"Traditional weapons certainly haven't worked," Mitch said. "Now the only problem is creating a similar weapon while having almost no information other than it contained niakrim and a nuclear bomb."
"If I may make a suggestion, sir," C-9 interrupted. "I have spoken with my master and he believes he has a solution."
"Go on."
"I can enhance one of your existing torpedoes using niakrim," the android told them. "If it can penetrate the hull of the ship, we can deliver an explosive and destroy it from the inside. Master will upload schematics for me to work from within the hour."
"So, now we have a weapon—maybe," Mitch said. "How to do we hit an invisible ship?"
"That's easy," Cyrus said with a smile. "We can use the transponder Mozzie slipped onto one of the aliens...as long as they still have it."
"Last question, and this one is important," Mitch said. "How do we defend against an enemy we cannot kill and a weapon that can penetrate current shield technology?"
Everyone in the room stood silent, glancing uncomfortably at one another. Even the robot was silent.
After several moments of silence, Mitch finally spoke up, "I guess we need to fire the first shot then."
"And we better not miss," Kublai added.
CHAPTER 10
CAPTAIN MITCH COOPER sat on the bridge of the Krim Sprinter with his senior officers. They floated through space, anchored to an asteroid that was fifty kilometers from the asteroid that had the niakrim deposit. All power was off, other than basic life support systems. He hoped the alien ship wouldn’t scan the asteroid field before un-cloaking and heading for the niakrim deposit.
It had been twenty-four hours since they arrived and scouted the deposit. C-9 had worked around the clock to modify one of their torpedoes and was now hidden on the asteroid with the niakrim. Mitch hated that he wasn’t taking the one shot they had, but he couldn’t risk being detected. The android stood the best chance of going undetected.
The plan was simple. Wait until the enemy ship de-cloaked and approached the niakrim deposit then fire the niakrim-plated, plasma bomb-enabled torpedo. What wasn’t simple was what to do if the plan didn’t work.
They had no real way of fighting a ship that was impervious to standard weapons. Not to mention the fact that it could cloak itself to avoid detection until it was too late. Kublai had used their hidden stash to fashion niakrim coated weapons, but there was no guarantee that they would actually kill one of the aliens. Not to mention the fact that none of the crew had ever trained with ancient handheld weapons.
No, their best bet if C-9’s modified weapon failed was to flee. If they hurried, they might have enough time to get the warp system online before being detected. This might be their only chance to stop the enemy ship, though, and Mitch was loath to give that opportunity up. Besides, Mitch Cooper never left a crew member behind, and C-9, even though he was a robot, was still part of the crew.
Nope, Mitch would just have to pray that their plan would work and deal with the consequences of failure if it came to that.
C-9 STOOD motionless in a cluster of rocks overlooking the spot where the niakrim deposit penetrated the surface of the asteroid. He held niakrim-plated missile on his shoulder. If this plan failed, the Krim Sprinter, the ship he had been programmed to protect, would likely be destroyed. No matter how many simulations he ran, their chances of surviving were still very low.
There was no turning back, though. He had been programmed to follow orders, and Captain Mitch Cooper had decided this was going to be their last stand. C-9 would record everything, though. He had also set up a subroutine that would automatically transmit that recoding to his siblings back on Promethius Prime if he failed. His master would have all the information C-9 could provide, even if he himself was destroyed.
Time meant nothing to the android and he remained alert and ready to respond whenever the alien ship appeared. It was seventeen hours, thirty-two minutes after he took up his position when he got the first warning.
A ship suddenly appeared fifty thousand kilometers from the asteroid field, presumably dropping out of warp. It disappeared a moment later.
Interesting. The ship had to drop out of warp before engaging cloaking technology. C-9 made a note on the recording.
C-9 calculated the arrival time to be fourteen to seventeen minutes. Fifteen minutes, forty-eight seconds later, the ship appeared directly above his position. He pinged the transmitter that the Mansana merchant had planted on the ship to verify targeting information. His simulations indicated there would be approximately thirteen seconds after the ping until he was discovered, so C-9 began scanning the ship, gathering as much information as he could collect in ten seconds.
With three seconds left before his likely discovery, C-9 launched the niakrim-coated torpedo and sent the transmission to Promethius Prime. He would send another update if he survived the encounter.
SEVENTEEN HOURS MAY HAVE PASSED VIRTUALLY instantaneously for the robot, but it was torture for the crew of the Krim Sprinter. Most of the crew hadn’t slept the previous twenty-four hours, which made the seventeen hours of waiting in the dark with nothing but basic life support even more excruciating.
