McCollum - GIBRALTAR STARS (49 page)

“That’s what we would do. What about them?”

“Strange as their triped body structure seems to our eyes, I seem to remember that we had no problem understanding the way they think. They’re damned human in the way they hold onto a credit, I’ll tell you that.”

Lisa laughed. “I remember. All the while I was speaking with them, I thought they were going to demand we pay our garage fee from our last visit.”

“As of today, I think we are paid in full with some money on account.”

There was another long quiet period as they lay together. When finally Lisa spoke, her voice had a wistful quality that he’d learned to recognize. It was like the day they traveled to European H.Q. to receive their medals. She had moped all day and only told him what was bothering her after the ceremony.

“How long do you think this war will go on, Mark?” she finally asked.

“The rest of our lives,” he replied. “You’ve seen the maps. No matter how many stargates we cripple every year, it’ll never be enough. Why?”

“Oh, I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

Her hesitation told him that she hadn’t been
‘just’
thinking. She had been thinking long and deep and hard, possibly for several days. His ‘husband radar’ lit up as he waited for her to form the right words to broach a delicate subject with him. He made no attempt to force her. If he did that, she would retreat into silence and it could be days before he found out what was really on her mind.

When finally she spoke, her tone was wistful. “I was thinking that we should have a baby.”

Of all the things she could have said, that was the last he expected. Finally, choosing his words carefully, he made the most neutral response he could think of: “In the middle of a war?”

“Why not? Remember that party the night we relieved the rear guard at Brinks Base?”

“I remember.”

“They had children running everywhere. I held one of the babies the whole night. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so complete.”

“Are you suggesting we go back to Earth and leave the fight?”

“No, we can raise our son at Brinks. I’m sure the Admiral can find something for me to do while I’m pregnant, and afterward. You can watch our son grow whenever your ship is in orbit. Besides, you won’t always be a ship captain. When you make admiral, we can settle down and raise a family. A little girl would be nice, too, don’t you think?”

 “I don’t like the idea of my children growing up under threat of space attack.”

“If the Broa come looking for us, they’ll be as safe at Brinks as on Earth. Maybe safer.”

This time it was Mark’s turn to be introspective. He had to admit she had a point. So long as the Broa were masters of the galaxy, no man, woman, or child anywhere was safe. That had been true before the offensive, and doubly so now.

As Admiral Landon told the movers and shakers on Earth, it wasn’t possible for Earth to fight a million-star empire alone. They needed allies. Hopefully, they had picked up the first today with the Voldar’ik. Over the next few months,
Xavier
would visit twelve more star systems in search of other species newly freed from the Broa who might like to stay that way.

All across the Sovereignty, other contact ships were doing the same. It would take months or years for the seeds they were planting to germinate, and more time for them to grow to maturity. But grow they would. One of these years, the Broa would face a phalanx of their former slaves, all determined to keep their freedom. However, until the slaves were ready, humanity would have to fight the Broa alone.

The current war would not end neatly, or quickly. It would be more akin to the wars that brought down the Roman Empire than any of the four great conflicts of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

As wars went, this one would be relatively bloodless so long as humanity held the upper hand. There would be no massive destruction of entire worlds, or even many weapons aimed at anything but stargates. The lack of bloody-minded destructiveness was not altruism on humanity’s part. It was practical strategic thinking.

Since the stargates were the chains that stitched their enemy’s domain together, that was where all their attention must be focused. To do otherwise would divert resources. It would be worse than a crime, it would be a mistake!

Which brought up the quandary that Lisa’s sudden interest in babies posed. In an endless war, what was the proper limit for society’s demands on its warriors? Was there room alongside duty for some semblance of a normal life?

It was a quandary he wasn’t sure he could answer.

He leaned down and kissed his wife on the top of her head. As he did so, he inhaled a lungful of her body odor, a natural perfume that made him feel manly, protective, and tender, all at the same time.

“A baby is a big responsibility,” he said. “Do you think we’re mature enough to handle it?”

She lifted her head and planted a quick kiss on his lips. “No, I’m not sure. All I know is that I want one.”

“Then we’ll think about it.”

“Is that a ‘yes?’”

“It’s a ‘maybe.’”

She shifted her body to bring them into full frontal contact and kissed him again. This one wasn’t a “thank you, husband,” kiss. It was far more carnal. When she let him up for air, she whispered, “Close enough for government work… for now.”

The Captain and Chief Contact Officer of
T.S.N.S. Xavier del Bac
returned to their private concerns, confident that whatever the future held, it did not include humanity in chains. Not Broan chains or those of any alien power. For, as a famous statesman had once almost said:

God protects idiots, drunkards, little children, and
Homo sapiens Terra!

He always had, and He always would.

#

The End

Author’s Biography

Michael McCollum was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1946, and is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he majored in aerospace propulsion and minored in nuclear engineering. He is employed at Honeywell in Tempe, Arizona, where he is Chief Engineer in the valve product line. In his career, Mr. McCollum has worked on the precursor to the Space Shuttle Main Engine, a nuclear valve to replace the one that failed at Three Mile Island, several guided missiles, Space Station Freedom, and virtually every aircraft in production today. He was involved in an effort to create a joint venture company with a major Russian aerospace engine manufacturer and traveled extensively to Russia in the last decade.

