Nanomachine War series Box Set

by Don Viecelli

  Anahta was keeping a close eye tracking the oncoming missiles on the monitoring screens. The Yoykan Malee was now within 12,000 pecks (kilometers) from Earth and slowing down to circle the planet. The nuclear missiles were travelling at 8 kilometers per sec, easily tracking the Yoykan Malee.

  “Should I change course, Imperial Leader? We will be in firing range with our laser weapons in ten tis and within range of our particle beam weapons in twenty tis. We can easily outrun these primitive missiles, if you wish.”

  “No! Destroy them all. Show these humans how defenseless they are.”

  Anahta instructed the AI to fire at the nuclear missiles and not to miss any of them.”

  Within seconds the laser beams shot out at the approaching missiles. There were over five hundred different types of nuclear missiles heading towards the Yoykan Malee. They were fired from several different locations on Earth. Anahta made a note of their points of origin in case they chose to retaliate at those sites after these missiles were destroyed.

  Nuclear explosions ripped through dark space lighting up the area around the doomed missiles so bright it looked like the sun had gone supernova. Explosion after explosion continued until the last nuclear missile was destroyed from the heat, radiation and nearby flying debris tearing through the missiles. The threat was eliminated before the light waves reached the dark side of the planet. Rahta was convinced he could hear the cries of the defeated human race as the Yoykan Malee flew harmlessly through the destroyed missile field and headed nearer to the planet.

  Anahta looked at his navigation screen and found the coordinates for the target on the planet’s surface. “We must circle the planet before we can fire our particle beam weapon, Imperial Leader. However, our AI is sensing another type of weapon system protecting this planet.”

  Numerous laser beams suddenly shot out at the alien spaceship from orbiting satellite systems. If the Yoykan Malee had not had their energy shields up at full power, they might have suffered some damage serious enough to cause concern.

  The AI control system verified the force field was holding at ninety percent power and no damage to the spaceship was evident.

  Anahta gave a new command to shoot the offending satellites out of the sky. There were less than twenty satellites to deal with and the threat was eliminated within seconds.

  “These humans are surprising. It is a good thing we are dealing with them before they develop into worthy opponents,” Anahta observed. This race reminded him of his own race before they built their space empire by defeating every other enemy that stood in their way.

  “They will make good slaves,” Imperial Leader Rahta gloated before turning his attention to the blue planet filling the viewing screen in front of him. They were now less than 1000 kilometers from Earth.

  “The humans have a space station orbiting their planet, Imperial Leader. It looks like they are abandoning the station. What do you wish me to do?”

  “Destroy it, High Commander. It could also have weapons on it?” Rahta commanded even though he knew it was highly unlikely it contained any threat.

  Anahta gave the order to fire a single high-energy particle beam at the ISS. The beam tore through the space station like it was carbon dust, heating up the molecules beyond the melting point in a fiery explosion of heat and energy resulting in the complete annihilation of the entire station. In a matter of seconds the ISS disappeared into dark space like it never existed.

  “Tell me when we are in position to destroy our next target?” Rahta ordered the High Commander as if nothing of significance just happened.

  The Yoykan Malee continued to settle into a high orbit above Earth. As they circled the planet, the AI prepared to unleash the powerful particle beam weapon on the chosen target using the planet coordinates supplied by the Qumru alien Utor. Rahta waited impatiently for the target to be destroyed wondering if he should destroy some of the major human cities just to prove a point. The only problem with that is he would be killing many of the humans already infected with his nanomachines and that would slow down the process of controlling the rest of the humans.

  “The humans just launched more nuclear missiles at us, Imperial Leader!” Anahta watched the monitoring screens closely as thousands of new missiles headed straight for them.

  “Avoid them and continue to the target!” Rahta ordered.

  Anahta increased speed to avoid the missiles and watched as most of them flew harmlessly into space while the rest were targeted by the antimissile laser defense and shot out of the sky.

  The Imperial Dreadnaught continued to approach the target on the sunlit side of the planet. Anahta announced, “We are ready to fire the beam weapon, Imperial Leader.”

  Rahta sat in his command chair and thought to himself. It is time to teach these humans we are the master race! The target was directly below them. “Fire!”

  *****

  President Mary Anderson could only stare in horror at the TV screen that showed the final destruction of all their long range ground to space nuclear missiles. “This is disastrous!” she said out loud to the others in the Executive Briefing Room. “What can we do now, General Bradstone?”

  “It was highly improbable we could stop this alien warship so far in outer space with ballistic missiles, Madam President.”

  General Bradstone pointed to a cluster of military satellites orbiting 4,000 kilometers above Earth. “We still have Skynet, Madam President.”

  They watched the Skynet Laser Defense System fire multiple laser beams at the giant spaceship hitting its energy shield with no apparent effect. Moments later it too was destroyed.

  Everyone in the PEOC watched in alarm as the alien warship grew steadily in size on the screen. “How do we stop it, General?” Mary’s eyes were focused on the screen.

  Before the general could answer, a giant energy beam of heat and light smashed into the ISS. A few members in the room screamed out in shock, “Oh my God! What just happened?”

