by Luigi Robles
“I believe 2.3 ilians equals one of Earth’s months,” Kya said.
“Thank you for that,” Iremostal said. “We are still quite unfamiliar with your measurements of time.”
The mood in the room dropped to an abysmal low. It was easy to see that no one thought they could possibly raise a fleet of ships that could stand up to such odds in little more than six months.
Fain saw Colonel Green looking at him through the floating orb. There was something about the way that Green looked at him that made Fain remember why they were here, why all of this started.
And then something inside Fain clicked. He knew that he wasn’t going to let humanity fade into obscurity without a fight—and a damn good fight at that. They had already beaten the odds once before. They had done the impossible.
“It’ll be enough,” Fain said, then looked at Kya, hoping that she understood that he was going to need her help soon. Kya nodded. “Last time the Acram came around, we didn’t get a chance to prepare, to plan, to stock up. Now we have six months. Imagine what we can do with six months of full preparations. We’ll build as many ships as we can, we’ll strategize, and we’ll come up with a plan. What we aren’t going to do is let this overwhelm us or bog us down. There’s always a chance, and we are taking it.”
The room’s mood shifted once again. Fain saw hope in some of the faces in the room.
“You can build ships as fast as we can supply materials, right?” Fain asked, turning sideways to face the Ochilenes.
“There’s a little more to it than that,” Elenon said, “but the spirit of your statement is correct.”
The room turned quiet for a second or two.
So, it’s simple, we just need to figure out a way to provide the materials, Fain thought. Ah, who am I kidding? It’s never that simple. There’s always something that’s missing or that we are just not thinking of. But there’s a problem with that. Let’s say that Sodenia is, in fact, capable of bringing a huge payload of materials into space and can make the round trip several times a day. That would be horribly taxing on the ozone layer, especially with a ship the size of Sodenia. There must be another way. Kya, I hope you’ve thought of something, because you’re about to be up.
“Any ideas?” Fain asked, breaking the silence.
“I’m sure everyone in the room is thinking about this,” August said. “But no one is saying it, so I’ll go ahead. The obvious thing to do is have Sodenia deliver the materials.”
“By the time we are done,” Pycca said, “there will be no atmosphere left from wherever we are launching.”
“Sometimes the prices we pay are steep,” Truman said. “Still, if it means the survival of the human race, we must consider it.”
Fain nodded and then turned to face the Ochilenes once more.
“In your world, what do you use?” Fain asked. “To provide the materials needed.”
“We use an ascension device,” Elenon said. “We have several of them scattered throughout our world. We had set out prepared to build one here if we had to. But the ship equipped to build the ascension platform was one of the unfortunates ones that did not make it.”
“Perhaps there’s another way,” Kya said.
The entire room turned to face Kya; even the floating orb turned.
“The asteroid belt,” Kya said. “I believe we will find all the necessary materials that we need to build the new fleet there. The asteroids around the belt are made up of oxygen and silicon, the two most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust. There are also metallic asteroids composed of up to 80% iron and a 20% mixture of nickel, iridium, palladium, platinum, gold, magnesium, and other known precious metals such as osmium, ruthenium, and rhodium. Unless we need an element exclusive to Earth, such as life, we will be in good shape.”
The room turned to the Ochilenes.
“If what you are saying is true,” Elenon said, “that, in fact, could work. We’ll just need to run a detailed analysis to make sure.”
“The only problem I see,” Kya said, “is that the asteroid belt is located 248 million miles away from Earth.”
At one time during the second Acram attack on Earth, Sodenia was able to achieve a maximum speed of 10,822,000 miles per hour. But that had pushed the ship’s engines hard, and it was only for a few hours. Using the much more conservative number of 3.5 million miles per hour, Fain made the calculation in his head.
“It would take us three days to get there,” Fain said, “and three days to get back, traveling at Sodenia’s top speed. At least, not counting its maximum speed that we were able to keep up for a few hours the last time the Acram attacked. A lot can happen in three days. What if the Acram were to show up and we weren’t there to protect Earth? All they would need is a few hours to do away with all life on Earth.”
“Three days to travel such a relatively short distance?” Elenon asked. “The ship you refer to as Sodenia is the ship we are in, the Herrion ship. Is it not?”
“It is,” Fain said as he nodded.
“Then you have not yet discovered how to use its true star traveling capabilities,” Elenon said. “Such a distance should be trivial for a Herrion ship. An instant should be more than enough time for this ship to cover the vast distances of space.”
“There are many things we don’t know about Sodenia,” Kya said.
“We are not experts on the Herrion race,” Fermens said, letting Elenon rest. “But traveling between stars, this we can teach.”
Traveling between the stars? Fain thought. Is he talking about faster-than-light travel? Woah.
“So, do we have a deal?” Fermens asked. “We will help you with everything we can, and if we succeed, you will help us in return.”
Everyone in the room looked towards Truman.
