by Greg Ellis
Chapter 4 Prelude to War
Antarctica - Mars Base
"When is the secretary general going to show up," Joel asked. "He should be coming in any minute. Radar hasn't shown any ships.” Simon seemed frustrated. "Why isn't he on time?"
Simon sat at one of three stations in the center of the command room. These three stations formed a triangle configuration. Each station had an upright computer monitor. Embedded into each station was a keyboard that on either side of the keyboard had a large button. Next to these buttons were trackballs embedded into the station. Most of the ships systems could be controlled from these three stations but they were designed for controlling the satellites of the LLAMA array. The trackballs were especially useful in controlling the images received from the array or manual control of the array's lasers. On the screen in front of Simon was a picture of a large metallic dome with several graphs and readouts overlaid.
"He is a busy man. We can stand to wait a few minutes, but that’s not what your really worried about is it?" Simon pointed to the screen. "The reactor UARS is planning to test today could power a small country. If anything goes wrong it could probably take out a small country or irreparably flood it with radiation." "What's this? A scientist that doesn't look forward to a great scientific discovery?" "It's not that. Sign me up to be the first to go to the geological enigma of Miranda but that big of advancement in the wrong hands with a multitude of chances for catastrophic failure is not my cup of tea. It's so dangerous and uses so much nuclear material that UARS was forced to tell us about it and let us monitor the test to make sure it's safe under treaty law. You know the English translation of what they call that reactor loosely translates to 'Anti-god reactor'? With that much power who needs a god is their supposed rationale."
"How is the monitoring going?" Simon hit a few keys on the keyboard. The screen image split with the video feed of the dome moving to the left half of the screen. On the right was a serious of graphs. "So far no activity. They are still in the prep stages." "Can you output this to the holographic generator?" Simon pressed a button on the keyboard and the center of the triangle formed by the stations lit up. Almost instantly the room filled with holographic projections of the metallic dome and 3d graphs and sensor readings. A beeping noise was heard. A radar display came up on Simon's screen and was projected into the room. "We have one, no wait three bogies. Blackjack by the size and shape of them." "Confirm," Joel said quickly but even before he could get the words out Simon was typing. A video image of three ship ships in a v formation came up. "Satellite imagery confirms three blackjacks," Simon said.
Blackjacks were not black in color but instead where white crafts used by the Russians then UARS when the super nation was formed. These craft tended to have great maneuverability. "This is the Sinop carrying the Secretary General with fighter escort," came a radio message. "Proceed to Landing bay," Joel replied quickly. He turned to Simon. "I'm headed to meet them. Unless you want to give the general his tour for the inspection." "I bore you sometimes with my technobabble. The Secretary General would be exponentially more bored if I gave the tour instead of you." "Fine. Don't help me out. You have the bridge. Keep monitoring the dome." "Will do."
Joel left the bridge and headed to the flight deck. Joel was not looking forward to this. Joel was never a very social person. Sure he could be sociable if forced into the situation and he was a decent conversationalist but it always felt awkward to him. With people he knew he was extremely social with no awkward tendencies but somehow it was different with strangers or people he didn't know well. He could bark orders easily enough but put them in a scenario where him and those he gave orders to have to meet socially and to Joel it would just be weird. He always wondered how he got to be the president’s advisor. He had been a good officer with an impeccable record and while well liked was never known for his social skills.
That had changed to some degree when he became part of the president’s cabinet. He was forced into long discussions and debates with the president and other government officials. He even appeared before congress one or twice. Still one thing hadn't changed over the years. No matter how good he was or had become at talking it still felt uncomfortable. That's what made Joel apprehensive about the meeting with the Secretary General. He had to show the Secretary General the ins and outs of the base and the AU's plans for Mars. The secretary would then make his recommendation to the Generally Assembly. A bad impression could ruin the AU's chances of farming Mars.