The naked eye was barely able to see the enemy ship when it appeared above C-9 on the asteroid fifty kilometers away. If Cyrus’s computer-enhanced senses hadn’t spotted it, they may have missed it all together, but once identified, every set of eyes was focused on that tiny speck. Time seemed to stand still. Ten seconds seemed to last for hours as they all stared, unblinking.
The explosion temporarily blinded everyone on the ship. Just as their eyes began to adjust, the Krim Sprinter was pelted with debris. The subsequent shock wave knocked them loose from the asteroid and they began to spin out of control into the asteroid.
“Power on, shields up,” Mitch ordered. “Cyrus, get us clear of these asteroids.”
The Krim Sprinter was powered up in a matter of seconds and Cyrus expertly guided them through the asteroid field to safety.
“I need a visual on C-9’s position,” Mitch said as soon as they were clear.
The image that appeared on the viewport showed an asteroid charred black in the explosion.
“Zoom in!”
Upon closer inspection, the surface of the asteroid appeared to have melted into black glass. There was no sign of C-9 or the enemy ship.
“Search the asteroid field,” Mitch said. “There has to be debris from that ship…and maybe a robot.”
“Captain, we’re being hailed.”
He wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad. “Let’s hear it,” Mitch said.
“Captain, I believe we destroyed the ship.”
The bridge erupted in cheers.
“Cyrus, let’s go pick up our robotic hero,” Mitch ordered.
MITCH SAT ALONE in his luxury suite on Solari Prime, staring at the galactic transponder. He had been putting off this transmission for two days. Normally, he couldn’t wait to let Vice-Admiral Spiraculi when he was right about something. Especially when it meant that Spiraculi had been wrong. His gut told him there was more to this story, though. His gut also told him that this conversation was going to leave him frustrated and discontent.
He exhaled forcefully one more time then typed in the switchboard coordinates.
The hologram of the sterile woman dressed in white popped up a moment later. “Please state your name, the party you are contacting, and the nature of your call.”
“Captain Mitch Cooper for Vice-Admiral Spiraculi, the matter is classified.”
The IMF logo seemed to spin for a long time before Spiraculi appeared. The man that appeared looked far different than the man Mitch usually spoke with. He had the look of a man that hadn’t had a good night’s rest in weeks.
“Cooper, at least you survived,” he greeted.
“I heard about Ducate,” Mitch said. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know you were close.”
“It’s more than just that,” Spiraculi told h
im. “We lost seven ships and over three hundred men. At least the loss wasn’t in vain.”
“The information we learned from that battle was invaluable,” Mitch agreed.
They spent the next half-hour discussing everything that happened. Vice-Admiral Spiraculi seemed to perk up as they spoke. By the time Mitch finished sharing what they had learned—most of it anyways—the vice-admiral was mostly himself again.
“I will send you the technical specs of the torpedo we used to destroy the enemy ship,” Mitch said.
“It will be good information for the archives,” Spiraculi agreed.
“No, not for the archives,” Mitch said. “You need to start production on these weapons.”
“We are not going to use the rarest metal in the galaxy to create a stockpile of weapons that may never be needed.”
“What do you mean?”
“You destroyed the enemy, Mitch,” the vice-admiral told him. “There is no evidence of a further threat.”
It was what Mitch had expected would happen, but he couldn’t give up without making an attempt to convince Spiraculi that he was wrong.
“Vice-Admiral, you are making a mistake,” Mitch said firmly. “They abducted at least three warp engineers. They were actively seeking niakrim. Those are the actions of someone building an army, not a single warship. We need to prepare for war.”
“That is my decision, not yours.” Vice-Admiral Spiraculi had fully recovered his arrogant nature. “Your job is to follow orders, despite what you might think. And your orders are to continue on your previous mission. The ITC is still demanding niakrim—to build more ships, not weapons. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” Mitch said with a sinking feeling in his stomach. The vice-admiral was wrong, and it was going to cost a lot of people their lives. Maybe even their entire way of life.
Mitch was so busy planning his next move, he didn’t even notice when Spiraculi ended the call.
If the IMF wasn’t going to save humanity, Mitch Cooper would.
EPILOGUE
CAPTAIN MITCH COOPER walked toward the brig, frustrated at the lack of support—and belief—from IMF headquarters, and full of unanswered questions. Kublai, as expected, was standing outside when he arrived.
"No one other than Cyrus has went in or come out, sir."
"Good," the captain nodded. "I'm sure we are breaking all kinds of regulations. I seem to remember something about a convention at a place called Geneva...but for the life of me, I have no idea why."
