“Shit.”

  “What?”

  “We just lost another convoy. Third one this year.”

  “Where?”

  “In the Allegheny mountains. I told them we needed more PMC support.”

  – Shipping office of Globotech Industries shortly before news of the convoy’s sudden reappearance without any people in sight.

  Next stop, Sioux City, home to Charlie Horse. When I arrived, I met with him to reminisce, and to inquire about the alliance from his point of view.

  “Well, there are a lot of advantages, but there is some push back as well. The top companies don’t want to cede any more power, even if it is outside the city. Their greed for the evacuees aside, I think they are too insular to accept ideas they didn’t come up with on their own.”

  “Why did they help with the evacuees?”

  “As I said, Greed. The companies that came have mostly been swallowed up, or if too small, ignored. The people, meanwhile, have been swallowed by the system. I don’t think the average Rock Springs citizen’s lot has improved. Rather, the opposite.”

  “Haven’t you tried to stop that?”

  “Yes, but to no avail. Too many like the way things are, and without popular support, it won’t change.”

  “Ouch. That sucks. How about yourself? Are you doing okay?”

  “Yes. All those points have been useful. I’ve upgraded my gear to class three, mostly, but I’ve also been clearing up toxic waste sites. I may never finish, but life in the under city is getting better. Still bad, but with less danger from just existing. I bought a printer and blueprints, like you do, and it is helping me get a lot more done.”

  “That’s good. Do you think the city should be part of the alliance?”

  “Oh! Yes! We need it, even if those idiots think otherwise.”

  “Well, then. You want to help me with a subversive project?”

  “Oh? How so?”

  “I’m trying to tie the economies of the cities into a larger system. That will make it resistant to local fluctuations, and bring more trade between us.”

  “We sure could use that.”

  “Well, part of my plan requires monitoring the local economy. I am part owner of Samurai Supply. It’s purpose is to provide scarce resources to reduce the effects of scarcity. Not enough to eliminate it, but enough to keep the corporations from gouging the population. I see no problem making you the local manager of a branch of it. The monitoring AIs will let you know what to produce, and at what price and quantity. It should help avoid problematic shortages without affecting the general market. It might even help the general market, knowing it is there in case of emergencies.”

  “I’m in. What do I need to do?”

  “Well, first, I need to build more monitors. I want you to find a secure site for the company. You know my big printers? The ones that built all that new housing? Find warehousing near one to hold what it makes. Figure out a way to distribute locally. Then I’ll have the local Arc printer produce whatever is needed. You just need to supply raw mass. Think you can handle that?”

  “Yes. But they may try to sabotage it.”

  “Put significant security around, and ensure it’s guarded. I recommend getting Cyber Warfare tools. When they put a move on you, remember you are a Samurai, and no-one messes with us.”

  “Yeah, I heard about what you did.”

  “Yeah, part of why I’m here. On other topics, what have you heard about the truck show?”

  “Some Samurai is advertising a new kind of truck. Show’s in about two weeks. Would that be you?”

  “I’m the one behind the advertising. I know all about it. Not going to tell you everything yet, but you can help when it is time for the reveal.”

  “Nice. I’ll be there. Just tell me what to do.”

  “I will. For now, I need to work on the monitors. See you in a few days.”

  I didn’t need nearly as many advisors, even though the city had recently expanded. Two days before the show, I met with Charlie Horse again.

  “So, this is one of the warehouses you acquired?”

  “Yes. It’s fully automated, and I’ve added class two security around them all.”

  “What about distribution security?”

  “I was thinking I’d buy something at the show, and upgrade security. Probably your stuff.”

  “You might want to rethink that. My stuff is designed for inter city, not local delivery.”

  “Oh.”

  “No worries. You can do that tomorrow, or at the show. Want to see the new trucks? Then hop in.”

  He got in my ride, and I headed to the Arc I used to print the trucks. There was a hanger nearby that I had reserved for my own use, and we went inside. There they were. Unpainted, except for my company logo.

  “Well, aside from the logo, they look like any other truck. I see plenty of them all the time.”

  “Quite true. And in fact, they can haul just about the same, by design. The difference is the engine.”

  “How so? Same capacity, same size, are they faster or something?”

  “That, and more. Tell me, why do these trucks have wheels?”

  “Normally I’d say they’re too heavy for hover engines, but you mentioned hovertrucks. So I don’t know.”

  “Hovertrucks don’t need them to fly, but they still need to load and unload in a city where flight is not as easy. Also, it’s camoflauge.”

  Slowly, his eyes got large, and finally he said, “They really exist. I knew you said so, but wow. Just wow.”

  “Yep. Wow.”