Wait hold on Joel thought. Him recommending us not to go was about as likely as the Secretary General signing his own death warrant. That's exactly what it would be. The Earth needed this mission to keep its population alive. This calmed Joel slightly and he walked with more confidence and speed to the hanger bay. When he got to the hanger bay he saw that none of the blackjacks had landed. "Clear the deck. Ships incoming. Electromagnetic catch systems are active," came a voice over loudspeaker. After a few minutes the first blackjack landed and was soon followed by the other two. Joel rushed over to them once all the crafts had come to a stop.
"Mr. Secretary General this is an honor," He said to a man climbing out of the first blackjack. "Joel Jordal, I presume?" "Well I am defiantly not Livingston. Shall we begin the tour?" "Yes immediately." "Well the first thing of note is the electromagnetic launch and landing system. It is a real improvement over the Aircraft catapults of old." Joel patted his pockets. One had a large spherical bulge while the other had one in the shape of a small box. Joel forced the sphere out his pocket. It was a tennis ball. "If you'll follow me," Joel said. They walked a short distance and then Joel abruptly stopped.
He threw the tennis ball. It bounced once on the floor then it traveled a short distance before it seemed to hit an invisible wall and then bounced back to Joel. "This is a device we use to land craft while in space or a toxic environment. The oxygen in the landing air is pumped out leaving this area a vacuum but the shield allows us to still have oxygen in the storage areas." "What about when you need to move the craft that just landed to the storage areas?" The general asked. Joel smiled and lifted the tennis ball. "Now that's the good bit. Passive mode."
"Acknowledged," came the voice of the computer. "Was that some sort of ships computer?" "Yep. It allows for easy voice control of most of the domes systems and the ones in the shuttles allow a ship designed to be flown and operated by three personnel to do the same with a single pilot." Joel threw the tennis ball. It hit the floor once like before but instead of hitting the shield continued on. "You deactivated the shield?" "No. Objects that are programed into the system can pass through the shield. The shield is formed by holographic waves. Those waves can either be programmed to form a solid wall or to bounce off solid objects that try to pass through which allows for an airtight seal when used as shielding." "Impressive," the Secretary General said. "Yes it is. The Martian LAMMA array has a similar system that can form a planetary shield. Did you get the proposal to upgrade the Earth array to do the same?" "Yes and now that I've seen the technology firsthand I will most defiantly approve it. By the way, nice retrieval system."
An attractive brunet was walking towards them carrying the tennis ball Joel had thrown. "The tennis ball demo? Really?" "Hey it's effective! Mr. Secretary General may I present Ashley Sheppard, one of our best pilots." "It's an honor." "Likewise," Ashley said quickly. Joel saw the Secretary General smiling widely. Joel saw opportunity and struck. "Secretary General if it's all right with you Ashley can finish your tour. I'm swamped with things to do." "That will be excellent," The general said. "Hey I mind," Ashley said abruptly. She was starring at Joel. Then she realized what she had said and how it could be taken. She quickly turned to the Secretary General. "No offense meant." "None taken," the general said but his smile had abated. Joel was running out of options. "That's an order Sheppard." "Fine but you owe me!" "Yes I do," Joel muttered as under his breath as he quickly as he left. He could just barely hear Ashley say, "Shall we when he left the hanger bay
for the command room.
When he got there the room was flooded with activity. The three people at the triangular station were discussing the data incoming from the UARS reactor as best as Joel could tell. "How are the tests going?" "Power-up of the reactor went fine. Power output is a bit higher than UARS was expecting but within tolerable range." came Simon's response. "Good keep monitoring." A few minutes an alarm beeped. "That's impossible! Their reactor has suddenly gone into meltdown. We need to get of here. We're probably within blast range and could get hit with an extremely heavy dose of radiation. This base is built to block out a lot of radiation but I'd rather not have this be the testing ground." "I agree. Set a code red. We need to launch."
...
