Chiral Justice: A Hard Science Fiction Technothriller (The Biogenesis War Book 3)

by L. L. Richman

  A quick blip caught Micah’s eye. At the same time, Cass let out a string of curses. {Dana, next time, keep your damn mouth shut.}

  Three more ships swept out from behind a well-positioned asteroid whose metal content had effectively blocked their ship’s scan from reading them.

  {Brace for maneuvers!}

  The story continues, in Operation Cobalt, available now.

  Want updates?

  Join my reader’s group to hear news of upcoming books, behind-the-scenes glimpses of life with a physicist, and views from the cockpit. And cats, because the feline overlords insist. Sign up at bit.ly/biogenesiswar.

  AFTERWORD

  I always love including at least one cool, new emerging tech in each book. In The Chiral Conspiracy, it was MXene (pronounced ‘Maxine’), a 2-D material first developed in 2011. In 2018, chemical engineers created a MXene membrane that functioned as a hydrogen sieve, separating gases at a molecular level.

  The ships in The Biogenesis War have MXene incorporated into their external surfaces as a way to ‘background harvest’ fuel from the interstellar medium. While it’s not a primary fuel source, it never hurts to harvest hydrogen wherever you can.

  (H2 is slightly more plentiful in Alpha Centauri than it is in Sirius and Procyon, but it’s not too terribly concentrated, with electron density only ~ 0.07 cm^-3.)

  Besides, it’s cool.

  In this book, I employed an emerging piece of tech that, as of this publication, is less than a month old: they are the CQDs that Dacina injected Ell with after she was shot, in order to speed her healing.

  Quantum dots (QDs) are man-made nanoscale crystals that can transport electrons. But QDs aren’t new; they were theorized in the 1970s, and have been in use in research for many years.

  Quantum dots are sometimes referred to as artificial atoms, because their structure so closely resembles naturally occurring atoms.

  Carbon quantum dots (CQDs), on the other hand, were accidentally discovered in 2004. They differ from your basic QD in one critical respect: carbon QDs aren’t toxic to the human body. CQDs are capable of molecular recognition and self-assembly, which opens up a whole world of possibilities.

  A January 2021 study, published in Biopolymers for Biomedical Applications indicates that they are especially effective at reconstructing tissue and closing wounds, which was the basis for my extrapolation of how it was used in this book.

  Finally, I wanted to end with a bit of science. In case you had never come across the word before, oobleck is real.

  Oddly, its name is borrowed from a classic book written by Dr. Seuss. Classic oobleck is made from a simple mixture of cornstarch and water. When combined, it transforms into a material classified as a non-newtonian fluid. Non-newtonian fluids don’t obey Newton’s law of viscosity.

  Viscosity is the amount of internal friction a fluid has. The higher the viscosity, the greater the friction, and the slower the fluid flows. Some liquids become less viscous when heated—maple syrup, for example. It’s something we’ve intuitively experienced all our lives to the point we hardly notice it, unless we’re soft-matter physicists, or mechanics, or engineers.

  One thing all standard fluids have in common is that this viscosity is something that is constant, unchanging. Always the same, under a given temperature and pressure.

  Not so with some fluids. These non-newtonian fluids behave in very counterintuitive ways. Take ketchup, for instance. Who hasn’t smacked the bottom of a ketchup bottle, only to have it gush out in a great gob all over their fries?

  Ketchup should flow at exactly the same rate, regardless of how hard you shake the bottle. That’s what any other liquid, like motor oil, your favorite shampoo, or even cough syrup would do. But with ketchup, when you smack the bottom of that bottle, the force of the impact actually causes the fluid to flow faster.

  It’s non-newtonian.

  Oobleck, like you read in the story, is the opposite. It’s shear-thickening, which means when you strike it, it seizes up, flows slower. It hardens.

  And hundreds of years in the future, testing facilities like the one at Douglass-Washburn just might have a use for a material that, with a single command, can change from liquid to oobleck.

  You never know, right?

