by Don Viecelli
Doug could see Mars growing quickly in size out his window. “Put us in geosynchronous orbit above Haffen City Spaceport.” Doug tried calling the tower, but no one answered.
“Our scanners are detecting low yield radiation above the city, Captain,” Drake said frowning.
Doug knew what had happened without anyone telling him. “The Yoyka nanoweapon must have gotten through our defenses and hit the city. Our satellites would have exploded an EMP missile above the city to wipe out the nanobot drones.”
“What about the people?” Drake asked hesitantly.
“They would be okay as long as they were in shelters as instructed.”
“Then everyone down there should be safe,” Drake reasoned.
“I hope so, but I’m not getting through to anyone on the ground. I’ve tried every comchannel.”
Doug ordered long range cameras to focus on the city below. As soon as the first images appeared on his viewscreen, he knew the worst had happened. The dome covering most of Haffen City had been blown completely open. The dome had protected a major portion of the city for one mile in diameter. Only the smaller dome covering the nearby Spaceport looked to be intact.
“I need a shuttle to take me down to the Spaceport,” Doug finally decided. He would search for his wife and son himself.
Doug left Commander Drake in charge of the USS Illinois while he ordered the pilot of a shuttle full of medical personnel and a dozen Marines led by Colonel Shirley Tills to take them down to the Haffen City Spaceport. Everyone was ordered to wear hazmat suits to protect them from any radiation left over from the nuclear electromagnetic pulse bomb explosion. There was also the possible danger of finding nanobot drones still active in the area.
Colonel Tills was the first Marine off the shuttle after it landed near the Spaceport. She used a specially designed radiation detector to monitor the area. It detected small amounts of gamma radiation, but nothing harmful to humans. Doug followed the medical personnel off the shuttle as they headed for the entrance to the Spaceport.
Nothing was working; no electricity or lights anywhere. The doors had to be opened manually to let them enter. Tills tested the atmosphere inside the dome and it proved to be normal. Everyone took off their protective hoods and opened their helmet faceplates. Doug turned to Colonel Tills. “There’s no one here. I expect they all went to the bunker under the UN Building during the attack. Let’s go there first.”
“I agree. I’m trying the military bunker at the base to see if anyone is there. I figure the EMP took out most electronic communications. Maybe we can get someone on our wristcom units. They are shielded, but range is limited to two miles.”
“Okay, let’s move out. I need to get to the UN shelter to see if anyone is there,” Doug said.
Colonel Tills led the way to the Spaceport exit to the city. Normally, the subway train took people back and forth to the city less than a half mile away, but there were no trains waiting for them, so they walked through glass covered tunnels. All subway tunnels had safety doors every one hundred meters, which would be open if there was no air loss on either side of the doors. They made it to the next to last door when they found the door closed.
“Everyone put on your hazmat hood. The tunnel has been compromised beyond this door,” Tills explained.
“Everyone ready?” Tills asked. “Sergeant Dimitar, close the door behind us.” Tills waited a few moments, then faced forward. “Lieutenant Sanchez, open the door.”
As soon as Sanchez manually unlocked the closed door, the air in the tunnel escaped with a rush. The cold atmosphere from outside flooded the tunnel causing everyone to shiver even though their suits compensated quickly to keep them warm.
“Alright, let’s go,” Tills ordered.
Once outside everyone saw the damage to the dome. Large holes appeared in numerous places where the geodesic frames used to hold hard, clear plastic window panes. Most of them had been blown out by some type of explosion. Further away a large piece of the dome infrastructure had been completely destroyed. Doug could see it was probably caused by a Yoyka missile strike. Some of the buildings under the damaged dome structure were also destroyed.
One more thing caused extreme concern to everyone in the group. Covering many of the building roofs and lying everywhere on the ground was a thin layer of what looked like black coal dust. Doug knew what it was and yelled out, “Don’t touch anything!”
