Deadly Voyage (Logan Ryvenbark's Saga Book 1)

by Lavina Giamusso

  “If you are not dealing with rational men or aliens on the other side of the line, you have only one option. Bring enough firepower to utterly destroy your enemies. Leave no one standing. This would be the perfect time to use atomic weapons. Or your toxic mist.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Do you have a plan if the Molochs get through the mist?”

  “I’m getting dozens of robotic gun forts in place. Think German pill boxes, general, but moveable and five times faster. If an army charges them, there will be dead bodies galore. They can be overrun or bombed but I don’t think the Moloch have a lot of artillery. A few years ago on Swaran, the pill boxes took out a half million robotic troops before being blasted. If our estimates are right, the mist should kill at least 90 percent of the invaders. The remaining 10 percent, which I assume would be in weakened condition, would have to face the pill boxes. If there’s anyone left, my troops should be able to mop up.”

  “How many men are you facing?”

  “I’m guessing about two million.”

  Rommel showed a sly grin. A trace of dry irony came into his voice. “I trust that is the full size of the enemy’s army. Tell me there are no reinforcements for them.”

  “I don’t think there are. Everything the enemy has he’s throwing at us. Win or die. Those are our choices.”

  “Your enemy has no Air Force and no Navy - correct?”

  “Correct, we are pinned against the sea, but there will be no naval bombardment. No invasion from the waves. The battle will be won or lost on land.”

  “You are sure?”

  “That’s our best intelligence, which, admittedly, is very skimpy. We know very little about this planet. The intelligence I have doesn’t come from a government, but from a corporation. A huge corporation, true, that has its own intelligence network, but it’s not a planetary government. And I’m sure in the past the corporate intelligence people haven’t been worried about military options. So the quality of the intelligence is suspect. But it’s what I have. I can say that all the probes we have released haven’t spotted a single airplane on the planet. Nor have we seen a single ship that’s more than Medieval in design. The army we are facing is very primitive, in more ways than one. But there are so darn many of them.”

  “Major, couldn’t you detonate your explosive mist fifty miles away from the Aristolan territory? Or even a hundred? That would take the battle far away from your home camp.”

  I shook my head. “The advance forces of the Molochs are already within fifty miles of the Aristolan border. I want them to consolidate before I drop the bombs. I can’t have them spread over five hundred miles or I won’t have enough explosives to destroy them all. I have to wait until they mass for an attack and charge. Get them all together and then blow them away in one massive mist attack. That’s my plan.”

  The German general nodded. “It sounds like a good one. If I were there I would sign onto it.”

  “I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.”

  “If you did, I can’t think of it.” He smiled. “All you can do before battle is devise your best plan, hope your intelligence is good, hope your men carry out their orders, and hope nothing unexpected happens.” He saluted again with the black baton. “I wish you success, Major.” He disappeared into thin air.

  I swirled the chair around and waited for the test. On the screen the forest looked peaceful. I saw the black silo drop from the plane. It landed with a thud but it wasn’t a loud explosion. In fact, the bomb didn’t explode. Slowly it just evaporated, the metal getting thinner and thinner. A fine, silver mist appeared against the dark green of the forest. Spreading rapidly, it attached itself to bark, branches, leaves and ground, a light silver fog had spread across the forest. When bits of it touched the Synthetics, they turned around once, stumbled and fell. They lay still and didn’t move. A ferret, his nose burrowing in the ground, looked up. The fog covered him and he simply lost power in his legs and slid to the ground. He didn’t move either. Like a plague, the mist spread silently across the land. It was a peaceful death. No explosions, no gunfire, no bombs, no fires. Just a gray, chilly touch when the mist arrived. Then a long silence.

  I didn’t smile, but I was satisfied. And just a bit more confident than I had been before the test. The reports came in a few minutes later. The test was a success. The mist was toxic to all sentient life. In a twenty-mile area, nothing was alive. But the forest was as green as ever.

  We were ready to leave for Vega.

  I watched an Earthmover – which is the size of a small house – as it was being lifted up to the transport ships. All three ships had tractor beams on it. The Earthmover rose at an incredibly slow rate. At least to me. The engineer in charge of the job said the pace was pretty fast, considering…

  I understood that. I have been on about two dozen planets. Some of them have magnificent sights. Tourists stand in awe of the rainbow streams and fountains on Valens. Millions are drawn to the planet every year to see the violet, red, blue, yellow, and green waters surging toward the sea. The jeweled mountains of Bedajak also attract hundreds of thousands of visitors. They stand and gape at the wonder. The scene is too majestic for words.

