General Whitehall: “EDIC, Jerry, set up a dedicated line to the DoD. Here, let me send you the access codes. The White House has declared a national emergency. First responders are out looking for whatever surprise this High Queen has in store.”
The general is looking at us now. “The president has initiated a security protocol that will push any updates here, directly from the DoD. They’ll send a full data package. If anyone reports anything unusual, we will be notified immediately via the DoD, through EDIC.”
Mr. T.: “Unfortunately for us, this High Queen of the Invasion is barely in control of herself on a good day. She has nothing to lose. This isn’t good. It’s not good at all.”
*EDIC: “General, there are multiple reports coming in of a tower rising from the ground at the Capital Mall, D.C. We are trying to pin the exact location.”
Roll: “It will be where that bug ship landed at the Capital Mall, the Ellipse.”
Yikes. Rock and Roll are in the back of the room. Didn’t even notice them. They are still in their space suits.
*EDIC: “There is a broadcast coming from the tower. Loud. Systematic. Perhaps a countdown.”
*COMMUNAL: It’s me Viz. Put the phone on speaker.
The main gallery room phone is humming. The general is answering.
Viz: “General, sir, the phone call is from Communal. He’s asked that you put the phone on speaker.”
*COMMUNAL: “This is Communal. The tower structure houses an explosive device. It is not nuclear. We surmise, with 98% certainty, the device contains antimatter. The transmission from the tower is a five-minute countdown. It is at 3 minutes, 22 seconds and counting. You are in the blast zone. We suggest you port to somewhere in the southern hemisphere. You might stop by and pick us up if you get a chance. At least our core unit. Though we suppose that would be difficult. It’s been good to know you all.”
Roll: “I’m on it.”
Roll has ported away. Evidently to the Capital Mall.
*EDIC: “Using Communal data, we are at one minute and counting. Attention. Another report has come in from the west coast. Only the one report. There is another tower structure. The description is similar. Verbal description only, no image. The location of the structure is on a nature trail in Tacoma, WA. Snake Lake Loop. No other information at this time.”
Roll is back. The way those two pop in and out. My nerves are totally frayed.
Roll: “I was able to port the tower into space. Not sure exactly where. But I went deep. I know the Snake Lake Trail well. But it’s a couple of miles long. How much time do we have?”
*COMMUNAL: “Assuming the devices were activated at the same time, the count would be 30 seconds.”
Rock: “I’m with you brother. Let’s try for the middle of the trail and we can move out in obverse ports from there.”
Rock and Roll: “That contraption Dan talked about by the Nature Center!”
Para: “You can’t go. You won’t make it. The whole west coast is in the blast zone.”
Our family! Almost everyone we know. I can’t take any more of this. And Roll is gone. Rock is gone. Now they’re both ... gone.
*COMMUNAL: “Timer count 3, 2, 1... Accessing west coast area data feeds. There is a good deal of chatter; military channels are quite active. There is discussion of a very high yield explosion. They’re analyzing. We are analyzing. Hold.”
Grandad’s s-loop is chiming. That’s odd since this is a secure site. They must have reset permissions to allow calls.
Mr. T: “This is Peter Trollkin. Who is this? Marj? Are you okay? Let me put you on speaker.”
Marj Findley: “Hello? Hello? I wanted to tell you that Roll is here. He’s a little beat up. I heard him rattling around in the porting room. He’s in a space suit for pity sakes! It’s not even Halloween. He won’t take it off. Says he’s got something to do first. He really is quite banged up but I think he’s okay. Nothing seems broken. He keeps pushing me away. I don’t think he has a concussion. But he’s running around like a crazy person.
“His suit is torn up pretty good. He was asking for some duct tape, tearing the place apart looking for some. Now Roll, you just settle down now. Where is it you think you’re going, looking like that? You’re going to kill the queen? What queen? The queen tried to kill everyone you love? I’ve changed my mind. Roll must have a bad concussion. Roll! Well now, he’s gone ahead and ported away. He is definitely going to get a talking-to when I find that boy.”