  TERMINOLOGY

  ActiveFiber Coating – a coating used to layer the bulkheads of ships and space stations. It has self-healing properties, similar to self-cleaning fabrics used for shipsuits. The fiber is infused with nanobots, which can absorb contaminants within an area, break it down into its constituent parts, and reuse the material.

  Branes – can be envisioned as a type of indentation within the Bulk. The universe in which we live is an example of a brane.

  The Bulk – the many layers, or branes, that comprise hyperspace, the area of extradimensional space outside the dimension our universe inhabits.

  Calabi-Yau Gate – This method of folding space is powered by siphoning dark matter out of a Ricci-flat manifold. The manifold, a special curvature within the Bulk, is a place where the vacuum energy of space can be accessed. Once converted to Casimir energy, it is then used to bend the Bulk, allowing for instantaneous travel from one location in normal spacetime to another, regardless of distance. The amount of Casimir energy differs, based on the amount and direction of the bend.

  Coalition of Worlds – The Coalition isn’t a governing body, but rather an alliance of independent star nations, for the advancement of peace and collaboration between the settled worlds. Its members include the Sol, Alpha Centauri, and Proxima Centauri star systems.

  Sol’s member nations are Terra, Mars, Venus, and the Ganymede and Europa colonies. Alpha Centauri B’s star nation is Zoser. Alpha Centauri A (Rigel Kentaurus) is the Akkadian Empire. Proxima Centauri’s member nation is the Shang dynasty.

  The Coalition’s articles state that all eight governmental bodies are equally represented, however, some are unofficially regarded as more equal than others.

  The star nations within the Sol System hold the lion’s share of influence.

  Colloid Nano – Colloids are extremely tiny insoluble particles that are so light, they remain suspended in air. When grafted onto nano, colloid nano clouds can be released.

  Thanks to brownian motion, the force of the particles in the air around them is greater than the force of gravity attempting to pull them down, therefore they float and are susceptible to the activity of air currents.

  Colloidene Nano – A colloidene is made from a colloid particle, but formed just like single-layer graphene. Patterned in a honeycomb lattice, it employs some of the click-assembly techniques used in chemistry.

  Pre-loaded common codes, or ‘bricks’, give nano creation a jump-start. The result is a nanobot, programmed to rapidly alter existing nano to whatever the person controlling it needs it to be.

  Crowbars and LockPiks – Both are lock-picking programs, although LockPiks are covert where Crowbars are overt.

  A Crowbar is a brute-force version that borrows click-assembly techniques used in chemistry to rapidly alter the properties of existing nanolocks. Pre-loaded common codes, or ‘bricks’, give the Crowbar a jump-start, pushing a cascade failure into the lock that cracks it wide open. In the process, it rendered the lock useless.

  In contrast, a LockPik is a slower and more subtle program that works to subvert a lock’s program while maintaining its program integrity so that it can be reset back to original specs after the LockPik’s use.

  DBCs – A digital-to-biological converter capable of printing complex, synthetic biological material from detailed molecular diagrams transmitted to it.

  DUET Wires (aka “the wire”) – DUET is a little-used acronym for communication nanocircuitry implanted in the brain.

  DUET stands for Direct Uplink Evanescent Telecom. Much to the dismay of the corporation that invented the tech, that name never took hold. Commonly known simply as ‘the wire,’ a DUET implant must wait until the brain has reached a certain development level.<
br />
  A web of nanoscale tendrils is deployed at critical spaces within the brain: information inputs at dendrites, and data outputs at synaptic terminals.

  Evanescent (E-V) Nanocircuitry – E-V nanocircuitry is the foundation upon which the DUET system was launched. The core communication unit embedded in the brain makes use of the optical phenomenon of evanescent modes with imaginary wave numbers and a poynting vector of zero to achieve the mathematical equivalent of quantum tunneling for the instantaneous transmission of information.

  Ford-Svaiter nodes – F-S nodes use the concept of focusing vacuum fluctuations with parabolic mirrors to induce a quantized field wherein evanescent nanocircuitry can be used to establish instantaneous communication. An F-S node is encased inside a Starshot Buoy. Buoys are seeded throughout a star system in a pattern known as the Starshot Constellation. All inhabited star systems have deployed Constellations.

