Frig added to the conversation. “I will admit to thinking an exchange of this technology was a bad idea, but as you say, we cannot accomplish what is needed on our own. If you have faith that the Gonta will be true to their word, I will vote to support an alliance.”
I replied, “I don’t know that any species can be fully trusted with that technology. Imagine the damage a few rogue Humans could do with it. I just don’t see that we have any other option at this point. We need help, and we have found a species who is willing to offer that help. It may come at a price, but the alternative is a loss of all our people and our home.”
I stood and again raised my hand. “The Gonta have a great fleet at their disposal. I believe that with a blending of our technologies, we can produce ships that can defeat the Colossuns. And keep in mind, if we can win against the Colossuns, and assimilate some of their technology also, we stand a much better chance against the Durians when they arrive. Let’s not forget that the Durians will likely be there within a year.”
I sat, and the room returned to deep, heated discussion. Several hours of arguments passed, and one by one the attendees sat down in silence or leaned back against the wall with their arms folded. When the final argument ceased, we were ready for a vote.
George stood with a display in his hand. “I will tally the vote. As I speak each name, raise your hand to be counted as a yes or remain still for no.”
George worked his way around the table and then along the walls to those who were standing. It was far from a unanimous decision. When the final tally was in, the numbers were thirty-six for and twenty-two against.
I stood. “Listen up. The vote has been tallied, and there are enough votes to sign an alliance.”
The room again erupted. I reached over and banged my fist repeatedly on the table in an attempt to regain the floor. The yelling was followed soon after by several shoving matches. I raised my fist again and slammed it down on the table, punching a large hole through it while attracting the attention that I desired.
I pointed around the room to the angry faces. “We have given the reasons for and against this alliance, and we have taken the time to discuss them. As I stated before, there are enough votes to join this alliance. But, I don’t want us to join this alliance with reservations. I want us to join this alliance while united as one. We need every Human to believe in what we are doing and to give it their all without second-guessing our every move. Keep this in mind also: I am not the best at giving speeches or at thinking on my feet. I don’t know that we are doing the right thing here, but my gut tells me that we are. And so far, that gut feeling has not failed me!”
I continued, “Now, I am asking for your trust on this. If we return to the Gontas with a highly split vote, they are going to wonder about our commitment. I am going to ask George to take one more tally. You each have two minutes to discuss this, and please, no shoving; we are supposed to be adults here.”
I returned to my seat and waited out the new count. When the two minutes had passed, George stood and once again called roll. As he worked his way around the table, each staff member raised their hand, some with disappointed looks on their faces, but unity on the vote was worth achieving. When George reached the last man, John Rollins held his arms in a crossed pattern and had an angry scowl on his face.
I stood. “Rollins? What gives? You voted yes last time.”
Several seconds passed before Rollins began to laugh as he threw his arm in the air. “I’m sorry, Chief, I was just going for the dramatic ending!”
The man next to Rollins turned and shook his head. “You’re an ass, Rollins!”
Several others voiced their opinions about Rollins’s attempt at humor. I banged my fist on the table once again and then pointed to George.
George spoke. “It is unanimous. We move forward with an alliance with the Gonta. You may all return to your duties, as we have much to prepare for.”
I spoke as the others turned for the door. “Hold up. I want each of you to assemble a three-man team for your realm of responsibilities. These teams will share information from here while at the same time gathering information from the Gonta. And remember, this is a full alliance: what we have is theirs, and what’s theirs is ours. If you run into any issues with your Gonta counterparts, do not use that as an excuse to hold back. Just raise the issue, and we will deal with it at a higher level.”
When the last of the staff members had left the room, I turned to George. “Well, that went better than I expected. We have a lot of hardheads on this staff; I’m just glad that they were able to come around.”
Frig shook his head. “It was certainly not because of your sloppy speech, Sir. Perhaps next time, you should consider having an assistant write the speech and perform it for you as well.”
Gy spoke. “I don’t know, I thought the part where he broke the table was inspiring.”
Rita added to the conversation. “It was inspiring enough for Rollins to pull his little prank at the end.”
I raised my hand. “OK, well, obviously it was good enough.”
I looked at Rita and Gy. “And don’t be joining forces with this guy; that only encourages him.”
As we left the room, George was shaking his head. “You people have obviously spent too much time together. I’ll be in my office should anyone need me.”
Gy and Rita turned at the next hallway to go back to their labs. I walked with Frig back to prepare for another transfer through the wormhole.
I spoke. “What are the chances that you can start scanning the Colossun space for the Grid? I know the coordinates we have for the location of the Verna are phony, but they might be a place to start.”
Frig replied, “There are one hundred fifty thousand star systems in what we believe to be the known Colossus Empire. I have narrowed that number to only look at those with the possibility of habitable planets. That number, however, remains substantial. Once you have been transported to the Orienta, I will begin a pattern search for the Grid as soon as possible.”
