Infinite Exploration

by D. L. Harrison

  “Beyond our borders are empires. Empires that would happily destroy us to expand into our space if they could. They’re already our enemies, and to not keep an eye on them would be stupid. It’s why we almost lost to the Vrok last year, and I won’t be making that mistake again.”

  Cassie said, “The Atans and Bavoi aren’t an enemy.”

  I nodded, “True, and our trading partnership with them was approved by the other countries in the U.N. We treat those as if they were in our space, since humanity trades with them. We present a common face to them as our trading partners, but the rest are enemies, and I’m the one defending our territory.”

  Cassie said, “I get the distinction, and I even agree with it, but none of the other countries will see it that way. They’ll want their say in the matter.”

  I shrugged, “Tough?”

  Diana snickered.

  I said, “They can pay for the ships then, or build their own. Like it or not, taking a black eye and being misunderstood is a price I’m willing to pay to avoid them learning about our top-secret technologies. Which would only make things even worse. If they do try, we’ll just have to do our best to persuade them not to try to shut down our surveillance efforts. I think most would agree that the risk of sticking our heads in the sand is much higher, given the Vrok as an example.”

  Cassie said, “You could just take over, avoid the whole problem.”

  I rolled my eyes and didn’t even dignify that with a response.

  Cassie finally relented, “You know I’m just playing devil’s advocate. I just wanted to make sure you knew what we were up against. For what it’s worth, I agree with you. You defying them on this if it comes to it, will be less damaging than their perceptions than if they knew we had such a comprehensive stealth and quantum scanning network.”

  We got to our dinner then, and left the subject behind, for the moment.

  As for the other problem, the U.N. was still debating it over three hours later, when the U.K. ships took out almost three quarters of the Staphec fleet before they relented and started a retreat out of the system. It wasn’t a battle, it was a spanking. The Staphec were nowhere near the old Grays technology, much less our newest ships for sale, even without the latest round of upgrades.

  Each Staphec ship that fired a missile on the planet was destroyed by a single tiny mini-platform, that jumped to their ship and fired. The missiles were batted out of space by the main ships’ point defense.

  Fourteen years, and it looked like the age of cooperation between countries to show a united front to alien races was lost. Of course, it wouldn’t end all cooperation, but the gates had been opened. If another country wanted something badly enough, they’d do it unilaterally from then on.

  In the end, that really wasn’t such a big surprise, I just hoped it wouldn’t sow the seeds of humanity’s destruction far in the future.

  Chapter Twenty

  The coffee cup paused for a moment, as I lifted it to my mouth the next morning in the command center. Then my hand moved, and I took a sip as I closed my eyes. Surely, I’d misheard Cassie.

  “You want me to what?”

  Cassie looked at me with amusement dancing in her eyes, “I want you to address the U.N.”

  I shuddered, “That’s what I thought you said.”

  Cassie said, “We need to get in front of this, and justify our position, before other world leaders give into paranoia of what might happen and gain enough steam to do something stupid. We’ll keep doing it anyway of course, but it’d be best case scenario if you could convince them to back our policy.”

  “Alright, when?”

  Cassie said, “After lunch. Do you know what you need to do?”

  I nodded, “Sure, make them fear not investigating more than they fear investigating.”

  In politics it was called fear mongering, but that whole thing was a ridiculous non-argument. Fear was useful, it kept us alive, and was one of the major components in assessing risks in our lives from day to day. The only way to stop them from sticking their heads in the sand at fearing starting a war by our surveillance being discovered, was to point out being ignorant to threats was something even more dangerous, and therefore something to be feared to a greater extent.

  The trick there was to stick with the truth. There was fear mongering using lies to manipulate, and that kind of thing was wrong, but that wasn’t what I intended or was doing. It also happened a lot less than politicians would claim.

  Point being, logic alone wouldn’t do it, since humanity was an emotionally driven species. Even I was guilty of that, after all I’d been against a stealth network for a long time, until the Vrok threat and Darrell taught me the error in my thinking, by pointing out the dangers of such a stance. In short, I’d changed my mind through fear, but a logical one based on truth. I was also sure I’d be accused of fear mongering, but it was what it was.

  Jessica said, “Security is going to be a nightmare. I want a vacuum in a quantum jump booth ready to receive him at any moment, Darrell can trigger a jump if there’s any sign of danger. I’ll also be going along in the shuttle with four men, and we’ll be in combat suits.”

  I waved, “Whatever you want, just don’t kill anyone for glaring at me.”

  Jessica snorted.

  Cassie said, “On the good side, if there is one to last night’s debacle, the U.K. is in the doghouse right now. That could distract from any black eye we take on this issue. Try not to tell them you’ll do it anyway, that won’t win them over.”

  I snickered, “I’ll take that under advisement.”

  Tomorrow we’d have eight hundred trillion ships, the number was so high it was ridiculous, and in three days we’d have one point six quadrillion which is when we’d attack. Of course, by mass that was really closer to about a billion or so dreadnoughts. The scout destroyers were really small.

