I sincerely hope that there is a liveable planet waiting for us when we commence our migration, and that future generations understand the reasons behind this decision. That what we are doing is for the future of our children, and our children’s` children, so that they might prosper and flourish. As for myself, what we are about to do to the indigenous population on the sixth planet will weigh heavily upon my conscience, and even more so upon my soul.”
Although President Mortise had finally agreed to the proposal, he had refused to bury all of his own misgivings. One thought kept him sane, that one of his automated space probes would locate a new home world before the plan passed the point of no return. If not, then he still foresaw a time when their civilisation would tear itself apart as the guilt of their actions made itself felt upon their grandchildren.
**********
Many new starships were constructed over the course of the eight years following the discovery of the rogue planet. Now they were all completed, they, along with a myriad of smaller and older freighters, were shepherded across deep space by three new and very powerful space cruisers. They journeyed to the other five worlds discovered by their space fleet; already a few hardy Magentan were living there, ones who had journeyed to the planets over the years following their discovery. Their task had been to prepare the planets for a steady stream of colonists, these people had worked hard, and finally the planets were ready to receive the colonists. These worlds would slowly grow into thriving worlds, however, there would have to make many compromises to build a new life on these planets, for those chosen to go there, given the chance of life over death for their descendants, but the colonists thought them worth making.
The majority of the Magentan nation would be forced to stay on their home world, and as the time of the destruction of their planet grew ever nearer, the people began to embrace a new religion, one that sped around the planet. It told them how the people would all perish when the rogue planet finally destroyed their world, only to be reborn on another world, a world fit for the new rulers of the galaxy.
The three giant arks were in the final phase of their construction, and as each one was completed, it journeyed to one of the five recently colonised planets. However, it would never land on any of these planets; instead, each of these starships would go into orbit around one of the new colony planets, and wait there until called upon to travel to their new home planet, when they eventually found one. These three starships carried the hopes of the Magentan nation within them in the form of one million frozen embryos, President Mortise prayed that they would find a new home world in which the embryos could be born in, Phairlis had no such fears, for he had found his new home world. However, that would all happen in the future.
During this time one of the automated space probes did find another suitable planet, unfortunately it had a space faring people living upon it, and before it could transmit back to Magenta, the space fleet of this world destroyed the probe, for the rulers of this planet were of a similar nature to the Magentans who backed Phairlis. Another of the probes developed engine trouble, just as it passed by a large red sun; it ceased its transmissions well before it plunged into the red sun.
That left only two remaining probes to carry on the task of exploring deep space, each one looking for the perfect world for the Magentan people, each one failing to do so, but still they carried on the search
**********
President Mortise asked his friend Doctor Baris to once again to come to his private study; he needed to speak to someone whom he knew that he could trust, and to whom he could ask to undertake a very perilous task. A favourite piece of music was playing, quite loudly, which made Baris look at his friend quizzically. Mortise managed a weak smile as he waved Baris to a comfortable chair near to his own.
“Thank you for joining me my friend, I have something to request of you, but first have a drink with me , it is a particularly good wine that I have been saving to celebrate my retirement, when that day comes. However, I now fear that I will have nothing to celebrate, only mourn.” President Mortice said quietly to his friend. He then opened a bottle of wine and filled two glasses almost to the top.
The music meant that Baris had to strain to hear what his friend was saying, but he did not mention it, instead he wondered if his friend feared that an enemy might overhear them.
“It must be a grave request Mr President, if I need this much wine to help me to agree to it?” Baris said quizzically.
“It is Doctor, and made at a very important time in the lives of all Magentans.” President Mortise said, and he took a large mouthful of wine before continuing.
“Doctor, I fear that we are making a terrible mistake by agreeing to Consul Phairlis`s proposal, but I see no way out of the situation that does not bring about the downfall of this government, and then see Phairlis being installed by the mob. If I remain in power, at least I can regulate our actions on the sixth planet, to some extent, and stop them from escalating to higher levels of malevolence. So I have asked you here to beg a favour of you on behalf of our people and those of the sixth planet.” Mortise explained grimly.
“Mr President, I immediately realised why you surrendered to the extremists led by Phairlis, and I stand firmly behind your decision. Now tell me, in what way can I assist you in your quest?” Baris replied quizzically.
“Some of the important posts amongst the Magentan starships now being readied for the trip to the sixth planet are still not filled. This is because I have asked those within our fleet to allow me to choose who I want to fill them, secretly, without anyone knowing of my involvement.” Mortise began. “Mikel, I want you to travel to the sixth planet with Consul Phairlis, and in the capacity as chief medical director, you would be in charge of not only all things medical, but also of the cloning program. When you get there I want you to stop this genocidal madness in whatever way you find possible, or at least delay it until one of the automated space probes can find a new world, one devoid of any intelligent life, one which we can colonise without resorting to mass murder on a planetary scale.” Mortise said grim faced. “Mikel, I have already asked others to help me in this task, to assist you, however, I need you there to oversee the whole operation, and so, will you do it?”
