Shards Book One

by Peter W Prellwitz

  "But the Earth government held them too tightly in check, and they rebelled. Using crude plasma drives, they aimed asteroids from the asteroid belt into the path of the Earth, turning them into guided comets.

  This allowed them to work with impunity, for they didn't need to wage battle directly. By the time it was discovered what had been done, dozens of these asteroids had been launched. They started to hit the Earth with alarming frequency. Nearly all of them penetrated the atmosphere. Most burned up when entering the atmosphere, releasing massive amounts of heat. A few survived and hit the Earth. Of course, it was nearly impossible to aim the things. They just had a general idea.

  "The result was all consuming terror for Earth. Whole cities, destroyed within minutes, without warning.

  The majority of deaths happened then, over 400 million. Even the misses that crashed into the oceans caused massive tidal waves and temporarily raised ocean temperatures and destroyed the currents. And the final injury were the primitive plasma drives themselves. There was no effort to reinforce the casings, so many times the plasma exploded on impact, irradiating the area and electrifying the air, burning huge holes in the ozone."

  I shivered from the descriptions. Such total, indiscriminate war. I tried to draw up a defense plan for the scenario,

  SCENARIO 1947588375 INDICATES THAT A FULL ORBITAL ATTACK ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET WILL RENDER THE PRIMARY MARTIAN CITY OF VERMILION 97% INEFFECTIVE IN ALL EIGHT KEY MILITARY AREAS, BUT ALLOW FOR A SURVIVAL RATE OF 38.86%, WHICH INDICATES THAT ASTEROID BOMBARDMENT OF EARTH CAN CONTINUE. SCENARIO 1947588376 INDICATES THAT A FULL ORBITAL ATTACK ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET, FOLLOWED BY A GROUND FORCE ATTACK OF 5,000 SHOCK TROOPS WILL RENDER THE PRIMARY MARTIAN CITY OF VERMILION 98.2% INEFFECTIVE IN ALL EIGHT KEY MILITARY AREAS, BUT ALLOW FOR A CITIZENRY SURVIVAL RATE OF 34.92% WHICH INDICATES THAT ASTEROID BOMBARDMENT OF EARTH CAN CONTINUE. SCENARIO 1947588377 INDICATES THAT A FULL OR

  but was either too tired to come up with one, or one didn't exist. In a situation like that, even a plan that was ninety-five percent effective would still be a failure. Susie continued.

  "After the first three or four hits, Earth was ready for total response. They launched massive strikes against the colonies, and Mars lost two-thirds of its population, two million people, in one week. But a million survived, deep underground."

  I could picture the rest as she talked. It got nasty after that. What followed was unlimited warfare. They couldn't destroy the planet, so they had to go into the lair. In the meantime, only a relative few were needed to continue the offensive against the Earth by launching more asteroids. The asteroid belt is a big place, as is the Earth's orbit. By this time, Earth's defense forces had devised a method of destroying the larger asteroids. But there were too many, and the meteors continued, though fewer of them. Only the complete destruction of the Mars colony could cut the supply line of the comet launchers. And that's exactly what the Earth did. A terrible solution to a terrible war.

  "It was during the wars that emigration peaked. Before the wars, nearly a fourth of the world's population, two billion people, had emigrated to one of twelve open planets. In the sixteen years of the war, another two billion emigrated, even though only three more planets were opened to emigration.

  Since then, three dozen more planets have been discovered and settled, and another three billion have left. The Earth's current population is less than one billion, and has been that for over a century."

  "A void like that must have caused a collapse of the very fabric of Earth's society,? I commented. Just as Susie had a hard time dealing with my personal history from my perspective, I had difficulty dealing with a history of an entire planet that was in many ways still the future to me. Indeed, I had spent most of the day in a kind of daze, trying to cope with the overwhelming events of six centuries. I was still a little numb.

