Resurrection: Book II: Settlement Chronicals

by W. J. Rydrych

  January 17, Year 35 . . . .

  After the first sighting the day before the three objects the analysts on Alpha 2 had confirmed were spaceships had been removed, and were no longer visible. Everything on the other side was quiet, with no sign of life. The twelve large buildings were, they confirmed, each large enough to hold 2-3 of the spaceships noted earlier parked nearby. It was speculated the actual hangers for the spaceships were underground, with the surface buildings housing elevators. In addition, numerous signs of what appeared to be entrances to subsurface structures were present a distance from the buildings.

  Yitzhak was fully aware of what this meant. They were effectively locked in orbit around the moon, lacked the power to maneuver, and it could take several orbits at full acceleration to break free of the moon's gravitational field, during which time they would be easy targets. While the Israel had weapons in the form of the laser cannons it had never been constructed with warfare in mind, and even though the hull was double-walled and capable of withstanding small meteors, weapons fire was another matter. After discussion with base, Yitzhak had been ordered to break orbit and attempt to return before the aliens intervened.

  Acceleration had now begun, and, if everything went as scheduled they should break free of the moon's gravitational field following the next pass around the moon’s back-side.

  A short time later . . . .

  Ahead the line where the darkness of the near side changed abruptly to the brightly lit back side rapidly approached, the sun came into view, and they were about to enter the radio blackout area; with the area of alien construction still blocked by the moon’s curvature. Soon, however, a swarm of objects appeared directly in their path which, as they neared, enlarged to show several dozen spaceships. Nothing could be done to change the Israel's path, and within minutes they would pass through where the swarm was at it’s thickest.

  Yitzhak sat tensely watching for any action on the part of the blocking force. He didn't plan to be the instigator of the battle; if attacked he felt they stood little chance of escaping undamaged in any case. Their only weapons were the three laser cannons, and, if attacked, they would do as much damage as possible. With that in mind he ordered all the laser cannons targeted on the structures on the surface, since destruction of only a few of the alien ships would be pointless. The greatest damage they could hope to inflict was to isolate the alien fleet from its base.

  The Gath pair commanding the squadron sat in the ship’s darkened control room observing the huge wheel shaped ship bearing down on them. They estimated the diameter of the spinning wheel at over a kilometer, dwarfing their own 30 meter long ships. Earlier they had been given orders to lift off with their squadron and take a position blocking the path of the Alpha-2 ship and destroy it. But now that they saw the ship for the first time it wasn't clear how they could prevail over something that big. Raising his hand, the male Gath did a final adjustment to put the ship in optimum firing position, watching the display as the balance of the squadron followed suit. Soon the other squadrons also began similar maneuvers. Glancing over, he gave a sign to his mate to issue firing orders to the balance of the squadron. As the Israel began to pass through the alien fleet firing commenced.

  While the Israel managed to pass through the Gath blockade and make it safely to the moon's near side the damage had been severe. But the one thing they couldn’t survive had happened; the engines had been seriously damaged and all engines were off line. Without engines they could no longer break free from the moon’s gravitation and would pass through the opposing fleet on each succeeding orbit. As they passed from the moon’s radio shadow to the near side, Yitzhak ordered all the data they had accumulated dumped via a rapid transmission back to Alpha 2, and Alpha 2 notified of their situation. All pods except the control pod were ordered evacuated, including the engine pod at the axle of the wheel, and all bulkhead doors closed to attempt to protect the control pod from decompression.

  Now, with the full crew gathered in the control pod, everyone tense at their posts, Yitzhak watched as the alien fleet again became visible in the front viewer. There appeared to be even more alien ships than before, indicating they were still capable of bringing reinforcements from underground. The alien ships, while small, had proved to be well armed with projectiles with explosive warheads in addition to weapons very similar to the laser cannons of the Israel. They had only escaped before because of the combination of surprise and the short time they had been in the fleet's firing range, plus the accuracy of the alien weapons appeared marginal.

  With a grim smile Yitzhak thought that, if he had been in command of the alien fleet they would never had escaped on the first orbit; the alien fire had been erratic and poorly targeted. He had made sure he had transmitted that opinion to Alpha 2, since it might serve them well in the future. In spite of the shortcomings of the aliens the futility of attempting to stave off the inevitable was clear. Yitzhak ordered both remaining laser cannons targeted on the what remained of the surface construction; they would do all the additional damage they could, which might at least succeed in immobilizing the alien fleet, giving Alpha 2 more time to prepare.

  But they never reached the alien fleet blocking their path, or came within range of the ground installations. An emergency buzzer sounded, and one of the crew called out, "hull breach," as a weakened area of the inner hull near the front of the control pod gave way, the rupture expanding in a rapid decompression. The air in the control room rushed toward the opening, carrying any loose items along, including the crew.

  January18, Year 35 . . . .