Kublai shrugged. "I've never known you to worry much about regulations."
Mitch just nodded at his chief security officer and entered the brig.
Inside, a severely wounded being was strapped to a sturdy metal chair. He was alive, but at the moment appeared to be unconscious. The worst of his injuries had been crudely bandaged, but hundreds of small cuts were still visible. Mitch marveled at the fact he had survived the complete destruction of his ship and nearly an hour floating in the vacuum of space. Whatever this race was, they were definitely tough to kill.
"Any luck getting the translator programmed?" Mitch asked.
Cyrus looked up from the terminal, his robotic eye glowing red. "I'm getting close. Every time he comes to and speaks, I get closer. I'm pretty sure he's insulting me... I just don't know exactly what he's saying yet."
Mitch studied the unidentified alien being; he assumed it was male. He had seen alien races in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but this alien was something completely different. He was practically identical in size and shape to an average human, but his skin was a leathery grey. It reminded him of the skin of an animal he had once seen in a holographic zoo—a rhinoceros, if he remembered correctly. His skin was obviously very tough to survive the explosion that destroyed his ship.
As Mitch approached, the alien suddenly jerked awake. He looked at Cyrus then at Mitch and began speaking in what Mitch could only describe as a haughty tone. Mitch looked from the captive to Cyrus, who just shrugged.
The man continued to repeat what he was saying, each time growing louder and bolder. After several repetitions, Cyrus exclaimed, "I've got it."
Cyrus hit the engage translator button and they could suddenly understand what the prisoner was saying. The man stopped speaking as he, too, realized the translator was working. He smiled the most malevolent grin either man had ever seen before continuing.
"You humans are so stupid. For thousands of years, you thought you were the only ones in the entire universe. Even now, with your stolen technology, you think you are the only ones with the power to travel the galaxy at warp speed. There are forces out there that you cannot even imagine."
The captive alien looked from Cyrus to Mitch, looking each man in the eye before continuing.
"We are the Kalimutaw and you will all perish."
THANK you so much for reading Discovery, the first book in the Niakrim War series. I am so excited you took the chance to read it and I really hope you liked it. If you could leave a review for me, I would really appreciate it. It will help me tell others about my books.
If you want to be the first to hear about new releases and special offers, be sure to sign up the Science Fiction Newsletter. I have several fun things planned that will only be available to newsletter subscribers and can’t wait to share those with you too. Here’s a link where you can sign up.
fairfieldpublishing.com/sci-fi-newsletter/
OH, and if you wanted to know a little more about alien species, turn to the appendix where I included a list of alien species.
Thanks again. I hope you like what I’ve written!
APPENDIX
Alien Species
Aus’Ti – Alien race that is very human-like in appearance. They have very high metabolism and great stamina—as long as they are properly nourished.
Geminorum – Alien race from Tau Geminorum. Very human like except with green skin with blue stripes. Women are considered exotic and very beautiful by many men.
Jabuka – Alien race that crashed on Earth whose skin is a deep maroon color. Males typically have dark black hair and are the only ones who can control niakrim warp drives. Females typically have lighter hair, often blond. The location of the original Jabuka home world is unknown and it is presumed to have been destroyed. They have a very low reproductive rate which makes them scarce which limits the number of warp enabled ships.
Kalimutaw – Alien race with tough, grey skin. They typically wield archaic weapons, but they are very effective—and deadly. They are the only non-human race with warp technology. They also have the ability to cloak (become invisible) using a similar, yet unknown, technology to warping.
Ma’Chow – Alien race of merchants. They possess four arms with three fingers on each arm with suction cup finer tips. The suction cups make them adept at handling slimy and/or squirming food items which comes in handy when dealing with legal (and banned) live foods. It also makes them very good at moving around objects very quickly, and deceptively.
Mansana – Alien race that is found throughout the galaxy. They typically have green and brown mottled skin and are short by human standards which is compounded by short arms and extra girth (ie. big in the belly). Their civilization does not have access to warp technology, yet they are unexplainably present throughout the galaxy. They are business savvy and are always looking to make a buck. They run many of the outposts and trading centers throughout the galaxy.
Vim – Alien race encountered during the ITC’s first hundred years of galactic exploration. They are larger than most humans and have a violent nature. They have an affinity with all weapons, even those they have never encountered before. They sell their services to the highest bidder. They are highly sought after as bodyguards but command a very high price. They are predictable in that they will do anything for money, more specifically anything for the person who pays the most money.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Thank You
Appendix
Discovery (The Niakrim War Book 1) Page 8