  "Collapse is putting it mildly. If there had not been a central government already in place, the entire planet would have fallen into an endless state of war. It almost did anyway. Those that remained after the wars and massive emigration did try to maintain order under the central government. By this time, even the superpowers had joined into the system, surrendering their nationalistic identities completely. It helped, but only a little. The people were ravaged by war, and despite justification carried the guilt of the utter extermination of the Martian colony. The ecosystem was gone, the polar ice caps were shattered and melting from bombardment, and hundreds of thousands of kilometers of land was now submerged.

  "It was at that time that NATech first became public. They had developed experimental technologies that took care of the two largest problems: the damage to the ozone and ice caps.

  "It was nearly a miracle. Within five years, NATech had managed to restore over eighty percent of both ice caps. And they completely repaired the ozone layer. And the biggest miracle of all was that they expected nothing in return. The government, nearly crushed by the debt of rebuilding, was grateful and accepted the service. Today that acceptance is taught, quietly, as one of the biggest mistakes of human civilization."

  "From what I've seen of NATech now, I'd have to agree,? I said.? My NATech would not have accepted payment either, but neither would they have made public their role. It was up to us to find the solutions, then ease them into the public conscience through our own scientists, marketing agencies or even unrelated resources."

  "It must have been wonderful, working for an organization so dedicated to the advancement of mankind.

  I wish it was still like that. But it's not. NATech was soon consulted for other solutions, which they always seemed to have. Their abilities were incredible.

  "Soon, NATech didn't wait for the questions, but volunteered solutions. They were given a permanent seat on the central government. Then they had veto power. It continued until 2422, when NATech assumed custody of the central government and began to model the agencies after their own structure.

  Soon, the civil servants became NATech servants. Then the military. Finally, the media. By 2461, NATech controlled the Net, and effectively, the world. It was then that they became NATech Supreme.

  "At first, everyone was very content with the situation. The economy continued to improve, as did the environment. There was the ongoing problem with riping, but no one had ever attributed that to NATech, and many were confident they would address the issue in time."

  Despite the comfort and warmth of the bed and blankets, a tingle went up and down my spine. I could tell where this was leading, and the bitter irony of it was pathetically humorous. NATech, to save my life as John Wyeth, had started down a course that would bring me up against them in my life as Abigail Wyeth. Desperate to save me as an ally, had they ultimately turned me into an enemy? For if what Susie was telling me was true, I could not stand with NATech. Just as they had apparently abandoned their ideals and methods, so I must now abandon them. I very much doubted that my decision would upset them terribly.

  "Disillusionment was gradual,? Susie continued.? In 2466, NATech closed all immigration to Earth.

  There had not been too much to begin with, perhaps fifty thousand each year. But Earth was now an isolated planet. You could leave, but you could never come back. Still, no one complained. The war was still in the recent past, and there were rumors that what Mars had done to us, several of the colonized planets were willing to try."

  "That doesn't make any sense, Susie,? I interrupted.? The situations are completely different. Not only would there be no reason, the logistics of another meteor war would have been nearly impossible. From your description, a hyperidor could be easily monitored. Unless one were established in a secret location.

  But again, there's no motive."

  "It's so clear now, isn't it?? Her voice smiled sadly in the darkness.? But NATech has mastered the use of propaganda. They never actually said that there had been secret hyperidors established, but it quickly became common knowledge, despite lack of evidence. The populace became frantic with worry.


  Another devastating loss of five hundred million-essentially the planet's total population-would destroy civilization on Earth. And the mere fact of their existence proved that there was a motive, though no one knew what it was.

  "Of course, it was all false. The entire hysteria was designed to further tighten the grip NATech had on the planet. They were our great protector. And so they remain today. Most still don't understand the hold NATech Supreme has on our lives."

  She fell silent. I stared up at the barely illuminated ceiling. NATech. How could we have gone so wrong?