Baris was stunned by the president`s words, and he took a long moment to think the matter through before replying. “Of course I will go, Mr President.” Once he had accepted this impossible task, he felt better, if a little daunted by the nature of the task asked of him, for he foresaw the need for violence against other Magentans, if he was to be successful in the task set him. “You say you have asked others to help us stop this madness, may I know who they are?” Baris asked.
“The first person is a member of our special assignments squadron, Commander Petras Furling. He contacted me to tell of his own misgivings about the madness that Consul Phairlis wants to impose on us, and he too thinks that we attempt to stop it from going ahead. His squad have also agreed to fight with him, although they will all be operating in different parts of the planet. The other person is known to you, Redh Madr, a very competent individual who has long fought for the underdog.” Mortise replied grimly.
“Redh Madr, I thought that he was on the council of the Chosen Ones, Mr President?” Baris asked quizzically.
“He is, at my request, even as they evolved we both saw that they would become a problem, and Madr agreed to my request that he join their crusade, as they call it, and they snapped him up because of who he is.” Mortise replied with a slight smile appearing on his face.
“Then he is indeed a very valuable asset to our own crusade, however, how do you know whether you can trust Furling and his team, Mr President, he or one of his team could easily betray us to Consul Phairlis?” Baris asked quizzically.
“No, Doctor, of that I am certain, for Furling and I are old friends, we have often spoken on matters of local and national importance, I trust him as much as I trust you my friend. He has also guaranteed the loyalty
of his team, and that is good enough for me.” Mortise replied and smiling at Baris refilled his friend`s glass.
“In fact you can speak to him yourself, so as to get a feel for the man, both Furling and Madr are waiting in the next room, come this way my friend, and meet two of the few sane people left on our world.
***********
The time for waiting was finally over for the Chosen Ones, now the time for action had arrived. One of the new space cruisers led a myriad of ships, new and old, towards the unsuspecting sixth planet; the crews aboard the convoy of starships were in cryogenic stasis for most of this time, only awoken as they approached the Sol solar system. Initially only those necessary to pilot their ships and man the engineering had been awakened, but the remainder of the Magentans, over four thousand beings, would be awakened as and when needed, this helped keep the drain on their supplies to a minimum. This group consisted mainly of scientists and the military, more of their race would follow, when necessary, but for now, they waited upon their home world, praying to god for his help in this terrible time. The fleet finally arrived in the Sol solar system and Phairlis decided to transfer from his private starship over to the space cruiser Constellation, which would be staying there until ordered to return home. As soon as they arrived, Phairlis began to give his orders.
“Captain, please take the fleet into a parking orbit around the blue-green gas giant that the inhabitants of the system call Uranus, make sure that we are on its far side as seen from the sixth planet, whose inhabitants have named Earth. In this way our fleet will not be seen by any of their astronomers.” Consul Phairlis ordered.
The Magentan space cruisers, and a few of the more modern starships, did possess cloaking technology, however it used a lot of energy, and so Consul Phairlis used it conservatively. However, the majority of the fleet did not possess this technology, and so they would serve only as bases upon which their people could wait until called to Earth, or one of the other inner planets of this planetary system.
The Magentans needed to ensure that Mankind`s end came in an orderly way, so as to ensure that the planet was ready for its new rulers, and not destroyed either by some nuclear holocaust or a particular nasty virulent disease, waiting patiently for new life forms to slay. Therefore, the government had consulted with the military and the scientists of Magenta to make a phased plan of campaign, and one that President Mortise could sign off on, not the genocidal plans of a lunatic. What plans Phairlis had made he kept to himself, only the future would reveal them.
During the first phase of the operation, some five months before the sailing of the main fleet, they had despatched a number of reconnaissance teams to the more powerful countries on the planet Earth, these teams would pave the way for the future invasion of Earth. They travelled to Earth in the Ground Attack Ship Magenta, constructed for just this sort of work, and it too possessed the cloaking technology. The Magentan reconnaissance teams were in cloned human bodies, fully adult, but with the mind of an alien transferred into them; this allowed them to walk freely amongst the humans. The teams were to build a series of bases amongst the humans, and when the time came to put into operation the future phases of their plan, the Magentans would operate out of these bases, secure against the local intelligence networks.
**********
While the reconnaissance teams worked tirelessly on Earth, the rest of the fleet initially had other plans, they had begun phase two of the invasion. Phase two was the covert invasion of the other planets of the Sol solar system by the Magentan people.
“Captain inform the fleet that the space cruiser Constellation, the medical research ship Endeavour, and the cryo-storage starship Future, are now moving onto the planet known locally as Mars, phase two of our plan is about to be put into operation.” Consul Phairlis ordered.
