The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny

by Timothy P. Callahan

  “That’s it, the meeting is now over.” Grand Admiral Park said. “You’ll all be getting assignments within the next few weeks and I know you’ll carry them out professionally. Good luck to all and good hunting.”

  The holograms faded leaving Captain Cook alone in the darkened room. “Arwen, raise light level please.”

  The lights turned on and she stood. Moments later the image of Arwen appeared in front of her. “Captain, we have over three hundred messages for you to review. I’ll filter them out so when you see them the most important will be on top.”

  “Thank you, Arwen. I’ll look them over tonight. What’s the plan for the rest of the day?”

  “We still need to get a fleet together for the next Ulliam raid which is planned to take place next week.”

  “And what is that mission?”

  “We’ve observed them building another sphere section, our mission is to destroy it.”

  Captain Cook smiled; this was the kind of missions she enjoyed. Take it to the enemy with all the firepower she could. “Good. I’m heading to my office to get that ready. If anything comes up let me know otherwise I’d like to be left alone.”

  *****

  The news of the defeat spread quickly throughout the Handler’s territory. A small planet, one so small they couldn’t find it, had managed to kill and capture thousands of Handlers in one attack. The death of even one Handler was enough to cause enormous grief throughout the thousand spheres but to hear about the death thousands was almost more than they could stand.

  The Handlers had no real leader but they did answer to the authority, a group of the eldest Handlers, those from the first generation. Some think they’ve been around since the beginning of the universe. Some think they were the first intelligent beings to look out into the stars and understand that view would not last forever. At one point they numbered in the millions but 12 billion years had a habit of taking them away by accident, suicide or murder.

  Now they number in the hundreds, merely a fraction of what they used to be. They rarely met anymore, the last time was before the seventeenth sun died and that was so long ago the galaxy where the human’s lived had just begun to form.

  They met in the valley of the grubs on the first planet. It was a place where they had all fed for the first time. A food they had discovered would give them life as long as they fed there every other turn of the sphere. It was the place they first conceived of the sphere knowing the population would explode beyond what the planet could sustain. The billion minds stayed on the valley for as long as it took to design the sphere. They would not let other feed. It was this generation that would build the race to the countless numbers they were now.

  Once again, they had to make a decision. How to deal with the human threat. They still did not know the location of the planet; they still had millions of square light-years of space to search. They had tried to follow the wormholes detected outside the other system they had conquered but the human’s were frustratingly quick with closing them before a probe could follow. They searched and they would continue to search until they found the planet Earth.

  The subject of the missing sphere section came up and the camp exploded with the sound of a thousand stomping feet and the smell of anger and dismay. It was suggested the Handlers simply ignore the humans for a while, spread out in the other direction. Take more systems. They could continue to probe the galaxy looking for Earth and they would find it at some point and then they could attack.

  The idea did not sit well with many while others stomped with approval. Most agreed that the humans would and could advance to the point where even an overwhelming force would have trouble beating them. They needed to find Earth sooner rather than later. It was decided, by a very large margin, to send more ships out into the expanse. Earth and its people had now become the Handler’s number one threat and they would be dealt with swiftly.

  The million elders parted again and headed back to their home spheres. They hoped the next time they had to meet the subject would be about the defeat of all intelligent life in the universe.

  Chapter thirty- eight

  “All ships have reported in,” Commander Juliet Monrow said. “We’re ready to leave Wormhole space.”

  “Fine,” Captain Cook replied. “Arwen, get the bullet in the chamber and get ready to fire. Commander, tell the ships to wait for our lead then have them follow us out. Tonight’s mission is free for all; destroy anything you see that might be Handler related. Tell the Gyssyc ships to attack the sphere; they have the firepower to damage it a lot more than we do.”

  Captain Cook sat back in her chair while Juliet Monrow gave the other ships the instructions. It was all procedure now, the fleet knew what was needed of them and all captains knew their roll. She’s been leading these raids for five years and in that time she lost only a handful of ships. The Handler’s didn’t seem to know how to deal with guerrilla tactics like this. In some ways they were thousands of years more advanced than the Earth. In others they were woefully inept. War like this was one of those ways and the Corps was going to do all it could to push this advantage until the Handler’s adapted.

  “Bullet in the chamber,” the Arwen said.

  “Fire the bullet. Full speed ahead.” Captain Cook spoke calmly even as she felt the adrenaline flowed through her veins.

  The ship shuttered as the wormhole bullet fired through the small hole in the front cone of the Arwen and into space. It exploded into a circle of white light, the center of which peered out into the Ulliam system.

  The Arwen passed through the wormhole as the other ships in the fleet fired their own wormhole bullets. Soon hundreds of wormholes formed around the Arwen and moved out to their assigned locations.

  They were three light hours from the Ulliam sun. The Handler’s had started to move out from where the planet used to be but they still had no bases near where her fleet appeared. It would take a few hours before they noticed the wormholes and by that time her ships would be moving full speed toward the targets they choose to attack.

