by Kumar L
“I believe that is clear. Go on.”
“Well sir, the fact is, if we want to send two hundred people up in space for a journey that can last for many years, we need to equip the ship like a small city. It needs provisions, backup equipment and fuel reserves. That means more resources need to be fit into a ship small enough to be propelled into space at the speed of light. It’ll take some more time to work out all the kinks from the design, but I’m confident that we will be able to meet the timelines.”
“So, in five years’ time, we’ll have the ship ready to fly?”
“More or less, yes sir.”
“Just assume for the moment, Sriniji,” said Balraj, “that for the foreseeable future, we only have one ship capable of travelling into interstellar space. Also assume, just like now, Antariksh has run into major trouble at Proxima, and we need to send help. What if unfriendly aliens are on their way to Earth? What will our options be then?”
Srini thought it over before replying. “As you said, sir, with only one interstellar ship, our options are limited. There is nothing else available for us to deploy. The Americans, the French and the Chinese have made considerable progress but will need a few more years before their ships can undergo in-flight testing. We have some short-range vessels available, but our defensive capabilities are limited.”
“And if we want to go on the offensive?”
What’s on his mind? “Well, sir. With respect, that question will be better answered by our military. But suffice to say, I surmise our offensive capabilities are non-existent.”
“What you’re saying is that we need at least five years before we can handle any credible threat from outer space?” The PM was pensive. “And what if we decide to replicate Antariksh as it is today? How fast can that be done?”
“Well, we do have some of the components available, and it is a proven design,” Srini started, pulling up some more data on the display. “If we pull out all the stops and divert people from Antariksh-2, I believe I can give you two working vessels in two to three years’ time.”
“That’s better than nothing,” said Balraj. “In the meantime, we can equip our current fleet with higher firepower. If not outside the solar system, we can give a bloody nose to anyone who tries a misadventure closer to Earth.”
The PM appraised Balraj, and then looked up at Srini. “We need both options, Sriniji. I will increase allocations for your department. Sanjoy, get more people on the job. Balraj, can we get some specialists from DRDO?”
As people around the table started taking notes, Srini realized that Earth was entering a new era in space - an era of confrontation; not exploration.
“I’ll get right to it, sir.” Srini nodded.
********
The room below the PMO was off-limits - even to people with the highest security clearance in the country. It was staffed and maintained directly by people from ‘8’.
“This is where we stand,” the PM stated as he closed his briefing for the ‘8’.
“The lack of information is disturbing. My people have reached the same conclusion,” said ‘1’ as the rest of the holographic images nodded sagely. “We should work on the premise that the ‘Antariksh’ mission has failed, and we must prepare for the fallout. There are two possible scenarios. One: Antariksh has been severely damaged and is now adrift in space with no possibility of return. We may never know what happened to it. That means that we should prepare for a new mission. Or two: they’ve been captured or destroyed by a hostile alien species, in which case Earth may be in danger.”
“If that is the consensus around, then I suggest we get to work preparing for an incursion. We may not have much time. To avoid panic and a complete breakdown of law and order we have to ensure that the general public does not get a whiff of the plans or the possible dangers. Everything will be contained on a need to know basis only,” suggested the PM. “Mr. President, you seem distracted. I trust this course of action is acceptable?”
‘5’ gave a start at being addressed directly. “Yes. Yes, of course. We’re in.” I need to get the message out. This is not turning out the way we'd planned.
Three Light-years from Earth
T he TrueKif ship had started for Earth just a few weeks behind Antariksh. There were only eight persons on board - each of them handpicked and fanatically dedicated to the cause. The two pilots on board had been training for a mission like this in secret for many months. Four engineers for maintenance and the two mercenaries made up the rest of the crew.
The ship lacked any creature comforts, made up only of the bridge, engine rooms, and crew rest areas. This was both out of necessity because speed was essential and also because they had lacked adequate time to prepare for the mission.
The crew pretty much kept to themselves. The pilots could always be found in the bridge or in their rest area just behind it. The engineers kept themselves within the engine rooms, and all of them avoided the mercenaries entirely.
For Jur and Biw, this worked just fine. They had no interest in any interactions. They were living in a different world, trying to learn about Earth from the limited library of information available to them - from the probe and the crew of Antariksh. Each played out the scenarios in mind - land on Earth, contact the local, get to the destination and carry out the tasks.
Their motivations were as different as their appearance. Jur had been indoctrinated in the TrueKif vision of power and glory at the parent side. As a species of hermaphrodites, all KifrWyss had only one parent. Though they did take mates, the concept of a family was limited. Jur’s parent had been a senior commander of the Chairman’s personal guard. Having earned the Chairman’s trust very early, it had become an indispensable personal aide. When the parent retired, the Chairman had shown up at the ceremony personally and taken the young offspring under its wings. The progeny, in turn, had become a favourite and had been bestowed with increasing responsibilities until the most significant day - being chosen to lead squads on special missions. Unfortunately, the last mission back on HuZryss had ended in disaster, and it was lucky to get a second chance. Failure was not looked at favourably by the Chairman.
