Chapter Six
ENSNARED
"All systems are dead."

The bridge of the New Gnu is dark, quiet. Only the tiny indicator lamps of the autonomous support systems wink in the gloom. Slowly, groggily, Geronimo regains consciousness. Touching himself carefully, he is reassured that he did not die.

"Some ride, huh?"

The computer doesn't answer. All the screens are blank.

Geronimo pulls himself out of the Magno Chair(tm) and stumbles toward the airlock. Donning his helmet, he seals his suit, then yanks on the door's emergency release. The door blows open with a howl of wind as the ship's pressure equalizes.

The Gladknight V follows a similar path through the atmosphere, although with much less shaking and twisting. Within, Snax Mawhoooba toys with the joystick, letting the Tow Hold(tm) guide the ship to the planet's surface.

Gladius spies the loafing Snax. "Hey, suit up." He glares briefly then starts for the airlock to ready himself for battle.

A few short steps out of the ship Geronimo realizes that he is standing on a platform, descending. Cautiously, he turns on his headlamp, its small beam lost in the cavernous surroundings. He inspects the damage to the New Gnu. It is burnt, covered with dents and scrapes, and the front landing pod has punctured through the platform.

"Great. Wonderful. I'm happy." He leans his head against the battered ship. The clack of his helmet's synthetic composite on the hull resounds throughout the gaping elevator shaft.

His eye catches a glint of light along the cavern wall: a ladder. Geronimo sprints to edge of the platform. One meter away he sees the bottom of the ladder appear, rising as the platform sinks. Geronimo leaps, catching the last rung.

His fingers flay for purchase as the ship descends beneath him. Managing to pull himself up, he hangs from the ladder and watches the New Gnu come to a grinding halt far below. Floodlights click on, illuminating the charred hull of the ship. A small, gravity repulsing Blast O'Bot(tm) appears, skimming half a meter above the deck. The robot enters the ship.

There is a flash of laser fire from within. The robot re-appears, a laser cannon, glowing red hot, extended from its mechanical arm. Geronimo swallows hard and, taking a deep breath, begins to climb.

"We're on some kind of, like, descending platform," Snax calls, now clad in a bulky pressure suit. "There must be a secret base below the planet's surface."

"You just figure that out?" Gladius calls from the airlock, pulling back the bolt on the BIG GUN(tm).

"Like, no need to get hostile."

"Scan the outside!"

Snax stares at the blank monitors, dumbfounded. "No can do. All systems are dead."

"So are we, if we aren't careful. Grab your Hand Cannon."

"Hey, I'm a non-violent kinda guy," Snax whines, sweat beads forming on his upper lip.

Gladius storms from the airlock onto the bridge, the BIG GUN(tm) aimed at Snax's head. "That's it you pod-toed––"

KACHUNK!

The platform bumps to a halt. Gladius cocks his head, wary. The silence is interrupted by the sound of a cutting torch igniting outside the airlock door.

"Do it!" He trains his weapon on the door.

Snax fumbles under the console for his helmet. With a quick glance at Gladius, he reaches up under the console and toggles a switch on the compact device he has placed there. Hearing the faint beep, he takes a breath and quickly begins to search in his bag for the Company issued weapon. Finding the hefty pistol, he brushes the dust off and shoves it in his utility belt.

With a howl of pressure equalization, a meter square hole appears in the airlock door. A small robot looms outside, framed in the hole. Before it can fire its laser, Gladius lets loose with the BIG GUN(tm). The door, the robot, and the outer casing of the airlock are vaporized by the glaring plume of plasma from the muzzle. Gladius leaps through the hole onto the platform, waving the BIG GUN(tm) around the cavern.

"Yoohoo. Is it, like, safe to come out?" whispers Snax.

"Get out here, weasel, or I'll call the Union and get your permit revoked!"

Snax pokes his head through the hole. Gladius grabs him by the suit front and pulls him out onto the platform.

"Cover my ass."

Gladius detaches his Help Me(tm) standard issue survival support kit from his belt and withdraws the PP One Presence Probe(tm) detection pack. He sets the scan mode to detect biological/silicon based neural-transmissions and touches the preset wave balance to log in his and Snax's brainwaves.

