Solstice 31: The Solstice 31 Saga, Books 1,2,3

by Martin Wilsey

  “It's your planet. Don't break it.” She said as they saw Stu fly over and quietly land on the pad.

  ***

  “Barcus, I was talking to Ben, the Memphis AI, about relativistic effects,” Po said as they laid together naked in their bunk.

  “Jesus, Po. Weren't you a slave that couldn't read a few days ago?” Barcus laughed and instantly regretted it, holding his belly.

  “Don't change the subject, and we'll talk about Jesus later, No body talks about him, but everyone mentions him. A. Lot.” Po shook her head to get back on topic.

  Barcus could feel the entire length of her naked body next to him.

  “Time is not constant? It will seem like only a few days, but it will really be nineteen months?” She asked.

  “Yes. And that won't even get us close to home just a tiny fraction. Most of the trip will be using FTL drives.” He confirmed.

  “Our weight will grow to infinity?”

  “Not our weight, our mass. Like the Harvesters, Iosin will provide a containment for the grapes, plates and drives while their mass is almost infinite.”

  “So the Grav-plates under our feet are controlled by adjusting the containment field not by controlling the gravity.” Po was getting aroused.

  Maybe the pain was not that bad...

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

  The Onion of Conspiracy

  “Barcus had insights that made the entire picture clear for us. It gave us a massive advantage really. Otherwise, we would have just walked back right into a meat grinder.”

  --Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Captain James Worthington tom, senior surviving member of the Venture deep space survey ship.

  <<<>>>

  “Let me get this straight.” Hagan said to Barcus quietly, “You know about the classified Echo Mission?”

  “Yes. I think I know the whole picture now.” Barcus sat down on a tool chest next to the strut where Hagan was working on the Memphis. He put his head in his hands with his elbows on his knees. “You can't tell Jimbo. A lot of people will die if you do.”

  Hagan looked over his shoulder, “Look, Echo inferred the same thing. Who else knows? I could be executed for this.”

  “Just me and Wex,” Barcus said, still holding his head not looking up. “She won't say a word, won't even speak to you in advance. About anything.”

  “You guys are killing me.” Hagan was whispering still bout angrily. “That Echo has two smart nukes. Not just smart, aware. I hate those. They autonomously decide when the best time to go off really is. Based on predetermined priorities. Set by SOMEONE ELSE!”

  He looked around again.

  “Wes, You ever study Temporal Physics?” Barcus held up his hand stopping him. “Yes. At MIT, I know. You thought it was all theoretical bullshit. You were in your everything is bullshit phase, except practical engineering. I know you remember Eve Lancaster.” Hagan's eyes went a little wide. “You ever tell me about her? Ever tell anyone about her?”

  Hagan just stared at him, incredulous.

  “She was a Temporal Physics major and was working on her Ph.D. thesis on temporal evidence verification.” Barcus stood slowly and moved closer, whispering. “She told you one day someone would approach you and know you had that conversation with her. And more to the point, know that she was fucking you in her car at the time.”

  Barcus paused in case he wanted to say anything. He was in shock.

  “You ever tell anyone that?” Barcus raised an eyebrow, “You ever tell anyone that that she got pregnant that night and had an abortion without telling you until after?”

  Hagan staggered backwards as if Barcus had struck him.

  “That isn't even the proof part. I could have gotten all that info from her.” Barcus moved closer again. “Did you ever tell anyone you were in love with her? That it is why you never had another serious relationship, ever sixty years later.”

  Hagan was in shock.

  “You ever tell anyone any of that?”

  Hagan's head began to shake side to side slowly. His full realization sinking in.

  “You will tell me one day, the whole story. And more. Even the embarrassing part.”

  ***

  Wex watched Barcus talking to Hagan by the front strut of the Memphis. She was high up on the old shell of the Maker, in the darkness.

  Jude spoke in the darkness, “Will he be a kind master?”

  “He will be far kinder than I.” Wex replied.

  “How do we serve a master that asks nothing of us? Requires nothing other than that he can do himself.” Cine replied.

  “Simply carry the same goals. It will be a lighter burden... soon.” Wex said.

  “Po will help you, and push you and show you the way,” Wex said. “She will show you ALL the way.”

  “She was made the best they could make her.” Jude's odd accent was thick again, “And they never knew.”

  “While they were distracted doing that they didn't notice their house was on fire,” Cine added.

  ***

  “Rand and Hume, please report to the Memphis main conference room. The Captain would like to speak to you.” Ben said formally over their HUD comms.

  “Acknowledged,” Rand said simply.

  They were together working with the grays that had just completed restoring the seals on the PT-137 quad shuttle.

  “Uh-oh. We've been called to the principal’s office. Now, what did we do?” Hume said.

  “I swear to god I haven't killed anyone all day.” Rand threw her hands up after she pressed the control and closed the gull wing door on the PT-137. The new seals sounded very differ different as the door compressed the last centimeter closed. Six gray spiders scrambled out just before the door closed.

  They began walking across the hangar toward the Memphis as they heard all the doors open again and more spiders crawled over the craft, inside and out.