I stopped as we entered Frig’s lab. “I think our first priority, and the one the Gonta will be expecting, will be to transfer the wormhole tech to them. I will see if I can convince them to put its initial uses towards locating the Grid. That will be a tough sell, as I know they will want to use that time to figure out how they can best exploit it.”
Frig sat at his console and replied, “The Gonta will struggle with keeping this technology for military purposes only. Remember the outcry for its use on the Grid? If we had allowed it, the technology would now be in the hands of the Duke.”
I walked over to the rail to prepare for my departure. “Yeah, I wonder if we are opening Pandora’s box with this agreement. Imagine how long we would last against these hostiles if they had this tech. Unfortunately, right now we don’t have much of a choice.”
I lay down on the roller-covered rail, and two techs took hold of my ankles. The familiar hum of the demodulator circuit signaled my transfer. Seconds later, I was rolling out onto the deck of the Orienta.
I stood before the Gonta Supreme Commander and held out my hand. “We have an agreement. The Humans and the Gonta are united as one.”
The Commander grabbed my hand at the wrist and gave it a firm shake. “This is a momentous day for both our peoples, Mr. Grange. I will see to it that you have our full cooperation. When can we begin the technology transfers?”
I replied, “I knew you would be eager to get started, Commander. We have teams in place who are working on that now. As they become ready, we will send them over. I brought our designs for the wormhole with me. If your science and tech teams are ready, we can begin the process of looking them over.”
The Commander let out a sigh.
I spoke. “What is wrong, Commander? I thought you would be excited about this.”
Commander Grita replied, “Oh, I am very excited, Mr. Grange. I was only taking a moment, as I had the realization that we once again have hope against the Colossuns.
I have waited in dread of an all-out attack on our systems, an attack that I feared we would not be able to repel. Each encounter with them has gone decidedly their way. Perhaps with this new technology, we can push them back to the point where they are no longer a threat.”
As I walked along with the Commander, I spoke. “How is your counterespionage, Commander? We have found our ranks to sometimes be full of spies. We can’t risk having this technology fall into the Duke’s hands, as that would be disastrous for both of us.”
Grita replied, “We are quite vigilant in that respect, Mr. Grange. I have faith in the military men and their commitment on the Orienta. I believe our security procedures to be as tight as they can possibly be. We have only had two near breaches of our security in the past one hundred years. Both were from half-breeds of both the military and political clans. A purge following each incident cleared us of any further potential danger. I have no doubt the other Carions have been heavily infiltrated with spies. We, however, cannot afford that occurrence.”
I nodded in approval. “Well, it sounds like you have taken the necessary steps to protect your ranks. Just keep in mind that the stakes just got tremendously higher.”
The Commander replied, “I will have to say that I enjoy the way you speak of risk when relating it to odds and stakes. For a culture that is heavily involved in gambling, it is a refreshing take on an otherwise extremely serious subject.”
I laughed. “Well, if we ever end up with time for entertainment, Commander, I will seek out your advice on the ins and outs of Gonta gambling. I have never had much luck at it myself, but I bet for you it is a subject that is well studied.”
As we turned the corner into an immense science lab, Grita placed his hand on my shoulder. “Should time afford it, Mr. Grange, I would be delighted to show you my family style. I may even teach you a few of the family secrets. Anyway, here is the lab. Captain Remi will show you around. Ask him or anyone else whatever you like. They have each been given instruction to fully cooperate.”
I thanked the Commander and then began the process of glad-handing the Gonta scientists. There was much to discuss regarding the wormhole generator. After delivering the designs, I found myself shoved aside, as Frig had opened a comm channel to answer questions. I would keep watch over the transfer of our most prized technology for only a short while. A second team of scientists and a third were interested in our combat suits and my prosthetics. The weeks ahead were busy with questions, meetings, exchanges, and more questions.
I often wondered if we were doing the right thing. But we were pregnant with the Gonta-Human child, and there was no turning back. The Gonta were ritualistic in their establishing and following of process and procedure. A first attempt at a wormhole was only weeks if not days away. I longed to set foot on the Grid and to take Ashley in my arms. I hoped to one day have the opportunity to try.
Chapter 18
Remi spoke. “Mr. Frig, are you ready to monitor the data from your end?”
I looked over at Frig. “Mr. Frig?”
Frig replied, “The Gonta do not seem to grasp the concept of a nickname, Sir. I have tried repeatedly to explain, to no avail. I just accept it and move on. I am ready when you are, Captain.”
The Gonta scientist, using the power that the Orienta’s generators had to offer, along with the antenna designs of Frig, powered up their first wormhole.
Frig spoke. “Captain, I am reading a signal that is emanating from the coordinates you supplied. The signal is strong and clear. The parameters look clean, if not slightly more stable than ours. I believe the Orienta’s power feeds to be superior to ours.”
Remi replied, “Excellent! I am ramping up the power to full output. Let us see if we can sustain the calculated window of a stable sixteen-meter-diameter aperture.”
