The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict

by Jeff Sims

  Crista was sitting in the pilot’s chair. She programmed the hyperspace course to Waylon, double checked it, verified the hyper-drive was on-line and okay, ran a simulation, and saw the results were positive. She stopped for a moment and said, “Lorano?”

  “Yes,” He replied.

  “Can those hyper communication satellites receive as well as transmit.” She asked.

  “Yes,” He replied.

  “Can they send a message to Earth?”

  “Yes again, with just a little programming,” He replied

  Carank said, “Crista, what do you have in mind?”

  She answered, “I think that we should use the hyper communication satellite to send a signal to Advranki Prime that we are on our way. That way they can meet us in Conron. As you three know, we really don’t want to get scanned at Advranki Prime.”

  Victor said, “Great idea. Why did you ask if the satellites can send to Earth and also to receive?” Then he nodded suddenly as if he had answered his own question.

  Crista replied, “Well, you can have Amy Weisman send you weekly updates about the status of the company and have an avenue for her to ask you questions. Also, we can give the pilots’ families an email address to send and receive letters.”

  Lorano said, “Computer, are there laws against sending humans emails?”

  …Scanning Alliance laws. The aforementioned law prohibiting communication with humans doesn’t explicitly forbid using hyper communication relays, but it could be inferred that communication with Amy Weisman is illegal, provided she knew Victor was an alien…

  Lorano said, “How about the pilots?”

  …Alliance law does state that all Alliance military personnel must have the ability to send messages to their loved ones, so creating an email route to Earth could be interpreted as specifically complying with the law once they are sworn in…

  Lorano said, “Fair enough. Computer, reconfigure a portion of the Victory Games email server as secretmission.gov. Then set up an email addresses for Victor, Amy Weisman, the twenty pilots, and the twenty listed next of kin. Make the format of the email address first name dot last name @ secretmission.gov.

  Lorano configured the secretmission.gov server to send emails to the hyper communicator once a week. He then programmed the hyperspace communicator located near Mars to send and receive emails with the above addresses.

  He then created a code packet that will reprogram the hyper communicator at the receiving end (he assumed in Solaria). It will rename the emails coming from Earth to use the standard Alliance format and forward them to the Alliance email network. It will also request any emails addressed to secretmission.gov and forward them to Earth.

  Finally he created a conversion program for Victor’s emails to Amy (and vice versa) to move the email back to the Victory Games primary email server and the pilots’ emails back to their relatives’ original email address.

  Victor tested it by sending Amy Weisman an email saying a final farewell and telling her to send him a weekly update on Victory Games. He told her that he will read every email, but that it may be months before he is able to respond.

  He reminded her that she is in charge of the company and needn’t wait for his response unless it is a long term strategy item that she feels needs his input. He considered, for legal reasons, telling her that he was not an alien, but decided against it at the last moment.

  Lorano wrote an email to the Alliance Senate and mailed it through the hyperspace communicator.

  Dear Sirs,

  I hope this message finds you well. We are thrilled to announce that we have completed our evaluation and are returning with the results safely stored in our hold.

  Perhaps you can send someone to meet us halfway. We will be there in three weeks from this message’s timestamp.

  The crew was confident that the message Lorano had sent to the Alliance Senate would arrive at Advranki Prime before them and that there would be a ship waiting to unload the humans. If not, they would have to gas the humans in Conron and dump the four flight simulators that had been built on Earth before jumping to Advranki Prime.

  Christ wrote an email for the twenty pilots to their next of kin.

  Dear (Next of Kin),

  I am sorry that I had to leave on short notice and that I didn’t get to say goodbye in person. I am joining / have been assigned to an exciting expedition that is out of this world.

  It is a top secret project, so please do not contact the government / military; they will deny it. I will be able to send and receive emails to this address (insert address). However, emails will only be forwarded weekly, so only write one email a week. Also, there may be a significant delay before I can respond.

  Love, (Insert Name Here)

  Victor said, “Everything is secure. Can anyone think of anything else we need to do?” The other three shook their heads, so Victor said, “Engage.”

  Crista pressed the button to engage the hyperdrive. It was time to leave Earth.

  Chapter 10

  Frank was relaxing in his bath of sea grass when he received a priority hail. He promptly ignored it. It was critical for Frank to ensure that he was properly exfoliated before resuming work. He knew without question that whoever it was on the other side of the hail would wait until he finished his grooming process.

  Frank finished the bath, showered, and checked for gray hairs. He didn’t have any. He did note that he had an eyebrow nearly a millimeter longer than its surrounding neighbors. He pulled out his laser shears and corrected the annoying follicle. He grabbed his laser level to perform the same check on his hair, but put it back down. It was a priority hail after all.

  The Hiriculan Ambassador Bline stormed into his office, clearly upset at having been kept waiting for 35 minutes. He said, “Senator Frank, I read this news press about the Earth – Conron hyperspace lane being accidentally corrupted. What do you take me for, an idiot? I know it was intentionally closed.”

