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The Long Day

Page 13

by Robert Harrison


  The Dolek released the cover and pressed the button. The button locked down in the depressed position and the device started beeping. The beeping started slow and quickly sped up. The Dolek threw the orb at least thirty feet away, then a blinding ball of light appeared. There was no sound, just light, but it left behind a circular crater twelve feet wide and several feet deep. The Dolek warrior jumped up and down with joy. He liked these weapons. Jason, too, was impressed.

  When they returned to the ship Devor wrote up instructions on the weapons, explaining how each was operated and what they did. Jason suggested adding recommended uses. Devor added, handguns for close quarter combat; rifle for distance combat; rapid fire rifle and grenades for enemies massed in groups; bow weapon for enemy combatants rushing your position. Jason was happy with that summary.

  They had their weapons now, but what about the rest? The council met to review the intelligence they received about the Tecate’. As far as the Tecate’, it contained basically the same information that Gaba Dor reported to the council on Sapiea, with three additional notes:

  1) The Tecate’ queens laid eggs and seemed to be the only ones that spawn more Tecate’;

  2) The Tecate’ knew how to operate most Sapien equipment and seemed to be able to operate any new equipment after they’d seen it used just once, and;

  3) Whatever one Tecate’ learned quickly passed from one Tecate’ to another when they hugged.

  This was all useful information. In addition to those descriptions it noted the Tecate’ were now in full control of six continents on Sapiea and expanding rapidly. It also included a note that read, “This cannot be confirmed, but we have reports the Tecate’ are warehousing and eating captured civilians.” This note, in particular, sickened everyone.

  Bishop said, “The time is now. Sava, can you please order everyone to make the ship ready for travel and man their posts?”

  Sava did so. Meanwhile, Karen and the Sapien physicists ran a wormhole simulation from their current location to the planet Indus, several times. It worked every time. They were ready. Karen gave them the settings and Sava set the helm.

  Sava and Bishop watched from the bridge as Sava gave the order to activate the wormhole device. The device fired and a massive wormhole opened up before the ship. Sava said, “Proceed.”

  The ship moved forward to the wormhole. It passed through. The planet Indus lay before them.

  Chapter 13: Second Wave

  The Tecate’ had now amassed sufficient numbers to continue their conquest and take on the allies of the Sapiens. Two of the captured cargo vessels were loaded with a Tecate’ horde and sent to the planets Dolis and Aquita.

  The ship bound for Dolis was the first to arrive. Dolis was a jungle planet occupied by Doleks and a variety of wild animals, many of which were predators. The Doleks had developed a variety of advanced technologies, including the burner, and they had several manufacturing centers, but their towns were mostly small to medium size outposts scattered amongst the jungles.

  The Doleks liked it that way. They preferred small communities where most of the occupants knew one another, and they liked the nearness to nature. True, living near the edge of the jungles brought them in close contact with the planet’s predators, but they had the Dolek warriors to protect them. All Doleks were versed in the blade, the spear, and the burner, but the warriors were particularly skilled and surprisingly fierce. Most Dolek warriors could single-handedly bring down a wild trimaran with just a blade.

  Most of the planet was covered with dense jungle and there were few open spaces. This made it difficult for the Tecate’ ship to land. They did not have exact landing coordinates so they had to find a spot. They flew around, circling at low altitude for nearly an hour before they found an opening large enough to take ground. The Dolek communities in the area saw the ship passing overhead and raised the alarm. They all knew what had happened on Sapiea, and their warriors were at the ready.

  The Doleks knew what the ship was looking for, and they knew there was only one nearby area large enough for a cargo vessel to ground. The warriors from several villages were already on their skimmers headed toward that spot. A skimmer is a low altitude open platform that cruises just above the tree tops. Skimmers range in size and carry anywhere from one to twenty Doleks. There were over forty large skimmers on route to the opening. By the time the Tecate’ found the spot there were almost eight hundred Doleks warriors waiting for them.

  The ship landed and two hundred Tecate’ swarmed out. It was four to one, Dolek against Tecate’. The battle ensued and a throng of Dolek warriors surrounded the Tecate’. There was much screaming heard across the glade, and occasionally a shrill squeal from a Tecate’ taking a hit. But mostly the blades, spears, and burners were proving ineffective. They could not pierce the hard shells of the Tecate’. It took a close-range direct hit to a Tecate’s crest to bring one down, and a that range the Dolek that dealt the blow was almost always torn apart before his target fell.

  The battle was brutal and lasted over two hours. The Doleks fought bravely, but in the end it was Dolek bodies that littered the field. Sixteen dead Tecate’ lay scattered about with nearly eight hundred Dolek. It was no match. And the few surviving Dolek who witnessed the carnage knew there was no point in a rematch. Dolis was occupied.

