Galactic Alliance 3: Honor Thy Enemy (33 page)

The computer had one more job to perform while the jump drive completed charging. A small object detached itself from the side of the ship and maneuvered away. Once clear, it activated a bank of sensors and a telescope, all trained on Bantrich. Aboard the device was a small power source and a hytrans transceiver. Its purpose was to transmit the results of the weapon test back to the Alliance.

This first test of the Crossbow was too important not to document and that justified the expenditure of one of the rare hytrans devices. The module would self destruct upon receiving a signal from its counterpart back in Alliance space.

The computer waited until the jump drive had achieved full charge then rechecked its calculations. Satisfied that the numbers were good the cold logic of the computer triggered the command sequence and the ship jumped.

Unlike the Kauffman stardrive, the Falnath jump drive was capable of getting a ship much closer to a large gravitational disturbance such as a planet. In the blink of an eye a tunnel through transdimensional space transported the interceptor from a distance of 38 million kilometers to a point 321,153 kilometers from the planet.

The Chroniech tactical defense network detected the threat and attempted to target the ship. Traveling at a speed of 45,441 kilometers per second the interceptor was simply too fast for the giant energy cannons to track. Seven seconds after the jump, the interceptor crashed into the planet’s atmosphere.

The effect of a large object traveling at 15% light speed hitting the atmosphere of a sizable planet cannot be imagined and can barely be described. The energy released was phenomenal. Even if the ship had simply crashed into the planet, the impact would have blown a crater into the planet tens of kilometers wide and several deep. The fireball created by the ship’s passage would have superheated the air causing widespread destruction over hundreds of kilometers.

But the interceptor was not a simple kinetic energy weapon. It was armed with the most powerful warhead ever created. The catastrophic effect of the ship’s incredible speed, as unimaginable as it was, paled in comparison to the power of what lay within its weapons bay. One point five milliseconds before slamming into the ground the warhead detonated.

A very small, Alliance built, 15 kiloton fission bomb exploded setting off an unstoppable chain of events. The explosion drove a half meter diameter, two meter long rod of metallic hydrogen into the heart of the Kyrra warhead. The warhead itself was surrounded by a meter thick shell of armorplast – the same ultra-hard material used to make the hulls of warships.

A hole just large enough to accept the rod of metallic hydrogen had been left in the otherwise smooth warhead casing. The hole was oriented such that it pointed toward the bow of the ship. The warhead’s casing, combined with the orientation of the hole in that casing, created the effect of a shaped charge directing a jet of plasma in the direction of the ship's forward motion.

Inside this incredibly hard shell of material existed something only the Kyrra could build. Suspended in the center of the warhead casing, held there by the powerful magnetic fields that it was generating because of the large circulating current that had been established within it, was a 35,000 kilogram sphere of pure metallic anti-hydrogen. The detonation of the 15 kiloton warhead initiated a complex combination of thermonuclear and matter/antimatter explosions.

Both the hydrogen and the anti-hydrogen atoms underwent thermonuclear fusion. The armorplast acted like a thermonuclear amplifier containing the expanding reaction for a few nanoseconds and allowing it to build in power. At the same time the matter and antimatter were mutually annihilating each other releasing even more energy.

The thermonuclear reactions vaporized and dispersed the surrounding material. This allowed the antimatter to react far quicker than if it had simply been put into contact with matter. The two reactions fed on each other creating an unbelievable release of energy.

Such an explosion had never before been created by any sentient race. For a brief moment, a runaway chain reaction rivaling the power output of a star existed a scant 100 kilometers above the surface of Bantrich. A gargantuan fireball over 450 kilometers in diameter vaporized everything in its path.

The momentum of the fireball, combined with the initial jet of plasma, created what could only be described as an inverted mushroom cloud. This caused the fireball to literally splash into the planet’s surface creating a crater 730 kilometers wide and eight kilometers deep. It was as if a giant blowtorch had been turned against the planet by some malicious cosmic being.

