by Don Viecelli
Doug was surprised at the news. “You mean the Yoyka are trying to destroy our food supply with nanomachines to starve us to death? That would make us useless for slave purposes. I don’t get it.”
Jan walked over to the quantum computer to see some test results while she talked. “I don’t believe that is what the Yoyka have in mind for us. Sure, they could try to starve us into submission, but we would quickly find a way to grow new food stock. I think they have something worse in mind.”
Jan studied the reports she was reading on the computer screen for a few moments. She looked up and said, “I’m not positive without more analysis, but it looks like these new nanomachines are meant to pass on their nanites to people through consumption. It’s a new delivery method.”
“I thought our preventative nano-agents will protect us from the nanomachine effects.”
“They do, Doug, but our nano-agents only protect us from the nanomachines trying to control our brains. These nanomachines have a new purpose. As far as I can determine from the quantum computer analysis, these nanomachines are meant to cause mass sterilization; not just in humans, but in our whole biosphere.”
Doug stepped back in shock. “You think the Yoyka want to prevent us from having more children. Why would they do that?”
Doctor Mun answered, “My guess is they think it will force us submit to their control if we are facing extermination.”
Doug was too dumbfounded to speak for a few moments. He turned to Doctor Mun. “What about Earth? How fast will this spread?”
“Because of the atmosphere, these nanomachines can spread quickly. It’s not just humans that will be affected. It will probably have the same effect on plant and animal life. Food shortages would occur in a single growing season. In one year, all animal growth would stop. In one hundred years most of us would be dead.”
“Unless, of course, the Yoyka let us live under their control.” Doug swore under his breath. “Can you stop this?”
Jan looked at both men. “I believe the new nano-agent Tumil and I developed will stop these nanomachines as they do with the original version. All we have to do is test it on some infected organisms or people. I will contact Tumil and begin testing immediately.”
There was still hope. Doug would let Jan, Doctor Mun and Tumil’s people do the necessary tests and hope for the best. He had to return to his ship and prepare for the next battle to come. It was clear to Doug the Yoyka planned to use whatever means possible to make humans their next slaves.
Chapter 42
The President
President Mary Woodley Anderson read the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB) a second time. The PDB contained the most sensitive and highly classified intelligence data the Director of National Intelligence could obtain from every intelligence agency the US Government controlled. The news was not good and looked like it would get even worse before it got better.
Allison Conley walked through the Oval Office door. “It’s time, Madam President.” The National Security Council meeting was scheduled for 10 AM.
Mary picked up her comtablet with the PDB still on the screen, flicked if off and gathered her things from the desk. “Is everyone there?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“Good. Then let’s not keep them waiting.”
President Anderson looked weary from the last forty-eight hours of little sleep and great anxiety caused by the latest Yoyka attacks on Mars and Earth. The only good news Mary could discern were they were still standing as free people and not controlled by some sort of nanomachine weapon of mass destruction.
The short walk to the NSC meeting held in the Situation Room in the West Wing White House basement took five minutes. Mary was deep in thought as she entered the room. Everyone stopped talking and stood up waiting for Mary to take her seat.
“Please sit down everyone and let’s get started. What is our situation, Carlo?”
Secretary of Defense Carlo Russo spoke loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room, which was filled to capacity with military generals, their aids, several Cabinet Members and other officials. “Madam President, we have achieved a great victory. The Yoyka warships and fighters have all been destroyed as reported and there are no indications others are planning to attack us anytime soon. We have been informed by High Leader Altek that the main Yoyka warship fleet is on its way to attack Holtu next. Altek is confident the Yoyka knows their attack on our solar system failed, but they will not return until they attempt to defeat the Holtu in their star system.”
Mary cast her eyes around the room. They may have won a battle this time, but they certainly have not won the war yet. “Does Altek think they can defeat the Yoyka at home?”
“He is confident, Madam President. The Yoyka do not know about the new Holtu FTL hyperdrive capability. The Holtu warships plan to return to Holtu in time to surprise the Yoyka who won’t arrive for another two months. By then even we will be much stronger in our defense plans.”
“I hope Altek is correct, Carlo. I agree, we survived this attack with very little damage to our space fleet. However, we were still attacked with missiles carrying deadly Yoyka nanomachines once again. Do you have any information just what these nanomachines will do to us?”
Carlo looked less happy with the knowledge he was about to deliver to the President. “We have received reports from UN Security Council Member States and they all report the same thing as our own CDC in Atlanta. The new Yoyka nanomachines are spreading rapidly in those areas where the missiles landed. So far, over one hundred countries, including the US, have been hit. We could not stop the attack, Madam President. The Yoyka missiles were too fast for our missile defense targeting systems. As to what the nanomachines will do, our scientists are still trying to figure it out. All we know for sure is the nanomachines are not infecting humans the same way as before. These nanomachines seem to only affect organisms such as plants and animals. It spreads by touch and possibly by the wind, which is impossible to quarantine. We are in touch with the CDC experts on Mars, the Holtu and Qumru, Madam President. The Mars CDC have sent their latest report, which I am sending you a copy right now. I just received it when this meeting started.”
