Earth Fall_To the Stars

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Admiral Edwards has given us permission to embark on our exploration mission in another hour,” said Derek. “Both the Vengeance and the Constellation will take a path past Mars and then activate the FTL drive.”

  “Strange to call it an FTL drive,” said Brett. “A ‘warp drive’ would be better.”

  “A ‘warp drive’ sounds too much like Star Trek,” said Brenda, shaking her head. “I think ‘FTL drive’ is fine for now, until we come up with something more appropriate.”

  “I like a ‘Fold Space Drive’ myself,” suggested Kia. “I mean, that’s what an Alcubierre Drive does. It contracts space in front of the ship and expands the space behind the ship, resulting in faster-than-light travel.”

  There was silence for a moment, and then Brenda spoke. “I like that. Calling it a ‘Fold Space Drive’ makes more sense.”

  Lisa grinned. “Brett, since you’re at the helm and navigation console, I suggest you speak to Captain Erickson about renaming the drive.”

  “Somehow I knew you would say that,” replied Brett with a frown. “I’ll write up an explanation as to why we want to rename the drive and submit it to the captain with all our names on it.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” replied Lisa. “If we’re passing close to Mars, I want to get some good sensor readings of the planet as well as photographs. I don’t know when we’ll get this opportunity again.” Lisa would take every opportunity she could to record all the different aspects of their mission.

  “It might be a while,” said Brett. “We could be gone six months or longer. I wish we had the time to take a complete tour of the planets.”

  Lisa looked at one of the viewscreens showing Earth. That blue-white globe was home. The planet’s atmosphere had finally returned to normal, and it now looked as it always had. From this distance no signs of the destroyed cities or the devastation the Trellixians had unleashed on parts of the planet could be seen. She wondered if it would still look the same when they returned.

  Chapter Five

  General Mitchell breathed out a long sigh of relief. He and the others in the underground Command Center had watched the battle on several viewscreens tied in to the orbiting Jelnoid satellites and focused on the new battlecruisers.

  “Admiral Edwards confirms all Trellixian battlecruisers have been destroyed,” reported Colonel Tricia Steward from Communications. “He also reports they did not detect any hyperspace transmissions before or during the battle.”

  “Jelnoid sensors indicate no Trellixian battlecruisers or other spacecraft remain in the solar system,” added Colonel Henry Fields.

  “We took them by surprise,” said General Briggs, grinning broadly. “I don’t think the Trellixians got off even a single shot at our ships.”

  “The Jelnoid missiles outrange theirs,” said Colonel Fields. “We had hoped that was the case.”

  General Mitchell folded his arms across his chest. This was a great victory. It would allow them to put up the defensive grid without interference from the Trellixians. General Mitchell looked at General Briggs. “Launch the cargo ships. I want the defensive grid up and functioning as soon as possible. Have Admiral Edwards’s fleet return to Earth and go into orbit at twenty thousand kilometers while the grid is emplaced.”

  “Cargo ships will launch in twenty minutes,” replied General Briggs as he sent out messages.

  “So we won,” said a female next to General Mitchell.

  Mitchell turned to look at President Katelyn Hathaway. “Yes, for now. Most of the Trellixian troops on the surface have been eliminated. There are still a few scattered pockets on our planet, but those should be mopped up in the next week or so. Admiral Edwards has destroyed the Trellixian observation fleet over the Moon, so the solar system is now under our control.”

  “How soon before the Trellixians come back?”

  “We’ve probably bought a few months,” replied Mitchell. “They don’t know what just happened. They may send a ship or two to find out why their fleet isn’t reporting in, and then they’ll put together a response fleet. By then we should be ready for them.”

  Katelyn looked at the viewscreens’ images of the Moon and the human battlecruisers. “Can we keep the Trellixians away from Earth when they return in full force?”

