America One: War of the Worlds

by T I WADE

  “I believe it could be used to intern captured Matts or something,” suggested VIN, and Ryan nodded.

  His first base’s importance was at an end, but he was extremely excited to see what the rest of the Matt base, their new home had in the way of luxuries in the second part of the base. It was imperative that they either beat the Matts and make them leave, or what he really wanted: to befriend them and everybody live in harmony on the red planet. Only Ryan thought it a possibility.

  Max’s message that day shocked the Astermine crew to its core. There was another part to the Matt story that hadn’t been told yet.

  “You guys won’t believe this but, many of the large incoming fleet of ships have disappeared from between the two globes of Mars and Europa, over,” Max explained.

  “How can that be?” Ryan asked the crew on the bridge. “Max, could you elaborate more, over?”

  Waiting for the reply, Igor and Boris began researching what was between Mars and Europa. Of course there was the Asteroid Belt. They all knew the Asteroid Belt well as they had all passed through it twice on the odyssey. The Asteroid Belt was an expanse of millions of asteroids situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter around 280 million miles from the sun.

  “The asteroids in the belt range from 600 miles in diameter, all the way down to particles of dust,” stated Igor. “I’m going to search for any large asteroids currently in-between the two planets. Although there are millions of objects in the asteroid belt, we know from journeying through it, the belt is not densely populated,” continued Igor looking at the positioning of the planets on his computer monitor. “Since they are scattered over a vast area, we should be able to pinpoint a large mass of rock. I will check with the guys at NASA. Hopefully they are back to tracking near earth asteroids, and hopefully other organizations can tell us what is presently between Mars and Jupiter.”

  Max was told not to worry. He didn’t have the equipment needed to map deep space. The main problem Igor and Boris had realized living underground, was the lack of sight on the planet’s surface, and in space. They had three different-size camera telescopes in the cargo bay aboard the mother ship and wanted them placed in different areas of the red planet so that deep space could be viewed from the underground bases.

  “Spacecraft Dawn, a mission from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California studied two objects in the Asteroid belt between 2011 and 2016,” stated Boris going over the history of what man knew about the belt. I did a study on Dawn while we headed through the Asteroid Belt for the first time when we headed towards Jupiter. Dawn first studied the large asteroid Vesta, and then the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015. In the first part of its mission the craft successfully entered into orbit around Vesta in July 2011, taking high resolution images and studying the asteroid over a period of 15 months. On Vesta, the mission crew didn’t find much apart from ancient frozen lava, pyroxene.”

  “Asteroid pyroxene is not a bad find out here,” stated Ryan. “It is not the most valuable find, but pyroxene from the asteroids can have excessive amounts of magnesium, zinc, lithium, scandium and vanadium. Martin Brusk would give me anything for massive amounts of lithium for his batteries, and scadium. Sorry to interrupt you Boris.”

  “Dawn then studied the dwarf planet Ceres in 2015, and that could be a secret Matt base,” continued Boris.

  “And guess what!” added Igor excitedly. Ceres is currently in position between the two planets.

  “Slowly, slowly,” stated Ryan. “Boris, the reasons it could be a Matt base please.”

  “Ceres is a ball of rock and ice 590 miles in diameter. Ceres is the largest asteroid in the belt and the only named dwarf planet in the inner Solar System with just under 5 percent of the mass of our own moon. I’m bringing up the dwarf planet’s history up now. OK, here’s more,” stated Boris his eyes searching his computer screen. “The surface is probably a mixture of water ice and various hydrated minerals such as carbonates, dolomite and iron-rich clay minerals. In January 2014, emissions of water vapor were detected from several regions of Ceres…the surface area is approximately equal to the land area of India or Argentina…big enough for habitation. The Dawn mission results were that Ceres's roundness was inconsistent with an undifferentiated body, which indicates that it consists of a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle. Dawn found that Ceres has water frost on its surface. Ultraviolet observations by Dawn detected statistically significant amounts of hydroxide ions near the dwarf planet’s North Pole, which is a product of water-vapor dissociation by ultraviolet solar radiation. Dawn’s 100-km-thick mantle has ice volcanoes, like what we found on Enceladus. In other words, there is more underground water on Ceres than there is on Earth, or the red planet, and there is gravity, even an atmosphere, although both weaker than on Mars. The ice volcanoes depict a source of power, likely radioactives trapped in its inner rocky core. Lastly, the surface of the dwarf planet is relatively warm, minus 36 degrees Fahrenheit on a warm day, which gives the Matts the same underground base opportunities of Mars.”

