by Ira Tabankin
The second space plane was contracted to Northrup to build. She was a minelayer which carried over one hundred small antimatter or nuclear-powered mines. The mines themselves were stealth coated, as was the minelayer ship. She was nicked named the Killer Whale due to her short fat body that held the mines. The Whales could also be configured to carry troops and had the ability to go from planet to orbit and back carrying over fifty tons of supplies. The Enterprise was designed to carry twelve Whales and forty-eight Piranhas plus the captain’s and fleet commander’s shuttles which were modified Whales.
While the Whales were designed to go from planet to space and back, the Piranhas were designed as pure space fighters. They could enter a planet’s atmosphere like the old space shuttle. The Piranha’s external shielding was designed to dissipate the heat of reentry.
The Enterprise having the two additional nuclear reactors to operate additional generators also carried a heavier offensive weapons capability than the Russian and Chinese ships. She carried an experimental plasma weapon that was designed to fire encapsulated plasma shells which were accelerated to .75C. They were fired from a 4-meter diameter rail gun, which was constructed under the centerline of the massive ship. The rail gun could also launch depleted uranium slugs and slugs with antimatter or nuclear warheads. Antimatter was still in short supply so many of the weapons had fourth generation nuclear weapon warheads. Old nuclear warheads and bombs were updated and turned into warheads for the Monitor’s weapons. These slugs were designed to penetrate the enemy’s hull and explode inside of the ship. The theory was once the slug exploded inside an enemy ship, that ship’s own shields would hold the nuclear or antimatter explosion inside the ship, intensifying the explosion.
The Russian and Chinese ships were going to carry the jointly developed SU 100 space fighter, which was designed in Russia and built in both countries. The SU 100 was armed very similarly as the Piranha, it was a little larger and carried thinner armor but more slugs and a larger laser. The Russians and Chinese didn’t have the resource to develop their own mine layer, so they agreed to purchase and deploy the Whales from America. Due to the lower power of the Chinese and Russian Monitors, their rail gun was reduced in size and power which meant they couldn’t fire the experimental plasma weapons.
As the world realized they really weren’t alone, they got very lucky. A maggot ship flew close to the new United Earth Space Station which was currently test flying two American Piranhas and two Russian SU 100s. The four test fighters were scrambled to intercept the maggot ship before it could get away. The pilots were excited to be flying a real mission against an enemy who’d killed over a hundred thousand humans,
The maggot ship strayed too close to the station which quickly unmasked her weapons which surprised the aliens. The station’s central particle beam weapon was able to wound the alien ship enough that it couldn’t open a wormhole and jump away from Earth, she had to stay and fight, something the little maggots didn’t like doing. The station’s particle beams were able to slice through the alien ship, which damaged her engineering spaces and the small AI, which managed her drives.
One of the SU 100s, which was slightly faster than the more heavily armored Piranhas, took the first shot of the ship to ship coming space war when her lasers cut through the alien craft. The station launched the only Whaleship she had, which was also a prototype being tested. This one carried six Space Force SEALs, who were ordered to board and capture the alien ship. The three presidents wanted to hold the aliens for trial at the world court for crimes against humanity.
The maggots weren’t used to their prey fighting back. The SEALs were armed with Earth’s first shoulder-fired laser rifles and a 45-caliber sidearm. The SEALs were able to enter the alien ship through the holes the SU 100 had cut, and without a fight, take it over. The Whale towed the alien ship to the space station, which was really no more than a series of welded together containers covered in solar panels with added weapons. The entire station had been quickly assembled in space as the first of a series of armed space stations hoping to protect the Earth.
The SEALs discovered an alien crew of nine and one human android on the ship. All were arrested and placed on trial for crimes against humanity. All of Earth watched the trial from space. The aliens didn’t understand the concept of a trial. They didn’t speak in the normal manner. They were able to communicate through their implants which the android received and thus spoke for the aliens.
Kalteck had offered a basic implant to the Earth leaders and the Monitor’s senior officers, these implants had only 20% of the capability of Rhett’s. Three human lawyers agreed to represent the aliens. The trial lasted one month, at which time the aliens were found guilty. They were then questioned under torture to provide details about their technology and their relationship with other races. They were then in front of the world’s largest audience, they were killed by a firing squad made up of American, Chinese, and Russian troops. The death of the aliens provided a spark to the humans that they could win the upcoming battle.
Kalteck and Rhett watched the trial with amusement. Rhett explained how a normal trial would have differed from the alien one. A normal trial, the defendant, would have a chance to prove their innocence, unlike the aliens who all of Earth had already judged to be guilty, and the proof was the human android discovered in their ship. Kalteck wondered why the humans didn’t just torture the aliens and then dump their bodies into space. The human android was taken after the trial and interrogated by an AI who was able to easily break the android and drain its memory. Kalteck suggested the android be reprogrammed and used instead of being destroyed.