Geronimo, now on a platform at the top of the ladder, peers into an access tunnel. Far down the tunnel a faint light illumines the intersection of a cross tunnel. With a last glance at the New Gnu on the platform far below, Geronimo ducks into the tunnel.

CLICK!

The Presence Probe(tm) alarm sounds, warning of an approaching, fluctuating neural-field. Gladius twirls, cocks the BIG GUN(tm), and scans the recesses for the intruder. Snax tugs at his weapon, which is hung up in his belt. Freeing it, he levels the piece and swivels it around the cavern.

Two Blast O'Bots(tm) fly into the chamber above them.

Gladius lets loose with two huge eruptions from the BIG GUN(tm). Snax recoils at the startling blast of activity, involuntarily firing a shot from his pistol.

Remnants of the two attacking bots rain down around them. Gladius dives for the cover of the Gladknight's landing gear, while Snax does the Watusi amidst the shower of molten sparks.

"Mawhoooba!" Gladius shouts, eyes darting around the cavern. "Get over here!"

Three more Blast O'Bots(tm) enter, each from a different direction, and begin to converge on the dancing Snax.

"Snax!" Gladius lets rip and another bot explodes in a spray of searing shrapnel.

The blast snaps Snax to attention and he sees the two remaining bots bearing down on him. Frozen, he stands helpless, watching them train their weapons upon him.

"Snax!!"

Gladius tries to take aim, but Snax is standing directly in his line of fire. With a resounding snap the bots weapons cock for firing. Snax's eye stares straight ahead, glazed and unseeing. Gladius braces, sights trained on Snax's back, waiting for the moment the bots become visible.

Suddenly, Snax topples over backward, out cold, just as the bot weapons unleash. Surprised, Gladius jams the trigger of the BIG GUN(tm), using the recoil to fling him out of the line of fire. The Gladknight's landing strut buckles with a direct hit and the ship creaks, settling into a new attitude.

The errant shot from the BIG GUN(tm) has winged one of the bots and it spins wildly, its guidance controls inoperative. The internal monitoring systems quickly assess its situation and, within seconds, it self-destructs in a blinding explosion.

Geronimo stands below the light at the end of the tunnel, where it intersects with another passage. Far down the cross-tunnel he can see the flicker of explosions. The rumbling concussions vibrate through the solid rock, causing a hollow feeling in his gut. His only choice is to scout the source of the noise and hope for the best.

Carelessly, he tromps down the long corridor, his Junior Hand Cannon(tm) at the ready. He fails to notice, hidden in a dim recess in the cave wall, a Blast O'Bot's(tm) red sensor come to life, detecting his presence.

Deep in the underground maze of tunnels sits a slight, blue-skinned figure with bright yellow hair. He watches a Holo-Vis Imager(tm) projection of Geronimo. The effete individual leans forward and touches a keypad, relating location information to his squadron of roving Blast O'Bots(tm). He is a hunter, thriving on predation.

WHUP! WHUP! WHUP!

An alarm blares. Startled from his intense concentration, the blue being rotates an ear toward the console speaker. An electronic voice issues the warning message: "Security alert. Long range transmission frequency intercepted and blocked. Source located at docking bay six. Instructions?"

"Nature of the transmission?" the creature queries, turning his attention away from Geronimo.

There is a pause, then the electronic voice crackles again: "Content unknown. Message encoded. Please wait".

There is another pause.

"Cross referencing of code and radio frequency files indicates an eighty-six point seven, seven, three percent probability of military involvement. Message decipherable within ten point two hours. Instructions?"

A slender blue finger opens the intercom. "Petunia?"

"Yes, Fystik?" answers a no-nonsense voice.

"It seems one of the two ships that we just captured has tried to transmit a long range encoded message - on a military frequency."

"What was in the message?"

"The computer is attempting to decipher it as we communicate. Do you still want the humanoids eliminated?"

"Catch them alive."

"They're moments away from retrieval," Fystik replies, smiling.

Gladius holds his breath, pressing his form tightly into the confines of the Gladknight's landing gear well. The searching Blast O'Bot(tm) passes the opening directly beneath him. It pauses, rotates a few degrees counter-clockwise, as if listening, then slowly moves on. Gladius exhales, then carefully lowers the BIG GUN(tm) down through the landing gear hatchway. He braces himself, then leans down, hanging his head out through the opening. The bot hovers just outside the hatch, bobbing gently, tiny lights winking, the barrel of its gun mere centimeters from the nozzle of the BIG GUN(tm).

