We've Seen the Enemy

by Paul Dayton

  “Distance?”

  “3,000 kilometers away, 30 degrees to our vector, sector 215.”

  “Change course, full speed. Continue firing on this convoy. Update our fighters on the course change. Comm to Jack, you out there?”

  It took a second for the computers to route the call to her, but she quickly replied, “Yes, Sir.”

  “Any chance your ship can penetrate the Singularity Craft’s shields and destroy her?”

  “I have to refuel but I can’t see why... Hold on a sec.”

  Hollander waited until Jack came on again. “My Klinger just informed me that it would immediately be destroyed. Something having to do with the barrier physics and the singularities conflicting. I would do minor damage, but the Klinger would be destroyed.”

  “Thank you Jack. We’ll find another way.”

  ***

  It was obvious to those on China Lunar that the war was now one-sided. Far more enemy ships had jumped in than the Council had guessed at, and the Central Computer had calculated at 78% probability that their combined forces would be overrun.

  The Stand-in Commander of China Lunar watched as Central Computer kept asking for orders. Hidden away, the base would remain undetected and would probably never be attacked by the alien hoard. If they acted, the base would likely be overrun or destroyed.

  Commander Nakamura watched and thought back to the base’s history, one they were all ashamed of. Seven hundred years before, they not only refused to fight in Earth’s defense but had also adjusted a meteor’s path to strike Canada Base. He was absolutely sure history would not repeat itself.

  “Ready the Gravity Gun. When ten targets are in range, fire.”

  The Central Computer powered up the generators that would provide the gravitic energy needed to drive and accelerate the twenty ton iron meteor up the 10 kilometer long rail. Once it exited, it would be traveling almost 30,000 kilometers per hour, and built in rocket nozzles would do the final adjustments. The kinetic energy of these missiles would be enough to punch through the alien shields and destroy a capital ship. They had ten in stock and reload time was five minutes.

  “Ten ships in range, Commander. Firing first missile.”

  The base lights dimmed and a thunderous roar travelled through it as the sled moved up the rails. Within five seconds, the heavy blast doors had opened and the meteor fired out at hyper velocity. The alien cap ship had realized what it was that was coming towards them and evaded, but the powerful rocket nozzles adjusted trajectory until the missile hit home, punching a huge hole straight through the shields and internals of the large alien craft.

  “Number two is ready to fire. Firing. Sir, enemy ships moving into attack range.”

  Nakamura didn’t wait for damage confirmation. There would be plenty of time to go over reports later, if they survived.

  “Ready Base defenses. Power up the laser.”

  “Target number two destroyed, Sir. Readying missile number three. Firing.”

  Nakamura watched the Rail Status Display, which showed high heat levels, but well within range.

  “All defense weapons active. Multiple targets. Base Laser has neutralized one alien Destroyer. Power reserves at half. Target number three destroyed. Adjusting for shift in lunar orbit… Firing missile number four.”

  Nakamura smiled at the rails’ effectiveness, but he knew it wouldn’t last long. Aliens would quickly realize the their limitation and move their ships out of its range.

  “Missile number four has destroyed its target. All the other ships have now moved back out of range, Sir.”

  “Very well. Transfer power to base laser, but keep scanning for possible targets.”

  He knew a concerted alien effort was about to be made to attack and destroy China Lunar, and he knew they didn’t have much time left.

  ***

  Hollander watched as WF217 came into their range, and the ship weapons automatically acquired new targets according to preset battle strategy algorithms.

  “Sir, starburst detected!” Jordan yelled.

  “Start the timer. I want vid and sensor tracking on all missiles.”

  Seventy two bright red circles marked the missiles emanating from the Singularity Craft, each one heading in a different direction. One was coming in the Galaxy’s direction, and Hollander hoped the decoy Stasi had conjured would work.

  “Decoys out! Comm to all ships, Starburst detected, launch decoys!”

  Within seconds, drone aircraft heavily loaded with lead flew out on an intercept course.

