by Frank Carey
“Assuming the satellite data is valid, we have three days, no more,” Dr. Jonas Gika said as he looked at his terminal pad.
“Effect on the planet?”
“It's thirty miles wide. Assuming it doesn't crack the crust, we're talking about an extinction level event which will wipe the planet clean of all life while destroying four billion years of nature's work.”
“Can't we deflect it?”
“Yes, but we risk destroying the ship in the process, and I can't give you even a guess at the chances for success.”
“What do you suggest we do, then?” the captain asked.
“If you want my opinion, we grab our offspring and high-tail it out of here,” Apolonia said as she crossed her arms under her bosom while giving the same look she gave a slow serf.
The captain looked at his daughter and wept inside at what he had begat. Like her mother, she was a creature without any feelings for the original inhabitants of this planet even though the existence of her race depended on the hard work of the Earth humans. “Daughter, that is out of the question.”
“She's right, Captain. That rock is going to wipe this planet clean. Your daughter is correct. We need to leave.”
“What about the humans?” the captain asked.
He knew the answer, but his daughter felt the need to hammer it home. “They die. Get over it,” she said as she walked out of the room.
The following day found Chersis and Mantios, two emissaries to Olympus, walking up the winding path to where the gods lived. They were bound for their daily meeting to receive advice and help with various matters which had arisen the day before. They stopped in shock when they crested the rise. The silver metal home of the gods was gone; only a few goats roamed the empty field. The Olympians were never seen again.
###
Athena looked at Hera in shock. “They left! They contaminate the native population, then leave at the first sign of trouble? I think I'm going to be sick,” she said as she bowed her head in an attempt at stemming the waves of nausea racing through her body.
“Stop it. Earth is fine. It would be impossible for the planet to recover after an extinction-level event of the magnitude described in the log.”
“Damn. You're right. What about the probe? What else has it found?”
“Nothing. It died soon after it sent the first data squirt. All we know is population and gender distribution. We don't know anything about their technological level, though you can't maintain that size population using oxcarts and hay rakes.”
Athena stopped and stared for a moment. “You mean its feasible Annihilator could be heading toward an advanced space-faring civilization?”
“I wouldn't think so. I mean going from simple goatherds to space travel in only three thousand years. How long did it take us? Twenty thousand?”
Athena didn't answer. Instead, she sat and scowled.
“What's up, sister? You look like you just bit into something unappetizing.”
“I may have. Don't you find it disturbing that Annihilator took off on its jaunt to Earth shortly after the probe returned the population data?”
“I hadn't... By the gods, you don't think the two events are related?”
“I'm beginning to. Earth may hold the salvation of our people and now that same salvation is threatened by a machine designed to destroy anything and everything in its path. It stands to reason this is not a coincidence. Shelly!” she yelled to the commander of the Control Room.
“Ma'am!”
Find Margarete Callusa and get her ass up here on the double!”
“Aye, aye, Admiral.”
“You don't think Central Security has anything to do with this, do you?” Hera asked. She had no love for C-Sec, but she was positive they would never do anything to harm the Republic.
“No, I don't, but I'm pretty sure they know who did.”
CHAPTER THREE
The Office of Security Center for Advanced Weapons Research hung in space with only asteroids and space debris to keep it company. The Cube, as it was known to all far and wide, was home to hundreds of researchers, scientists, and engineers whose job it was to keep the League safe from threats both internal and external.
Dr. Ciara Devlin walked into one of the Cube’s more secure labs unannounced and strolled over to a workbench near the center of the room. On the table was a rhino-sized probe of some kind with half of a body sticking out from it.
A voice emerged from inside the probe. “Clarice, hand me a number three spanner.”. Ciara looked around and saw Clarice across the lab in the midst of pulling down a large reference volume from a high shelf. Before Clarice could drop everything to get the spanner, Ciara waved her off while silently mouthing, “Let me.” Clarice smiled and nodded before getting back to the volume at hand.
“Dammit, Clarice! Where's the spanner?” the voice said as a hand emerged from inside the probe and waved around in search of the tardy tool. Ciara glanced in the toolbox on the bench next to the probe and selected a large screwdriver which she placed in the waving hand. “Dammit, Clarice, a spanner, not a screwdriver,” the voice said as the rest of the body emerged from inside the probe. “Oh, Director, my apologies,” the person said as he placed the tool back in its box.
“Dr. Narquist, you are two hours late with your report, and berating your assistant will not get it in my hands any faster,” Ciara said as she placed her fists on her hips while barely resisting the urge to tap her toes on the lab's tiled floor.
“I am so sorry, Director,” he said as she glanced at his assistant, “and you to, Clarice, but I found something incredible.”
“What is it?” Ciara asked in a calm voice, knowing Dr. Hans Narquist was not only one of the most brilliant scientists in the facility but also one of the most skittish. Before he could begin, Clarice brought over the reference book and placed it on the table beside him.
“Thank you, Clarice,” he said as he opened the tome and flipped pages. When he found the one he wanted, he picked up a piece of the probe and compared it to an illustration on the page. “As I thought,” he said as he stabbed the page with his finger.
