John arrives on the bridge with his hair still wet from his shower. He is followed closely by Andrew, who upon seeing George, working, gets to his console. Joe steps onto the bridge just in time to see George giving Cindy a thumbs-up. Joe stretches, then walks over to stand between John and Andrew. His timing could not be better.
Cindy picks up the small controller for the Kord power cell and activates it. George powers up the navigational console, then waits. Andrew deftly taps away at symbol after symbol. Joe monitors his progress as star chart, after star chart, is displayed.
One particular system piques his interest. Joe points at Andrew’s console and says, “Wait. Go back, I want to see what’s in that last system.”
Andrew obliges, then selects the planet with a Gamin symbol over it. He and Joe stare at the data for a few moments, then Joe whistles an exclamation. “If I am reading this right,” he says with confidence, “that system has a Gamin satellite grid around it.”
Cindy’s eyes narrow, she responds slowly. “I would like to avoid all contact, we are ill equipped to handle anything we may come across.”
Andrew turns around in his chair, then offers her a tempting notion. “The satellites are active, and the planet has a moon. If the Gamin put a base on that moon, there may be additional shuttles.”
Cindy purses her lips in deliberation. She glances at Joe, then John. Both men nod their assent. She leans back, debating the pros and cons, and then asks, “How far out of the way is it?”
Joe grins, Andrew has already calculated their options. Without even turning back to his console, Andrew replies confidently. “Not even a day. The system itself is almost directly in our path, and even better still, at factor seven it’s only thirty-six hours away.”
Cindy ponders the notion while Joe and Andrew continue to plot their course home. It takes the pair a mere ten more minutes to get all they need. Andrew looks up at George and makes a sweeping motion across his neck. George promptly shuts down the navigational console, then begins the task of disconnecting it.
Cindy asks one more question as she considers Andrew’s proposal. “How far from Earth is that planet?”
Andrew grins even more before he answers. “Close to eight thousand, three hundred light years. If the Kord power cell holds up, we should be home inside a week.”
Cindy leans forward, “And if the power cell runs out?” Her voice is tinged with skepticism.
Joe turns to Cindy, his voice resounding confidently. “We have been able to squeeze factor seven out of the engines. Adding the four hours of recharge time between uses, means it would take us about eight weeks to get home.” He looks out the main viewer and nods, indicating the mysterious planet, “From there!”
Cindy gazes at each of them as she comes to a decision. “Alright, we’ll investigate the planet, and its moon. But, I want a fast turn-around. We get there, look for a lunar base, then leave as quickly as we can.”
John gives Andrew a sideways glance, “If these gravitational figures are accurate, we can land on that moon.”
Andrew crosses his arms defiantly, “They are!” His voice is extremely confident.
Cindy is not sure what to make of the bridge crew’s behavior. There does not seem to be any animosity, but there is definitely something going on.
George walks over to Joe’s console, then connects his suit to it. Joe watches as an enormous data steam is fed directly into his terminal. A number of dots appear, each one representing a Gamin fleet. The nearest is over eleven thousand light years away, the farthest some fifty thousand. George points wordlessly at one of the dots. Joe stares at George in awe, how he identified Regent Voknor’s forces is beyond him. Joe does not even realize that he also recognized which fleet George was referring to.
Meanwhile, Peter, who has not slept so well in a long time, wakes up. He is feeling incredibly energized, He suddenly recalls the previous night and glances around quickly. She’s gone. The thought comes with a tinge of disappointment, but then he smiles. Taking his time to get ready, he is the last to arrive on the bridge. He finds the room rather quiet with everybody busy tapping away at their terminals.
Assessing the mood quickly, Peter grins like an excited school boy as he asks. “So, where are we going now? Not home, I take it?”
Cindy offers him a broad smile, and then relaxes in her chair. She is in high spirits as she stares at the distant stars. Her optimism has been renewed. “Punch it,” she orders with zeal.