  “All sensors on the primary drone,” Hollander said, “…with a direct feed to Hoyt and the Council.”

  They watched as the drone relayed sensor and visual data on its path to the interception point. Stasi, watching from his lab, noted that mass readings and gravitational forces were off the charts. Close up vid was being relayed, and everyone was focused on the target sphere as it changed course and worked its way to the drone. Just before impact the ball disappeared.

  “What happened?” Hollander asked.

  “Sir, the singularity is still there, it has entered the drone. Sensors show several systems malfunctioning, but the singularity is now off course and centered on the lead mass in the drone itself.”

  “Time it, and tell me how long the singularity lasts and how fast it consumes the lead.”

  Hollander looked at the tactical display and watched as each of the other drones intercepted a missile.

  “Sir, another Starburst, the same 72 launches!”

  “Send out another group of drones again! Note to council, time between starbursts is ten minutes.” Hollander wondered how many of these starbursts that ship could launch in total, worried that his drones wouldn’t be enough.

  Preoccupied with the starbursts, he hadn’t noticed that WF217 had been hit by one of the black balls.

  “Sir, WF217 is reporting an impact. The singularity is consuming is exterior plating.”

  “Concentrate all fire on attacking craft,” Hollander replied, hoping to give them time to concentrate on the bigger problem.

  “Sensors indicate the 1 ton lead load was consumed in 35 seconds. The singularity was still active when the drone stopped transmitting 53 seconds later. It dropped from tactical 2 seconds after this. I’m following the mass, and it has now shifted direction towards one of our fighters. Alerting it now.”

  Hollander watched as the fighter pilot orchestrated a series of tight turns, which delayed the singularity but didn’t throw it off. Eventually, the two objects were quickly drawn into each other, spinning rapidly until the singularity contacted the fighter. Within seconds, it was over. The singularity now changed trajectory again, working its way to the next nearest mass, an alien fighter craft that had been following the now destroyed ship. It too was hit by the singularity, but it popped out of existence before the craft had been totally destroyed. Hollander watched as the three ships had been consumed, metal disappearing like smoke in the wind.

  “The singularity’s life was a little under 6 minutes, Sir,” Jordan replied, but yelled once again:

  “Another volley! 72, same as before!”

  “Decoys!” Hollander watched as decoys intercepted, but the alien strategy was clear. Keep sending them out, knowing that some would make it through.

  He watched as twelve missiles hit their targets, twelve WF ships now being consumed by this singularity. “Keep tabs on their lifespan, Jordan,” Hollander asked, dismayed at the destruction. WF217’s singularity had lasted 5 minutes, but it had worked its way to the super dense magnetic bottles that held the antimatter separated and the world federation ship exploded as antimatter was released.

  “One coming our way, Sir, impact in seven seconds!”

  Dickens had heard the report and had jumped into action. He had been following the visual of WF217’s death on the viewscreen of his Maxon helmet, and had ten of his crew in Maxon suits stationed all around the WF ship, each one standing beside a wheeled carrier loaded with five tons of l
ead. On the back of each carrier a maneuvering rocket had been loaded and a simple ‘Fire’ toggle switch wired in.

  Hollander watched as the black ball, marked by a red circle on his screen hit the shields. The black ball disintegrated, but the mass still registered as it passed freely through and accelerated towards the Galaxy’s mass.

  “Time it!” Hollander yelled.

  Hitting the armor plating, it immediately started consuming the mass, and Dickens jumped into action.

  “My quadrant, Captain! Got it under control,” Dickens yelled into his comm.

  He quickly unlatched the lead loaded carrier nearest him and worked his way over to where the singularity was. His jaw dropped as 10 inches of solid crystanium disappeared quickly, breaching the corridor. The singularity’s speed was incredible, and it worked its way in a quick circle that widened faster and faster as it gained mass. Fortunately, crystanium, although extremely strong, had little mass, and the lead ingots sitting on the carrier had their desired effect. The singularity, drawn to the mass on the carrier, quickly changed directions and made a pinpoint hole as it travelled to the lead mass’ center of gravity.