  “So this dwarf planet could sustain life. Why didn’t we think of visiting it on the way to Jupiter?” Ryan asked.

  We never got close enough to it on the way out, or on our return journey, and we had so many moons to decide what to look at, this dwarf planet was of no interest,” Igor replied.

  “As usual, everything we want to find is right under our noses,” returned Ryan smiling.

  Over the next week, and with information coming in from several different sources on Earth, Ceres was directly in-between Mars and Jupiter, and when Ryan read up old reports suggesting that Ceres could be an “oasis in the desert” between Mars and Jupiter, he knew his crew were right. He asked Vitalily to interrogate Commander Fob to see if he would reveal this base.

  Fob refused to say anything, but Vitalily stated that the Commander looked quite shocked when he was asked about a stopping point between Europa and the red planet.

  What really shocked Ryan though was when Igor told him that this tiny dwarf planet had a larger window of travel from Earth, than to Mars. Ceres circled the sun more like Earth did, and a flight could leave Earth for Ceres every 16 months, versus 26 months for Mars, even though it as always further away. More fuel would be needed on this round trip from earth, but now having plasma engines, that wasn’t such a problem anymore. Ryan knew where he wanted to go next.

  For weeks Ryan pondered why he had travelled so far in the solar system, when there were gems of solar system perfection closer to Earth. He even became miserable thinking that he had wasted a whole decade of life travelling to Jupiter and Saturn when he could have just traveled around the asteroid belt.

  Cathy Richmond did remind him that he might have wasted a decade, but he had gained more being asleep on DX2017 for 14 years, so he still had time.

  America Two went into cruise mode for ten weeks at 129,000 knots, and Jonesy and the astronauts could go back to flight training for battle. To them, the mother ship wasn’t really moving in space, and nothing had changed with the added speed.

  What was a change of plans to the Astermine crew was the 40 days the lights increased and decreased between the two planets in the globe room in Mattville. It seemed that the incoming enemy were resting, or refueling, or not even coming to Mars? Maybe they were preparing to defend Ceres from humanity?

  It was not to be, as 40 days after disappearing, Max told everybody that all the lights had reappeared and looked like they were heading in his direction. Ryan accepted the fact, but the enemy stopover had given them extra time between fighting the enemy on the planet, and the new arrivals getting into battle territory.

  “Dr. Nancy, can the Matts telepathically communicate over such vast distances?” Ryan asked the doctor down in Australia during the briefing the next morning. The briefing, small and on the Bridge was with VIN, Mars, Jonesy, Igor, Boris and himself, and about telepathy.

  “There are four forms of telepathy in Parapsychology,” Dr. Nancy replied five minutes later.
“The first is Latent, or deferred telepathy, which I do not believe is part of the Matt abilities, and second: Retrocognitive telepathy, or the transfer of information about the past, future or present state of an individuals’ mind to another person. This second form could be how your captive at the Retreat is communicating with others on Mars, or anywhere in the Solar System. Much like the theory of parallel universes, I don’t believe that distance is a problem. The idea of thought between two minds could be faster than the speed of light, or instantaneous at any distance. Dr. Smidt, your crew’s thoughts on what I have just said, so far?” asked the doctor to the team in Nevada.

  During the odyssey, and after meeting the Matts decades ago, the science and medical teams had studied telepathy, and had often tested the Matts in every humane way they could. Even Mars Noble had taken part in the fun, and often treasure hunt-type tests as a child.