  Frank thought, no time for the smile, best to go straight to the story. He and Korno had rehearsed the story in the event the ambassador visited them separately. He said, “Ambassador Bline, I was told I had a visitor, but I wasn’t told who it was. I apologize. If I knew it was you, I would not have kept you waiting.”

  Ambassador Bline responded, “Well, be sure to discuss the issue with your staff. I do not want to be forced to wait a second time.”

  Frank said, “Noted, and again I am personally sorry for the delay.” Actually, if he had known, he probably would have finished checking his hair for wayward strands.

  Frank said, “I got the exact same report that you did. It appears that the drilling company accidentally split a moon in half and it hit another nearby moon. This moon was on a collision course with the space station and had to be destroyed by the Alliance military. It is a tragedy.”

  Ambassador Bline responded, “The timing of this ‘accident’ seems a little too convenient to me.” Bline had stressed the word accident to make it sound like he thought the incident was anything but an accident.

  Frank said, “I agree. The original survey mission had already jumped to Earth before the incident. Now, they are effectively trapped on Earth.”

  Ambassador Bline must not have known this for he looked stunned. He said, “What are they going to do?”

  Frank replied, “I honestly don’t know. What would you do if you were trapped in a system with an indigenous race of people that hates all aliens and are known cannibals?”

  Ambassador Bline responded, “Maybe they can jump most of the way back and fly around the planetoid’s remains on impulse power. The disturbance should be localized to the first jump hour from Conron.

  Frank said, “Yes, you are probably correct. I bet that that is what they will try to do. I doubt it will work though, it seems too dangerous.” Frank really didn’t like that answer. He wondered if anyone could they really fly around the remains of the comet. “However, I really don’t know what the mission team is going to do. Ther
e are no protocols for this type of problem.”

  Ambassador Bline said, “Well, what are you going to do now.”

  Frank responded, “Well, I have already ordered the military to begin looking for a new route to Earth. We are going to start looking for a new route from Solaria.” It was the most logical choice to look, Frank thought. Plus, the planet was deep within Alliance territory and the Hiriculans would not be able to send a battle fleet to Earth without going through the Alliance first.

  As Bline was turning to leave, Frank stopped him by asking, “Tell me what you know of this latest incident.”

  Bline responded, “It was nothing, merely a simple misunderstanding.”

  Frank said, “It didn’t sound that way to me. My report stated that the hyperspace route to Neto is blockaded by a significant force of Hiriculan military vessels. Further, when the Alliance freighter requested permission to pass, it was ordered to turn around or be destroyed. Why has your government blockaded all access to Neto?”

  Bline responded, “Why did you close the hyperspace route to Earth?

  Frank smiled and said, “We didn’t. As I told you there was an unfortunate mining accident, nothing more. There certainly isn’t a fleet denying access to it.” That was, Frank noted to himself, a complete and utter lie. The two forts guarding the heretofore Earth – Conron hyperspace lane were probably the equivalent of the fleet the Hiriculans had guarding the route to Neto.

  Bline responded, “As I already told you. It was a simple misunderstanding. Any non- military ship with legitimate business in Neto will readily be allowed to pass.”

  Frank thought, the answer was in the detail – legitimate business. He surmised that no Alliance ship would have business deemed as legitimate. He said, “Tell me about the other incident. I understand an Alliance corvette was threatened and nearly fired upon when it tried to traverse the Hepitila system. It was ordered to turn around and its scanners were blocked by a destroyer.”

  Bline responded, “As I am sure you already know, the Hepitila system is considered Hiriculan space and the Alliance cruiser did not follow the protocols specified in the treaty. Plus, there are several other paths the ship could have taken. I am sure in these unsettling times that you don’t want Hiriculan battleships parading through Conron.”

  Frank was willing to give him that point. The Hiriculan government clearly owned that system, but they had previously allowed Alliance warships to pass through. Frank had heard rumors that the Hiriculans were building something in that system and had little doubt the Alliance cruiser had been dispatched by the Navy with hidden orders to spy on the system. He decided that they needed to send a ship big enough to perform a scan before being forced to leave.

  The ambassador left immediately after their discussion. Frank had noted that the Hiriculan had felt uncomfortable discussing the Hepitila system. Frank had the distinct feeling the ambassador knew something about the system and was hiding it.

  Frank checked his calendar. The Senate wasn’t in session today, so it was full of other events. Later that afternoon he had to make an appearance at the grand opening of a new mall.

  Just then Frank received another message marked urgent. It was addressed to every member of the Alliance Senate and it had the highest possible encryption. Frank said, “Computer, engage privacy screen. Decode and show the message on my pad.”

  …Now showing message…

  Frank read the email twice to ensure he understood it. Despite the heavy encryption, it has also been cleverly worded to give precise information, but actually say nothing. It wasn’t signed, but Frank knew it had been written by Lorano. Frank wondered how Lorano was able to send a message. He thought for a moment then the answer became obvious. Lorano and Carank were geniuses; they probably built a hyper communication satellite.

