“I’ve been in cryosleep since shortly after the Destiny came to Sanctuary. I fully expect to return to cryosleep sometime in the next few weeks.”
“Why?” asked Kala. “I would think you would want to stay awake.”
Brenda let out a deep breath. “I want to see my world freed from the Confederation and the Druins taught a lesson. I can’t do that unless I’m awake when we’re finally ready to fight back.”
Andrew was not surprised to hear this. “How soon will that be?”
“Soon,” answered Brenda, as one of the stewards brought over five glasses filled with a rose-colored liquid. He also placed five glasses of ice water in front of them as well.
Brenda picked up her glass with the rose-colored drink. “This is called Carlish. It’s a weak alcoholic beverage that I believe all of you will like.”
Kala picked up her glass and took a cautious sip. Her eyes lit up with recognition. “It tastes like strawberries!”
Andrew tasted his and nodded in agreement. “Yes, it does.” He looked at Brenda. “I presume somewhere you have some large hydroponic farms.”
Brenda nodded. “Yes, we grow a large assortment of vegetables and other crops. We even have some food animals as well.”
The steward soon returned with a tray which held five salads. He placed one in front of each of the five, as well as several cups of different dressings.
Rachael tasted each one and then decided on one that tasted remarkably like Ranch dressing.
“Your people seem well-adjusted to living underground,” said Professor Adrian Marcus, as she took a small bite of her salad.
Brenda smiled. “We have some large parks and open areas we can go to for relaxation during our free time. When we have time, I’ll show them to you.”
Captain Masters come in through the large double door. He spotted them and came over to their table. “Mind if I join you?”
“Of course not,” replied Rachael, indicating for the captain to sit down next to her.
Masters sat down, and a steward hurried over and took his order. As soon as the steward left, Masters turned toward Andrew. “The Council will meet with you early tomorrow afternoon. Be prepared to spend several hours or more answering questions.”
“What about us?” asked Kala.
“Much less. They have a few questions for you, but not as they will for Mr. Wilcox.”
A steward returned with several large plates of steaming food. The plates contained various cuts of meats and some vegetables.
“I thought a variety would be best,” explained Brenda. “Hopefully you will find something you like.”
Andrew took his fork and selected several different slices of meat. He cut off a small slice and tasted it. “Not bad.” He tried the other meat and laughed. “Tastes like chicken.”
The girls sampled the food and found several they liked.
“What’s life like here on Pallas?” asked Adrian, as she tried a vegetable that resembled a small potato.
“We’re preparing for war daily. We’ve adopted Earth’s twenty-four-hour time period and calendar to make everything easier when we finally reveal ourselves,” answered Brenda. “The majority of our population is in cryosleep, though many more are awake now than in the beginning. Our population has been steadily expanding, and the base is now functioning as it was first envisioned.”
Andrew put down his fork and took a deep drink of the Carlish. “How much longer do you think your people will stay in cryosleep?”
Captain Masters looked thoughtful. “I hope not too much longer. Earth is progressing very fast, and it won’t be too long before the Druins take notice. We have to be ready before that day.”
Andrew tried one of the vegetables, finding it very tasty. “How many attack drones do the Druins have in the interdiction stations?”
“We’re not sure. Several of our military people, who are familiar with the stations the Druins use, estimate between twenty to forty in each of the primary stations. Unfortunately we don’t know how many primary stations there are. There could be anywhere from four to twelve.”
“What will cause them to attack?” asked Adrian.
“Earth’s scientific advancement. If any of the AIs on the primary stations decide Earth has reached a point where it could be a danger to the Confederation, it will signal all the primary stations to attack. They will attack without warning and will use antimatter missiles to eliminate all of Earth’s largest cities.”
“You said the primary stations are controlled by AIs,” said Rachael. “Has there been any discussion about using a computer virus to take control of the interdiction system?”
Captain Masters looked at Rachael in surprise. “Computer viruses are outlawed in the Empire, as well as in the Confederation. They could do tremendous harm on every world, as computers control nearly everything.”
“Well, they are not outlawed on Earth, and we have some programmers who are experts at designing viruses to get into computer systems. What would happen if we use a virus to gain control of the entire interdiction system and cause it to continue to report Earth is still harmless to the Druins?”
Captain Masters looked stunned. “Are your programmers that good?”
Rachael nodded. “We would need to study your computer systems and run some tests on what would work. I presume your systems would be somewhat like the Druins’ systems?”
“They would be,” replied Captain Masters. “Only theirs will be more advanced, but the principal software will be the same.”
Andrew decided he needed to ask a question. “It’s obvious the Druins are depending on their AIs in the interdiction stations to report any abnormalities that might be a danger. How often do Druin warships come and check on our development?”
“Not often,” replied Captain Masters. “From what I understand the last check was over fifty years ago, and they probably won’t be back for another one hundred.”
“So, if we could take over the interdiction stations, could your people send back the proper messages to make the Druins think everything is still okay?”