Tomorrow’s World
The thirty-six hours pass quickly, and without incident. With the Terran still hours away from their destination, Cindy orders the crew to rest. She wants everyone to be fresh and alert when they arrive at the planet Joe found.
The down time not only gives the crew some much needed rest, it also allows the Terran’s capacitors to charge. Cindy leaves Edwards on the bridge and retires to her room. The eight-hour break also passes quickly for the crew, but the rest is refreshing.
Cindy arrives on the bridge, and occupies her command chair. She watches as the regular crew trickles onto the bridge. Edwards is replaced by John, they chat amicably for a short time before Edwards retires. He is slowly coming around, she thinks positively.
Andrew and Joe arrive at the same time, and immediately delve into star charts as they continue their discussion on various stellar phenomenon. It is clear that there are many places they crave to investigate. Joe opens his laptop, and starts to type. Haven’t seen him use that in a while, Cindy realizes. She leans forward, and can see that he is writing a list of numbers, stellar coordinates.
George is heard long before he is seen, the suit’s metallic feet clang their way down the corridor. Peter, Radclyf, and Hayato, follow close behind.
Peter’s mood is quite jovial as he takes his normal seat. He turns to Cindy and says. “Morning! Emma will try to get some of her sampling equipment working, just in case we go planet-side.”
Cindy raises an eyebrow. Interesting! “Good idea,” She ventures, as her thoughts drift.
John studies his console, and reviews an abundance of data. He gives Andrew and Joe a thumbs up, then offers praising words. “We will be dropping down to sub-light speeds behind the planet’s moon. The calculations required to do this, well, they’re astronomical. Anyway, the point is that the planet’s inhabitants shouldn’t even know we have arrived.”
Cindy is suitably impressed, and nods in appreciation. “Great work. When we arrive, I want to be ready for anything.” She states bluntly.
The minutes tick by agonizingly slow. Finally, John lifts up a hand symbolically. “Cutting main drive in five… four… three… two… one. Main drive is disengaged, sub-light engines on standby, thrusters are at station keeping.” He scans his Gamin console for a few seconds then grins happily, and then says. “The moon is between us and the planet.”
Cindy is awed by the spectacle. A lunar surface, not unlike Earth’s own moon stares back at her through the expansive windows. The alien moon is close, extremely close.
All four men before her diligently monitor their consoles. Peter glances at the others, then offers a brief report. “The Gamin satellite grid has detected us, and has automatically given us access to the data stream. We are still trying to figure out what’s happening on the planet though.”
Cindy frowns at the choice of words. “What do you mean?”
Peter shakes his head, perplexed. “The few transmissions we are receiving are very brief, and do not make any sense. It’s almost as though everything is in code.”
Cindy sighs. “Well, as the satellites have detected us, we may as well see what’s going on. Bring us out from behind the moon.”
John does not even hesitate; his fingers deftly move over his console. Thrusters fire, rolling the Terran away from the moon. By rolling the ship, the bridge crew is afforded a remarkable view of the planet, while still allowing them an escape route.
Cindy stares at the enormous, puffy, orange clouds that come into view. This is q
uickly followed by tantalizing glimpses of water and land areas through the heavy cloud cover. The water is murky brown, while the land areas are an alternating mix of brown, grey, and green. Flashes, like lightning, come from all over the planet’s surface. A cityscape comes into view. Andrew quickly zooms the screen in, his jaw drops at the sight.
The devastation is astonishing. Massive buildings lay in ruins, streets are filled with rubble. Yet, despite all the carnage, there is still activity from some parts of the shattered metropolis. Flashes of light dot the city.
Peter lifts a hand to his face in surprise as he remarks. “Those flashes, they look like heavy weapons fire. The city, it seems, has a few survivors. Look at that defensive perimeter, and the way the central buildings have slightly less damage.”
Radclyf stands and walks closer to the view. “Zoom out, I want to see more of the battlefield.”
