Chapter 9:
Message in a Bottle

	The command chamber down in the undersea base had been turned into a 
war room. Various monitors had been set up to monitor individual probes that 
had been launched to the surface. In the middle of it all, a large table had 
been set up. Computerized maps had been set up all along it's surface, 
giving the five a good view of the situation above them.
	"So Isthus has established ten rather large complexes on the surface," 
Terry said.
	"But that's just in the Asian region," Mallory pointed out. "It is a 
big continent, after all."
	"True." He pointed to the African savanna. "He has one major complex 
here. From what our probes tell us, it is so heavily armed, we wouldn't get 
within 500 feet of it before being attacked."
	"How can we tell?" Vu asked.
	"There is a dead zone around the complex. Local wildlife that ventures 
into that area is promptly killed."
	"Okay."
	"We've also been picking up activity in the South American region," 
Shivana said. "It is not Isthus' forces. They are apparently unfamiliar with 
the jungle terrain." She pointed. "A number of Isthus' weapons and vehicles 
have been reported missing in this region. We believe there is a possibility 
that there is some human resistance."
	"There is definitely some resistance in the North American region," 
Mallory said. "A group in the New York City area have been holed up for 
quite some time on salvaged materials from skirmishes with Isthus' men."
	"They could easily keep Isthus occupied in that region," Terry said. 
"We don't have to worry about it."
	"So what else will we do?"
	A soft cough interrupted their brainstorming. They all turned to Kari, 
who was silently watching the plans.
	"What's up?" Vu asked.
	"Hmm?" she asked. "Oh, nothing." She smiled softly.
	"We picked you up from the New York City region," Terry said. "Are you 
proud to see your people keeping themselves safe?"
	"Considering that the ones doing the fighting are probably gang 
members, yeah. It gives me further hope that my daughters and my husband are 
fine."
	Vu smiled. "It's okay, Miss Zakhary. Your husband is a strong man. 
He'll survive, and keep your daughters safe too."
	"Thank you, Vu."
	"Great," Terry said. "From the way you describe him, he may be a 
potential ally on the surface. But that's not what we should concern 
ourselves with right now."

                                      *******

	New York City. At one point in history, it was the most prosperous 
cities, not only in the United States, but in the world. Now it was reduced 
to nothing but Manhattan Island. The bridges leading to the main land - 
Brooklyn, New Jersey, and so forth - were all ripped down, whatever useful 
materials they had in them harvested for other purposes. All along the coast 
lines, as well as at regular intervals all along the inner portion of the 
island, large, shabby versions of the hand held weapons that had been 
scavenged were built to defend against tanks and aircraft. Close to twenty 
five thousand people lived here, all returning to the way things were 
hundreds of years ago. Huge farms had been set up, growing various crops for 
the people. Military training facilities, run by former warring gangs, 
trained soldiers. Tiny factories churned out equipment, replicas of what the 
enemy brought forth to use against them. It was the remains of human 
civilization.

	But it thrived.

	"Any luck on finding out what's going on?" The shaky voice of one of 
the technicians at a primitive radar station along the coastline broke their 
uneasy silence. While they were facing out into the Atlantic Ocean, they kept 
an ever vigilant watch, waiting for sneak attacks from behind.
	"Nothing," his fellow said. "There is nothing on the horizon, save our 
people."
	"Good." The first technician sat down in his chair and took a much 
needed deep breath. "I can't handle this anymore, Pedro."
	"I know," Pedro responded. "My nerves are shot to hell. I'm ready for 
retirement."
	"It's only been two weeks since the capital fell."
	"I know, Aaron. I know." He sighed and reached for a joint that was 
sitting in an ashtray on one of the control panels. "The only good thing 
that has come out of this whole thing is that nobody gives a damn if you 
smoke pot anymore." He smiled and took a drag. "Too bad we don't have much."
	"Hey!" Aaron started rolling himself a joint as well. "Those Bloods 
guys say we'll have a crop of the stuff in about a month."
	"Yeah." He put the joint down and sighed. "Just hope the boss doesn't 
find out about it."