  He mentally translated each sentence. I hope this message finds you well – we made it to Earth okay. We completed our evaluation … safely stored in our hold – they have the 20 pilots. We are returning – now that one was interesting. Clearly Lorano must know the hyperspace lane is closed. If he plugged in the coordinates and ran a hyper simulation, it would result in a failure. However, he knew Lorano, if he was saying that he was returning; then he was returning. Perhaps the hyperspace lane wasn’t as closed as he thought.

  The next sentence was obvious. The crew didn’t want to return to Advranki Prime. He quickly realized why. They would get scanned and everyone in traffic control would see there were 20 humans aboard the ship. He was suggesting meeting halfway, or more precisely somewhere where they wouldn’t be scanned. The only place he could think of was the entry / exit point to the hyperspace lane in Conron. The final sentence said when. Three weeks was about the standard transit time from Earth to Conron, so that made sense.

  Frank did some quick mental math and didn’t like the answer. He said, “Computer, assuming the timestamp is correct, when would a cruiser have to depart Advranki Prime to meet a ship at the Conron hyperspace lane to Earth?”

  …The message took 15 days to arrive. It takes 7 days to reach the meeting point, so a ship would have to depart yesterday to beat it there…

  Frank said, “Computer, what is the breakdown of the 7 days?”

  …Three days for the jump and 4 days to traverse the system the Advranki and Conron systems. If the ship had priority clearance in Conron it could 1 day off of the in system journey and priority clearance in Conron could shave off a second day…

  Frank finished, “Meaning if a ship left by this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest it would arrive in plenty time for the rendezvous.” He continued, “Computer, enable maximum security and call Captain Solear.”

  …Security measures in place. Calling now. Connection has been established…

  Frank said, “Hello Captain, I hope you are well. Congratulations again on your recent mission. Are you sure the hyperspace lane is closed?”

  Solear answered without hesitation, “Yes.”

  Frank said, “Well, I have interesting news. I just received a message from Lorano.”

  Solear interrupted, “Are you sure?”

  Frank continued, “Positive. He stated that he has successfully obtained the cargo and will be in Conron in 8 days.”

  Solear said, “How could he, the lane is closed. We didn’t just close the entryway. We also fired plasma beams to cover the entire lane and we possibly exploded a moon or comet or something about a third of the way through the jump. I don’t see how he can jump. Or for that matter, how was he able to send you a message.”

  Frank responded, “I believe that he and Carank built a hyperspace communication device.”

  Solear said, “Yeah. I often forget just how smart those two are. Well, if anyone could find a way to navigate that hyperspace lane, I suppose it is those two.”

  Frank said, “Back to business. I am going to reassign your fighter pilots to another cruiser. I want you to proceed to Conron and pick up the 20 pilots. Then, I need you to travel to the Hepitila system. The Hiriculans won’t let Alliance warships traverse the system any more. I have a suspicion they are hiding something. I want you to go there and perform as good a scan as possible. We need to know what the Hiriculans are hiding.”

  Solear was stunned. He finally stammered out, “Okay, but why with those pilots.”

  Frank gave his second best smile (the one that gently upturned his nose, raised his eyebrows and was reserved only for over-the-top compliments). He said, “You are an excellent captain and have shown wisdom and patience in the face of the enemy. Also, you were at the Senate secret meeting and have the clearance to discuss the new pilots.”

  Even though they were on a completely safe and coded channel, Frank still couldn’t bring himself to say human. He continued, “Plus, I trust that you will truthfully and fairly evaluate the pilots. I have every faith in your ability to complete this mission.”

  Solear was now backed into a corner after the wonderful compliment. There was no way he could refuse now.
Solear said, “Thank you. I will begin planning at once.”

  Frank said, “Is there anything you need that I can help you with?”

  Solear said, “Actually, yes, there is one thing. I have a small problem. Alliance Navy regulations prohibit a cruiser from starting a mission with fewer than 30 beings aboard. When the pilots leave, I will only have 29. I have been waiting for four months for the Navy to send a replacement for Carank*. Are we so shorthanded that there are no replacements?”

  *Clowy had a question about the requisition form for the new officer. She had been meaning to ask for clarification, but had forgotten about it. As a result, the form was never submitted to command.

  Frank responded, “I am not aware of any significant shortages. I will find someone for you. Prepare you ship. You must leave in a day tops, but preferably 12 hours from now.”

  Frank then said, “Captain Solear” and paused for a moment. When he was sure that he had the captain’s undivided attention he said, “The Hiriculans cannot discover that who is piloting those fighters. Just like the Hiriculans did in your earlier battle, we must engage the ‘Neto Protocol if necessary. There can be no remains left for the enemy to find. If a fighter is damaged and cannot return to the ship you will have to destroy it.”

  Solear said, “Understood. And thank you for this opportunity.”

  Cool, thought Frank. That was tidy. I just solved two problems at once. Frank then left for the grand opening of the mall.

  Frank was all smiles at the opening. He shook hands with as many people as he could reach and had a kind word or witty remark for each one. He loved events like this. During the opening speech Frank sat next to Colok, a rising local politician. Colok was currently a senator in the state government, representing this district. His next logical step was to represent this district in the world government.