Encounters (The Spiral Slayers Book 1)

by Rusty Williamson

  Leewood stood slowly and cleared his throat, “Mr. President, as I’m sure you know, Admiral Maximus has been trying to get the Black Raven group together for several days.”

  President Wicker’s face went slack. He frowned and closed his eyes. Then he turned his head and stared at the live feed from the Tachyon scope.

  Adamarus’ insides fell further. Indeed, he thought, what ‘insights’…what words…could possibly make a dent in the shattered landscape of disaster now surrounding them?

  Leewood continued, “The Admiral has some insights into our situation he believes no one has yet…put together. And yes, this time, he claims…promises…it’s not more bad news.”

  On the screen, the President’s stare slowly returned to the assembly. “Not more bad news,” he repeated then he smiled sadly and addressed Adamarus, “You know, Admiral,” he shook his head and his smile reached his eyes, “just a year ago…just one year…the universe smiled down upon us—we had nothing but…” he shrugged, “…fantastic prospects. The Loud,” he glanced at the silent avatar, “had given us perpetual youth and unlimited life. They were freely sharing all their advanced science and technology with us but more than anything…well, we were not alone any more—we had found friends in the void.”

  The President’s smile faded, “Then,” he shook his head, “we discover that ‘an alien force’, one that uses a black hole for a starship, has destroyed the Loud’s entire star system…in a single day.” His eyes wandered off, “Gone…” he looked back at Adamarus, “then, one day later, we discover that same ‘alien force’ is now coming straight for us. A black hole with an event horizon ninety-three million miles in diameter traveling a hair below the speed of light…on a precise course and deceleration curve that will bring it into orbit around our planet in two hundred years.” He leaned back and barked a harsh laugh, “Really? Reality…outdoing…” he waved his arms, “…any horrific fiction I have ever seen or read.”

  Wicker stared around the room but there was only silence. “If that weren’t bad enough,” he continued with a strained smile, “on its way here it will pass through our systems ice halo bringing a swarm of comets…enough to destroy every rock world, including our own. We find its course will also pass so close to both of our largest gas giants that one of them might explode, and, in any event, dozens of moons will be tossed randomly across the inner system. Oh and by the way, the ship that seemingly emerges…we must not destroy it. Doing so will cause it to lose control of its black hole…which would destroy everything. No…we need to damage it…enough to make it leave.”

  Wicker rubbed his temples.

  “And then…” he said in a flat voice…but he said no more. He didn’t need to—everyone in the room knew exactly what had come next.

  And then…the meeting. The meeting with Bugs…learning what the Loud had been hiding…learning the truth, Adamarus thought and a chill went up his spine.

  He had come to realize that, for himself, in order to function, some aspects of the truth had to be looked at through squinted eyes. And, some of it…well, some of it had to be put into a locked box stored in the back of his mind, and never thought of at all. The truth had made them all a little crazy and, of course, in the three days since that meeting, two of them had committed suicide.

  “You have my attention, Admiral,” President Wicker said.

  Leewood sat and Adamarus stood.

  “Mr. President,” he circled behind his chair and slid it back under the table, “we’ve been inundated by horrible news as well as sudden deaths. Overwhelmed by the power and incredible age of the approaching alien, all of which we learned of just four days ago.

  “We’ve watched a neighboring civilization one-thousand years more advanced than us be destroyed in a single day. Now we sit here frozen in fear and depression as an impossibly large black hole comes at us at almost the speed of light for a repeat performance to destroy our star system. As if that were not enough, we know that after it leaves here, it will continue to the center of our galaxy and unleash a force that will eventually kill all life in our galaxy.

  “I’ve called this meeting because there are…well, a great many things that, so far, no one has discussed; however, a couple of these things affect assumptions we’ve made that may need to be reconsidered.”

  He looked around at the group. The hopelessness he saw made him want to give up.

  President Wicker inclined his head, “Such as?”

  Adamarus turned to the five-foot robot sitting at the table, “Bugs.”

  Bugs replied, “Adamarus, as I have said, we stand no chance of even slowing down this ancient Omega force. Nothing can change what is going to happen.”

  Adamarus held out both hands, “And you know that it’s our nature, we must do everything we can to survive. However, I have another question, Bugs.”

  The avatar inclined its head.

  Adamarus continued, “We can trace the activities of the Spiral Slayers or, their Blackships anyway, back about twelve billion years but…that’s normal time. Because the Blackships are very close to a black hole and because they are traveling just below the speed of light, time dilation comes into play. Because of this, the aliens have experienced far less time. Can you estimate how much?” Adamarus sensed everyone leaning forward.

  “I can only offer a rough estimate,” it said.

  “That’s fine.”

  “We have been tracking one Blackship that is in between galaxies. We estimate that it is traveling at .99999c—that’s a decimal point followed by 5 nines. However, the alien ship sits next to a black hole, which increases the time dilation. At its current distance, we cannot get a good estimate of the size of the singularity. Therefore, we can only provide a best guess. Assuming they have our speed stepping technology and adjusting for the estimated time for an average of two star system stopovers per galaxy plus the estimated time that they spend at the galaxy’s center plus...” it paused and looked at Adamarus, “Do you want the overall time that they have experienced since they entered the observable universe?”