	The alarms started to go off. "Shit, we got company."
	Aaron quickly rolled his chair to the main panel. "We've got one 
contact..." He scratched his head. "Either the marijuana's getting to us, or 
the contact really is coming out of the water."
	"O...kay..." Pedro picked up a phone from his panel and placed it to 
his ear. "This is guard station Three Beta," he said. "We have an 
unidentified target appearing from out of the water."
	"Small transport," Aaron shouted.
	"It appears to be a small transport. Requesting further instructions."
	There was an uneasy silence.
	"Train defensive turrets on the target," a voice on the other end 
responded. "Allow the ship to enter. If it is discovered to be hostile, 
blast it. We will have an intercept team there to assist if problems arise."
	"Aye sir." He hung up the phone. "Aaron, aim the air guards on the 
ship, but don't shoot it just yet."
	"Aye." Aaron started to tap furiously at his controls.

	The intercept team - a rag tag group toting scruffy weapons either 
built or scavenged - stood ready to fight as the transport slowly landed in 
a clearing. "Remember," the leader of the team shouted. "Do not shoot until 
they fire. Is that clear?" Half the team shouted their compliance. The other 
half hesitated before agreeing. They readied their weapons and waited for 
movement.
	Slowly, the door to the transport opened. There was silence for a few 
moments before, finally, a metallic hand appeared on the door frame. 
Everyone tensed up as the robot slowly pulled itself out. It cleared the 
ship, allowing it to take back off, before approaching the group.
	"I think I know what this is," someone said. "I recall hearing about a 
group of robots that appeared to fight with our people down in DC."
	"You mean this is one of the good guys?"
	"That is correct," the robot said in a toneless voice. "I am unit 
X-35b, a special unit sent by my creator to deliver a message to your 
leader."
	"And after you deliver this message?" the leader asked.
	"I am armed with a medium weapon. I have been ordered, once my message 
is delivered, to serve as a soldier in your militia."
	There was a little bit of muttering amongst the group. "Fine," the 
leader eventually said. "Disarm your weapon and follow us."

                                      *******

	"Good," Terry said as he watched X-35b's feed from the surface. 
"They'll receive the message and know they are not alone in their fight."
	"Yes," Mallory said. "But ten to one, they'll want more of our 
robots."
	"They can have them."
	"But how will they be able to ask."
	"The message also includes instructions to have a representative meet 
them in the same spot to meet another messenger who will take an order in a 
few days." He smiled. "It isn't much, but we have to protect this little 
sliver of hope."
	Mallory smiled and got up from her chair. "I know." She sat down in 
his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your plan seems to be 
flawless."
	He smiled. "All plans have flaws." He kissed her softly. "I just plan 
on having those flaws be small." He leaned in and started to kiss her neck, 
forcing a couple of soft moans of pleasure out of her.
	"You two are awfully close," Sara interrupted. "Even though you are 
two completely different species."
	"Species has nothing to do with it," Terry said. "I love her, and 
that's all that matters." He gave her a hug for added emphasis.
	"Have you two ever considered consummating your love?"
	Mallory blushed horribly. "N-no! We haven't...not yet..."
	Terry smirked. "Why so nosy, Sara?" There was no response. "Sara?"
	"Just seeing if there's any way I can boost moral. That's all." She 
whirred a little bit. "I'm being called away."
	"Go ahead," Terry said. "We promise not to dirty up any of the 
controls."

	Sara traveled her circuitry to Kari, who was busy in the robotics lab. 
"You called for me, Miss Zakhary?"
	"Yes, Sara," she said. "Would it be possible to use one of these 
robots to transmit a signal into space, towards Tobias?"
	"Yes, but the robot would be discovered by the Raiders and promptly 
hunted down."
	She nodded. "Can one be programmed to travel a safe distance from the 
human encampment and transmit?"
	"Yes. What would you be transmitting, though."
	She smiled. "A couple of audio clips. I want Tobias to know that we're 
still here and waiting for him." She pulled out a CD and looked at it. "I 
know that would brighten his day, if he knows what's going on down here, 
that is."
	Sara chuckled. "It sounds like a fantastic idea. Put the CD into the 
robot and it'll record all the data on it and move to transmit once it's on 
the surface."
	"Thank you, Sara."