  General Mitchell stared intently at the president and then answered. “For a while. The defense grid is based on Jelnoid technology, and the Trellixians won’t like that. We now know our missiles give us a tactical advantage. We still have our fleet, plus some assets we haven’t deployed yet.”

  “If the Trellixians manage to go back into orbit around Earth, will the energy screens protecting our cities be sufficient?” The safety of the remaining civilians was a major concern for Katelyn. They had lost so many and couldn’t afford to lose more.

  “No energy screen can survive a sustained bombardment over a long period of time. If the Trellixians get into Earth orbit and bombard our towns and cities, we’ll eventually lose a few.”

  Katelyn let out a deep breath. “Do we need to make arrangements to put more of our people underground?”

  “No, we simply don’t have the resources to do that and also fight the Trellixians. What we can do is put all our towns and cities inside a ring of Jelnoid primary and secondary energy cannons. The primary ones would keep the Trellixian battlecruisers at a distance, and the secondary cannons could shoot down any inbound missiles. It’s the best we can do with the resources we have at hand.”

  “Even that’ll take some time,” added General Briggs. “At the moment we have just enough primary and secondary cannons to cover the entire planet. Even those could be overwhelmed if the Trellixians launched a major attack.”

  “Then we’d better build more cannons to put around our towns and cities, starting with the larger ones,” said Katelyn. “We can’t lose any more of our population.”

  General Briggs looked at General Mitchell. “We have the production capacity in Complex Two to start up another manufacturing line for the primary and secondary cannons. Notify all our allies they may want to do the same.”

  “Then let’s do it,” ordered General Mitchell, seeing no other option. “We have a few months before the Trellixians can do anything to us for destroying their fleet. When the Trellixians return, we must be ready in orbit as well as on the ground.”

  “General, the Constellation and the Vengeance have left the fleet,” reported Colonel Fields. “They’re going out past Mars and then will activate their FTL drives to leave the system.”

  “Why past Mars?” asked President Hathaway. “Couldn’t they do it from the Moon?”

  “It gives them time to test other ship systems,” explained Major Jase Thomas, “something we couldn’t do in the underground construction facilities.”

  “Cargo ships are preparing to leave Complex Two,” added Colonel Steward.

  “They’re ahead of schedule,” said General Briggs. “I’ll notify Admiral Edwards they’re on the way.”

  -

  Admiral Edwards took the fleet back to Earth at a more leisurely pace. Across the fleet, systems were checked and drills run to search for any problems in the spacecraft. Admiral Edwards had an entire series of drills he wanted to run once the fleet got back into Earth orbit.

  “We’ve found a few minor issues,” reported Captain Nelson. “Some are software related, and we should have fixes in place in the next twenty-four hours. Others are mechanical, with equipment just put together wrong. Engineers are working on those issues. We have a few cases where Jelnoid technology and our own technology just aren’t working properly together. Professor Wilkens and his team are studying those issues at Complex One.”

  “The cargo ships are preparing to go into orbit,” reported Lieutenant Williams.

  “Put them on the main screen,” ordered Captain Nelson. Almost instantly on the large screen on the front wall of the Command Center appeared four cylindrical-shaped ships. Each was five hundred meters in length.

  “I have Ca
ptain Harmon on the comm,” reported Lieutenant Simmins.

  Admiral Edwards nodded as he activated his comm unit. “Captain, it’s good to see your ships in orbit. Any problems?”

  “Only minor and the engineers on board are correcting them. We’re ready to deploy the Jelnoid energy cannons upon your command.”

  “Begin deployment,” ordered Edwards. “The fleet will stay in orbit at twenty thousand kilometers. If there are any complications, let us know immediately, and we will assist.”

  On the main viewscreen, a large hatch opened on one of the cargo ships. Out of the hatch floated a sphere ten meters in diameter. It drifted away from the ship and then seemed to orient itself, coming to a stop. Suddenly a hatch slid open, and a pair of Jelnoid primary energy cannons emerged.