  “Commander, alert the missile frigates, tell them to fire all they have into the system, set the missiles for intelligent mode. We won’t have to worry about aiming, the missile’s will just find the closest target and attack.”

  “Yes, sir.” The Commander said. She walked over to the communication officer and relayed the information to her. “Frigates have acknowledged. Would you like to see?”

  Captain Cook smiled, Juliet knew how much she loved watching the missile ships fire. “You know me too well.”

  The Missile Frigate was a new Wells class of ship, first of which was the Doctor Moreau. That was the ship Juliet focuses the Arwen’s camera on. The ship had eight long tubes, each about the length of the Arwen, stacked two aside, four high. The bridge was build on top of the tubes and was protected by one of the more powerful force fields in the fleet. Inside each tube were tens of thousands of missiles, each caring a collection of nuclear tipped explosives. The devastation achieved by one missile frigate was staggering. Her fleet had five such ships at her disposal.

  The front of each barrel opened. Underneath were the launching tubes for each missile. Red lights blinked and the ship sent out a warning that firing was about ready to commence. Seconds later the first of the missiles fired then, each second, another set followed. This would go on until the last of the missiles had fired then the ships would close up and head back home, their mission finished.

  In the meantime Captain Cook enjoyed the spectacle. The missiles left and disappeared into the blackness of space, their fuel spent after about a minute. Soon the smart computer on the missiles would find and lock onto a target and a gyroscope inside would maneuver the missile toward that target. It wasn’t uncommon for several dozen missiles to find the same target and attack it if it were large enough.

  The fleet had now spread out into several dozen clusters; their engine glow mimics twinkling stars.

  “Commander, can you give me an
ETA for when the first ship will make contact?”

  Commander Monrow looked up, “Arwen, can you please give the Captain the information?”

  “The first ship will be in contact with the Handlers in about five hours.”

  “Great,” Captain Cook looked at the Commander. “Tell the Gyssyc to attack once the first fleet makes contact. I want updates on the battle every fifteen minutes.” She stood from her commander chair, “Commander, you have the bridge.”

  “Uh, Captain, if you don’t mind I’d like to come with you to your office for a discussion.”

  “A discussion about what?”

  “I’d rather not say on the bridge, Captain.”

  Captain Cook nodded. “Okay. Arwen, alert me if anything changes.”

  “Yes, Captain.” Arwen replied, her disembodied voice echoing off the walls of the bridge.

  The two women walked to the lift and moved up one level to the Captain’s office. When it opened they walked in, Captain Cook taking her seat behind the desk, Commander Monrow sitting across from her. Captain Cook folded her hands across the desk. “Well, talk.”

  “May I speak freely?”

  “Juliet, you can always speak freely with me.” She said with a wearily smile.

  “Captain, you have to stop being mean to Arwen. She’s getting upset.”

  “Ah, I knew that’s what you wanted to talk about. You’re the one who told me she’s just a simulation and a very complex program.”

  “I never said that, he did.” Juliet replied with special emphases on the word ‘he’. “He never trusted them but I think the record over the past five years for every ship in the fleet with sentient has been extraordinary.”

  “Not true,” Captain Cook replied. “I’m privy to more information than you and I can promise you most sentient ship disobeyed an order at least once in its service. Even the Arwen disobeyed me more than once. I’m sorry, but I don’t care about her feelings when there’s a chance she could decide to disobey me.”

  “She disobeyed you and saved the ship.”

  “She nearly plunged us into a sun.” Captain Cook replied. “No, this is how it’s going to be on my ship.”

  “You’re one of the few ships that still use a Commander, most have given that duty to their AI.”

  Captain Cook gave a crocked smile. “Is that really the point you want to make? Without me needing a second you’d still be looking for a ship to serve on and I can promise you’d be nothing more than a sensor officer. If the Professor himself hadn’t recommended you I’m not sure I would have even thought about it.”

  Juliet raised her hand to stop the Captain. It was rude but Marjorie decided it was okay. “I know, I know.” She sank into her seat. In a quiet voice she asked, “Have you heard anything from him recently?”

  “No, the Professor is keeping himself dark while he’s in the final phase of his project.”

  “Ha!” Juliet laughed. “He’s been in the final phase of that damn project for three years.”

  “I know, that’s why you left him.”

  “Right,” she said in almost a whisper. “I left him.”

  Captain Cook was about to ask another question when the lights in her office went red and a glaxon alert went off. “Captain Cook, Commander Monrow to the bridge!”

  They ran out of the office, into the elevator and moved down one level. When the door opened Captain Cook was blinded by a white light from all the monitors. She ran over to her seat just in time to see a small wormhole evaporate into nothingness. “What was that?”

  “That was the Weena,” Arwen said. “It self-destructed.”

  “What? Why?” Captain Cook asked as the news sank in. The Weena had a crew of over a thousand.

  “I wasn’t able to get an answer before she had to wipe her memory, but I believe she was being infiltrated by the Handlers.”

  There was another bright flash as another missile ship self-destructed. “That was the Doctor Kemp,” Arwen said. “Other ships are reporting in, they’re being boarded but the Handlers.”

