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Chapter Thirty-One
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Stargate to 54 Piscium, Gliese 876, February 21, 2021
The stargate spread out in front of the Vella Gulf. It looked close enough to touch, but didn’t seem to be getting any closer. “This is the hardest part,” noted Captain Sheppard, “knowing that the Archon attack is imminent, and that we need to get back as quickly as possible, but being unable to go quickly because we’ll give ourselves away.”
“Yes it is,” agreed Calvin, as conscious of the passage of time as anyone else. He could feel it slipping away from them.
“Dead slow ahead,” ordered Captain Sheppard.
“Dead slow ahead, aye,” repeated the helmsman. The Vella Gulf started forward and jumped.
Bridge, TSS Vella Gulf, 54 Piscium System, February 23, 2021
“That’s a lot of stuff waiting for the Archons when they attack in two days,” said the OSO, using the long range viewer to catalog the Drakul forces at the stargate to Archon space. “They’ve still got a lot of ships there, even without the task force we saw leave, but what’s going to kill them are the mines. I’ve never seen a minefield so dense. Even if the Archons use those robot ships, there’s still going to be a ton of mines waiting for them.” He paused, trying to count all the mines he could see in one area. “Damn,” he finally said. “There’s got to be something we can do to make their entrance easier.” His weapons-release finger twitched unconsciously. The sense of urgency driving the Terrans to do something, anything, was at an all time high.
“What we really need to do,” said Ensign Sara Sommers, “is something for the rest of the Psiclopes left on Olympos.”
“I wish we could,” said Captain Sheppard. “However, we don’t know how many Psiclopes still exist, and there’s no way to get them off even if we could sneak in there and get them.”
“I realize that,” said Ensign Sommers. “It’s just that I can’t think of anything worse than sitting around, waiting to get eaten. It would almost be a mercy to put them out of their misery.”
“It would be a mercy,” said Steropes, as he entered the bridge. “I know it’s what I’d want.”
“Steropes, I know this has to be tough on you,” said Captain Sheppard. “Why don’t you go back to your cabin or to the gym or something. We’ll take care of this.”
“Anywhere I go, I’ll only think about it,” said Steropes. “Besides, there ought to be a Psiclops involved in determining the fate of the planet, don’t you think? What are you going to do?”
“We were just working on that,” said Calvin. “The problem is that we have a couple of things we’d like to do, but probably can’t do either of them very well.”
“What are they?” asked Steropes.
“As you already heard, we are trying to work out what to do about the remaining Psiclopes on the planet, for one,” said Captain Sheppard. “We’d also like to do something about the fleet orbiting the stargate if we could.”
“What can one cruiser do against all of that?” asked Steropes, indicating the holographic display of the enemy forces. “We couldn’t take them on normally, much less with half of our missile tubes covered with stealth modules. We’d get slaughtered.”
“Well, we would have surprise on our side,” said the OSO, “and we could probably get in a few shots before anyone reacted. Maybe we could go back into cloak again after that and get them to chase us? We could probably lead some of them away from the gate...”
“No,” said Captain Sheppard, “We don’t have enough throw weight to make a difference. All we’d do is piss them off and let them know that we’re here. There’s got to be a better way that we can use our stealth and the element of surprise.”
“Hey,” said Calvin, looking at the tactical map of the system. “What’s this thing orbiting Olympos’ moon?”
“It’s a Class 8 replicator,” said Ensign Sommers. “The last time I looked, the replicator was making a super dreadnought. I think the ship was almost complete, too.”
“Can we get a visual?” Calvin asked.
“Yeah, the replicator is just coming around to our side,” she said.
She put it up on the screen. The replicator happened to be pointing at the Vella Gulf as the replicator orbited the moon of the second planet. So did the nose of the super dreadnought, tied up alongside it.
“Oh, shit, the ship’s finished,” said the DSO. “That’s one more super dreadnought that the Archons will have to destroy.”