Biw, on the other hand, was an enigma even to Jur, keeping aloof even from Jur, except when they trained or worked on a strategy together. It seemed there was an inner fire consuming its very being. There was a hint of madness in the eyes, but mostly there was emptiness. The Chairman had warned Jur about Biw - never trust Biw entirely. And, when the mission is complete, kill Biw too. Once the task had been accomplished, Biw would no longer be needed. But for now, Biw was a very important pawn in the game. The Chairman needed the commitment Biw brought to the mission.
The military-looking TrueKif spaceship raced towards Earth. It had been built for speed, and the skipping between faster-than-light and standard velocity was happening precisely as programmed. This skipping was also having a detrimental effect on the crew’s health, but as the Chairman did not expect them to return to KifrWyss, the trade-off between the lives of the crew and speed was acceptable.
The Chairman had a plan for everything.
Home
A ntariksh had finally reached the outer rim of the solar system after a nerve-wracking journey through the Oort cloud. They had somehow managed to steer clear of comets, asteroids, and planetesimals to come close enough to transmit the message of their arrival to Earth. Accompanying this news was a coded missive detailing the imminent danger to Earth from the TrueKif.
“So, Major, what you’re saying, is that we practically handed over maps and other details to the TrueKif on a platter, in the name of cultural exchange?” Anara was trying one last time to add further information to their meager understanding of the situation.
“Not exactly to the TrueKif but I’m dead sure they’ve enough agents and sympathisers among the officials who could have done this.”
“And even then would it be enough to mount an excursion to Earth?”
“That would be difficult to say. If t
hey want to cause general mayhem, they just need to know where Earth is located. And let’s not forget that they might’ve been able to triangulate the source of the signal that we’d send from GMRT. All in all, they can reach our planet without our help,” said Ryan.
“That means we have nothing more to offer to our people back on Earth. Let’s continue transmitting the data we’ve gathered from the mission and hope they have better luck managing the threat,” finished Anara.
********
“It’s good to know our ship is safe and coming back home, but how do you plan to tackle this danger?” asked ‘1’.
“We don’t have many options. The information available is just too limited. Even with all the data Antariksh has been transmitting to us, we don’t have anything to take concrete action,” replied, ‘3’, the PM.
“I agree. Our analysis suggests that the assets at our disposal across the solar system are pitiful in number. We have alerted our outposts across the solar system to keep an eye out for any intruders. The only hope is that the alien ship would somehow trigger a warning and they might be thwarted before they reach anywhere near Earth. We have the means at our disposal. Let’s deploy them,” confirmed ‘4’.
The resolve of the group visibly strengthened at these words.
“For five decades, the ‘8’ have managed to keep this planet safe from destroying itself. We have eliminated hunger and poverty. We have thwarted terrorists and forestalled wars. We have enough power at our disposal. We are the custodians of peace in the world. Now, the next big challenge is in front of us. We will face it, and when the time is right, we will take this battle to the TrueKif’s world. We will not give in to fear. Let’s get ready for the fight.”
********
The initial chaos and alarm had rapidly been replaced with a controlled response as the governments had scrambled to set up an adequate defence.
Meanwhile, the world celebrated the arrival of the spaceship back on Earth. Finding intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe gave new life to the words ‘We’re not alone’.
Antariksh landed at the MG 1 base on the moon, and the crew was transported to VSSC, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, on Earth. The PMO had mandated that portions of the mission were to be classified ‘Top Secret’ and kept hidden from the general population until the nature of the threat from the TrueKif was determined and neutralised. It would be disastrous if it leaked out that humanity’s first contact might lead to the destruction of life on Earth. That would be the ultimate irony - life in the Universe was so fragile, and the only two sentient life-forms were now bent on destroying each other.
For the crew, this meant extended medical exams and debriefing. They were sworn to secrecy at the pain of prolonged incarceration in federal maximum security prisons. Of course, no secret could remain hidden for extended periods, but the hope was that the crew would keep their trap shut for just a few weeks. Hopefully, by then the bridge would have been crossed.
There were some murmurs of resentment, after all, the majority of the crew was civilian, but in the end, they all understood the stakes at hand. Some of the team was moved to secure and reasonably comfortable quarters on VSSC.
The subject of what to do with the humans from HuZryss had been debated endlessly. The bureaucracy was in favour of moving them to Mumbai to one of the top medical facilities under military care. Anara had fought very hard against this, absolutely determined that Lucy and Joe should remain under the supervision of people known to them till they could better assimilate. She had been consistently overruled but as a small consolation she’d eventually managed to ensure that Dr. Khan would remain their primary physician. It had been emotional for the crew to say goodbye to Lucy and Joe, and they’d thrown together an impromptu going away party cum baby shower in the crew lounge just before Antariksh landed.