Mary turned on her comtablet and searched for the report Carlo send over the secure network. It was brief and to the point. Mary recognized the names at the bottom; Doctor Chang-Woo Mun of the MCDC on Mars and Doctor Janice Martin. Her face turned red from fury, not just from what the report from the two doctors said, but from the evil, heartless, vindictive, immoral actions of the alien Yoyka race.
Mary turned to the people in the room. “I want everyone here to have a copy of this report. I want you to know what we are dealing with. The Yoyka nanomachines are designed to make every living organism; plant, animal, and human on this planet and any other planet sterile; incapable of reproducing. The Yoyka will cause our extinction or at the very least make us do their bidding if they succeed in defeating us. This report says we may have a solution, but it must be tested before they send it to us. For now, we must try to protect whatever uninfected food stock we have from these nanomachines until a solution is available.”
Mary let everyone in the room who had access to a comtablet or other device read the MCDC report. After a few moments, Vice President Allen Denton voiced a concern. “This report doesn’t say how much time we have before everything is infected by these nanomachines. It would be helpful to know.”
Carlo responded, “I am sending the request to the CDC now and will report as soon as I receive an answer.”
Mary turned her attention to other important issues. “General Bradstone, perhaps you could fill us in on the details of the space battle with the Yoyka and want happens next.”
“Certainly, Madam President. It’s been forty-eight hours since the space battle ended. We’re confident the Yoyka are not planning to hit us again; at least not until they battle the Holtu and that won’t be for another sixty days or so.
“We were very fortunate, Madam P
resident the Holtu were able to send more warships to destroy the Yoyka who attacked us. Their new FTL hyperdrive now gives them a superior advantage over the Yoyka who still are not aware of this new capability. If the secret holds, then I’m confident the Holtu, with the help of our UN Space Strike Force pilots and crews, will be able to turn the tide against the Yoyka and drive them back to their star system.”
General Bradstone spent twenty minutes describing the Mars space battle between the Holtu and Yoyka warships and the Zoltu and Spitka fighter pilots. He ended with the casualty reports.
“We lost two Holtu warships out of ten with all crewmembers on board. Two of Altek’s one hundred warships were seriously damaged, but no life lost. Twenty-five percent or two hundred fifty Zoltu fighters were destroyed in the battle. In total, we lost seven hundred and fifty crewmembers and pilots.
“On the other hand, the Yoyka lost 40 warships with all crewmembers, which is estimated at four thousand. We also destroyed over four thousand Spitka fighters with all pilots, which is around twelve thousand, which equals sixteen thousand killed. The Holtu took no survivors. It is a complete victory for our forces and a devastating defeat for the Yoyka.”
“Why no attempt to take Yoyka survivors, General?” Mary asked point blank.
“The Holtu wants to send a message to the Yoyka, Madam President. It’s payback for what the Yoyka did to the Qumru. There will be no mercy on either side in this war, Madam President. The winner takes all.”
The NSC meeting went on for another thirty minutes. General Bradstone explained what the Holtu with UN Space Strike Force help planned to do to when the battle commences in Holtu star system in sixty days. If the Yoyka win the space battle at Holtu, they would return to Earth to finish the job and there would be no way to stop them. Earth’s solar system would be doomed. The whole human race would become enslaved or worse. The Yoyka Empire would rule the galaxy for another thousand years or more. There would be no race that could stop them.
Mary knew deep down there was only one way this alien war could be fought; to the death—almost literally. If the Yoyka win, humans would become mindless slaves like the Qumru or driven to slow extinction. Either way—dead!
Chapter 43
Rahta
Time moved slowly aboard the Yoykan Malee Ta imperial dreadnought as it travelled through hyperspace; much too slow for Rahta as he paced about in his cabin. He was anxious to begin the space battle with the Holtu. Only a few more Yoykan cys (days) before they reached the Holtu star system. This would be the empire’s largest space battle with sentient android life forms. Artificial Intelligence was accepted on Yoykan for many tasks, but it was feared in physical form; especially as sentient beings. Yoykas could not tolerate superior intelligence to their own race. Alien races that were more intelligent than the Yoykas eventually lost the will to fight and were easily defeated by the Yoyka’s superior military forces. However, the Qumru were different than most other intelligent alien races the Yoyka subjugated in the past. They created Holtu androids to protect them from hostile races like the Yoyka. Defeating the Holtu would be difficult, Rahta thought, but nevertheless, it was inevitable. The Yoyka forces were much stronger and soon he would destroy the last Holtu android and acquire the Qumru Onutu technology he needed to rule his people forever.
Rahta received a message from Anahta over his comdevice. It was time for their daily strategy meeting. He straightened up his regal attire and hurried out the door to the Command Center meeting room located on the top deck of the imperial dreadnaught. He arrived a few minutes after High Commander Anahta who was speaking with another officer when Rahta interrupted them.
“Let’s begin our meeting, High Commander Anahta. I am anxious to hear the latest report from our probes.” Rahta sat down in his seat at the table with a flourish.