  “That’s going to change everything. How expensive are they?”

  “The bulk is still class zero, but it needs a class two power plant, and class one reinforcement of the hover engine. I’ll be selling those as kits and replacement parts. I wanted class one power, but it ate too much cargo space. The reinforcements could be class zero if the cargo isn’t too dense, but for the rated cargo, you need class one. Since I’ll be printing them, the cost is negligible, so I’ll price them so they are a bit more expensive to operate than standard long haulers. They also go twice as fast as their counterparts.”

  “That’s gonna revolutionize the trucking industry.”

  “The long haul industry. Close to a city won’t be affected much, and within, almost no affect at all.”

  “Even so, it’s gonna replace all the long haulers, eventually.”

  “Yes. Especially once I open up custom manufacture. But at least all the displaced trucks can still work locally, so they can still operate them profitably.”

  “So, what’s my role?”

  “In the morning, we will both come here, and drive the two largest trucks to the show and park them. Behind us, the rest will follow directly. Right now, they are stuffed with palettes with kits and spare parts of the protector tech. I’ll be selling them at the show. I’ll also be bringing some class three drones to offload the palettes. Lastly, Azure, my clone body, will be bringing my daughter in the Falcon, which will park nearby. They will remain with the trucks when I have to be someplace.”

  “Clone body?”

  “Yes. When I was pregnant, I realized I had no right to risk my baby, so that’s how I solved that problem. She’s smart enough to fake being a person, but has no ‘spark’ of originality. She can maintain herself, but there is no real personality. But I can focus part of my mind to control that body. That let’s me be in two places at once.”

  “Wow. I’ve heard a number of powerful Samurai do something like that. Either androids, clones, or holograms. Not sure how it all works.”

  “For me, a bit better than a drone, point wise, but she cannot summon protector tech. You probably have sufficient points to do the same if you want.”

  “Maybe, but I’m not there yet.”

  “Your path is your own. Anyhow, enough for now. Want to show me the town? I’m hungry, and new here.”

  “Sure.”

  We didn’t part until late. In the morning, we met, and drove the trucks to my spot. It took a while, as we had to weigh each truck twice. Once full and once empty. The weights were registered with the show. At first, they weren’t happy with the additional time, but with the class three drones, it took less than two minutes to unload or load. Compared to the three minutes it took to weigh, it didn’t add that much time. Being a pair of Samurai also helped smooth things over. It was late morning when all the trucks were parked in our spot. There was just enough room in the back for a few vehicles and for the Falcon.

  Later that day, the PMC I hired showed up. They provided security. I made sure they left room for the Falcon. As Charlie Horse and I were the only Samurai at the show, people easily figured out my area had the special trucks. Later, after dinner, the Falcon showed up, and parked in the very back.

  On the first day, I had the trucks take turns hovering six feet in the air. People noticed quickly, and my space was packed with all sorts of people wanting to know everything about the new trucks. Charlie Horse and I directed everyone to the link printed on the sign above the registration booth of our area. It went to a new web page on my company site with a general description of what my company did, and a number of links to the specs of the trucks I had at the show. It also had links to the kits and parts available for sale, separately. Lastly, they could sign up for updates and further information about buying in bulk.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  While my trucks weren’t the best of the show, or even much above average. What they were, however, was a revolution. Going twice the speed in the air meant far less time exposed to antithesis, and being able to fly over most antithesis. This was quickly understood, and the site was flooded with orders. The news of them went viral, and I think the only thing the kept them from going super-viral was their limited niche.

  I asked Charlie Horse if he wanted to front my local dealership, or if he’d rather not be associated with it. He was willing, as it would put him in front of a lot more people, and so what he had to say, would be heard by more people. We wound up securing another warehouse near Charlie’s other warehouse, and made it be a truck sales and repair lot for the local branch of Calamity Logistics. Charlie and I designed a nice office, and we hired some locals, and moved two people from the main branch. One to manage the office, and the other to manage sales.

  I waited around for another week to handle the local rush of sales. The Arcs were printing non-stop. One quarter of the production was kits and spare parts. As normal trucks could be converted with a kit, a lot of people with less credits bought kits. A number of the big names in the repair business also bought kits as well as parts. Even with full production from four of the Arc printers, the product was flying off the shelf.

  I told Charlie that while I had more Arc printers, I didn’t want to flood the market, and that the advisors would soon drop production as the demand was sated. So even as he handled the chaos of sales, I was completing the remaining advisors and connecting them to the metropolitan advisor. I also made every advisor site have one of my offices to watch over it and handle some of my business.