The power level was set, and the microscopic wormhole began to grow in size. Smiles adorned the faces of all of those involved. That is, until the one-meter-wide-diameter wormhole was reached.
The size of the wormhole held fixed as the sides of the opening began to glow red hot.
Frig spoke over the comm. “Captain, I believe we should abort this test until we can evaluate this data further. You do not have shielding on your end adequate to handle the possibility of a matter explosion as the edges of that wormhole heat up.”
Remi replied, “Nonsense, Mr. Frig. We have the demodulator circuits and antennae in a room separate from us. The walls of the Orienta will protect us. We must continue if we expect to make progress.”
Frig turned towards me. “Don, I believe they are placing themselves at risk. We do not have sufficient information on the physics of an overloaded wormhole to safely proceed. Please—”
A bright flash could be seen on the monitors, followed by a black screen. Our own wormhole to the Orienta had been shut down by the safety protocols Frig had enacted after our encounter with the Human signal and the destruction of our Wren. The meter-wide wormhole closed instantly as the flash occurred.
Frig punched away at his console, and seconds later a new wormhole was in operation from our end. The video feed from the Gonta science lab showed the power of destruction the wormhole was capable of. As Frig had envisioned, the matter adjacent to the wormhole edge exploded with the fury of a sun. Scans revealed temperatures well over one hundred thousand degrees. A giant hole, two hundred meters’ diameter, now occupied the floors in and around the Gonta science lab on the Orienta.
Frig shook his head. “This is horrible, Sir. That room held nearly half of the Gonta science team.”
I replied, “Can you scan the surrounding structure for damage?”
Frig spoke. “I can.”
Seconds later the data revealed the level of damage. The science lab, and each of the rooms immediately surrounding it, also the rooms above and below, had been vaporized. The walls surrounding those had absorbed both the blast and the tremendous heat while protecting the Gontas on the other side. The destruction inside the blast was complete, but the Orienta had held its own.
Commander Grita took personal responsibility for the accident and applied his full efforts towards both a cleanup and a rebuilding of a new wormhole generator. Even though the explosion had caused a spike in the power draw against the Orienta’s power systems, their built-in safeties had protected them. One month after the disaster, a new test was ready to begin.
Frig spoke. “Captain Boosa, we are ready when you are, Sir.”
The microwormhole was initiated and tested, followed by a running of the full test. This time, however, only enough power to keep the full wormhole open and stable was used. The test was a resounding success.
I patted Frig on the shoulder. “Congrats, man. The Commander says they can produce three more of those in a week’s time and then one per day thereafter. Hopefully with this first one, they can start training their men on its use. Grita assured me that the next five will be used for scanning the Colossus Empire. This should give them their first full view of what they have been up against.”
Frig replied, “I have been thinking about that blast from the generator accident, Sir. I have kicked around a few designs, and I believe we could make a formidable weapon from the data we have gathered.”
I sat in a chair and spun it in Frig’s direction. “How so?”
Frig tilted his monitor in my direction. “We know that the size, duration, and distance of a wormhole are tied to the antenna size and the power applied. I believe I can build a bomb of sorts, with its own antenna and power supply, that will replicate the explosion from that disaster, albeit on a smaller scale.”
I leaned forward as I looked at the display. “What kind of destructive power are we talking about?”
Frig spoke. “I believe a bomb the size of the full wormhole, one meter in diameter, could be constructed to inflict 60 percent of the damage we saw on the Orienta. A smaller version could be used to clear a room.”
I nodded my head. “So, you open a portal, push one of those in, and clos
e the portal up behind it? Wasn’t the temperature in that area still extremely high for a couple hours? I would assume that if you are planning to clear a room, it is because you are wanting to send someone in there afterward.”
Frig pointed to a number on his display. “I have calculated that the room-clearing bomb’s temperature would drop back to a level easily handled by our battle suits within two minutes following a blast. For the larger bomb, that number might be as high as forty minutes.”
I spoke. “When can we have these built?”
Frig replied, “I have Gy and Rita working on one of each. If they test out properly, I believe the Gontas would be able to ramp up production almost immediately. They are a very resourceful people, and I have been impressed with their work ethic.”
Frig’s estimate of the Durians’ arrival on the edge of Gonta space had dropped to only six months. If we were going to bring a fight to the Colossuns, it would have to be done in short order.
I found myself seated in George’s office after a round of fine-tuning on my prosthetics.
George spoke. “Your power cells have proven to be more efficient than planned. With a normal day’s activity, they may go as many as fifteen months before a recharge or replacement. Full combat, heavy use, should yield at least three months. Rita believes she is close to a breakthrough that would extend their use even further.”
I replied, “How is York doing with her refit?”
George grinned. “Splendid. I was able to take the lessons learned from your surgeries, and after applying them to hers, we have seen a halving of the recovery time. Part of that may be due to York’s willpower and focus. She is a machine as compared to you. I was able to give her a number of other enhancements that we had been working on as well.”
I sat up in my chair. “Other enhancements? What are we talking, Doc?”
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