  Kevin had just left the tense meeting in which the fate of the Israel was disclosed and plans initiated for a final defense if needed. What was obvious from the data transmitted by the Israel was that they confronted not the advanced species that had temporarily been present here, but most probably the less advanced species from Beta 3. The colony had been placed on a war footing, with all resources dedicated to preparing a defense; including preparing for evacuation of the major population centers to the countryside and building of underground shelters. A War Council was established, with Takai at its head, to take charge of all aspects of the defense, with Kevin as his assistant.

  Preparations went on around the clock, as the dust cloud around the moon thickened.

  On the moon above . . . .

  Activity was uncharacteristically rapid. Destruction of the surface structures had delayed reinforcement, with many of the arriving ships unable to land. The nearby terrain was too rough to allow landing, and until the landing pads were repaired could only remain in orbit. No matter, while the orbiting ships could be seen from Alpha 2, their presence here was no longer a secret anyway. It would be several months before the damage could be repaired and the assault begun. While they had prepared a landing area for resupply ships, with the destruction of the elevators they were unable to move ships to or from the underground hangers.

  The Gath weren't normally an aggressive race. Wars and warfare were an unknown concept, since the Gath never fought among themselves. They had established their base on the moon simply as their assessment of what was the best approach, and the resources necessary, to claim the planet below. It was a reasonable solution to a specific problem; how to acquire space for their excess population. If they planned to populate the planet with Gath, first they must eliminate the indigenous population. The same applied to the destruction of the Alpha 2 spaceship. When it started to orbit the moon and pass over their base they felt it might interfere with their plans, so required destruction. A simple, logical decision. But then, the mind of the Gath always sought the simple, logical choice.

  The results of their confrontation with the spaceship, with the resulting destruction of their surface buildings, had been a shock to the Gath. The thought that there were two sides in each battle was, of course, part of the equation, but now the actuality had reached home. For the first time in the long history of the Gath they had been in battle and suffered losses of li
fe and property. With that actuality didn't come anger, which was too strong an emotion for Gath. But it did arouse their interest. But for now, the plan first called for conquest of Alpha 2; once that was complete disposition of any remaining occupants could be considered.

  Changing the viewer, Gath-Tuk-1 watched as a supply ship dropped to a soft landing on the temporary landing pad. Much larger than the small attack ships the supply ship was limited to its role of bringing supplies and fuel from Gath. The small Gath attack ships and troop carriers for landing troops on the planet were the only ships permanently based on the moon and designed to operate both in space and in the atmosphere present on Alpha 2. Larger troop ships, each with hundreds of heavily armed and armored Gath, were on their way, or already in orbit waiting orders to begin their descent to the base.

  In retrospect, the action near the moon could work to their benefit. They had planned to start the attack within the next few months in any case, and now the unknown of facing the immense starship of the aliens had been resolved. They had never counted on surprise in any case; they had assumed for years that the inhabitants knew they were here.

  CHAPTER 20: Invasion

  (May 25, Year 35): Kevin stood with Jose Ortega on the fog shrouded VLV landing pad watching as the last of the fuel was loaded. During the night the storm had stopped, leaving behind an eerie calm. As soon as refueling was complete, if the weather held, he'd be on his way to New Orleans. Kevin had been here at Atlantia, on the Protean Archipelago, for two days going over final plans for the their defense and the relocation of refugees with Jose Ortega, governor of the islands.

  When the taskforce had been formed earlier it had been decided the archipelago would be the final refuge for the colonists if their position on the mainland became untenable; their 'end game'. It was assumed the Gath would concentrate on consolidating their position on the mainland before spending effort on the islands, giving the archipelago time to prepare. Plus, with time to prepare, the islands would be much more defensible than their exposed positions on the mainland. With the thousands of islands varying from small atolls to large mountainous and heavily wooded islands, the archipelago provided an ideal refuge.

  Ever since the loss of the Israel evacuation of non-essential persons from the mainland had been underway, with heavy equipment brought in along with work crews to construct underground caverns for sheltering both key facilities and colonists. These facilities were scattered in remote, nearly inaccessible areas of the islands, far from potential alien landing zones. In addition their fleet of small boats for inter-island transportation was being expanded; initially about a dozen small fishing boats had been available, but now more than a dozen more were nearing completion. The population itself was being scattered over the more mountainous, forested islands, making their detection difficult.

  A large amount of communication gear had also been transferred from the mainland to make coordination of this dispersed population possible, including a narrow-band, high power transmitter for contact with Earth. The wooded terrain, both above and below ground, would become the final refuge. But much more than just dispersal and hidden facilities was required to make this strategy viable. Arming and training of the adult population was essential and was underway. The hope was that, with the rest of the continent at their disposal, the Gath wouldn't consider conquest of the archipelago worth their time and effort, particularly if they were stung on their early attempts.

  Getting to Atlantia had taken nearly a week of Kevin's time, first the VLV jump to New Orleans, then a storm-tossed trip on the Sea Witch. The Sea Witch, heavily loaded with supplies and colonists, had taken six days to make the balance of the trip, including the stop to establish a supply base on an isolated atoll. The 12,000 kilometer distance between New Orleans and Atlantia was only made possible for VLVs with intermediate refueling stops, which were being established wherever possible. The mission of the Sea Witch had been establishment of two refueling depots, and then offloading the balance of its load and the colonists here at Atlantia, and Kevin had just hitched a ride.

