Battle for Earth
Page 23
The Nemesis ships engaged thrusters to augment their limited DEW laser system rotational axis. That was a slow process. The elongated ship design made it difficult to overcome inertia. Tactical evasion was out of the question. Optical scopes captured images of bright pulses as the bug ships attacked.
Enemy railgun fire opened volatile fuel stores. Sparks and plasma ignited the fuel. There were four bright flashes as Two, Three, Seven and Nine exploded. The fuel burned quickly and then it was dark; no oxygen left to fuel the flames. The audio and video feeds died. It took a few minutes to regain LCS comms.
* Nemesis Lead, 01:30:02: “Control, this is One, they were moving fast. Evasive. We had no luck. Four ships lost on that pass. Took some hits here.
* Control, 01:30:22: “Affirmative Lead. They’re using Earth to brake. You’ve got time to set up. We’ll take some shots at them as they pass.”
* Nemesis Lead, 01:30:35: “Copy Control. Nemesis group, pivoting for-”
Nemesis Lead unexpectedly went silent. The ship had taken damage. A hull breach was temporarily repaired by a skin plate. As life support was restored and atmospheric pressure increased the breach plate was not sufficient to the task. The hull gave way in catastrophic failure.
The other ships engaged battle thrusters to pivot 180 degrees in order to bring their main weapons to bear in the new direction from which the enemy ships would return. That would take a while. Inertia.
The video displays darkened throughout the EDF War Room. When they came back up a moment later, Control had virtual images displayed showing each Nemesis ship position in blue. But comms were down again, the comsat tasked to communicate through SOHO destroyed by one of the bug ships.
The bug ships were shown in red. They had been decelerating and were arcing around Earth; using the planet’s gravity well to help them turn and slow for another pass. A projected course for the ships was shown in dashed lines.
As the ships rounded Earth, the EDF launched dozens of hypervelocity missiles equipped with powerful nuclear warheads. The missiles were summarily destroyed by enemy DEW and rail fire.
One missile managed to cruise in relatively close to an enemy ship. The ground crew detonated the warhead remotely just as a laser pulsed to intercept. The resulting shockwave rocked the enemy ship.
During the distraction, BugEye left Earth orbit on a full acceleration run to the Moon.
Nemesis Eight had taken lead of the Nemesis group. Normal comms and scanning were working again, pushed out through a repositioned communications satellite. The Nemesis ships had moved outside the interference corridor.
* Control, 01:50:01: “Nemesis Eight, Control. Comms should be up. Do you read?”
* Nemesis Eight, Lead, 01:50:15: “That’s a good copy Control. Comms and fire control systems are back online. We have linked fire control for a concentrated burst. One bug ship is moving off and will not engage. Hold. They’re firing. We will-”
The attacking bug ship slowly and methodically targeted the remaining Nemesis ships. The captain of Nemesis Eight reacted quickly, turning the key, and punching the emergency release button. That caused the missile bay door to fly open as the hypes were released to the void. It also created a spin along the ship’s vertical axis. He hoped the spin would distribute the energy of the bug laser cannon over a large enough cross section to prevent a breach. He had no other tricks. A large section of the internal bulkhead of Nemesis Eight began to glow, the metal skin bubbled. We are like a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Viz is fighting back tears. “They never had a chance. The bug ship opened fire on Nemesis so fast. Their weapons are so powerful. Grandad, what can we do?”
Mr. T shook his head. “I don’t know Dear-heart. I just don’t know.”
* Control, 01:52:30: “Admiral Tracy, we have a green indicator on an EVA suit, sir. We think it must be Kowalski from Nemesis Three, sir. We’ve been running a complete vector data analysis. There is telemetry data suggesting Kowalski may have been at the outer hatch and was shielded from the worst of the exchange. The opposite side of Three suffered a massive hull breach, but there was only a minor explosion. We have some optics too, sir. You should have that at your station, now.”
* Admiral Tracy: “Someone survived that? Options, Control?”