  INS, Interstellar Navigation System – The INS uses pulsars as navigation beacons to generate an interstellar positioning system.

  Junxun Tèzhǒng – Akkadia’s elite intelligence branch of the State Army, those chosen as Tèzhǒng are sent through a crucible of deep indoctrination that refines its members into surgically efficient killing machines. Most Tèzhǒng operatives focus on a specialty, with the most elite being its assassins.

  MAC –Magic-Angle Carbyne is the strongest material known in the 25th century. It is fashioned from two single-layer, honeycomb lattices of carbyne, twisted so that they sit at a specific angle relative to one another. MAC is two times stronger than graphene or carbon nanotubes.

  MXene – A high-temperature 2-D laminar molybdenum carbide material that functions as an ultrafast sieve. Alliance Navy ships are coated in the material. When in motion, the material pulls H(0), ultra-dense hydrogen that dark matter is made of, from the interstellar medium for use as fuel. The H(0) is stored in CNT-reinforced receptacles lining the ship’s hull.

  No-wake zones – The biggest reason for a no-wake-zone around a space station is because of the amount of neutron radiation generated by a ship’s fission drive. A minimal dose of 4.4 GW of neutrons will deliver a lethal dose at half a kilometer in 1/5 of a second. As a result, all ships are manufactured with very thick, effective anti-radiation shadow shields. As a precaution, all ships must maintain mandatory separation when operating fusion drives.

  Ricci-flat manifold – a special curvature of space found in the Bulk, also known as hyperspace.

  Scharnhorst Drive – Interstellar drive that generates a Casimir bubble. This allows the drive to both harness and magnify the Scharnhorst effect, a phenomenon in which light travels faster than c. The drive allows a ship inside its bubble to travel at triple the speed of light.

  SmartCarbyne – A self-repairing version of MAC, used as the building material for space elevators.

  SmartCarbyne Nanofloss – This adaptation of SmartCarbyne is a lattice of ultrafine SC filaments, implanted to reinforce bone, muscle, and sinew. This

  military augmentation is usually given to fighter pilots and special operations soldiers.

  It was originally adapted for military use to protect pilots in high-g maneuvers. An accelerometer embedded in the pilot’s wire controls the deployment of an SC lattice, woven into the soft tissues of vital organs. When experiencing acceleration greater than what the human body can withstand, the SC lattice automatically hardens, protecting the pilot.

  Spike – Special operations electronic breadcrumb trail, only useful at short range. Each spike has a unique geometric signature. That signature is contained in the Alliance military database. An app registers the negative space created by each spike on whatever surface it resides. Once a person or item has been spiked, the search app keeps track of the void that particular spike makes, pinpointing its location while it remains in range.

  Tau-Neu Chambers – Stasis chambers where all atomic function is held in suspension. The term comes from the Latin symbol, tau, [] which in physics and engineering represents the time constant. Neu, or the Latin ‘nu’, represents the molecular vibration mode, vx which, in stasis, is zero.

  TENGs and PENGs – Triboelectric nanogenerator batteries are power-harvesting batteries that capture the electric current generated through contact of two materials, converting movement to stored energy. PENGs are piezoelectric nanogenerators that charge using ambient sound in the atmosphere around them.

  Ziptie – a nano breach application for use in restraining people. Once placed onto exposed flesh the app immediately unpacks itself, blocking an individual’s wire from transmitting a call for help, and rendering the victim temporarily immobile.

  PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

  GEMINATE ALLIANCE

  Jonathan Case: Captain, Geminate Navy. Former Shadow Recon pilot, now attached to Task Force Blue, a special forces team created by the National Security Agency in response to threats to the Alliance.

  Micah Case: Jonathan Case’s chiral clone. The process created an untraceable, unhackable mental link. As far as the settled worlds know, there is only one Jonathan Micah Case. The two men share the same identity outside the Task Force, their unique abilities hidden and employed on behalf of the Geminate Alliance.

