SODIUM Trilogy Part One

by Stephen Arseneault

  There was no detonation. The warhead had been removed. The missile eventually worked its way out the back of the ship and began to circle around for another charge. The fighter was now dead in space. Its propulsion system had been taken out.

  I came straight in and Whip fired all four coil guns at once. The fighter was able to deflect two of the rounds, but the other two found their target. The alien fighter disintegrated and we passed through its debris cloud.

  A26 and A22 had not been able to come close to the big ship, as they were busy with three fighters of their own. A29 had not been so lucky and had taken a deathblow from a fighter. Whip quickly began conversion of two more missiles. We were down to three sensors, but all other systems were in perfect working order. I moved out to a safe distance from the main ship while awaiting the conversion.

  By the time we were ready, A22 had also been destroyed and A26 was fleeing for its life. I turned our Defender toward the big craft and punched it to full throttle. When we were within missile range, Whip let fly the two new conversions along with two of our nukes. She then pulled the first missile up on her holo-display and gave it a new mission. The first missile turned and made a direct assault on the larger ship.

  The alien ship made every effort to deflect and destroy the incoming missiles, but the black holes worked their wonders. All three mods hit their target and soon disappeared into its hull.

  The two nukes were easily knocked from their trajectories and destroyed without detonation. I could not see it, but I knew the others had big smiles on their faces. We turned and headed for a safe distance.

  It only took moments for the other three fighters to abandon A26 and focus their energies on us. We radioed the secret of our missile mod to A26, and they began immediate alterations of their own.

  We could easily keep the three alien fighters at a distance while we worked. As I watched the large alien ship on my monitor, I wondered why it was not in pursuit of us. I wondered if perhaps the BHD missiles had done some damage.

  It took Whip and Bigg twelve minutes to alter another four missiles, which we immediately launched. This time we targeted the alien fighters that were in pursuit. The first two missiles found their targets, while the third and fourth were broadsided and destroyed by the third fighter. All three ships continued their charge.

  I made a flip turn and headed toward the closest fighter. When we reached the one-kilometer range, Whip fired all four coil guns. The fighter was able to deflect the rounds, but not until it was knocked into a spin.

  On our next pass close to the second fighter, we again fired all four coil guns at the one-kilometer range. The cost was two more of our sensors, but the fighter was eliminated.

  Just as I turned to make a run on the third fighter, it blew up in a bright flash of glory as one of the BHD missiles again found its mark. Whip quickly reprogrammed the remaining BHD missile to target the last alien fighter.

  We turned back toward the fighter and lined up for another run. This time we weren't so lucky. We lost our last sensor, and our holo-displays quickly went dark. The DSim then did a reboot, which told us we were dead.

  A26 had managed to mod six missiles and launch them toward the big craft. All six hit their marks and drilled their way into its hull. After the first missile exited, turned, and came back in, the alien craft got wise. The other missiles were easily destroyed as they made their way out the other side of the ship from where they had entered.

  The commander of A26 then called a retreat and returned to base unscathed. The scenario had lasted nearly two hours from beginning to end. No other set of teams had made it past twenty minutes.

  Red then came on board to congratulate us. The usually quiet and soft-spoken man was grinning from ear to ear. Four DSims had managed to take out four fighters and had done substantial damage to a medium-sized enemy ship. We were immediately called to a debriefing with the Battle Tacticians.

  The briefing was long and detailed. Every command and action was dissected and questioned. The scientists and their technicians were all over our missile modifications in an attempt to apply them to the real Defenders. When the briefing concluded, we were given our third invitation to General Buck's office. This time I hoped for a better outcome than the last.

  Chapter 8

  * * *

  General Buck was in a much better mood. He wasted no time in congratulating us on our ingenuity. Our third time around, there were no criticisms of our mistakes. The General went on to say that if a BHD-modified missile was possible, we might have our first really useful weapon to take into battle.

  It was a simple idea, so I asked why it had not been thought of before. The General's response was that there was so much going on at the moment that there had been little time for new ideas. Everything had been focused on getting what we had to work.

  He was particularly enamored with Pop's mod to the reactor feed. We then began to discuss some of our brainstorming thoughts from the night before. Again, the General was impressed.

  Bigg then asked a question about how much extra room would be needed on board to add a second reactor. He reasoned if one was available for only the shields, we might be able to get close enough with the coil guns to really do some damage to the alien fighters.

  The General said he would have one of his aides look into it, but at the moment components were in short supply. A big part of our fighting ability was tied to getting in close for a shot with the coil guns. He also reminded us that although our black budget was substantial, there was still only so much money you could print without crushing the nation's economy, even though that economy meant nothing if we couldn't defend ourselves.

  We left the meeting all on a high. It was our first sim encounter with a larger ship, and we had come away with a minor victory. For us, it was at the cost of our simulated lives, but that was a cost we were willing to bear. When we got into live combat, I was sure we might feel differently.

