All The Frail Futures: A Science Fiction Box Set

by J Battle

  All the Frail Futures

  By

  J. Battle

  All the usual front of book stuff can be found at the back of the book, for a change.

  Worse Than Senseless Things – Page 3

  An Intervention of Angels – Page 389

  And All Things Between – Page 705

  Worse than Senseless Things

  The Hru-argh are coming, and they’re not very nice!

  Prologue

  They wriggled and spat, gurgled and snapped as they twisted their long, black, fat-bellied snakelike bodies above, below and between their fellow nest-mates, seeking the heat and the comfort of the nest's hot fetid depths. They communicated with sprays of pheromones, quick vibrations of their black oily skins, short high howls and the constant exchange of bodily fluids.

  They talked, they bickered, they argued, for they were agitated by the news and they had to come to a decision on the appropriate response.

  Their discussion was multi-tiered and full of tangents, historical references and fits of inarticulate anger and would be impossible for a human ear to follow. The gist of their argument could be phrased as follows. It wouldn't be at all accurate, or comprehensive, but it portrays the simplest, most straightforward meaning.

  'What must be done?'

  'This is an abomination, and an insult.'

  'We cannot allow this invasion; this assault on our home.'

  'There must be consequences.'

  'There will be consequences.'

  'They have perished?'

  'Death has befallen them and their infernal machines.'

  'Is this sufficient?'

  'Not at all. A repeat must not be allowed.'

  'So, we attack?'

  'Yes.'

  'The level?'

  'For now, qualified.'

  'And if they come again?'

  'Then the response will be total and unrestrained.'

  Many millions of kilometers from their world, the last survivor of the ill-fated mission from the distant Galaxy fought to keep himself alive in the cold dark grasp of hard space. It was a struggle doomed to failure and, as death oozed through his body, he stared at a particular section of the abysmal darkness that surrounded him, hoping to catch a last glimpse of the Galaxy he called home; The Milky Way.

  His search was as unsuccessful as his struggle.

  Chapter 1

  It wasn’t his usual practice but, on that fateful day, Dan was taking the long view.

  If everything went to plan, he’d be back home in time to enjoy the New Year’s Eve celebrations of 2199. It would be a close run thing; he had to travel a total of 24 light years to the Tau Ceti system and back again, and he had only 28 years and 3 month to do it in.

  The ship that he was planning to steal was the most sophisticated of any ship that had ever been built, and its anti-matter drive was capable of pushing it close to 98 percent of the speed of light. That should be enough. All he had to do was persuade its top of the range, state of the art managing AI to let him on board. Well, actually, there was a little more involved, he also had to convince the highly intelligent machine that it should allow him to take control of the ship.

  The manufacturing plant was based on the north side of Phobos and old man Thompson’s office had a clear view of the red arc of Mars as it seemed to race past them.

  ‘So, it’s nearly ready?’ Dan asked, feigning only limited interest.

  ‘Yep, she surely is. The fastest, most hi-tech, most beautiful ship there has ever been.’ The old man's face beamed with pride. ‘I’ve pretty well bankrupted myself, I can tell you. That AI, well it cost me more than the rest of the ship put together, but I don’t care; I’ve been planning for this most of my life.’

  ‘Have you got a name for her yet?’ Dan was barely paying attention; just keeping him talking.

  ‘I’ve settled on Angel’s Kiss,' he looked down for a moment, avoiding Dan's eyes, 'it was Julie’s favorite song.’

  Dan nodded; he fully understood Julie's significance to the old man. They were married for nearly half of a century before her untimely death.

  ‘A beautiful name,‘ he said, softly.

  ‘Too right, mate, and wait ’till you see her fly. She’s something special; you’ll see.’

  ‘When is her maiden flight?’ As he asked the question, he queried his implant; not quite there yet.

  ‘0800 hours tomorrow.' The old man had pushed his sorrow to one side and was full of enthusiasm again. 'She’s loaded up and ready to fly. In two days, she’ll be flying past Jupiter, accelerating at close to 20 G's. By the time three weeks have past, she’ll be the fastest moving manmade thing there has ever been in the whole Universe; and she’ll still be getting faster. She’ll hit 98 percent of light speed in less than six months. In just over a year, she’ll be back and everyone will want a piece of her, but I’m only selling 49 percent of her. I’ll make a pretty profit, and I’ll still have control of her.'

  Dan studied the old man's face in the pink reflected light. He was close to 100 years old, but he was still hale and hearty, though he was on his third heart.

  '20 G's is going some. You must have pretty good ZTC's to protect your crew.'

  'My Zero Time Chambers are military spec, but keep that to yourself; it took a lot of persuading, I'll tell you that for nothing.'

  Dan had already stopped listening. His implants had just confirmed that the data he wanted had been downloaded wirelessly from Thompson's computers and they were now good to go.

  'Well, Sir.' Dan stood up. 'I'm not sure if I can make it, but good luck with the launch.'

  He held out his hand.