  Samantha Travis: Radiation physicist and medical doctor, Sam rescued Micah and saved Jonathan’s life. She is read into Task Force Blue and works for the Alliance in chiral research. Duncan Cutter’s niece.

  Duncan Cutter: Director, National Security Agency, Geminate Alliance.

  Thaddeus Severance III: Marine captain, former head of Special Reconnaissance Team Five, now leader of Task Force Blue.

  Elodie Cyr: A former sniper and member of SRU Team Five, Ell is now an NCIC Special Agent, in charge of the Navy’s Criminal Investigation Command office on Hawking Habitat. She has been read into Task Force Blue and has assisted on previous team deployments.

  Colonel Tala Valenti: Leader of the Special Reconnaissance Units, and of Task Force Blue.

  Harris Carlisle: A three-star general from the Geminate Marines, and Vice Chief of Joint Operations Command.

  Raphael Garza: Newly appointed prime minister of the Geminate Alliance.

  TASK FORCE BLUE

  Unit Team:

  Captain Thad Severance: team leader.

  NCIC Special Agent Gabriel Alvarez: team second-in-command.

  Sergeant Boone Brady: Sniper and ordnance specialist.

  Sergeant Asha Holt: operations and team medic.

  Flight Crew:

  Jonathan/Micah Case: Captain and pilot.

  Yuki O’Connell: Lieutenant and co-pilot.

  Nina Vandiver: Chief Warrant Officer and ‘backender’; the crew’s gunner.

  Will Morris: Specialist and flight engineer.

  Katie Hyer: Chief Warrant, currently cross-training with both Yuki and Will.

  THE AKKADIAN EMPIRE

  Asher Dent: Former Minority Leader of the Coalition of World’s General Assembly. Recently assumed the title of Premier of the Akkadian Empire.

  Che Josza: Former Citizen General First-Class, demoted from Third-Class after failed attempt to seize chiral material. Recently appointed as Minister of State Security.

  Dacina Zian (“Fierce Dagger”): Akkadian assassin and member of the Junxun Tèzhǒng. Self-appointed protector of Che Josza.

  Rin Zhou Enlai: Former Minister of State Security under previous administration.

  Clint Janus: Akkadian sleeper agent, born and raised in Geminate Alliance. Biochemist who recently disappeared from the Alliance, resurfacing in Akkadia.

  WEAPONRY & ARMOR

  CUSP – Compact Ultra-Short Pulse pistol uses a pulsed, laser-induced plasma to either paralyze, flash-bang, flash-blind, or deliver searing pain, depending on the weapon’s setting.

  P-SCAR – Pulsed Special Combat Assault Rifle.

  RAU-19 – Railgun mounted on DAP Helios attack craft.

  Banshees – Each Banshee fighter-bomber mounts a five-centimeter laser, and is capable of strafing runs. In addition, each
USV carries a pair of missiles, their yields varying by Banshee model type.

  Dazzlers – Dazzlers emit decoy ECM and jam signals, robbing enemy vessels of their ability to coordinate their attack.

  Drakeskin armor – A carbyne-reinforced synthsilk skinsuit, used by special operations forces when infiltrating hostile territory.

  Drakeskin stealth suit – A drakeskin suit with a nanoweave embedded into the topmost layer of fabric that is tunable to the environment, providing visible-spectrum stealth. The underlayers are made of metamaterials, which use transformation optics to shield the wearer from view by controlling electromagnetic radiation and guiding incident waves around the wearer.

  About the Biogenesis War™ Universe

  In the twenty-second century, humanity reached the stars.

  With colonies established throughout the Sol system, pioneers hungry for new ventures traveled beyond its borders to nearby Alpha Centauri. There, they planted the first seeds of what would become three independent star nations—two around its binary stars, a third orbiting nearby Proxima Centauri.

  Not long after, a theoretical form of propulsion became a reality. The experimental new drive’s Casimir bubble magnified the Scharnhorst effect, allowing velocities up to three times the speed of light.

  A brave band of explorers took a chance on the new tech and launched a pair of colony ships toward the binary stars of Procyon and Sirius. Their descendants flourished, forming the Geminate Alliance.