“This is something I am not taking lightly,” Truman said. “The governing bodies of Earth aren’t going to like this. But I take full responsibility. And on behalf of the Earth’s people and ESAF, we have a deal.”
The Ochilenes nodded somberly while looking directly at Truman.
“I am a man of my word,” Truman said. “And to help you in return for helping us is the least we can do. One might argue that it would be natural for anyone to think this way. But it is not. I have a hard road ahead of me, convincing the presidents and generals of the world that this was actually a good idea. But in my opinion, it will all be worth it, if somehow we manage to survive. Captain Fain, the next moves are yours. Green and I will be there if you need us. It was a pleasure, my star builder friends. I will see you soon.”
“It was,” Elenon said, and the three nodded once again.
Then the screens on the floating orb disappeared. The room continued to sit in silence. Perhaps no one knew what to think of what had just happened. Or they knew exactly what to think of it, and they just did not know how to react. Fain couldn’t be sure. The only thing he knew for sure was that time was of the essence. Without a moment of hesitation, Fain took control of the room once again.
“It looks like we have a lot of work to do,” Fain said as he took a step back and off to the side to be able to address the room and the Ochilenes. “I want everyone in this room—no, not this room, everyone on this ship—to start coming up with a plan to slow or even stop the Acram. Even if you have never thought of tactics as your thing, I want to hear from you. One idea, two ideas, whatever comes to your mind, as long as you think it is truly possible. Because we are going to need all the help we can get.”
“So, just email them to you?” August asked.
Fain looked at the floor and rubbed his chin as he thought for a minute.
“No,” Fain said, sounding like he was still thinking. “That wouldn’t be the right thing to do. I want to get an ideas board going. Put it somewhere where everyone can see it. Your ideas will be put on there so that other people can see, and everyone can vote on which is the best idea. Something along those lines. But yes, for now, until we get that going, send them to me.”
Fa
in then turned to the Ochilenes.
“And if you’d like to join,” Fain said, “you are more than welcome.”
“As we said earlier,” Elenon said, “we are not a fighting civilization. We know little about war.”
“But you must know something,” Fain said. “Even if it’s their strengths and weaknesses, or other things you may know. Like the mechanics of an idea and how feasible it is.”
“That we can do,” Elenon said as he attempted to smile.
Alexander Green looked at Truman right after the meeting with Sodenia had ended. Alex was sitting right across from Truman at an old wooden desk. He appreciated the desk’s rustic look, as it reminded him of a simpler time. The desk Truman was at was also old, but it was not as nice. They were in the ESAF facility off the Pacific Coast. This was their temporary office. And if things continued going the way they were, it would be their stronghold, and quite possibly their last office.
Alex melted back into his chair, deflated, while Truman leaned back into his. Alex knew that they had just put ESAF in a bad situation. Although they were doing everything they could, everything they should do, this was the kind of thing everyone was waiting for in order to take power back from ESAF. They were waiting for ESAF to make a big decision so they could find a way to protest it.
“Are you with me?” Truman asked.
Alex sat up straight in his chair and looked at Truman once again before he spoke.
“I believe I am, sir,” Alex said.
“Yeah, I figured as much,” Truman said. “The real question in this room should be whether or not I believe in myself. What a precarious situation we just got ourselves into.”
“That we did, sir,” Alex said. “They won’t like it. Even if they do, they will pretend not to like it. There will be campaigns launched against you and ESAF. Although, helping the Ochilenes after they’ve helped us is quite an understandable thing to do.”
“Even with their help,” Truman said, “we stand little to no chance of survival. But let’s say we do survive. Let’s say we at least come out of it. My decision will still be contested. You want to know something?”
“Yeah, what is it?” Alex said.
“I detest politics,” Truman said. “With a passion.”
“You aren’t the only one with that feeling,” Alex said. “But I’d like to be quite frank with you.”
“Go ahead,” Truman said, gesturing towards the center of the almost empty room. “The floor is yours.”
“We are doing the right thing,” Alex said. “They would have done nothing until it was already too late. Nothing. And by the time they decided to do something—in other words, once they found out that there was nothing in it for them—it would have been too late. If humanity is to survive, we must change the status quo. I believe that there is no one more qualified than yourself to do this, sir.”
“Thanks for the encouragement,” Truman said. “I’ll take it, even though there are far more qualified people than myself to do the job. But I need the boost, if I am to take on the government.”
“How will you do it?” Alex asked. “Are you going to pretend to be in negotiations with the Ochilenes until they agree on the terms you’ve already set?”
“I could do that,” Truman said. “But if we are going to change the status quo, then we should start with the truth. I will tell them what I’ve done.”
Alex knew that was a risky move. It was the easiest way for Truman to paint a target on himself. The governments weren’t going to like it. But he was right in doing so.
“Let me know how I can help,” Alex said.
“Well, you can start by making phone calls,” Truman said. “Take on the friendlies, the ones that are most likely to agree. I’ll go for the power-hungry leeches. And Alexander?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Try not to worry so much,” Truman said. “As long as Fain and Sodenia are on our side, there’s little we should worry about. We do not want to force our way through this. But if we must, then we will.”