  The remainder of the week was spent rerunning the same medium-ship scenario. Each time, we managed to get just that much closer to annihilating it. Each time, we came away dead.

  On our free day, it was decided to once again dedicate the day to brainstorming. Pop left with his handler to visit with the reactor scientists. General Buck had set up a special meeting for him.

  Bigg and his handler headed off to again visit with his son. This time he wanted to talk tech about the BHD drives that his son was busily installing. Whip left for the Battle Room with her handler to discuss strategies with the Tacticians. That left Paige and me to figure out what we should do. I didn't want to drag her into watching more DSim scenarios, so I asked if she had any interests... she did.

  She took me by the hand and led me to a development lab where they had given her a small space for her tinkering. I wondered if she was still heavily involved with her entangled particles ideas, and the bench setup she had going told me that she was.

  There were all sorts of strange pieces of equipment stacked on top of each other and hooked up to a set of what looked like BHD rings. Paige flipped on a power switch and then grinned from ear to ear. It was the first time I had seen her usual businesslike personality change to one of childlike excitement.

  She handed me a pair of goggles and a heavy leaded vest. I had no idea of why they were needed, but I put them both on. She turned back to the bench, flipped a few switches, and then slowly turned a dial. I wondered if she was about to awaken Frankenstein. She then pressed a button, and a series of bright flashes sent me jumping backward.

  She next turned the power off and stepped in with a small handheld instrument of sorts. Again I jumped back as she raised her arms straight up and let out a howl. Whatever it was that had been accomplished was apparently a big success.

  She babbled on about the particles and coupling and about how she had fused three of them together. She said it was a major breakthrough, but I had no real idea of what it was she was talking about. I stood with a smile and nodded my head whenever s
he looked directly at me.

  She then held out her hand and asked me for the audio processor from my audio implant. I wanted to ask why, but I knew the answer would be over my head, so I just complied.

  She took the processor and set it on the bench in front of her. Again she powered up some of the stacked equipment and began tinkering with knobs and switches. After twenty minutes of standing and watching, I decided it was time to seek out a chair.

  I sat for an hour as she babbled away, talking to herself as she worked. I began to daydream. I was soon walking in the soft sand on a secluded stretch of beach. Paige walked with me hand in hand. She would run down to the water, just getting her toes wet, and then let out a giggle as she ran back to me away from the next incoming wave. It was sappy, but I was surely enjoying it.

  I then took her in my arms and we came together in an embrace. We kissed passionately. We slowly dropped to our knees and then rolled onto the wet sand. We continued to kiss as the incoming waves gently washed over our feet.

  I was then startled as someone's hand grabbed my shoulder and demanded my attention. It was Paige, and she had finished her tinkering. She handed me back my audio processor and motioned for me to put it back in.

  As the audio processor came to life, I heard the familiar boot-up chirp. Paige then told me to switch to channel 1647. When I did, I heard a short warble sound. She said to answer it, so I did. What came next was completely unexpected.

  Paige stood in front of me looking directly at my face. She had a pursed smile. I then heard her speak over the audio channel, but she was not moving her lips. She now had my full attention.

  She explained that the audio implant was already wired to accept "thought-spoken" commands. That was how we switched channels, powered it on and off, and generally used it to communicate.

  Normally the spoken word was needed for a full conversation, as the audio processor only handled the most basic of thoughts. The majority of its processing power was needed for the wireless communications that were used to connect to others.

  With the quantum entanglement handling the wireless communications part, the audio processor was free to fully translate our thoughts into words. She had modified the software to translate and then broadcast those thought commands. Over the implant her voice sounded a bit different, but it was unmistakably hers.

  She then went on to explain that she had embedded the fused entangled particles in both her processor and mine, wired to channel 1647. We could have instant thought communication with each other no matter where we were.

  She went on to explain that if I were to hop in a real Defender and fly to Jupiter, we would still have instant communication with one another over channel 1647. For everyone else, it would take forty-five minutes for their communication to reach that distance and another forty-five minutes for the response to return. This was instant.

  My first thought was to go find Bigg, Whip, and Pop and see if we could play a few pranks on them. I then had the sudden realization of just how valuable a discovery this was. We would be able to have instantaneous communications between our commanders and our crews as they flew around the solar system fighting the aliens. We knew they had radio communications similar to ours, which took time to travel large distances. This would give us a huge advantage in this area. And we needed all the advantages we could get.

  I grabbed Paige by the arms and then planted another big kiss on her lips. Again she was unready for it, but again she mustered a smile. I took her by the hand and quickly led her out the door of the lab.

  We were headed to see David Brenner. When we reached the outside of his office, there were two military guards there. Our entry was blocked. I demanded to see my great-uncle, but they were having none of it without an appointment. So I got loud.

