ARMS For Eternity: (Book 8)

by Stephen Arseneault

  "Tawn, you definitely deserve a medal for that. Brilliant. We get back to Gianus and get the bot fleet heading back out this way. After that, we can go back and take care of whatever ships are left at the main fight. I'll even let you push the button to launch whatever missiles we take with us."

  "How very gracious of you, Harris."

  Harris held out his hand. "My sister in arms."

  Tawn shook it. The shake lingered for only an extra second.

  Tawn frowned. "OK, that was weird."

  "Yeah. I think we should stick with back-slaps from now on."

  "Agreed."

  A jubilant run was made back to Gianus. Nearly the entire bot force was loaded onto the transport, where the colonel and the others bios rested in stasis. It would take most of a day to board and take control of the newly captured fleet. Tawn and Harris continued on to witness what they hoped would be the wrap-up of the grand battle between the Frizoid and Burrell versus the Crissen. Upon arrival, they got their wish.

  Tawn grinned, "Five hundred ten Frizoid and Burrell to twenty-three Crissen. This is almost perfect."

  Harris pointed. "We still have Klof's command ship in the fight. Look at the scars on that hull. He definitely hasn't shied away from being in the thick of it."

  In a tactic that had not been seen from the Crissen, the orders had been given to follow the strategy of the Frizoid. Crissen warships were now operating in mini-pods of three. The result was the rapid overpowering and destruction of one Frizoid or Burrell ship after another.

  A scout reported in from Domicile with a data blast. "The fifteen Frizoid ships in orbit around Domicile have departed. They should arrive here shortly."

  Tawn nodded. "That makes it easy. Anyone on Domicile we want to extract?"

  "Not that I know of, but send orders back for a pair of decent-sized freighters to be loaded with steel and MREs. This might be our opportunity to grab those items while we have the chance. We'll be finishing off these ships here, but we don't know if the Frizoid have any others roaming about our systems. I want to take action while we can, and have the bots fill in the President on the current happenings. Maybe we can go home for a visit in a few days."

  The fight in the void of space ran for another four hours before the last remaining Crissen ship was in a standoff with a dozen Frizoid cruisers. One hundred fifty-two Frizoid ships and twenty-six Burrell had survived, including both command ships.

  The Frizoid admiral came over the general comm: "Captain, you have been defeated. As is customary with our people, we offer to allow the last to go free, so that word of our great victory might be told to the masses of your empire. If you desire to leave peacefully, we will allow it."

  Klof Monumon leaned into the comm camera with a scowl. "The Monumon family does not surrender or run. I came with a great fleet. I shall go out fighting just like my crews. You have won a great victory today, but I have three brothers still, all with powerful fleets. They will be coming for your heads. So ready your weapons, Admiral. We aren't finished here."

  The Crissen captain let out a yell as he commanded his ship forward. For all its damage, and being a lone ship, the Crissen command vessel held its own. Five Frizoid cruisers broke apart before a thousand bright flashes filled the darkness of space. A final set of gamma missiles had detonated. In an instant, all weapons went silent.

  Harris turned. "Couldn't give him the satisfaction of finishing, huh?"

  "Not when he has the only Crissen ship left. I thought it might be worth having for Alex to study."

  Harris stared for several seconds. "You are just on fire with the brilliance of late."

  The order went out for the bots to collect the remaining ships and to take them to Gianus. There, the captured fleet would be cleaned and sanitized before being parked and prepared for automated crews. The Bangor made a run to Domicile, where the Bolemans, Sharvie, and Garvis were dropped off to visit family. Tawn and Harris continued on to the presidential estate.

  A proud and gracious President was standing on the tarmac to greet them as they landed. "Gruberg, Freely, the heroes of humanity!"

  Harris shook his hand, followed by Tawn as she stepped down from the cabin hatch.

  Harris said, "We owe the current situation to her. She's responsible for capturing the Frizoid fleet and for taking the ships as that final fight was winding down. Genius moves on both counts. We now have intact warships from all three of the species that we can study."

  The President replied, "Fantastic work. We're all grateful to you. I do have a question for you. We've attempted to send ships to the outer colonies, but have not been able to open a wormhole."

  Tawn frowned. "We had to destroy the generators on Midelon. The boson field is gone. But we do have a good alternative. We'll transfer all the designs of the hop-drive to Mr. Morgan so conversion of your ships can begin. It shouldn't take long to get them all jumping again. Shame though, it makes our boson bomb obsolete. And travel times will no longer be instant, but they'll be tolerable at still only being hours to cross our space."

  Harris looked around. "We going inside or just enjoying the day out here?"

  "The estate is bugged. Every room, every corridor. Out here in the air is the only place we have that isn't monitored. There are still about twenty-thousand Frizoid here, you know."

  "What? Their ships all left."

  "And left these workers behind. We weren't sure of what to do with them yet. I wanted to talk to the two of you before making any decisions on a roundup."

  "You have somewhere you can keep them confined?"

  "One of the training compounds. It’ll be nice to send out the word that our people can go home, if you think that's wise to do."