  “I would say either Retrocognitive, or Superconscious telepathy doctor,” Dr. Smidt replied a few minutes later.

  “Thank you, Dr. Smidt and team. Ryan, let me continue. The third form is Emotive telepathy. I won’t go into it, but I feel it doesn’t have anything to do with our discussion. I agree with Dr. Smidt on Superconscious telepathy though. SCT as we have termed this form is the simplest, easiest form to understand. Its definition is: tapping into the Superconscious to access the collective wisdom between two or more minds, human or animal. SCT is the way we believe most animals and birds communicate: danger, food, flight, change of direction or basic thoughts to a herd, or a mate, over.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” replied Ryan, the other crew members around the universe still listening in.

  “That opens up a big door of thought,” stated Igor. “What the doctors have just stated is that Commander Fob is communicating with the incoming spaceships, and his tribe on Europa.”

  “And they know where he is, and the Matts on Mars know about our entrance into the other part of their base,” added Boris.

  “That means he has been lying to us all along,” added VIN. “He knows that we are not in the other side, and they are waiting for us. And they know Commander Fob is in the Retreat. That is why they are returning to the base, to somehow see movement, and maybe save him.

  Ryan thought for a moment, and VIN continued over the radio.

  “VIN to Vitalily at the retreat. I have a question. What does the Commander know? I want an exact description of what you, or your crew have told him, over.”

  “VIN Noble, Mars Noble, you guys communicate with the Matts like I do. I have heard nothing telepathically for years. Have you?” Dr. Nancy asked while America Two was awaiting a response from Mars.

  “Negative,” replied VIN. “I remember Commander Joot being able to speak selectively to other Matts. Remember, he taught me, and it is when you to see the one person in your mind you want to communicate with, and then you have a private line, or think of two or more people and you have a conference call. I don’t believe any of the Matts can communicate with more than a few at any one time. Of course one person can verbally tell all the others. Dr. Nancy, going back to your four forms of telepathy, I used to watch birds fly in North Carolina when I was a kid. I was always amazed how a tight flock of birds, or fish in the sea could all turn instantly. That form of telepathy is your third one—Emotive telepathy. I believe that it is important. I think that they use all four forms of telepathy at different times. Maybe using Emotive telepathy like a flock of birds or a school of fish when their spacecraft are fighting us.”

  “So you could hear their commander’s tactics VIN, when you are there in the middle of battle?” Ryan asked.

  “If it is motional like Emotive telepathy, it goes out to everybody.” VIN answered all Dr. Nancy’s unanswered questions two mites later when he received the communication, and everything about two minds thinking together became as clear as the sound of a bell.

  Vitalily responded telling the crew what they thought Commander Fob knew. What surprised VIN was that nobody had told the captive that they had crew in his old home. The commander had been led to believe that he had been rescued, the Homo sapiens from Earth had left, and he was still on the red planet in the enemy base.

  Then a spark of realization hit VIN Noble like a lightning bolt. The three young children were with the crew, free to learn, and relate any information they heard.

  Vitalily had inadvertently beaten VIN to this conclusion. Being a Russian, he was more guarded about information than the Americans, and had disconnected the intercom speakers on the fifth level weeks earlier.

  This was the level the Matt children and Commander Fob resided, and he had certainly made sure that Commander Fob didn’t hear any radio messages. This was certainly a stroke of luck to Ryan and the crew. The three children had constantly stayed on the fifth level.

  Slowly a whole new plan came to Ryan. Now that a mother ship could complete a return journey to Mars and back each Opposition with the new plasma engines, the second ship could go somewhere else.

  Chapter 15

  War of the Worlds—Act One

  “Is there any way that Commander Fob, or any of the Matts in their spaceships, or on Ceres or Europa could know of our arrival?” Ryan asked VIN a hundred days into the voyage. America Two had reversed itself a couple of weeks earlier and was using its ten plasma thrusters to slow for their arrival to the red planet.