Captain Masters slowly nodded his head. “Yes, I’m certain of that.”
“That means,” Andrew noted, “if we can take over the system, we would have around one hundred years to get Earth ready for war.”
Captain Masters stood, leaving the rest of his food untouched. “I need to speak to several of our computer people about this, as well as several Council members. Rachael, you may be summoned along with Mr. Wilcox instead of separately. You may have just solved our biggest worry.”
Andrew watched as Captain Masters hurried off, his expression revealing his excitement about Rachael’s suggestion.
“Well, I’ve never seen that before,” said Brenda, as she took a drink of her Carlish. “The captain is normally quite calm about everything.”
-
Later Andrew was in his quarters when a knock came on his door. Opening it, he expected to see Kala, but it was Rachael instead.
“May I come in?”
“Sure,” replied Andrew.
Rachael entered and sat down on the sofa. “One thing I will say, these quarters are very comfortable.”
Andrew sat down next to her, curious as to what was on Rachael’s mind.
“Are we doing the right thing? If we design a virus to use against the interdiction system, are we putting Earth in danger?”
Andrew shook his head. “No more than it would be if we left everything as it is. At some point Earth will build an FTL-capable ship of some type. When the interdiction system detects it leaving the Solar System, the AIs will send in all their drones to attack and will probably notify the Druins at the same time. At Earth’s current rate of advancement, that’s most likely to happen in the next ten to fifteen years. If the drones attack in that time frame, we won’t have anything capable of stopping them.”
“And in another hundred years?”
“My people are working on bringing all of Earth’s gov
ernments together—or at least the major ones. By that time we’ll have ships with weapons and energy shields which can take on the Druins. We’re in a section of space with few habitable worlds. It will take a while for the Druins to respond to us after their warship discovers the truth. This base here should also have a large fleet to contribute to Earth’s defense. We may just be able to make Earth and the Solar System too hard of a nut for the Druins to crack.”
Rachael nodded. “That helps.” She paused and looked at Andrew. “May I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure.”
“What do you think of Kala?”
Andrew hadn’t been expecting this. “She’s nice and very smart. I enjoy talking to her. Why do you ask?”
Rachael’s face flushed slightly. “Oh, I was just curious. The two of you seem to be spending a lot of time together. I saw her leave your quarters on the Endeavor recently.”
“Nothing happened,” stammered Andrew. “We were just talking.” He was certain she was referring to the night he had kissed Kala.
Rachael stood. “We’re all adults here. If you want to sleep with Kala, it’s okay with me. I better be going. It sounds as if we’ll have a long day tomorrow.”
Andrew was left speechless, not sure how to respond. He watched as Rachael left his quarters, knowing he should say something but not sure what it needed to be. “Women! Why are they so hard to understand?”
Letting out a deep sigh, Andrew decided to turn in for the night. He would worry about Kala and Rachael later. First he had to deal with his meeting with the Imperial Council. He suspected it would be a very interesting day for all concerned, as well as for the future of Earth and the Imperials on Pallas.
Chapter Ten
Andrew and Rachael were summoned to the Imperial Council chambers in the early afternoon. Ensign Allert came and escorted them to the meeting, explaining what would happen.
“They’ll ask you about Earth and what your Imperial Council is planning,” she explained to Andrew. “They may want to know quite a few details.”
“What about me?” asked Rachael. She felt extremely nervous about appearing before the Council.
“You caused quite a stir with Captain Masters, when you told him about Earth programmers creating computer viruses. I’m sure the Council will have numerous questions for you about that. I haven’t heard from Captain Masters today, though I expect him to be in the meeting.”
Rachael nodded. She wasn’t sure what the Council would be asking her, but she was determined to answer as best as she could.
-
It took them nearly twenty minutes to reach the Council chambers, after walking though several long corridors and taking several turbolifts, which took them deeper beneath the surface of Pallas.
They finally reached a pair of large decorated double doors with the insignia of the Human Empire on them. The insignia was a large starburst on a background of stars. Two armed guards stood on each side of the doors.
“I will leave you now,” explained Brenda, as she came to a stop. “I don’t have the security clearance for what you will be discussing inside. When the meeting is over, someone will summon me, and I’ll show you how to get back to your quarters.”
“Thanks for helping us,” said Andrew. Looking at Rachael, he smiled. “Guess we better go in.”
The guards opened the doors, and the two stepped through. Inside they found a large conference table with ten Imperials seated. Five men and five women. A small viewing section was close by, where twenty spectators sat, including Captain Masters. He nodded and smiled at seeing them.
The woman at the head of the table stood. “I’m Lena Prest, the current head of this Council. If the two of you will take a seat, we’ll get this meeting underway. I’m sure both of you have a lot of questions, as do we.” Lena gestured toward two vacant seats at the conference table. A glass of ice water sat in front of each councilor.
Andrew and Rachael sat down and waited expectantly.
“We’ll start off by introducing the rest of the Council members. We each serve five-year terms, at which point we may elect to go back into cryosleep.”
