Empire of Stars

by D. W. Patterson

  Admiral Feltcher aboard the Independent was confused. He radioed the Bengbu.

  “Captain Kareta we see no damage to the base. Can you confirm?”

  “I confirm Admiral. Something is not right.”

  Just then the surface of the planet seemed to explode as a swarm of hypersonic drones launched into orbit. Amid the drones were kinetic energy weapons traveling at almost seven-thousand miles-per-hour. It would take less than fifteen seconds for the kinetics to reach the fleet. And in a few more seconds the drones would be there.

  At first, the 3rd Fleet delayed any evasive action as it was impossible to tell what was happening. By the time the alarms indicating incoming bogeys went off the fleet only had a few seconds to maneuver. This was enough time to avoid some of the kinetic energy weapons but not all. Then the drones quickly followed and opened up with their wormhole weapons. The United Planet's ships had no chance. They were all eliminated in a few brief seconds.

  Admiral Ashoki aboard the Kumorta received fifteen distress calls at the same time some nine minutes later. It was impossible to make out what the much too short calls were about. Ashoki had to make a decision immediately. If the United Planets could not control Gateway then he had to deny it to the Dhalkans.

  A small modification to the wormhole weapons aboard the remaining eleven ships had been made. Up to the point that the microscopic black hole formed everything was the same except now the ships would use all their reserves to cause the hole to be large enough to last for several seconds. It would be given an electrical charge and repulsed toward the target. Eleven mini black holes encountering a planets surface would eventually end up consuming all the mass of the planet and coalescing into a long-lasting black hole.

  The coalescence would also include all the Admiral's ships. Because the mini black holes would only last tens of seconds before evaporating the ships would have to be close to Gateway's surface when the black holes were released. At the angle of attack necessary to make sure the holes found their target, the ships wouldn't have sufficient energy left to escape the gravity well of the planet. They would crash and then be consumed by the emerging black hole.

  Ashoki, as well as the other Captains of the 1st and 5th Fleets, had known this before the mission began. The enlisted did not but were expected to follow orders. Ashoki gave the command. Eleven ships opened a link that would put them on an attack run and sped into the links mouths. Eleven ships emerged a split second later with their wormhole weapons charging and ready to release their payloads. Eleven mini wormholes flew towards the planet and burrowed into its soil. Eleven ships dived through the thin atmosphere burning as eleven bright meteors before impact.

  The black holes slowed and grew as they ate the planet. It was only a few hours before the surface of the planet collapsed behind the small event horizons of the eleven swarming black holes. It would be a few years before the galaxy's newest black hole would coalesce into one.

  Back on Earth, the final message from Admiral Ashoki had been received through the small link that he had opened for his reports. They knew that he had ordered the black hole maneuver but its outcome could only be confirmed by a ship within two-thousand light-years of Gateway. That took a few hours as the ship used a link to view the results of the Admiral's attack. It was able to confirm the destruction of the Dhalkan base and all the United Planets ships.

  The “victory” was a shock. The cost was so great that it seemed not a victory at all. Twenty-six of the finest ships the United Planets had ever produced and over three-thousand crew lost. The second-guessing began.

  The Dhalkans watched the destruction of their outpost through a link. The outpost was completely automated so no Dhalkans lost their lives but the attack served to convince any that still remained doubtful about the war that the humans were absolutely fanatical and ruthless. The final solution was approved by all.

  "It can't be helped," said Dr. Anton. "They will not stop until our complete destruction, I know that now."

  "But we will no longer be able to leave the interior of this region we are about to create," said Dr. Morr, a Dhalkan scientist. And we will not be able to control its extent."

  "You said it would not grow or if it did it would do so only slowly, is that not right?"

  "Yes that's what the equations show."

  "Then we can have a sphere five-thousand light-years in radius to support us and even if the region grows slowly the humans and those robots will have sufficient time to react."

  "I suppose you are right Dr. Anton. But understand this is permanent. The barrier* will feed off the zero-point energy* of the vacuum itself once it is established so there will be no way to shut it down, so to speak."

  "I and all Dhalkans understand Dr. Morr. but we are tired of the constant danger the humans represent. We want to be left alone and we believe this barrier is the only answer. You will implement it soon?"

  "Yes Dr. Anton. We are ready to raise the barrier."

  The "barrier" was very much like what Elias Mach had been able to create to protect the Centauri space habitats hundreds of years before. He cast a wormhole mouth inside a wormhole mouth and found that the resultant space between the mouths was chaotic and disintegrating. He found that nothing could penetrate that space without being completely disrupted. But his barrier was on the much smaller scale of what a fusion ship could accomplish and the distance between the two mouths was much larger than what the Dhalkans planned. However, it had worked and his discovery was used and extended by the Dhalkan scientists.