  "I think we can. To our knowledge, there aren't any more alien ships in our sector. We have scouts out patrolling the direct routes coming in from the known bases. The only one we don't know about would be the Crissen. Not sure why they would go by Maufree first if they were coming here. I think we got lucky spotting the Monumon brother's fleet."

  "The who?"

  Harris chuckled. "OK. Guess you weren't there, were you. Come aboard and have a seat. We'll fill you in."

  In the days that followed, the Frizoid workers who were left behind were rounded up and placed under confinement in the largest of the training compounds. Bannis Morgan cranked up the production of bot bodies, while Harris and Tawn directed an effort to return all processor benches to Midelon, where they were powered up and new processors put in the works.

  The new goal for the bot force was half a million workers. The captured ships were put into study by a team of Morgan's engineers and scientists, who worked tirelessly to pry open and extract their secrets. The Human fleet was returned to Domicile, where crews and the soldiers they escorted were brought out of stasis and sent home.

  The Biomarines were pulled from stasis as well, and upon their request they were returned to reclaim their home at the Retreat. Hundreds of worker bots were left with them to aid in the refurb from the damage caused by Maximus Croft and Baxter Rumford. The archive was returned to Midelon, and Idiot once again took control. The AI’s assistance proved critical to unlocking the secrets of the alien warships.

  Two weeks of freedom turned into two months, and then three. Thousands of Banshees patrolled the suspected traffic lanes coming into Human space.

  The Banshee sent to check on Earth returned. Harris stood on the tarmac as the small fighter landed. A comm was open to its pilot.

  "Tell us what you found," Harris said. "Are there Humans there?"

  "I am sorry, Mr. Gruberg. The planet was devoid of sentient life. The largest animals are in the oceans. On land and in the air, insects and rodents inhabit most of the world. I cross-referenced the vegetation to the known types from the archives. It appears only 10 percent of the original species remain. The gamma destruction of life on Earth was nearly complete. However, other than having to contend with insects that were previously considered pests, such as roaches, ant
s, and mosquitoes, and the ever present rodent population the planet does appear to be livable."

  "Mosquitoes? Like the ones on Beckland?"

  "No sir, much smaller. Wingspans smaller in diameter than a fingernail."

  Harris chuckled. "Good. Sounds like more of a blessing than a curse. What issues would small mosquitoes cause? Life is a good thing."

  The news of Earth was disheartening, but at the same time intriguing. The planet was available, and able and ready to once again support the masses. With that readiness came hope, hope of returning to the Human ancestral home.

  Plans were put in place to send forward a bot team to establish a town with power, water, and all other amenities required by Man. The initial target was a thousand volunteers who would be responsible for using the bots to build the cities and farms needed to support the entire Human population. Back on Domicile, plans were put into place to build a massive colony ship, capable of transporting the entire Human population at once.

  Harris sat down with Tawn for a meal. "Can't believe the level of activity going on everywhere. It's like someone kicked over an anthill of Humans. I can't walk ten meters without getting bumped into by someone carrying something or hurrying somewhere."

  Tawn looked over the buffet plate sitting in front of her. "Salad. And a single plate. What happened to us? We used to be able to destroy this place."

  "I still blame the stasis pods. I've been eating like a bogler but not really gaining my weight back. The muscle loss has stopped, and reversed just a bit, but nothing significant. And yeah, kind of don't have the same appetite as before. Colonel says it's like that across all the Bios now."

  "How’s the refurb coming out there?"

  "Almost complete. He says the spirit is different though. They're thrilled to be back in their own place, but it doesn't have the same excitement it once had."

  "We did lose over half our people. Has to feel a bit empty out there at times."

  "Could be. I think some of those we lost might have also been the social leaders of that place. Without their drive, things wouldn't feel the same."

  Tawn sat back from her salad. "I don't think anyone has talked about this yet, but the Bios are planning to come to Earth with everyone else, right?"

  "Don't know. Most of us don't mix that well with the general pop. And let's face it, we have limited lifespans and no families. When we die out, there won't be any more of us. And we now have bots who can take care of us when we get older."

  "Hmm. Not sure if I want to go to Earth if we don't have Bios there."

  Harris chuckled. "Might be time for you to plant your roots at the Retreat and to put down that farm you've always talked about."

  Tawn smirked. "The farm. Yeah. I'm sure that would keep me occupied and satisfied. For about a week. No, I was thinking more along the lines of exploring."

  "Exploring?"

  "Yeah. We build a ship that’s self-sustaining, bring along a couple dozen bots, and maybe a dozen or so other interested Bios."

  "You said we. Why would I be interested in being an explorer? What are we exploring for?"

  "I don't know. New life? Might be a few other species out there that would be friendly and fun to interact with. You know, expand our knowledge of the universe. Maybe?"

  "So you want to become a scientist now? Go out and study the stars? Hahaha!"

  "Like I said, maybe. Not sure what it would entail yet. How about this, we find another species who's at war and sign up to be mercenaries or military advisors?"

  "Now you're talking my language. You know, four or five years ago I would have laughed at the military advisor role. Being a merc? That would have been the sweet spot. But after watching all the fighting like we just did? The advisor role seems a perfect fit. We'd get to direct the fight without having to get our hands dirty. I mean I like the dirt, just not as much anymore."