  The result was that I was quietly subdued and backup was called for. I then thought spoke to Paige to try to beat on his door. She complied and was quickly taken down by the second guard.

  While we both lay handcuffed on the ground with a knee in each of our backs, the door to David Brenner's office opened. Two generals and their aides then stepped out and looked down at us as they walked by.

  David Brenner then stepped up to the door and looked down at me. After shaking his head, he instructed the guards to release us. We were then invited into his office as he assured the guards that we were harmless.

  David began with his normal pleasant greeting and then remarked that his time was short, as he was expected at another meeting. But, he was curious as to what was so urgent that I had risked arrest for it.

  I then began to talk, trying to explain what Paige had just created. After a minute of getting nothing but a confused look from him, I then asked him to participate in a short experiment. I had Paige stand between us, with my back turned to them both. I then asked him to take an electronic pad and write down a number and then show it to her. He remarked again that his time was short and that he had an important meeting to attend.

  I begged him to stay and said that what I was about to show him was well worth his valuable time. He wrote down a number and showed it to Paige. I blurted out the number, for which I got silence.

  We then repeated the process three more times, with me repeating the number correctly after each time it was written. I then told him that just to eliminate any suspicion, I would leave the room for a moment and then return with the next number. Again I repeated what he had written.

  David Brenner then said he'd had enough of the games and to just tell him what this grand discovery was. I turned to Paige for an explanation. She began talking about quantum entanglement and how she had been pursuing it for years. Even though modern science had long ago relegated it to being nothing more than a curiosity and a gimmick, she had continued experimenting.

  She then explained how she had fused three entangled particles together and then fused their three entangled mates together as well. David sat up in his chair, as Paige was now speaking his language. She explained how she had integrated those particles into our audio processors and into a specific channel. Paige then asked David to whisper something in her ear... anything. He did.

  I then repeated back to him what he had said. David then stood with an amazed look on his face as Paige reminded him that the entangled particle link was instantaneous... over any distance.

  He then accessed his own implant and ordered an emergency meeting of the Senior Science Council. He escorted us out into the hallway of doors and into a large conference room just down the hall from his office.

  Within two minutes, the twelve members of the Senior Science Council were hustling into the room and seating themselves at a large oval table. As soon as the last man sat, David began to tell of the discovery.

  Paige gave another quick briefing of her work, and the members of the council began to ask their questions. The questions went on for half an hour before David looked over at me and asked what part I had played in this immense discovery.

  I explained to him that I was only a bystander. I was then given the direction to return to whatever other important duties I had to do. I had basically been kicked out, but not before receiving a firm and again embarrassing thank-you hug from my great-uncle.

  I looked longingly at Paige as I walked out the door, wondering if I would see her again anytime soon. It was a long walk back to the DSims, where I found Red hanging out with another crew. I had him connect me to the DSim for a few lonely scenarios to finish out the remainder of the day.

  The following morning, I was disappointed when a new guy showed up to fill in for Paige. She was busy leading a new team of physicists and engineers in an attempt to recreate her instantaneous communications, or what she termed "QE comm."

  During her briefing, she had explained to the Senior Science Council that it took four years to get the three pairs of entangled particles. It had taken her almost 120,000 tries before she had the pairs she needed to put her fusing theory into practice.

  I could not imagine having
the patience for such an endeavor. "Gimme now or go away" was more of my speed. I felt lucky to have had her by my side for as long as I had. She was indeed brilliant... like David Brenner.

  And like my great-uncle, she was kind and caring and unselfish. As far as I was concerned, the world could not have enough people like them. Those types were the ones responsible for most of the great advancements of mankind—the dreamers, thinkers, and doers.

  I had arrived at the DSim that morning a bit early. I had hoped to have a few moments alone with Paige, as she was normally the early bird. Instead I was greeted this morning by Chad. Chad was a tall, dorky kid with a high, squeaky voice. He was a chatty Cathy, which, coupled with his tone, put me in a foul mood.

  After I sniped at him several times, I had to stop myself. He was just here doing his job like the rest of us. I had no real cause to treat him in an unprofessional manner, even if I did have a strong desire to do so. I apologized after the third incident.

  Chad said it did not bother him. He knew he could be a bit grating and talkative, and I was not the first who had let him know. After that response, we began to get along much better. Chad then showed that he knew his stuff when it came to being a handler. He had been the handler for the pilot of the first Defender that we had lost in battle. This was like a second chance for him to prove his worth to the program.

  Bigg soon showed up, followed by Pop and then Whip. Bigg had spent the day with his son, learning about the BHD drive. He was now well versed in not only how it functioned, but how it was assembled, installed, and magnetically balanced between the five rings that propelled a ship.

  Pop's day had been spent with the reactor research group. They had been going over his ideas for an improved feed and had managed to get a prototype running that showed a 23 percent increase in power output. Pop was all grins.