  “First Jelnoid energy beam satellite is deployed and operational,” reported Lieutenant Williams.

  On the tactical display, the other three cargo ships moved away from the first, going into different orbits to deploy their missiles. Each cargo ship had 115 of the large satellites on board. The satellite parts had been built at different underground complexes across the world and then brought to Complex Two for assembly. It had taken nearly two years of nonstop work to finish all the satellites.

  When deployed, 460 would orbit Earth, ranging from altitudes of seven thousand to eight thousand kilometers. Each satellite had a pair of Jelnoid primary cannons powered by a small Jelnoid fusion reactor. An energy shield also protected each one. While the energy shield wasn’t very powerful, it would give the satellites some protection.

  Admiral Edwards watched patiently as the friendly green icons continued to bloom on the tactical display. Occasionally his eyes wandered over to the long-range sensors, relieved each time when they showed no impending danger. Once all the satellites were in orbit, the cargo ships would descend and land in Canada, the UK, and Australia to pick up missile platforms. Then finally three of the cargo ships would land once more, this time one each in China, Russia, and France to load the various sections of the larger battlestations.

  The six battlestations would be the Command Centers for the overall defense grid. If all went as planned, the satellites and missile platforms would be in orbit and functioning within seventy-two hours. It would take over a week to assemble the six battlestations and test their systems before their full crews would be ready to board.

  -

  The Vengeance and the Constellation were on an outward course toward Mars using their ships’ subspace drives. As the ships traveled, Captain Erickson and Captain Baker put the two ships through their paces, testing weapons and running emergency drills. So far only a few minor equipment failures had been noted, and these were corrected by the engineers and scientists on board. They had received several messages from Professor Wilkens and his team on software updates as well as suggestions for correcting a few equipment problems.

  “Coming up on Mars in twenty-seven minutes,” reported Kia as she put the red planet up on the ship’s main viewscreen.

  Everyone in the Command Center paused to gaze at the planet. Mars was the most explored planet in the system with planetary orbiters and even a few rovers on the surface. It had been mapped in detail, but humans were still intensely curious about the planet. Plans had been made for a manned mission to Mars, but it had never happened due to budget restraints.

  “There it is,” said Lisa, holding her breath as she gazed at the viewscreen.

  “Mars!” said Brett excitedly, staring at the red planet. “I always dreamed of going there but never thought it would really happen.”

  “I wonder if it ever held life?” asked Derek. “The rovers found all the necessary building blocks.”

  “Martians,” said Lisa, smiling at the thought. “From the evidence, Mars once had oceans and everything to sustain life. It might have been very similar to Earth at one time. Perhaps someday we’ll find evidence of a Martian civilization.”

  “There’s still a lot of ice beneath its surface,” added Kia, “enough to allow colonization of the planet if we use domes to protect the colonies. There may even be liquid water as well.”

  “We’ll be passing within two hundred thousand kilometers,” added Brett. “Once we’re past Mars, we’ll activate the Fold Space Drive.”

  “Ad Astra,” said Lisa, recalling Professor Wilkens’s prophetic words from several years ago. She had never dreamed at the time that this was what he had meant. “We’re going to the stars.”

  The others fell silent as they thought that over. It was a momentous day as they were about to set out on an interstellar voyage. They would be the first people from Earth to leave the solar system.

  For several minutes Mars appeared larger on the viewscreen. During that time Lisa busied herself taking videos and doing scans of the planet. It would give them all something to look at and to study later during their voyage.

  Eventually they reached their nearest approach to Mars and began to pull away. Lisa took a deep breath, knowing what was next. She quickly took her last images and scans of the red planet, knowing she wouldn’t be able to shortly.

  -

  “Stand by to activate the FTL drive,” ordered Captain Erickson.

  “All hands go to Condition One for FTL drive activation,” ordered Lieutenant Commander Barrington. This was a precaution in case something went wrong.