  Captain Cook jumped into action. She knew the times of the easy attacks were numbered but she never thought it would be this devastating. They needed to regroup and she needed to know how the Handler’s were boarding the ships. “Tell the Gyssyc to stay in wormhole space. They’re too valuable to risk. Order any ship not being boarded to enter wormhole space and head home.”

  There was another flash as one more Corps ship self destructed. How long would it be before they boarded the Arwen? “Arwen, scan the area. How long have we been here?”

  “18 minutes.”

  “Good, that’s your search radius. There must be a base somewhere that we can’t see. Tell those who have to stay to do the same thing.” She turned to Juliet. “Commander, how are they boarding?”

  “I’m not sure.” Juliet said looking over the shoulder of a sensor officer. “I’m not seeing any ships.”

  “Wormholes,” Arwen said. “I’m detecting Beta wormholes all over the place; they must be using them to board.”

  “Can we adjust our shields to stop them?”

  “I’ll run some simulations,” Arwen replied.

  “Good, let me know-“

  “I ran two millions simulations and can’t find a configuration that will prevent the wormholes from forming. I’ll continue to run them.”

  “Fine, thank you.”

  There was another flash on her screen as another ship self-destructed. We’re killing ourselves, Captain Cook thought. We’re doing their work for them. This is insane.

  “Captain,” Commander Monrow said. “We found the base. It’s a small asteroid about 18 light minutes away.”

  “Do we have ships nearby?”

  “Yes, I’ll send them the coordinates to have them destroy it.”

  “Good, that’ll stop the wormholes. Arwen, how many ships are reporting being boarded?”

  “Fifteen.” She replied.

  We could lose fifteen more ships if they don’t get the raiders under control. What can I do to help them? “Commander, I’m up for any suggestions. I don’t want to lose fifteen more ships.”

  “First thing I would do is order them not to self-destruct,” She replied. “Then I’d send as many teams of soldiers as I could to help out. Looking at the readings we have plenty of ships nearby who aren’t being boarded who could organize teams to help.”

  “Great idea,” Captain Cook replied. “That’s the kind of thinking a computer couldn’t do. Arwen, tell the other ships to not self-destruct. Commander, send an order on my behalf to all the other ships around those being invaded, tell them to send as many men as they can spare to help.”

  Commander Monrow ran over to the communications station and relayed the order.

  The Arwen said, “Captain, all computers have been notified not to self-destruct. I have to protest that order, if the Handlers should gain access to the computers they could find Earth.”

  “I understand Arwen and your protest is noted.” Captain Cook looked at the fleet. Ships were entering Wormhole space at a quickened pace. She was happy to see so many ships being saved, they would live to see another day.

  “Captain,” Arwen said, “the fleet has engaged the asteroid, they found the base and are attacking it.”

  The lights on the bridge turned red, “Captain, I’m detecting a wormhole forming in the aft section!” Arwen said, her computer voice sounding urgent. “It was there for a second and now it’s gone.”

  “A second?” Captain Cook asked. “What could come through in a second?”

  “I’m only detecting one life form,” Arwen said. “The readings are. . .odd.”

  “Odd?” Captain Cook asked.

  “I’ll give you a visual now.”

  The screen in front of Captain Cook changed to the view of a hallway. Standing in the middle of the hallway was a person, female. She was naked and crouched on the floor. She had her back arced high and she was vomiting on the ground. The female was young, h
er skin smooth and unblemished. The angle from the camera was from the top and when she looked up her full face was in view.

  Captain Cook gasped when she saw the face. “Arwen, what are your readings telling you?”

  “Captain, according to my analysis that person is you.”

  The doppelganger looked at the camera and winked before being surrounded by security.

  Chapter thirty-nine

  Captain Cook paced outside the brig with her hands behind her back and her head pointing to the floor. They had just brought her look alike down and placed her in a cell moments before she arrived. She was thankful for that; she needed a few minutes to compose herself before the meeting.

  “Arwen, can you give me any more information as to what that thing is.”

  “My scans tell me she’s an almost exact duplicate of you. If I were to guess I’d guess she was a clone.”

  “That makes sense,” Captain Cook replied. She had suspected a long time ago they may have cloned her, maybe even implanted some memories into that clone. She never thought she would ever meet one of her clones selves, now it seems that was inevitable. “Arwen, can you tell the difference between the two of us? I don’t want her to fool you, or anyone else on this ship for that matter.”

  “She will not fool me, I will keep track of her while she’s on the ship. Also, there seems to be some differences in her physiology which will help me determine who is giving me an order as well. She seems younger and as a result has a slightly higher voice. Also, you must have picked up some sort of virus at some point in your life because your vocal cords have been slightly damaged and, as a result, your voice is slightly different than hers. Others would never notice the difference but I can detect it very easily.”

  “Thank you, Arwen. What is she doing now?”

  “She’s sitting on her bed looking at the door. I believe she’s waiting for you. As of right now she doesn’t seem to be a threat.”

  “Except she came to us through a wormhole created by the Handlers. I’m sure there’s an interesting story behind that.”