by Don Viecelli
Di reviewed the data from the long range scanning systems. “It is the royal Imperial Dreadnaught, Yoykan Malee. It is alone so far.”
“What is an Imperial Dreadnaught?” Doug watched as Shonya brought up at a new close-up image on a side monitoring screen.
“The Imperial Dreadnought is used by the Imperial Leader of the Yoykan Empire. His name is Rahta. His last known position was at Qum soon after this starship left the planet. He is a merciless ruler and is aware of the Passenger Minds aboard this starship. He has been seeking us.”
Di turned to Shonya and ordered, “Increase speed and take us to Earth orbit immediately.”
Shonya did as requested. She entered the space coordinates for Earth and the starship began to move away from Mars.
“How long will it take to reach Earth?” Doug was looking at the space hologram, watching the Solruku icon move quickly away from Mars.
“At sublight speeds, we can travel the distance to Earth in minutes. The question is; what will the Yoykan Malee do now?” Di considered two options and waited to see which one to implement.
The Yoyka dreadnought appeared to slow down below light speed as soon as it exited hyperspace. It actually paused in space to orbit Uranus. It was obviously inspecting the solar system to see what, if any, threat may exist.
“I am confident the Yoyka identified our starship and will begin to move toward us soon,” Shonya reported calmly.
“The Yoyka knows this starship is unarmed, but we have sufficient defensive weapons and a strong energy force field to protect us from any weapons fired upon us. Keep us on course for Earth, Shonya. The Yoyka will not destroy us before they attempt to board us.”
“That’s comforting to know,” Doug said cynically. “Do you think we’ll have time to get to Earth to unload our people?”
“I will try, but if the Yoyka decide to pursue us, then we will speed up to light speed to enter hyperspace for Holtu.”
“What about your friends? Aren’t they on their way here also?” Captain Tills asked.
“They are coming, but not for two more days. When they arrive, they will attack they Yoyka dreadnought and try to destroy it.”
Doug watched the viewing screen and the red icon circling Uranus before turning away to look at Di. “I need to contact my people on Earth to let them know we’re coming. We also have a space transport shuttle on its way to Mars, which will be arriving in two days. They need to know what’s waiting for them and possibly turn back.”
Doug walked over to one of the communication stations to contact the NASA Johnson Space Center located in Houston, Texas where most space communication channels routed through. From there his call would be forwarded to the UN Secretary-General who in turn would pass the news on to all world leaders that the Qumru starship was headed for Earth to unload the surviving people from Mars. They were bringing the preventative nano-agent solution that could possibly save billions of people from becoming infected by the Yoyka nanomachines. Doug would also tell them the Yoyka arrived in Earth’s solar system for the first time and not with good intentions. He was certain the arrival was captured on military satellite monitoring systems. Earth would certainly be preparing for battle with the aliens.
*****
“Imperial Leader, the Qumru starship is leaving the planet called Mars. Should we pursue?” High Commander Anahta waited for a response from Rahta who was standing next to him on the Command Deck of the Yoykan Malee.
Rahta did not turn away from the viewing screen. “What is their destination?”
Anahta consulted with the officer tracking the starship. “They are not speeding up to light speed to enter hyperspace, Imperial Leader. The course they are on will lead them to the third planet called Earth.”
“Then we have time to deal with them. Continue our course to the planet Mars as planned. Contact Utor and tell him we are coming and get the human slaves ready.”
Anahta gave orders to the navigation officer to head for Mars. It would not take long to reach the planet at the speed they were travelling. Plans had already been set into motion with Utor waiting for the Imperial Dreadnought to arrive. Anahta sent a short message over the quantum transmission link (QTL) to Utor with instructions.
Rahta continued to stare at the viewing screen, which showed the planets in this solar system. In many ways it reminded him of the Yoykan solar system with its two huge gas filled planets and many smaller planets. Earth looked bluish in color, which meant life abounded on the planet’s surface. Blue planets were not rare in this galaxy, but not all of them were populated with intelligent beings that could be subjugated to Rahta’s will and provide a cheap labor force to extract mineral resources for his military and other industries. Rahta had decided that this planet called Earth with its backward race would suit his purposes just fine. Once the humans were taken care of, he would capture the Qumru starship and deal with its Qumru Passenger Minds.
They neared Mars within minutes, slowed their speed and settled into a high orbit. “We are ready to release the transports, Imperial Leader.”
“Get on with it. Let’s see what the Qumru do now on the starship.”
Doug Martin and Captain Tills were standing on the Bridge of the starship waiting for Vice Leader Di and First Chair Cleota to finish talking. Doug had met Cleota earlier and learned she was the only high ranking member of the Qum government leaders saved from the Yoyka. Cleota was almost as tall as Di. She had on the standard two piece blue uniform all the Qumru were wearing, but also wore a dark blue cape drawn around her shoulders fastened with a silver clip. She had dark green eyes that highlighted her face and light green skin. It was clearly evident she was perceptive, intelligent and processed finely tuned leadership abilities.