Anahta and the other officers in the room saluted their Imperial Leader and quickly took their seats at the table. The Yoykan Malee Ta dreadnaught had two hundred military officers and over one thousand ground troops and fighter pilots on board the warship. Rahta fully expected to land troops on Holtu after the space battle was won. The small group of Yoyka officers attending the meeting today represented the top military commanders on the warship. All other fleet warship commanders would be notified of their orders after this meeting concluded.
Anahta noticed Rahta was impatient as usual and made his report. “Our spy probes have confirmed what we already knew, Imperial Leader. The Holtu warship fleet is no more than three hundred strong compared to our four hundred sixty warships.”
A holographic map of the Holtu star system appeared over the center of the table. The fifteen planets were highlighted showing their sizes and rotations around the sun. Two planets were capable of supporting life forms, but only Holtu was heavily populated.
“Holtu is well protected with most of their warships close to the planet. There are two space stations that appear to have missile and energy beam weapon systems on them. The rest of the Holtu warship fleet is patrolling the star system is small groups that will make it easy for us to attack.”
Rahta peered closely at the hologram and the small colored dots that represented the enemy warships. “How close to the planets can we exit hyperspace with our fleet to surprise them?”
“The two largest planets are fairly close together and far enough away from Holtu that their gravity wells will not affect our plans to exit hyperspace, Imperial Leader. We will position most of our fleet here when we exit hyperspace.”
Anahta pointed to a large area of space that existed a few billion miles from Holtu and away from any large planetary bodies. “This will allow our superior force to attack the fleet of Holtu warships that are protecting their home planet. If we overwhelm them before the rest of their fleet can come to their defense, the space battle will be won quickly.”
“What about the two space station installations?”
Anahta brought up the Yoyka tactical plans that displayed their forces in different shapes and colors from the Holtu forces. “As soon as we exit hyperspace, we will release all our Spitka fighters. Some will head for the Holtu warships in deep space to delay their attempts to come to the defense of their fleet. Other Spitka fighters will head directly for the military space stations and destroy them with nuclear missiles. There will be no survivors on those bases when we are finished.”
Rahta seemed pleased with the plans. He looked at Anahta and asked, “Is the new Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (NEP) weapon ready to use on these androids?”
“Of course, Imperial Leader. Our tests on the Holtu android we captured on Qum have been completed. The androids will not know what hit them.”
“And the Qumru on Holtu?”
“The new nanomachine missiles will be delivered at the same time we hit the android bases.”
Rahta smiled in anticipation of the coming space battle. “This will be the most glorious victory we have ever achieved, High Commander Anahta! These androids will be wiped out of existence forever. The Qumru should never have created such unworthy things to exist in our galaxy.”
Rahta stood up to leave. He turned to Anahta and said firmly, “We must find the Onutu technology as quickly as possible and take it back with us to Yoykan. That is of utmost importance!”
Anahta and the others saluted Emperor Rahta as he prepared to leave the room. “We will not fail, Imperial Leader.”
Anahta was pleased that Rahta was satisfied with their military plans for the coming space battle. All indications were the battle should be an easy victory for the Yoyka. The Holtu androids will be destroyed and the Qumru people living on Holtu will be enslaved just like the Qumru on their home planet of Qum. The Onutu technology will ensure the Yoyka race rule the galaxy for all time with Rahta as their supreme leader. The situation could not be better.
Before Anahta shut down the hologram he took one final look at the Holtu warship fleet and wondered why they would separate their forces so far away from each other when an attack on t
heir home planet was imminent. Nothing about the Holtu made sense to him, but he could not figure out why he felt such anxiety before a battle. He finally turned off the hologram and left the room to head for the Bridge. He had to send word to the other warship commanders that the attack plans were final. They were to prepare for hyperspace exit and space battle according to existing plans. There was nothing more Anahta could do to relieve his worry but shrug it off and prepare for battle.
Chapter 44
Mars
The nanomachine crisis on Mars and Earth reached its peak almost two months after the Yoyka attack. One third of all plant life and animal life was infected with the new permeation of nanomachines before Doctor Janice Martin, Tumil and other scientists from both races were able to stop its spread. As far as Janice could determine, no humans that ingested any contaminated food stock became sterile. The nano-agent solution they had modified did its job.
Janice moved slowly from her chair at the MCDC lab where she still worked. She felt hungry and needed something to eat. She rubbed her belly and felt the baby kick. She smiled and spoke softly to the baby. “Not much time now. Soon, you will be here with us.” Janice counted the days in her mind. Seven and a half months; only one and a half more to go. I can do this!
She carefully walked to the cafeteria to eat an early lunch. Doctor Mun was at the counter pouring himself a cup of coffee. He asked her, “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No thanks. I’m going to get something to eat.”
“How’s the baby doing?”
“Fine. It’s kicking more and more. I think it wants out.”
“Still haven’t determined whether it’s a boy or girl?”
“No, Doug and I agreed to wait for the birth as a surprise. We have a bet going though.”
Doctor Mun stirred his coffee and took a sip. “What’s the bet?”
“I say it’s going to be a boy. He thinks a girl. If I win, we’ll take a trip back to Holtu to explore the canyons there. If he wins, we’ll go to Earth for a vacation on the Atlantic Ocean where his family used to go; somewhere in North Carolina.”