  Thompson rose easily to his feet in the slight gravity and accepted the handshake. With his new prosthetic legs, Dan was nearly two meters tall himself, but the old man towered over him despite the incipient stoop that time was imposing on his frame.

  'Don't need luck, son. Try and make it if you can; it will be worth seeing, I promise you.'

  As he left the old man's office, Dan felt a frown settle on his brow. The old guy was a legend, and nice with it. And losing the ship would probably ruin him. Still; every cloud and all that. He wouldn't miss the launch, of that he was sure. It was such a pity that the old man would.

  If Dan had had any inkling of what was to come, he might have been a little less relaxed about the whole affair.

  **********

  Tryllis considered his options.

  There weren't many, and none of them were to his liking. But decisions had to be made and he could hardly ask his sub-dub to make them for him.

  Thinking about his sub-dub, he called it to him with a rattle of his tail. The sub-dub scurried to him in response.

  'Your High-dom called. How can this sub-dub serve you today?' The small creature seemed to quiver in anticipation of his instructions.

  'Feed me. You should have realized that it has been nearly an hour since my last meal.'

  'Yes, Your High-dom. Your meal is ready. It is only dead meat, but I am filled with regret to express that the ship is not able to supply live food this far from home.'

  'You do not have to explain the obvious to me. It will suffice. Clean up required.'

  The sub-dub rushed to get its bucket and shovel and swiftly cleaned up the steaming pile of dung that had appeared behind his master. Tryllis was very careful with his personal hygiene and would not have it said that he was careless with his droppings.

  He was a member of the legendary Hru-argh race; legendary for their belligerence, their fighting skills and their flatulence.

  There is an often quoted saying that, if you lop off a Hru-argh's head, you ma
ke him a much nicer person.

  Alas, it has to be said that this is totally untrue.

  If you remove his head, you just make him more bad tempered. He won't be able to eat very well and that is always going to ruin a Hru-argh's mood.

  As the sub-dub stepped back to check on the thoroughness of his work, the large green Hru-argh swung his long tail and knocked the smaller reptile across the control room.

  The sub-dub yelped, setting off an automatic response from the massive predator. Within a second he was standing over his servant, his four study lower limbs holding him in place and his long snout prodding at the sub-dub's soft belly.

  The sub-dub held himself absolutely still; knowing that any reaction would be his last. He stared up at the sharp teeth and red wattles; at the large bloodshot eyes that seemed too big for the tiny head, and he waited.

  Eventually Tryllis relented and pulled away; it's bad form to eat your sub-dub.

  On first meeting it's easy to underestimate a Hru-argh; to take them as some dumb beast with hygiene issues. But the size of the head does not denote low intelligence; it's just that they don't keep their brains in their heads.

  Their brains, along with all other important organs, are kept in the center of their torso, surrounded by a triple layer of thick bones.

  It is very difficult to kill a Hru-argh unless you go about the job with a great deal of ingenuity, or you have a very big gun.

  Tryllis was having something of a bad day. His ship was well beyond the boundary of the Empire and he would soon have to accept that his mission was a failure and return home to ignominy and rejection. The Hru-argh Empire was the second largest of all of the empires that made up The Galactic Confederation and was keen to grow to be number one.

  Another 20 plus planetary systems would help them achieve that end.

  Tryllis called to his computer system and instructed it to make preparations for the return journey. He was interrupted by his sub-dub.

  'Your High-dom, we have received a signal. We are not sure what it means; it is in an unknown language.'

  'You would hardly expect to hear a known language out here, would you? Let me hear it. And where’s my meal?'

  The silence of the control deck was broken by a loud rhythmic noise. It continued for a short time; then stopped.

  'Replay it.'

  There were words, he was sure, against a background of high and low sounds, with a simple, repetitive beat. He listened to it for a couple of moments, then called to his sub-dub

  'It means nothing to me. Locate the source.' He instructed as his servant tossed him the carcass of a medium sized rodent. Within seconds the half masticated remains were resting in his second stomach.

  The sub-dub turned to obey, still filled with anger at the earlier attack on his person. One day; one day soon, this nightmare for his race would end and they would rise up against their masters and return to their old station in The Galactic Confederation.

  But not today.

  As Tryllis waited for the location data to be found, he was surprised to find that his head was nodding in time to the beat.

  The recording ended and he instructed it to be replayed on a continuous loop. There was something about the sounds that really appealed to him. He focused on the words; they were distinct, if unintelligible.

  'I'm going to rock around the clock...'

  Now his short upper limbs were tapping against his belly and his head was nodding; this is good stuff, he thought, as a miasma of digestive gases began to emerge from his anal opening.

  Chapter 2

  Dan had set his alarm for 0400 and was at the launch site before 0500. He was wearing his almost new exo-suit as the site was exposed to the elements, such as there were on Phobos. Mostly just extreme cold, an excess of radiation and an extreme lack of atmosphere.

