Tank: Unimaginable

By Kenneth Guthrie

"I never would have thought she was still alive, but she is. Michael Olm has Jen and he's doing unspeakable things to her at this very moment. In my head, I know its a trap - that all he wants is to destroy me completely - but my heart tells me I have to go." Tank and his team face off with their ultimate adversary in a fight that will leave only one side alive. Gutsy men in combat: This is Tank.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lunatic Ink Publishing
• Release date: Oct 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311534743

Kenneth Guthrie

Kenneth Guthrie is a writer of sci-fi, fantasy and crime novels.Profile image credit: Vincent Gerbouin at Pexels.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

A Madhouse Affair

There's more to being a mercenary than one might think. Take this for example. We four are hiking through this godforsaken desert trying to find what could well be our deaths, under armed, under powered and not really ready for the immensity of the job that we have taken on. I mean, it's a damn shame that my mum isn't still alive; she'd have us four by the ears for being the worst fools ever. I can just imagine old Ma Tanks (I'm not kidding. That's really her name) dragging us outside for a good walloping.

Now, before you get all worried that I'm going to go off on a spiel about my dear old Ma, worry not. Somewhere out there is a gigantic piece of hulking old robot that has been doing the rounds of the local towns, devastating them with an efficiency that I find rather endearing. Apparently, according to the nutcase next to me (he's Mike, manager, greedy bastard and a fine shot with that 55M Sniper Rifle he has on his back right now) signed us up because he was throwing high bids on anything doable (something that varies a lot in our differing opinions) and the job holder was nuts enough to take his offer. Now I know why.

You got a smoke, Knife? Jose asks.

Knife is probably somewhere around, but, thanks to the artificial camouflage unit he likes to wear, is quite invisible, even to my rather expensive sensory system. The sneaker doesn't answer, but I don't think Jose expected him to.

You got a smoke, Tanks? he tries.

I shake my head. I've been telling him for years now that his artificial lungs can't actually absorb the nicotine that his rather squishy brain still thinks that he needs.

[It is close,] Knife sends through the unit messaging system.

I nod. Knife may be invisible, but he has the best eyes of the entire group. If he says it’s close then it is CLOSE.

We do a quick survey of the area. We are walking along a long line of sand. It happens to be on a bit of a rise that cuts off in a nasty jagged line. There is a risen area to our right and the drop (about 40 meters, which is no big deal, unless you consider how falling down there would make it rather difficult for the fighter downstairs to help those still up top). Overall, it’s a bad place to be and the wind is already picking up. The earth here has been infected by radioactive waste over the years since the nuclear wars that broke civilization and made it a heck of a lot like the Wild West people used to talk about 100 years or more ago. That dust will play havoc with our sensors if the wind really picks up. Bad is getting worse. How come that seems like it would be a good description of life of late?

Knife materializes right next to me. The guy looks like what once was referred to widely as a ninja, but from what I've seen on the old (very obsolete) version of the internet that you have to make use of if you want to see anything from WAY, WAY back when, it's more a modern chic ninja that my friend is.

[I have received vibrations.]

I pause and think that over a bit.

I never knew you were into that sort of thing.

The man tilts his head to the left. He hasn't got any eyes anymore and has a solid black steel covering that has a small hole in the front where he 'sees' from. I can never really tell if he gets a joke or thinks I'm serious.

[The weather drones indicate that there is a minor earthquake a kilometer north of here.]

I pull out a map into my 'vision' and look it over. It's a pre-nuclear spree version of what the world looked like before it got 'blown up real good' as my ma used to put it.

There's a large gully in the center there. Do you think that it might be hiding in it?

Mike glances at the map.

Why would a robot hide? it asks.

Maybe it’s playing hide and seek, Jose butts in.

Since when do robots do that?

For all its worth, man has not done much to improve robotics in the last hundred or so years since the robotic 'serves you better than you can' toaster was invented. The thing is probably an over-armed, dumb piece of trash. I doubt it can even comprehend what 'hide and seek' is, let alone decide to play it.

I shrug and say, We'll know when we know.

Weirdly, Jose turns out to be right this time.

Mega Fortress '08

That's a big robot, Jose says, pushing his slim, dull green metal clad body into the ground a little more in the hope that the thing doesn't see-kill-destroy us next.

Me and Mike nod and keep looking. I can 'see' Knife on the sensors, but not see him. He went solo a little while ago and has been off the radar for quite some time now. This is the first time he's shown up on the small triangular display that now has four red blips and one massive one just at the edge of its range.

I think we are going to die, Mike starts.

I look over at him.

You aren't going to get all emotional on me right now, are you?

He puts his hand on my arm very carefully and looks me in the eyes.

It's been nice knowing you.