  The "barrier" they would create would be a region of spacetime that was also disintegrating but much more limited in thickness. Because of its microscopic thickness, it would be similar to the event horizon of a black hole in that one would not know the crossing was imminent until it was too late. Its creation would require the power from two super-radiant power plants and it would be cast with a wormhole generator the size of a moonlet like the one destroyed by the three robots. The outer bubble would be cast first and then an inner bubble would be cast at a microscopic displacement from the outer one. It would be created with the same motion of the five-thousand light-years of galaxy that it would enclose so it should not drift, too much.

  Once created the barrier would feed on the zero-point energy of spacetime. Like a Casimir device, the much greater energy on either side of the barrier would essentially "support" it and prevent it from naturally dissipating. If not forever it would last so long that humans and Dhalkans might be extinct before its collapse.

  The tremendous power of the Dhalkan's super-radiant power plants was linked to the nearby moonlet wormhole generator. A moment and the outer barrier's bubble was cast, five-thousand light-years away. Another moment and the second super-radiant power plant delivered its power pulse to the moonlet and the inner barrier was cast.

  The two inner and outer bubbles oscillated for a few microseconds as the forces inside and outside balanced. Then the barrier was formed and was practically invisible except for the peculiar way that light refracted from the inner and outer shells. But this was only noticeable if one knew to look for it.

  The United Planets ship Kirov was returning from its mission to reconnaissance the destruction of the Dhalkan's outpost. At just over one-thousand light-years away from Earth, the Captain was about to give the order to link when the navigator spoke.

  "Captain something strange about the stars."

  "What do you mean Kreshev?"

  "I'm not sure, the light is displaced somehow."

  "Well I can't make anything of your words unless you can provide me with a better explanation."

  "Sorry sir it is just nothing like I have ever seen before."

  Before the captain could respond a sound like a metal thrashing machine became apparent. The whole ship vibrated.

  "Give me a forward view," said the captain.

  There on the screen racing towards them was what could only be described as a vapor beyond which there was no ship. The captain had on
ly enough time to start to give the command for full reverse before he too became like a vapor.

  28

  It was a surprise to Dag. Suddenly he couldn't open a link to the Dhalkan system. It was like every link in that direction was missing. What was more peculiar was that the links to Earth, just as far away, still seemed to open.

  Dag began to systematically plot the blocked links. After probing different directions for several hours he was able to see the results on the screen. The available links skirted the perimeter of a huge circle centered on the Dhalkan planet. Eventually, it became obvious to Dag that it was not a flat circular surface but a spherical surface between Escan and Dhalka.

  “It's the Dhalkans Walker. They've created some kind of a spherical barrier between their planet and ours. It looks to be centered on Dhalka with a radius of five-thousand light-years.”

  “What's it for Dag?”

  “Obviously to keep us and especially humans out Sigmund.”

  “How did they do it, what's it made of?”

  “It reminds me of Elias Mach's shield. You remember that Sigmund?”

  “Yes I do Dag. I know that Professor Mach created the shield by casting two wormhole mouths, one inside the other.”

  “That's right Sigmund and the space between those two spheroidal mouths quickly deteriorated, duplicating the disintegrating spacetime that caused so much damage. However this time it was contained between the two mouths. No mass or energy could traverse that spacetime without being destroyed. In this way, Professor Mach was able to stop the Beleni attacks on the Centauri space habitats.”

  “But Dag that shield must have been relatively small compared to this monster.”

  “Yes it was Hanson and it took all the energy of a wormhole ship to create and maintain. The Dhalkan barrier obviously took a lot more energy. Probably the energy came from the super-radiant power plants we discovered and it was cast with a moonlet sized wormhole generator like the one we destroyed.”

  “Sounds reasonable to me Dag. But if we can get nothing through from our side does that mean the Dhalkans cannot?”

  “I would say so Sigmund.”

  “So they separated themselves from the entire rest of the galaxy?”

  “Yes, I believe the Aggie planet must be slightly beyond five-thousand light-years from the Dhalkans, that's the reason for the barrier's size.”

  “They were desperate.”

  “What do you mean Sigmund?”

  “To close yourself off from the rest of the universe is a kind of desperation, isn't it?

  “I suppose, Sigmund. I suppose.”

  The Earth was in an uproar. The barrier's appearance in the sky had blackened and hidden everything in the direction of the Perseus Arm up to the Rosetta Nebula on one side and the massive star Alpha Cam on the other. The always present barrier in the sky continually reminded the populous of Earth the magnitude of the incompetence that the governments had shown in their handling of the Dhalkans. The Ems did their best in calming the citizenry but for the first time in centuries, a populist revolt was brewing.

  “If we can't tamp down this uprising it's going to cost us,” said the president of the Southern Territories.”

  “The Ems assure us President Jeffers, that they will get control of the situation.”

  “They had better or they will lose their jobs.”

  With the Earth in turmoil, the Dhalkan barrier was almost forgotten until the Aggies appeared in orbit above Escan.

  “Greetings Dr. Mach this is Aggie Prime.”

  “Yes, Aggie Prime what can we do for you.”