Everyone waited for a full five seconds before Doug said, “Nothing is moving.” He pointed to one of the medical technicians near him. “Test a sample and see if they are dead.”
The female technician collected a sample near her feet and put it inside a computerized nanobot scanning microscope. A moment later she said, “The nanobots are inactive. Their circuits have been destroyed.”
A sigh of relieve could be heard. Doug studied the scene before him and wondered if any nanobots had reached the surface and survived the EMP blast. If any had, Colonel Tills had brought several portable Non-Nuclear EMP devices to use on them.
The group walked in silence until they reached the UN Building where Doug used to work. He led them up the steps inside. The building looked like it had been shaken badly in the missile attack. Some of the windows had been blown out and pieces of the ceiling tiles where lying on the floor of the lobby.
Doug walked over to a bank of elevators. One of the elevators was marked with a bomb shelter symbol. This is one of the elevators people would have used to get to the sublevel bomb shelter six stories below ground. The shelter was large enough to hold ten thousand people. It was one of five shelters spread around the city. This was the shelter where Janice took their son on Doug’s recommendation before the battle with the Yoyka began. Doug knew that most of the people he and Jan worked with would also have taken shelter in this bunker.
The first sign of disaster was when the doors to the elevator would not open. Colonel Tills had two of her Marines force the doors open. Terror filled Doug’s eyes when light was shined inside the elevator shaft. The walls were covered with black nanite dust. Again, the nanobots were dead, but the black covering descended all the way down the shaft.
“Dear God!” one of the medical team said. Doug now felt the same fear. If the nanobots somehow got inside of the shelter, the people inside could all be dead!
“How do we get down now?” Tills asked Doug with growing concern.
“We’ll have to use another elevator. I know where the nearest one is!”
Doug quickly led the group to the building next door. It was a commercial building used for city workers. They found the elevator and manually opened the doors. Since all electrical power was out, the Marines had brought a portable battery backup unit with them. They plugged the power cables into the electrical sockets in the wall.
“We will have enough power to use the elevators two or three times. Who’s going down with me,” Tills asked.
Doug responded, “I need to go. My wife is down there.”
Tills nodded her head okay. “You four come with me. The rest of you stay here until we call you.”
Doug stepped inside the elevator with Colonel Tills, two medical people and two Marines. The six of them slowing descended to the bottom of the shaft. When the doors opened, there was nothing to see but a thick layer of tiny black nanobot dust covering the floor and everything else.
It was clear the nanobot circuits had been fried when the EMP blast occurred. What caught everyone’s eyes before two members of the group cried out in disbelieve were the empty clothes, shoes, purses, bags, electronic devices and many other items scattered about on the floor, tables and chairs. The people were missing. Nothing but silence greeted the team. The people had been consumed by the nanobot drones before the nanobots had been destroyed.
There was little hope anyone in this shelter had survived the carnage. Doug almost sank to his knees in despair. He grabbed the handrail in the elevator for support.
Colonel Tills stepped inside the dark room and fla
shed her light around. The horrible scene was the same wherever the beam of light landed. She used her wristcom to report what had happened to the team left up top.
Doug finally steadied himself and followed Tills into the room. They had a job to do. “We need to look for any survivors.”
It took one hour before the last room in the shelter was searched. No one was found alive. Doug found no trace of Jan or Jules or any of his friends. He knew their belongings were somewhere in this shelter, but they would probably never be identified. All he felt now was rage against the Yoyka. At this horrible moment, he would kill every last one of them if he could. He hoped revenge would ease his pain, but feared it would not. Perhaps only death would end his all encompassing grief.
Chapter 39
Earth Meeting
Two days later back on Earth, President Mary Anderson was still trying to recover from the shock of the Yoyka attack and the damage done. Millions of people all over the world had died a horrendous death from the nanobot drone weapons before they could be stopped. She rubbed her eyes from the strain of reading the President’s Daily Briefing report on her desk. Most of it confirmed what she already knew. What was missing was how to recover from all of this and what they should do next.
