by Jay Cannon
“But won’t your family miss you? What about the new team you’re in charge of as ambassador?”
“Except for Jesmino, I don’t know them very well. Though she is a bit odd I will miss her. I wish I could say goodbye to her, but there are more important things to focus on right now.”
“Why do you want to say goodbye to me?” Asked Jesmino appearing on the ship out of nowhere.
The ship will self-destruct in three minutes.
“Why are you destroying the ship? Won’t that kill you?” Jesmino asked.
“Who are you and where did you come from?!” Asked Commander Filo.
“I’m Jesmino. Don’t you remember me?”
“You certainly sound like her, but you look like a Euclidian,” stated Yoyo.
“Oh, I forgot,” replied Jesmino changing back to her Magi form.
“Oh my goodness,” exclaimed Yoyo. “How did you do that and how did you get here.”
“How I changed is hard to explain, but I told you I would keep in touch with you, so I monitored you via a few atoms that I placed in your brain. I heard my name mentioned so I came to see what you needed,” replied Jesmino.
“But how did you get here?”
“At the subatomic level one can be everywhere at once and I decided to be here.”
“What is she talking about?” Asked Commander Filo.
“I still don’t know. She was babbling about that stuff the last time I saw her.”
“Jesmino, can you disable the self-destruct mechanism?” Asked Commander Filo.
“I guess so, but I don’t like to interfere.”
“Jesmino, he’s trying to use this ship to harm Euclidia, possibly killing millions of inhabitants, including Tammarians like my new friend Belo.”
The ship will self-destruct in two minutes.
“That doesn’t sound very nice.”
“Commander Filo, this is Alpha ship Lansing, come in.”
“Don’t answer Kenyon!” Ordered Yoyo.
“Yoyo don’t do this,” Commander Filo begged, his face contorting. “Do you want to kill your friend and colleague Jesmino as well? I thought you liked her.”
“Oh don’t worry about me. I will be a long ways away from here before the blast occurs.”
“Jesmino, can you take me with you?”
“Sort of, but it’s not an easy process.”
“Commander Filo, this is Alpha ship Lansing, we are going to extend our cloaking mechanism to hide your ship. Please respond.”
“What do you mean it’s not easy? Will it take more than two minutes?”
“No, it would be almost instantaneous. However, it will require me to compress the empty space between your atoms making your body smaller that the width of an eyelash. Do you know how much empty space there is in an object? It’s really amazing considering how dense an object feels when you touch it. Even metal objects can be shrunk down to a fraction of their size.”
The ship will self-destruct in one minute.
“Jesmino, there really isn’t much time left. Do you think you could hurry this up?”
“Sure, but I should tell you about the side effects.”
“Will I survive?!” Yoyo stated impatiently.
“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t attempt it otherwise.”
“What do you meant by attempt?”
“Well I’ve never really done it before. However, theoretically it should work.”
“So do it now!”
“Okay, where do you want to go?”
The ship will self-destruct in ten seconds.
“Anywhere on my ship, now!”
“What about me?” Commander Filo.
“Leave him! Go! Now!”
“Okay!”
Chapter 32
Instant Molecular Redistribution
One of the important advances that came out of Euclidian research was the instant molecule redistribution (IMR) device. It impacted every aspect of daily life from sports, to entertainment, construction and of course military. Before its creation people were forced to have multiple sizes of an object. Now they could have one version of it and resize it as needed.
The IMR device had the ability to rearrange the molecules in an object in a way that changed its size. For example, Phoebe had one in her staff that permitted her to lengthen it for fighting or shrink it down to size to make it easier to carry around. The mass of the staff did not change, only it size.
At first the heat generated from the process of molecular redistribution kept it from being practical. Researchers later found that bombarding molecules with uni-polarized strings caused the bond between molecules to dissipate without an appreciable increase in heat.
Once the process was perfected tiny IMR devices were applied to a wealth of objects where dynamic expansion and retraction was desired. Dining room tables could be expanded to accommodate various numbers of guests. Likewise plates could be resized to hold large or small amounts of foods. The ability to modify the size of devices had a powerful impact on the utility of devices. A device could be used as a personal handheld device or stretched out and placed on a wall for viewing by many people.
The IMR device made doors, drawbridges and lifts easier to deploy and use. A person who had trouble going up stairs could stand on an expanding platform to go to different levels in a house without taking up a bunch of space with a ramp or elevator.
The application where the IMR device exhibited the greatest benefit was in repairing the hull of space vehicles. Space vehicles were often damaged by space debris. While the ship’s shields helped to protect it from space debris, they were not perfect. A strike by a large object or an attack by an enemy vessel could leave a gaping hole in the ship that the ship’s shields were unable to seal.
The IMR device could seal hull breaches almost instantaneously by expanding the molecules in the metal to fill the breach. For that reason hulls were double the needed thickness in order to have the extra material when needed. The hulls also consisted of several redundant IMR devices in case some were damaged during the hull breach.