Andrew pans the view out, affording a panoramic view of the cloudy planet below. Hayato joins Radclyf, and addresses John, “Can you find an area with less cloud cover?”
The bridge crew examines one cloud covered area after another. Bleak deserts, ruined cities, and sparse vegetation, is all they find. A break in the clouds reveals a sight that stuns them all.
Cindy is almost speechless, almost. “Oh, my! The whole continent is at war. There are numerous cities, all under siege. I want to see what the rest of the world is like.”
John pilots the Terran around the planet, covering almost all of it in a few quick passes. They find the same relentless scene repeated over and over. A planetary war of epic proportions rages below them.
Radclyf studies the landscape for quite a while before offering his depressing assessment. “This planet’s technology is regressing. Earlier attacks seem to have been made with nuclear type weapons, yet the current battle is being waged with ordinary artillery. There seems to be no aircraft whatsoever, making this ground war a grueling affair.”
Joe stands up, a frown creases his forehead. He asks. “John, can you take us back to that desert like area we passed a while back? I’m getting some odd readings.”
John obliges, and quickly has the Terran directly over the expansive desert. Andrew notices numerous impact craters, and pans the view in. The ground seems to rush up at them, as does a pile of twisted wreckage. The Gamin construction dock has been reduced to a mere shadow of its former glory.
Radclyf motions to the ruins. “It looks like whoever controlled that facility, tried to defend it. I would say the attackers gave up trying to capture it at some point, then focused on destroying it instead.” He shakes his head in dismay as he continues. “For an entire planet to regress in technology, and still be waging a war, it’s inconceivable.”
Hayato nods his head in agreement, then adds his own thoughts. “The combatants must have all their manufacturing facilities underground, along with the surviving populace.”
Radclyf has an epiphany. “That’s why the center of the destroyed cities are hot spots. I bet they’re the entrances to underground complexes.”
John pilots the Terran away from the desolation. Locating a region filled with flashes of light, he orbits over the area. Andrew zooms the view in, all the way to ground level.
Cindy gasps at the sight as she remarks. “Look at the size of those ground vehicles.”
Armored behemoths trundle along the ground, leaving deep furrows in their passing. Massive tank treads move these monsters slowly across the landscape. Dozens of enormous vehicles are moving toward a distant city. The defenders have pitifully small ground vehicles, which seem to be harassing the large units. Every now and then, one of the large vehicles fires a cannon, of sorts. Most of the shots miss, but one does not.
Cindy is awed as the lesser vehicle is reduced to a pile of scrap metal in the blink of an eye. Almost nothing remains of it. For their part, the relatively small vehicles continue to drive around, seemingly ineffective in their task. Andrew pans out, then finding a motionless behemoth, zooms back in. Sure enough, the massive tank has been stopped, one of its tracks trails behind it. Smaller flashes come from the broken hulk. Those trapped inside are still putting up a valiant fight. A mountain of dirt is suddenly flung over the area. A few minutes later, another mountain of dirt is flung skyward. The flashes increase in intensity from the immobile target. The next artillery shot lands squarely on the motionless tank’s front section. Armor plating buckles and collapses, a large dust cloud springs up from around the damaged tank. As suddenly as the dust appears, it is whisked away by a powerful explosion that rips out from the ruined vehicle. Shock waves radiate out across the ground in all directions.
Andrew expands the view, revealing more of the countryside, and more of the same. City after city has dozens of massive tank-like vehicles creeping closer and closer. Although the planetary war seems to have been raging on for a long time, it would appear that one side is finally achieving a victory. But at what cost? The bridge crew is transfixed by the apocalyptic scene. They all remain quiet as they witness the ongoing carnage on the planet below.
Finally, Joe drags his eyes from the riveting scene, and scans the planet. “The atmosphere has corrosive elements along with high levels of radioactive isotopes.”