Ashley sighed rather loudly as she watched Joel leave the flight deck. "You have to forgive him. He may be a great military man but he does not like public speaking or interactions with people he doesn't know. It amazes me sometimes how he ever became the presidents advisor." She was walking quickly. The Secretary General was almost jogging to keep up. "And other times," he asked. "Other times I see him come up with a brilliant strategy or make an impressive argument in a debate and then I see why the president might want him as an advisor.“
They quickly walked up a flight of stairs and came into a very open room. "This our holographic deck. On Mars there will not be a whole lot to do that’s not related to science and the mission so this room is our main way to stave of boredom." "Quite impressive. I'm sure it will get a lot of use." They went up a few more levels. They had already passed a greenhouse that was to provide food and oxygen for the mission and some areas related to the mechanics and computer systems of the dome. They came to a level with rows upon rows of circular doors. Next to each was a handprint scanner that just looked like a recessed handprint in the wall. Ashley started down one of these. "This level is personal quarters." She stopped in front of one of the doors and placed her hand in the recess. The doors slid open. These are my quarters. Sparse but livable." In the room there was against one wall a sink and a toilet. The toilet had a curtain that could be pulled around it. There was against another wall a series of shelves and cabinets for storage. Against the third wall was a bed that could be pulled up and folded into the wall for more room in the room but currently it was down and unmade. "Another interesting thing to note is that each and every room can have 6 planes of gravity. Each wall can become the floor or ceiling thanks to the invention of artificial gravity. On Mars the artificial gravity will supplement Martian gravity to give us an Earth gravity level. However the 6 planes of gravity can be used to make repairs a lot easier if the repair needs to be done on the 'ceiling' or a side wall." Ashley exited the room and headed for the stairs again. They went up a few levels and came to another circular door.
"And through that door is the command center or bridge if you prefer. At the very heart of this dome." Ashley put her hand into a large handprint recess in the wall next to the door. She also put on some goggles that were hanging on a hook. "Access granted." The doors slid open. Ashley put the goggles back on the hook.
The first thing that struck the Secretary General was a sense of awe and wonder at the technology in the room. The walls were lined with stations that had various purposes that he couldn't make out. Next to the door was another setup similar to the one on the other side of the door with a large handprint recess and goggles on a hook. There were also two guards standing on either side of the door. He then looked to the center of the room. That's when a sense of chaos struck him.
An alarm beeped. "That's impossible! Their reactor has suddenly gone into meltdown. We need to get of here. We're probably within blast range and could get hit with an extremely heavy dose of radiation. This base is built to block out a lot of radiation but I'd rather not have this be the testing ground." "I agree. Set a code red. We need to launch." Joel turned. Had he heard the doors open? He turned and was quite surprised to see Ashley and the Secretary General standing there. Then he remembered the situation. "Ashley we need an immediate launch. Flights A and B need to launch." "We've had no prep time!" "And we have no time. In a few minutes this area is going to be flooded with radiation from an UARS reactor. Get moving!" "Yes sir." She was starting to run out of the room. She turned around and looked quickly at Joel. "Look after him." "This is the safest place for him. Now go!" Joel finally saw Ashley leave the room with the doors automatically opening and closing for her. He quickly turned to Simon. "Spread the word." Immediately a klaxon started blaring. Simon began speaking to everyone throughout the base. "Code Red. Immediate launch is necessary. Everyone get to his or her stations. This is not a drill. Flights A and B are go for immediate launch and flight C has stand-down." Simon pressed a few keys so the message would loop through the rest of the base.
...
Ashley ran as fast as she could. Still it looked like it took forever to get to the flight deck. When she did get there it was a beehive of activity. Already it looked like a few Beagles had been launched and the rest had flight crews bustling around them trying to get them ready. One such person quickly greeted Ashley. "Sheppard the Snoopy is ready to go." "Great I'll head to the locker room," but she was cut off before she could say anything else. "No time. You are to suit up in the Snoopy. Good Luck." With that she rushed to her ship quickly mounting the ladder that was next to her ship and then pushed it away. A flight attendant saw her do this and moved the ladder completely out of the way. Ashley quickly suited up and got into the pilots chair. "Run preflight checks." "Already done. Good to go." "Snoopy to base. Go for launch?" "Snoopy you are go for launch." She moved her craft to the runway and flew off. She already saw a large number of Beagles circling the base. She joined them.
