Simonson smiled.
“Thank you general. It was a pleasure to write it.”
The comment made everyone chuckle.
“Well that is first, an admiral that likes his homework. I never thought that I’d see the day.”
The comment came from Levin. His British accent made the joke even funnier.
“Well they are younger so who knows.”
“Yes.”
The laughing relaxed the atmosphere and the tension. Taylor looked at them and smiled. It was good to start the talk like this. They all needed a little relaxation.
“Charles i trust that the technology that will come from Norfolk made everyone happy down there.”
The NASA administrator smiled.
“I think that they were more than happy, first the RCS thrusters and then the shields. It will sure make things a lot easier.
“Do you have an estimate about the time when the ship will be finished?”
“I believe that it will be finished by the end of January. The mission should be launched in March. The team of scientists is already chosen. And I believe that you have the team of marines that will go on the mission as well.”
“Yes we do. There is one change in that regard. The mission will have several more members. The Macedonians requested before giving us access to the ship on their territory for their members to be included.
Several scientists and linguists from those territories will come and one of them will be Fillip Stefanovski from Macedonia.
He will go as a representative of the Federal Government, but he is still a member of their military so we can assume his role in this. The request came from the president. And from what I know of the man I think that he made a good choice.”
“Isn’t that the soldier that…”
Taylor looked at Peters. The marine general smiled as he noticed both Admiral Johnson and Simonson nodding with their heads.
“Yes he is the soldier that delivered us the data and killed the alien soldiers. He won’t hold his rank instead he will be an addition to the science team. “
“How can he be an addition to the science team?”
“He can because he has degrees in mathematics and physics, and because he speaks several languages, especially old languages. And if the aliens are any indication we might need one more linguist in the team.”
Levin turned to Charles. The British admiral was silent till that moment.
“Mr. Bentley is the Deadalus going to be able to make the additional trip to the coordinates that we have.”
“Yes it will be. With the reactors it should be able to operate without any problems. The trip will be slower and it will extend the mission but we already planned for that. The food and water supplies will be doubled. And with the thrusters from the alien ship we don’t need to bring additional fuel. We were extremely lucky in that regard. Everyone knows how important it is to find out why they chose those coordinates. We hoped to find out more with our telescopes but they showed nothing but empty space. And when I say empty I mean totally empty. There is nothing there.”
After this no one said anything for the next couple of minutes. They all drank their drinks and were just looking at each other. Johnson was the first to break the silence.
“Are there any plans for how will we use this information.”
“What do you mean Jack?”
The admiral inhaled and looked at his superior officer.
“We all know that if want to have any chance of repelling the invasion and destroying their fleet our best chance will be to catch them there when they, as our science fiction movies and writers say, exit from hyperspace. We know that the best weapon we have against them is our nuclear arsenal. And that it will take several really strong nuclear devices, possibly even hundreds to destroy that fleet. We all know what will happen if we have to fight them here on Earth. That many nuclear bombs… the fallout will be disastrous. We will sign our own death warrant.”
“There are already plans for ships. And we know that we have conventional weapons that can damage them.”
Johnson smiled at the last comment.
“I’m sorry general. Yes I know that the rail guns and the main guns from the battleships managed to cause significant damage on the ships we faced here. But those ships were small and the largest one was heavily damaged before we engaged it. And our losses were enormous. It took a lot of shots to break through its hull. And it didn’t have any shields. If it had…”
He left the last sentence hang in the air for couple of seconds.
“No Jack. We all know that our best, no our only chance of stopping them is at that point in space. If they come here it’s all over. Even if we win that battle our losses will be so high… Yes we should make contingency plans in case they make it to Earth, but we have to try to stop them there. That is the place where we should draw the line.”
“He is right sirs. We should try to make our stand there.”
Taylor looked at both admirals. He knew that they were right. And that they spoke from experience. They both were the only people in the room who faced the aliens. And they had firsthand experience about their abilities. And he read the report from the science teams that were researching the wrecks. He read the paragraph that warned and mentioned the power of the shields that the cruiser had, and of its weapons. The power of that ship was breathtaking. And that was only one ship that was being stripped from everything. And the fleet will have more ships like it, maybe even some more powerful from it.
“I know that you are right Eliot. Plans are already in motion to create an opportunity that will make it possible to make that stand. And who knows maybe the expedition will uncover something we can use. There is hope that we might be able to use those ships.”
“Well we will know in couple of months.”
After this they went in to discussion about the possibility of using some more technologies from the alien ship. The meeting carried on for several more hours.