  Of the roughly 17,000 colonists and 4,000 Torgai only 1,500 colonists and no Torgai occupied the islands at the beginning of the emergency. Now the human population had more than doubled and over 300 Torgai had been transported. An emergency evacuation, if ordered now, could handle only a fraction of the population; but with the refueling stations the VLVs could supplement that substantially.

  Kevin had intended to spend a full week inspecting the relocation centers and underground installations under construction around the various islands, but just hours before he had received the flash message from New Orleans to return immediately by the fastest possible method, which was by VLV. The message said a large number of spacecraft had left the moon and were headed for Alpha 2, estimated to arrive in a little over 48 hours; the VLV, with two landings for refueling, would take nearly 15 hours, putting him in New Orleans well before they arrived.

  As soon as the message arrived Kevin had called Jose and ordered the plan to disperse the island population into effect, including evacuating Atlantia itself. Since most of the equipment had been moved in the preceding weeks and only essential personnel remained, this could easily be completed before any attack started.

  Kevin had also contacted the commander of the Sea Witch ordering an immediate return to the mainland to either start another evacuation run or head for its pre-planned hiding place, depending on the situation. It had taken less than an hour to round up the crew and cast off, and the Witch was now well at sea; but at full speed it would take a little over five days for the trip. That might or might not allow time, since they expected the enemy ships to stay in orbit positioning themselves for at least a day or two before starting the attack. In any event, the initial targets were likely to be the cities, not a small, elusive ship.

  Early the next day . . .

  Kevin hadn't taken the time to shave or change, heading directly from the airport to the crowded operations center. As soon as he entered Mark called him over to where he, Takai, and Sophie were grouped in front of a set of displays.

  "Any change?" Kevin asked, "I haven't had news since I left yesterday morning."

  Sophie pointed to the display, "the first wave of about 120 ships should arrive late tomorrow. The second wave of roughly 120 more four hours later." Glancing over at Kevin, "you probably didn't hear, since you had already left Atlantia, but there was also a third wave of another 120 that should arrive the day after tomorrow."

  "Are they all the small ships Yitzhak encountered?"

  Sophie nodded, "yes, which means landings are unlikely yet, only bombardment."

  Takai glanced over at Kevin, "I hope you got some sleep on the flight, because we need you to leave for New Athens as soon as possible. We'd like you to take over operations there."

  Kevin nodded, "OK, I'll leave as soon as I find out a little more about our situation. About an hour; I'll pick up a copy of the status reports and read them on the way."

  Takai took his elbow, and guided him toward the small conference room, "I'll brief you on where we stand. That should save some time."

  Entering the room Takai closed the door as Kevin went to the coffee urn for some coffee, then joined Takai where he slouched in a chair by the small table.

  "What are our chances?" he asked.

  Takai shrugged, "depends on what they use. Kelso had his people analyze the films of the moon fight to estimate the quality of their weapons. They had difficulty breaching the Israel, both with the explosive projectiles and their laser fire; but he thinks that if that's all they've got they can make a shambles of the surface construction but aren't likely to get the bunkers. With luck we can do enough damage to at least delay the invasion.”

  “But in the long run? Not much chance to hold the mainland if they persist."

  Takai continued, rubbing his eyes from fatigue, “for the short term, if we can keep the aliens decoyed into concentrating their fire on the cities most of the p
opulation should be able to make it to at least temporary safety; the cities are largely evacuated now in any case. Safe at least from the bombardment, but once they land it's a different matter."

  Kevin looked around as the door opened and Mark came in, went to the coffee urn to get himself a cup of coffee, and then took a chair at the table.

  Takai continued, "as soon as we noticed the Gath spaceships we ordered the Arrianne to make a run for the islands loaded with as much tooling and equipment for weapon manufacture as they could locate on short notice. Hopefully it'll reach safety before the attack. As soon as it unloads it's ordered to return. If the attack targets the cities first, which seems logical, it should have a good chance to make it back."

  Kevin looked confused, "the Gath?"

  Mark laughed, "that's right, you haven't been here. We've been monitoring their communications and, while we've had no luck in deciphering anything, the technicians noticed that all messages started with the sounds 'gath', followed by other sounds. It's most likely some form of salutation, so we started to call them the Gath; which is better than the neutral word 'aliens'"

  Kevin nodded, "makes sense."

  "How are things going on the archipelago?" Mark asked.

  "Very good," Kevin responded, "nearly all the population except some essential personnel is pretty well dispersed. I've brought a list from Jose of the key skills in short supply. Whoever's setting the priorities for evacuees should look it over. The underground factories are beginning to come on line and should be able to start light manufacture soon. I didn't get to tour the work sites as much as I wanted, since I got called back here, but Jose gave me a good briefing. We do, however, have to get them more heavy construction equipment. If we make another run with the ships we'll should make that a top priority."