  Did we change over the centuries, or had that seed been planted from the very beginning? Did their ideals falter when offered the opportunity to provide massive help at the cost of anonymity? Or could NATech have foreseen the events that led up to that opportunity? Or could they even have…

  I inhaled sharply, the horror of the thought almost a physical blow. Could NATech have even engineered those events? Even as I thought it, a peculiar wave of certainty washed over me. In Twenty Years… that had been our credo. The wars with Mars had lasted sixteen years, and NATech had achieved a position of trust and power only several years after that. The idea that they could have caused something so unimaginably frightening was just that: unimaginable. Which was exactly what NATech specialized in.

  I glanced at Susie. She'd drifted off. I was glad, too. With my new found youth and my refound lack of mouth control, I could very well have told her more than she was ready to know, or more than I was ready to share. She slept on, blissfully unaware that her time and society-now my time and society-had been manipulated and robbed of its potential. How else could this era be so little advanced than six centuries ago? I needed to answer that question, but couldn't. I didn't have the knowledge, the preparation, or the freedom of movement. Not yet.

  I continued to think through other alternative explanations, but couldn't make a very credible effort at it, I was so tired from my first journey into the puterverse. I could tell by her steady breathing that Susie had fallen asleep.

  Sleep. I rolled over on my side and hugged my pillow, snuggling further into the sheets. This was, incredibly, my first night of unassisted, non-traumatized sleep in over six hundred years. I lay there, experiencing the differences and enjoying them. My nightwear was different. The mattress, because of my small weight, seemed bouncier, and I couldn't remember the last time I lay in a bed that was so much bigger than me. My position, curled up around a pillow instead of sprawled out with hands and feet over the edge, was different. Even the sleepiness I felt creeping over me was different, though I couldn't explain how. I wondered how long I would have these new sensations of everyday life. A long time, I hoped.

  I just wished I had better thoughts to keep me company. Not that it mattered. Within moments of extinguishing the lights and plunging the room into total darkness, I was fast asleep. I don't remember what dreams I had that night, but they were my own.

  Chapter Nine

  "UP! Private Wyeth! GET UP!"

  I shot straight up. I had worked myself completely under the sheets, so they were still over my head when I bolted. I yanked the sheet down, then as quickly pulled it up again. My top was pretty skimpy and protected my modesty enough from other women, but would turn the guys into drool machines. And this was a man's voice. A man's voice! I woke up completely. Someone was in our room!

  I looked around quickly, but it was still pitch dark. I was about to ask for lights when he shouted again, this time right into my ear.

  "What're you waiting for, Private? Breakfast in bed? On yer feet! You've got duty in forty-five minutes!

  Move it, Wyeth!"

  I nearly had a heart attack. I felt a fear that tasted slightly of the invasion of the interrog… the IH… from a couple days ago. He was apparently standing on my left, bent over me. I started to roll out on my right, to put the bed between us, when he growled at me again, this time right beside me.

  "You're pretty lazy, ain't you? MOVE it! There's a ton of laundry that needs cleaning, and YOU'RE

  doing it all!"

  I jumped back against my bed. The frame hit the backs of my legs and I lost my balance and fell off the other side, landing with a thud and in a heap as I pulled the blankets and pillow on top of me. My legs were all over the place as I tried to get to my feet. He barked at me again.

  "This is the last time, PRIVATE! Either you get going or I'm gonna personally…"

  "Abigail?? Susie's sleepy voice slipped through the shout and it ended abruptly.

  "Susie! Someone's in here!? My voice had a hint of hysteria in it, I was so unnerved at how quickly he moved.

  She chuckled sleepily.? Silly. That's just the alarm. It's directional so only you can hear it. Sorry, I meant to tell you about it and show you how to set it, but I drifted off while we were still talking. Lights to dim, please.? The lights came on just enough to make the room glow with the pink darkness of approaching dawn. Susie rubbed the sleep from her eyes.? Time?? she asked softly.

  "It's 0317, Corporal Lendler,? responded an equally soft male voice.

  "Thank you. There you go, Abigail. Laundry detail is from 0400 to 1000. Better hustle if you want to clean up and eat before reporting. At least laundry is in the mess area. That'll save a couple minutes.

  Don't be late, though. Jackson will put your pretty little butt in a sling if even a finger is late through that door."