  The scary part was we’d still be outnumbered over nine to one, assuming our attack plan went right. If the plan went sideways and they launched before we could take out their main ships and three quarters of their fighters, it’d be closer to forty to one.

  I pushed that out of my head and focused on the normal day to day stuff. The new implants that didn’t need a separate phone as a base station were selling by the thousands already, so that was good news.

  The morning passed slowly as I sipped down my second and third coffee of the day. I really didn’t like the idea of public speaking, but I understood the need. I just hoped it paid off, and the world leaders got behind my current policy.

  I tried to distract myself by coming up with a new invention, since my queue was clear on custom ships. There were a few ships being spun out, but they were standard requests right off the current ship list. Regardless, my worries kept intruding on my train of thought, and I wasn’t able to think up anything new to sell to the masses.

  It was a long morning.

  The shuttle I used was a custom built to my own specs. I really was quite spoiled by the Arnis chairs, so I’d put them everywhere I might be. I was in a suit, with a lightweight combat suit just a few nanites thick under it. Probably wouldn’t stop a bullet, if it weren’t for the shield systems that is. The combat suits my protection detail wore were a bit bulkier, but even there it would take someone with a good eye to notice the telltale signs beneath their clothes.

  We came down over the Atlantic and headed toward the U.N. building in New York. I relaxed slightly, as in atmosphere it’d be extremely hard to destroy my shuttle faster than we could quantum jump back to the station. The strongest weapons we had couldn’t be used in atmosphere.

  It felt really strange to be escorted in and land on U.S. soil, I hadn’t been there for fourteen years.

  The shuttle door opened, and there were some U.N. security guards waiting to escort me in.

  “Mr. President, we’ll take you straight to the floor.”

  I said, “Thanks.”

  Jessica and the rest of my security team looked alert while I tri
ed to look relaxed. I wondered if I’d spent too much time on the station or our island or world, it was positively unnatural to me and I felt a level of uneasy anxiety about it. Like a fish out of water. But perhaps that was also about giving a speech. I hadn’t changed all that much in fourteen years, and I still disliked the political side of things, even if I was more accepting of the need.

  We moved into the building, and after a short stop to verify my identity I was escorted to the U.N. floor. I took deep breaths and focused on what I wanted to say, as I waited for the afternoon session to start.

  The head of the U.N. announced, “President Akin, of Astraeus is here to address us this afternoon, regarding concerns of his surveillance program outside of our protected space.”

  I walked up to the platform and behind the lectern. Honestly, my whole speech flew right out of my head, as I looked out at almost two hundred ambassadors for the countries around the world, not to mention all the press cameras.

  Fortunately, I had my augmented reality implant, and with a thought the list of bullet points I’d prepared came up in my vision.

  “Good afternoon. Fourteen years ago, we all joined together in one purpose, as the Grays threatened our very existence. It was then that all the great countries of humanity agreed to me putting fleets on the Grays’ old borders, to prevent outside empires from interfering with our world, and the alien worlds we have befriended and now trade with. Defending the borders of our protected space had been my sole responsibility since, with the approval of all of you.

  “Back then, I put my automated defense fleets in place, and I forgot about them. They did their job, or so it seemed, as I focused on Astraeus and trade with other worlds. I focused on being a part of raising our standard of living to what we now enjoy. None of the bordering empires were a threat to our military superiority. And that’s the way it stayed, for thirteen years.”

  I paused for a moment.

  “What happened next, proved that approach to be a mistake. The Vrok attacked, with the intentions of claiming the fifty galaxies and turning Earth and all our trade allies, not to mention the millions of pre-FTL races in our protected territory, into herds. We would’ve been confined to our planets and turned into a food source for a carnivorous and powerful species.

  “The ships on their border were weak. Not a challenge, but what I and you didn’t know at the time was they’d been building up a new upgraded fleet for over forty years. They’d replaced thirty million of their old ships, and only had twelve million more to go.

  “I tell you now, we would have lost, was it not for the fact of our quantum jump drives. Their weapons and shields, their drive systems, they were superior to ours by a long way. It was pure providence, and pure luck that we weren’t simply overwhelmed.

  “Over the next couple of weeks, the Vrok tried to overcome our one advantage, as my scientists worked on creating weapons and shields to equal the Vrok. Many of you already know this, and you may be asking yourselves why I’m even bring it up.

  “Twenty-four hours is the reason. Twenty-four hours meant the difference between victory and defeat. We’d just managed to upgrade our weapons and shields twenty-four hours before the Vrok overcame our jump drive advantage with the quantum pulse resonator. Twenty-four hours, such a thin thread to win by, to ensure our future in space, and to continue this new age of humanity. We came far too close to losing it all. It was so close in fact, that we had to use the new systems without fully testing them first, or we’d have lost the Earth.

  “I bring it up because it was entirely unnecessary. It was last year that I started the surveillance program that some of you call reckless. Yet, if I had done it from the start, we would’ve seen the Vrok’s threat and efforts coming thirteen years earlier. We could’ve worked for parity and to exceed their technology for all that time, if I had bothered to look.”

