Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers (24 page)

Leewood nodded. “Okay. So, to the best of your knowledge,
this alien ship simply attacked and destroyed your solar system for no apparent
reason?”

“This is true.”

Leewood looked down at the notes on his PDA though he did not
really see them. It was time to ask the question he had been dreading and he
wished he had a better way to do it.
Oh well
, he thought. “Bugs, here is
what we intend to do: between now and when that ship arrives, we will focus on
preparing defenses for a hostile encounter with this ship. When the ship is
close enough, we will attempt to communicate with it and try diplomacy. If this
does not work, we intend to fight this alien with everything we have.” He
paused but Bugs remained motionless, saying nothing. “We would like you to join
us—help us defeat this thing. Will you?”

Bugs stared at Leewood for a long moment. Finally he spoke, “Commander
Leewood…” he looked at each of them, “…sirs and madams…” he looked at each of
the teleconferencing screens – the President’s last “…distinguished Senators
and President James Olson Wicker, right now you have an opportunity and a
choice to make. The aliens will not talk with you. You cannot defeat them. But
you can save some of your race. I beg you: take all of your ships and make each
one an escape ark. Fill them with your best people, your most valued animals
and your most beloved plants. Then, keeping your sun between your arks and the
approaching Blackship, have them sneak away as far as they can get. It will be
hard to save only some while condemning most, but it is the best that you can
do. It is what we intend to do.”

These words washed over the gathering and chilled them to the
bone. Adamarus, who had been quiet most of the meeting, spoke first, “I’m sorry,
Bugs, but we are not built that way. We will try to talk and, if needed, we
will fight no matter how hopeless the situation is. It is our way.”

Bugs reached out with both arms, “Why? What is your logic for
this?”

The President answered, “Because if we take the actions you
suggest, then we are defeating ourselves before the aliens even get here. If we
are to be defeated, it will be the aliens who do it, not ourselves. And we
would also do it for…for hope’s sake. Any number of things could change the
outcome of a battle. Many times in our history hopeless battles have been won. Until
you are defeated, there is always some hope.”

Bugs leaned forward in his seat even more, stretching his
arms further out across the table, “Okay, fight your battle. But you can still
prepare a fleet of arks and send them out of harm’s way so that if worse comes
to worst, you have a chance to save your species.”

The President leaned back and rubbed his chin. “This is what
all of your ships will do?”

Bugs just stared at the President for several moments before
he replied, “You said you wanted our help. What kind of help?”

Leewood answered, “We had hoped that you would stand with us
and help us defend our world.” Leewood paused for a second, his eyes boring
into the robot. “And, with your advanced technology, we hoped that you would
improve our defensive and offensive capabilities.”

Bugs considered this then said, “We will make a deal with
you. If you will send out three arks holding 3,000 of your people, and as many
animals and plants as you can, then we will help you improve your defenses. Also,
we will only send out two ships to preserve our species and the other two will
remain, fight by your side, and help you in all the ways you have mentioned.”

The President smiled, “Bugs, you have a deal.”

Chapter Fourteen – Hideaway

“As many of you have probably guessed by now,
given the time, it is possible to extract all of the data from the speck’s
vibrations – to know everything there is to know. This state of species
advancement is the Phi State. To work through and translate each of the
trillions of vibrations would take, by our estimates, a minimum of 250 million
years. We believe few species survive long enough to accomplish this.”

The Loud Named Bugs

Opening Speech, 23
^rd
Amular
Symposium
on Quantum Physics

Source: The Archive

Seven weeks later…

Adamarus was angry, but he tried to hold it in. All this
cloak and dagger stuff was ridiculous. For six weeks he, Leewood, Harrington
and Woodworth had been cooped up in a shuttle traveling at high speed, on a
course heading in-system; in fact, heading right for the sun. The President had
told them to go, but he would not tell them where they were going or why, and
as far as anyone could tell, only empty space and the sun lay ahead.

 The Loud had ”loaned” the President one of their short range
tachyon communication sets so that the President and his team would have
instant communications instead of the annoying delay the distance would have
normally caused. This voyage was acting as the first field test of this latest
invocation of Loud-ware.

At the moment, the President was talking to Leewood as the
rest of the team stood around him and waited for some answers. But Leewood
rolled his eyes and then shook his head as he listened.

“I’m sorry, Patrick,” the President was saying, “but this was
tied up with checks and balances that were placed there for everyone’s
protection and safety. I’ve gotten all the other signatures and only the
leaders of the House and Senate are left. One’s just taking off from Banner and
the other’s already on a plane on the way. It’s going to be at least several
hours before I can release any information and really…you’ve got at least that
much longer before you arrive…please don’t ask me ‘where’…not yet. Tell
everyone to just try and be patient.”

Leewood spoke for another minute and then disconnected. He
related the conversation to the others which was met with groans and sighs. Sliding
in next to Adamarus, he mumbled “I cannot believe this crap. This had better be
good. Hell, it better be better than good!”

