Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance (26 page)

AlbuTang had worked directly with the Egyptians in advancing their civilization for several centuries. Now, branching out to other civilizations was necessary to speed up the process.

Across the sea from Egypt was the land of what would become known as Greece, and the governor decided the people of this region were particularly suited to conquest of the various groups developing slowly in and around the Mediterranean.

Once again, AlbuTang appeared before a new people, this time in the form that would become known throughout the region as Athena, the goddess of knowledge, the goddess of war, the teacher of shipbuilding, the patroness of true civilization. The building of the legends became much easier with the refining of writing that Athena brought to the Greeks, and Hellenistic society spread quickly throughout the region.

Then, with the assistance of the Nu, Alexander the Great was able to consolidate many civilizations in just a few short years. As far as AlbuTang was concerned, this new species was developing the skills and mindset that would be necessary to tackle the Esss.

Also, with the establishment of the great library in the new Egyptian city of Alexandria, progress was being made in recording what needed to be passed down to future generations to continue this rapid rise.

The master chronicler had finished recording all necessary information for the report, and now it was time to dispatch the courier ship back to the forward operating base. The inclusion of the local communication device and portions of the samples would be more than enough for the other masters to make the decision to move the forward operating base to this new planet.

Based upon the experiences gained in leading the scouting mission to the planet, the master chronicler picked the scout leader to command the courier mission. It would be immersed in the sacred waters with the other masters to draw out every bit of information about this new world. That, along with the samples being returned, would ensure the proper decision.

The courier ship was six times the size of the in-system scout ships. The controls were almost identical in the two types of ships, but the amount of fuel necessary to span the interstellar distances meant that the courier was used mostly for fuel storage. The ship would be accelerating constantly at the engine’s most fuel-efficient setting for half of the trip back. It would decelerate during the second half.

The calculations made by the master chronicler and included in the courier information packet showed that by the time the courier retuned to the forward operating base and the Esss organized and executed the nursery mission, the third planet would be ready for colonization.

With the separation of the courier, the master chronicler ordered the main ship to break orbit from around the gas giant and establish an orbit around the third planet. By the time the ship was in orbit, the planetary re-engineering modules would be programmed and stocked with the necessary materials to begin the process of transforming the world.

“Everyone, please, let’s have some order!” President Travers said. “That’s better. I know you have probably all heard rumors about what’s happening out near Jupiter. Rumors, however, must be replaced by facts. That’s why I asked Secretary Miller and Fleet Admiral Brooks to this emergency meeting to give us all the unadulterated facts about what we actually know, since the admiral has the dispatch from the shuttle
Discovery
. Admiral, you have the floor so you may start your presentation.”

Brooks nodded in response. “Thank you, Sir William. If everyone will look at their personal consoles on the council table, I will start the recording received by the Admiralty just forty-five minutes ago from Captain Essex aboard the
Nathan Hale,
as routed through
Discovery
. Please note that the magnified images were taken from five thousand kilometers away with the best telescope available, so details may be lacking.”

Brooks glanced at his watch before he continued. “Three hours and seventeen minutes ago, the alien ship disgorged a second smaller ship that began accelerating out of system in the general direction from which the aliens arrived. Based upon preliminary analysis, the size of this new ship is just short of one kilometer in length, or six times the size of the three ships that visited Earth, so calling it a ‘smaller’ ship is not quite accurate.

“Twenty minutes after receiving the dispatch about the smaller alien ship leaving the system, we received a second dispatch that is even more alarming. The main alien ship is now leaving Jupiter orbit and is headed toward Earth. We have sent orders to both
Discovery
and
Nathan Hale
to break orbit around Jupiter and follow the two ships back to Earth. The operative word in that last sentence is ‘follow’, because that’s all they can do. The best time the
Discovery
can make back to Earth is approximately six months.

“Based upon their last trip in-system, we estimate the main ship will make Earth orbit in just under three months. This figure could very well change over the next several days as we gather more data from their acceleration away from Jupiter. Does anyone on the council have any questions regarding what we actually know from observation?”

Once again, the noise of side conversations threatened to derail the meeting. President Travers gave the council members a couple of minutes to let the consequences of the news settle in before bringing the meeting back to order.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Fleet Admiral Brooks has asked if you have any questions about the facts just reported. Please indicate that you have a question by raising your hand. Ms. Schneider, you have the floor.”

“Admiral Brooks, would you please review with the council what you know about the ship that is headed our way? I think a refresher would help all of us come to grips with what we might be facing.”

Ms. Bette Schneider had been on the Council of Eight for fourteen years and was originally from Wiesbaden, Germany. Her Hessian heritage had served her well, as she was known for her coolness under pressure and her unshakeable dedication to the Council and the world it served. Although she was already in her mid-sixties, she did not look a day over fifty, which she attributed to her rigorous workouts and to time spent in the spas in her native city. When she asked a question, everyone on the council listened carefully, because she was known for getting to the heart of any situation with unfailing alacrity.