  An ugly Earthmover being airlifted to transport ships may not have been in the same majestic category as rainbow springs and jeweled mountains, but I was impressed with it. Considering how much the huge, ugly piece of machinery weighed, factoring in gravity and the difficulties of holding a tractor beam on a small house for a long period of time, the lift was a remarkable scientific achievement. I understood that Belen’s scientists had made some improvements in tractor beam physics. I didn’t doubt it. She always hired the best in whatever field.

  I looked up again. The Earthmover was almost out of sight. The sun’s rays bounced off the orange metal, making it almost look like a star. Those brilliant scientists Belen hired had assured me that it wouldn’t take long for the Earthmovers to burrow into the ground and get us to the ancient cities on Vega. Which was good news. I didn’t want to stay too long on the planet. The sooner we left, the better. You could say that about most battlefields.

  I watched Belen stroll across the yard. She waved and I waved back. I must say I not only liked and admired her as a friend, I admired her as an entrepreneur. I tended to regard governments as necessary evils, but often the greatest advances in human history have come through reckless and creative entrepreneurs who risked everything for an idea. Whether in medicine, or aviation, or technology, that idea has benefited humanity.

  Chapter 22

  In much of human history, the path to wealth and power involved subjugating your fellow human beings. Rape, plunder and pillage was a way to success. Then, as a king or ruler, you could steal wealth from those you ruled over. But capitalism and the free enterprise system allowed people to obtain incredible wealth by serving their fellow citizens. Someone designed a product that people wanted, that made life easier for them, and people bought it. They gave their money to you willingly instead of under threat of death. Socialism, on the other hand, only brings long-term misery. I keep arguing with Eric about this. He claims unrestrained capitalism is an evil, but a Christian socialism would be the best of all possible governments. I doubt it but perhaps we can ask the Aristolans their opinion when we get to Vega.

  I headed back to my office and bumped into Fr. Diego. I invited him in. I had a question for him. He eased down in a chair and gleamed his white teeth optimistic smile.

  “Father, I wanted to ask you something. It’s a thought that came to me a couple of days ago and I would like your opinion on it.”

  “Fine. It’s a question about our current mission I take it.”

  “It is. I kept wondering about Belen’s insistence on taking the Aristolans to another planet. An uninhabited planet. I could understand some of her reasoning, but then I had what might be a revelation.”

  Fr. Diego nodded. “We’re familiar with those in the church.”

&nb
sp; “This is to protect the Aristolans. I realized that an unfallen race might need protection from all the other races in the galaxy. The evil always seeks to corrupt the innocent. If evil can’t corrupt the innocent, then it seeks to destroy the innocent.”

  “That’s very true, Major.”

  “But the Aristolans have always been isolated and insulated. I assume there was not much mingling on Vega with the Molochs. They have never encountered a fallen race. They have never encountered corruption and sin. If they were placed on a planet with other, sinful races, they might fall, too. Or at least some of them might.”

  “Very true, Captain. Although from the little we know of them, they do seem to be very strong in their faith. Sin is selfishness. That’s the basic definition of sin. When you have grown strong in righteousness, selfishness and sin loses much of its allure. You can see through it. You can see it is, in fact, selfishness and sin. It mars beauty, and it mars innocence. It turns everything ugly. Some of our scholars believe – and I am in agreement with them – that if Adam had resisted his initial temptation he would have grown spiritually to the point that he and Eve could have walked past the Tree of Good and Evil without being tempted at all. That’s the spiritual state that all of us should be in.”

  “And I gather that Belen wants to keep the Aristolans from being tempted. But it seems to be they are at a spiritually mature state. I haven’t seen Jaclyn fall into selfishness. She seems as innocent, and as powerful, I might add, as a person could be.”

  “A very remarkable young woman. If every Aristolan is like her, I think they will keep their unfallen spiritual status. Scripture says that being in the presence of the Lord is the fullness of Joy. It also says that joy is our strength. Humans seek happiness, but they know little about joy. Having not fallen means being eternally in the presence of God. Can you imagine how strong such joy must be? What in the human world can compare to that? At such a level, how could one be tempted by darkness and sin when it holds only pain and misery?”

  “Good questions, Father. Perhaps when we go to Vega we can answer them.”

  Belen was seated in her dark cushioned chair behind her desk when she heard the trill of a Stephen Foster song, denoting a message coming in on one of her secret lines. As a corporate president in a galaxy where many planetary government looked with suspicion on CEOs - especially when those CEOs did not pay bribes - she maintained her own limited, but very effective, intelligence networks. She tapped the button on the screen and a military man appeared.

