by Paul Dayton
“That’s it and thank you HAL. Make sure the Gravplane shows them a safe approach out of China Lunar’s reach if they accept the invitation. If they don’t receive it, open up a regular communication link just before they’re in range of China Lunar and warn them. Keep me up to date.” Timothy wanted to ask about the computer persona on Pluto Deep Space but he had run out of time.
He got up with Ruth and they both walked over to the exit ramp. The wall had opened up to reveal a large group of people standing officially on the well maintained tarmac. They had set up some sort of welcoming party, and a small group of people had musical instruments off to one side.
“Timothy, I’m worried. Don’t forget the last time this happened…”
“So am I, Ruth,” Timothy said. “HAL, are there any weapons that you can see?”
“Other than the side-arms the soldiers are carrying, no. My sensors do indicate that they have live ammunition. You should know that it is standard procedure for them to carry weapons at all times when at war or when meeting dignitaries whose lives can be in danger. In any case, Junior should be able to take care of any issue that arises.”
Timothy turned around to see the Guard-Bot quietly standing behind him, his sensors scanning the surrounding people.
“Thank you HAL.” Timothy knew that Ruth probably had a part in this and that there was no evading this issue with Junior.
As soon as he stepped forward, the band started playing, surprising both Timothy and Ruth with their enthusiasm. They waved as they walked down the ramp and worked their way towards the Commander.
The Commander, a large, muscular and stern-looking man of imposing stature stood as tall as Timothy. He was in full uniform, with his status and medals proudly displayed on his chest. He walked forward and broke into a warm smile as he approached them. After a firm handshake with Timothy and a kiss on the hand to Ruth, he said, “Welcome to the People of Mother Russia Base, Sir! It is a privilege to have you here.”
“As it is mine, Commander.” He looked the Commander over, noticed the sincere smile and the blush on Ruth’s face, and felt an instant liking for the man. “There are some developments of the utmost importance that have just come to my attention. I hate to cut short your very impressive welcoming, but we need to go somewhere where we can talk.”
“Yes, Sir, I understand. My people are very excited to meet you, but the official greeting can come later, perhaps just before dinner. In the meantime, please follow me.”
“Thank you. Is there someone my base computer can coordinate a transfer of supplies with?”
The Commander looked around and spotted Captain Nevlouski standing stiffly at attention. After calling him over he said, “I think you know this person, Sir. He’s the communications officer that you spoke with earlier. Seeing as he’s now off duty, I’m sure he won’t mind coordinating the transfer of equipment.”
“I at service, Sir!” Captain Nevlouski said excitedly as he walked over.
“Glad to meet you face to face, Captain. Feel free to ask HAL anything,” Timothy said pointing to the Gravplane.
The Commander escorted him off the tarmac before anyone else could interrupt and they quickly entered the base. Going down a flight of stairs they passed a security center and once through Commander Livanovich quickly brought him to a comfortable looking room and mounted some guards on the outside. Timothy looked at the displays on the one wall, and the large bookshelf filled with hundreds of old books filling the other wall. On the third were various pictures of the Commander, the base, groups of people and shots of surrounding scenery. They sat on old but well maintained and comfortable leather recliners. After calling for refreshments, the commander said, “Where would you like to start?”
Two hours passed by and Timothy and Ruth were pleased with the progress. The commander was a logical, decisive man and had made it clear that he was notified by his own A.I. to accept Timothy as the interim New World Leader until Earth Alliance could confirm or deny the appointment. He added that any decision Timothy made that would jeopardize the base would be ignored.
Timothy completely understood, seeing as the commander and his predecessors had kept the base functional for almost seven hundred years.
They talked about China Lunar and agreed that the positron test should go as planned, but with a safeguard in place. The Russian base computer had received plans early on for the Laser Emitter on China Lunar, and had calculated that it would be nearly impossible for China Lunar to do any significant damage to Canada Base due to the distance and atmospheric refraction. It recommended that no humans walk outside of the base during the times China Lunar was in range. Still, all the base computers concurred that any danger to equipment or people was highly improbable because of the ultimate cost to their own resources. Commander Livanovich had kept an updated file on China Lunar’s capabilities based on spy photos and other sources, and he had collected an impressive dossier of information.
“Data indicates the Laser has to cool down for ten minutes before re-firing, and that a large quantity of gases and materials are used with each event. This makes it improbable that they would use it unnecessarily, knowing they would cause no real damage.”
Timothy was relieved.
“One more thing. There have been rumors of a second weapon built in secrecy. The rumors have come from secure sources, but we have no real proof.”
“The nature of this weapon?” Ruth asked.
“I’m sorry, First Lady. I have nothing more to go on. But this means any dealings with them merit caution and tact.”
Concerning the human ships, Commander Livanovich was very excited. He didn’t know of any other way to privately communicate with them other than the LaserLink and hoped that they would pick up and understand the signal. The Russian base computer’s A.I., who called itself Pieter, interrupted the conversation and estimated the variables as being too great to allow for success. “It’s likely they won’t recognize the signal, or be able to interpret it. Also,” Pieter added, “You must consider the possibility that they simply might not want what you want. In other words, aside from what Pluto Deep Space reports, they may not come in peace, or their objectives may be different. They may not recognize the Council’s authority, if it decides to make itself known.”
