by Greg Ellis
The Time of the Attack
By GKE
Book 1 of the Omega Series
Copyright 2011 Gregory Ellis
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Author Info
Prologue
Earth of old could no longer support us. We greedily snatched up every natural resource we could until all that was left on Earth was decay. The Earth had been tapped of its resources and was no longer fertile. Crops withered away and the whole world was starving. Many wars broke out over resources. Some nations united to form new super states. The two most notable of these were the American Union and the United Arab and Russian States. This is where our story begins. It's been the story of man since the very beginning. How does one survive in an evil cruel universe?
Chapter 1 The Treaty
"They can't be trusted," she said almost shouting. "Madame president, all due respect but we really don't have a choice. We can either attempt to do this peacefully or we will end up in a war with UARS. I've been through a war or two and they are bloody affairs that should be avoided if possible." Joel Jordal could see the president tense up and then she forced herself to relax.
"You're right but doesn't this all seem a little suspicious? UARS supposedly comes in waving a white flag saying we want peace in humanity's race to the solar system and providing a system for that which seems too good to be true. Also I'm a little wary of it ripping up many well established treaties."
"The Articles of Space Colonization are really an extension of those treaties. The only thing that changed is allowing a military presence in space with nuclear armament and it allows for colonization of Antarctica and objects in space. The heart of the treaties that space exploration be used for the good of man is still upheld, as any resources gained through our ventures must be shared with the nations assigned to us under the treaty. If we mine the moon for rare Earth metals we must share them. If our farming of Mars comes to fruition we must share the crops. The heart of the mater is preserved."
Joel didn't think a little embellishing would hurt, but he knew he shouldn't underestimate the president too much. After all she was the one who united the Americas under one banner after the border war. She took the fear of more wars and turned it into the hope that if we ban together we might have a chance to make it through this crisis. She was almost unanimously elected to the presidency. By no means was she a tyrant but always had the best interest of the Americas firstly and then the world in mind. She was also a great debater and could win almost any argument she wanted to.
"90 percent of what you said is exactly what those treaties were made to protect against. Antarctica wasn't supposed to be colonized and the only military allowed in Antarctica were supposed to protect civilians. No weapons were supposed to get into space much less nuclear ones. Space exploration was supposed to be for scientific exploration not exploitation." The president was a little worried. How could her military advisor want to reverse all those good ideas? Her ancestors had wanted space to be an area of peace where science could abound. They never wanted it to become a war zone.
Joel had to chuckle at this. "No one expected there to be no weapons in space. Earlier treaties banned nuclear weapons but no one prevented conventional weapons from going up there. In fact everyone praised our use of the LLAMA array to destroy 99942 Apophis. The treaty that attempted to ban conventional weapons was never signed. Every nation thought it was good in principle but no one would sign it. We are at war. It's humanities last great fight for survival and the resources of space will be split between two nations whose relationship is rocky at best and the whole of humanity is counting on us. The only way this won't come to a full war somewhere along the way is if both sides keep the better intentions of man in mind and follows them. Failing that we need a state of brinkmanship and Mutually Assured Destruction. We need to build ourselves up to the point that UARS would be mad to attack us."
"Whose says they aren't mad? Hunger and desperation makes people do crazy things. We're not dealing with sane rational people here. Hell I don't even think we're being as rational as we need to be. We're running on fear and that's causing paranoia and the paranoia needs something to be paranoid about. There’s no way to get around the treaty if we want any kind of peace and no guarantee UARS will keep their side of the bargain." The president was slightly out of breath. She paused for a moment and breathed.
"All treaties are based on trust. Each side has to become vulnerable in some way and each side keep to what they agreed to. Whether it's a military alignment or a space treaty both sides give up something and take something. Most of all they have to trust each other or the treaty is worthless."
Joel chimed in, "So you’re recommending a state of mutually assured trust?" Joel didn't move but the president sighed heavily then let out a sort of half chuckle half snort. "If only we could come to that. So we have no choice. Do we have a guinea pig for the FTL test?"
"Ashley Shepard served in the border wars. She's the best pilot I've ever seen: pulling off maneuvers I wouldn't try in a million years. She can most defiantly handle herself in a dogfight if it comes to that. There's no pilot that would be better in my opinion. There are a few alternates candidates but none with the split second almost instantaneous reaction time she does."
"So we have a pilot. How are moon base preparations coming?" It wasn't that she didn't already know but she liked hearing Joel talk. She especially loved the way he got frustrated in a debate because of the way his face contoured.
"Simon Walsh says we can have it running in three months which is right when we'll have the Beagle prototype finished." There was quit in the room after Joel finished that statement. The president seemed to want to say something, stopped, and then started again. "That won't happen again will it?" She looked worried. Joel didn't know what to say. The future was uncertain. They had calculated for everything that could possibly happen so nothing should go wrong, but that was also the generally held opinion before the incident. It was a tough decision. The president had a heart of gold. If he mentioned any harm that could come to the test subject she would push back the test. That was one thing they could not afford. They also could not get sloppy and let the thought of impending doom push them to do things badly or the earth would suffer.
"The chance of harm now is astronomically small. We wouldn't put a human in one of these things if we didn't think there was a good chance to survive." Did he word that right? Did he put too much gloom and doom in it? How could he have worded it differently? The president looked doubtful. There was a pause in the conversation and the president seemed deep in thought. After a long while she began to speak.
"I want you to oversee the Beagle tests to make sure everything goes well. How do you feel about the cold?" She was joking so that was a positive sign. Or it could have been the circumstances were driving her mad and she had to make light of something. "Not well. I wish we could do it in Florida like the old days. Such a nice warm state." The president chuckled a little. "Well if you can find a place large enough in Florida to make the Moon and Martian domes we will move the project to Florida." "Here's hoping! When does the treaty get signed if we are going ahead with it?"
"Well I will call the first emergency session of the American Union Congress and I present my case for fully supporting the treaty. Congress is already familiar with the treaty so we should be able to put it to an immediate vote if I stress the urgency of the matter."
"You thin
k they'll go along with the loss of the array?" The president then shifted in her seat slightly. "The only way the UN has power is if the nations under it give it power. That’s why the League of Nations failed. The array would give the UN the power to enforce its charter. Plus we haven't used the Laser Based Anti-meteor and Anti-missile part of Labonte Laser Based Anti-meteor and Anti-missile Array since Apophis. It's not that great a loss."
"Its surveillance technology is old but it's still some of the most advanced." The look on the president's face changed from contemplation to a blank look. She then shrugged. "If were going to gamble we may as well gamble big! If we don't give up the array it will look like we're not compliant to the terms of the treaty." "Antarctica here I come," Joel said with a grim look on his face.