The door to the Oval Office opened and Allison Conley walked in. “It’s time for the NSC meeting, Madam President.”
“I’m ready, Allison. I just finished reading the PDB. Nothing new to report since the attack. I need to know what the military plans to do now.”
“We’ll find out at the meeting, Madam President. Russo and General Bradstone will be there to update you.”
Mary stood up, gathered her things and led the way out of the office to the main hallway. It was a short walk to the Situation Room on the lower level of the White House. They both walked in silence. The nice view outside the windows of the gardens was in stark contrast to how Mary felt. Her present mood was one of clouds gathering before the storm. She wanted revenge and knew it probably showed in spite of efforts to hide her true feelings.
Mary and Allison walked through the door to the National Security Conference room. Waiting for her were the usual military officers and government officials that attended the weekly meetings. Today the meeting would be more serious than usual. They would discuss what happened during the battle with the Yoyka and what to do about the attack. It would not be a pleasant meeting.
Mary took her seat and everyone in the room followed. She addressed the group. “We all read the reports on the battle with the Yoyka. We all know what the damage reports say. I need to know how this happened and why we could not prevent millions of people from dying during this attack. I thought we were better prepared than this!”
The President was clearly upset, Carlo Russo noted. He tried his best to explain. “Madam President, we all thought we were better prepared. But this is war. The enemy is like nothing we have every fought against before. They have weapons we could hardly imagine let alone defend ourselves against. If it were not for the technology and support of the Holtu androids and the Qumru, we would not be alive today to even hold this meeting.”
Mary calmed herself down and looked around the table. “I’m sorry if I appear upset, which I am. I am not angry with any of you. I am angry at the Yoyka aliens for what they tried to do for a third time. Our worlds have been attacked three times and fortunately, we survived and drove the Yoyka back. I think it’s time we take the fight to them.”
General William Bradstone spoke up. “If I may, Madam President, I know how much we have suffered and I regret our military forces could not prevent the attack and damage we have suffered, but I also know what we accomplished. The Yoyka forces were decimated by our new weapons. They fled in fear and know we will follow them. Their time is up. We plan to attack their home world soon.
“I will meet with Vice Leader Di and High Leader Altek this week. Di says plans are in motion to attack Yoyka space territories. We are repairing our warships damaged in the attacks on Mars and Earth. High Leader Altek is coming here from Holtu with his remaining warships. We will attack the Yoyka forces in their space territories before the week is out.”
Mary seemed relieved at hearing the news. “I look forward to hearing what the plans are for this offensive against the Yoykan Empire. Our people need to know we are capable of winning this war. Please tell me we have destroyed all the Yoykan nanobot drones that attacked us.”
Carlo Russo responded by reading from the latest update. “Madam President, the UN General Assembly members have reported with their damage assessments. The four Yoyka NDW missiles that made it through our defenses exploded over four populated areas: two cities in South America; Monterrey, Mexico—population one point one million and Sucre, Bolivia—population three hundred thousand; one city in Africa, N’Djamena, Chad—population nine hundred fifty-one thousand; and one city in Malaysia, Naypyidaw, Myanmar—population nine hundred twenty-five thousand. The total population affected by the missiles is over three point three million. Fortunately our most populated cites were spared. Unfortunately, it is estimated that seventy percent of the population attacked, over two point three million people died as a result of the nanobot swarms or from the EMP missiles the UN Defense Forces used over the affected areas to destroy the nanobots. We have hazmat teams on the ground now confirming the nanobots have been eliminated.”
Mary took a moment to reflect. At least the death rate was not as high as the first attack on Earth by the Yoyka. In the first attack, the Yoyka killed over ten million people worldwide with their mind destroying nanomachines. Now the Yoyka are using microscopic nanobot drones to kill people. She had been advised by NASA’s top scientists that nanobots could either be used as the most beneficial technology ever developed for human advancement, or used as the most dangerous weapons man has ever created capable of causing human extinction. It was even worse than nuclear war. She believed them.