Di finished his conversation and turned to Shonya who was waiting nearby in holographic form. “How soon will we reach Earth?”
“At current speed, the starship will reach Earth in two minutes, Captain Di.”
“Is everything ready to start unloading our human passengers?”
“Yes, Captain. The pilot crews are ready to leave with the first human passengers on board.”
Doug asked Di, “How long will it take to unload all my people?”
“We have five Qumruku passenger shuttles in the hangar bay. Each can carry up to fifty of your people. All spacecraft will leave one after the other and travel down to the surface as soon as we enter Earth orbit. It will all be done within one of your hours.”
“Then I guess, Tills and I should say goodbye and head to the hangar bay. We don’t want to miss our flight.”
Shonya interrupted the conversation to report, “The Yoyka dreadnought is sending transport craft to the surface of Mars.”
Everyone looked at the long range viewing screen on the wall. The dreadnought was clearly visible orbiting Mars. Doug counted at least twenty medium sized spacecraft leaving the warship and flying quickly to the surface of Mars.
“Are they landing troops?” Captain Tills asked in alarm.
“Shonya, can you intercept the satellite images and see what’s happening on the ground?” Doug interrupted studying the viewing screen.
“Certainly, Director. Give me a moment.”
Shonya intercepted the signals from the communication satellite orbiting Mars and directed their long range camera lens to follow the Yoyka transports as they landed on the surface. “The transports are landing near all the major cities of Mars. I do not see many troops on the ground. They are loading humans onto the spacecraft.”
“Loading humans? For what purpose?” Doug was mystified. “Are they taking them to the warship for some purpose?”
Di studied the viewing screen before speaking. “It is possible the Yoyka will want to study some humans, but not all they are picking up on the surface. I believe they have other plans for them.”
“What plans?” Doug sensed that Di knew something he was not saying.
“We will know in a few minutes,” Di said noncommittally.
Doug shouted at Shonya, “Where is that transport headed?”
Shonya did the calculations as the ship turned away from Mars. “It is headed for Earth!”
“What!” both Doug and Captain Tills yelled out in alarm. Doug instantly realized what the Yoyka was up to. “They plan to infect Earth!” he spoke out in disgust.
“We need to warn Earth!” Tills announced.
“Good idea, Tills. Maybe we can shoot those transports down?” Doug realized what he was saying, knowing that Mars’ citizens were on board those ships, but there was no choice. If any of those transports land on Earth, the nanomachine infection would spread like wildfire.
Doug looked at Vice Leader Di who sadly shook his head. “We do not have any offensive weapons on board this starship. Besides, those are Yoyka troop transport spaceships. They are fully weaponized and can defend themselves against anything your human military can use against them. Soon they will energize their cloaking systems and will be able to land on the surface without being detected.”
“You knew what they were going to do, didn’t you?” Doug said accusingly.
“I suspected so. This is what the Yoyka did to infect Qum. They found colonists, infected them and sent them down to Qum to infect the whole population within weeks. We, however, did not have a preventative solution at that time. You do!”
“We have a solution, but it will not be able to stop the Yoyka nanomachines from spreading faster than we can make enough solution to inject into billions of people. Everyone will be infected first!” The situation looked hopeless to Doug.
First Chair Cleota turned to Doug and spoke for the first time. “Please do not despair. My people suffered greatly from the Yoyka nanomachines. Billions have been enslaved by them, but not all is lost yet.” Cleota turned to Di and said, “Please call Tumil to the Bridge.”
Di did what was asked and they waited for a few moments for Tumil to arrive. In that time they could see on the viewing screen that more of the Yoyka transports had filled their holds with humans and headed for Earth.
Finally, Tumil, the Qumru scientist appeared on the Bridge. He bowed in front of Cleota and said, “You sent for me, First Chair?”
“It is time to tell these humans what your nano-agent solution can do?”
Doug looked at Captain Tills and back to Tumil, his mind full of questions. “What do you mean? Please explain.”
“We added a new feature to our nano-agent solution. Actually, it was at your wife’s suggestion, but we were already working on it on before some of us were forced to leave Qum. We made the nano-agent solution contagious, just like the Yoyka nanomachines.”
It took a second for the information to sink in. Doug turned to Di full of urgency. “We need to get our people to the surface as soon as possible.”
Chapter 44
Madam President
The tension inside the Situation Room in the West Wing of the Whitehouse was at the highest level since the most recent threat of war in the Middle East. President Mary Anderson had to raise her voice to stop the generals from shouting at each other. The National Security Council members had been called into an emergency session that was just beginning.
“Quiet please! We need to deal with the immediate threat. How should we handle this?” the President asked referring to the news that enemy alien transport spaceships were heading for Earth filled with infected people from Mars.
“We must mobilize all our Armed Forces immediately, Madame President, “General William Bradstone, insisted strongly.
The President turned to Carlo Russo. “What do you suggest, Carlo?”
“I recommend we move to DEFCON 1 Level, Madam President. We need to prepare to shoot down any alien spaceship that tries to land anywhere on Earth!”