  The Tecate’ settled in to defensive positions around their vessel and brought out a crate of manava to begin seeding the ground. There was no ground to seed. Except for the one small area where the ship landed, the ground was covered with impenetrable jungle.

  The Tecate’ set fire to the jungle. Two thousand year old trees were consumed in minutes, and fierce predators like the trimarans died without ever knowing their enemy.

  In the end, over twenty three thousand acres had burned. Fifty six Dolek villages burned in the fire. Thousands of Doleks were either consumed by the fire or fled to the jungles. Five thousand Dolek refugees now aimlessly roamed the jungles with no destination in mind.

  The Tecate’ began the seeding process. The manava would grow well in the ash.

  Sometime later, after the chaos had subsided the Dolek reorganized and activated a QETAR. A message was sent to all receiving stations paired with that QETAR. The following message went out:

  Dolis occupied by monsters. Thousands dead. More heroes to follow. Expect this evil to cover the globe. No defense effective. We fight until the last warrior falls.

  Do not approach Dolis. *END

  *****************

  The second of the Tecate’ ships was now in orbit around Aquita, looking for a place to land. To their surprise, Aquita was covered in water. There was little land, and their orbital view showed only one possible landing place for a ship of this size. They took it, crushing the trees and structures beneath as they grounded.

  They were on an island. The Tecate’ had no concept of what an island was and for that matter, a sea. They swarmed off the vessel and met no resistance. There was only a small outpost of Sapiens who had hidden in the few concealed spots they could find. The Tecate’ searched and eventually found them. They killed all the Sapiens. In twenty minutes the conquest was over.

  The queen surveyed the Sapien outpost and found the underwater observation portal and the console of a translation device. She knew what is was. The emissaries had seen this on their visit to Sapiea, and all the Tecate’ knew what it was and how it operated. The queen ignored it and returned to the beach.

  Her workers were carrying out their normal procedure, seeding manava. But in this case, the manava was being washed away by the waves and floating off into the ocean. The Tecate’ continued seeding, but the queen soon realized the effort was futile and ordered them to stop. The Tecate’ stood around on the beaches waiting for a directive. The queen was uncertain what to do next.

  From prior communications with the Sapiens, the Nanda knew what the Tecate’ were and viewed them as malevolent. The Nanda approached the shoreline where the Tecate’ stood by. They reached out with thei
r long arms and pulled several of them into the ocean.

  The Tecate’ could not swim, nor did they sink. They just floated away to bob around in the sea until they eventually drowned. The queen realized the conquest of Aquita was not going as planned. She was angry. She went back down to the translation console and sent the following message to the Nanda:

  “Your world is unsuitable, so we leave for now. You have killed several of my soldiers and you will pay. I will soon return to poison your waters. All Nanda will perish. Aquita will be a dead world.”

  Suddenly the Nanda on board the Maximus started feeling anxious. They did not know the cause. They called for the acting ship’s counselor, Asha, to speak with them. They had spoken to her many times before and she had always been a calming force, but this time she could not help. They did not know why. She did not know why. The Nanda were left with a sense of dread.

  The QETAR on Aquita was inside the Sapien outpost. The Sapiens were dead and the Nanda could not access the QUTAR, so no message was sent. The events on Aquita went unreported. The Nanda waited in fear for the queen to return and carry out her threat.

  The queen and her horde reboarded the ship. She was unsure where to go next, Sapiea or Dolis, or someplace yet undiscovered. They had passed Dolis on the way from Sapiea to Aquita. Dolis lay between the two worlds and was the nearest to Aquita. She decided to help her sisters on Dolis and set course for the planet of the Dolek.

  Chapter 14: The Robot Planets

  The Maximus settled into orbit around the manufacturing planet, Indus. The crew gathered at the observation stations to get a better view. Most had never seen this system. From the port side they could see the large brown planet of Indus below. From the starboard side, they could see the red planet Manifer passing nearby.

  Indus and Manifer were lifeless planets discovered in the early interstellar explorations. Both planets were in near orbits to one another. Both were rocky worlds full of minerals and heavy metals that provided an abundant source of raw material to be mined for manufacturing. Both were frozen and partially ice-covered, providing an ample supply of water.

  This abundant materials made these planets highly suitable for manufacturing, but both planets were much larger than Sapiea. Sapiens could not withstand the intense gravity on the surface, so they never landed. These worlds were populated entirely by autonomous robots, and all manufacturing was automated.

  A small contingent of Sapiens managed the facilities from stations orbiting the two worlds. The Indus station was visible just below, in a slightly lower orbit. The planets themselves were void of life but bustling with activity. The facilities on the surface were massive and could clearly be seen from space, and many autonomous ships were busily going to and from the surface.

  The Indus station saw the Maximus and hailed them. “This is Indus control calling the Maximus. Are you receiving?”

  Sava responded. “Yes. What is your status?”

  “We are running low on supplies and have been rationing our food to sustain ourselves. We have had no relief and no news of Sapiea since we first heard the alert. Do you know what is happening?”