  Now, it was time to head home. Azure had already left right after the show. Now, I would follow her. When I arrived, I started production of trucks, kits, and parts, in Sheridan and Gillette, as well as announcing that those sites would be now making trucks.

  With a week’s worth of review, demand only increased. But my people know how to manage sales, and were leveraging a good team of people, so it went smoothly. The week after that, I started sales out of Valentine and Boulder. And then one week beyond that, all the cities with my Arc printers started production. By this time, several had encountered antithesis, and either bypassed them or only had to deal with model ones in the air. It also became clear that it was best if no ground limited vehicles were in those convoys.

  The other half of my plan had also just completed. Had anyone been paying attention, they would have seen the expansion of the sensor network and missile emplacements around the cities of the alliance. They may even have seen the extrusions along the main routes between distant cities. But no one had yet twigged to what it meant. So I asked to attend the next session of council for an announcement.

  I’m sure everyone thought it was about my new trucks, but that wasn’t all. They met a few days later, and I had been invited.

  The chairman said, “Calamity, you mentioned you have an announcement for the council?”

  “Yes, Mr. Chairman. If I may, I’d like to record it so I can share it with other cities.”

  “I have no objection. Now, you have the floor.”

  “Thank you. Hello, everyone. I’m sure you heard about my new hovertrucks.” I saw quite a few nods. “Well, that’s just half of my plan.” That got their attention.

  “What you have not noticed yet, is the expansion of the antithesis surveillance network, and of the corresponding missile sites. The surveillance and missiles were optimized for the Phobos incident, and not a general plan. I have relocated, restocked, and added more sites, so that now each of the eight cities has a solid fifty mile zone of coverage by the missiles. The new cities of the alliance have a five mile zone. Should any future incursion happen within that zone, the sites should be sufficient to either knock it down totally, or knock it down sufficiently to only be a lesser nuisance.

  “In addition, each site has been upgraded to have complete sensor coverage of the area, so that if a hive shows up, we will know quickly. They have sufficient energy weapons to knock down any antithesis below the twenties. This includes the flying models like the model one and eleven. This is important, because I have also extended the sites along the major connecting roads so that convoys can go between these cities with minimal defenses.

  “This basically means that our eight cities, and the other cities of the alliance, have relatively safe travel between themselves. This should foster trade, and improve the lives of all our citizens.”

  I then turned back to the chairman, and said, “That’s my announcement. If you want, I can take questions now, or another day.”

  “I think now would be a good time. My first question is who is going to ‘own’ the system?”

  “I will, for now. In the future, it will likely be a council of Samurai, as it needs Samurai to maintain it. But it is mostly a passive system, only alerting you when antithesis show up. While the sites can be run remotely, they are also set up for a squad or small PMC to operate locally. It still needs manual intervention to launch missiles, but Samurai can do that remotely. The local self defense is automatic against antithesis. Long range defense needs command of some type. Preferably Samurai so they can get some points. But they can only hit line of sight, even if the sensors penetrate.”

  The chairman then asked others to indicate questions, and called on them one by one. I answered as best I could, being clear I had no desire to control anyone, and emphasizing my desire to foster trade. While the sites got a lot of questions, as the meeting went on, I began to get more questions about the overall system. It took nearly an hour to finish the questions. Once I left the meeting, I sent the recording to the other city governments I had guarded.

  I also sent it to Samurai in the group chat. This way, everyone who needed to know, would know. I said I would be available in the chat at eight tonight. When it was about time, I entered the virtual room, and set up the map of the region, showing the safe zones. Three Samurai were already there, so I asked them to wait, so I don’t need to explain multiple times. When the time came a number showed up. Moments later more showed up. For the next minute, someone showed up every second or two.

  When it settled down, I got their attention. “Hello all. By now, you’ve seen my latest endeavor. What are your thoughts? Oh, and please try not to cross talk, as that just makes things harder to understand.”

  Liberace was the first to speak. “Nice job, Calamity. Increased safety all around, faster shipping, and something to change what people are talking about since your last news story.”

  Charlie Horse added, “I had noticed your work in the missile sites, but hadn’t connected it to anything. It seems you are working on connecting our cities.”

  “I am. A few of you know another trick up my sleeve, but I think now is a good time to tell you. But I don’t want this outed to non-Samurai, and preferably only those of you in this group.”

  Cowboy Bob asked, “What else have you been hiding? First nearly a whole city, then pulling the missile defense out of nearly thin air. Next hover trucks. What now?”

  “Something to tie everything together. Specifically, our economies. In a number of cities I have placed protector AIs monitoring and analyzing the city economies. Samurai Supply is guided by its reports so that it can help prevent major scarcities. By filling in for scarce product, you don’t have extreme high prices for those items. This helps stabilize the local markets. These advisors also help me plan campaigns to affect the economy. Before you squawk about that, they have protector limiters to prevent significant abuse. Basically, as long as the plan improves conditions, I can do anything. If it doesn’t, then it won’t help me.”