  The tension and excitement in the Command Center and throughout the ship increased as everyone realized they were about to leave the solar system. No one knew what they might find on their voyage.

  “FTL is on standby,” reported Brett. He hadn’t talked to Captain Erickson about changing the name of the FTL drive yet.

  Captain Erickson gazed at the main viewscreen focused straight ahead. Thousands of small pinpoints of light filled the screen. Each point represented a different star.

  “All systems are working at optimum levels,” reported Lieutenant Commander Barrington. “All departments report ready for FTL activation.”

  Captain Erickson nodded. “Well, let’s not keep everyone waiting. Lieutenant Masterson, is our course set?”

  “Yes, sir,” Brett replied. Their first trip would be a short one to Proxima Centauri to allow them to test the drive as well as the other systems on the ship.

  With a smile, Erickson responded. “Activate the drive.”

  Brett pressed several icons on his computer screen and then touched a small green button on his console.

  A prickly sensation ran across Lisa’s skin, and the viewscreen suddenly blurred.

  “Drive activated,” reported Brett.

  “What’s our speed?” asked Captain Erickson.

  “It’s still increasing,” answered Brett. “If our simulations are accurate, at the power we’re currently using, it should be 12.45 times the speed of light.”

  “How long would it take us to get to Proxima Centauri at that speed?”

  Brett grinned. “About four months.”

  “How long until we clear our solar system?”

  “We’ll pass the orbit of Pluto in twenty-three minutes,” replied Brett.

  Captain Erickson looked at Lieutenant Commander Barrington. “Continue to run system checks. Once we’re past Pluto, we’ll increase our speed and see what the ship can do. Also, contact the Constellation and see how they’re doing. It’s essential we stay in contact.” The two ships were equipped with a Jelnoid hyperspace communications system, though it had never been tested.

  “What’s causing the main viewscreen to look so blurry?” asked Ensign Carter from Tactical. “It was clear just a few moments ago.”

  “The space in front of us is being warped by our space drive,” answered Brett.

  “I think I can fix that,” Lisa said, making some adjustments on her computer console. Very slowly the screen cleared until it returned to normal.

  Ensign Carter looked at the screen and then frowned. “Why can’t we see the stars moving?”

  Lisa had to laugh. “We’re still in
the solar system. We would have to be traveling hundreds of times the speed of light to notice any movement in the stars.”

  “Are you still recording everything?” asked Kia. Her sensors weren’t as effective when the ship was traveling faster than light.

  Lisa nodded. “Yes, we can play it back later and have a visual presentation of us leaving the solar system. I’m paying particular attention to the location of the other planets and major asteroids. They’ll show up as moving objects.”

  “How far in front of us can the sensors reach when we’re traveling faster than light?” asked Lieutenant Commander Barrington.

  “Not as far as we’d like,” answered Kia uneasily. “If the sensors detect a hazard in front of us, they’re tied into the navigation system to drop us immediately out of FTL. We have a special set of Jelnoid navigation sensors, which can reach about one-half a light-year ahead of us. That sounds like a lot but not, once we begin traveling hundreds of times the speed of light.”

  -

  Lisa sat at her science console as the minutes flew by. It was an otherworldly experience to realize they were speeding through the solar system at many times the speed of light. An adjustment of the viewscreen brought up an image of Saturn. They would be passing within a few million kilometers of the massive ringed planet. Lisa continued to adjust the image until Saturn filled the screen. She wished she could do the same with Jupiter. However, Jupiter’s orbital position was on the other side of the solar system, so they would not get a view of it at this time.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Kia. “I’ve seen Saturn through a telescope but never like this. Look at the details in the rings.”

  “Maybe one day we’ll have time to explore it,” said Brett.

  “There will be plenty of time for exploring on our mission,” said Captain Erickson. “We’ll spend a day at Proxima Centauri and then proceed outward, away from the Trellixian Empire. We need to get to an area of space they have not yet conquered to seek allies.”