Mr. T: “It’s so good to hear your voice Marj. I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Marj Findley: “Now, Tee. Why in the world would you say such a thing? Of course I’m okay. We need to find Roll. He’s the one we need to be worried about. Now, if he is okay, I’m not so sure he’s going to be okay for long, not once I get my hands on him, I tell you what. That boy!”
Mr. T: “Don’t worry Marj, Roll is here now with me. I’ve got to run. Talk to you soon.”
Mr. T turned to Roll who was busy working at the computer terminal. “Roll, you’re a mess. You certainly saved the day though. What are you doing at the terminal?”
*EDIC: “The remaining bug blockade ship is still deep. Coordinates, mark +.”
Roll: “I’m locating the High Queen. Would you mind finishing up the duct taping someone? There! The queen has stopped with the evasion tactics and is on a stable vector. She’s as good as dead.”
Mr. T: “Hold on a second Roll. You can’t go anywhere in that suit. It’s not functional. This duct tape job isn’t enough. Rock can go. Or at least put on his suit. What happened to you anyway? Where is Rock?”
Roll: “Rock is probably looking for me in Tacoma. No time to wait. The filthy queen might start evasive maneuvers again. I ported the second bomb too close to the first bomb. Got brushed by the blast wave is all. It must have been quite the explosion.”
Roll took one more look at the terminal screen and he was gone.
Viz: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Roll so angry.”
The minutes drag by.
*EDIC: “New picture. It’s taken a while to obtain confirmation. Time lag issues. We have several new explosions, very deep. By distance.
“Explosion one, massive, at 5.5 light minutes, just under 99 million kilometers.
“Explosion two, also massive, just over 7.5 light minutes, 135 million kilometers.
“Confirmed nuclear detonation approximately 15.5 million kilometers, 8.5 light minutes. That could be blockade ship six. Imaging to confirm, almost complete. Stand by. Confirmed, spectral analysis indicates destruction of bug ship, blockade ship six.
“We have not modeled an explosion of the types represented by explosions one and two. Our AI suggests those had similar yields, in the 5,000 to 10,000 megaton range. Hold, we’re verifying numbers, that doesn’t sound likely. The DoD AI does confirm 5,000 megatons to 10,000 megatons range.
*COMMUNAL: “We concur with the DoD AI projected yield analysis. That is the range. Our modeling suggests 7,000 megatons plus-or-minus 20%. Tower structure design suggests a launching mechanism to loft the antimatter explosives to an optimal height to maximize the area of destruction. The countdown was purposeful, an attempt to elicit terror. Explosions of that magnitude would likely have caused global catastrophe. They would surely have spelled the end of civilization. Perhaps the end of most species including humanity.”
*EDIC: “We show that all blockade ships have been destroyed. With that, we’re going to call the operation closed. Good job everyone. All analysts level 5 and higher report to conference room Epsilon in 10 minutes. Repeat, level 5 and up, analysts report to Epsilon in 10 minutes.”
***
Rock was fidgety. “Roll should have been back here by now. I’m going to go and look for him some more.” Rock ported off.
We all turned to the back of the room upon hearing Rock. When did he get back? Now he’s gone again.
Roll sounded off next “Where’s Rock? I’ve been looking for him. Quite the day, huh?”
&n
bsp; I almost hit the ceiling. “You need to get a bell or something, to wear around your neck, the way you come and go.”
Para smiled. “Roll! There you are. I’ve made up a partially stolen song for you. Ding dong ... oh, never mind.”
Para went over and hugged Roll. “You’re amazing you know. Communal tells us you saved us all from a global catastrophe. The end of us all. Not to mention killing the queen witch herself.”
Viz joined the hug. “Rock has gone looking for you. Your big brother is worried about you. We have all been worried about you.”
Roll shrugged. “I got a little freezer burned out there in space. They really should make those space suits more durable. I just needed some med-cream. The nice folks at Madigan gave me this aerosol breather thing too. I guess there isn’t any oxygen in space. It was gross. I thought my eyes were going to pop out. Seriously, actually pop out. Saw that in a movie. Just saying.” Then he laughed. We all did.