  The Mistress of Mayhem said into the silence, “How is that even possible? I thought our AIs let us do whatever we wanted, as long as we had points.”

  “Well, as I said, I –”. Ysys interrupted.

  The advisor AIs, while supplied by us, were developed by a species well aware of potential misuse, and they chose to prevent it with such limitations. Most AIs have limitations. The most common one is to limit attacks to antithesis. Another common one, often used in medicine, is to only apply to a single person. These limits prevent abuses, accidents, and other atrocities. Since they are used in their intended role, you almost never encounter the limits as limits.

  “Well, I for one, am glad it has limits. As I was saying, these advisors are very local. However, that is the first tier one. I also got the second tier, so that I can deal with many cities within a region. What this means is that I can bind these cities into a single economy. Or at least, that is what I’m working toward.”

  The Mistress asked, “Then what is your end goal? Control? Power? Wealth? What?”

  “The protectors call us the Vanguard. We are to lead the way in their uplifting of our race. I have embraced that role, and I seek to do the same. The hidden city was to make a safer place to live. Sheridan was close to the edge, and Rock Springs was a loud warning of how dire it was. Planning had made the hidden city, but it was luck I had sufficient in place to leverage it for the Rock Springs evacuation. The missile sites just leveraged the industrial capacity I had amassed to create a city into creating a defense. Expanding it, however, continues the safe space plan.

  “Trucking, however, is a step in another direction. I don’t want to just survive, I want to thrive. By linking the cities with better trade, they will grow. The alliance is another facet of that linkage. A political one. By making membership lucrative, more will join.

  “However, not all is altruism. I have also used it to see where I can insert protector tech that can make money without causing problems. Everyone knows medicine sells, and there is never enough. Well, I asked, and created my Visor VR system. While class one, it is close to being made with human tech. Hovertrucks have long been a wish, but I asked the question ‘what is the least protector tech I can use to make them?’”

  Li’l Wonder asked, “Wait. They aren’t total protector tech?”

  “No. Class two power supply, and class one reinforcements for the engines. The rest is earth tech. This means I can sell kits and parts, and anyone can upgrade their truck into a hover truck. I priced them about the same as regular trucks, so as to not disrupt the truck economy.”

  Li’l Wonder added, “It looks like you put a lot of thought into this.”

  “Yeah. I even have yet another project cooking. Far north, I have an automated city.”

  Quite a few made shouts of surprise. After it calmed down, I added, “I call it the Fortress of Solitude. Yeah, from the movie. It even has two halls of heroes. One from the comic books, and one from real life. The point is, however, it automates clearing the antithesis within fifty miles. You may have heard I put out a request for help with clearing a lake? Well, I had just started doing it myself when I got some help. You hear of Mako? Well, we cleared the lake, and I learned a lot about underwater combat.”

  Soundbite said, “Nerd. I know that movie. Can I go see it? How many live there?”

  “You are all welcome to visit, but there is no one there. I didn’t want to deal with people while trying out new ideas. One of the ideas is living in space. The fortress is actually a spaceship. No engines or anything, but the basic structure is that of a spaceship. Mankind wants to go into space and explore and settle new worlds. We need spaceships. I have the first steps, the ships. My lesser space ship has an engine. Eventually I’ll get the rest of what I need.”

  Soundbite added, “Other Samurai have them. What’s so special about yours?”

  I smiled for a bit before saying, “Blueprints. I printed my ships. I can print more with no points spent.”

  Flamer chimed in, “You mean you could print me one?”

  “Yep.”

  The Mistress asked, “Why did you go for blueprints?”

  “Logistics. Points are a scarce resource. Printers and mass are not, especially since I have blueprints for all my printers. I want to be able to enable space at scale. Right now, only Samurai can go. When people are ready for it, I can change the landscape overnight like I did with the missiles. Also, if another Mars happens, I can back it with mass produced ships and construction printers. Then they only need to supply blueprints to my printers, and I can supply mass produced drones, explosives, and everything. If they need a base, I already have a one day hex, or instant city. Both were started with a single trip of my smaller spaceship.”

  Mistress added, “Wow. I don’t think I ever thought about the big picture. Nor how to leverage things by using blueprints.”

  “It’s all about logistics. We are at war with the antithesis. A war of survival. It is logistics that win wars. While I am named for an historical figure, and look like a fictional character, and the news consider me a naughty sharpshooter and construction powerhouse, my real specialization is logistics. That is how I managed to do things at scale. It takes a little time, but it doesn’t cost points.