                                      *******

	Julia was greeted at the door to the tavern by a scrappy little human. 
"May I take your coat, ma'am?" he asked meekly. She nodded and took the coat 
off. He quickly took it and brought it to a long rack with numbered pegs. He 
hung it up and brought her a small, numbered card. "Present that to me when 
you wish to leave and I will retrieve your coat."
	"Thank you," she said with a small smile. "This one seems to be making 
out well," she added under her breath. She looked around. "Too bad I cannot 
say that for the rest of them." All around her were humans. A majority of 
them were serving her fellows drinks at the tables. Only a few of them, 
mostly young women, were lined up against a wall, awaiting a fate she was 
unsure of. She shook her head and approached the bar.
	"What may I get you, ma'am?" the human on the other side asked her.
	"A beer would be nice," she responded.
	"Right away." He pulled a bottle from under the bar. "You are in luck, 
ma'am. We just got in a fresh shipment of beer from the Irish area across 
the pond." He put the bottle in front of her. "It's some of the best god 
damn beer in the world."
	"Thank you." He opened it for her and she took a sip. "Mmm. You're 
right. It is good."
	"Thank you."
	She took another healthy swig. "And what did you mean by 'across the 
pond'?"
	"It's old human slang, ma'am. It means across the ocean, since that is 
where Ireland is." He started to say something else, but stopped when a male 
wolf approached the bar. "What can I do for you, sir?" The wolf said nothing 
and pointed at the young women. The human shut his eyes and grabbed a set of 
keys. "Which one, sir?" he asked, his voice a little softer.
	"The young one in the blue," the wolf growled.
	The human shuddered. "Yes sir." He quickly made his way over to the 
women and undid the shackles of the one in blue. He whispered something into 
her ear and stepped aside as the wolf grabbed her. With her kicking and 
screaming, he dragged her into a room and shut the door. The human sighed 
and returned to his post behind the bar.
	"What was that all about?" Julia asked.
	The human sighed. "See those other women?" She nodded. "Those are...
the appointed..." He shut his eyes and clenched his fist.
	"What are they?"
	"Pleasure slaves, ma'am." She gripped her bottle. "Your people - men 
and women alike - sometimes request them, especially the young ones. They 
take them and-"
	The top of her bottle shattered in her grasp. "I can imagine." She 
looked at the shattered bottle. "Um...can I get a glass?"
	"Of course, ma'am."

	She had just finished fishing the last shards of glass out of her 
drink when she heard a vile hissing from behind her. "Ssso, I wasss right," 
the voice hissed. "You do have a sssoft ssspot for them."
	She sighed. "Leave me alone, Khan."
	The snake sat down two barstools away. "You are a weak sssoldier," she 
hissed. "I fail to sssee why Lord Isssthusss would be interesssted in you." 
She glared at the bartender. "Ssscotch, boy."
	"W-would you like some of our regular, or would you like some of the 
Irish stuff we just got in, ma'am?" he responded in a voice jagged with 
fear.
	"Hmm...I would like to try the Ssscotish ssstuff."
	"Yes ma'am."
	"Shut up, boy."
	Julia shot a glare at her. "Let the man do his job." The bartender 
presented Khan with her drink. In one fluid motion, she snatched it, took a 
sip, and spit it all over the bartop.
	"Thisss tassstes like shit!" She growled and brought a fist across the 
bartender's face. Almost instantly, she was knocked back by a well placed 
right hook from Julia. She recovered as best she could, only to catch a nice 
gaze down the muzzle of Julia's service revolver. "What the hell isss 
thisss?"
	"You're right, Khan," Julia said. "I might have a soft spot for them. 
I might not be the perfect soldier like you. But when it comes to being an 
actual person, you have no hope. Now, take care of your business and get the 
fuck out of my sight. I have no problem killing you."
	Khan wiped a little blood off of her jaw and looked at the bartender. 
"How much for the drink?"
	"No charge, ma'am."
	She smiled wickedly. "That isss the firssst sssmart thing you've done 
all day, boy." She brushed herself off and left. Julia waited until Khan was 
gone before returning to her seat. The tavern was silent for a few minutes 
after, the silence finally being broken by the screams of the unfortunate 
woman who had been picked out by the wolf.

