Shadows of Mars (Broken Stars Book 1) I.O. Adler (read people like a book TXT) 📖

She Who Waits moved next to her. “I was allowed access to the medical bay interface by the designate biologist. The Cordice device will sustain her life while a machine is assembled which can perform surgery on her bioform. Please step aside.”

The lid snapped in place. There came the sound of flowing liquid. Carmen placed a hand on the cylinder and it felt ice cold.

A further section of the bay grew brighter. A new cylinder pushed away from the wall, borne along by a thin articulated lift that appeared to be another robot. It pushed its load to the opposite wall and began to take the cylinder apart. It moved quickly. Components were removed and rearranged. Inside Jenna’s cylinder the pouring liquid sound stopped as the nearby disassembly and construction continued.

Barrett moved to examine Jenna’s cylinder and then took a closer look at a patch of yellow moss on the nearest wall. “Is that stuff harmful to humans?”

The colors began to shift beneath She Who Waits’ shell. “I will make an inquiry.”

“Then inquire about fixing my hand. Will I have to climb into a tank like that? Don’t they have something they can give me for the pain?”

Carmen wished he would shut up and not distract She Who Waits but was too tired to say anything. She remained at Jenna’s side. Hand pressed on the cylinder, she fought back tears. With the increasing racket of the bot at work, she didn’t notice the medical bay door slide open until it was too late.

The caretaker stood on its rear two legs. It wobbled like a toddler, its one lame arm dangling. It remained in place for a moment before dropping to its single functioning foreleg and cutting loose with a piercing CHIRP!

Chapter Twenty-Four

The matted russet mold hung in clumps off the caretaker’s robotic frame. The sight conjured the image of a wolf wearing a stolen skin. It vaulted forward and slammed into Agent Barrett, knocking him to the floor and straddling him. Its head pivoted back as its brilliant eye considered both She Who Waits and Carmen.

CHIRP!

Carmen ducked behind Jenna’s cylinder. “We’re friends! We’re not here to hurt anyone!”

The red cone of light in front of She Who Waits flashed and emitted a high-pitched peep. The caretaker reacted by jumping and colliding with the translator, bowling her over. Then it was on top of her and punching her shell over and over with savage force.

CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP!

Carmen grabbed a detached wall panel and ran forward, smashing it against the caretaker. The bot stumbled off She Who Waits and spun. She wound up for the next blow and swung again, knocking the bot across the head. The head righted itself and the caretaker sprang at her. It struck like a speeding car. Pain exploded through her skull and chest as the bot landed on her and knocked her to the floor.

She swatted at it with a fist and only succeeded in hurting her hand. She clawed at the face but it was hard metal and she couldn’t find a purchase. The caretaker hovered over her and once again trembled. She screamed as she tore at the moss that dangled down around its head like a shroud.

Its front claw had clamped down on her shoulder. She couldn’t budge it. Its face had Jenna’s blood spattered across it. She kicked, shoved, and tried to knee it. After a moment of struggle, she could only scream.

The caretaker remained in place on top of her. But it wasn’t moving, wasn’t making a sound.

“Get it off!”

Barrett struggled to get up. He kicked the thing. It almost fell but corrected itself by pressing harder down on her shoulder.

“Do something!” Carmen cried.

He ran the length of the bay and came back empty-handed. “There’re no tools in this place.”

She tried again to push with her legs. But the pain shooting down her shoulder was too much. The bot didn’t budge. Barrett shoved at the caretaker and fought with the claw squeezing her but couldn’t get it to release. Pulling on the arm only succeeded in causing the bot to grip tighter.

She Who Waits tilted upright as if pulled by unseen hands. She hovered closer. Her shell looked cracked. Tentacles erupted from the sands within. Barrett stumbled over himself trying to back away. The tentacles gripped the claw pinning Carmen and began to probe the caretaker’s head. A few of the appendages found openings and wormed under the metal casing. With a shudder the caretaker relaxed, the grip on Carmen’s shoulder easing. She Who Waits pushed the bot over.

Carmen got up on her feet and kicked it. “Is it dead?”

“It has been deactivated,” She Who Waits said. “A consensus was reached by the Cordice. I was given permission to act against it as it was ascertained that designate caretaker was no longer in control.”

“What do you mean? This thing was running around trying to kill us on autopilot?”

“The host robotic unit you see is no longer the caretaker. He fell ill and perished. The growths we see around their ship are indicative of a disorder the Cordice couldn’t fight.”

She massaged her shoulder. “This mossy stuff is a disease?”

“Not exactly. Their bioforms are made up of eukaryotic cell colonies. But due to a breakdown in their environmental systems over the past decades, the colonies began to adapt. An epigenetic shift in their basic cell makeup allowed for a hardier generation better adapted to the change. The subsequent colony shed its energy-hungry intelligence in favor of efficiency.”

Barrett tapped the caretaker with his foot. “This moss all over it is the Cordice?”

“No, but rather their children. They have all uploaded into their simulation. What you see growing is part of what they used to be.”

Carmen needed to sit. But first she inspected Jenna’s