you called this the battle arena. Natia thinks to Khalil in the AMN.

  With the roof gone, the facility looks like a giant football stadium like the ones the Elders talked about from the Old Nation.

  Taseti and the androids begin collecting themselves when Khalil thinks to Natia. “Now we kill.”

  Natia smiles.

  “For Oba, for Alicia, and for the chaos you’ve put me and my friends in. Unleash hell.” Natia thinks to the A.I.

  “I am obliged to do just that, Natia.” The A.I. says with pleasure.

  Chapter 21

  Shadows of History

/>   Node One—Manay City, 2082—Isle of Khalil—Battle Arena

  War. It’s never a predicament Natia wanted to place herself in. Much less her friends and family.

  This isn’t war, but it’s the closest she’s ever come to feeling the surge in adrenaline that comes along with the deadly action of battle. She thinks of everyone she loves and everyone they’re fighting for on the island. The mere thought of failure causes her eyes to swell. “Under no circumstances will I lose this fight.”

  Her heart begins to beat like the drum of a battle march of old. Her T-Walker stands next to Khalil’s in battle formation. In front of them, a line of over two hundred androids with Taseti at the center. The A.I. in her T-Walker is luckily quicker to the throttle. It shoots the mecha forward at full speed, Natia’s body is pushed back into her seat as she thinks, “fire!.”

  Streaks of Keletronium bullets and plasma arcs begin flying in the air in the direction of the charging androids. Return fire bounces off of the exterior of her command hub like balls off a wall. As the A.I. attempts to run through as many of the androids as possible, Natia surveys her surroundings.

  She looks and sees Khalil on her left flank, trailing from behind. She notices that the androids are grabbing onto the side of his T-Walker and are beginning to climb up.

  “Khalil, they’re climbing up the side of your turtle mech! There aren’t any other ways inside this thing, are there?” Natia calls out.

  “No, just the underbelly where we entered in. If there’s any weakness, that’s where they’ll look to attack.” Khalil thinks back. “They’re climbing up yours now too!”

  Natia looks out the front and sees an android hanging onto the exterior Keletronium glass. It is clad in black armor with a cutting tool of some sort.

  “Stop!” She screams out. The T-Walker comes to a screeching halt. The android goes flying back so hard, it shatters into pieces when it slams onto the concrete more than a dozen feet below. “Back up as fast as we accelerated!”

  Her T-Walker speeds in the opposite direction. She can hear the crunching of android parts beneath the massive tires. “Fire all weapons as we reverse.”