                                     ********

	"We'll try this again one more time," Myst said. "If this doesn't work, 
we'll start from scratch. Understand?" He looked over the vacuum tube at 
Kaitlyn, who nodded. "We've spent a few weeks at this. It should be working 
by now. Begin initiation sequence." He started fiddling with his controls.
	"Plasma coils online," Kaitlyn reported. "Cooling systems at optimal."
	"All right." He pushed two buttons, flipped a switch, and put his hand 
on a lever. "We'll go to 65% and fire."
	"Aye." He nodded and started to push the lever forward. "Power is at 
15%. Everything is stable." He smiled and inched it forward a little more. 
"Power is at 30%. Nothing major." He nudged it forward again. "45%. No 
problems."
	"Good." He nudged the lever forward once more.
	"65%," Kaitlyn said, looking over at him. "Everything is at nominal."
	"Excellent. It should have blown by now." He flipped a small box on 
his control panel open and placed his thumb over the button that was there. 
"Fire on my mark."
	Kaitlyn flipped a similar box open and placed her thumb over her 
button. "Ready."
	He took a deep breath. "Fire." They both pushed their buttons. The 
tube lit up in a blue flash of light, which sustained for ten seconds 
before disappearing.
	Kailtyn started tapping at her controls. "Energy release successful. I 
am detecting no damage to the module." She looked up at Myst. "This was a 
complete success."
	Myst laughed and started to move to her side of the tube. "It's 
finished! The power cell, after all this time, is finished!"
	"I know." She met him half way in a hug. They let the hug stand for a 
few moments before leaning in and congratulating each other with a soft 
kiss. 
	Needless to say, it startled the both of them.
	They both pulled away, blushing horribly. "I'm...I'm sorry," Myst 
said, trying to hide his embarrassment. "I went a little too far, didn't I?"
	"N-no," Kaitlyn responded. "It was my fault too." She smiled. 
"Although it did feel good."
	He looked at her. "It...it did?" She caught his gaze, smiled, and 
nodded. "Well...I..."
	She moved a little closer. "Eh, we should go and celebrate." She 
blushed. "Um...how does dinner sound?"
	"Dinner? That sounds great." 
	He smiled. "Great." He offered his hand. "Shall we?"