"Aaauuuggghhh!"

Gladius screams, jerks his head back into the ship.

The bot unleashes a powerful stun pulse which whisks the BIG GUN(tm) from Slate's grasp, leaving his hands tingling and numb. He scrambles up into the well and jams at the maintenance hatch leading into the vessel. The bot appears in the opening below him, taking aim. The small door gives way and Gladius rolls out of sight into the ship.

The Blast O'Bot(tm) attempts to follow, but is too cumbersome to fit through the awkward, narrow spaces around the landing gear. It begins to cut away excess metal, making room for itself to squeeze through.

Inside, Gladius regains his composure as the eerie flickering of the cutting torch begins. Damn!

His eyes dart frantically for a weapon. He is in a service bay between the interior walls of the ship and the exterior hull. All the electrics, hydraulics, plumbing and ventilation lines for the ship are in front of him.

CLANNNGGGG!!

A large chunk of the ship's hull drops to the platform below. The bot edges further up into the well.

Gladius snaps his gaze from the sparks, now spitting into the service bay, to the plumbing lines. His eyes trail down the bulkhead to a fire extinguisher. Dry chemical: for oil or electrical fires.

A large burst of sparks shower into the bay and another chunk of ship clangs to the floor.

Electrical fires. Water. Gladius leaps to the plumbing lines, yanking desperately. The connector releases and the flex hose begins to flagellate wildly under the pressure of the spouting water. Wrangling the hose, he thrusts it down into the landing gear well, soaking the electronic bot.

The sparks cease. A high-pitched whine fills the bay: the sound of a bot in distress, heading for self-destruction.

Gladius scrambles for cover.

ZZZKKSSSSKAPOWWWWWW!!!

Hot bits of robot splatter against the ceiling of the service bay.

Geronimo suddenly senses a presence behind him. Turning, he confronts a Blast O'Bot(tm), floating millimeters from his faceplate.

"Aaauuuggghhh!!!"

Geronimo screams, firing the Junior Hand Cannon(tm) into the bot.

The close range of the blast knocks them both tumbling in opposite directions. The bot spins, wobbling down the tunnel, while Geronimo comes to rest on a floor grate. After a split-second hesitation, he begins to yank on the heavy grill. He manages to get the shaft below partially uncovered when he notices the Blast O'Bot(tm) training its sights on him. Shifting his weight on the cockeyed grate causes it to tilt like a swinging door.

"Whoa!" Geronimo drops into the opening just as the bot blasts the space where he had been.

Gladius grunts as he heaves the massive bulk of Snax over his shoulder and heads down one of the exiting tunnels.

THUNK! SCREEEK!

Gladius looks up, the grate of an air shaft above his head starts to buckle. He dives out of the way, dropping Snax. The grate, and an oft-patched spacesuit, crash onto the prone copilot.

Gladius rises, staring at the snarled heap on the floor. The mottled spacesuit is quickly disentangling itself from the limp appendages of Snax and the twisted metal of the grating.

Gladius Slate groans as Geronimo Lavoriss clambers to his feet and dusts himself off. Geronimo spies the big man observing him.

"Oh, hey Gladman, funny meetin' you here, heh, heh."

"Lavoriss, what are you doing here?"

"I was just cruisin' by and thought I'd stop and check out the situation, ya know, being a garbage dump and all, and… and…" he notices Snax lying on the floor, "and who is this?"

"This happens to be Snax Mawhoooba, my copilot, but at the moment… " Embarrassed, Gladius is stuck for words.

"Luckily, your copilot broke my fall."

BOOM!

The floor next to Snax shudders from a bot blast.

"The Blast O'Bot, its followed me."

Geronimo reaches for one of Snax's arms. Gladius grabs the other and they pull the fledgling copilot out of the line of fire.

Geronimo helps Gladius heft Snax over his shoulder and the two men hustle down the tunnel. The Blast O'Bot(tm) appears behind them.

FWAP!

A Sani-Stun(tm) paralyzer beam engulfs Geronimo, Gladius, and the unconscious Snax. They halt abruptly, frozen in mid-stride.