Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers

by Rusty Williamson

  “The most effective weapons for space warfare against what we believe we will face will be kinetic weapons, laser or maser beam weapons and high explosives. Let’s talk first about all those iron asteroids you collected.”

  Adamarus smiled, “Well, after spending ten years collecting them, I’m glad to see that they may be useful in some way.”

  Chapter Sixteen – Public Disclosure

  “Your species is currently in the Omicron state; you are just becoming aware of the speck particles and their nature and still rely on the scientific methods for advancement. We are in the Sigma State; we have translated a significant percentage of the data from the strings—about twelve percent—but we know how to use very little of it.”

  The Loud Named Bugs

  Opening Speech, 23rd Amular Symposium on Quantum Physics

  Source: The Archive

  Shelly White was secretly brought in by the team to handle the flow of information though the news media and to help in other ways. For now she would only be a member of the “outer circle” – that is, she was told of the destruction of the Loud’s home system, but not told of the approaching alien ship.

  She went right to work with Woodworth, Jan and the PR group to help them work out the short- and long-term ideas for breaking the news to the public. She kept her job as anchor-woman with the prime video network; her value as a member of “the team” demanded this. She accomplished this by going virtual and doing the show from whatever location she was at.

  While it was true that knowledge of the approaching alien ship could be withheld for perhaps a long time by saying they had just detected it, every day that the truth about the destruction of the Loud’s home system was withheld made the situation that much worse. It was the reason for the Loud’s early return, so every day was another day the government would have to say, “Yes, we knew, but chose not to tell you.”

  Woodworth, Jan, and the PR department already had plans in motion—a draft of the President’s speech was going through the final edits, however, the announcement that the President would address the solar system had not yet been made.

  It turned out that this was fortunate for it was Shelly White who came up with the finishing touch that was needed to insure success—the missing element that would set the stage for the President’s shocking announcement. After all, this was a part of her job and, of course, she herself would host it.

  The Special Report she would do was called “How Can We Thank You?” and, with Shelly and her staff working around the clock, it was put together in mere days. Advertising for the special started at once, blitzing the planet and all the space habitants across the solar system. The Special’s sole purpose was to generate gratitude and friendship toward the Loud.

  It was an unqualified success. Ninety-two percent of the population watched the first airing, and the second showing a week later got the rest.

  “How Can We Thank You?” reminded everyone that the Loud had not only come across the light years in friendship and peace, but had also saved the life of Captain Adamarus Maximus, one of their most beloved national heroes. At first Adamarus would have nothing to do with playing “beloved national hero,” but the President reminded him that everyone had to do their part and it wasn’t always something that one liked. Like it or not, right now he would play the part of the beloved national hero.

  The documentary also reminded everyone that, after saving Adamarus, the Loud had released every single person in the system from sickness, old age, pain and suffering—the Loud had given them everlasting life. As if this was not enough, they had gone on to solve the problems of how to feed, house and provide power for the increased population that would follow.

  The Special Report also showed the layered farms of the second moon, the improved and newly built power stations, and the new off-world settlements on the other planets, their moons, and the orbital platforms. It showed the technological advancements the Loud had shared, and hinted at what the trade agreement would mean for their civilization. (Of course, the general public did not yet know that there would be no one to trade with.) The show was a spectacular hit.

  The day after the second showing of “How Can We Thank You,” the President’s upcoming special address was “leaked” to the press. Then three days later, the formal announcement made it official, pretty much standard operating procedure. The address would take place in one week, but the subject of the special address was a closely held secret.

  The news media – nudged and spurred on by Shelly White – fanned the fires with daily speculation on what the subject could be. By the day of the special address, the solar system had been whipped into a frenzy of anticipation and curiosity.

  ---

  The interplanetary science craft, Solar Quest, had departed Anderson eleven weeks ago and had traveled 180 million miles at full power to the inner system. Now its massive and jumbled form sped a hundred miles above the formless black surface that was Cinder’s dark side. Half a dozen other ships were also racing towards the planet, but the next closest was still days away.

  Decelerating as she sped through the emptiness above Cinder’s surface, the Solar Quest made her way towards the dark and deserted Hideaway Shipyards. Thirty-four years ago, the yards and thirty battleships had been emptied, sealed, and left running on minimal power, and no one had entered those vast frozen structures since.

  The Solar Quest was one of the newer research ships with a forward science station located above the cockpit. This forward station had a large view port that actually afforded the scientists a better view than the pilots. Facing the large view port were five seats evenly spaced behind an arched upper and lower instrument panel—each seat had a standard access and control console.

  Evelyn was sitting to the left of Brandon who had taken the center seat. On the other side of Brandon, Leewood was working intensely at the console.

  The giant installation was still too far away to see, though its image showed on radar. Brandon leaned back in his seat and sighed. “ETA forty-eight minutes,” he said, looking over at Evelyn. His smile was infectious and she smiled back and winked at him. They were both excited; they were coming home. Brandon unbuckled his safety harness. “I’ve got to get some coffee. Want… ?” he asked.