	"Incoming message," the computer beeped. Tobias, who was sitting at his 
ready room table with Samantha, looked up from his reports. "Incoming 
message," the computer repeated.
	"From who?" he asked.
	"From Larcris and the main United Pack Domain force," the computer 
beeped.
	Samantha looked up from her book. "Larcris?" she asked.
	"That is correct."
	"Patch them through," Tobias said. He turned towards the wall, where 
Larcris' face appeared. "Hello, old friend," he said with a smile.
	"Hello again, Lone Wolf," Larcris said, a little more serious than 
Tobias.
	"What can I do for you?" Larcris hesitated, biting his lower lip. 
"Larcris?"
	"Is Mink in the room?"
	"No. Why?"
	"Good." He took a deep breath. "There were some complications with the 
purge of remaining Raiders from our planet."
	Tobias quirked a brow. "You finished that a month ago, right?"
	"Eh...no. There were some small problems. Dane and a small group of 
his men stayed to finish the job. They were going to take a light cruiser to 
join up with the rest of the main fleet."
	"And...?"
	"When they arrived, Dane was unconscious." Larcris shut his eyes. "He 
was shot in the back of his head. His nerves were fried. We have people 
working on him now. One of our top psychics, however, tapped his mind. He 
wants you to tell Mink that he's in charge now."
	Samantha recoiled from the news. "No..." She shook her head. "Mink's 
big enough to tear the ship apart. We cannot tell him. He might destroy the 
ship."
	"We don't have a choice," Tobias said. "He and the entire Viper Sting 
need to hear this."
	"Hear what?" Mink asked as he walked in.
	Tobias took a deep breath. "Mink, sit down."
	Mink stopped where he was. "What's wrong?"
	"Just sit." He hesitated before he complied. "Mink, there were some 
problems on planet." He looked at the bear, who was fixated on every word. 
"Something happened. D was shot in the back of the head."
	"No..." Mink stood up. "No...this is a practical joke."
	"It isn't," Larcris said. "We are trying to repair the nerves that 
were severed by the blast. But he told one of our psychics to tell you to 
that you're in charge of the Viper Sting."
	Mink shook his head. "No! It isn't happening! I don't believe it!"
	Tobias got up. "Calm down Mink. D will be okay."
	"No...he won't be." He looked up. "Larcris..." He hesitated. "When we 
first got the unit together, D told me that, should he ever be injured like 
this, he would like to die rather than be healed." He hesitated. "As much as 
I hate to do this, I have to honor his request. Larcris..." He shut his eyes 
and turned his head away. "Let him die." They all fell silent. "That is D's 
wish. Let him die."
	"Are you sure about this?" Larcris asked. Mink nodded sadly. "All 
right."
	"Thank you sir." He turned away and clenched a fist. Samantha 
immediately moved to comfort him. 
	Tobias looked at Larcris. "Dane was a great warrior. He deserves a 
hero's funeral." He gave a brief smile. "See to it, okay?"
	Larcris nodded knowingly. "Gladly."
	"Is there anything else you wish to tell us?"
	"No."
	"All right then. Wolf's Claw out." The screen blanked. He turned to 
Mink. "Mink."
	"Yes?" The bear looked at him.
	"Are you okay?" The bear nodded. "Would you like to make the 
announcement of your bosses death or should I?"
	"I would appreciate it if I did it, Tobias."
	He nodded. "Then go ahead. I'll patch it through to all the ships."
	"No." Mink stepped up to him. "All of the Viper Sting is aboard this 
ship. It stays within this ship."
	"Understood." He moved to the intercom. "Go ahead.

	Mink sadly stepped up to the intercom and pushed the button. 
"Attention all members of the Viper Sting. This is..." He hesitated. 
"Commander Mink. As of this hour, our leader, Dane Ulrich, is dead. He was 
killed in a sneak attack by the last of the Raiders on our home planet." He 
shut his eyes. "We will not let Isthus or the rest of the Raiders go unpaid 
for this act. We will continue to fight, to avenge our fallen commander and 
friend." He took a deep breath. "When we were fighting the guerrilla war 
back home, our battle cry was 'For Freedom'. It still was until we lost our 
leader. Now that he's gone, we will have a new battle cry." He held his arms 
up, like he had the entire crew there to watch him. "For Dane!" he cried at 
the top of his lungs. "For Vengeance! For The D!" He let his arms fall. 
"That is all," he said, close to tears. He turned the intercom off, rested 
his arm on the control panel, and started to weep into his arm. 
	Tobias went over and patted him on the back. "It's okay, Mink," he said. 
"We'll get Isthus back for your loss. I promise." He looked to Samantha, who 
was standing there with her hands clasped in silent prayer. Tears ran from 
her shut eyes. He lowered his head and sighed. 
	All over the ship, cries and howls went up. The Viper Sting was 
getting ready to mourn their commander. But they weren't the only ones 
crying or howling. Crash and his boys were crying too. As were the rest of 
the UPD crew. It was no longer a war to save the universe. They had lost a 
war hero to a cowardly attack.

	"Now," Mink said as he calmed down. "Now it's personal."