  I knew about soldiers like Jackson, though I'd never met her, or him. (That was interesting. Would I always think of an unknown person as a she first, then a he? I made a mental note to try to keep track of that.) I untangled myself from my sheets and started for my dresser. I pulled short and turned back to my messy bed, throwing it into shape. They probably had inspections.

  "Don't worry about that, Abigail. I'll make it for you. Here.? She opened up my dresser and pulled out some stuff.? This is your standard uniform. And this,? She held up a sheer, black tube of stretchable cloth.? Is a body sheath. Put this on before you put on your underthings. In other words, first."

  Although it appeared shapeless at first, I could make out that it was a covering for the torso and upper legs. It was one piece, stepped into from the neck. I frowned, a little uncomfortable.? Uhh… won't that make it a little hard to, um…"

  "Use the bathroom? Yeah, it would, if you got a break to use it, which you won't. So don't drink a lot of juice. The sheath will keep you at least ten degrees cooler, but only when it's right up against your skin.

  Secret of the dog. Now get going.? She started hustling me to the door.

  "Shouldn't I put on a bath robe or something?"

  "No time. Walk fast. There's no skirmishes planned for thirty-six hours, so no one should be up. The lights are pretty low, anyway. See you at ten hundred. Bye!"

  She slapped me on the potential resident of Jackson 's sling and shoved me out the door, which allowed passage while remaining opaque; a very strange sensation. The corridor was thankfully deserted and dark. I half ran to the ladies room and made it without being seen. Once inside, I had the place to myself.

  If you're a woman, or married to one, then you know that we just can't hurry getting ready. It seemed the faster I went, the worse it got. What's so different? As a guy, I'd use the bathroom, jump in the shower, soap up, rinse off, and get out. A quick towel off, dress, brush the hair roughly in place, brush the teeth roughly, hoping to leave them in place, and viola!, finished. Fifteen minutes if I didn't have to shave, twenty if I did. If I used thirty minutes, I was killing time. Well, a girl has the same number of arms, legs, teeth, and assorted body parts. Clothing is pretty much the same amount and put on pretty much the same way. Plus, I didn't have to shave yet, if women, or anyone, still shaved. So it should work the same way for a girl, right? It has to, right?

  Forty minutes after stepping into the ladies room, I stepped out. My hair was much closer to seaweed than hair, the leftover soap making a credible substitute for sea foam. I skipped brushing my teeth. My clothes we
re on in more or less the right places, and facing in more or less the right directions, but they were wetter than my towel. Desert sand was wetter than my towel. I put my shoes on while hopping down the corridor on one foot, then switching. As I raced by my door, I shouted at it to open. I tossed my nightclothes, towel and things through it, and they disappeared from sight as they passed through the door's opaque plane. I didn't hear them hit, possibly because the sound shield was still on, but more probably because I was already too far down the corridor by the time they hit the floor. At least they went through the opening. Last night, before turning in, Susie had coded the door for my voice.

  "Time, please!? I said.

  "It's 0356, Private Wyeth!? the computer exclaimed back.

  I ran into the mess and hit the mess line in a flurry. I was by myself except for Cookie, who was moving in and out of the kitchen, stocking up the bins. I grabbed a roll and stuffed it into my mouth, then washed it down with a small glass of juice, taking to mind Susie's warning. Licking my fingers of the sweet stuff from the roll, I walked to the laundry room, which was located on the wall behind the juice cart.

  And couldn't get in. It remained solid.

  "Time, please."

  "0359 hours.? So I was on time, if only just. I'd make a point of getting up an extra fifteen minutes earlier until I'd beaten this new bath routine. I cleared my throat.

  "Open, please.? It ignored me.? Hello? Jackson? This is Private Wyeth, reporting for detail. Hello??

  Nothing. I knocked on the door, but the hollow thooms! went unanswered. I pictured my butt with a big boot print and knocked again. This was getting frustrating. Was I in the wrong place?

  "Computer, please locate laundry relevant to my position."

  "The laundry is located one meter directly in front of you."