“Care to share with us mortals?” Ciara asked.
“What? Oh, yes. Of course,” he said while handing Ciara and Clarice pieces of probe, each piece with writing on at least one surface. “Using Blyst multi-spectral analysis we have determined the probe to be of modern origin, but not of local origin.”
“So, where's it from? Which one of our fellow League members is spying on Earth?”
“None of them including the Goranthi, Martok, Halcyon, or any of the post-Earth members. This probe is not of League origin. The metals and plastics are not from any known League, or nearby, planet.”
“Dammit, not another outsider,” Ciara said. “I hate this shit. I thought we were through with this when the Martok showed up. So, why am I holding this piece of scrap?” she said as she turned the piece of probe over in her hand.
“Look at the writing,” he said.
Ciara and Clarice looked closely at their pieces. “It looks familiar,” Clarice said as she grabbed a magnifying glass to get a closer look. “It'll come to me, just give me a minute.” She handed the glass to Ciara.
“I've got nothing,” Ciara said as she put the glass back on the table.
“It's ancient Greek,” Narquist said.
“That's impossible!”
“Not at all, Director,” he said as he took the piece she was holding and placed it on a scanpad sitting on the table. “Computer, scan and translate. Language: ancient Earth Greek.”
“Working. Assembly instructions for long distance speaking box, Model alpha-one-zeta.”
“Stop. The characters on the part matches those found in ancient Greek scrolls from almost three thousand years ago. What we have here is a modern device of alien origin which has ancient Greek writing on it.”
“Lovely, so what was it doing in orbit around Earth?”
“It seems to be a general purpos
e planetary probe which somehow found its way here even though it was damaged by a meteor strike. The data from the patrol ship indicates it was transmitting right up to when they jumped it, so whoever sent it may know of our existence.”
“Can you determine where it came from?”
“I'll need to download its memory banks into our computers for analysis. I'll need help, though.”
“I'll send Gloria. She's back from her conference and itching for something more to do than file stuff.”
“Dr. Taggart isn't back from his meeting on Tralaska?”
“No, he decided to stay an extra day to schmooze representatives from the Tralaskan Mining Guild. He'll be here tomorrow.”
“Gloria will do just fine. Thank you, Director,” he said as he grabbed a spanner and crawled back inside the probe.
Ciara shook her head, then mouthed a silent “Good luck,” to Clarice before walking out of the lab. Her day had just gotten exciting.
CHAPTER FOUR
First Officer Andromeda “Andie” Clyemne brought the Olympian Warship Artemis online while issuing orders to recall the crew. The bridge around her came alive as she cleared moorings and umbilical while switching over to onboard systems. She looked up at the status displays and saw eighty-five percent of the crew had already returned as if the ladies had read her mind.
Moments later, Captain Freya Heranna led the rest of the bridge crew onto the deck where they manned their stations while she sat down in her chair. Located at the center of the room, she could turn it to see every display around her.
“Excellent job, XO, any stragglers?”
“No, ma'am. The last lady is in and the hatches sealed. We're ready to launch.”
“Communications officer, radio Diana and Aphrodite and get their status.”
“Aye, Captain,” the comm officer said as she flipped switches. A moment later she reported, “Diana and Aphrodite signal ready for launch.”
“Comm, ship-wide,” the captain said.
The comm officer signaled ready.
“This is the captain. We are about to embark on a mission from which we may not return. The Artemis, Diana, and Aphrodite have been ordered to destroy the Annihilator which went rogue at zero-four hundred hours and is now on its way to destroy a planet outside the Republic's boundaries. We cannot fail. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with each one of you. Prepare to launch.”
“Andie, signal the task force to launch. Course one-one-eight degrees by 27 degrees positive, half-conventional speed until we clear the singularity, then full star speed. Time to interception?”
“One hour, Ma’am,” Andie said as she looked up from her console.
“Sound general quarters,” the captain said. “Launch!”
The three mighty warships, the pride of the fleet, left their docks and headed out to their destiny.
###
One hour later...
“Andie, sound deceleration alarms. Weapons systems ready, prepare for normal space. Comm, status of Diana and Aphrodite?”
“They dropped to normal space two minutes ago.”
“Their captains probably put their Engine Rooms to the lash! Normal space on my mark... MARK!”
The Artemis found itself surrounded by the wreckage of its two sister ships. Ahead, the Annihilator was heading right for them on a collision course.
“Fire all weapons! Helm, evasive,” the Captain yelled as proximity alarms blared. The Artemis's helmswoman changed course just in time to miss colliding with the behemoth Annihilator by a scant hundred yards as her weapons rained death upon the massive ship. Particle beams, lasers, hypervelocity slugs of metal, missiles, and conventional guns impacted Annihilator, ripping gouges into its hull, yet it kept coming, firing on the small ship, and draining Artemis's defensive screens.
“Captain, screens down to forty percent, star drive is out, missiles depleted. Damage to decks seven through fifteen. Hull breach on sixteen. Repair crews responding.”
“It's like trying to stop a rhino with a popgun. Maybe we can draw it off. Helm, course ninety-two degrees by 32 degrees negative.”