Each member of the Council introduced themselves, as well as what their responsibilities were on Pallas. Andrew was surprised that an admiral was a member of the Council. His name was Admiral Terrell Bract, and he was responsible for all the fleet units currently based inside Pallas.
After the introductions, Lena asked the first question. “We would ask that you answer our questions as truthfully as possible, and we will do the same. How many Imperials are there currently on Earth?”
Andrew considered his answer. “Tens of thousands are direct descendants of the Imperials who were stranded on Earth over one thousand years ago. However, only a little over two hundred are aware of our heritage and have been educated with a major understanding of Imperial science and technology.”
“Only two hundred,” replied Lena, a slight look of disappointment. “I would have expected more.”
“Over the years many of our people married Earth Humans. It was decided that the regular citizens of Earth could not be allowed to know of our presence. For that reason, for those of us who married outside of our Imperial group, their children were not educated as an Imperial. Over the years our group has steadily been getting smaller. Discussions recently were concerned with substantially enlarging our circle, as Earth is expanding out into the Solar System.”
Councilor Mila Rosen asked the next question. “What is your group’s goal on Earth? We know from the way Earth has developed some of its science that Imperials must have been involved.”
“We’ve always known that, at some point, the Druins would return and take over Earth. We have been working at bringing Earth’s level of technology up to Imperial standards, yet not so much as to bring the Druins’ attention on us, as well as working toward a more unified government. The current space program is a good example, as over thirty nations on Earth are currently involved, and that includes all the major ones.”
Admiral Bract looked thoughtful. “How soon before Earth develops its own FTL drive?”
“Soon,” answered Andrew. This was a major concern of the Imperials back on Earth. “They are already working on an Alcubierre Drive and will have an experimental model ready for testing in two or three more years. Fortunately we have several of our own people embedded in the program, and, when they test the drive, they’ll find it is only capable of sublight speeds. However, we believe, sometime in the next few years after that, they will realize the mistake made and will correct the drive to allow for FTL speeds. So we’re probably looking at five to seven years before they have an effective drive system.”
This caused a stirring in the Council, as well as in those observing.
“That’s not good,” said Councilor Jalad Wiste. “We will not be ready by then. If the Druins detect a functioning FTL drive, they will send their drones in to attack Earth.”
“We need to delay that drive development for at least another fifty to seventy-five Earth years,” said Councilor Arianna Bliss. “Is there anything your people on Earth can do to accomplish that?”
Andrew shook his head. “Can’t be done. Too many good scientists are already working on the project. Earth’s space program wants a more economical way to travel between the planets and the moons of this system. At some point someone will perfect the Alcubierre Drive or stumble across the method to build a hyperspace drive instead.”
“What can we do?” asked Councilor Rosen.
Lena stood and looked around the Council chambers. “Last night Captain Masters came to me with a daring plan. One that could keep the Druins from finding out about Earth’s technological level for another seventy to one hundred years or even more.”
“How?” asked Councilor Wiste. “Is he suggesting we intervene ourselves? It is true we could probably stop the drone attack with our warships, but what happens when a Druin fleet appears?”
Lena smiled. “We can�
��t face a Druin fleet at this time. However, it seems Earth is very astute at designing viruses to gain access to other computer systems.”
“Viruses!” sputtered Councilor Bliss, her face showing shock. “Those have long been outlawed in both the Empire and the Confederation because of the serious impact they could have on our economies.”
“We’re at war,” pointed out Andrew. “How many Imperial citizens died in the attacks when they took over our Empire? I believe the number was in the billions.”
Everyone nodded their heads, even Councilor Bliss. “That may be true, but the use of computer viruses could be extremely dangerous. What did you have in mind?”
Lena gestured toward Rachael. “Would you like to explain your idea?”
-
Rachael nodded. She had been expecting this. “I only recently became aware of you Imperials when Andrew told me. We’ve had a few discussions, and I don’t want to see Earth destroyed by the Druins. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for your worlds.” Rachael paused and took a deep breath. “On Earth we have long had a problem with industrial espionage. We have much less today, as many of the larger countries are beginning to work together. However, all our computer systems are protected with various firewalls to prevent access by computer viruses. Over the years some very sophisticated viruses were developed that seriously compromised millions of computers.”
“The exact reason why the Empire and the Confederation banned them,” pointed out Councilor Bliss. “They were too dangerous.”
“Probably a wise decision,” replied Rachael. “As the years passed on Earth, the viruses became more highly sophisticated, as did virus protection software. Both were developed by companies, militaries, and even governments.”
“What is your suggestion?” asked Admiral Bract. “That we neutralize the Druin interdiction system by infecting it with a virus? As soon as that happens, one of the AIs will report the presence of a virus to the Druins, and they will descend on us in force.”
Rachael shook her head. “No, my plan is more complicated and safer. We use a virus to take over the interdiction system. Once it is under our control, we can continue to send reports back to the Druins that Earth is not a threat and that no FTL drive system has been detected.”
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment: Book One Page 13