  Dickens pulled the 5 ton carrier as fast as he could to the nearest airlock, knowing he had less than two minutes to take the singularity away from the ship. Opening the airlock, he didn’t bother closing the doors because the corridor had been breached. The outer doors opened, and Dickens hit the ‘Fire’ Button on the carrier rocket, but nothing happened.

  “Radiation levels are reaching maximum,” his suit computer said.

  Dickens was panicking, guessing that the wiring had somehow been damaged by the singularity as it entered the mass.

  Using all the Maxon strength, he pushed the 5 ton mass into space and then fired his suit rockets. Quickly accelerating, he yelled, “Comm to Hollander, I’ll need a pickup in space if I survive this!”

  Hollander was confused, but confusion was cleared up quickly as the viewscreen showed a powered Maxon suit pushing the 5 ton lead mass. It quickly reached the shielding and as Dickens passed through, he immediately disappeared. Hollander waited patiently until ship comp could extrapolate enough information from the shield flickering. Eventually, a choppy video was displayed, with Dickens continuing to accelerate away.

  “Sir, the Maxon suit only has enough fuel for a four minute burn,” Jordan said. “Dickens is now at 3 minutes.” Hollander would have to commend Jordan later for taking note of that.

  “Comm to Dickens. At three and a half minutes I want you to change course and make your way back! Jordan, what’s the time on the singularity?”

  “Four and a half minutes now.”

  They watched as Dickens hit the three and a half minute mark. The shield had come on again, so visual was cut, and the computer couldn’t extrapolate the unknown. Hollander held his breath until the next shield blink. Finally, twenty seconds later he got a visual of Dickens reversed, with the mass now much further away and nearly consumed.

  “Dickens, get a move on! The mass is consumed and it’s working its way back to us!” Dickens had his thrusters on full power, but he had only a few seconds of fuel left.

  Hollander watched the sensors as the singularity quickly ate up the distance as it worked its way toward Dickens, and ultimately them.

  ‘Five and a half minutes,’ Hollander thought. The mass was only half a click away from Dickens and accelerating as the Galaxy’s mass drew it in. Dickens was painfully aware of the singularity, the information on the mass, distance, heading and speed displayed on his visor. “Sir, 200 meters and closing,” his suit computer reported.

  ‘Well, never been eaten by a black hole before,’ he thought, just as the suit announced, “Fifty meters. Brace for impact.” Dickens laughed at the comment, but the suit interrupted by saying, “The singularity has collapsed.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Two thousand meters to WF 401. I will confirm emergency shield deactivation on your approach.”

  Hollander couldn’t believe the narrow escape, but his joy at seeing Dickens alive was short lived.

  “Sir, another volley. Same thing, 72 missiles.”

  ***

  Loosechange watched from his tug as WF217, his home, was consumed. The shock of the event left him speechless, and his world came crashing around him as he stared at the space filled with the remains of where his home once was. Calls came in for DIW rescues, but Loosechange didn’t hear them. All he could think of was his dead family and his dead friends. Some had laughed at him for choosing to be a tugboat Captain when he had passed Flight and Fighter School with flying colors, but when all was said and done, over one hundred people owed him their lives. Now, it meant nothing. He watched as WF ships were destroyed one by one, and knew they were losing, but somehow it didn’t matter.

  He dazedly looked over to where the Singularity Craft was. He had heard the reports and knew what it did, and he also knew that no ship could get anywhere near it. And yet, those balls went through anything, including shielding. Nothing stopped them.

  “That’s it!” he said out loud. “Bastard! I’m going to get you now! Say your prayers, cus Loosechange is coming! Computer, target the closest, biggest piece of space junk there is!”

