Ammann. A nice little world, standard gravity, not much in the way of radical weather changes. It's like mid-Spring there all the time. A decent little special culture world. So, other than a week of spaceflight in a cargo transport, since the nearest gate to Ammann is a light week away, which sort of sucks, and we're going to indulge in a delicious level of irony, so far so good.
"Sir, he just keeps babbling about 'little clones, so many little clones!'" Sgt. Bucky whined.
"Look," I said, "Dr. Drake is weird, but didn't you try to even-"
"Captain, every time I asked him about this, he started giggling and yelling about serums. What the hell is a serum? I don't know, Cap. I even asked to talk to his assistant, and he started on about 'which one, so many of them, so many clones!'"
I took a deep calming breath. "Bucky, get on the horn to Col. Jamal Salazar. Ask him if he has any nerds that are even capable of understanding and explaining micro/biotech, and beg him, if need be, to have him or them call me back. Don't worry about Dr. Drake. I'll send him a hippo."
"Yes, sir."
"And then, get me Lt. Fido. I need to get him appraised of this."
"Yes, sir." Bucky answered. "But, sir? He's...um...busy."
"Busy? As opposed to doing something?"
Bucky blushed,"Sir, she's a nice lady, sir. So are her friends."
"The Academy said join. They said it would be fun. I could see and do so much, they said..." I muttered. "Okay, as soon as it's convenient, do get Fido and get his horny ass in here, okay?"
Bucky saluted and left. So, I've been poring over this, and it worries me. I don't think that we can kill this. It's biological and mechanical. Kill the virus, and the nanotite just finds another one. Cripple the nanotite, and the virus just infects the bio systems of another host and makes it much more receptive to infection. Plus, outside of just nuking the host, there's no actual way to kill this thing. Freezing, fire, radiation, EMP, starvation, chemicals, nothing kills this. It's so perfect. Robotulism is so elegant. Dr. Drake could not have come up with this, since it has nothing to do with his cloning fetish.
Three hours later, Lt. Fido glided into my office, looking askew and deeply self-satisfied, "Had a good time, did you?"
"Oh, good afternoon, sir. Yes, me and the Tool Leadlady were discussing socketing and torquing factors in adjusting couplings."
I blinked, "No doubt, Lieutenant. No doubt."
"Um...heh. Yes, sir."
"So," I started, "Here's the deal: you're going to a planet full of Space Amish to fight off a biomech threat that we can't kill, or cure, or treat. Everything is extremely hazardous, and you only get what's available. There's no money in the uparming and outfitting budget for upgrades, and you have one non-complaint mech that I am dubious about, and you're bringing him. Any questions?"
"Yes, sir. Why us?"
"Short answer is that we're here."
"Yes, sir," he responded.
"Lieutenant, I am deeply concerned. Normally, I'd send an entire division to contain and/or kill this thing, and I don't have that luxury. I don't even have a whole company. I have a platoon, yours, and I'm going. The special weapons drones are going too, so they may be useful. Despite what you think, Fido, I am a mere Captain, and Col. Salazar isn't answering the phone."
"So, when do we leave, sir?"
"As soon as we can. Look, this thing, this infection, Robotulism, is KILLING people. Harmless and innocent citizens are dying, and other military units are being crushed trying to stop this."
"Again, sir, if this is such a horrible thing, and it is, then why us?"
"Because..." I started, and then thought about it, "Because it's us."
He just starred, and said, "Fair enough. We'll be ready tomorrow morning." I dismissed him to brief his platoon, and went back to trying to figure out how a 9 mech platoon and 9 mech group of drones could beat a biomech plague with off-the-shelf equipment. This was going to be exciting.
Submitted by Lee Sarde #775296