Peacekeeper

by Doug Farren

  “I will not—”

  The Vice President placed a hand on the President’s shoulder, causing him to interrupt himself. He had become familiar with that gesture. The Vice President, Silvia Barr, was a stocky woman from Latvia. She was known more for her keen insight than her looks. Like the President, her face had the look of a woman who spent a great deal of time outdoors but it was her penetrating eyes filled with unfathomable intelligence that had made her famous. She had a seemingly mystical ability to instantly grasp the relevance of what people were trying to say often before the person who was saying it had finished talking. She didn’t speak very often, but when she did, people tended to listen.

  “I am afraid I must agree with Peacekeeper Sorbith,” she said, in a voice pitched lower than normal.

  Lefort had come to trust Barr’s advice but this time he wanted an explanation. “Why?”

  “Look around,” she said. “Let’s assume the Peacekeeper is right. What would happen if everyone in this room were to die right now?”

  The President looked around. When he looked back, she knew he had changed his mind. Turning to the others, she raised her voice and said, “I am making this an official order from the office of the President. Those members of the cabinet who are currently present will immediately accompany the President and me to the roof where we will board Peacekeeper Sorbith's ship. Are there any questions?”

  Without any further argument, the group made their way to the nearest elevator. Once inside, the Vice President asked, “Where are you planning on taking us?”

  “There is a Rouldian battlecruiser in high orbit,” Sorbith said. “They have agreed to protect you for the duration of the crises.”

  “Rouldian? Why not a Terran ship?” the President asked.

  “A Purist can easily blend in on a Terran ship.”

  The Secretary of Finance stared at Sorbith, a light sheen of sweat forming above his raised eyebrows. “You actually believe the AOH might be able to overthrow Earth’s government!”

  The elevator came to a gentle stop. The doors opened, revealing the glass-enclosed roof access room. Sorbith looked at the Secretary, nodded his head, and said, “I do.”

  The Tri-Star, of course, was far too large to actually land on the roof. Two of its struts rested on the VTOL pad while the others hung freely in the air over the side of the building. Like a monstrous, impossibly balanced coin, the ship waited to receive its passengers.

  As the members of the highest tier of Earth's government appeared on the roof, the Tri-Star's AI picked up an ominous broadcast. "AZ-114, traffic control: Your current trajectory is not authorized, please respond."

  Alert to any signs of trouble, the Tri-Star's computer instantly pulled up the statistics and location of the offending vessel. The ship was a small but heavily armed local defense craft. A few moments ago, it had been quietly maintaining its assigned position in high orbit nearly 4,000 kilometers away. It was now rapidly accelerating toward the Tri-Star. A quick scan showed that the ship's weapon systems were powering up. All this information was gathered and processed before the traffic controller had finished his transmission.

  The AI spent 17.2 milliseconds evaluating several courses of action while simultaneously sending a short burst of data to Sorbith via his biolink. It also fired off a priority communication to the Thistava, the Rouldian battlecruiser that was their destination. As the officials exited the roof enclosure, several of the Tri-Star’s bright external lights came on. A split second later, the sun vanished as the shield was put in place.

  “Run!” Sorbith yelled.

  Startled, the entire group broke into a hard run toward the brightly lit ramp. Fifteen seconds later, everyone was aboard. Sorbith, intimately linked to the ship through his biolink, watched as an energy beam struck the shield. Ignoring the cries of the frightened passengers, he headed directly for the command center. Along the way, his ship provided updates at the speed of thought.

  “Shield is holding at 43% loading. The Thistava is powering weapons and will be able to engage in 23 seconds. I have informed building security to immediately evacuate the building and the surrounding area.”

  Sorbith bounded through the door and dropped into the command chair. His eyes swept the various screens giving him all the information he needed. “Maintain position until everyone is clear of the immediate area,” Sorbith ordered.

  “Incoming missiles,” the ship calmly reported. “Engaging.”

  The hum of the particle beam cannon was transmitted through the ship’s frame as the computer fired on the incoming missiles. Sorbith heard a noise behind him and then a voice demanded, “We’re under attack! Why aren’t we leaving?”

  Sorbith spun around to find General Blankenship standing just inside the open hatch. “The shield that just saved your life sliced off a piece of the building. If we try to move, the weight will pull the generator off its mount. If we drop the shield, the piece we cut off is going to fall, killing or injuring anyone below.”

  Disgusted, Sorbith turned back around to monitor the situation. Out in space, the Thistava locked weapons and opened fire. Three beams reached out and engaged the still-firing rogue ship. AZ-114’s shield was no match against the fury of the cruiser’s weapons. The armor resisted for a few seconds but it too gave way, allowing the beams to chew through the ship until it was a lifeless hulk. As the Thistava's weapons winked out, the eerie, bluish glow of a tractor beam took their place, slowing the ship so it wouldn’t plunge into the atmosphere.

  Ever since AZ-114 broke from its assigned position, traffic control had been demanding an explanation for all the activity. The Amazon, a Terran destroyer, had noted the Thistava was powering weapons, issued a warning, and began powering up its own weapons. By the time the Thistava opened fire, several other vessels had also begun preparing for battle. All this activity was suddenly explained when the Tri-Star transmitted a general-band message thanking the Thistava for saving the lives of the World President and Vice President and ordering all ships to stand-down.