  Adamarus nodded.

  “To them, only about ninety-eight million years have passed.”

  Sounds of surprise came from everyone.

  Wicker said, “That’s…” the president was going to say ‘all’ but 63 million years still was an enormous amount of time so instead he said, “that’s quite a difference.”

  But Bugs hadn’t finished. “Almost certainly,” the avatar continued, “some sort of hibernation would be employed bringing their actual experienced time down further—perhaps up to fifty percent.”

  Admiral Leewood spoke up, “So, you’re saying around fifty million years.”

  Bugs said nothing.

  “That’s still enough time,” Adamarus said.

  Leewood turned, “Enough time for what?”

  “For evolutionary changes,” Adamarus said, which caught everyone off guard.

  “Evolutionary changes,” Leewood said in surprise.

  “Yes.” Adamarus turned his attention back to the Loud Ambassador, “Tell me Bugs, can a species stop evolving?”

  The short robot took several seconds to respond. “Evolution occurs when cosmic rays affect DNA causing mutations which help an organism’s survival. Close to a black hole, the amount of cosmic radiation is multiplied millions of times. Normal levels of cosmic rays can be filtered out but it takes a lot of effort and normally it isn’t worth it. I’m not sure if anything near a black hole could really block out very much.”

  Adamarus raised an eyebrow, “Okay. However, regarding evolution, aren’t you forgetting something?”

  The avatar just stared back.

  “Don’t you also need natural selection? Mutations will be both good and bad for the environment and natural selection eventually promotes the good and phases out the bad.”

  Bugs’ head moved slightly, “Yes, that is correct.”

  “And,” Adamarus said, “with regards to a species who knows everyt
hing and who travels around in a starship powered by a black hole, in this environment what kind of natural selection would be in operation?”

  “Very little.”

  “None,” Adamarus shot back.

  Bugs was silent for second then, “Probably none that would affect evolution.”

  “But mutations would continue.”

  “Yes,” the avatar said.

  “But none would really be beneficial to survival, though some would be detrimental to it. The detrimental mutations would be the only ones with any evolutionary impact. So, over such a vast length of time, you’d either wind up with a grossly mutated population or, perhaps more likely, the species would have evolved itself into extinction.”

  President Wicker cleared his throat, “What are you getting at, Adamarus? Clearly, whatever the case, the Spiral Slayers are still functioning.”

  Adamarus turned to Wicker, “Well…their machines are still functioning. Sir, what stands out to me is that we have seen no evidence of change in what they do in…twelve billion years. That’s evidence of a force of nature or maybe of advanced machinery but not of an intelligent species.”

  President Wicker barked a laugh, “What difference does that make?”

  A small smile appeared on Adamarus’ face, “Adaptability.”

  Wicker ran an impatient hand through his hair, “Admiral…what would they need to adapt to?”

  Adamarus’ smile broadened, “Us.”

  “Us,” Wicker said incredulously.

  “Please bear with me for a moment, sir.” Adamarus turned again to the Loud Ambassador, “Bugs, you’ve said that your studies of the Spiral Slayers show that they enter a galaxy and head straight for the central black hole and seemingly, cause it to explode. Along the way, they destroy any star systems they encounter.”

  “Yes,” Bugs answered. “We’ve detected over two dozen galaxies containing these black holes and showing this process.”

  “However, we both know that this process, as stated, is quite impossible.”

  “Impossible,” President Wicker barked even more incredulously. “The Loud have identified and verified this in over twenty-four spiral galaxies.”

  Adamarus held up a hand, “And that’s exactly what’s impossible about it, sir. Please…bear with me. We’ve been assuming that the Blackships enter a galaxy, make a straight line for the center and destroy stars that they encounter along the way. This, and remember I said ‘as stated’, is simply not possible.”

  Wicker threw up his hands in exasperation but said, “Please…continue.”

  “It’s…the emptiness, sir. None of us can really imagine the emptiness of the universe and, more specifically, the amount of empty space within galaxies.”

  Each seat at the conference table had a standard monitor and control station embedded into the table. Adamarus removed his PDA, leaned forward and attached it to his station. Above the table, a hologram of a galaxy appeared.

  “This,” Adamarus said, “is the Spoke Galaxy—the closest spiral galaxy to us. The density of matter within this galaxy is similar to our own galaxy as well as ninety-nine percent of all galaxies and, the few exceptions you find are not far off.” He walked slowly around the table pointing at the holograph. “The volume of this galaxy is about eight-trillion cubic light years—that’s eight trillion,” he repeated for effect. “It contains billions of stars, planets as well as neutron stars, black holes and lots of interstellar gas.” He paused and looked at the president. “However, if you could take all of the stars, planets and moons and put those together, their total volume would barely amount to a thousandth of one cubic light year.”