  “The warship just destroyed the International Space Station, Madam President!” Carlo Russo said to everyone in the room.

  As the image of the ISS disappeared on the screen, Mary and the others just shook their heads in disbelieve. All the years it took to build, supply and maintain the ISS in outer space; gone in an instant. The power of the beam weapon used to obliterate the station seemed beyond anything they could imagine other than using a hydrogen bomb.

  “Thank God the people on that station got out in time!” Allison blurted out in shock.

  Complete silence settled over the crowded room. Some members were crying in despair. Others became angry.

  “It’s not over yet, Madam President. The warship is going into orbit above our planet. We plan to shoot everything we have at it now!” General Bradstone wasn’t ready to accept defeat.

  Soon, hundreds of nuclear ballistic missiles were being fired into space from every nation that had the capability. There were at least eleven countries that had nuclear missile capabilities; US, Great Britain, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Israel and both Koreas. Several other countries had NATO and Warsaw Pact missiles and antimissile batteries protecting their borders. It was estimated the world had over 16,000 nuclear weapons ready to be used against this alien threat. These countries started firing thousands of ballistic missiles at the alien warship from both land and sea.

  “What will happen up there, Carlo?” Mary watched the TV screen that showed the alien warship moving closer. It looked bigger than anything anybody in the room had ever seen in space, except for the Qumru starship that had moved quickly away from the planet.

  No one in the PEOC knew for certain what effect the nuclear missiles would have on the alien warship in outer space above the Earth’s atmosphere. Carlo Russo tried to explain the basics to Mary. “Outer space officially begins at an altitude of one hundred kilometers or sixty-two miles above sea level, Madam President. It’s called the Kármán line named after a Hungarian physicist who died in 1963. There are o
ver three thousand satellites in orbit around Earth. Most are below twenty-two thousand miles, which is where geosynchronous orbit is achieved. The ISS was at an altitude of two hundred fifty miles. The alien spacecraft is currently at an altitude of 621 miles. Unfortunately, the nuclear ballistic missiles will probably destroy over fifty percent of our military and commercial satellites before this is all over.”

  Nuclear explosions began almost immediately in outer space showing up on the monitoring screens that were receiving live feeds from military satellites linked through the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

  The alien warship used antimissile laser defense systems to destroy most nuclear missiles heading its way. However, since there were now thousands of ballistic missiles launched from several locations on Earth arriving at various speeds and time, a few made it all the way to the spaceship before exploding harmlessly against the spaceship’s energy shield. The shield would light up in bright yellow and blue colors before dissipating without doing any major damage that could be seen on the monitors.

  “Nothing is happening to that warship!” General Bradstone said in a frustrating tone of voice. “My God, it’s going to attack us somewhere on the ground!”

  A powerful high energy particle beam shot out of the spaceship headed straight for Earth. By the time it reached its target the beam was over a mile in diameter. Nothing hit by that beam would survive impact.

  “Where is that hitting?” yelled Carlo Russo to the generals in the room. They had a direct line to USSPACECOM in Colorado.

  A moment later, the commanding Air Force General came on the line and said, “The beam hit in New York City, Secretary Russo. It completely destroyed the United Nations complex. Live feeds are coming through now.”

  Everyone in the room was in complete shock. Not a whisper could be heard except for the sounds on the TV screens. A live video stream appeared from a flying New York City news media helicopter. The announcer was almost shouting out his words, “My God, the whole UN Complex in Turtle Bay is completely gone! There’s nothing left but smoke and ash! Two whole city blocks just disappeared by this monstrous attack!”

  Mary instructed someone to turn off the volume. She spoke, “How many people did we lose, General?”

  Bradstone consulted his comtablet and the number of causalities coming out of Colorado. “The estimated number of people killed is over three thousand, Madam President. The UN complex alone had almost two thousand people. Over 192 Member Nations had people at the General Assembly meeting in session. No one could have survived this, Madam President.”

  “The warship appears to be leaving!” Carlo said out loud to everyone in the room.

  Images on the TV screen showed the alien warship leaving Earth orbit. Mary was pretty confident the warship was not leaving because of the nuclear missiles still exploding all around the spaceship. “Where is it headed now?”

  It took a few moments for the reply out of Colorado. “The warship appears to be going after the Qumru starship, Madam President.”

  “I hope to God, they get away!” Mary prayed as they waited to see what was going to happen next.

  Chapter 53

  White House

  Director Doug Martin and Vice Leader Di were hurriedly escorted to the White House moments after the Boeing C-136 Stratolifter transport plane landed at Andrews Field in Maryland, a short distance from Washington DC. They learned of the destruction of the UN Complex while still in the air. The explosion and fire could be seen outside their windows as the plane approached for landing.

  “What is happening to your planet?” Di spoke quietly as they were escorted by four Marine officers inside the White House through the south entrance.

  “My comtablet shows the UN buildings completely destroyed in New York City, Di. The news media is saying there are no survivors!” Doug answered partly in shock and the rest in anger.

  “The Yoyka Imperial Leader wants to show humans he is the master of us all,” Di said.