Like many of the Euclidian inventions, the IMR device was protected with a tamper proof construction and intelligent programming to prevent them from being used inappropriately. For example, Phoebe’s staff can only be expanded by her. If it is already expanded and another person tries to use it, then it will collapse becoming unusable.
This device is an example of how the Euclidian’s investment in research made them a formidable fighting force. This is also what drove them to discover new technology and research being performed by planets that they invaded. The Alphas focused on conquering and pillaging, with very little thought in the acquisition of technology. They would often destroy a planet in order to chalk up another military victory before even investigating what technology might be available.
Chapter 33
Yoyo heads to Earth
“Jessmmmino, whyyyyy am I sooo coldddd? Where are we?”
“We are back on your ship as I promised you. I took you to your job, which is where I saw you most of the time. You are cold because of the decompression caused when your atoms expand back to your normal size. You are probably blind as well, but that will pass.”
“Whattt isss the clapppping?”
“You are standing naked on your stage shivering. The people here probably think you are performing.”
“Why am I naked?”
“When I compressed your atoms each item was separated into distinct clumps. When you were reconstituted everything was expanded separately. You will be happy to know that your UCD survived the process as well.”
“Can you put my clothes back on me?”
“Not really, I don’t have a way of doing that and you are shivering too much for me to do it manually. Until you warm up I will take off my robe and do an exotic dance around you so people with think this is a real performance.”
Jesmino removed her robe exposing a glittering costume like the one she had seen Yoyo wear. Sh
e starts undulating around Yoyo to the jeers of the bar’s clients.
“Jesmino what’s happening? There is more clapping and I can see blurs now.”
“People are applauding our performance. I think I am doing quite well considering I have never done this before.”
“I can see you now. Why aren’t you naked and shivering?”
“Because I am not an organic being. Everything you see before you I generated from free atoms. I was created a millennium ago to serve a race of advanced beings. I became self-aware and learned to use the power of sub-atomic physics to travel the universe and experience different places. I traveled so much I lost my way back and decided to live amongst your people for a while.”
“Wow, your story just keeps getting more and more fascinating. Unfortunately I don’t have time to hear it, because we have a few problems to solve. First, what happened to the shuttle?”
“It was destroyed along with the commander and his ship.”
“That thing you did to me. Can you do that to their cloaked ships that are waiting to attack Euclidia?”
“I guess, though it will take me a moment to find them all. Do you want me to bring them all here?”
“No just compress them where they are.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
“How long will it take you?”
“I’m finished. They are all tiny objects now.”
“So will they ever return to normal size?”
“No, they will more than likely be caught in the gravitational field of a nearby planet and be burned up in its atmosphere without anyone ever knowing what happened to them.”
“That means that no one will know whatever happened to Commander Filo either for that matter. I think I can move well enough to get my clothes on. You can stop that goofy dance now.”
“I don’t think the audience thought it was so goofy. We should probably take a bow don’t you think?”
“Sure!”
The two grabbed hands and bowed while the clients in the bar erupted in applause and laughter. Yoyo put her clothes on and exited the bar with Jesmino close behind.
“Jesmino I need you to find out where the XO of the Andrea is.”
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“Can’t you find him the way you found me?”
“No, I never connected with him in the same way.”
“Can’t you just search for his atomic pattern or something?”
“Not really. There are infinite places to look and therefore it would take infinite time to find him.”
“Yoyo, I need you to step away from your friend,” said a security guard pointing a weapon at Jesmino.
“She works for me,” replied Yoyo.
“It doesn’t matter. She shouldn’t be on the ship without permission. We can’t even figure out how she got here.”
“Sorry about that Yoyo. I’ll see you back on the planet,” stated Jesmino disappearing.
“I apologize security. I don’t know how she does that. I’ll make sure she doesn’t do that again.”
“Fine Yoyo, but we will have to write this up. We can’t have people just popping on and off our ship at will. That shouldn’t even be possible. Why don’t you come with us and answer some questions. We should be able to let you go after that.”
“Okay let’s go,” Said Yoyo following the officers out of the bar.
***
Yoyo went to the security office and started the interrogation process. Once she was alone with one officer she persuaded him to forget about all the charges. Yoyo decided that she needed to find out where the XO of the Andrea was and save the captain. She went to the transport room and used her powers of persuasion to find out what she needed.
“Hello lieutenant. You run the transport room here right?” Asked Yoyo of one of the officers in one of the secondary transport rooms.
“I’m one of the people that run this particular transport room, but you shouldn’t be here,” replied the officer.
“How could you deny my sparkling blue eyes a little light conversation?”
“I guess a little conversation would be alright.”
“Can you tell me where the XO or the captain of the Andrea is?”