  It seemed like a good thing to do at the time, but it was a colossal mistake.

  The Tri-Star held its position for nearly an hour while the government building as well as the surrounding area below was evacuated. When the area was finally clear, the shield was dropped and the ship ascended a few hundred meters into the sky. At first, nothing seemed to happen but a few seconds later, a ventilation grill popped out the side of the building and began fluttering to the ground.

  This was followed by a low groaning sound as a large piece of the building began to shift. A tractor beam stabbed through the air, grabbing hold of the loose piece of building. It gently guided it over the side and into the open air before slowly lowering it to the ground. Small bits and pieces of debris continued to rain down from inside along with a couple of larger items. The vast majority of the multi-ton mass however, was safely lowered to the ground, causing minimal damage. Luckily, the affected section of the building contained only air handling equipment. No lives were lost in the building or on the ground.

  As soon as the debris was on the ground, the Tri-Star headed for the safety of the Rouldian warship. It nearly didn’t make it.

  Chapter 43

  Admiral Cornelius stared at his screen and shook his head. “Doesn’t command know we’re in the middle of cleaning up a major planetary disaster?”

  Displayed on the screen was a general recall of all Terran warships within 100 light years of Earth. The background information that accompanied the order indicated it had been issued in response to a failed attack on the World President and his cabinet. The attack substantiated other unspecified information indicating there was strong evidence that Earth might come under attack from internal as well as external forces.

  Captain O’Malley shrugged his shoulders. “The order does say ‘all available ships’. Most of the evacuations are complete. If it were up to me, I would leave a dozen ships behind and take the rest to Earth.”

  The Admiral a
ngrily pointed toward the port bulkhead. “There’s an AOH shipyard out there that we still have to deal with. What the hell are they thinking?”

  “Based upon the text of the order,” the Captain calmly replied, “I would say that command regards the defense of Earth as a higher priority than the destruction of a single shipyard. We can deal with it later.”

  “Earth is surrounded by one of the densest defense networks in the Alliance,” the Admiral argued. “I think we can handle anything the Purists can bring against us.”

  “You’re not thinking of disobeying orders are you Sir?”

  The Admiral’s head snapped around and he glared at the Captain. “No! Take your pick of a dozen ships and give them to Captain Scarboro. I want the Komodo Dragon here in case any of those Purist bastards decide to return.”

  “Aye Sir.”

  “Make sure they’re outfitted with whatever supplies they might need,” Cornelius added. Getting up from his seat, he stretched causing his back to emit an audible pop. “Once that’s done, take the rest of the fleet and head for Earth, maximum speed. I’ll be in my quarters—I need a shower and some sleep.”

  * * * * *

  The Tri-Star was 300 kilometers from the Thistava when the Purists launched the first phase of their attack. Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, 9,361 of Earth’s nearly 22,000 completely automated defense stations scattered throughout the solar system switched themselves into battle mode. Their normally quiescent reactors came to life, feeding power to the now active weapon systems. A prioritized list of targets was loaded as the stations raised their shields. Before anyone charged with monitoring them could react to the unexpected change in status, they opened fire.

  The AIs running the stations should have aborted the attack but the software now in control had wiped them from memory. As a result of this electronic lobotomy, the stations were forced to follow a rather simplistic routine. Starting at the top of the list, the first available target was selected. Weapons of incomprehensible power built to defend Earth against all forms of attack turned as if in revolt against their former master.

  The World Government building literally exploded from all sides as 9 terajoules of energy poured into it from above. The heat of the beams passing through the atmosphere generated thunderous shock waves with enough force to blow out windows 12 kilometers away. In a matter of seconds, the building was reduced to a lake of molten lava. The heat set the surrounding buildings on fire. Those who could, ran away from the scene through the middle of the streets, blocking the emergency vehicles trying to head in the other direction.

  Other stations took aim at the Mojave FTL transmitter hub. Although the facility was protected by a shield, it was no match for the sheer amount of raw power being delivered against it. The shield put up a valiant fight throwing off gigantic streamers of plasma in all directions. The streamers blasted the surrounding area, turning acres of sand into glass. Within a short period of time, the entire facility was reduced to a pool of glowing sand and steel.

  Those stations not targeting ground facilities turned their weapons against their brethren catching most of them by surprise and turning them into useless clouds of slowly expanding debris. The tactical computers of the unaffected defense stations as well as those aboard the warships struggled to comprehend what was happening. This was way beyond their programming and it took them a measurable amount of time before they were able to reclassify the rogue stations as hostile. For many, those seconds of indecision proved fatal.

  Terran law prohibited all ships from powering their weapon systems within 100,000 kilometers of any facility anywhere within the bounds of the solar system. This delayed the counterattack by several seconds. In any battle involving modern weapons, such a delay can easily be the factor that determines who comes out on top. Throughout the solar system, shields sprang into place and weapon systems powered up, all before the people controlling such machines even realized there was a problem. The tactical data network hummed with activity as the various ships and defense stations worked together to create a coordinated defense plan.