“Not if we take the ship first,” said Calvin. “That would also take care of one of our problems. We could do some real damage to their fleet with one of those things.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” said Captain Sheppard. “How exactly are you going to capture the ship? And once you take it, how are you going to crew it?”
“Well...what if we take half of the Gulf’s crew over there?” asked Calvin. “I mean, we’d take them over once the platoon secured the ship, of course. The ship has to have some sort of AI, right? We wouldn’t need to have a full crew, just enough to assist the AI in running the crucial systems.”
“If the asteroid is any indication,” said Night, “there may also be some other races onboard the ship that could help to capture the ship or to man it afterwards. If they’re building the ship, they must know at least a little bit about running it.”
“Hmmm...You’re right,” said Captain Sheppard. “Maybe we could operate it, at least in a minimal status. The problem remains, though; how are you going to capture the ship? You do know that it’s almost three miles long and masses almost ten million tons, right? And you’ve only got like 30 troops to capture it, right?”
“Yes, I know,” said Calvin, “but if the ship is like the Mrowry dreadnought, the ship is mostly just empty space used to mount really big weapons. There are the crew’s living areas and a few other areas that are manned to run the ship, but much of it is empty, especially if they don’t have any marines, or whatever they use as marines, onboard yet.”
“That’s our biggest problem,” Captain Sheppard said. “We don’t know if the ship is manned yet, and if so, how many of them there are aboard.”
“Hey, Sara,” asked Calvin, “do you have any indications of whether or not the ship is manned? How about energy usage? Are any of the ship’s systems operational?”
Ensign Sommers looked at her system. “The ship is currently operating at a minimum power setting,” she said. “The ship’s engines are running, but only enough to provide basic life support. I don’t think there are too many Drakuls onboard.”
Steropes nodded. “I concur with that assessment,” he said. “It is unlikely that there are many life forms of any type onboard with that low of a power reading.”
“I wonder if any of the people we brought back from the asteroid have any experience on the replicator or would be able to help with manning the ship,” Calvin said.
“I don’t know,” said Captain Sheppard. “I think that most of them were so relieved at being liberated that they went to sleep as soon as they got here. Most of them haven’t been out of their cabins much since. I doubt Intelligence has debriefed any of them yet.”
“It would be helpful if we knew,” said Calvin, “but it’s going to take too long for us to go door-to-door to get the information we need.” He paused and then had a thought, “But we don’t need to; Solomon can ask them for us. Hey, Solomon, could you please query the folks that we brought back from the asteroid and see if any of them has experience crewing a ship? We’d also like to know how the Drakuls operate their replicators, and if any of them has experience with that.”
“I will ask them,” the AI answered.
“While Solomon is surveying our guests,” said Lieutenant Finn, “I know how to take out the planet.”
“Would that be your previously mentioned Doomsday Device?” asked Captain Sheppard. “If so, I strictly forbid the use of any weapon that is going to wipe out a planet. I forbid it. That w
as not in our mandate, despite what the Archons say. I will not be responsible for the complete destruction of a planet.”
“Well, in that case,” replied Lieutenant Finn, “the answer is both a ‘yes’ and a ‘no.’ Yes, in that I would use one of those types of bombs, but no, I wouldn’t use it as a Doomsday Device. It has other methods of employment that you can use. I looked earlier, and most of the Drakuls seem to be clustered near the capital. In fact, I’m sorry to say it, Steropes, but it looks like the Drakuls have emptied all of the other cities on the planet. I can use the device in its secondary mode, which is a nuclear option, and create a burst big enough to wipe out all life in the capital area. Would that be good enough? The rest of the planet would still be habitable.”
“Somewhere up above,” said the Mrowry, “the gods are laughing at us right now.”
“Why is that?” asked Captain Sheppard.