  Tawn shrugged. "OK, I could go for that. Tawn Freely and Harris Gruberg, the galaxy’s most sought-after military advisors. We don't just direct your wars, we win them."

  "You just come up with that?"

  "Right then and there."

  "Write it down. We might want to use it later."

  — Chapter 19 —

  * * *

  The fleets of Domer freighters were converted to the new hop-drives. Trade with the outer colonies picked up. No word was given of plans to move the population to Earth. With Chicago Port Station having been empty for so many months, the decision was made to turn it into the heart of the giant transport that would one day move the people. It was also decided that any move would be conducted in phases as to spare resources for other projects.

  The number of worker bots rapidly grew to two hundred thousand, and then three. Transports full of workers were loaded up and sent to Earth. The initial town of planners and builders was quickly populated with its first thousand inhabitants. Land was scanned and mining initiated. Next would come refineries, and then industry.

  With industry, the build-out of infrastructure for the grand cities and vast farms could begin. Twenty such cities were planned for and would be placed near-equidistant around the globe. The Earth would soon become a place that could easily sustain a billion Humans.

  Aside from the main plans, a thousand projects of a lesser nature would also be undertaken. A full-out effort to restore the balance of nature would be needed if humanity was to thrive. Bees would have to be reintroduced, and with them many of the flowering plants that had perished. Restoration of the prior Earth in all its glory would be paramount. The return of Humans would be only one part of the effort.

  Five months passed without any sign of Frizoid, Burrell, or Crissen. The prior Human fleet had been automated with bots, the captured Frizoid fleet the same. The remaining warships had been stripped down, studied, and most of their secrets unlocked. Humans were rising at an ever increasing rapid pace.

  Harris took a seat in front of Bannis Morgan's desk. "How are the factories? I hear you just turned out your thirty thousandth missile yesterday."

  "Hard to believe it's only been five months and that we all came out of this alive. Most of us anyway."

  "We have seventy thousand warships of our own. And forty thousand missiles. In a month, we'll pass four hundred thousand bots. In two months six. It's just crazy how productive we've become with their assistance."

  "I've been thinking about your AI out at Domicile. I'd like to put it on a ship so we can bring it here. We'll want that when we head for Earth anyway."

  Harris rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "Probably not a bad idea. Especially if our unfriendly visitors decide to return. Hey, what if we put him up on the station? That place is far from finished, but it is mobile now. You said yourself the hop-drive on it worked flawlessly."

  Bannis slowly nodded. "Might be a good fit. I'll send out a request to have the AI work up its own design for that."

  "You mentioned before you were adding weapons and shields to it?"

  "We are. The Crissen shield technology will be added to the first section in the coming weeks. If it tests out, we cover the whole thing in it. The Frizoid lasers appear to be the best of the weapons. A new design is being tested down here in the next few weeks as well. Again, if it proves out, we'll be hustling to get as many as we can put aboard her."

  "Too bad we don't still have that laser missile tech. Coupled with the Frizoid lasers, it would be a formidable weapon."

  "We haven't been able to repeat our success from that first run of those. Sometimes tech does that to you, especially when you're playing with unknowns such as that focusing business Alex came up with. Incredible scientist that one."

  "That he is. Well, these upgrades are fantastic. Any other options we're adding to her?"

  "Inner shielding for gamma. We figured out how to make use of that as a weapon. No reason our enemies can't do that as well. Our problem at the moment is the thickness of material we'll need, but we're working on it."

  Harris chuckled. "If I know you,
you're loving all this."

  "I can't deny that. If it keeps me busy, I'm happy."

  "So how long before you think we're out of the boiling cauldron here?"

  "Seriously? Six months minimum. There's just too much to still be put together. The station can fly, but it has no protection, and it's not set up for a lengthy journey. We can house a hundred thousand, but that means ten thousand trips to move us all. Add in the outer colonies and that means even more. Moving a billion people is no small task."

  "I guess I hadn't run the numbers for it. You have in the back of your head that it's this huge station so it can't take that many trips. Now I have to ask why we're expending the effort on it."

  "We need to learn. My team wasn't certain we could build a wormhole generator that would allow us to jump something that big. Now that we know we can, construction can start on a ship to house a hundred million at a time. Same diameter, only twenty kilometers long. It’ll still be a tight fit, but we only have to travel for three weeks."

  "Twenty-three days, but yeah. So why are we adding shields?"

  "It's a platform where we can house our people and conduct live experiments. We already have hundreds of freighters outfitted for her docks. Nothing more than a faster method of understanding the Crissen tech."

  "And the lasers?"

  "That would be the President. He has a wild idea of turning that into some immense battle station. He thinks, why fly ten thousand ships when you can put that many lasers on the one? It's his people and his crews, so I'm letting him run with it."

  "Too bad we can't make use of the stasis pods for this move."

  "A three week journey is not long enough for those to be useful."

  "Just as a hypothetical, how long do you think it would take to build a billion stasis pods?"