A wave of destruction traveled across the surface of the planet in an expanding ring of slowly cooling, hypersonic plasma, obliterating everything in its path. From the edge of the newly formed crater out to a distance of four thousand kilometers nothing was left standing. All life caught in the open up to a distance of 8,000 kilometers from ground zero was instantly killed.

A seismic shock wave rolled through the planet’s outer crust forming a traveling ring of devastation that could be seen from space. The planet literally rang with the power of the explosion. The ring of destruction continued all the way around the planet until it encountered itself on the other side. The energy contained in the ground movement compressed the crust on the opposite side of ground zero shattering it and thrusting it up into the sky.

The intense radiation pulse changed the chemistry of the atmosphere causing it to turn a deathly brown. Material blown from the surface of the planet into space would, over the next few months, slowly form a faint ring around the doomed world; a reminder for years to come of what had happened here.

The target, a very large military base had been located 15 kilometers from ground zero. It, along with the tens of thousands of Chroniech that worked and lived in the nearby area were now wisps of particulate matter blowing through the contaminated atmosphere. Every city and town on the planet was either destroyed outright or had been so badly damaged by the weapon that few survived.

What little life remained would soon be extinguished as the planet fell into a darkness that would last for many months. The atmosphere, chemically altered by the tremendous burst of gamma radiation and contaminated by the vaporized and burnt material that had been blasted into it, became unable to sustain life.

The orbital installations, of course, had not been touched. The crews watched in stunned horror as the planet below them died. Most had had families and friends living on the surface. The once beautiful world now had an ugly brownish atmosphere with nothing left alive anywhere on it. The devastation caused by the Crossbow was sadly reported to the Chroniech home planet.

* * * * *

On distant Havatanu, Jim Cross, along with the entire team of scientists who had developed the Crossbow, watched their screens in eager anticipation. The probe the interceptor left behind had trained a powerful telescope on the planet. It appeared on the screen as a small bluish orb about the size of a baseball held at arms length.

A pinprick of brilliant light suddenly appeared on one side of the planet. The light quickly grew in brightness until it blotted out everything in the telescope’s field of view. The scope’s electronics quickly compensated allowing the stunned scientists to witness the fireball in all its glory. It slowly faded over the course of nearly ten minutes as the expanding ring of fire seemed to eat away at the planet. When it had finally dissipated, the telescope revealed a glowing orange spot on the planet’s surface. This quickly disappeared as the atmosphere became nearly opaque.

“Good God,” was all Jim could say.

Falnath bowed her head, slowly turned around, and walked out of the room. Others soon followed. Instead of a room full of cheering scientists there was a silent exodus. The ability to wipe out practically all life on an entire planet with a single weapon was something that should not be cheered but contemplated. Everyone involved in the weapon's development realized they had created a device that no race should every possess.

* * * * *

The Chroniech reaction was similar but their response was far from predictable. The Alliance and the Kyrra had both hoped that a demonstration of the weapon’s destructive abilities would convince the Chroniech to cease all hostilities and to open negotiations with the Alliance. Those Humans who were versed in their own history would have recalled that this was exactly how world war two on Earth had been terminated.

The Chroniech were furious with rage and revenge. The military quickly ordered all available ships to immediately head into Alliance space and to attack and destroy every Alliance ship and planet they encountered.

Aboard his ship, Captain Zatch heard of the disaster and felt his blood burn with the desire to kill. He nearly abandoned his quest but for reasons he could not comprehend decided to go ahead with his previous plans. As he reached this decision the sensors he had placed near the transmitter detected the approach of the
Komodo Dragon
.

Honor Fulfilled

“The Chroniech attack force has been detected by our long-range sensors,” the Almaranus Base Commander reported to Fleet Admiral Gortanith Brin. “I guess they were unimpressed with the Crossbow.”