Rhett shook his head, “We, in America, assumed people and I guess that now includes aliens, are innocent until proven guilty. They are given a fair or, in this case, a semi fair trial. I’ve never seen a trial like this, and usually, those who are on death row get an automatic appeal. This was the fastest trial for a capital crime I’ve ever seen.”
Kalteck laughed, “That wasn’t a fair trial. Once your people discovered the human android, all bets were off. Your people remembered the recordings we made on Titan. They wanted revenge and I guess they got it. I hate the maggots, so I’m pleased they suffered and were then killed. My AI tortured their AI and got some interesting information from it. It seems they took images of the three Monitors you’re building, and they sent them to a relay station. I’m going to leave and see if I can reach the relay station before a passing ship picks up the message. If the enemy realized you’re preparing, they'd send a smaller fleet now to stop you before you become a threat to them.”
“Can you really grab the message from the station without the enemy knowing you intercepted their mail?”
“Remember the message moves at the speed of light, I’ll jump ahead of the message and be there waiting for it, or I’ll arrive right after the message does, then it’s luck to see if I get there before any passing ship. There is no telling what my chances are, but I am going to try. I can’t destroy the relay stations, they are an asset to every race. If I destroyed one, I’d be condemned to death by every race.”
Since Kalteck’s secret was now out in public, he didn’t hide his comings and goings. He launched and landed at Area 51 at any time of the day. A small army of people camped on the hills overlooking Area 51 in the hope they’d see his ship either take off or land. This day they got to see him launch vertically from his hangar. He gave them a thrill when he paused over their position so they could get some good pictures before he zoomed into space. Images of his ship launching from Hangar 18 and pausing over their heads spread around the world.
While many in the world still considered him to be a demon and didn’t trust him, others saw him as a fallen angel who came to Earth to help them fight the real demons, and some saw him as their savior. None knew about Rhett. All the President told the public was that he had assigned General McIntire, who was a subject matter expert in advanced technologies. The President told the American public G
eneral McIntire would be Earth’s military commander for the battle against the enemy. The President’s decision took the media by surprise. General McIntire was an unknown. The only people who knew who McIntire really was were the other two Presidents who warmly supported the appointment. Each President agreed to promote General McIntire to the position of General of the United Earth Fleet.
Rhett knew he was in way over his head, so he built a staff of extremely experienced officers. His CoS was an American Vice Admiral who’d commanded three Carrier Strike Groups. His Intelligence officer was a three-star general from the Russian FSB. His supply officer a Chinese general who headed the People’s Liberation Army’s production. Rhett’s appointments pleased the Chinese and Russian high commands.
General McIntire and his key senior staff, which followed his senior advisors of being mixed officers and staff from all three nations and services, held an international press conference where they took a few questions from the world’s media. The one question almost every member of the media asked was, “What’s the status of the alien Kalteck?
Before Rhett could respond, there was a flash in the sky, and Kalteck’s ship descended to the area of the conference. He exited his ship to both the cheers and boos from the crowd. He walked into the press conference where he shook the officers’ hands with Rhett being last whom he warmly hugged. Rhett said, “Kalteck, welcome to the first press conference for the defense of Earth.”
“My friend, I am incredibly pleased to be here today and offer all of my support in assisting you in defending the Earth from the coming invasion fleet. The media asked Kalteck, “What can you do to help us protect our planet?”
“Thank you for your timely question. I have been on your planet for many years. I have already struck small victories for your people. I have spent enormous resources to seed your outer system with mines that hopefully give the enemy a surprise when they arrive.
“I took the images from the dome on Titan. I saw what they did to your people. I terminated your people in a very painless manner, and then I destroyed their base and some of their ships. I have been risking my life and fighting for you since I arrived. I will ask, what have you done to protect your planet and people? How have you worked to prepare your people for the coming invasion? I do not see any stories you broadcast teaching your people how to prepare or what they can do to defend themselves. I do not see you supporting the building of shelters. No, what I see is you are crying and stirring up trouble and fears about the wasted dollars for those shelters. I’ve seen your stories saying we shouldn’t be building the Monitors and instead we should be meeting the enemy with open arms and love.
“The people of Earth should have realized from the images I supplied from Titan that you’re not dealing with a peaceful race. I’ve heard all of the stories about any race that can travel across the stars would be peaceful, but that is a story to tell little children. The reality of the universe is the strong devour the weak. The strong destroy the weak. There is an old Earth saying I learned and like very much. I like it because it’s true, “if you want peace, prepare for war.” The only way you can live your lives in peace is to stop the monsters, and yes, they are monsters. They may look like me, but they are quite different. They live to conquer. If we, yes, we, because I intend to fly and fight next to your Monitors. I intend to do everything possible to stop them long enough so that help will arrive, and that help should be strong enough to crush the enemy. The help will also invite Earth to join in a trade agreement with the other planets, which also want peace and are united against the enemy.