As for the senior crew - Anara, Ryan, and Rawat would go to New Delhi, to join the joint task force that had been formed to pre-empt the expected strike. With no time to rest or acclimatise, the three of them were rushed off to Delhi.
********
Ever since humans had started understanding the nature of the Universe, it had been anticipated that sometime in the future we would contact alien life. The outcome of this contact was expected to be benign, but many knowledgeable people had been warning about the dangers of reaching out to entirely unknown species. Still, the quest for knowledge would push humankind to take calculated risks in seeking out new life.
Peaceful coexistence was most likely and therefore expected. Even then, handling a full frontal attack with a massive alien force had also been planned for. The issue, as always, had been to gather enough funding to build a space force capable of defending the planet versus exploring the farthest planets within the solar system. In the end, better judgment had prevailed, and exploration had taken the upper hand. No one had worked on putting together a plan for handling a situation like this, whereby a single marauding ship could threaten the very existence of Earth.
After a few hasty discussions and much fighting over turf, it had been decided that the Indian Space Command would be handling the search for the alien ship in space, until it was either located and destroyed or proven to have landed somewhere on Earth. The IAF would then be tasked to hunt them down within the Earth’s atmosphere. In the unlikely scenario, the aliens managed to evade the defences in the sky; things would become decidedly tricky.
Depending on where the landing might take place, the burden would then be on the ground or naval forces. It was likely that the search on the ground would involve multiple groups; hence the NIA was designated the lead agency for India. With their experience in flushing out all types of violent perpetrators and investigating incidents of terror, they were best suited for the assignment.
All agencies would have an unlimited claim on any and all resources required for the purpose. The task force would report directly to the Prime Minister and function concurrently out of the control room at VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram and the auxiliary control room at the NIA complex. The two sites had been linked with a virtual holographic connection so that they could function together in real time.
Preparations - NIA, New Delhi
F or over a hundred years, the NIA or the National Investigation Agency had been the premier criminal investigation agency for India. Within the first few years, it had shown its mettle in handling terrorism-related investigations. Over time it had become the nodal agency tasked with everything from protecting the citizens against terrorism to investigating serious crimes. However, even for NIA veterans, hunting for aliens was something no one could have claimed to have done earlier, though NIA had its fair share of UFO sightings and investigations.
The operations control room at the NIA HQ in New Delhi was the size of an indoor stadium. Giant displays lined up the walls while rows of technicians were busy working at their workstations. One wall directly opposite the entrance was dedicated to the holographic connection with VSCC. This virtually doubled the size of the enclosed space.
A virtual representation of the solar system was visible in the centre of the VSCC room. It almost felt as if one could reach across space and touch the planets. Graphics rolled across the display, highlighting every known human-made asset in space. The VSCC was also tapped into every significant space agency across Earth and stations across the system, enabling it to keep tabs on any unexpected visitor.
For all the glory and advanced technology available at hand, the coverage provided was woefully inadequate. There were not more than a couple of dozen ships and stations in active mode connected with Earth, including the farthest one on Pluto. These assets together could not even cover a fraction of the six billion kilometers distance between the Sun and Pluto.
The scientists at ISC were working on the assumption that the best chance of detecting an oncoming spacecraft would be once it entered the space closer to Earth, especially after it crossed the orbit of Mars. Most spacecrafts and stations were located in that genera
l area. Of course, the base stations on Mars would have to be aligned correctly, and the ship would have to pass close by for them to be effective. And then there was another difficulty - the fact that the expected time of arrival was utterly unknown. The brevity of the message from KifrWyss had precluded any possibility of pinpointing the direction of travel. As it was, every scrap of information was being collected, analysed and presented in the control room in real time.
So far the search had run through the catalogue of all vessels’ in active status up to Pluto and re-mapped the space debris in Earth and Moon orbits. A secure station in one corner was also tracking classified spacecraft, courtesy of the ‘8’. This data was however not shared with anyone - except the AI and the Director of the VSSC.
All possible weapon systems had been activated and placed on standby, including the Russian laser system on the Moon and the eighteen laser/missile systems in Earth’s orbit. These two systems provided the only means of defence for the whole of the planet. At the same time, these systems were more than a quarter of a century old, and the technology was unlikely to be able to respond to an alien threat in time. The final shield comprised of a set of hypersonic planes of the allies, which were kept airborne, flying continuous patrols.
In the face of all uncertainties, more than one leader of the free world cursed themselves for not having shored up the defence of Earth when the opportunity was available. It was now an example of too little too late.
Of course, new ships and defences were being built to protect Earth, but there was no way they could be activated within the next few days and were, therefore, unlikely to be of any help. Antariksh was, in fact, the most heavily armed ship in the whole system. However, the headlong dash to get back to Earth had stretched even its vast capabilities. As it lay in the moon dock, repairs and refit were being done on top priority with hundreds of engineers and technicians working on it day and night. If it could be made ready on time, Antariksh would probably be the last hope for Earth.