The craft was one from the Presidential fleet and was very
high end. It was really quite luxurious, comfortable, well equipped, and well
staffed. And the food was incredibly good. But a junket like this was pushing the
limits for its design.

The steward served lunch which killed some time. After lunch
Leewood and Harrington went down to the small gym, Adamarus slept, and the rest
donned headphones and watched a video. Two hours later the video ended, they
griped, read, talked, slept and then they griped some more.

Adamarus was looking out the forward viewports which were
almost completely blacked out to compensate for the blinding light from the
sun. He sensed Harrington move up beside him. “We’re obviously headed towards
Cinder,” he said. Cinder was a small planet and the closest object to the Sun.

“Cinder? You think? No one else has said anything about
that.” She looked back at their companions sitting in the oversized leather
seats. She was holding a drink and was a little tipsy. “I thought Cinder was
nothing but rivers of molten rock.” She swayed her hips bumping him playfully,
“So… a hot date?”

The sudden mock flirtation surprised Adamarus and he laughed
at her. There was no doubt that it was done in fun. Harrington and his wife had
become close friends and it was absolutely something Harrington would do for
its shock value. He pointed out the view port, “Actually, Cinder’s both the
hottest and the coldest planet in our solar system,” emphasizing coldest for no
real reason except to cover the slight awkwardness he felt. “It’s tidal locked
so that one side always faces towards the sun and the other faces away. The one
that always faces away is the coldest place in the solar system.”

Harrington leaned in close to him teasingly and shook her
head, “You’re always the party animal.” They both laughed.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” he replied. “Ah! Look!”

Harrington cocked her head and squinted her eyes—barely
visible outside the view port was a round circle darkening the surrounding
space. As she watched she could actually see it growing. “What is that?!”

“Cinder’s light cone – the ship will get inside it to shield
it from the sun. We must be close.”

Harrington had turned, “Hey, you guys! Come look at this!” She
turned back to the view port, “I don’t quite understand.”

“Cinder casts a shadow and we’re getting in it. In truth,
it’s mostly the solar wind that’s being blocked—as you can see, it doesn’t
block much of the light or the heat from the sun.” Everyone was gathered around
the small view port now. “But about fifty percent of the glare we see is the
solar wind. Cinder has a magnetic field that is roughly three times the
diameter of the planet and this is what diverts the solar wind.”

Harrington pointed out the view port with her drink, “Never a
dull moment.” The way she said this caused everyone to chuckle.

Leewood gave her an appraising eye. Although they had worked
closely together for quite a long time, he had not seen her flirty side. He was
more than a little annoyed at the discomfort he felt over her flirtation going
Adamarus’ way, even though he knew it meant nothing. “Well, at least we know
where we’re going now. I’d completely forgotten about the rock.” Leewood
commented.

 “What could be on Cinder?” Woodworth asked.

Adamarus’ smile turned down, “Most likely something in orbit
– obviously a geostationary orbit so it stays on the far side away from the
sun.”

Soon they could see Cinder as a small black circle against
the turbulent surface of the sun – the round shadow the ship was staying within
radiated from a seemingly invisible circle which was much larger than the small
planet.

An hour later, the PA system chimed and the Captain spoke,
“We’ll be flipping over and firing thrusters in about fifteen minutes to begin
reducing our speed. If you need to go to the restroom or want something to
drink, please take care of that now. When we fire the thrusters to flip the
ship, everyone will need to be in their seats and buckled up for thirty minutes
of so.”

Once everyone was seated and strapped in, the ship rotated on
its center of gravity until the back end was facing forward. The roar of the
engines could be heard as they fired up. Finally the engine roar died, the ship
flipped over again and the seat belt sign went off. Everyone got up and crowded
around the forward view port. Small forward jets were still slowing the craft
down.

The planet Cinder now hid the sun completely. There was no
light and the planet’s surface was completely black – nothing at all could be
seen. Then the ship turned so that the planet was beneath it. The totally black
surface stretched out in every direction to the planet’s horizon. There, the
black surface ended sharply and millions of tiny glowing particles shot upward
creating a circular wall of light that enclosed Cinder’s dark side -- the solar
wind. Looking up through the view port in the ceiling, the circular wall
extended up until it faded away. It made for an unusual and beautiful sight.

 The ship continued to make its way across the dark side of
Cinder, though to its passengers, there were no visual cues to suggest that
anything was moving.

At last something dark could be seen blocking the spectacle
of the solar wind. There seemed to be many objects, but this far away and with
no light, they were just black, half-imagined silhouettes. At last the ship
bridged the distance. Now the shapes could be seen more clearly. Slowly the
ship glided up to one of them and came to a halt. It seemed to be a large,
oblong rock but no details were visible. And it was impossible to tell its size
as they had no idea how far away they were. The ship drifted to the right and
now four additional rocks appeared beyond the first.