And that was the bottom line. That statement made, Alex’s heart felt more at ease. Because the truth was that Sodenia couldn’t be operated by better people than Fain and his crew.
11
Gravity
The same day that Fain had called the first lengthy meeting with the Ochilenes, Pycca found herself attending yet another meeting. But this time it was only Fain, Kya, and the flight crew in the room. The hour was late, but Pycca didn’t mind. She was used to working late hours on any given day.
Fain had started the meeting, and without much run-around, they went straight to the point—faster-than-light travel. Pycca had spent the majority of her life being told that it wasn’t possible. The laws of physics wouldn’t allow it. And yet, here she was, in front of an alien race that was about to reveal the big secret to faster-than-light travel.
It would be a lie if Pycca said that she didn’t feel a little excitement. In fact, it would be a lie if she said that she hadn’t spent an enormous amount of time thinking that Sodenia was capable of such a feat. Despite what everyone had said, what she was taught, and all the physics exams she had taken and passed with stellar results, she had always known it was possible.
“So, if you don’t mind,” Fain said as he gestured to the small group in the room.
“We certainly do not mind,” Elenon said as he stood up and walked towards the glass.
He had been sitting in a custom-made chair that Kya had designed for them. Since the Ochilenes’ bodies were stubby and they had more arms and core than lower body, the special chair reflected those qualities. It was low to the floor and had more than enough room for the Ochilenes to place their large arms.
“The truth is that star jumping,” Elenon said, “or faster-than-light travel, as you call it, is quite common throughout the known galaxy. Several forms of star jumping have been developed, some of which we know, and perhaps there are several more that we do not know.”
“We, like countless other species,” Fermens said as she too stood up from her chair, “believed that we were alone in the universe, that it was ours to explore and to colonize as we pleased. When we developed our first star jumper and went off into the galaxy to try to discover new worlds, one of the first things we discovered was that we were not alone. But we did not realize this by discovering new and interesting life on other planets. Rather, it was through an encounter with the Acram. Those first ships that went out into the universe never returned home.”
“Since then,” Iremostal said, “we have not taken to the stars. We concentrated on nearby worlds, but never the kind that would require extensive star jumping. Since we settled into our own speck in the galaxy, several star travelers have passed by the builder world of Chaae. Some were violent and also sought out war, but their technology was primitive and proved no match for our defenses. But for the most part, the travelers that have come and gone were friendly. Some travelers shared their technology, some kept it a secret. The Herrion, for example, shared the means they used to travel between the stars. They were the only ones with the resources to harness a star’s power.”
A star’s power? Pycca thought about the question. Do they mean like the heart of Sodenia? So, there’s literally a star inside the ship. No, that cannot be, can it? Pycca was unsure of what she could or couldn’t believe. She began racking her brain for something she had missed.
“As the Acram threat grew,” Fermens said, “many, us included, tried to track their expansion throughout the galaxy. Then the travelers became less frequent. As time passed, only probes and capsuled messages would get through occasionally. It was by that means that we found out that you had done the impossible.”
“During the short span of their visit to our world,” Elenon said, slowly walking back and forth in front of the glass, “the Herrion were kind enough to share with us their means of travel between the stars. It is impossible for us to replicate, but not impossible for us to understand. The Herrion take the su
rrounding gravity behind their ships, which is at zero, and expand it to minus-zero as needed. They can expand the gravity several thousand times over. At the same time, the Herrion can take the space in front of the ship and contract it several thousand times over. They can do all this while leaving the central space, the same space where the ship is located, intact.” Elenon paused, trying to regain his breath. The Ochilenes were still not used to the artificial environment made for them on board the ship. “Thus, they could give the ship faster-than-light travel.”
“Perhaps we can make some more adjustments?” Kya asked with a concerned look on her face.
Pycca knew that there was little Kya could do to make the Ochilenes more comfortable while on board Sodenia. They had tried everything already.
“It’s quite alright,” Elenon said with a dismissive gesture.
Kya nodded.
An Alcubierre drive, Pycca thought. That’s right, that’s right, I’ve read all about it. The math was all correct. It didn’t break the laws of physics, but there was never a power source great enough to power such a device. It was only known as a speculative idea based on a solution of Einstein’s field equations in general relativity, as proposed by Mexican theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre. Ha! And to think that it is actually possible to travel faster than light using this method.
“You must only have the gravity cores intact to make this ship a starship,” Fermens said as she neared the glass.
Pycca began to feel self-conscious when she noticed that the entire room was looking at her. She stood up straight and began to think. They were expecting an answer, and they were expecting it fast. This was one of the few times that being the lead engineer sucked.
Were those old gravity cores I saw when I first began working on the ship Alcubierre-type cores? Pycca wondered.
“Yes…” Pycca said hesitantly.
Fain looked at her, making her feel like she was turning red. She knew that she had to do better.