  Evelyn shook her head. “I’ll pass. I’m already bouncing off the walls.”

  Brandon made his way back and out the hatch, passing Harrington who was on her way in.

  Evelyn leaned back and ran her hand through her hair, re-clipping it back and out of her face as Harrington took the seat to the left of her. “How’s everything going?” Harrington asked.

  “Good, I guess.” Evelyn leaned forward to resume work. “At least the control center computer is talking to us now. Speaking of which…how did you get it to boot?”

  Harrington shook her head and said “Well, don’t spread it around…or I’ll lose my rep as the gal with the magical touch…” She wiggled her fingers.

  “Oh, heaven forbid.” Evelyn deadpanned in a flat voice.

  “Actually,” she leaned in and whispered, “when I tried it, it just came up and started working.”

  “That magic touch.” Evelyn shook her head in mock wonder.

  Harrington just lifted her head and smiled. She extracted her PDA from her work suit and plugged into her control console which came to life. A check list scrolled up on her display. “It must feel strange coming back after all these years,” she said as she settled into the seat and attached the safety harness.

  “Ominous is more like it.”

  Harrington glanced up at the central radar image which showed the Hideaway structures and battleships, “Not much longer now.”

  “Alright,” Leewood said as he hit the Enter key with a flourish. "Sphere-bots are ready to go.” He leaned back and cracked his knuckles, then reached up and pushed an icon on the overhead bringing the long-range scanner feed up on his console.

  “Oh,” Evelyn rolled her eyes and looked over at Harrington, �
��it was Brandon and I who spent three weeks programming them,” she thumbed at Leewood, “while bot-jock here...what? Pressed Enter accepting defaults, waited one hour, and looked at a one-page output?”

  Leewood put on a hurt look, “Actually…I haven’t checked the output yet…but I will.” Obviously it was time to change the subject. “President Wicker will be telling everyone about the Loud in about half an hour. I, for one, am glad I’m out here.”

  Harrington grunted. “We’ll get his speech out here about a half hour later.”

  Evelyn leaned back, “Frankly, I’m with the Commander—glad I’m out here. There’s no telling how the public will take news like that.”

  “Woodworth believes he can tell,” Leewood said as he frowned at his display. He pushed another icon switching the long-range sensor feed to the central 3D hologram which materialized in front of the large view port. He scratched his head and studied it. “I think it will go alright.” He slid his finger across the magnification control. “Shelly’s special report…” Leewood stopped in mid-sentence and leaned forward. “Hello? Here we go!” Leewood said enthusiastically. Everyone looked up at the hologram as Leewood zoomed in further. Three ships came into view. “We’re picking up more of our party.”

  Harrington said, “Looks like the transport and supply ships.”

  Evelyn smiled, “Right on time.”

  “I’ll hail them,” Leewood said.

  It took minutes for a reply to come back. During this time Brandon had returned. Leewood put it on speaker.

  “Solar Quest, this is Captain Horn of the Wayward Voyager. Also with us are the Wanton Traveler and the carrier Madonna. Good to hear from you. Everything here is all-green and, we’re about…oh, two days out. Glad you made it with the keys to the castle. To have come all this way and be locked out would have been a drag, even though we could have waited a good while with all the supplies we’re packing.” The Carrier Class ship Madonna was packed with fuel, tools, food and all the supplies the shipyards would need for perhaps a year. “Anyhow…that’ll give you time to vent the air and start the heaters. Be seeing you soon, Wayward Voyager out.”

  ---

  The Presidential Seal on a saturated blue background appeared for thirty seconds on billions of video screens around Amular as well as millions more off-planet, delays depending on distance. Then the Seal slowly faded and President James Olson Wicker appeared standing behind a stylish podium, which also carried the Presidential Seal. He wore a dark blue suit, white shirt and red tie. His expression was serious. “My friends…my fellow citizens…” rang out from video screens across the solar system.

  ---

  Despite the air conditioning, the Hall of Congress was quite warm and he was thankful for the anti-sweat shot that had been administered by his physician. The President had known about the heat yet he still had arranged for this location for a number reasons: one was so that he could have a crowd of people in front of him and not just a camera; another was because although the lighting setup here generated a little too much heat, it allowed him to see his audience and not just blinding spotlights. He listened to, “My friends…my fellow citizens…” echo through the large room before continuing. “…today I come to you with grave news.” He paused a beat. The presidential podium was located in the center of the raised congressional leadership platform, the centerpiece of the Hall of Congress. There was also a tactical element involved in his decision to address the full congress; when he delivered the news to the world and the off-world settlements – for those out there assigning blame and making accusations, the President would not be standing there alone, he’d have the entire congress by his side…at least physically.

  In front of him were dozens of microphones—surrounding the platform, dozens of cameras—the broadcast was going out to everywhere in the solar system. Behind him were the congressional leaders and the leaders of the military.

  “We must ask for your forgiveness;” he continued in a strong voice, “forgiveness for keeping this dire news from you for so long. We have known since the early return of the Loud ships. The Loud asked us to withhold this news for a time, and how could we say no?” This was not exactly true, in fact, not even close, but it had been Bugs who had suggested the excuse and it did seem a perfect one.