He sends me a quick list of all the debts that I have with him. I try not to notice that the total is much larger than the amount I have available to pay.

Thanks for letting me know that in your final hour, I say with a roll of my eyes. I'll be sure to pay up if you survive.

He grins and looks down the hill. Mike isn't really as possessed by the idea of dying as he seems. He's ex-military (intelligence corps from what I can gather about his past) and has seen and done things that make this look like a child's play party. No one here is a virgin when it comes to the lady of danger's loving caress. I think he was probably just taking the opportunity to remind me of my debts.

I file that information away in my mind. Somewhere there's a catch. I have the constant assumption running that Mike is going to try and stiff me out of my piece of the pie somehow. I guess I'll be finding out the setup later.

[Knife, talk to me.]

Knife's blip turns a little. He might be looking at me or might be scratching his ass. I don't know.

[It is worse than the contract indicated.]

I sigh.

[Really? How?]

There's a pause and some data starts flowing through an ultra silent link.

Nasty, Jose mutters. That's not part of the plan.

Mike glances at me. So, as I mentioned we have all seen bad stuff, but when it comes to nuclear armaments, I like to draw some fairly deep lines in the sand.

Get the customer on the line.

Mike does the dialing. We wait.

No answer.

Send him a message. Tell him what he's asking isn't possible. Tell him we are backing out.

Mike doesn't do anything.

What?

I sense the catch is right here and coming.

The contract stipulates that if we back out then we pay the amount in full.

It's all becoming wonderfully lucidly clear right now. The contractor puts up a big ticket item. He gets a lot of bids. He chooses the least likely to be able to succeed in the job. The result is the team reneges on the terms and the contractor makes a big payday. Heck, he probably even OWNS that robot down there.

Options? I ask.

Knife doesn't send anything. Mike is silent. Jose is picking at his metallic fingernails.

I thought so...

I look down at The Mega Fortress '08. That thing can pound small towns to splinters. They dubbed it 'Best People Killer of 2060' back when this was brand new hardware. The thing is a bad boy with a big club and a bad temper. They stopped making them because they were just too effective. War doesn't pay when too many people are 'eliminated' (as the sales pitch went). This thing is Elite with a capital E.

I guess today is a nice day to die, I say finally.

I flip over on my back and look up at the cloudless blue sky. It's a nice shade today. I always thought I'd die on a rainy day, but I guess there's not much rain in these parts.

Jose, head over here.

I draw on the map that is now dominating my view with one finger.

[Knife, I need you close. Get within reach of the thing if you can, but follow your own discretion. You are on your own out there.]

I look to Mike.

I don't think I'll be able to pay those debts.

He gives me a pat on the back.

Pessimism isn't sexy. You won't get a lady in your life like that.

An image of Jen flashes through my mind, but I push it away immediately. It's still raw that thing of ours, even 10 years later.

Speak for yourself, I say to him. I'm all sexy. I lug my six pounder (a variant of the old assault rifles that I used back in my soldiering days). And here's my bouquet of roses. You think she's going to like 'em?

Mike grins. It doesn't reach all the way up his face because his cheeks are dominated by two black metal plates.

You are such a romantic.

We stand up and look down the hill. My sensors flash red in the way that bomb shelter lights do when things are about to go from bad to terrible.

Time to party.

I charge. Mike rushes with me.

The thing about being not-so-much-human anymore is that things like limits are a bit of an illusion. I have them, but they are not anything like what I grew up with when most of me was flesh (a short lived experience ending at age 5). We hurtle down that hill like two professional sprinters taking the 100 meters at full stride. Right now we are moving so fast that vehicles (older ones) would be lagging behind.

I leap over a rock as the Fortress starts grinding around to have a look. It's a big block of steel and moving parts. The legs are set firmly in the ground in its resting state and there are charging panels exposed along the top. If you wanted to define ugly then here's a picture of it. The Mega Fortress '08 is nothing less that grotesque. Unfortunately, it's the design that makes it so effective.

I punch off a rock with my rear heel, take air and get a good view of what waits. We are flying head first into a gully the size of several LARGE buildings. The space is open rock with little cover and a lot of places for someone to get caught up in. I see we are at a disadvantage, but know that it's not just ours. The space is confining. In this situation, confining is good.

Jose lets loose from the other side of the hill and the Fortress spins slightly, detaching one leg and aiming up at the man.

A slot opens and about 200 rockets the size of my arm spit out. 'Jose' is obliterated completely.

I surge forward, noting that the ruse with the auto gun is working nicely. Jose is actually on the opposite side of the gully lining up his secondary weapon on the panels on top. I see Knife coming in low under the machine as we come near enough to be almost on top of the thing.

A panel slides