“Ma'am, that'll take us into an asteroid field,” the sensor officer said.
“Good, maybe mixing it up with those rocks will slow it down.”
Ma'am, forward sensor array offline. Sensor crew not responding,” the SO said.
“Dammit. Andie, suit up and get down there. I need the array online, and you're the only one qualified. Go!”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Andie said as she pressed a button on her sleeve which activated the suit. Gloves and boots formed around her extremities while a hard helmet covered her head. Before it was finished, she had reached an access ladder on the side of the Bridge and headed down to Sensor Control.
###
When Andie reached the bottom of the ladder, she found her way blocked by an emergency bulkhead. She looked through a small window inset in the door and saw the whole control room missing, replaced by a view of empty space. Next to it was another door which led into the room containing the sensor equipment. She looked through its window and saw the sensor room was still intact, so she typed her access code into the door lock and opened it. Once inside, she sealed it shut and began rebooting the system. Just as it was about to come online, the room shifted sideways as if it were a toy being shook by a dog. Andie was thrown into the wall before sliding to the floor, unconscious. There she lay unmoving as the battle raged around her.
CHAPTER FIVE
The League Transport Vessel Hippolyta made its way along the edge of League space as it traveled to its home base on Earth, its cargo holds filled with goods from the dozen worlds along its route. It was the night shift aboard the freighter, so only a skeleton crew manned their stations as their shipmates slept after a hard day’s work loading and unloading at their last port of call. It was quiet, the lights dimmed to maintain the diurnal cycles of those who lived and worked on board.
This time of night, the bridge was only minimally crewed with the first officer at the Con, the helmsman acting as both helm and navigator, and the sensor officer who also handled weapons and communications. They worked quietly and efficiently as their home away from home slipped through the gossamer plasma streamers which filled other-space.
Acting first officer on this leg of their trade circuit, Capt. Akira Hisakawa drank tea and read the latest news-feed from Earth as the Bridge crew kept watch on the seven-hundred-foot-long deep space freighter. In a few hours, he would join his wife, Acting Captain Fiona Hisakawa, when the graveyard shift relieved them.
The calm was shattered by the sensors officer, Natasha Simosa. “Captain, the sensors have lit up like a pinball machine. We're picking up either a supernova or one hell of a space battle.”
“Communications?” he asked as finished his tea and stored the cup and newsreader in the arm of his chair.
Natasha flipped a switch, filling the bridge with overlapping communications streams. “Not a language I'm familiar with,” Akira said. “What does the UT say?”
“Universal Translator identifies it as ancient Greek from Earth. It sounds like several ships are duking it out,” Natasha replied. “Sir, there are now distress calls.”
“Damn. How far?”
“Thirty minutes at best possible speed.”
Akira didn't hesitate. A distress call overrode all other considerations. “Natasha, can you raise Space Command?”
“Trying, Captain... No joy, Sir. Heavy interference. There was a space weather report of a wave front from a nearby supernova passing through. It’s probably the source.”
“Any forecast on how long until the front passes?”
Natasha checked her terminal. “Forty-eight hours, Sir.”
“Natasha, sound emergency stations and set condition Rescue One. Pop a buoy with all log entries and wake the crew,” he ordered before turning to his helmsman, John Sato. “Johnny, set an intercept course, best possible speed,” Akira ordered as alarms sounded and l
ights came up throughout the ship.
Akira hit a button on the arm of his chair which connected him directly to his quarters.
“Hrmph?” Fiona said.
“Honey, sorry to wake you early, but we’ve got a situation up here.” He stopped as John swung the freighter onto an intercept course.
“Husband, did we just change course?”
“Aye, Captain. We are now at Rescue Priority One.”
“Dammit, why didn't you call me?” she said as she jumped out of the bed and quickly dressed before running out of their quarters.
“Sorry, Captain,” Akira said with a smile as he killed the link. He was well aware of his wife not being a morning person. He walked over to the brew stations and poured her a cup of the strongest black Irish tea the device could make. Just as the cup finished brewing, the captain arrived.
The bridge door opened, and Fiona Hisakawa strode in. Seeing her, Akira announced, “Captain on the Bridge!”
Instead of saluting, he walked over and kissed her cheek while handing her the steaming cup.
“You’re forgiven,” she quipped as she took the center seat. “So, what's going on?”
Akira gave her a quick status report before saying, “ETA twenty minutes, mark.” he said while looking at the ship's master chrono.
“Ship's status?”
“All stations crewed and ready, Captain,” Akira said, handing her a packet of sugar.
“From bed to ready stations in ten minutes. Not bad,” Fiona said as she stirred her tea. “Natasha, getting anything on sensors yet?”
“Yes, Ma’am, I'm picking up a lot of debris and radiation.”
“What about weapons fire?”
“Quiet. Too quiet, Ma’am,” Natasha said as she strained to listen to a faint signal. “Got something, Sirs. A suit beacon dead ahead. We'll reach it in less than ten minutes.”
“Thoughts?” Fiona asked her husband.
“We need to get to the beacon first and foremost.”
“I concur. Joanie,” she said to the defensive systems officer, “I want you to help Nat scan for survivors.”