  “Sapiea is occupied by the Tecate’. The government on Sapiea has collapsed but we have the acting council aboard our ship. We have new weapons designs and have come to have armaments manufactured so we can retake Sapiea. Are the facilities functional?”

  “One hundred percent,” came the answer. “The robots and facilities below are fully automated and have not been impacted in any way. No Tecate’ have been seen here.”

  “Good. What is the status of the Adonis?” The Adonis was the newest ship in the Sapien fleet and was last known to be under construction at Manifer.

  “The Adonis is complete, but no one has come to man the ship.”

  “We are here for that purpose also,” replied Sava. “How many of you are manning the Indus station?”

  “There are only six of us. Most of the operations are done by the robots.”

  “We have ample supplies and berthing available on the Maximus. We will send a shuttle and bring you on board. Please transfer all manufacturing controls to the Maximus.”

  Another voice came on, “Sorry to interrupt, this is Manifer control. We have been listening to your communications. We are in the same boat here, also dangerously low on supplies. There are five of us on board. Can you take us as well?”

  “Yes. Likewise, please transfer control of the Manifer facilities to the Maximus. We will pick up the Indus crew first then come to Maximus to relieve you as well. Please stand by.”

  Both stations transferred control to the Maximus and waited. The crew from the Indus was the first on board. Sava, Bishop, and Asha met them at the docking station.

  “Welcome aboard,” said Sava. “I am Sava Doll commander of this vessel. This is Bishop Avery and this is Asha Aah. Asha will escort you to a reception area where you can be fitted with a personal disk, like this,” he said pointing to his neck. “This device will allow you to speak with the other species on board. We are many.”

  Sava looked at Asha and said, “Please see they are fitted and fed. Then provide them with quarters. We will have them meet with the council after we have the crew from Manifer on board.”

  The ship made way to Manifer and also retrieved the abandoned crew. The Adonis was in orbit around Manifer and was visible out the port viewing station. It was of the same design as the Maximus, but it was nearly twice as large.

  The crew of the Manifer was also fitted with a personal disk, fed and given quarters. After everyone was rested Sava sent Asha to catch them up on what had transpired since the Maximus began its mission. They were amazed at the story and found themselves in awe of it all.

  Now it was time to meet with the council. They were all brought into the council chamber. Bishop was now head of the council so he opened the meeting, then he asked the new crew members, “Do you have any questions?”

  Several hands came up. “Yes,” said Bishop pointing to a man in the front row.

  “We have been told you are the creator and the father from Vhamora, and you are here to lead us against the Tecate’. Is this true?”

  Bishop was now comfortable with his role and he answered simply, “It is true,” then he continued and got right to the point. “You see before you a cache of weapons,” he pointed to a table that held one of each weapon type. “We have reverse engineered these devices and have created schematics for manufacture.” He handed them the plans. “Can you manufacture these?”

  They looked over the plans and one of the crew responded, “We can make these devices on Indus. The facilities on Indus are suited to devices of this scale.”

  “Good,” said Bishop, then he asked, “Review this device here” and he pointed to the rapid fire rifle. “Do you think you can scale this up to say, ten times the size and power level?”

  Another member responded, “We can do that on Manifer. Manifer is better suited to the manufacture of larger items.”

  “Last question then,” he said, “This device,” he pointed to the orbs, “do you think you can also scale these up. I’m thinking maybe twenty times the size, also with a modification. I’d like the trigger mechanism on those substituted with a safety and a shock switch. I’d like these devices to ignite on the shock of impact after they have been armed. Can this be done?”

  The crew reviewed the plans, then one of the crew from Indus said, “I can make these modifications.”

  “Good,” said Bishop. “Let us make plans to manufacture the following” then he ran off his list:

  “Five thousand of each handgun, rifle, and the bow type device.

  Five thousand of the small orbs.

  Two thousand of the large orbs.

  Twelve of the scaled up repeating rifles, which we will use as cannons.”

  “How long will this take?”

  The crew spoke amongst themselves for a few minutes, then one replied, “It will take at least two days to reconfigure the plants to
the new templates. From there, maybe five to seven days to manufacture the quantities you requested.”

  “Then let’s get started,” said Bishop.

  Sava asked, “What are the scaled up items for?”

  Jason, who was in attendance spoke up. “I think I know what he has in mind. You’re going to fit the ships with the cannons and use the large orbs as bombs. Is that right?”

  “Exactly,” replied Bishop. Then he continued. “Sava,” he asked, “can you create a crew roster for the Adonis and man that vessel?”

  Sava said, “That’s easy. When we left Sapiea the council doubled up on personnel for each position. If we use all the seconds we have a full crew, and I’m sure they’ll be anxious to start. A lot of the seconds have had little to do since we started. They’ll be happy to have a job.”

 

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