  “What will he do next, do you know, Di?” Doug sounded anxious as they were led down the West Wing hallway to an elevator hidden off to one side.

  “He will try to capture the Qum starship now. He knows about our nano-agent solution and will try to prevent the Solruku from escaping to Holtu.”

  They entered the elevator with the Marine guards and soon reached the bottom where the President’s Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) rooms were located.

  President Mary Anderson, Carlo Russo and General Bradstone were waiting for them in a separate meeting room near the communication center. The rest of the NSC attendees were still watching the events unfolding on the TV screens in the Executive Briefing Room.

  Mary held out her hand and shook hands with Doug and Di. “Welcome to the White House. I’m Mary Anderson, President of the United States of America. This is Carlo Russo, Secretary of Defense and General William Bradstone, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

  After shaking hands, Doug introduced himself and Di.

  Mary looked at Di, “Welcome to Earth, Vice Leader Di. I am sorry about the circumstances that are occurring, but I am very glad you are here. Please, be seated. We have much to discuss. Would either of you like something to drink?” The fact that Di was an android seemed to be forgotten.

  Doug wanted some water. Di did not need anything. They sat down across from Mary and William.

  “I believe you both know what the Yoyka warship did to the UN Complex in New York City. It has been completely destroyed with no survivors. The warship now appears to be going after the Qumru starship. Do either of you know what will happen next?”

  Di replied without the aid of a translator device, which was noticed by the President. “The Yoyka will attempt to capture or destroy the Solruku. It cannot be captured. It will survive the attack.”

  “How can you be so sure, Vice Leader Di? The Solruku does not seem to be a starship with weapons to fight back.”

  “The Qumru are a very advanced race. The starship has defensive weapons and shields. It will not be captured.”

  Doug was just as surprised as the President and the general at Di’s remarks. Something was not being said. Before Doug could ask the question, Mary asked, “Can you tell me why the Solruku is headed back to Mars?”

  Di responded, “First Chair Cleota is in command of the Solruku now. She is drawing the Yoykan Malee warship away from Earth to prevent further destruction. She will help fight the Yoyka near your planet Mars.”

  “But I thought the Qumru starship is not armed with offensive weapons. It will be destroyed by the Yoyka warship!” General Bradstone said bluntly.

  Di looked at a device on his wrist. It received information not disclosed to anyone else. “The starship will not be alone in this fight.”

  Doug finally understood what was about to happen. “Do you still have satellite images working around Mars?”

  President Anderson looked at General Bradstone for the answer.

  “We do. Why?”

  “The Holtu are coming?” Di said calmly.

  It took a moment for everyone to understand what Di meant.

  “Who is coming?” General Bradstone needed more clarification.

  “Vice Leader Di means more androids from Holtu. They were on their way to Mars before we left. They should be arriving just about now.” Doug was excited for reasons only apparent to Di and himself.

  Before another word was spoken in the room, a loud noise was heard coming from across the hall in the Executive Briefing Room. People were shouting and pointing at the TV screens, not sure what was happening. Mary, William, Doug and Di stood up and walked across the hall to witness the event. Everyone was starring at the large TV screen on the back wall. Live images were coming in now from Mars. Five large, unusual looking spaceships appeared in space. They obviously just emerged out of hyperspace.

  Di remarked, “Those are Holtu warships. They will attack and destroy the Yoykan Malee!”


  Chapter 54

  Holtru Arrive

  Imperial Leader Rahta was sitting in the command chair next to High Commander Anahta watching the Yoykan Malee closing in on its target, the Qumru starship when he said, “Why is the starship slowing down near the planet called Mars?”

  Anahta was just as curious as Rahta. “I am not sure, Imperial Leader. It appears as if it wants to challenge us.”

  “Fire a nuclear missile at the starship. Let us see what their defense shield is made off.”

  “As you order, Imperial Leader. I will try to disable their shield and force them to stop.”

  Anahta instructed the control AI to target the starship and fire a single 50 megaton warhead missile at the starship. The Yoykan Malee was over two hundred thousand Earth kilometers in distance, but the missile travelled up to two hundred thousand Earth kilometers per second. The missile struck the Qumru Starship in one Earth second causing a brilliant, super heated white and blue colored flare that spread in a halo around the back side of the starship that could be seen all the way to Earth.

  “The starship has stopped fleeing, Imperial Leader,” Anahta said proudly.

  “Any damage to the starship?” Rahta asked wondering just how powerful the Qumru energy shields were.

  “No damage uncovered by our sensors, Imperial Leader. Their shields seem to be just as powerful as our own. Should I fire more missiles to test their shield further?”

  Before Rahta could answer, they received a hail over their communication channel from the starship. The image of First Chair Cleota appeared on the screen.

  “You cannot damage this starship with your weapons, Imperial Leader Rahta. I wish to negotiate with you.” Translation was done automatically through the computer screen.

  Rahta looked at the Qumru leader on the screen. She did not seem to be afraid of him or his warship, which he found amusing. “Shut down your shield and let us board your starship!” he ordered.