And while they discussed, high above them large teams of technicians worked on the ship. With the reactors in place the construction was nearing the finish. The engine was slowly being put in place. And in the distance lonely ships were waiting the final return of their creators…
CHAPTER SEVEN
23 March 2018 11:00 hours
International Space Station Freedom
The largest object that man ever managed to build looked tiny compared to the beautiful world it orbited.
The ISSF was the biggest and most expensive project that humanity created. It was placed in the L4 Lagrange point and orbited the planet in a stabile orbit. Its creation and building started three years before with a joint effort by more than a hundred countries. The biggest investors normally were the USA, Russia, China, Japan and the EU who had the most developed space programs. There were plenty private investors as well as more and more private companies took the business of carrying satellites and people in space.
The station incorporated in itself the previous ISS and was build around it. It had a circular form with a massive central structure. To an outside observer it would have looked like a wheel. Even today the station was still being upgraded and new modules were arriving from Earth. And it was easily visible from the planet below with its size of eight square kilometers.
The plans for it dated back to the seventies of the previous century, back to the golden years of the space program. Nobody imagined its creation until three and a half years when the private companies that took the brute of space exploration and developed successful space tourism. With the announcement of the plans for discarding the ISS in twelve years because of money issues, and with the increasing need of the private companies for a space station they delivered their proposal to NASA and the governments that operated and sponsored the ISS. After several months of negotiations the plans for the building of Freedom were finally given green light.
And forty two months later the station was operating and as it proved represe
nted the greatest hope of its creators. Its value was proven by the object that orbited several thousand miles away.
Compared to the station the Deadalus looked small. But the first human ship that was supposed to carry a human crew to the outskirts of the Solar system was never going to be built in the short time it was without the station that housed the crews that build it for the last year. It incorporated many of the parts that were planned for the Long Shot. It had a triangular shape and with the attached ARES rockets that were supposed to give it its first boost it looked even bigger than it really was.
It was two hundred and twenty meters long, thirty seven wide, with four decks from top to bottom. Two shuttles were attached on its sides, as well as several escape pods in the form of the modules that were used for the Apollo missions. A large hangar bay lay on its bottom that housed a third smaller space shuttle that could take off and land like an airplane. The shuttle was a donation to the program by the private companies.
Seventy people at the moment were on it. Eight more, than it was planned. The crew trained and exercised for almost two months. A small test flight was performed to test the ship and its crew several weeks before.
The crew had twenty two soldiers, twenty astronauts and engineers who were the real ship’s crew. And twenty eight were scientists and engineers who had a mission to study the strange fleet.
Connors looked at the ship. He knew every part of it like the back of his hand and today as he was looking at it he felt deep, great pride. And he knew that everyone else felt that too. He knew that million telescopes down on the planet are pointed at the moment at the small point several thousand miles away, at the ship that he and his colleagues worked tirelessly for the past year to build.
“Any minute now…”
The comment came from Samuel. His French accent made Connors laugh.
The big Frenchmen came on the station at the beginning of the project and he was involved in the whole process. Somewhere along the way he and Connors became great friends.
“Yes any minute now.”
They both stood at the observation post and watched the ship. They knew most of the crew, but especially the astronauts and engineers. Most of them were their colleagues. Connors was one of the reserve pilots for the mission but in the end it turned out that he will have to wait the next one.
As he looked his friend noticed the hidden sadness in his eyes, but knowing him well didn’t say anything. He just let him watch.
“He is a beauty isn’t it? And it’s only the first.”
Samuel smiled.
“Yes it is. And we built it.”
“And we will build the next one as well. And we will be on it.”
His voice was filled with emotion. They both knew that the next ship will not be like the one that they were watching. The attack from the four Dacarian ships made sure that humanity will be building ships for war. The news that an invasion is imminent meant that a fleet will be needed. If the Deadalus was built without the need for ship slips that was not the case for the ships that were planned for the future. Even as the Deadalus was built the station received its latest upgrade. Two ship slips were now in the final stages of construction, and there were information’s that the station will receive armor plating. They didn’t know for sure but with the knowledge of the incoming invasion it was obvious that the station will need an armor plating and weapons that will be able to hurt the enemy ships.
Samuel looked at the ship that was standing before him and a sad smile appeared on his face. He knew that the attack took away the innocence and the beauty of the exploration. He could remember the feeling of pride and joy they all felt when the construction of Deadalus began. He remembered the excitement they all felt, the long discussions of what might be found on the strange ships. Of what the aliens might look like.
Now they knew. They were reptilians more than two meters tall and they were coming to take everything humanity had. He felt anger at that thought. And he knew that that anger was felt by everyone. The dacarians didn’t know it yet but they were in for a rude surprise. And if they were lucky the Deadalus might bring the first one.