"All flights report in," she heard on the radio. "Flight report in," she radioed to her flight. "Uno" "Shiloh" "Odie" "Porthos" "Maria". "Base flight A here and in position," Ashley said. "Likewise for B," came another voice. "Base to flights: Deploy grapplers." Instantly electromagnetic grapplers shot out form each shuttle and attached itself to the base. "All grapplers deployed. Prepare for ascent." The craft maneuvered so they pointing upwards. "Begin ascent," came the voice from the base. All the shuttles began a rapid acceleration. As they rose up so did the base. It was a relatively slow climb. "Base I think we're clear," Ashley radioed. "Confirmed. Release grapplers on my mark." There was a rumbling sound. Engines on the underside of the base were going through a startup sequence. "Mark." Instantly the grapplers retracted back to their craft of origin. The bases engines fired up making the base shoot upward while shuttles were hustling to get of the way. In this way eventually all the shuttles and the base reached an orbit around Earth.
...
Command Center
"Enhance image 50%," came Simon’s voice. The image on his screen zoomed in and enhanced a picture of an UARS dome. "Simon what are you doing," came Joel. "We should be waiting for news from headquarters or the UN but instead your looking at videos." "I have a hunch. I saw a flicker on the video feed of the test a few seconds before we launched. Look at that black shape coming out of the dome. Doesn't it look like a missile?" Joel walked to the spot Joel was referring to. "You're paranoid. That could be almost anything. Enhance 100%." "The holographic image in question can only be enhanced twenty percent more before pixilation will occur. Would you like to continue with the one hundred percent?" came the voice of the computer. "No go twenty." Instantly the image cleared up and the black shape morphed into something looking suspiciously like a missile with this Arabic lettering embezzled on it:
"Maybe not so paranoid. Get Aerospace Defense Command on the line." The images of the base and the missile moved to one side of the room. On the other side of the room came the image of a command center and a General standing in the middle of that room. "Joel what do you want? We're busy here with this whole UARS debacle." "We have found evidence that it was not a reactor malfunction but a missile launch. Are you receiving the hologram we're sending you?" "Yes confirming image source. Oh th
at’s not good." The general in the room looked very angry. Get the president on the line he shouted to someone at a station. It took a few seconds but the image of the president appeared. "Joel, General, what's going on? Do you have further developments on this crisis?" "Yes Madame president," Joel said. "We have evidence that it wasn't a reactor failure but instead a missile launch."
The president seemed to turn her attention away from Joel and to the general for a moment. "Why would they nuke themselves? Have you checked sensor readings lately? All of Antarctica is bathed in radiation. Lethal doses anywhere but the most outermost rim of the continent." "That's impossible," Simon screeched. The General and Joel both had puzzled looks. "Take it as you will but it's what the data shows. Back to the events at hand, this picture is damning so I authorize the actions listed under article 12 subsection 6 of the articles," came the president's voice. "I'm a little rusty on my articles. That's the one that authorizes us to take a defensive position in orbit of a territory if any major threat to the longevity of the mission." "Yes, Joel. Prep for the FTL Jump and ready for combat." "Yes Ma’am," Joel said while Simon muttered sullenly and shell-shocked, "More of a subspace shunt". The Secretary General spoke up. "Protocol 6 is a bit extreme. All you have is supposition and blurry photos. No better then UFO fanatics." Everyone in the turned to look at the Secretary General, shocked. Most had forgotten he was even in the room. "All due respect Secretary General the evidence speaks for itself and the decision is in my hands not yours. The Mars Base will be in a holding pattern around Mars at which point you and the UN can send them home or tell the them to land but the prerogative to send them into orbit is mine." The president looked indignant. "Very Well continue on but I request someone put me back earth side. I have no intention of going to Mars." "Joel, continue to Mars no pit stop until the position is secured." This time it was the Secretary General who looked indignant.