  “We owe the Loud so much. We owe the Loud everything.” President Wicker’s voice broke a little and his eyes watered – in this he had no need to fake anything. He hung his head for a second, then cleared his throat and looked back at the camera. At this point he had the total attention of every person in the solar system. He had all 13.7 billion leaning forward on the edge of their seats and he knew it. He could feel it.

  Despite his best efforts, his lower lip quivered just barely as he continued, “The reason that the Loud ships returned early was that, on their way out, they encountered another one of their ships that was en route here from their home system. That ship had left their planet and headed towards the three ships that they knew were here.” Wicker looked up and around. “They sent this ship as a precaution because they had detected a powerful alien presence headed towards their world. Sadly, that precaution turned out to be justified.”

  Everyone in the hall was leaning forward on the edge of their seats. The President took a long deep breath. “It is my sad and solemn duty to inform you that sixteen months ago, the Loud’s home world suffered an unprovoked surprise attack by an unknown alien force. The Loud’s home world was completely destroyed.” Gasps echoed through the chamber. “We know this because the Tachyon scope we have in orbit – another gift from the Loud – has showed us. Tachyons travel faster than light and this orbital scope allows almost instantaneous monitoring of powerful, or wide spread, events. The Loud sun has exploded—every planet in their solar system…vaporized. Of course…” but the President was interrupted as pandemonium broke out. Wicker looked down and nodded to himself. People were gasping…crying…the noise continued to grow. He picked up the glass of water and took a sip. His hand shook. He set the glass back down.

  Finally, he lifted his hands about to restore order, but amazingly, before he could say a word, all the noise and commotion dropped off except for the low sound of weeping from several quarters. “Of course, the light from these events will take 112 years to reach us.”

  A wave of dizziness passed over the President. He closed his eyes for a long moment, then opened them again. “The Loud have informed us that, except for the Loud here in our system, their race is…” again his voice broke, “…extinct.” He paused to let that sink in as well as to compose himself. The hundreds within the large hall as well as the billions throughout the solar system were in total shock. He continued, “I have, of course, told the Loud that they are, and will always be, welcome here. We can do no less.” He paused to turn a queue card.

  The stunned audience remained frozen for several seconds, then one person stood and started clapping, then another and another and the applause quickly turned into a roar. Everyone was standing up. The President looked up somewhat surprised. He calmed the audience. They returned to their seats and he continued, “The destruction of their home world was due to their sun exploding. However,” his voice rose and gained strength, “it started with the unprovoked attack by this unknown species. Since their sun was still young, we can only conclude that this hostile alien force somehow caused enough damage to their sun for it to destabilize and explode.”

  The President looked across the assembly trying to gauge the mood. Every mouth hung open. He continued, “The Loud know nothing about this alien species: who they are, where they came from or why they attacked. However, you can rest assured that as soon as we heard of this tragedy, we started ramping up our own defensive capabilities. The Loud, with their advanced science and technology, have agreed to help us.” Wicker sensed, almost smelled, panic spreading through the audience – they were just realizing what his last words implied. He hurried onward, “These aliens will probably never come here, but if they
do pay us a visit, we’ll be prepared.” Applause exploded through the hall, quickly replacing most of the panic. It quickly turned into another standing ovation. Wicker sensed that a good level of panic and fear still remained just under the surface. Good, the President thought. He would need massive funds approved for the defensive build-up.

  The President continued, “The Loud, who have not had an armed conflict in thousands of years, had no defensive capabilities, none at all.” He paused briefly, his eyes holding the cameras, to let all the implications of that sink in. He looked down at the people packed just outside the door and beyond. “Therefore, this attack on the Loud’s home world went completely unopposed.” His voice rose, “Such will not be the case if they ever come here. The Loud…” -- applause interrupted President Wicker and he waited for it to die down. He continued, “As I mentioned, the Loud with their advanced scientific knowledge, estimated to be about a thousand years ahead of us, have agreed to help us improve our defensive capabilities, and I can assure you that once in place, we will be able to repel any attack made on us.” Again the chamber erupted with applause.

  The solar-system-wide address went on for another five minutes with overviews of what was being done and more assurances that the people had nothing to fear. That the aliens used a ship powered by a black hole big enough to span the distance between their planet and the sun, and that it was headed straight for them at almost the speed of light, was not revealed—that news would be released later and in small doses to soften the blow.

  ---

  The five giant slivers of stone stood in the cold blackness of space in mute tribute to the foresight and ingenuity of their creators. Back dropped by the jet black horizon of Cinder, which was starkly outlined by the brilliant shimmering specks of solar wind soaring upward, the featureless black silhouettes, five miles tall and one mile wide, looked like fingers reaching out for the stars. They had been nudged here from the Aster Trojan points; the forward point providing three of them, the other two from the trailing point. It had taken seven years to convert them into the largest shipyards that Amular had ever constructed.