“Let’s hope that’s not true,” Ruth said.
“We also cannot ascertain the sort of government, or lack of it they may have,” Commander Livanovich added. “A military government will behave differently from a civilian one. There is no doubt that their ships appear highly prepared for war based on preliminary reports from Pluto Deep Space Base.”
“They may be a conglomerate of ships and rulers rather than a complete and unified government. The possibilities are great, the information little,” HAL added.
“The possibilities indicate a negative encounter with the human ships,” Pieter finished off.
“That’s simply not possible,” Timothy said. “Chances be damned, these are humans, and they’re finally home. I would guess they’ll follow their heart and be happy to be back. As to communication, we’ll go standard if we have to, but try the laser first.”
He felt morose, hoping Pieter was wrong. “Whatever the situation is, it’s imperative that they be informed by us of the danger China Lunar imposes. “HAL, continue to try and communi...” he stopped himself, knowing full well that he had already given HAL that command.
The Commander reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. “These machines, Timothy… they have brains of a sort…but they don’t have a heart. Perhaps you are right. Now’s the time to trust our hearts.” Timothy looked at him and felt for the first time in his life a glimmer of hope for mankind.
“We have much to talk about still, but nothing is stopping us from talking about it over dinner! Join us! Our base has provided a feast for you and your lovely wife. We have music and wine! Come!”
The commander’s happiness was infectious but Timothy tried to protest, citing all the work he
still had to do back at the base. Livanovich turned to Ruth and said, “It’s no wonder he’s so depressed. He forgets a very important thing.”
“And that is?” Ruth said smiling.
“Listen carefully now Timothy. You too Ruth. I will tell you the secret of life.” His smile broadened as he looked at them intently. “Life…is about LIVING.”
Timothy looked at Livanovich and said, “But friend, my Tribe has been doing nothing but dying.”
“Not anymore, Timothy. Not anymore.”
CHAPTER 23
“Calling China Lunar…”
First Officer Dresdon stood there looking at the spy pictures Jack had taken of China Lunar. He could see why it had survived for so long. If it weren’t for her sensors pinpointing what they couldn’t see they could have easily gone right by the base itself. It was no surprise that the scout sent earlier had been caught off guard and destroyed. But now, they could see the masked light ports that channeled sunlight into the interior stretched out for hundreds of miles.
He was impressed with this light collection system. It allowed the inhabitants of the base to collect light continuously. He also spied the main hanger, hidden and overshadowed by the rim of a crater. Extremely faint heat loss gave away an entrance to the base itself, and once the computer verified the re-christened stealth aircraft’s sensor report it pinpointed an area of interest. What hit the nail on the head was the garbage. The base inhabitants had been extremely careful in hiding their existence as they increased the size of their base, but any digging meant tailings. Tailings could be discerned easier from high up than from someone on the surface.
The tailings radiated out from the base, revealing a faint but unmistakable center. Scratch was sent back for a closer look, and his equipment did in fact discover a concealed entry into the base where robot drones entered and left during the lunar night.
“If we’re going to do this, that’s our entrance, Commander Hollander,” Dresdon said. “We could assemble a team, go in low with an attack ship and drop a gravtank with a Drop Team in Maxon 4’s. With the instructions Angela gave us, we should be able to restart the base’s interface system.”
Hollander didn’t like it, and neither did anyone else. What Hollander felt like doing was drop a gravity bomb. He pushed the ridiculous thought away and looked at the base again. ‘There just isn’t enough information…’ he thought. “Comm, did Scratch drop the present?” he said.
“Yes, Sir, he’s on his way back. ETA is one hour fourteen minutes.”
‘Damn that ship is slow,’ Hollander said to himself, shaking his head. “Still no reply to our last communication?”
“No, Sir.”
“Then send them this message: China Lunar, this is the last chance at communication. Our scout ship was destroyed, we want to know why. You have one minute to reply.”
Bishop walked in as they waited until the minute was done. “How are you feeling?” Hollander asked.
“Drugs are out of my system and Doc gave me a clean bill of health. I’ve been brought up to date while I was being checked. Any reply from China Lunar?”
“No.”
“Send the signal to the device, Dirsky,” Hollander said. Dirsky had taken over Jumal’s station after his shift. “And let’s show ourselves.”
WF221 had been hiding on the perpetually dark side of the moon where they knew China Lunar had no sensors. Daniel, the chief pilot, deftly maneuvered the ship until it was sitting just above China Lunar’s horizon.
“The device is active and operational, Commander,” Dirsky reported.
Hollander had made sure that communication between ships be tight beam only and under no circumstances was there to be any chatter. As far as China Lunar knew, there was only one ship coming in. “Any reply from the base, Mr. Ripley?”
“The on duty communications officer replied, “No, Sir…but…I mean I don’t think so, Sir…”
Frustrated, Hollander asked, “Well, is it a yes or a no?”