"I will not stand for this! Take me back to Earth!" The Secretary General raised his fist. "Guards restrain him," Joel said quickly. They did exactly that. "Flights A and B prep for FTL Launch in one minute. Enter subspace only on our mark." All the craft including the base sped up. "Three, Two, One, Mark." To any outside observer the trip would look instantaneous. To those traveling in the ships however it took three minutes of being in a sub layer of space-time where the laws of physics don't completely apply to reach the orbit of Mars.
"Flights form a defensive position around the base," came Joel's voice. He turned to Simon. "Any word from Earth?" Simon looked annoyed at the question. "From their perspective we only just left. Communications between Earth and here have a ten-minute latency. I just sent a message saying we've arrived. So it may be ten to twenty minutes before we receive a message back.
Joel sighed. "Crazy day." "No kidding. The impossible has happened," Simon quickly replied. "And that would be?" "Nuclear weapons are not that powerful and they don't spread radiation like that. Every nuclear weapon is designed to use all or at least the vast majority of the nuclear material in the reaction that creates the explosion." "Well apparently UARS has built something that is great at spreading radiation. Any guesses as to what that could be?" "Offhandedly I can't think of," he began but stopped suddenly. A look of sheer terror came across Simons face. "No they couldn't have." His face turned to a look of resignation. "God help us all, the idiots built a salted bomb." "Which is," Joel asked annoyed at how long it was taking to get an answer. "The end of humanity. A salted bomb is variation of a nuclear weapon that is designed to render an area uninhabitable for long periods of time by spreading high levels of fallout over a vast area. Of course it's all theoretical because no one has built one." Simon sighed. "Till now at least. A salted bomb has a typically smaller blast than your normal nuclear weapon but as insanely large as the blast at Antarctica was they could take out any nation on Earth with a bang and a whimper. And they'd probably cause a nuclear winter doing it." Now Joel began to look solemn. "The end of the world." Everyone was silent for a long while.
Eventually Joel was the one to break the silence. "Surely they know that and wouldn't launch it knowing all this." Simon just shook his head. "Knowing this they would have never built one. It's not a sane man's weapon." There was more silence. "Simon order C flight to launch and take up a defensive position." "Done." More silence followed. Everyone in the room was tense. Finally a chirp came. Everyone in the room jumped. "Communiqué from Earth," Simon said. Joel nodded. Simon pushed a few buttons and the message started playing. The president cleared her throat. "The UN has put in an emergency vote and you are allowed to land on the planet. Furthermore you have been granted full access to the llama array including weapons and shielding." The president paused for a moment. She seemed out of breath. "What I never approved either of those," yelled the restrained Secretary General. "Maybe not but the general assemblage has," Simon shot back. The president resumed. "However and most unfortunately you have to allow UARS to land on their side of Mars. The UN is not completely convinced that these events were meant as an attack." "Finally some sanity," the Secretary General yelled. "You are not to engage UARS unless they make further offensive moves against you. Your fourth flight will bring supplies and reinforcements ASAP. Message ends." Joel turned to the Secretary General and the guards.
"Release him." They complied. "Computer we are imputing authorization for complete access to the array." "Standby," the computer's voice came. "Please input the vocal pattern of all the high ranking ambassadors of the Security Council and the General Assembly or the Secretary General's vocal pattern." The secretary General smiled. "Complete lockout," he said quickly, almost maniacally. Simon's display went black. He began rapidly typing. He paused, cursed, and quickly said, "We have absolutely no access to the array," before resuming his rapid typing. "Guards gag him and take him to the brig," Joel said quickly. They did so very quickly and very roughly. "Come on you misaligned malfunctioning piece of hardware! Don't you recognize a backdoor when you see one?" "Isn't that more of a software problem," Joel asked. "So shoot me for using the wrong terminology for once in my life. Something is desperately wrong with the satellites. I can't access the back door." "Why do we even have a back door? Didn't the treaty expressly forbid that?" "Yeah but the military didn't care. They had me and a few others put one in before we ever gave it over. Don't tell the president. I was sworn to secrecy."