“If you want to see your children live free, then every human must prepare themselves for the upcoming war. The war won’t be fought just in space, they will attempt to, and they will succeed in landing troops on Earth. Their numbers will darken your skies, the number of their ships will be like the stars in your night sky.
“I wish you had been more advanced when I arrived. Had you been you would have been able to build fleets of Monitors. Then your ships would have blotted out the stars from the sky stopping the enemy. You should know this enemy has never been defeated. They are like your locusts which swarm a field. Will it be easy? NO! Will many of you die? Yes. I am sorry, but the truth is, billions of you are going to die. Do not fear death because death is only another form of energy. When we die, we join with the Creator of All.
“My suggestions to you Earthlings, prepare for hell to arrive. Build shelters, purchase weapons and ammunition, and learn how to use your weapons. Form community militias. Learn first aid, harden your communications, and prepare for a planet-wide siege.
“General McIntire and I will fight in space. We expect you to fight with anything you have here on Earth. Look at your first three Monitors, be proud of them, and ask yourselves, what are you doing to help build additional ships and fighters? What are you doing to prepare your family? Your community? Your way of life depends not on the General and me, it depends on all of you listening to me. Have you stockpiled food for your family? Do you have first aid supplies? Have you prepared fighting positions?
“I had hoped to meet the enemy with a fleet of ships. Now it appears that if all goes well and the Chinese can recover from their sabotaged reactor explosion, we will meet the enemy with five Monitors and maybe one thousand fighters. Our secret weapon, doesn’t everyone have at least one secret, will be our mines. None of us ever thought of mines. I learned about them from you. They are inexpensive, easy to make, and at the same time frightening. They most likely won’t see the mines. Each one is loaded with either antimatter or a large fusion nuclear warhead in the thousand megaton range. Yes, I said a thousand megaton range. Remember, there’s no air in space, so the effects of the weapons are different. Some of our mines are contact. Some will generate a pulse that will penetrate their armor and kill their crew and their AIs. Killing their AIs is the same as a mission kill because their ships can’t operate without them.
“I understand your role as the world’s media. All I ask is you be honest and not make up stories to scare your people. They need to know the truth. I will, from time to time, offer myself to answer your questions. Who has one for me?”
Every hand went up. One of the reporters yelled out, “Are you a fallen angel, come from hell to trick us into fighting the Messiah who is coming?”
Kalteck laughed. “I may look different than you but think about how you look to me. Maybe you look like the demons I was raised to believe in? We should be treated not by our looks but by our actions. If I were a demon, I have the technology to defeat you on my own. I arrived in 1947 at the end of your Second World War. Think about my technology and what I could have done if I wanted to defeat you. I’ve done nothing since I arrived and attempted to prepare you for the upcoming battle. Does that sound like I’m a demon?”
Another asked, “Why can’t your people do more to protect us?”
Kalteck laughed, “Look what they’ve done, they sent me. I’ve been helping you for over seventy of your years. My people help those who help themselves. They will come. However, we are also fighting the enemy on multiple fronts. We had a large battle with them, and we destroyed their main naval base, which delayed their arrival by years. We lost many ships and over a million people, what would you have us do?”
“Why doesn’t your fleet come here and defend us?”
“We will come, but we won’t leave ourselves defenseless. Our fleet has been hurt in our recent battles, so the number of ships that can come will be less than we had planned. Every planet has to decide their own fate, every planet has to defend itself. What are you prepared to do to defend yourself? What are you willing to spend to save your way of life?”
“Mr. Kalteck, have your people been here before? We have many stories of gods from the sky, was that you? Did you alter our past?”
This was a question most of the media wanted to ask, one they were also afraid to ask and really didn’t want to hear the answer to. Kalteck looked into the camera. He replie
d, “I have never been here before. I have no proof of interference in your society or planet. Shall we work together for your future?”
Two hours after the press conference, Rhett offered a beer to Kalteck, “I see you learned how to lie very well.”
“I learned from the best of your politicians how to look directly into the camera and lie with a straight face.”
Both laughed. Rhett threw Kalteck another beer and asked, “Hey, why don’t you run for office?”
Kalteck threw the beer back at Rhett, “Do I look like a lying maggot?”
“Well, you are larger than one of them, and your eyes are smaller…”
“Not those maggots. You know what I meant. I should have picked someone else to be my partner…”
“That’s who I am? What strings did you pull to get me named as fleet commander? I don’t know shit about space battles.”
“Sure, you do. Just think about fighting battles in space and your implant will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about them. You can even see the history of our battles against the enemy. You can see everything we know about their ships and weapons. You can see all of our best maneuvers and how to defeat their weapons.”
“Damn, I should have thought of that. Let me try. Oh wow, it feels like I’m on the bridge of one of your command ships.”