“Sir,” Dirsky said, “Both Ripley and I can’t make out what we’re getting. I’ve been picking up a low power laser bouncing off our hull. There wasn’t enough to do any damage and it wasn’t steady either. The source is a small satellite in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit. Because there’s a pattern to the laser beam, I asked Ripley to look at it.”
“How long has this been going on?” Hollander asked.
“Less than a minute, Sir.”
“I need to be alerted immediately when this occurs! It could be a targeting laser.”
“That was the first thing I checked, Sir. But there’s something familiar about the signal and it’s sitting at the back of my mind. I’m sure it’ some sort of communication.”
“Computer’s got it, Sir!” Ripley said to Dirsky’s relief.
“Got another message coming in, from China Lunar. On the central comm, Sir.” They listened as a voice came out over the loudspeakers.
“What is the device that has activated?”
“Who am I speaking to?” Hollander asked, insulted.
No reply came in and he let them stew.
After a few minutes of silence, a new voice came on. “I am Commander Horihito. Once again, what is the device that has activated?”
Hollander decided to wait before he replied, and he finally said, “It is a 1000 megaton neutron bomb. It was specifically designed to clean up ant hives, but will work just as well here.”
“That is not possible. It is too small.”
“Get near it and see for yourself. But be advised that it will be the last thing you will see.”
“This is an act of war!”
“You are mistaken. We are now at war. The deliberate destruction of our scout without any warning was an act of war.”
“You will be destroyed, just like your scout,” the voice replied.
“All of us?” Hollander said, and signaled. The entire convoy rose to just above the horizon line. China Lunar was faced with twenty seven medium destroyers and twelve WF ships staring her down.
“I’ll give you the warning you failed to give the scout ship. If you start your weapons system up, the neutron bomb will automatically go off. If you try to approach the device, it will go off. If you sneeze in its direction, it will go off. It is tamper proof and cannot be destroyed without killing everyone on your base. If we communicate with you and you don’t reply, it will go off. If you aggravate us, annoy us, pester us or in any way make us irritated, it will go off. After that, we will come in, throw the dead bodies into the trash and start up the base A.I., which I presume you have turned off. We will inform you of your terms of surrender after I have dinner and a small nap. If you don’t surrender, that’s fine by me. It will be easier to start up operations without pesky idiots like you in our way.”
“This is a bluff, and you are the idiots!” Hirohito said, but Hollander didn’t bother replying.
Hollander looked at Bishop and said, “Are you hungry?”
Bishop smiled. “Sure.” He knew full well what the Commander was up to. He gave the signal to cut communication.
The commander turned to Ripley and said, “There is to be no communication with China Lunar until I say so.” He suddenly remembered the other issue. “What about that laser signal?”
“The computer identified it as a signal imbedded in an old algorithm, one we haven’t used for centuries. For some reason we already had the activation code. It reads:
“Greetings. My name is Timothy Paul, New World Leader. From all of us here on Earth, welcome home! Our sensors tell us you are heading towards China Lunar Base. Please do not approach this base. They have acted erratically and dangerously in the past and we can only presume the same for the immediate future. I am in limited contact with it and hope that the situation will soon change. In the meantime, please accept our hospitality by joining us on Base Freedom USA. My Gravplane will show you the way. You can communicate privately using this channel. My ship is waiting for your communication signal.”
“Well, if he’s a dictator, he’s in control of a base.”
“Yeah, but crackpots are in control of China Lunar.”
“Good point.”
“Who’s in control of that ship?” Dirsky asked.
“I’m getting another message from the ship, but this time with voice and in an open channel. Central Comm, Sir.”
“Greetings Commander. My name is HAL, I’m the computer interface persona for base Freedom USA. I have monitored your communication with China Lunar. Mr. Timothy Paul asks that you please be extremely careful. Feel free to contact him or myself at your convenience. This ship will be waiting in orbit to escort you back to the base whenever you can make it. You can use this channel to contact me if you have any ‘open’ questions.”
Hollander thought for a moment and then said, “HAL, my name is Commander Hollander. How many bases are operational on Earth and under Mr. Paul’s control?”
“That is a question for The New World Leader to answer. Would you like to speak to him?”
“Not yet. Under whose authority has Mr. Timothy been declared New World Leader?”
“Under the authority given me and the other base system computers by Earth Alliance.”
A hush fell over the bridge as they considered the import of those words.
“Earth Alliance?” Bishop asked stunned. “You mean, Earth Alliance still exists?” None could believe that the legend of a powerful body called Earth Alliance could be true, CIA notwithstanding. But now, not only was it true, it actually still existed. Bishop felt like he was in a dream, worried that all this might disappear when he woke up.
As he thought things out, a faint blue line showed up at the lunar horizon behind China Lunar Base, and it quickly rose until the complete Earth became visible. This was the first time all on the bridge saw an earth-rise. It took a moment for Commander Hollander to regain his composure. “Dirsky, make sure the recording gets broadcast to everyone on all ships. HAL, that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!”