One minute later, the large space cruiser Constellation moved out of its orbit around Uranus, followed by the research ship Endeavour, and lastly the cryo-storage starship Future. Their destination was Mars, the Constellation and the Endeavour with their cloaking mechanisms switched on. Hidden by the cloaking mechanism of the Constellation was the cryo-storage starship Future. The clones who would operate the Mars base, and those upon the Moon, were aboard this craft, still ‘unborn.’ The Magentans who would have their minds transferred to the clones were also aboard the Future, their bodies frozen in cryogenic stasis, they would remain so until they were called upon to begin there designated task.
Chapter Two
Mars
It was the year 2075; Earth had now developed an EmDrive powered spacecraft that cut down the journey time between the planets. The international community had decided to build a permanent base on Mars, following their successful bases on the Moon, now that the journey time had been shortened to just ten weeks. Space suits were still necessary of course on either the Moon or on Mars, for on the Moon the temperature ranges from +123 to -153 degrees centigrade and the atmosphere is all but non-existent. On Mars, the temperature differences are not so extreme, but temperature can fall to -153 degrees centigrade at the poles, and the air pressure for all practical purposes is also non-existent.
There is also the problem of radiation; both from the sun and the cosmos, and at one time this would have severely restricted the time that Man could be away from the habitats on either world, now though the new space suits protected the frail human body from such harm. The new advanced space suits now meant that the teams on Mars could be away from the habitat for trips to the Valles Marineris or the massive shield volcanoes of Mars, or during the search for water, or most importantly Martian life, in any form.
To combat the problems associated with gravity on Mars and the Moon, they wore weighted clothing, the teams also exercised as much as possible, but even with these measures; the problems do not fully go away. There were also the health problems associated with the body`s internal organs, they too are affected by the reduced gravity on Mars and the Moon, and weighted clothing and exercise will not help keep these working efficiently, they only helped the body`s muscles and bones. This was one reason why each month there were rigorous checks on the health of all the crew. This ensured that health problems were caught before they developed into something serious. A moon shuttle travelled between the Earth and the Moon once a month; on Mars, it was to be once a year, exploring space in the late twenty first century was still a dangerous occupation.
**********
The spacecraft, Mars Colony One, was midway between Earth and Mars, everything was going as planned, and most of the crew were about to turn in for the night, only one of the two astronauts would stay awake to ensure that there were no problems. In the craft, as well as the two astronauts who were in command of the spacecraft, there were two engineers who initially were in charge of assembling the gigantic Mechano set awaiting them on Mars, one medical doctor, and three scientists, including one, Doctor Swenson, who was the leader of the new colony. Their first task was to prepare the living habitats for themselves and those aboard the larger Mars Colony Two, which had just now left Earth orbit on its way to Mars, aboard it, were two other astronauts and eighteen scientists. Six months ago, four supply ships had landed upon Mars, they carried everything necessary to ensure the colonisation was a success; they were parked on the cold surface of Mars patiently waiting the arrival of the Mars team.
Astronaut Johnny Pearson had almost completed his list of instrument checks when all of the screens on the small bridge blanked out for a second, and when they came back on they were full of interference. Astronaut Bob Willey was sitting him next to him complained loudly as the craft`s speakers came to life, however, it was not with information but with a loud crackling noise, he quickly adjusted the volume control and breathed a sigh of relief when he had brought the noise down to just a whisper.
“What the hell Johnny, Earth did not mention any Solar activity in their last report, did they?” Willey asked looking across at his friend, although he already knew the answer, for his friend and f
ellow astronaut would have told him if a solar storm was about to hit them.
“No, Bob, I think I might just have mentioned it if they had.” Pearson said looking at his friend in disbelief.
“What the hell is wrong with our instrumentation, it has all gone haywire back here?” Doctor Swenson had appeared behind them, and from his tone, he seemed to be blaming the two astronauts.
“It appears to be communications and our external sensors that are mainly affected, Doctor, however, none of the systems seem to be totally unaffected by whatever is causing the problem.” Pearson replied. “I am trying to find the cause of it now, but to tell you the truth I am baffled, it must be some sort of radiation. However, the internal monitors are not recording anything other than the usual background stuff, so I will have to get back to you after I have checked it out.”
**********
On the bridge of the Magentan space cruiser, Constellation, Consul Phairlis looked up at the large view screen set forward and above the cruiser`s bridge, he was watching as the small Mars Colony One space craft unknowingly approached the giant space cruiser, Constellation. He smiled, for Phase Two was about to be put into operation, the launching of his fleet had been timed to allow the Magentans to intercept Mars Colony One at just this point in space. He wondered how the earthlings were coping with the interference his powerful space cruiser was sending their way, not very successfully he thought.
Captain Lorinson, captain of the Constellation looked quickly in the direction of his mission leader, Consul Phairlis, and then he called out to one of his officers. “Science Officer Malin, begin recording the data stream they are currently sending to Earth, especially the one regarding the health of the crew.”
Invasion Earth Page 3