“You are familiar with Arton Churther, correct?” asked Lieutenant Rrower. “He was a Psiclops scientist who devoted his life to understanding black holes and how stargates worked. One of the things he invented was the Churther Box, the device that allowed the Drakuls back into this universe. He was also responsible for another major invention. That creation has many names. The Churther Bomb. World Ender. The Doomsday Device. They’re all names for the same thing, a weapon that makes it possible to destroy a world. It is ironic that the person who made it possible for the Drakuls to come to this universe is also the person who will help us get rid of them again.”
“What do you mean?” asked Lieutenant Finn.
“Have you read any of the documentation on the bomb?” asked Lieutenant Rrower.
“Yes,” said Lieutenant Finn. “As I understand it, there are two modes of employment. One is a nuclear option that generates something on the order of a 200 megaton nuclear explosion. The other option, which I didn’t understand fully, was the option to destroy the planet. The way that mode worked was unclear.”
“It is intentionally left unclear so that no one can design one of them,” replied Lieutenant Rrower. “I’m no physicist, so I can’t explain the way it works, even if I wanted to. In general, though, the weapon has a massive nuclear/antimatter starter detonation, which is the 200 megaton bomb that you mentioned. That is actually just the primer phase for the other part of the bomb. The purpose of the starter bomb is to compact a mass of material into a state that is more dense than almost anything else in the universe.”
“Almost anything else?” asked Lieutenant Finn. “What? Are you talking about a black hole?”
“Yes,” said Lieutenant Rrower, with a nod. “Churther found a process to make a microscopic black hole. Happily, the artificial gravitational singularity that is formed is unstable and will eventually disappear; however, before it vanishes, it has the capability to devour about six times the mass of the Earth.”
“It...eats the planet?” asked Captain Sheppard.
Lieutenant Rrower shrugged, a habit he had picked up from his association with Terrans. “Like I said, I’m not a physicist,” he replied, “nor have I ever seen it used. ‘Eat’ may not be the right word. Maybe it opens a gate to another world or universe or time, and the things just go through it, like they did with his Box. I don’t know. All I know is that the one time the bomb was used, the planet that it was used on disappeared, along with three spaceships that were in orbit.”
“That’s just....just...wow,” said Calvin.
“Isn’t it?” asked Lieutenant Rrower. “There’s one other bit of historical reference. The one time the bomb was used was against the Drakuls. The fact that we are now contemplating using it to rid this universe of them for a second time is, I think, ironic. The bottom line is that if you only want the nuclear option, use the blue button. Don’t touch the red button with the guard over it. That is the doomsday switch.”
“Oh! OK,” said Lieutenant Finn. “I got it; don’t touch the red button.”
“You say that as if you think you will be going on the mission, should we choose to send one down,” said Captain Sheppard. “I was unaware that you were a combat trooper.”
“I’m not a combat soldier,” said Lieutenant Finn. “I am, however, just about the only person on this ship that understands at least a portion of how this bomb works. I am also someone that is not required for the assault on the dreadnought. I can accomplish this by myself if you just give me a shuttle and a crew.”
“What has to be done?” asked Calvin.
“I can put the bomb onto an anti-gravity pallet,” replied Lieutenant Finn. “I’d just need a shuttle to get me to the surface for a couple of minutes to drop it off, and then we could take back off and detonate it remotely from orbit. No problems.”
“There are always problems in combat,” said Calvin. “Nothing goes as smoothly or easily as you planned, mostly because the enemy has a say in what you’re doing, and he generally doesn’t want your plans to succeed.” Calvin looked at Captain Sheppard. “We only need one of the shuttles for the dreadnought assault. We could send the other with Lieutenant Finn to drop off the bomb. We’d also probably want to send a security detail of at least three soldiers just in case.”
“That makes sense,” replied Captain Sheppard. “Do you have three troopers that can be spared?”