Joel looked shocked and offended. How are we suppose to expect UARS to uphold a treaty if we are breaking it within the first moments of it's life? His trail of thought was quickly interrupted. "There's no way to hack in. At least not in time to be remotely useful." There was a clicktey clack coming from the other stations. "Were there any other files in the data burst we got from Earth?" "No just the presidents message and then the UN discussion and vote." Simon paused and smiled brightly. "You're a genius," He said joyously. Simon turned back to his screen and started typing. "Computer use this file as confirmation," he said.
"Analyzing," the computer said. Simon was stroking and caressing his station. "Come on baby don't fail me now." "Timestamp confirmed. Analyzing audio and video. Vote carried unanimously. Checking authenticity of file and holographic images. Authenticity confirmed. Error conflicting orders." Simons hit his head against the station. "Checking precedents. Analyzing." Simon lifted himself slowly. "Will of the many over the few. Secretary Generals orders removed due to quorum and an over two-thirds majority vote. Complete access to the Labonte Laser Based Anti-meteor and Anti-missile Array granted to the American Union." Joyous shout could be heard throughout the control room. "Simon prepare us for landing. You other two cover our tail with the array." All three of the people at the station in the middle of the room said in unison, "Yes sir."
"All ships prepare for descent. Grapple on my mark," Joel radioed to the beagles. "All ships are in position," came a voice. "Grapple in three, two, one, mark," Joel said. Almost instantaneously every Beagle shot out its electromagnetic grappler and attached the grappler to the base. "Begin descent," J
oel called out. The Beagles headed towards the surface of the red planet. At first they were dragging the base towards the planet, but when gravity began to affect the base the beagles propelled upwards to make sure the base didn't hit the planet at too high a velocity. Slowly the ships and the base began their descent till the base gently landed on the Martian surface. All the ships detached the grapplers and landed on the bases airstrip. Ashley and her ship, the Snoopy, were first among these. She immediately ran for the control room.
When she got there she was slightly out of breath. She flung here hand against the handprint scanner and the doors slid open. Everyone turned to see what the disturbance was. Joel looked a bit shocked. "Oh I forgot about that," he said quickly. "You promised," Ashley said pointedly. "Yes I did, but this is not the time." "It's exactly the perfect time. It shows through it all UARS cannot break our resolve." "Fine just keep it short and as neutral as you can." Joel turned to Simon. "Patch her in throughout the base." Joel turned back to Ashley who was smiling then mouthed the word, thanks.
"Today is a historic day. The day humanity first makes it to the Mars. However, I want to remind you of another historic day. On July 20th, 1969 the people of Earth made it to another celestial body, the moon. Before we ever walked on the surface of the moon Buzz Aldrin asked that anyone listening to give thanks in their own way. Whatever deity or lacks there of you believe in I would like us to take a moment and give thanks. I, like Aldrin, am Christian so my way is to take communion. You will find bread and whine throughout the base that was intended for this. Please gather these supplies if you wish to participate in communion." Ashley went and grabbed the supplies in the command room. She tried passing it around but only the guards and a few people at the outermost stations in the room took any. When it came around to Joel she was saddened he didn't take anything but continued on. "There is a price to be paid for wrongdoing. In Christianity that is an ultimate sin needing an ultimate and perfect sacrifice. So Jesus said, 'Take, eat; this is my body'." Everyone who had taken bread ate. "And Jesus said, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' Thank you for your time." Ashley quickly drank the wine as did everyone else who had taken any. Joel looking slightly frustrated said, "Happy?” Ashley's response was a smile and the words, "Yes very," before she headed out the room and to the landing bay. Joel turned to Simon. "Always the religious one her. Any sign of UARS?" "No, sir." Joel turned to the guards. “Go back and get the general you put in the brig and escort him to the flight deck. Have him and his escorts leave immediately.” Yes sir they both said quickly.