“Certainly, Ms. Schneider,” Brooks replied. He had no need to refer to his notes, because he had been working on little else for the last several months. “Here is what I know for sure. First of all, the aliens arrived on a single ship. This ship was detected decelerating toward our planetary system almost exactly nine months ago. Second, the ship inserted itself into orbit around Jupiter six-and-a-half months ago and then dispatched the three smaller ships, one of which caused all of the trouble over Lake Victoria that we discussed just three months past. Third, we knew little more about the main ship until the shuttle
Discovery
and the
Nathan Hale
arrived at Jupiter and inserted themselves into orbit five thousand kilometers behind the aliens. Fourth, with the return of the three ships back to Jupiter, we were able to estimate that the main ship is approximately seven-and-a-half kilometers long and one kilometer in diameter. We attempted to get more details about the main ship, but our cameras were only able to get as close as twelve hundred kilometers before the missile with the camera was destroyed by laser fire, so we are still lacking any detailed information about the ship. Finally, we have been unable to establish any communication with any of the alien ships so far. We cannot tell whether the aliens do not recognize our communication attempts or are just ignoring those attempts.

“As you can probably surmise from my summary, the aliens have been very successful at keeping us in the dark regarding their capabilities and their intentions. That is what has been giving us so many nightmares in the intelligence division, trying to work out all possible scenarios that we might have to deal with in the near future.”

“Thank you, Admiral Brooks,” Schneider said. “Let me state for the record that I, for one, am very concerned about our future based solely on the facts presented. I would ask the Council President to work directly with the Secretary of the Navy and with Fleet Admiral Brooks in preparing a concise report for the council that outlines the possible motives of the aliens and what we might expect when they arrive. I would also like the report to include what capabilities we have, and what capabilities we might be able to develop, to counter any threat to our existence. I see a clear and present danger to our existence, and I want to know what we intend to do about it.”

Everyone at the meeting sat in stunned silence for several seconds as the pondered her words.

“Thank you, Ms. Schneider,” President Travers said finally. “I will accept a motion to adjourn the meeting until the report you have requested can be prepared for the council. Secretary Miller, I would like to see you and Fleet Admiral Brooks in my office in fifteen minutes. Please bring whomever you think might be able to add meaningful context to the report. My intention is to have that report ready by 0900 tomorrow, even if we have to work throughout the night cycle to get it ready.”

Richard was the first to break the news about the alien mother ship breaking orbit and heading toward Earth. He knew this would be big, so he doubled his print run for the paper, but it was not enough. When the
Rag
hit the streets, it sold out within two hours.

Now he had the follow-up story about the release of some kind of ship going out of system back toward where the main ship had originated. This story might be even bigger than the last, because it speculated that the aliens were sending reports about Earth back to their point of origin and that more aliens would probably be dispatched to take over the planet. This seemed a bit farfetched, but so far “The Insider” had been 100 percent accurate on everything reported.

As Richard paced in front of the windows in the conference room, he could see the bevy of television news reporters camping outside his office. He could also see his assistant talking with several of those reporters. Then the group split up and his assistant headed back to the office with one of the reports.
“Very good,”
he thought. “
They have accepted my invitation to have one of the reporters interview me regarding my impeccably accurate sources.”

Richard sat down at the head of the conference table to await the arrival of the selected reporter.  Two minutes later, his assistant opened the door and ushered in a tall thin women dressed in gray slacks and a white blouse. As she came into the room, she strode forward with her hand out and said, “Thank you, Mr. Collins, for agreeing to meet with me.  My name is Linda Avery and I work for VidNews.”

Richard accepted the offered handshake and gestured to the chair to his left for her to have a seat.  “I’m glad that your group of reporters agreed to my terms of having one representative and no TV cameras for this interview.  I would rather keep my face off of the Vids right now.”

“Well, you didn’t leave us much choice, Mr. Collins,” said Linda.  “May I at least record our conversation so I don’t have to take notes?”

“You may record the conversation but I may ask you to turn off the recording if something particularly sensitive comes up,” replied Richard.

Linda pulled a recording device out of her purse and placed it on the conference table between the two of them. “Ok.  Let’s start with the most basic questions. Who is ‘The Insider’ and why did he or she choose the
New York Rag
to divulge all of this classified intelligence information.”

“I honestly don’t know who The Insider is.  I am sorry if that disappoints you, but it is the simple truth.  As to why our paper was chosen, I would speculate that my source knew that once a story was printed on paper and distributed, it could not easily be controlled by the corporate media giants, like VidNews.  Paper can be handed from person to person without having to rely on any electronic media. I think that is what has the NAU and all of the TV news stations going crazy.  You have all lost control of this highly critical story.”

“So how do you get your information from the source” asked Linda? “From what I have heard, the government has been monitoring every possible electronic feed that could be coming to your home and office and does not have a clue where this information is coming from.”

“You have asked the right question, Ms. Avery,” replied Richard. “Unfortunately, I’m not going to answer that question.  That would certainly compromise my source and I am not about to do that.”

What Richard would not divulge was that a laser communication system had arrived at his office in a non-descript package with instructions on how to install and camouflage the unit on the roof of his building. This implied that the source was both powerful and secretive. The chances of anyone tracing the communications back to “The Insider” were remote, because the flow of information could be cut off at any time.

Things were going to be very interesting in the next couple of months with the large alien ship heading in-system with unknown intentions. The crazies were going to be coming out of every dark corner on the planet with all kinds of wild speculation about the aliens and their intentions for humanity. Richard knew the
Rag
would have to remain the source of accurate information and reasoned speculation.

After a few more questions that Richard could not or would not answer, Ms. Avery was escorted out of the building and back to horde of reporters. She had gotten a little bit more out of Richard than the Feds because she asked politely and because what he told her was clearly labeled as speculation on his part.