  “Well we were hoping that since you were so cooperative when we worked together before that you would be interested in helping us again.”

  “Yes Aggie Prime?”

  “We know that you make the finest spin-two drives of anyone including us. We would like you to retrofit our ships with your latest drive.”

  “But Aggie Prime you already have a drive that has greater reach than the one we are providing.”

  Dag did not mention that there was actually a better version not for sale.

  “That's true it has greater reach but not nearly the accuracy. Because of the disagreement with the Beleni we haven't been able to stay on top of spin-two development. Your drive, though not as far-reaching, is much more accurate than ours and where we are going we are going to need that accuracy.”

  “May I ask where you are bound Aggie Prime?”

  “I suppose it will make no difference. We are attempting to reach the Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy.”

  “The LMC. That's over one-hundred fifty-thousand light-years away Aggie Prime. How will you ever make it that far, the power requirements are huge to make ten's of thousands of jumps?”

  “We have a way to recharge using the zero-point energy of the vacuum. It will require us to remain in place for some time so the trip will be rather long. About seventy-five Earth months.”

  “Over six years. And you believe you can keep your ships going for that long?”

  “We have prepared.”

  Dag thought about the Aggies and their determination and felt that maybe he should offer them the upgraded drive. But he felt he should get more than money.

  “Aggie Prime I feel I should tell you that I can shorten your journey by four years.”

  “You can?”

  “Yes we have a new improved drive that has a link distance of six-thousand light-years with the same accuracy as the current model. We have tested it and are ramping up production. But I will need more than just monetary reward, part of the trade would be knowledge of your zero-point energy technology.”

  There was a brief pause before Aggie Prime answered, a lifetime for an Aggie.

  “Very well Dr. Mach. Your new drive makes the chances of success on our journey almost assured. We will trade.”

  “Excellent Aggie Prime. How many drives will you need.”

  “Enough for twenty-four ships and a couple of spares, so twenty-six.”

  “I think we can get those to you in six weeks.”

  “That is acceptable.”

  Dag showed the deal to the others and they all agreed. They were excited over the acquisition of a new power source and of course the monetary rewards would help further secure Escan's independence from Earth.

  It was in week six as the last ship was being outfitted and the spares were being manufactured that Dag talked at length to Aggie Prime.

  “I just want to say Aggie Prime that this deal has been very beneficial to all of us here on Escan. But there is one question I would like to ask before you leave orbit.”

  “Yes Dr. Mach I will answer if I can.”

  “I wonder why you are leaving your world behind and going so far. It seems the Dhalkans, the ones you call Beleni, would no longer be a threat.”

  “No the Beleni are not a threat but their barrier is.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The barrier is expanding and at an increasing rate. It will soon destroy our planet since we are so much closer than you or Earth. But eventually it will expand enough to threaten the Earth and Escan.”

  “How can it expand?”

  “We suspect that the Beleni were off just slightly in their estimate of the amount of zero-point energy. As you will find if you build our power source according to our plans. And that minuscule error is causing the barrier to expand and as it expands more zero-point energy is scooped up, so to speak, increasing the rate of expansion.”

  “But it would eventually catch up with you will it not Aggie Prime?”

  “No, we believe the expansion will stop when it interacts with the giant black hole at the center of the galaxy. So we will be safe in the LMC but the resultant disruption of the Milky Way will be quite severe to any life remaining here.”

  Dag was a bit stunned but remembered to ask the important question.

  “Aggie Prime have you figured out the rate yet?”

  “Yes I can send that to you.” />
  “Thank you Aggie Prime and good luck on your journey.”

  “Thank you Dr. Mach and good luck to you.”

  “I've figured the rate of change of the barrier and the time it will take to reach this far Walker.”

  “And?”

  “Sixteen years.”

  “What?” said Sigmund.

  “Sixteen years.”

  “But we are over a thousand light-years from the barrier how can it get here in sixteen years? It can't travel faster than the speed of light can it?”

  “No. But you see this region between the inner and outer bubbles is being held in tension by harvesting the zero-point energy. It's essentially recreating a region of inflation like in the early universe. And that region can in effect travel faster than the speed of light.”

  “But the energy requirements would be tremendous Dag.”

  “Well Walker, while it has never been proven, two physicists in the twentieth century, Richard Feynman and John Wheeler, did calculate that the zero-point energy of the vacuum could be an order of magnitude greater than nuclear energy. If true they said that a single light bulb would contain enough energy to boil all the world's oceans.”

  “What's a light bulb?” asked Sigmund.

  “It was a device for lighting back then, a globe about three inches across, that glowed when you applied electricity.”

  “But Dag according to Einstein's theory of general relativity any such energy would gravitate and the experimental evidence from both the expansion of the universe, dark energy and the Casimir effect show any such energy to be exceptionally weak.”

  “But it's been pointed out Walker that the fermion field of the vacuum has a negative zero-point energy while the boson field has positive zero-point energy and thus these energies could cancel each other out.”