  “Have you seen them stack up and make larger machines?” Hume asked as they walked, “They can assemble an approximation of a human. Creepy but they can stuff done fast.”

  “Hagan says they each have a Grav-cell inside. The Grape ones.” Rand said.

  “I am so glad I am not an engineer. This shit would creep me out even worse if I knew how complicated it really was.” Hume said as they ascended the ramp. The lights were bright in the dock, and the spiders were everywhere. The place had never been so clean. “The little bastards use dirt and debris as ingest for their mini fabrication units. Even the stuff they cut away. No waste.”

  “I swear if we gave them enough time they could eat this entire ship and make a whole other ship,” Rand said, but it didn't seem to amuse either of them.

  They entered the conference room, and Worthington immediately waved for them to be seated. He picked up his mug of tea for a sip but realized it was empty.

  “Hume, That was good work yesterday with the Warmark. Restraint. Good work.” Worthington rubbed his face hard with both hands. “Ronan wants one of the Warmarks. I cannot in good conscience leave one of those things here with him. The wrong person gets a hold of it, and they could burn down this entire planet.”

  “Ronan can already do that, sir. With nukes.” Rand noted.

  “Yes, I know. More reason to refuse. I want to know what you think of this compromise.” Jimbo gestured, and a list was projected of conventional weapons. “These are all simple projectile weapons. Enough to outfit two platoons.”

  Hume was studying the list, “Plus the PT-137 with the dual 10mm cannons.” She saw it in the list.

  “Yes. Air support.” Jimbo said waiting, “Your thoughts?”

  “This will make Ronan the most powerful man on this planet,” Rand stated flatly.

  “Not quite. I want to leave two Warmarks in our base at Salterkirk.” Jimbo finally got to the point, “Can you train Elkin, Ibenez, Tyrrell, Weston, and Shea to drive the damned things?”

  Without hesitation, both Rand and Hume said, “Yes, Sir.”

  Hume sai
d, “They will just need the HUD upgrade.”

  Rand added, “I recommend the upgrade for the whole team, sir. If there is an emergency, there will not be time.”

  “Hagan tells me these Warmarks have custom sensor packages and remote weapons control systems. I want Salterkirk to be a secure base of operations. The automated sentries are already in place. In case, we have to run.”

  “I have to warn you. These nanites are not gentle. You should have Shaw administer them in the med bay.” Hagan saw them both opening the tubes, “Seriously.”

  “We hear you.” Rand placed the injector to her neck at the same to Hume did and injected, “We will make that recommendation for the civilians... do you smell toast?”

  ***

  Rand woke up last.

  She was in the med bay. She turned her head to only find pain in that direction. Moving just her eyes, she saw Dr. Shaw's back.

  “I'm OK, really,” Hume said to Shaw as Rand tried to focus.

  “What was that?” Rand croaked through a dry throat.

  “That was you being an idiot. You fell and smashed your cheekbone on the railing.” Dr. Shaw turned from Hume to Rand and shined a light in her eyes one at time. “At least, you could have stepped off the apron and done it in low-G.”

  “Well, at least, we know what to expect so when the rest of the crew gets the nanites--” Rand started.

  “The rest of the crew is already done. Recovered. Back to work.” Shaw said.

  Hume was slowly sitting up. “Oh, man.”

  “Jimbo pissed?” Rand asked.

  “Actually, he didn't know it would happen either.” Shaw replied, “It could have just as easily been him. So you get a pass.” Shaw said.

  Rand realized she was naked, covered with a sheet.

  “How long.” She croaked. “...was I out.”

  “It was about thirty hours.”

  “I need to pee,” Hume said.

  Shaw set a pile of folded clothes down for Hume and then one for Rand.

  “There are few additional things you need to know about this HUD upgrade. It has a dedicated, hardware based encryption interface to the ECHO AI. And a full time connection.” Shaw said. “It's damn handy if you don't care about privacy. I am finding it very useful because it has full time bio-monitoring of the whole team, and the ECHO has made me the units medic. I even know you are hungry without even scanning you.”

  “Echo, do you have overview capability briefings?” Rand asked absently.

  “Yes, Rand. I do.” Echo replied, confirming the full time presence. Rand was surprised that her voice was a soft spoken young female. “I'll let you get some coffee and food first.”

  Rand's bed rose to put her in the sitting position, she pulled a tank top over her head and slowly swung her legs over the edge.

  Shaw looked at them both, almost reluctant to speak, “I need to warn you about something. Warn you about the next time you see Barcus.”

  ***

  Rand walked into the mess hall on the Memphis with Hume right behind. She didn't expect to find anyone there.

  Barcus and Wex were both there. Fresh cups of coffee in front of them as if they were waiting.

  “I know, I know.” Barcus held up his hand as if to surrender. Wex rolled her eyes and smiled.

  Rand and Hume stared at them as if they were naked.

  “I presume Beth warned you?” Barcus said as he stood up.

  In their HUDs, he was highlighted. Initial Encounter silent alarms were activated in their vision. It was like they could see directly into his body. Is guts and nervous system were highlighted in red? His brain and lower intestines were detailed in high definition. Wex was completely highlighted.