* Control, 01:53:59: “We do have the bug rescue ship primed. I’m afraid it would simply be destroyed by the enemy sir.”
Roll had taken Mr. T by the arm and was having an intense conversation.
Roll was gesturing with his hand. “They’re not going to authorize use of a bug ship for one person. I can port out and get Kowalski. I just need some spatial reference information, some way to get close enough to see him, or get a reading from his suit transponder. A space suit would be nice.”
Mr. T held his hands up as if to say settle down. “It’s too dangerous. The area is a debris field. Too many energetic projectiles.”
Roll closed his eyes. “I can see it. I can see the track taken by Nemesis 12. Where they were between the Earth and Moon when they were hit. Rock! Rock, are you able to access the images of the attack frame by frame? Can you give me a feel for the direction Kowalski was thrown by the explosion? They were talking about vector data analysis. Mr. T, please get the general. I need that suit. Or I’ll just port out there without one and stumble around until I find him. Or die trying.”
Mr. T clenched his fists. “Oh, for the love of.... Fine. Don’t do anything rash. I’ll be right back.”
Mr. T hurried out of the room to track down the general. He was gone for approximately 5 minutes. In the meantime, Rock and Roll found they could work with the terminal feed and access the data.
Roll kept nodding his head. “Yes. Yes, I am sure I can do this. I can feel where it happened. I really can. It will be hot, right Rock? Direct sunlight. 250 degrees or so. Can you do the math from the data? We need a Kowalski trajectory, blast wave velocity, distance traveled per second.”
Rock mumbled. “Yeah, it’s hot out there. All kinds of hot. Chunks of metal punching right through you hot. You’re an idiot if you go wandering around ... in that. Still, this is some amazing telemetry.
Roll smiled. “The Universe will protect me.”
Rock took a long look at him, shook his head a little, then turned back to the panel. “I can develop a rough vector ... and yeah, the speed will be constant. The trajectory isn’t straight line because of the forward momentum of the ship when it was hit. I can factor that in and give you a plot of distance per second too. Just a sec. You’ll want to jot down the time stamp of the explosion for reference.”
Mr. T came back with the general. The general knew where the suits they had used on the Mars mission were being stored. He gave Roll the address and the storage room number. Roll mapped the address. Rock sent the data he had worked up to Roll’s device.
The general handed Roll a scanner gadget. He said it would help Roll pinpoint the transponder in Kowalski’s suit. Roll nodded, looked us all in the eye, nodded again, and ducked out to the rest room for some porting privacy.
It would be a mess out there. There would be a lot of hot debris moving very fast. It would be a teleportation nightmare. Mr. T had collapsed into a chair. After a couple seconds he smashed his fist into the armrest shattering it into 100 pieces. He jumped up and headed out after Roll. If he didn’t stop this, he was sure he would never see Roll again. But Roll was already gone.
Para’s phone rang about 25 minutes later. It was Roll. Para started crying. Roll was at Shockwave Headquarters, in the lounge area with Kowalski. Both of them were fine, though Kowalski would need some medical attention. Roll had already used the first aid kit to do some damage control.
The rescue required six separate ports in all. Roll could “see” the original path of Nemesis in his minds-eye.
&
nbsp; He ported to a spot along that path he was sure would be safely outside the expanding debris field. He tried to imagine the course that Rock had developed from the available data. Time, speed, distance. Rock had factored in the original rate of speed for Nemesis. No sign of Kowalski.
He looked at the data again, decided on a probable course, and ported. A piece of debris pinged off of his helmet leaving a deep gouge. No alarms chirped. Well, no alarms other than the repeating message: Warning, level 3 puncture, right leg section 2, oxygen at 50%. That was annoying. The suit must have snagged on a rock when the team was stunned and being dragged by the bugs on Mars.
Roll ported again. He hoped he was now in line with the trajectory taken by Kowalski. He pulled out the scanner. Nothing.