  The small moon did have its benefits, however. Being only 22 kilometers across, its gravity was a fraction of its host planet, which made it a perfect place to build the many spaceships required by the Solar Union. In fact there were plans to put a roof on the massive crater that dominated the lump of rock and dig out and construct a proper honest to goodness habitat. Everything was in place; all that was needed was the finance. Maybe by the time he’d returned from his travels the job might be started.

  The first part of his plan worked perfectly, as his implant used the codes filched from Thompson’s computer to override the admittedly basic security system of the elevator that would carry him up to the entrance hatch of the ship.

  He paused for a moment before entering the elevator. The ship was certainly worth a second look. Black and gleaming, rising 200 meters above his head, its gently curved diamond shape pointing at the stars. Although most of its life would be spent in cold airless space, it was streamlined enough to land planet-side, and its shape seemed apt, as it was certainly a jewel.

  Dan took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator, feeling only the gentlest of tugs as it began to rise. That was the easy bit; the next step was to get the ship to let him board it.

  During his many meeting with Thompson over the past few weeks, he had recorded every word the man had spoken, which, given that the guy loved to talk, had left him with a considerable library of his words. A small speaker on his chest would change his sub-vocalized words into an exact replica of Thompson’s voice, using the actual recordings where possible. If he used a word not included in the library, his implant would substitute an appropriate word that was.

  ‘Let me in,’ he instructed over his suit to ship radio; his voice gruff, with an old man’s quiver.

  The door slid open and he took his first step onto the craft.

  ‘Good morning Mr. Thompson. The crew is not yet here, but there are still three hours before we embark.’ The ship spoke with a soft female voice, with just a hint of an Irish accent.

  ‘There’s been a change of plan. The flight has been brought forward, and I will be crewing the ship myself.’

  ‘Please provide security codes one, three and seven for authorization.’

  Dan provided the requested codes and the response was immediate.

  ‘Security code one correct. Security code three correct. Security code seven correct. Voice recognition check – match. Access level five granted.'

  'Good, we can get under way then.' His voice was as brusque as his pretense would allow.

  'Your appearance seems to have changed.'

  Dan paused before walking away from the airlock.

  'Is my appearance pertinent to your security procedures?'

  'Not at all, Mr. Thompson.'

  'Then we'll move on, shall we?'

  'Of course, Mr. Thompson. Please confirm launch time.’

  ‘Take off will be 05:30 and I’m uploading the new flight plan now.’

  He suited his actions to his words.

  ‘Tau Ceti E? The original flight plan was for a round trip of 13 months; this will take us more than 28 years.’ The voice was still light, with no hint of criticism or doubt.

  ‘Is there an issue with that?’

  ‘We will need to replenish our anti-matter supplies when we reach our destination.’

  'That will be arranged when we get there.' The ship didn't need to know that, as far as he was concerned, this was a one way trip. He’d be making his own arrangements for the return journey.

  'Please access the Zero Time Chamber before launch.' The AI instructed, its soft voice suddenly sounding just like a teacher he’d once had.

  'There's plenty of time yet.' Dan checked his watch. 'You should note that the flight plan instructs you to implement the anti-matter drive when we reach a distance of 25 kilometers from Phobos. This timing is critical. We want to get underway as soon as we can.'

  'Union recommendations are that, for safety reasons, the drive should not be employed within 50 kilometers of an inhabited location.'

  'You are quite right; but it is a recommendation only. My instruction supersedes it; is that understood?'


  'Yes, Sir. Activation of the anti-matter drive will take place as per your instructions.'

  'Good, I'm glad that's clear.'

  Dan strolled around the ship's main control deck, putting off the time when he would have to enter the cloudy glass tube of the ZTC. The deck area was no larger than a standard domestic living room, with a couple of couches and two active walls that currently showed images of Mars and Deimos, the second of the Martian satellites.

  The ZTC was an essential requirement for effective travel across the Solar Union's empire. Without it, acceleration would have to be kept within a range that human bodies could endure for extended periods of time; with it, the only limit was the capabilities of the ship itself.

  The beauty of Zero Time Technology was that it was powered by the extravagantly powerful magnetic field that was required to contain the anti-matter fuel that drove the ship between the stars. A side effect of the field enabled the Zero Time Chamber, and its passenger, to hover in that moment of hesitation encapsulated in Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle; in the nano-second between potential and actual when time itself was forced to admit defeat.

  He sighed as he settled onto the nearest couch. He couldn’t help wishing that there was something mechanical to hold, or a switch to throw on today’s modern space ships; anything that might make him feel in actual control. Instead, there were just the images on the wall and the ever-present AI; just waiting for his instructions.

  'Five minutes to launch, sir.' The voice was gentle, but insistent.

  'OK, I'm going now.' He felt like the grumpy old man he was pretending to be as he floated towards the ZTC.

  This was the critical moment. Once he was inside the chamber and it was activated, he would be helpless; at the mercy of the ship. If it hadn't fallen for his little ruse, he might emerge from the chamber into the waiting arms of the Union police and be arrested for piracy.