  The rogue stations continued to work through their list of targets. Government buildings, communication hubs, military bases and shipyards on both the moon and the Earth were quickly obliterated. When the list of fixed targets was exhausted, the stations turned their weapons elsewhere. The program now in control utilized a simple algorithm based on size, distance, and threat level to select the next target. This simplistic methodology caused the stations to begin firing indiscriminately on any ship or station in range including other rogue stations. Space became a confusion of weapons fire making it hard to distinguish between friend and foe.

  Sorbith was still trying to understand what was happening around him when the Tri-Star found itself under attack. Realizing the significance of the cargo it was carrying, two local defense ships crewed by AOH supporters were quickly approaching firing every weapon at their disposal. Reacting at inhuman speed, the ship’s AI flashed an emergency command to the Thistava. The warship’s AI overrode its current targeting instructions and in less than a second came to the Tri-Star’s aid.

  CIWS and secondary lasers from both the Thistava and the Tri-Star flashed through space to destroy the missiles while the Thistava’s primary guns dealt with the ships. The smaller defense ships were designed to serve as armed police vessels capable of operating both in space and within the atmosphere. Although heavily armed, they were no match against a fully powered battlecruiser. Eight seconds after beginning their attack, the two defense ships were rendered harmless.

  “Get as close as you can to the Thistava,” Sorbith ordered his ship. He was struggling to keep up with the fast-paced action hoping he would be able to protect himself and his passengers. “Contact the cruiser’s Captain.”

  Three seconds later, the reptilian face of the Rouldian Captain appeared on the screen. “I’ve got some help coming,” she said, as soon as the connection was established. “Two additional heavy cruisers are en route.”

  “Thank you,” Sorbith replied, dividing his attention between the image of the Captain and the tactical monitor. “Plot us a course out of the system. Link our navigational systems together and engage.”

  “Acknowledged, Thistava out.”

  “Tri-Star, alert all vessels along our path that we are carrying the World President. They are to protect this vessel at all costs.”

  “Understood.”

  The battle raged around them as the small knot of ships accelerated out of the system. The Black Hawk, a Terran-crewed light battlecruiser, took up station on the Tri-Star’s port side. It had just settled into position when it became the target of one of the rogue battle stations. The shield protected the ship for seven seconds until a pair of nuclear warheads made it past the ship's defenses and detonated. A third missile sailed through the weakened shield as if it wasn’t there and exploded on contact with the unprotected side of the ship. Nuclear fire consumed the Black Hawk in the blink of an eye.

  During the attack, the Tri-Star rolled around the Thistava putting the Rouldian battlecruiser between it and the Black-Hawk. As the remains of the Terran cruiser fell behind, the battle station set its sights on its next target—the Thistava. Twin beams of incredible power tried to force their way past the cruiser’s shield. A swarm of missiles, the last available in the station’s arsenal, raced toward the fleeing ship. Anti-missile lasers and railgun fire attempted to intercept them. One, however, managed to get through and it detonated against the port side of the Thistava’s shield.

  The radiation from the blast instantly heated a portion of the cruiser’s armor causing it to glow red. The weakened shield allowed the beams to penetrate for a few seconds. The increasing relative velocity between the cruiser and the station caused them to draw a white-hot line of destruction across the armor. Two seconds later, after sloughing off the energy deposited by the missile, the shield regained enough strength to again block the beam weapons. Three seconds after that, the b
eams were silenced as the station came under attack by a trio of warships.

  The crews of many of the warships were still scrambling to man their battle stations when one of the shortest major battles in the history of space warfare came to an abrupt end. Except for a very few instances, the battle had been fought entirely by far faster computers. As the weapons cooled, the biological entities who built them tried to figure out what had just happened.

  * * * * *

  “Hey!” Dennis yelled. “My link to Mojave just went down.”

  “Then have someone check it out,” Kuri replied, not taking her eyes off her monitor.

  Dennis looked around the room and said, “Everyone else is busy—I’ll check it out myself.”

  As he rolled his chair backward, he heard the sound of footsteps running down the hall. A moment later, a Peacekeeper barreled through the door. “Earth is under attack!” he announced, causing everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and look up. “The Mojave hub has been destroyed. We should be safe unless this building is directly targeted. Stay here until further notice.” As soon as he finished speaking, the Peacekeeper left.

  “What the hell?” was all Dennis could say.

  “It has to be the Purists,” Franklin said, furiously typing on his keyboard. The code he was going through vanished and was replaced by a live newscast. He turned the volume up then sat back so the others, who were rolling their chairs closer, could see and listen.

  “…his cabinet had been called together for an emergency session. There are reports that a Peacekeeper ship was seen hovering near the top of the building moments before it was attacked. Eyewitness reports claim the ship was undamaged and remained in the area for over half an hour. The top of the World Government building collapsed shortly after it departed. This series of events preceded the main attack. The World Government building is completely destroyed and nothing has been heard from the President or any of his staff since the hostilities erupted.”