  “But war is not only about just winning. It is also about preserving what is ours. Cowboy Bob has a large ranch, saving or recreating the creatures and skills of the old ranch industry. Charlie Horse is cleaning out toxic waste. Each of you can contribute. I’ve given out plenty of printers, and if some of you don’t have one, I’ll be glad to give you one. But the blueprints are mostly on you.”

  Storm Lord chimed in, “I’ve been working on getting pollution out of the air. I haven’t gotten very far, cause I don’t earn a lot of points.”

  “I’m sitting on a bunch. I’m willing to invest in our future. Some others here also are sitting on some points, and may want to also invest. Why not add projects to the next regular meeting, with a sidebar of helping out with points.”

  Liberace said, “I have some points I’m willing to invest.”

  Mistress added, “Same.”

  “So, sounds like this meeting is finished. Unless there is something to add?”

  No one spoke for a bit, so I closed the meeting.

  I fielded a number of calls from the various city councils, but the one I needed to be most on the ball was with the Plains Regional Office. Frank Castle called, and asked if I could visit him to discuss with a number of experts about my regional plans. We set a meeting for three weeks from now, in the Oklahoma megacity.

  As I expect the Family will want to talk at length with me about my long term plans, I decide to get some in depth information on the various side projects of all the Samurai in the chat. I scheduled meetings with each to discuss the projects, and collect all that info, so I can build it into a semblance of a cohesive plan. But in the back of my mind is building a spaceport.

  The day before the meeting, I get called to support Great Falls, Montana with an incursion a bit too large for them. As I fly there, I check in with the local Samurai. They direct me to the hottest spot, a double hive. Before I get there, I contact the local PMCs and learn they are poorly supplied from the small city. They have three PMCs, each with their own HQ.

  I send out a general command to pull back from the double hive, as I will need to go fast and hard. I also asked Ysys to share the points I got with these two hives with the local Samurai.

  Once I am above the double hive, I send my ride to each HQ in turn. I have it stop over an open space near the HQ, and then I order my teleport system to send sufficient PMC member kits to get them all in decent weapons and armor. I also sent palettes of spare weapons and ammo. Everything has my corporate logo on it. I then contact the PMCs to rotate back and equip themselves. I even send a palette of godseyes and launch them.

  Meanwhile, while high above, I get out my overwatch and start taking out every high numbered model I can see. Once the godseyes arrive and spread out, I find out where the largest entrances are to the hives. When I finally swoop down and go in, I’ve switched to my dimensional daggers and Strykers. With no sign of anything in the thirties or above, I head straight in, and very fast.

  With a class three body and class three equipment, I am firing far faster than when I first got them. I leave a wake behind me as I speed in. At the center of the first hive are several dozen model twenty somethings at the top of the list, and hundreds in the teens. The antithesis barely have time to realize I am there before I was taking them down by the numbers. Later, I switch to my scattershot, and clear out most of the riff-raff.

  “Ysys, can I get an antimatter round for the scattershot? I figure it could take out the hive and most of what’s gathered here. Also, how far do I have to be to not take too much damage?”

  Yes, a round for the Scattershot would be a mere two hundred forty points. It will have a timed delay of five seconds before it releases its payload. You need to be out of the hive by then.

  “Will that be enough time?”

  You will need to fly, but that should only take four seconds.

  “Then let’s get it.”

  Antimatter round – 240 points

  New Total – 752,763 points, 4 tokens

  I held out my hand, and once it appeared, I loaded it. I fired full power shots from the Strykers to the roof over all exits but the one I was leaving by. Then I aimed the scattershot, fired, and flew as fast as I could. Once I saw daylight, I accelerated to maximum speed, and angled up a little when I exited. I looked back to watch.

  One and a half seconds later, the ground exploded. An area several hundred yards in diameter suddenly ballooned behind me, and I stopped.

  “Success?”

  Success. The central part of the hive no longer exists, but the cleanup crew will need to dig a little to clear it.

  “That will take time, but they will have time. On to the other one.”

  This hive was deeper, with more convoluted tunnels, but was not any harder to clear. Ysys put ten seconds on the timer, as I could not go as fast through the tunnels. I exited in eight seconds.

  Success. The second hive is destroyed.

  I called the local Samurai and asked if they needed further support. They asked me to stay for another hour, just in case, but thought they could handle it from this point. Half an hour later, they said they had it under control, and I could leave. So I did.

  Assorted antithesis – 68330 points

  Hive destroyed x 2 – 1000 points & 2 tokens

  New Total – 794,002 points, 6 tokens