“Very well,” the Fleet Admiral replied. “Ensure the fleet is arranged as previously discussed and inform the planetary governor.”

After the connection had closed, the Admiral leaned back in his chair and carefully considered the morality of his next order. The Chroniech fleet would not be within weapons range for several hours. And he had no desire to issue an order which could not be revoked.

The Almaranus defense forces had been arranged to defend the planet in conjunction with the defense stations, which had all been moved to a position farther from the planet. This would allow them to concentrate a lot of firepower against the enemy fleet. Thirty-one jump drive defense stations were standing by to add their own firepower.

Anticipating the Chroniech’s refusal to accept an end to the war, the Alliance had convinced the Kyrra to provide them with a second warhead. The interceptor carrying that warhead had already accelerated to the desired attack speed and was patiently awaiting the order to proceed to its designated target. This target had been identified by the Kyrra as a major production center of Chroniech weaponry. It had a population of 3.8 billion.

The Fleet Admiral closed his eyes and tried to justify the annihilation of the entire population of a heavily populated world. The Chroniech had already killed more than that number of Alliance citizens. Unless they were stopped, they would kill more. And, according to everything they knew of the Chroniech, they would continue killing until every last non-Chroniech person was dead.

But Admiral Brin was not Chroniech and ordering the death of billions of lives was not something he wanted to do. Glancing up at the small tactical display in his office he noted the time remaining before the Chroniech were within weapons range. He leaned forward and spoke a command to his computer. A moment later the computer indicated that it was ready.

“Attention Chroniech fleet. You have witnessed the destruction of the world you called Bantrich. If you do not withdraw your forces from Alliance space we shall destroy one of your heavily populated worlds. We do not wish to see billions of lives lost. Withdraw from our space and the lives of billions of Chroniech will be spared.”

The Admiral watched the approaching fleet with hope in his heart. He did not want to go down in history as the person who gave the order to kill several billion people – no matter who they were.

* * * * *

“Dropping to normal space,” the Helm announced.

“Anything on the sensors?” Stricklen asked.

Lieutenant Commander Wittie scanned his console for a few moments then replied, “Nothing on any of the sensors sir other than the small metallic object that has been identified as the source of the transmissions.”

“It’s obviously a relay station of some sort,” Commander Tobunga mentioned.

“And a sensor platform,” Wittie said. “The general broadcast has ended and we are being scanned.”

“I want him to make the next move,” Stricklen said leaning forward in his chair. “He’s the one that… ”

“Picking up a short-range transmission carrier,” Wilks announced. “Audio only. I’ve opened it up on com channel one.”

Stricklen punched the appropriate button on his console and said, “This is Captain Stricklen of the Alliance heavy cruiser
Komodo Dragon
. You have scanned us and I am assuming you have scanned the surrounding area. As you can see, there are no other Alliance ships in the area per your request.”

After a brief delay a voice replied, “Do I have your guarantee of my safety if I approach?”

“I pledge by the blood of my family and on my word of honor as an Alliance officer that neither you nor your ship shall be harmed. We will await your arrival.”

On his own ship, Captain Zatch broke the communications link, powered up his systems and prepared to drop his cloak. While he worked, he thought about the response he had heard from the Alliance Captain. It was probably a coincidence that he had replied as he did. Most likely his reference to the blood of his own family was simply an echo of how he had phrased his own statement.

What he found even more interesting was the name that had been given. According to the historical records the name of the Captain of the
Komodo Dragon
when it had first crossed their space 15 years ago was Ken Stricklen. The person who had replied to his hail claimed to be the same person. It did not seem likely that the Alliance would allow anyone to remain in command of the same ship for such a long time.

Shrugging off the problem for now, Zatch completed the command sequence and a moment later his ship engaged its stardrive and he sped toward the Alliance ship.

Aboard the
Dragon,
Shawn announced, “Drive wake detected! Distance 0.26 light years. He must have either been cloaked or drifting with most of his systems powered down.”