  I paused again.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I learn from my mistakes. Watching the border isn’t good enough, as any military mind knows surprise and deception are powerful tools of war. If we allow it, the next threat will sneak up on us again, and next time we might not be so lucky. Next time we might be overcome before we can adapt.

  “They say doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.

  “Is it a risk? Yes, if an enemy empire discovers we have eyes on them, it could start a war, but the alternative is much more frightening to me. I would ask this body to approve of my actions in this matter, that safeguarding our borders includes finding out what our enemies are up to.

  “The Mirelak have thirty thousand ships the size of a small moon, with a total of sixty quadrillion ships on them. That’s for an empire a hundred and sixty million light years away, can you imagine how many we’d face if we let them expand, build, expand, build, until they’re on our border, and annihilate the Olmai? It would be far too late to save ourselves from a threat that sees all biological life as a disease, then. Their ship counts would likely be in the sextillions by then.

  “The example of the Vrok, and how we weren’t doing enough to secure our territory against empires who would destroy us to expand, has already saved us because of my new surveillance program.

  “Some of you may object to me acting unilaterally in this matter, and you may even be right. Perhaps I should’ve informed you all of my actions after the Vrok was barely defeated in time, but I’d argue that’s hardly a reason to shoot ourselves in the foot. I’d argue that the defense of our territory was unanimously handed to me, and I was acting on all of our behalves, but if you disagree, I would ask you find another way to show it. I would ask that you judge the surveillance network on its merits and drawbacks to our security as a species, alone. Do not take away our best defense against destruction out of spite against me.

  “Together, humanity is strong. To close, I would say we got lucky last year, learned a lesson, and to pull back our intelligence gathering and stick our heads in the sand behind our borders, would be a deadly mistake that will end us all one day. I hope and look forward to your agreement in this matter. Thank you.”

  There was a lot of muttering and low conversations going on as I stepped away from the podium. It was out of my hands now, I hoped for their blessing, but I’d keep doing it either way.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cassie said, “You said the word argue entirely too much. Those kinds of word choices makes others react defensively, but otherwise it was a good speech.”

  “I’d argue I didn’t.”

  Cassie snorted, “Behave, Mr. President.”

  “Yes, maam. At least I didn’t call out the Eight’s foolishness in my speech. Nor did I mention the fact I wouldn’t have even told them about the threat if our void build program hadn’t been exposed. That they’d never have even known about the Mirelak if it wasn’t for that. I’d have destroyed them and saved humanity again without their knowledge.”

  Jessica snickered.

  Cassie shook her head, “My point is I think we’ll get our way, unless they surprise me. They won’t demand we stand that program down, but it’s likely they’ll concoct some other way to get back at you for keeping them in the dark.”

  I nodded, “Probably. I can bear it. We have enough in the treasury to pay our government employees for twenty thousand years. Even if they sanction us, it was the right thing to do to secure humanity’s future.”

  Cassie asked, “If they cut us off?”

  I shrugged, “We dust off the second-generation matter to energy device. We become fully independent, and we keep our economy intact by making everything we need and selling it to the stores that will sell it to our people. We don’t have any manufacturing jobs, so it won’t hurt us like it would hurt Earth or the colonies, people wouldn’t lose their sense of usefulness.

  “It also means we wouldn’t have to start taxing at some point in the future, our production and selling would support our government and then some. It
would mean making manufacturing a government enterprise, but even that wouldn’t be so bad, since none of our citizens are involved in those business types either.

  “Besides, I may have no wish to rule, but I’m not naïve. They can’t be too hard on us. Humanity would be screwed without us watching the borders and watching for threats. The Chinese alone could replace us in that endeavor, but not as well as we can do it. Their ships are already less powerful, and they couldn’t surveil our enemies without getting caught.”

  Cassie tilted her head, “You’d hold that over their heads?”

  I shook my head, “Of course not, but they would, so they’ll assume I would too, and act accordingly. They’ll fear if they push me too hard, I might just go away and take my toys with me.”

  Jessica giggled, “He’s got you there.”

  I shrugged, “I just mean to say it doesn’t matter. I’m doing what I feel is right, and what I need to do to protect humanity. I won’t let politics get in the way of that, and I sure as hell won’t stop protecting humanity out of spite. That would be evil.”

  Cassie asked, “Isn’t that forcing yourself on them though, against their will?”

  I shook my head, “I’m protecting Astraeus, my people, my family and friends, and myself. If they want to take over the borders, I’ll let them. The Chinese are more than a match for the other empires, and the others will follow soon enough, even if they have to follow my old plan and use automated hammer fleets. But I’d leave the stealth network in place, and I’d help take care of threats anyway.

  “In fact, I expect they’ll demand to be let in on all aspects of territory defense once there’s parity there, or at least perceived parity. But we’ll see.

  “In short, I’m not telling them how to act, and I’m not letting them tell me how to act. That’s the opposite of pushing my will on them. There’s a world of difference, between forcing them to act in a certain way, and not allowing them to dictate my actions.”