Mary did not hesitate. “Do it! What else should we do?” She looked around the room. Besides Carlo Russo and General Bradstone, Allen Denton, Rodney Williams, William Straiter, three other JCS generals from the Army, Navy and Air Force, Allison Conley and several other military and government staff people were crowded together in the room trying to come to terms with what was happening.
“We should alert all National Guard units to prepare for state wide quarantine measures!” General Bradstone recommended.
“Do you really think this nanomachine infection will spread as fast as Director Douglas Martin says it will?” Vice President Allen Denton looked concerned.
Mary said, “I have been warned by UN Secretary-General Aleksy Gomulka that if this infection reaches Earth, it could spread worldwide in a matter of weeks. We know what happened on Mars. We have lost that planet and almost all the people who lived there. We must assume the worst and do all we can to stop what is coming towards us.”
“How much time do we have before the alien ships arrive?” William Straiter was asking the most important question on most people’s mind.
“Within the hour is what I’ve been told,” Mary replied.
“What about the Qumru starship. Is it coming too?” Allen sounded hopeful.
“Yes, it’s on its way here. From what I know, they’re bringing some of the survivors from Mars who have been injected with a preventative nanite solution developed by the Qumru people on board the starship. They wish to help us fight these Yoyka aliens and prevent what happened on their planet Qum. We have no choice but to trust them on this.”
“What if we can’t stop the alien spaceships from landing? Then what?” William Straiter clasped his hands on the table.
Mary reread the lengthy message from Aleksy Gomulka that was on her comtablet. “From what Douglas Martin told us, the alien nanomachines infect the brain and take control over certain thoughts and actions. It’s a form of mind control. It spreads by contact, so we can expect it to move quickly through the population. We can try to control the spread by instituting strict quarantine measures.”
“Is there a cure or some other way to stop it from spreading?” Allen asked.
Mary shook her head. “There is no cure or antidote yet according to the Qumru, at least nothing that can remove the nanomachines from the brain without harming the host. However, the Qumru have come up with a preventative nano-agent solution that works like an inoculation to prevent the nanomachines from infecting the brain. It’s not a vaccine since this has nothing to do with the immune system. The Qumru nano-agent solution actually attacks the Yoyka nanomachines and disables them inside the body before they can infiltrate the brain. At least that is what I have been told.”
Mary paused before adding the final, more important, information in her message. “There is one more thing I must tell you. The Qumru nano-agents have been designed to become contagious just like the Yoyka nanomachines. It will spread by contact, but this time we must let it infect others and even encourage contact if we want to save ourselves.”
There was a collective show of shock. Everyone in the room gasped for breath and one person even shouted out, “What? Are you kidding us?”
“Do we know what else these nano-agents will do to human beings?” Allen could not believe what he just heard.
“All I know is the solution has already been injected into the surviving humans from Mars. They are on their way here. We can choose to keep them on board the starship or let them land on Earth and help us fight this threat from the Yoyka aliens.” Mary waited while everyone digested what they had just been told.
Suddenly, another message from the DOD appeared on several people’s comtablets—Alien starship has arrived in orbit above Earth!
Carlo Russo spoke up first, “The Qumru starship is here. They are requesting permission to land people at our spaceport in Houston. What should I tell them, Madam President?”
&nb
sp; Mary did not hesitate. “Tell them they have my permission to let the people land. Make sure they are all kept in isolation until we can check them out.”
“What about the other alien spaceships that are coming, Madam President?” Carlo waited for Mary’s answer.
“Have our Armed Forces stop them with whatever means necessary, Mister Russo. You have my permission to shoot them down!”
“Yes, Madam President.” Carlo turned to General Bradstone. “You have your orders, Bill. Let’s get our birds in the air armed with missiles ready to fire.”
Carlo turned back to Mary. “What about nuclear weapons. We may have to use them in outer space?”
“I am willing to grant that authority as well, Mister Russo, but we need to advise the UN Security Council what we intend to do and advise all nations to do the same to prevent this alien threat.”
Mary stood up to leave. “We’ll meet again in one hour as soon as I have a chance to speak to some people. We are at war, everyone. Let there be no mistaking the Yoyka intentions. I pray to God we make the right decisions from this point on.”
Mary left the room and headed back to the Oval Office; her mind in turmoil. If the Yoyka try to enslave us, then they will have to fight every last human being on Earth. The one country on this planet that understands what slavery entails is America. We will never allow such a fate to happen again without fighting to the death.
Chapter 45
Starship Arrives
“We are in orbit above Earth, Vice Leader Di!” Shonya announced to everyone on the bridge.
Di was standing next to First Chair Cleota and Tumil. Looking at the view screen nearby was Doug Martin and Captain Shirley Tills. Di turned to Doug and said, “Our spacecrafts are loaded with your people. Are they cleared to land?”
“Yes, they are cleared to land at the Earth coordinates I gave you. No one will threaten the landing craft or your starship. I have been given assurances from the President of the United States of America.”