“So what the hell is this?” Woodworth asked.

Leewood turned to him, “I think we’re here – wherever here
is. However, until Wicker gets two more people to sign off, we won’t get to see
anything.” After a while they drifted back to their seats and waited.

Forty minutes later, everyone jumped when the Loud’s tachyon
com unit buzzed. Leewood yanked it up. “Yes.” He listened for a moment then
worked the controls. The President’s face appeared on the screen at the front
of the cabin.

 “Can you hear me? Oh, okay, I see that you can. I’m sorry to
keep you in the dark so long, but I think you’ll find that it was worth the
wait. I am now authorized to tell you a story.” The President was sitting at
his desk. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward. “At the end of the
last war, then President Bonnet did not ever want another war that lasted as
long or cost so much. What he did to insure this was called Project Hideaway. He
also put stringent checks and balances in place to ensure Project Hideaway was
never misused. Not even a President could, by himself, use or make known the
details of the project. This is why it has taken me so much time to secure the
proper authorizations needed to tell you about it. I sent you ahead hoping that
when you arrived, all the red tape would be worked out and…the timing was
almost perfect.”

“As you know,” President Wicker continued, “the ten Leviathan
Class Battleships, or Juggernauts as they were called, won the last war for us.
The common belief is that the Bentley and Anderson shipyards built these ships
in secret. That is not true. The shipyards that built them were constructed in
secret – construction of these yards started almost as soon as the war started,
and at first they were called the Leviathan Shipyards because they only built
one kind of ship, the Leviathan Class Battleship. Eventually, due to popular
demand, the name changed to the Hideaway Shipyard. You have just arrived at its
location. Wanting to prevent another war that was so costly in lives as well as
materials, Bonnet wanted an overpowering force to put down any future uprising.
Construction of the Juggernauts did not stop after the first ten were
commissioned, but continued in secret for thirty more years and was only shut
down twenty years ago.” A great big smile appeared on the President’s face. “Enjoy
the tour and we will talk later.”

The screen went blank and everyone quickly made their way
back to the viewing port.

“I don’t see anything,” Harrington said.

As if on cue, the lights came on.

“Well fuck me,” Leewood exclaimed.

Harrington could not make out what she was looking at. Whatever
it was, there was a lot of it. “What am I looking at?”

“The mass of lights and machinery in each of the – looks like
five structures…” started Adamarus, but he was interrupted by a voice from behind.

“Yes, there are five,” the Captain had come from the cockpit,
“each one is almost as large as all of the Anderson Yards combined. Each rock
can build one Juggernaut at a time.” He handed out folders to each of them. The
folders were marked ”Top Secret – Red Raven Level." “These contain
complete specs and details on the yards. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go
start the tour.”

Everyone started looking through the material that had been
handed out.

At the hatch leading to the cockpit the Captain paused and
turned, “You’ll need to take your seats while we tour the yards – everything
will be displayed on the large display up front and there are also the side
view ports. After the tour is over you may get up.”

As soon as they took their seats, the thrusters fired and the
craft moved forward. It flew outward so all five installations could be seen,
then flew back in for a close pass of the first one. It was enormous and
completely empty of workers and ships. As the shuttle dropped down the large
splinter of rock, more and more of the shipyard came into view. Space docks,
tanks, pipes, cranes and all manner of machinery were lit in stark contrast by
the bright harsh lights.

A huge hole that cut completely through the rock came into
view – obviously this was where the colossal battleships where assembled. The
shuttle smoothly turned and went into the cavity. Bathed in stark bluish white
lights, so bright it almost hurt the eyes, dozens of gigantic cranes,
extendable work platforms and view ported control stations passed by.

Finally they flew out the other side. In front of them
several miles away was the next rock with its brightly lit construction area.

The shuttle brought itself to a stop. It then rotated on its
axis to the right, seemingly facing nothing. The group was wondering what was
going on when Adamarus spotted something. “Look, can you see that?” he asked
them, pointing out the view port. Several miles away, dark shapes could be seen
blocking out the solar wind. Once again, almost on cue, the lights came on.

The group went speechless. Some of them actually had tears in
their eyes. Certainly pride swelled inside each one’s chest. No one could have
talked without choking.

Thirty brand new Leviathan Class Battleships faced them
arranged in three columns running left to right. It was utterly awe inspiring. The
power conveyed was overwhelming. With the ten birthed just off the Anderson
Shipyard, it made a total of forty of the giant war ships.

The shuttle surged forward and approached the ships. Their
size was unbelievable – they dwarfed the largest currently commissioned ship
which was the Carrier Class, like The Bet’ti that Adamarus had commanded. The
Carrier Class was 1,337 feet in length—the Leviathan Class Battleships were
7,470 feet in length – 1.41 miles—almost six times longer.