Page 59 of The Space Traveller's Lover
“The tuna farm?” John Sanders jolts in disbelief.
“Yes, unfortunately, yes.” Walker bows his head, raising his arms in a helpless gesture.
“How’s everyone?” Sanders asks in utter shock. He fumbles with his phone while trying to contact Tinian’s port authorities. But he gets no response.
“The robots are pushing our people to move underground. Many families in Tinian have made it into our cave systems. We need to make sure they get the help they need.”
Sam nods nervously. “Yes, my family has gone into Diablo’s cave … let’s hope everybody has made it okay.”
“Let’s not get too emotional or defeatist,” General Stewart interrupts, pacing up and down the room. “Now, we have to keep our focus and our resolve, for our ultimate goal is to succeed!”
The Generals grab their fists and hold their arms up into the air as they shout their slogans.
“We will prevail. We will succeed.”
“How are we going to stop the robots, General Stewart?” A doubtful Walker dares to interrupt the impromptu victory clamour.
A sudden, expectant silence sets in as everyone in the room waits for the General’s response.
“We can surround them in their boltholes—stop the robots before more of them can get out and deploy their shields, then we sweep them back into their trenches … or wherever they come from.”
“With respect, General Stewart,” Khan intercedes, “we don’t know how their shields work, but we do know that nothing, not even any of our laser-guided weapons, can get close to any of the robots.”
“Well, what else do we know about them? There must be something we can do before they finish with the entire planet as they’ve done with Tinian,” Stewart blurts out.
No one dares to speak a word. In their troubled, confused minds, the sheer recognition of an unfathomable menace beyond anything they have ever encountered finally begins to sink in.
“We should observe them for a while longer—without provoking them. We should be able to find their weak point.” General Ming tentatively proposes.
“Yeah,” General Stewart hesitantly replies, pressing his lips and closing his eyes as in deep thought. “We can certainly do that.”
“Our main tasks now should be to get food and supplies for all our people in their shelters.” General Ming continues talking in a more confident tone, encouraged by General Stewart’s somewhat reluctant support.
“We should keep the lockdown in place in all the areas. Allow the rescue teams to walk through the cities to reach those in need. We have to keep the global help services going. We must keep open the main supplies of electricity, water, gas—”
“Agreed!” General Stewart states, this time sounding more convinced. “General Ming, we will need you to direct the central surveillance network. Professor Khan and his team will keep a close eye on those robots. We must be able to figure out how to disable their shields.”
“Agreed!” General Ming affirms.At least we have a plan we can execute, he thinks.
General Stewart walks towards Sanders’ desk and checks on the recent images from the ARA’s suboceanic cameras. The long fractured trench looks eerily quiet, its dark crevices showing no sign of the robots.
“I’ll instruct our fleet of submarines to set off towards our target at maximum speed,” Stewart boasts. “Once we take up the robots’ exit point, we’ll hit them with everything we have—all at once. We won’t let them come out of their holes. Shock and destroy!”
“May I remind you, General, they have ‘all-seeing, all-hearing’ powers. Right now, they may be laughing at us while we plan our helpless attack.” Professor Khan tries one more time to discourage him. But his comments have the opposite effect, making the general even more reckless.
“Do you think I’m going to believe every word the aliens say?” Stewart snaps.
The exasperated general promptly orders all the ARA’s submarines to assemble in full attacking mode at the newly discovered target.
All the while, it is impossible for him or anyone in the room to detect the sensory-sphere hovering under the ceiling, cloaked in its invisible shield, and transmitting everything to the Rom-Ghenshars’ central processor.
“The sooner we stop these robots, the sooner we can free our cities before the whole planet gets destroyed. I’ll be the first to order the attack,” Stewart staunchly declares, moving towards the command panels and reviewing all the instruments’ readings. He places his hand on a bulkyred button and stops short of pushing it, sliding his fingers over it instead. Then, looking directly at John Sanders, he orders him, “Air Marshal Sanders, you need to go back to Tinian with Captain Walker, check on your people, then join the ARA Navy for the follow-up attack once we’ve destroyed their exit point. General Ming and I will closely supervise the operations from here.”
“What about me?” The hesitant voice of Sam annoys General Stewart. He is not used to being reminded that he has forgotten about something.
“Oh yes,” General Stewart says, looking at Sam dismissively. “We shouldn’t forget we have someone here that may help us—”
“I’m sure I can help! Erin was one of us once; she can still be one of us!” Sam firmly replies, ignoring the general’s scorn.