In addition to his engineering, Mr. McCollum is a successful professional writer in the field of science fiction. He is the author of a dozen pieces of short fiction and has appeared in magazines such as Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Amazing, and Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. His novels (originally published by Ballantine-Del Rey) include
A Greater Infinity
, ,
Procyon’s Promise
,
Antares Dawn
,
Antares Passage
,
The Clouds of Saturn, and The Sails of Tau Ceti,
His novel,
Thunderstrike!
, was optioned by a Hollywood production company for a possible movie.
Several of these books have subsequently been translated into Japanese, German, Russian, and the Queen’s version of English.

Mr. McCollum is the proprietor of Sci Fi - Arizona, one of the first author-owned-and-operated virtual bookstores on the INTERNET, which first published
Gibraltar Earth
,
Gibraltar Sun,
and
Antares Victory
. He is currently working on the conclusion to the Gibraltar series,
Gibraltar Stars.
He also runs Third Millennium Publishing, an INTERNET site that provides web and publishing services to independent author/publishers.

Mr. McCollum is married to a lovely lady named Catherine, and has three children: Robert, Michael, and Elizabeth. Robert is a financial analyst for a computer company in Massachusetts. Michael is a computer technician, having completed a stint as a Military Police Specialist with the Arizona National Guard, which included a year in the lovely land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Elizabeth is married and living with her husband, Brock, a computer programmer, in Washington, D.C.

Sci Fi - Arizona

A Virtual Science Fiction Bookstore and Writer’s Workshop

Michael McCollum, Proprietor

WWW.SCIFI-AZ.COM

If you enjoy technologically sophisticated science fiction or have an interest in writing, you will probably find something to interest you at Sci Fi - Arizona. We have short stories and articles on writing– all for free! If you like what you find, we have full length, professionally written science fiction novels in both electronic form and as hard copy books, and at prices lower than you will find in your local bookstore.

Moreover, if you like space art, you can visit our Art Gallery, where we feature the works of Don Dixon, one of the best astronomical and science fiction artists at work today. Don is the Art Director of the Griffith Observatory. Pick up one or more of his spacescapes for computer wallpaper, or order a high quality print direct from the artist.

We have book length versions of both Writers’ Workshop series, “The Art of Writing, Volumes I and II” and “The Art of Science Fiction, Volumes I and II” in both electronic and hard copy formats.

So if you are looking for a fondly remembered novel, or facing six hours strapped into an airplane seat with nothing to read, check out our offerings. We think you will like what you find.

NOVELS

1. Life Probe -
US
$5.00

The Makers searched for the secret to faster-than-light travel for 100,000 years. Their chosen instruments were the Life Probes, which they launched in every direction to seek out advanced civilizations among the stars. One such machine searching for intelligent life encounters 21st century Earth. It isn’t sure that it has found any...

2. Procyon’s Promise -
US
$5.00

Three hundred years after humanity made its deal with the Life Probe to search out the secret of faster-than-light travel, the descendants of the original expedition return to Earth in a starship. They find a world that has forgotten the ancient contract. No matter. The colonists have overcome far greater obstacles in their single-minded drive to redeem a promise made before any of them were born...

3. Antares Dawn - US$5.00

When the super giant star Antares exploded in 2512, the human colony on Alta found their pathway to the stars gone, isolating them from the rest of human space for more than a century. Then one day, a powerful warship materialized in the system without warning. Alarmed by the sudden appearance of such a behemoth, the commanders of the Altan Space Navy dispatched one of their most powerful ships to investigate. What ASNS Discovery finds when they finally catch the intruder is a battered hulk manned by a dead crew.

That is disturbing news for the Altans. For the dead battleship could easily have defeated the whole of the Altan navy. If it could find Alta, then so could whomever it was that beat it. Something must be done…

4. Antares Passage - US$5.00

After more than a century of isolation, the paths between stars are again open and the people of Alta in contact with their sister colony on Sandar. The opening of the foldlines has not been the unmixed blessing the Altans had supposed, however.

For the reestablishment of interstellar travel has brought with it news of the Ryall, an alien race whose goal is the extermination of humanity. If they are to avoid defeat at the hands of the aliens, Alta must seek out the military might of Earth. However, to reach Earth requires them to dive into the heart of a supernova.

5. Antares Victory – First Time in Print – US$7.00

After a century of warfare, humanity finally discovered the Achilles heel of the Ryall, their xenophobic reptilian foe. Spica – Alpha Virginis – is the key star system in enemy space. It is the hub through which all Ryall starships must pass, and if humanity can only capture and hold it, they will strangle the Ryall war machine and end their threat to humankind forever.

It all seemed so simple in the computer simulations: Advance by stealth, attack without warning, strike swiftly with overwhelming power. Unfortunately, conquering the Ryall proves the easy part. With the key to victory in hand, Richard and Bethany Drake discover that they must also conquer human nature if they are to bring down the alien foe …