Punchcards from Atlantis

  Punchcards in Atlantis

  Copyright ? 2014 by Matthew C. Plourde

  Based on the board game Mars vs Earth, by Geek Fever Games

  https://www.geekfevergames.com/mars-vs-earth.html

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any character resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass? and I'm all out of bubblegum."

  - Roddy Piper from They Live

  Chapter 1

  "Duke, that doesn't even make any sense."

  Glancing at his partner, Duke resumed his work on the makeshift bomb.

  Continuing her protest, Bonnie put her hand on his arm and said, "How can machines talk to each other? They're not people-"

  "You don't not know what I saw in Korea," Duke said, frowning at the jumble of frayed wires and electrical tape he was left to work with. Why did Harris have to go and get himself killed? Duke wasn't the demolitions expert.

  Damn greenies!

  Taking a ponderous inhale of breath, the anthropologist appeared to reconsider her argument. Duke calculated he had about thirty seconds before her grating voice assaulted his concentration again. Out of everyone on the team, why was she the only one left? Useless with a gun. Constantly complaining. Bossy. Prim and proper despite a chest he'd pay good money to see bared.

  She wasn't field material.

  Once he got back to headquarters in Washington, Duke decided he'd have a few words for his commander. Until then, however, he'd have to settle for the occasional glance at Dr. Hill's impressive cleavage.

  If he made it back to Washington, that was. A ruckus from the other side of the door informed him that the greenies had cleared the cave-in and were about to ruin his day.

  Again.

  Bonnie's eyes widened and her bountiful chest heaved with fear. After taking a moment to admire her God-given shape, Duke pointed at the main computer bank.

  "Search that," he said.

  Keeping her eyes on the steel door, Bonnie said, "And what am I looking for?"

  "Punch-cards, notebooks, little greenie devices," Duke said, returning his attention to the bomb materials. "Anythin' that looks interesting."

  She didn't move.

  "Now!" Duke said, throwing the weight of a sergeant's voice behind the word.

  Dr. Hill snapped out of her shock and moved towards the blinking machine. Duke followed her with the backpack of dynamite and suspect detonator. Needles wavered across the machine's panels, as if blown back and forth by the wind. Fans expelled warm air from vents near the ground and the small monitors displayed scrolling walls of amber text.

  If only that text was in an Earthly language!

  "I still don't see the point," Bonnie said as she stuffed her sack with a pile of punch cards. "The majority of the computers are near the surface, in their base. What good will blowing this one machine do? Our mission-"

  "Our mission is to destroy their communications here in Bermuda," Duke said as he strung the dynamite around the base of the device. "And this is what they call a 'mainframe.' A guy I served with in Korea told me all about 'em. The 'puters in the base are all linked to here. See the pipes 'long the walls? Those ain't just for power. The other 'puters all talk to this big, honkin' one."

  Bonnie stopped her pilfering to open and examine a notebook, but Duke didn't have time to pay her any attention. He searched his rusty memory for what Harris told him about wick length and time to detonation. Was it 10 seconds per inch or foot?

  "Jesus," he said, cursing despite his long broken promise to his mother to not turn into a cuss-mouth when he joined the army.

  He pulled his bowie knife from his arm sheath and cut the wick at about 30 inches. If the greenies got through the door at least he'd get them too.

  "Duke!"

  Grumbling under his breath and digging for his lighter, he said, "Ain't got no time fer whatever yer gonna say."

  "This is ancient Greek!" Bonnie said, flipping pages in the notebook.

  "Don't care if it's Pig Latin. We're out of here."

  Duke snapped the lighter open and struck the wheel.

  "No! Wait!"

  Duke's friends and enemies had called him many things through the wars and years - 'patient' wasn't on that list.

  The wick sizzled to life and threw sparks in all directions. Duke slung his Olin/Winchester Salvo rifle over his shoulder and covered the distance between them in several powerful strides.

  "C'mon, Blondie!"

  He grabbed her arm, but not before she snapped the binder shut and tucked it amongst the punch cards and other Martian items from the base.

  "The commander put me on this mission to see if there's anything to the Atlantis rumors we've been chasing," she said as Duke led her to the ventilation shaft. "We need to look for more evidence!"

  With his usual subtlety, Duke emptied a clip into the corners of the metal grate covering the shaft. After replacing the ammunition, he kicked the grate clear and motioned to Bonnie.

  "After you, Doctor. If you see any fish people on the way, I promise ya we can stop."

  "Lughead."

  Bonnie grasped the edges of the opening and swung herself through. At the same moment, the far door melted open and the little green men poured through, cackling and clicking in their strange language.

  Duke took cover in the opening and sprayed the area with automatic fire. Green flesh, dark clothing and purple blood showered the room like confetti.

  After his adrenaline calmed, he knelt down under cover and rammed another clip into his weapon all while counting in his head. He just needed to keep them from reaching the mainframe so his next shots were more precise and controlled. Green bursts of energy sailed towards him from the Martian weapons. Their impacts melted the steel around him and filled the air with the acrid stench of burnt iron.

  "You coming?" Bonnie called from down the shaft.

  After a dropping a few more of the vile little invaders, he said, "Time to cash-in all my bad luck on this darn mission. Get to the shore. I'll be along."

  Not waiting to see if she followed his order, he ejected and replaced another clip.

  Four? Three? Two?

  He dove into the shaft as the room erupted from multiple dynamite explosions. Ears ringing, he was slammed down the shaft and into darkness.