When the Deadalus was built the hope was that a technology that will enable humanity to travel through the galaxy, but that changed after the attack. The hope for the drives was still there, but now the hope for finding powerful weapons came first. Humanity needed weapons that can strike from distance and needed them desperately. And he really hoped that they will be there to be found.
He turned toward his friend and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Yes we will my friend. Yes we will.”
As the two astronauts discussed and watched the ship, their friends on it were finishing their final evaluations, and making sure that everything is working as it should. Twelve of the twenty astronauts were on the ships bridge at the moment. The others were strapped in the other chambers together with the rest of the crew. The ships bridge had room for twelve people. They were all manning the consoles.
Commander Jennings looked at the readings. Everything was in the green. Linda reported that everyone was strapped in and ready for takeoff. Now all they needed was the clearing from Houston.
“Houston we are ready for takeoff, asking clearance for departure.”
Less than a minute later the video link showed the NASA center on earth.
Dr. Paterson’s face appeared on the screen.
“You have clearance Deadalus. God be with you.”
“Thank you.”
Thirty seconds later the countdown started. As the clock hit zero the eight powerful ARES rockets ignited and the large ship started its journey towards Sedna.
The ship moved slowly at first but it soon picked up speed. As the rockets burned through their fuel they were discarded and the hydrogen thrusters were ignited. After forty five thousand seconds of max burn the ship achieved the velocity of 5000 km/s. The next stage was the ignition of the VASIMR engines that took their power from the four nuclear reactors. The ship slowly gained up speed. Even with the great power input the speed couldn’t be achieved instantaneously. The huge mass that the vessel had in total of 4500 metric tons meant that it needed a great deal of power to start its moving and it gained its speed slowly. It took seven days for it to reach its max velocity of 7500 km/s.
Although the speed was great the crew thanks to the RCS thrusters and stabilizers from the alien ship and thanks to the shields, didn’t feel anything. As the ship traveled through the vast distances, for them time moved slowly in exercises and planning and in constant updates from Earth. They had no secrets from one another. They had plenty of time to get to know one another in the two months that they spent together in preparations for this mission. The soldiers had the easiest time as they were the most prepared physically as well as the astronauts who trained their entire lives for missions like this one. The scientists spent most of their time preparing for what was to come. They constantly watched the photos that the New Horizon took as it approached Sedna.
From the observations they managed to confirm that they were definitely not the same design as the four ships that were destroyed on Earth.
They were totally different and from the images it seemed that they were different classes as well.
The crew interacted constantly, there was no gap between the soldiers and the rest of the crew, they shared opinions and sometimes laughed at some of the things that were done and said. It was interesting to see the reactions of everyone in a zero gravity. The astronauts were the masters in that environment as they spent most of the time in space. Several of the soldiers attracted the attention of everyone with the stories about the battle with the aliens. But everyone wanted to know the story that the latest addition to the team had. The six scientists and one soldier from the Balkans joined the crew as a late addition. And while the scientists were open the soldier was the most quiet and kept mostly to himself. He was always present at the discussions and always gave his opinion. But he never talked t
oo much. He was the most known of everyone since the UN meeting and the showing of the images. They knew that he came face to face with the aliens and lived to tell the tale.
Edward looked at the young man that was sitting opposite him. He noticed the strange badge he was wearing. The symbols on it were strange. As he was watching he noticed that the soldier smiled.
“It has something that attracts attention, something mysterious that we can’t see but we can feel. Doesn’t it?”
Edward raised his head and looked at him.
“Yes it does. Where did you get it?”
The young man looked thoughtful for a second and then answered him.
“It was a gift, the last wish of a dying soldier.”
As he said that Edward noticed the strange look in his eyes and understood.
“It was one of them, wasn’t it? One of them gave it to you before he died.”
“Yes. It was his last wish. His name was Ristarion Al Mach.”
Edward looked at him with look that showed disgust and surprise. In a moment he recalled the day when he learned that his brother died.
“How can you wear it? How can you wear it knowing what they will do?”
“I wear it because it was a gift and a dying wish. I wear it because he died with honor. They all did. They may be our enemies but we have to respect them and try to understand them. That might be the best chance we have.”
Edward looked at him. He was surprised from his speech. He knew the story at least the one that the media reported about the battle and the destruction of the second ship. He knew that it was Fillip who acquired the data link that contained the information and the coordinates for the attack. He thought that the anger he felt was something that everyone felt. But now he was seeing something else. Deep inside him he understood what the Macedonian was telling him. For you to be better than your enemy you must first understand him, know him. That way you will always be ahead of him. It was obvious that this young man knew something about them. Something no one else knew. Something strange happened that day, something that he wasn’t prepared to share.
The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) Page 12