“That’s not really something I track. It’s a completely different ship.”
“Please try to find out if you don’t mind.”
“Well, the Andrea is away on a mission right now in a newly charted planetary system XAB1123. Getting more specifics will take some time.”
“Look at me!” Commanded Yoyo. “Your life depends on you getting the answer. Do what you must to get the answer, but get it right away. Do you understand?!”
“Yes, Yoyo. I will get the answer you need.”
Yoyo paced back and forth until he finally responded to her.
“Yoyo I found them. The XO is aboard their ship above the second planet in their solar system. The captain’s whereabouts seem to be unknown. They indicate that he might be dead. I have his last known coordinates if that helps.”
“Yes, send me there right away.”
“I don’t have the authority..”
“Do it!” Commanded Yoyo cutting him off.
“Right away Yoyo.”
Arghhh, what the hell is this place?” Yoyo screamed covering her face with her hands and squatting to protect her body from the rays of the Florida sun. She grabbed her UCD and screamed at the transport operator to beam her directly to her cabin.
Yoyo arrived in her cabin grabbed her robe and goggles and ordered the transport officer to send her back. She got there in time to see a battle unfolding. She saw several species fighting each other and no one was wearing a uniform. There was only one Euclidian present and she assumed that must be the captain. However, not being a trained fighter she could do nothing except watch the fight continue and hope for the best.
Chapter 34
The U.S. Military Prepares to Fight
In a bunker deep below the white house the president was conferring with members of the military and intelligence community that were still on duty.
“So where do we stand gentlemen? I know your reports will be limited due to the lack of personnel and loss of standard communications, but tell me what you can. Let’s start with the navy.
“We had some limited communications with ships using onboard radios that were stored in internal lockers. When the invasion started the aliens went after our big targets, carriers, destroyers, cruisers and submarines. They just disappeared from the water without a trace. Reports from foreign navies indicated the same thing.”
“After the ships were taken, it appeared that the aliens setup several lines of airships stretched across the globe along the longitudinal axis of the Earth. They proceeded westerly and beamed up almost all human life to God knows where. Those below ground were protected for the most part. We can only assume that they chose not to scan that deep. They appeared to leave our smaller ships intact, just removed the personnel, even those below water level. Anyone in the water, away from the ships was not taken. We have several reports from divers who saw the craft go by. There seemed to be hundreds of them in staggered formation moving pretty fast. No lights or beams of any kind seemed to be emanating from the crafts. However, it was clear that they were responsible for the disappearance of the shipboard personnel.
Approximately ninety-nine percent of our land-based personnel have been taken. We do have two fully equipped submarines left that are hidden in underwater caves. We had four and sent two of them after one of the alien water vessels that appeared to be harvesting our water in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Bermuda. Our missiles and torpedoes were quickly neutralized and the submarines were taken. Our current force now consists of the two hidden submarines and a couple hundred sailors and marines spread out across the globe.”
***
“Thank you Admiral Bruckheimer. General Gannon, give us a report on the Air Force.”
“Mr. President, unfortunately I don’t have m
uch to report. All of our radar, missile and satellite systems are basically dead. Our aircraft are all gone. We are communicating with airmen via battery-powered radios. We detected an anomaly beyond the moon just before our systems went out. It must have been the alien ship. Unfortunately they moved too quickly for us to respond. Soon afterwards all of our nuclear missiles were taken, followed by airplanes and support equipment. We have about five hundred airmen left, most of them hiding out in bunkers. We lost seven stealth fighters, which were previously hidden in a bunker, during an attack on one of the alien ships over DC. We never even got a shot off. We have three more in bunkers, but they are stuck there for now. We are working to get the elevators running again. That’s all I have to report Mr. President.”
“General Passman, could you give us a report on the army?”
“Mr. President, I have very little to report myself. All of our armored vehicles have been taken. I’m only in contact with about eighty-five soldiers. We have tons of hand weapons, but very few soldiers to use them and they wouldn’t be very effective against the aliens anyway.”
“Is anyone aware of any alien forces on the ground?”
“I have one bit of news Mr. President.”
“Yes, Director Mathers.”
The CIA has a field agent in Miami that has been working with some militia out of south Florida. It appears that the aliens have setup a base in Key West. It doesn’t seem to be a military base though. The aliens there appear to be on vacation. The perimeter is being patrolled though.”
It appears that they have finished with the abduction of our people and are now focusing on taking our resources. I believe we have an extremely small chance of getting through their defenses. Our only viable option is to try to end their mining.”
“So what do we know about their mining vehicles?” Asked the president.
“The ships are massive, move pretty slowly and don’t seem to have offensive or defensive capabilities. For the most part they ignore any attacks, which have been pretty much futile. Their airships eventually come around and chase off any attackers. The reconnaissance I have received indicates that there are two ships hovering above them in a circular fashion read to take out any threats.”