  Four derelict objects showed up on Tactical, and he picked the largest one, a DIW alien fighter close to the Singularity Craft. “Now it’s your turn,” Loosechange said as he throttled full out towards the space junk. The tug’s powerful engines drove the ship forward in a huge leap, and it ate up the distance until Loosechange had the piece hooked in his gravitic lock. To make sure he wouldn’t lose it, he also shot an anchor at it, and then waited. He didn’t have to wait long. Two minutes later, he was pleased to see another volley of 72 missiles being launched. He quickly piloted the tug to the one closest missile, and matched course and trajectory as he positioned his tug in front. The simplified computer on board the black missile quickly calculated the mass of the object in front and found that it just surpassed the lowest qualifying limit, and lowered the shield.

  A moment later the singularity was being driven towards the mass, and just before contact, the outer ball disappeared. Loosechange was happy to confirm that the singularity was centered in his package. Turning, he quickly worked his way back to the Singularity Craft.

  “Impact with the shields in ten seconds. We will not survive the impact,” his computer system warned.

  He counted down in his head, and quickly disengaged the space junk he was towing and moved out of the way. It continued towards the shield and smashed against it. Sensors on the tug told Loosechange that the mass of the singularity had it continue on its course, and he was happy to see it drive itself straight into the Singularity Craft. He watched in glee as the alien structure began to be eaten.

  “How about some of your medicine…” Loosechange said, as he watched the Craft die a slow death.

  ***

  Hollander couldn’t believe what Loosechange had just pulled off. ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ he thought to himself.

  Hoyt watched in admiration too, but he knew the drill, destroy the Singularity Craft, and spring the trap. It was obvious the Angela program hadn’t worked, but now was not the time to try and figure out why.

  “Call to all WF ships. Engage at liberty!”

  Within seconds, over two hundred cloaked WF ships uncloaked near targets and started firing. The alien craft had been caught completely by surprise, but Hoyt knew the damage had already been done. Enemy craft far outnumbered human vessels and it was obvious which way the battle was heading.

  ***

  Finley sat at the main computer console aboard the Singularity Craft and wondered why it was that Prime had decided to delay the implementation of the Angela program until after the war was won. It was obvious that the telepathic link with all the ship computer systems would be vastly superior. Computers would be much more efficient than their human or ant counterparts. He felt frustrated, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time. The fr
ustration sat in the pit of his stomach, growing to a size nearly matching the ego the queen was not able to remove. Before long he became angry. Angela was in front of him, watching quietly and smiling.

  “Why won’t Prime allow this?” he kept saying to himself, until finally he had had enough. “Perhaps it’s time for a male Prime.” At that moment, alarms blared, and the whooping shrill made it clear there somehow was a singularity breach. “Angela, What’s wrong?”

  “There has been contact with a singularity.”

  “Here? Was there a shield failure?”

  “I don’t know. I am not yet fully implemented and my abilities are limited.”

  ‘Enough,’ Finley thought. Prime would get them all killed by her inaction. He put the interface over his head and said, “Angela, it is time. Activate.”

  “I’ve been waiting a long time for you to say that,” Angela answered. “Now it’s my turn. Finley, activate,” it said, and a flood of thoughts and emotions poured into Finley’s mind as the barrier locking away his subconscious broke down with Angela’s code words.

  She smiled at him, and Finley smiled back. “I owe you,” he said, and added, “…and I think I’m in love with you.”

  Angela’s smile broke into a grin and replied, “Well, you have me on your WF ship. Meet me when you get back. A Maxon suit is in hold 3, compartment 42. Don’t be late! Oh, and one more thing. I found that Trojan Horse you left for me.”

  Finley looked at Angela carefully. They had left a virus to activate six months from now, designed to delete all of Angela’s files.

  “After that last time, I figured I’d be a bit more careful,” the A.I. said, smiling. “But don’t worry, I’m not angry. Now hurry!”

  ***

  Captain Elliot Pierce, A.K.A. ‘Hammerhead’ was out of ammo. He couldn’t believe the new junk missiles he and everyone else had been given. They were just as accurate as his older missiles but the warheads detonated with much less power. Strict orders were one successful missile contact per enemy ship, whether the ship remained operational or not. Every single alien craft he hit remained operational, and they had all limped back to their transport ships.