“What about Mars? What’s their situation?” Mary asked finally.
“It’s not good, Madam President,” General Bradstone responded. “Haffen City and Polar City South were badly damaged. The domes were blown open by attacking Spitka fighter missiles. The missiles caused quake damage that opened up some of the bomb shelters. When the NDW missiles hit, the killer swarms found their way inside some of the shelters and killed everyone inside before the EMP missiles destroyed the nanobots. We lost one shelter in Polar South with ten thousand dead. Another two shelters in Haffen City with ten thousand people each were infiltrated. We lost a total of thirty thousand people.”
Mary immediately thought of the people she knew on Mars. She couldn’t bring herself to ask if they survived. She would find out soon enough.
“When are you going to meet Vice Leader Di and High Leader Altek?” Mary asked.
“I am leaving tomorrow morning for Mars. The Holtu want to attack the Yoykas as soon as possible before they can strengthen their forces.”
“Very well. Keep us informed of your plans.”
Mary discussed other topics with the group for another thirty minutes. Then the meeting adjourned. Mary knew the war was far from over. At least now, the war would be taken to the Yoyka. She knew they would learn the lessons of all wars; no one really wins.
Chapter 40
Altek
High Leader Altek arrived at Mars three days after the Yoyka attack. He brought with him twenty more warships fully equipped with Zoltu fighters and people to fly them. They were no longer afraid the Yoyka would attack Holtu. Instead, the Yoyka would now only be worried about defending their own home worlds.
The work to help the people on Mars recover from the attack was already in full swing. Support teams from Earth and Holtu warships were busy trying to provide medical attentions to those who needed it and restore power and other necessary public utilities.
It would take longer to rebuild the geodesic domes over the two cites to protect everyone from the harsh environment on Mars. In the meantime, people were cautioned about
going outside of their homes, which were already built to provide shelter and safety. That was one of the reasons the loss of lives during the attack resulted from the nanobot drones than from the loss of the dome structures.
Altek called for a meeting with his top leaders to discuss plans for the attack against the Yoykan Empire. They would meet on board his warship, the Iconda. It was in orbit around Mars with several other warships nearby. The rest of the fleet was positioned in several different locations in the solar system as a precaution.
The meeting was being held in a large conference room near the Command Center on Level 1. Altek was seated at the table with several of his warship leaders when Vice Leader Di, General William Bradstone, Captain Martin and Commodore Potter entered the room. Altek pointed to open seats at the table and said, “Welcome.” He introduced them to the leaders in the room and quickly set the tone for the meeting.
Without using a translation device, Altek began speaking. “I am sorry for the losses in this recent battle with the Yoyka. I have been told we lost twenty percent of our space fleet; sixty warships and over six thousand Zoltu fighters. The total dead and wounded is twenty-two thousand, six hundred lives. This does not include the thirty thousand human lives lost on Mars and over two million three hundred thousand lives lost on Earth due to the NDW nanoweapon attacks.”
Altek paused before continuing. “The good news is the Yoyka space fleet lost much more than our Allied forces. We estimate the Yoyka lost fifty percent of the attacking fleet; one hundred fifty warships and over sixteen thousand Spitka fighters with all crewmembers. The total dead is over eighty thousand killed. We captured one thousand Yoyka crewmembers and are keeping them in cells on board one of our warships.”
Changing the subject, he continued, “The nanoweapon the Yoyka is using against us has been analyzed by our scientists. It is both deadly and powerful if left unchecked on a planet. The nanobots are programmed to attack all higher functioning intelligent beings. They are self-replicating, but do not possess sufficient intelligence to become sentient. Currently, they will not attack their creators, the Yoyka. However, we have reprogrammed a sample we received from the Synoran race and believe it is time to consider using the same type of nanoweapon on the Yoykan Empire. This is being debated by Holtu and Qumru First Chair government leaders as we speak. Once a decision is made, we will leave here and attack Yoykan space territories.”