  Mars was still a large, bright star in the sky when they had turned the Bridge’s view rearward, and Earth was no bigger. The crew were already reading for arrival.

  “We must always assume they know,” replied VIN. “Boss, I wanted to ask a question. Of what use is the Martian Club Retreat to us as a base, since we have a far better base in Mattville?”

  “Igor, Boris and I are thinking of closing it down until it is needed, say as a storage facility, or for population growth in the future,” Ryan replied while the two were on the Bridge. “What do you think Head of Security?” Ryan asked the younger man.

  “If I was in command, I would sneak in and land at the Retreat, have all the crew ready with belongings to board our empty shuttles, and take them to Mattville,” VIN replied.

  “What about the four Matts?” Ryan asked.

  “Easy, I would put the children on SB-V, keep Commander Fob on another, and let the enemy decide whether to destroy their own people,” VIN replied.

  “A good plan,” replied Ryan. “And what about the other side of the Matt base?”

  “We need to rid ourselves of their spacecraft on the planet, and then take over the second half of their base,” VIN replied.

  “I get your drift Marine,” Ryan smiled. “Then we fill all our spacecraft up with the captured Matts, and then head out into space to battle the incoming forces?”

  “I hadn’t thought that far” returned VIN looking at his commander “but yes, that sounds like a good plan that is if they care about their own. Somehow we might be surprised how little these nasty Matts care about themselves. For every good tendency the Earth Matts have, these space Matts seem to do the opposite. Also the others in space will know of our takeover, and that will be the time to head out to attack.” Jonesy had joined the two men discussing strategy.

  “I don’t believe having civilians aboard our ships will change anything,” Jonesy stated. “They attacked the Retreat knowing that the Earth Matts were inside on the first two occasions, and recently when Fob was a prisoner.”

  “I hate to say it, partner, but I think you are right,” joked VIN.

  “Pity, we could have worked out a nice peace accord, where we all live happily ever after on the red planet,” stated Ryan. “Commander Jones, what do you think about them having a resupply base on Ceres? Commander Noble?”

  “Hopefully, if we capture their resupply depot, base, or whatever they have on that rock, it might stop them from being able to cross the distance with more ships,” replied Jonesy. “I’m hoping that they cannot fly between Europa and Mars without a pit stop, and if that is so, then we have sol
ved our problem for the time being.”

  “That is until they build bigger or better ships, which can complete the journey nonstop if that is the case,” added VIN.

  “We have to go and get Ceres,” added Igor joining the discussion. “Ryan, maybe Mars has riches for us. Maybe it has all the gold, and a few of the Rare Earth metals we will ever need, but Mars certainly won’t have the range of treasure the asteroids in the Asteroid Belt will have. I read once that each asteroid could be worth $100 billion on Earth, and how many asteroids are out there?”

  “Our annual voyage for America Three,” mused Ryan, the big new plan coming into play in his mind.

  Over the next weeks, the big new plan formed, the crew prepared for arrival, and Vitalily and his crew packed up and got ready for a fast move.

  Down in the Retreat, the seventy-five available canisters were packed up. Only the fourth level was cleared, and several important pieces of machinery and personal belongings from the fifth level packed without the Matts’ knowledge. Life around the Matts went on as usual. The idea was not to warn the other Matts on the planet until most of the equipment was moved.

  The top soil could stay. So could the water and fuel supplies until they were needed. The power plant and temporary command center on the third level was to stay. Any items that didn’t fit into the full canisters, were packed into piles, and empty canisters would be sent in through the docking port.

  Aboard the mother ship, 32 empty canisters were loaded into one of the shuttles to be taken down. So was three tiny spacesuits and a teen suit for Commander Fob, as well as drugs to send them to sleep for the transfer.

  Five days before America Two was due to go into orbit around the red planet the plan went into action. The five shuttles fully fueled, undocked from the mother ship and with full thrusters headed towards the growing planet.