  “Captain Jerico, good to see you.”

  “Same here Ms. Morganthal. But I may have some bad news for you.”

  Belen frowned. The captain was stationed at Fort MacDonald, the military installation on the edge of the galaxy. If he had bad news, it could be lousy news, indeed.

  “Go ahead, Captain.”

  “We are on red alert. Our command has received information about a possible invasion from beyond the galaxy. This doesn’t mean there will actually be an invasion, but the general here considers the information serious enough, and credible enough, to sound the red alert alarm. We have probes and scans out, but, as of now all is quiet. How long that will last I can’t say.”

  “A galactic invasion? That’s the last thing we need.”

  “Yes, but I wanted to get the information to you because Vega would be in the direct path of the invaders, and I know you are putting together a mission to Vega. You may have to rethink that.”

  Belen shook her head. “I can’t. All the preparations have been made. The Aristolans are in great danger. We have to go now.”

  “I just wanted you to know.”

  “Captain, what type of information have you received that indicates a military assault on the Federation?”

  “I don’t know it all. The general has not told us what his actions are based on. But I do know we had a civilian fly in a few days ago and all this started with him. Whatever he told the general set the wheels in motion.”

  “You wouldn’t know the man’s name, would you?”

  “Yes. Clay Starret.”

  She gasped with recognition.

  “Clay?”

  “Yes, ma’am. You know him?”

  “Yes, I've known him casually for a number of years. What would he know about an alien invasion? Clay is invited the best cocktail parties and art exhibits. He rubs shoulders with the rich. But he doesn’t usually hang around warlike aliens.”

  “Perhaps not but after he arrived here the post went on red alert. He had information that shook up the general. But the general has not told the rest of us what the info was.”

  “Thank you, Captain. There will be a bonus for you at the end of the month. Keep me informed of any additional details about this.”

  “I will.”

  Belen frowned again. She picked up a pack of cigarillos and stuck one in her mouth. She flicked a match and stuck the flame to the tobacco. She thought better when she smoked. At least that’s what she believed. Somehow smoking focused the mind. And she needed her mind focused.

  She could not postpone the voyage to Vega. The Aristolans were under siege. They couldn’t hold out much longer. The rescue expedition had to proceed as scheduled. There had been rumors about galactic invasions before and nothing ever came of them. There was a chance this was just another rumor. Perhaps just some random details that someone had misinterpreted. But the general at Fort MacDonald had heeded the information and placed the station on red alert. OK, better safe than sorry. If you hear credible information about an invasion, don’t dismiss it. Go on high alert until additional information comes in. Don’t mess up. Remember Pearl Harbor.

  She knew who commanded the installation, but the name had slipped her mind. She seemed to recall he had a good reputation. Wouldn’t flinch. Not about an alleged invasion. She would have to tell Logan. As military commander of the mission, he had a right to know what Jerico had told her. He wouldn’t withdraw. But some of her men might.

  She knew Clay Starret. They were not bosom buddies, but she had always gotten along well with him. She scowled and pushed a couple of buttons. Perhaps Clay could be persuaded to divulge what he knew. The man had a fondness for money but could not be bribed. That seemed to be a contradiction, but not with Starret. He appreciated what money could buy but he couldn’t be bought or scared. In fact, this was the rarest of all occasions when the truth might be the best weapon.

  Say “Clay, I’m putting together a mission to Vega. I need to save a race there that is being attacked by a vicious species. My people will be in danger. I need to know what you know. I will pay for the information.” If she read Clay right, he would reveal the information to her and then refuse payment. She would probably get his computer when she called but that was OK. Marie would deliver the message.

  She was only putting together an expedition to Vega and even that small mission required intense planning, logistics, men, and materials. It took her months to coordinate. How much planning would a galactic invasion take?

  Chapter 23

  I sat with Jaclyn in one of the corporation’s cafeterias. We were drinking Temolos, a type of orange juice laced ice tea. As always, Jaclyn wore her angelic face and optimistic smile. The best genetic technology couldn’t have improved her genes.

  “Jaclyn, I was wondering if you know anything about the Molochs. Do your people know anything about their origin?”

  She shook her head. “No, not really. For centuries the Molochs lived on another continent on Vega than where my people lived, and there was never any communication. We heard rumors of this savage race across the ocean, but we never paid much attention to it.”

  “Anyone ever tried to explore to see if the rumors were true?”

  “No, the ocean was five to six thousand miles wide. We did not have the ships needed to cross it. My people have never been much for exploration. We have always been content where we are. We live in peace and harmony. We've felt no reason to explore other areas of the planet.”

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