He ported again along that imaginary vector line but closer to the site of the attack. Something grazed his shoulder. An alarm sounded. The suit was venting air.
Suit satchel, duct tape, that should hold. There was nothing showing up on the scanner. Wait. One o’clock high. A faint ping.
Roll ported. There! A strobing light.
Roll ported to Kowalski. He couldn’t see Kowalski’s face through the solar shielding. It was exceedingly bright in the direct sunlight. He thought Kowalski would be surprised. But he didn’t seem surprised at all.
“Here I thought angels wouldn’t need space suits. But there you are, looking all NASA.”
“Yup, here I am. I’m no angel though. Ready to go home?”
“Sure am. I’ve been praying a while for you to come along.”
“I was in the neighborhood. Glad I could stop by. Hold on. You’re going to enjoy the ride. Just saying.” END TIMELINE DROP. +
***
A DARKSIDE CHAT
September 15 th 09:00 hours. Shockwave headquarters. Main conference room. Information and planning meeting. Topic: Darkside, enemy base, the Moon. Mr. T was in the office early having a one-on-one meeting with the general. I know they were discussing the failed blockade attack. And BugEye. His office was soundproofed, but the window wasn’t opaque. Their expressions were worth the proverbial 1,000 words as I walked by on my way to the main conference room.
There will be more battles to come. And not only with the bugs and the Empire. A battle is already brewing in the large conference room. The mood is tense. Our meetings of late often involve agencies other than Shockwave. It’s good we have a very large conference room. Here come the general and Mr. T. They are working the room, talking with individuals. Next will come the customary 2 minutes of introductions, then the actual meeting.
Here we sit, the youth of Shockwave, with all these important government officials and top military brass. Here we sit in our ... uniforms. Ms. Findley helped with the design and wanted us to look ... tough. Tough, but stylish. And Mr. T had found time, somehow, to get a group of tech guys to work on our uniforms. They’re not at all like regular ACUs (Army Combat Uniforms). I’ll quickly describe my garb as the introductions move along. That should help to keep me awake. Sorry if it does the opposite to you. The others wear something similar, gender appropriate.
We have fitted armor, a carbon nanotube weaving. Stronger than Kevlar. This stuff is able to stop and displace the energy of a high caliber rifle round at least as well as heavy ceramic plating. But it’s not heavy or bulky.
Underneath the armor I’m wearing a full body-sock with leggings that also boast a nanotube weaving which can withstand a good deal of punishment. The sock has the thin but effective ShockCounter padding for knees and elbows. The entire sock is equipped with nano-generators that produce enough power to handle the interwoven heating and cooling system. There’s usually enough spare power to help with the scanner pack resting at the small of my back.
As a fine fashion compliment there is the RealCamo tunic, worn as the outer garb, incorporating, of course, nanotube technology. The tunic can color-adjust to the surrounding environment, providing excellent camouflage. It is wired for multiple gadgets including a throat-mike which can be used for voice masking and amplification.
We have nice military grade earbuds for comms, with sound dampening and auditory enhancement features, small but powerful. Then there are the ballistic helmets. They’re less fun to wear. Those are for field work.
We do try to keep our identities hidden. To that end, and for obvious tactical reasons, we wear our IVs. The IVAS, generally called an IV (Ivee) by soldiers, is the Integrated Visual Augmentation System. Those are AR
No doubt most in the room know exactly who we are. It wouldn’t be that hard to figure out.
Still going on with the introductions. Soft music in the background. Oh, thanks Grandad! He included this song just for Para and me. Awe. Oceans. Yeah, with all that’s been going on I need every bit of faith-building I can get. Looks like we’re finally going to start.
***
+ BEGIN TIMELINE DROP. This is a Trollkin AI drop.
Source: A Trollkin Enterprises AI suggestion drop, from a note left on the suggestion box pad used by one of the Trollkin Enterprises administrative staffers.