“Yes, we do,” Night said. “I’ve got three in mind. They don’t have as much training in special operations, so they wouldn’t be as helpful in the other assault. This is the perfect mission for them.” He paused. “There’s no doubt we can do this,” he said, “but are there any other options that we haven’t considered? Is there any other way that we can do it without sending people down to the surface of the planet?”
“I could nuke them from orbit,” said the OSO.
“No,” said Lieutenant Finn. “We couldn’t be sure that would work. I analyzed the defensive systems surrounding the planet, and they are quite robust. Anything that we launch from orbit will most likely get shot down, in addition to giving away our presence to the forces in orbit and at the stargate.”
“We definitely don’t want that,” said Captain Sheppard, “especially if we’re going to have to get through the forces at the gate. No. Let’s go with sending the bomb down to the surface in a stealthed shuttle.”
“I have completed the survey that you requested,” interrupted Solomon; “however, before I give you the results, I have to note that they may be somewhat skewed.”
“Skewed?” asked Captain Sheppard. “How so?”
“Many of the individuals I had to contact were sleeping at the time of the survey,” said Solomon. “Some of them reacted quite poorly to being awakened.”
“Noted,” said Captain Sheppard. “What were the results?’
“There is a Hooolong that has engineering experience on super dreadnoughts including their design,” replied Solomon. “There are another 10 that have crewed starships at various times. As far as working on a Drakul replicator, there is only one, but he worked on the replicator that you are discussing assaulting.”
“Would it be convenient for the engineer and replicator technician to come to the bridge?” asked Calvin.
“They are already on their way,” replied Solomon. “I anticipated you would like to talk to them, so I asked them to come to the bridge. They will be here in approximately three seconds.”
The doors to the bridge slid open almost exactly three seconds later. The first figure that walked onto the bridge looked like all of the Archons that had been rescued from the asteroid.
“Your wings!” said Sara. “What happened to your wings?”
The Archon gave a sad smile. “I was in the hands of the devils for some time,” he said. “They treated me somewhat less well than what I was used to as an officer in the Archon navy.”
Although he had lost his wings, it didn’t do anything to affect his projection aura, and all of the Terrans were hit with a wave of sadness and loss. “I’m sorry for your treatment at their hands,” said the CO. “I am Captain Shep
pard, the commanding officer of the Vella Gulf.”
“Stop that,” said the Hooolong that followed him onto the bridge. Calvin was somehow not surprised to see that it was Smetlurge. “We’re free now,” Smetlurge continued. “You should be projecting happiness and confidence to help us, not boo-hooing. What’s done is done. Get over it.”
“Greetings, Mr. President,” said Steropes, who bowed to the Hooolong. He looked at Calvin with a raised eyebrow. “You didn’t tell me that you had rescued the Hooolong president. This will be very helpful.”
“Mr. President?” Captain Sheppard exclaimed, giving Calvin a less than favorable look. “I’m sorry, but I wasn’t aware that you were a dignitary. We would have tried to find better quarters for you. Maybe we could put you into a certain lieutenant commander’s quarters...”
“I didn’t know,” said Calvin. “Nobody told me.”
“He is telling the truth,” agreed Smetlurge, “I never told him who I was. Besides, if there is no Hooolong civilization left, am I really the president of anything?” His eyes looked at the Archon, Captain Sheppard, Steropes and Calvin simultaneously, daring them to contradict him. “Like I already said, what’s done is done. Our society was a technocracy; as the senior and most accomplished scientist on the planet, I was elected president, against my wishes. Now that the majority of my civilization has been destroyed, I am free to be a scientist again. I assume that is why you asked us to the bridge? You needed help with something?”
“Yes,” agreed Captain Sheppard, “we need your help.” He looked at the Archon. “I understand that you worked on the replicator here in the 54 Piscium system?” he asked.
“Yes, I worked on the replicator here,” said the Archon. “I worked there until the demons found out I was a laser expert and sent me to work on the asteroid’s defenses. My name is Azrael.”
Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone Page 24