Joe reviews more data and then looks up, stunned. “The planet’s eco system is on the verge of total collapse. The oceans show virtually no signs of life. The few patches of vegetation that remain are heavily contaminated, and the planet’s atmosphere is classified as inhospitable.”
Joe turns away from the planet, and looks at Cindy. “If they don’t escape, and soon, they will certainly all die.”
Cindy stares at the Gamin satellites, then purses her lips. “Open a channel, let’s see if anyone down there is able to talk to us.”
Cindy’s order, though unexpected, is carried out immediately. Joe nods to her. She gulps, then touches her chair’s controls. “This is the starship Terran, anyone receiving this?”
Everyone waits pensively for a response. Cindy looks at Joe questioningly who shrugs and says with confidence. “They should have received the message, I have confirmation from the satellites that they transmitted it. Perhaps they don’t understand our language?”
George turns from his panel, and shakes his head. “The message would have been translated into whatever language, or languages the citizens use. Remember when the Gamin contacted us on Earth?”
Cindy, along with the other bridge crew, nods in agreement. She sighs deeply, then issues her orders. “Alright, we will investigate the moon, then leave.”
Joe frowns, then looks at the others fretfully. “We can’t just leave them to die. Shouldn’t we at least disable the Gamin satellites, give them a chance?”
Cindy stares at the planet, and feels saddened by what she sees. “These people are hell bent on destruction. We can’t risk unleashing them upon others. They are potentially too dangerous to set free.”
Joe slumps in his chair, defeated. She is so cold and callous. He thumps his console in frustration. But damn it, she’s right. He stares at the planet for a long time before switching his attention to the moon.
With a deep sigh, Joe reports his findings with little enthusiasm. “There is a lunar base, and we have access. The core systems are almost out of power, but I am reading life support, Gamin of course.”
Cindy looks at John, then George and says. “You two head on over, but make it brief.” She too, is not feeling good about leaving those on the planet, trapped.
Joe stares at his console, then motions to Andrew. The two men spend scant seconds reviewing the data.
Andrew turns to Cindy, his voice a little anxious. “There is something happening on the planet.”
John stops at the doorway to the bridge, catching the worried expressions, he returns to his seat. Andrew has zoomed the view in to cover a wide area of the planet’s desolate countryside. The bridge crew waits and watches. Down on the planet, massive concrete hatches open up, hundreds of them. Judging by the piles of the de
bris, some of the hatches have been closed for a long time.
Radclyf steps forward, his expression dour. “It would seem we have our answer, it looks like they are about to launch missiles at us.”
Cindy frowns, “Won’t the satellites just destroy them?”
John shakes his head, uncertain. He takes the ship off station keeping, and waits. Almost as one, the open silos expel their charges. Long rockets launch, flying upward on massive plumes of fire and smoke. The sight of hundreds of missiles rising toward them is most impressive. Everyone on the bridge is awed by the spectacle.
George has been monitoring events from his station, and reports his findings with earnest. “The satellites are powering up their weapon systems.”
The missiles soar upward, getting closer and closer. The Gamin satellite grid fires its own volley back. Laser beams streak downward, hitting individual missiles. The sky lights up brightly as missile after missile explodes. Within seconds, the imposing volley is eliminated. The only thing the launch succeeded in doing, was to add yet more toxins to the atmosphere from their chemical propellants. Vapor trails plummet to the ground, carrying with them any unexploded warheads. In some cases, the ground impacts cause explosions to rise back upward, adding even more devastation to the ravaged landscape.
Cindy’s jaw drops, “They’re using nuclear devices.”
Grey dust rises from the ground, the mushroom shaped clouds are unmistakable.
Radclyf shakes his head sadly, “That appears to be their last-ditch effort, what a futile waste.”
Cindy frowns, then gazes around the bridge. “Every time we discover a world where the Gamin have visited, we find the same old story. Civilizations trapped on resource depleted worlds. But not our planet. Something was different for us. I wonder what?”
Initiation Series: Series One Compilation (Terran Chronicles) Page 59