  Adamarus paused and looked around trying to find a way to explain. “Within eight trillion cubic light years you’re trying to hit one one-thousandth of one cubic light year. If you had a giant machinegun that could fire a hundred of these Blackships a second into this galaxy, your odds of hitting anything would be around eight-quintillion to one and, because the stars are in constant motion, these odds do not go down with each shot…they stay the same.” Adamarus laughed, “You could spray away all night and day for centuries and never hit anything.”

  The room was silent for many seconds.

  Finally, President Wicker looked at the five-foot robot, “Bugs?”

  “Adamarus is correct,” the alien replied.

  Adamarus nodded, “Any star system the Blackships encounter is actually selected and purposely navigated to.”

  Admiral Leewood spoke up, “Well okay, but actually we kind of already know this…I mean we know that they are targeting star systems that contain intelligent civilizations…they detect the transmissions radiating into space. So they have to change course a little to encounter them…I don’t see…”

  Adamarus held up both hands and interrupted, “I’m getting to that, Patrick.” He turned back to the avatar, “Bugs, when did the Loud know that the Blackships were targeting stars with intelligent civilizations?”

  “We became sure when it left our star and instead of heading directly for the galactic center, it headed here. If it had headed for the galactic center, it would have missed your star system by thirty-four light years.”

  Adamarus nodded. “And before it headed for us, before it entered your star system, when you were only able to watch these Blackships in other galaxies, what did you believe?”

  “We were not sure why the Blackships destroyed the star systems they did.”

  “And, when your planet concluded that what approached it was a Blackship, what did they believe was going to happen?”

  “We thought that the black hole would slow down and pass our star close enough to destabilize it and cause it to explode. We never dreamed that the black hole would just vanish and a ship would emerge.”

  The room erupted—everyone started talking at once. Adamarus knew why. Half a year before, when the Loud ships had returned early and Bugs had met with them to explain about the destruction of their star system, it had told them that analysis of the Tachyon scans had shown that the black hole had disappeared and a large ship had attacked the planet and then their star. When asked what kind of defense their planet had likely prepared against the Blackship, Bugs had said none because any alien advanced enough to use a black hole for a power source would be too advanced to be defeated. They had stared in disbelief at the short robot. Now they realized for the first time that the Loud had had no idea that a ship would emerge…a ship that could be opposed. And, no one would mount an armed defense against a black hole. It would be like an armed defense against a 100-foot tidal wave.

  President Wicker brought the meeting to order again then asked Bugs, “So, you did not know that a ship would emerge from the black hole or, that the Blackship was targeting civilized systems until after it attacked you?”

  “No. How could we?” Bugs replied.

  Adamarus spoke up, “So think about it…the only way that we know an armed defense has any chance at all is because we have the data from the attack on the Loud system.”

  Everyone stared back at him and he could see that they were not catching on. He continued, “The odds of a situation like ours…of there being two stars with intelligent civilizations close enough together in both space and time and also close enough in line with the Spiral Slayers course to the galaxy’s center is…well those odds are far worse than eight-quintillion to one. It could never ever happen.”

  The President looked at Adamarus, straining to understand. “But…what does that matter? It did happen here.”

  Adamarus sighed, “Yes, it did happen here but we can be pretty damn sure that it’s never happened before. Every star the Blackships have visited knew only what the Loud knew—that a black hole was going to enter their system. No one would prepare an armed defense against a black hole and no one would guess that it would just vanish and a ship would emerge. And that means that,” Adamarus faced the gathering, “the Spiral Slayers have never before faced an armed defense.” He could feel the shock
rolling across the conference room.

  He continued, “At least not a massive defense prepared well beforehand—like the one we’ll be greeting them with. That’s why adaptability is important and, since…hell, almost the dawn of time,” he said incredulously, “we can look back and see that they have not exhibited a single sign of adaptability.”

  “Never faced an armed defense,” Wicker muttered.

  “That’s unbelievable,” Leewood said.

  However, the shock level in the room was about to spike even higher. Bugs had repeatedly insisted that they had no chance against the Spiral Slayers—no chance at all. No one thought he would ever budge from this.

  Now the five-foot robot stood and faced Maximus. “That is a very good observation, Adamarus,” the robot said. It turned to the gathering “Given this, we now have a slight chance of surviving the Spiral Slayers…the possibility is very small, nevertheless, now we have some chance.”

  End of Book One

  Continued in …

  The Spiral Slayers

  Book Two

  Countdown

  Armageddon

  Rusty Williamson

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  About Book Two “Countdown Armageddon”

  The countdown has begun…

  Humans on planet Amular, along with the survivors of an alien race called the Loud, face a hopeless battle: an ancient alien originating beyond the observable universe is coming, killing everything in their path. In a single day, they destroyed the Loud home world—a species a thousand years ahead of the humans. They come within a black hole the size of a small star system at .99999 the speed of light and the Loud claim that this ancient alien has reached the Omega level of advancement—journey’s end—they know everything.