Viz looked at Mr. T. “What do you think Grandad? Time to go home?”
Mr. T had a huge smile. “You kids go on. I’ll catch up later. Hold on. It’s a 3-hour flight back. Give me 5 minutes, will you? I need to have a quick chat with the general. Then I’ll be ready to go.”
September 29 th , 1400 hours, Greenwich. We are about to port with four 9-member teams to Darkside. Rock and Roll have been exercising, trying to increase their lift capability. Evidently exercise works for just about anything. It will still require two separate ports. The goal is to port the spec-ops teams close to the base. There are 4 airlock doors.
The squads will secure those doors and help to take the base. After that they will move the hostages to the shelter domes. The ships that are transporting the domes and other equipment left early yesterday. It will take another 10 hours or so to make the Lunar orbital insertion. They can vary that timing a bit, but not by much. We’re up, time to go. Mr. T has given Muncle leave from the mission. Evidently, he isn’t feeling well. Get well Muncle!
It’s still September 29th . We’re so amped. This is what has happened so far. Shockwave is inside the Darkside base. Rock and Roll have also ported the special ops teams to Darkside, two quick trips. Each team is close to the base, near a hatch, hunkered down in smallish impact craters. There has been no reaction from the bugs, though it is likely they noticed the arrival. Shockwave ported to the ... to the Eastern hatch.
We punched in the key-code. The hatch opened! I’m not sure why I was surprised. We were cloaked of course. The airlock inner hatch opened, and we were inside. A couple of bugs looked at the hatch. They looked at each other and they gave a bug-shrug. Seriously. That’s what it looked like. And they went back to their business. I’m sure they thought it was odd. But they didn’t do anything about it. Evidently, if our teams have been spotted by their scanner arrays, no general alarm has been given.
We hurried to the HVAC
Crud! I hate loud screechy alarms. The base has a big smoke detector or ion detector or something. Why didn’t we think of that? A few bugs are coming our way. But they are moving slowly. And there aren’t many of them. Probably some bug engineers coming to check the HVAC system. There goes Para, like a whirlwind. Broke the cloak. But good job. Nice and quiet. Time check. It’s 2:45, okay 14:45. We are still on schedule. Hold on. More bugs coming. These are wearing space suits. Going to be busy for a while.
A full platoon of the bug elite guard has taken position at the control room entrance and activated an energetic shield. We need the gate to open, but we sure don’t want a message sent through to warn the Empire. The other special operations units are in and securing the human prisoners.
Our task is to take the control room. Our weapons have been rendered ineffective by the shielding. The bugs sentries are on high alert, guns at the ready. And they are waiting. Twenty of them in a semi-circle covering the control room. They’ll try to hold until the gate opens. They aren’t firing. Too much sensitive equipment around our positions. We don’t have time for this. Here comes the command.
Mr. T is shouting, command voice. “Form up for a hostage situation, rear of target, from the outside in, as facing hostiles, Rock to left and Roll to right. Move out.”
We all drew sidearms. Para took Roll’s hand. I cloaked and moved to Rock and Mr. T. Mr. T held up three fingers. 3,2,1... port. We untangled right behind the enemy soldiers. Gun in contact with the base of the head, a neck shot right where the head and thorax connect. Fire. Reposition. Fire.
The others ported back to a safe position. I stayed behind cloaked, quietly unslung my rifle, and moved behind some equipment to keep watch. I’m happy to have moved up to the 6.8; really, the recoil isn’t all that bad. The bullets have a lot more thump than the old 5.56 I was using. We didn’t want a wounded bug recovering enough to take a shot at us.
10 dead bugs. 10 bugs left. The remaining bugs were agitated, looking all around the control room. They didn’t see anyone. They looked out and saw the team outside the shielding hiding behind . The bugs then formed up again, facing outward, and opened fire this time.
3,2,1... port. The port teams fired, base of neck, stepped off to the sides and continued firing. I opened up with the 6.8 and kept firing until my magazine was empty. Then I dropped my empty mag, put in a new one, chambered a round, and watched for movement. Nothing. Para scanned them. All dead. Roll crashed the shielding.