  “What the hell, man?” Rand pounded her fists on the top of his shoulder and hugged him in a gesture that was one of old friends.

  “What the fuck is L-Matter?” Hume added as she retrieved two coffees.

  “Have you seen the briefing yet?” Barcus asked obviously already knowing the answer.

  “Give me the short version, asswipe.” And sipped her coffee.

  “It's difficult to explain in any version. It's Tech.” Barcus turned around like he was showing off a new suit, “L-Matter is the material the tech is made of. It's a kind of persistent nanites. Basically damaged cells are repaired at the atomic level instead of the cellular level. The replaced cells are more durable.” He looked at Wex as if making sure he had it right, “The L-Matter is somehow networked together also. It remembers the structure it has replaced.”

  “So if your brain is all L-Matter will you still be an asshole all the time?” Rand asked unable to hide her smile.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

  Weapons of Gravity

  “Lifeboat number four on the Memphis was actually a Black Badger Drop Ship. It was armed with weapons we had never seen before. If only the Black Badgers had survived. Maybe we would not have failed so utterly.”

  --Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Captain James Worthington, senior surviving member of the Venture deep space survey ship.

  <<<>>>

  “How the hell did lifeboat number four get re-fit onto the Memphis?” Rand asked as she and Barcus crossed the hanger.

  “The gray spiders each contain a controlled grav facilities. They all worked together to raise the boat. They even restored the anchors. Don't ask me how.” Barcus replied. They surveyed the side of the ship as Hume walked up with Hagan.

  “You guys need to come and look at the weapons inventory now that you have the ECHO upgrade.” Hagan was saying as Hume nodded.

  They were not standing in the lights and would be difficult to see unless they were back lit from the correct angle. They saw that Jude and Cine were working with several spiders on the top hull. Po came around the side speaking to them above. She did a vertical jump that took her straight up about nine meters to grab the edge and pull herself up with ease.

  Barcus turned back and noticed that conversation had stopped.

  Hume spoke first. “I'm a specialist in low gravity and zero-G combat.” Hume circled and pointed over her shoulder. “A low G jump like that is not that unusual, with training. Most people have a hard time to just not fall down when they walk.”

  “Me included,” Rand said

  “What is unusual us that she has an instant sense for the gravitational state she is in.” Hume circled around again, “Tell me you don't watch Jimbo every time he transitions to and from the apron, just hoping he will stumble?”

  They all laughed.

  “She can run from one to the other without missing a stride,” Hume said.

  “Cine and Jude can as well. They try and hide it, though. They watched us. They try to blend in. They already walk like Hume. I mean it's like a mimic. I'm not even sure they do it on purpose.”

  “It's how they were made.” Barcus was suddenly angry. “Let's see these weapons.”

  He marched to the ramp and paused at the transition to feel the gravity increase by a factor of six.

  Three minutes later they entered the Lifeboat Four hatch and turned left to the weapons room. All the remaining Warmarks were already loaded and in their individual docks.

  Ready racks were now deployed that were filled with a frightening array of various weapons of mass destruction.

  As Barcus slowly moved down the center aisle, he would focus on individual weapons and his new Heads Up Display would convey each weapons specs. Additional data in other windows would show the various ammunition options available and their capability.

  He reached the end of the rack and said, “What the fuck?” He picked up a carbine sized rifle on the end and looked up. “Is this right?”

  “We don't know.” Hume said, “Echo says it could destroy the whole moon base with one shot.” The weapon was labeled in his HUD as a G-rail. WARNING: Not for use in a moving ship or in atmosphere.

  Barcus slowly placed it back on the rack and secured it. He looked to an open space on the rack j
ust to the right of there. His head snapped back up to look at the others.

  “Where the fuck are the god damn smart bombs? The Nukes! Do not tell me that you actually assembled those fuckers?” Barcus was only surprised for an instant. He thought about it for a ten seconds.

  “Never mind.” He was shaking his head. “Everyone out. I need to talk to Echo alone.”

  ***

  Barcus was sitting in the pilot’s seat. The hatch had closed and was secured five minutes ago. “Echo. You already know how this part plays out. Just not the details. When this is all over, I want a full recounting of the events. You will do everything within your abilities to survive. All weapons hot. As you see fit.”

  “Yes, Barcus. Sir, I have a message for you from Miles.” Echo said in a preemptive tone.

  “I know.” Barcus said, “Do it.”

  Barcus lowered his face into his hands and placed his elbows on his knees. Preparing for the gut punch he knew was coming, had to come.

  “Just because these things you see will happen to you, does not mean you know the truth. You will want to believe you know the truth. You never will. Not the whole of it. There is no solving it because there is nothing to solve. There is only one more long white before the war is over. The small war will end the same day. He will never know you exist. Never know he was defeated. He will never know he died because he killed one woman in front of your eyes. He will never know that he was a fool that could be lied to. I'm sorry, Barcus. Just know, our wars will be done soon. Yours and mine.”

  Barcus wept there alone. For lost friends. For the deaths yet to come. The suicide he’d allow and even encourage. For himself in selfish doom. He knew he would. Knew he would feel it.