The time leading up to a mission was always stressful. It was during such times we would often hear Para and Viz singing a song called Oceans as they strolled through the grounds of the Shockwave compound on one errand or another. They said the song shored up their courage, and their faith. Their signing was beautiful; an encouragement to us all. END TIMELINE DROP. +
***
Hold on. This is quite a change from the last song. Is that Pink Floyd? I think it is. Quite a mix of music going on here Grandad. Mr. T likes music from the 70s. After hanging around Mr. T for all these years, we all do. Let’s ask the AI about the music. It’s from Pink Floyd’s album titled: Dark Side of the Moon.
That is just too cool. We’re listening to a Darkside album for Darkside planning. I bet no one else even noticed, other than Shockwave. These government guys are so ... stiff. See there, Para has nodded her head toward the speaker and is smiling. And Grandad just gave us a wink.
There is an official-looking secretary from one government office or another to keep the minutes of the meeting. She pulled paper from a folder marked Top Secret. The secretary is going to take shorthand, I guess. Real pen and paper. When the red light comes on, we must turn off all electronic devices. 30-second countdown. We were warned that any electronics would be disabled at that time, a hard-shock shutdown. Not good.
For the Journal, I’ll have to rely on meeting minutes. Or with any luck the Shockwave AI will be recording. Our notes have some details about the Moon base and some information about the Empire. It’s the Empire that is actually behind the attack on Earth. Mr. T has started the meeting with uncharacteristic formality. There’s the red light. Time to sign off. Wouldn’t want the FBI or CIA or someone putting the grab on me.
The introductions have been made. And Mr. T is beginning his dissertation. I knew it was going to be a long one.
“As you know, the Moon is tidal-locked to Earth, with one side always facing away. There has been a modicum of exploration relative to that side. It was the old Soviet Union that first sent a ship to photograph the far side. That was way back in 1959.
“There have been plenty of exploratory ships. Starting around ten years ago the Chinese took a keen interest in the far side. Several nations were developing plans to set up permanent bases on the Moon. There would be mining operations. The Moon would become a platform for deeper runs, to Mars and beyond.
“Even private companies were building ships and planning missions. But exploration of the Moon and Mars has mainly been left to robotic craft. Processor advances allowed it. Unmanned craft would also help to control the narrative upon discovery of anything unusual.”
An interruption broke out from a high ranking military sort. “I know o
f manned flights to Mars. Are you saying those never happened?”
Mr. T had a schedule to keep. “Go ahead and read the reports in your packet. How about we get through this, and then we can go over questions and comments.”
Mr. T continued. “The economic and political challenges that were already brewing impacted the efforts. There were launch failures and odd equipment malfunctions. Some of that was never disclosed publicly. There were also certain ... clandestine ... trips that were not publicly announced. Attempts were made to hush up any private reporting related to those secret trips. As for manned trips and more details, like I said, see the reports in your packets.
“Mars exploration has been a challenge. The Moon hasn’t been a cake-walk either.
“For that, pay special attention to the briefing report titled: Preparing for War, The Mars Missions. The report was produced more than 5 years ago.
“The governments of the world, many of them, have known of extraterrestrial visitors for quite some time. They also knew there had been direct interference, attempts to dissuade us from space exploration.
“I am not able to tell you if our government knew a full-scale invasion of Earth was in the works. The Nemesis Project points to at least some level of concern. A fortune was spent on those 12 ships.
“The Empire, through their bug surrogates, started work on a Moon base at least five years ago. Probably earlier than that. They likely built Mars base first. I’ll elaborate on what I mean by ‘the Empire’ in a minute. The enemy has been watching us.
“The far side of the Moon is a good location for a base. Our enemy is highly advanced technologically. It would be relatively simple to mask base electromagnetic anomalies. We wouldn’t likely pick up any of their communications or notice their activities in the absence of a direct fly-over. We have had a hard enough time trying to listen in to their conversations right here on Earth.
“Most of their base is underground. In space, away from Earth, their actual construction activities would have been somewhat more difficult to hide. And Earthlings have sent out a considerable number of exploration ships all around the Solar System.