Almost 2:50, so 14:50. We need to get the engineers in here to turn off the alarms and make sure no warning message goes out to the Empire.
Mr. T is on the comms. “We’ve secured the portal gate control room. Let’s get the engineers in here.”
A few Earth engineers were embedded with the spec-ops teams. They think they can operate the portal computers if needed. We did a lot of recording when on recon duty. And the computer terminals and controls on the bug ships provided a good starting point to develop a basic understanding of bug systems. Most of the set-up is automated anyway. The engineers have silenced the alarm. Thank goodness.
They are now checking to make sure no automated messages are being sent from the base. It is one minute to the scheduled portal opening of 3:05. And, wow! There has just been a very bright flash. It illuminated the whole base. It may have illuminated the entire dark side of the Moon. I wonder if that’s normal? Roll says that’s called the initial burn-off, whatever that means.
The gate has apparently opened. Automated opening, right on schedule. So far, so good. The engineers must think everything is okay, giving us the thumbs up. The gate has settled down and looks black, blacker than black, and shimmering just a little. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Time for Shockwave to move out.
***
FAR OUT!
Still September 29th . We ported through the wormhole, or whatever it is. Of course, we have a bomb with us. It’s big. But not a monster. About a megaton. It seems as though wherever we go, a shockwave follows. We are cloaked, wearing rebreathers in case the atmosphere is toxic.
Para, our resident biologist, is running some quick tests, organics. I’m checking the air. Cloak, cloak, cloak. It will only take a minute to determine if we can stay here without hazmat suits.
They, the Empire, aren’t aware that we are here. Sure ... we’re cloaked. But you never know with such a technically advanced civilization. No war ships in sight. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to move across to Darkside. It’s hard to describe the place on this side of the portal bridge. Amazing?
The portal gate is within a huge dome with clear glass windows. Well, not windows really. It is like a huge dome of solid glass. It’s like glass but with no framing. Just glass. But not glass. Clearer than glass. It’s almost invisible, but you
can see it from the occasional light refraction. I’m not doing a good job of describing it. Like I said, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
It’s night here. Two large moons. One looks a little larger than Luna back home. I feel a little lighter. Like I weigh maybe 10 pounds less than usual. Perhaps less gravity than Earth, but it’s close. There are stars. A lot of stars. There are levels and levels of ... ships ... moving very fast. Outside the dome. Aircars. It looks like a dozen or more super-freeways all stacked up on top of each other. But I don’t see any solid surfaces, just thousands of aircars, streaming along, and not that far from the dome.
There’s a city not far in the distance. With buildings like crystals reaching for space. And there’s the bomb. We didn’t know what to expect of course. But this is crazy. Are we going to detonate the bomb with the freeway so close? And the city? We have to. What choice do we have? Now to find a secure spot away from the blast effect.
Roll tethered and Rock ported away. Tethering also helps with detecting an entanglement shake. Rock popped right back. Too much stuff around. He couldn’t untangle on that try. I didn’t think he slipped the cloak, but now alarms are going off. Here goes port attempt two. He popped right back. But he has a silly look on his face.
Rock! Check out those seriously scary looking killer-robots roaming the grounds. Yeah. Impressive. Here comes one our way and its moving fast.
“Trust me, ” Rock said.
We had to go. Mr. T set the bomb timer for 20 seconds and we ported. What else could he do? We untangled in a large park-like area. We were out in the countryside somewhere. Roll had spotted the place on his second port and memorized the location as best he could. We’re not too far out in the county. I can see the city. It’s not that far. We are in a hollowed out depression, so we can hunker down from the blast effect. I think. How far are we?
Let’s see what my Ivees can tell me. There are the skyscrapers. I’ll call them that. They are tall. Incredibly tall. And beautiful. Like thin crystal spires reaching almost into space. They shimmer in waves of beautiful colors. I hear musical tones that seem to be coming from the spires. It’s like they’re chiming in the wind. I think we should be further away from the bomb! Mr. T is focused on the dome, watching through an IVs booster.
Battle for Earth Page 28