Prelude to Extinction

by Andreas Karpf

  “Jack, is that ridge to the left the one Masako flagged for us?” Nadya asked.

  He scanned the landscape and saw a sheer wall rising from the ground. At some point in its distant past, the planetoid had undergone a cataclysmic collision. A large section of its surface had been cleaved and pushed upward, creating a cliff over a kilometer high.

  “I see it,” Jack answered. “Yes, that’s our target. The fracture runs deep.”

  “If we set the charges at its base, the fissure should transmit the shockwave to its core. It should shatter nicely.”

  “I agree.” Jack pointed with his right index finger to the base of the wall and said, “Proceed here.” The ship instantly adjusted its course. Instinctively he wanted to pilot the craft around a field of jagged ice towers looming in front of them, but its automated functions took care everything. All he could do was watch as they dropped to within a few meters of the surface and danced gracefully around the obstacles.

  The craft decelerated quickly, parking itself barely twenty meters from the cliff. “Deploy package here,” he said, pointing to a small hole at the wall’s base. Two silver spiders, identical to the ones that had rescued him, dropped into view. They carefully carried a suitcase-sized black box between them. Suspended magnetically within it was thirty kilograms of antimatter; liquid antihydrogen to be precise. It was easily enough to shatter the small planetoid. The creatures, or robots – he still wasn’t sure what to call them – bounded gingerly in the low gravity across the rough terrain. They carefully secured the box inside the crevice and darted back to the ship with remarkable speed.

  “Package three deployed,” Jack said. “Kurt, what’s your status?”

  “We’ve identified a good location on our third target and should be there in a minute. Janet’s taking us in now.”

  “Good. We’re proceeding to number four.”

  Jack took a moment to ponder the landscape. When the Magellan left Earth, there had only been two manned missions to the Kuiper belt. Here, he was visiting several in a single day. The scientist buried deep within him wanted to stay, but that was not an option.

  “Map,” he said softly.

  The icy landscape was replaced by a sea of blackness. Floating around him were countless small, mottled gray balls: the planetesimals populating this region of space. The nearest globe glowed red, indicating it was their current position.

  He admired the view for a moment and then said, “Show target number four.”

  A short distance to his left, a different small world turned blue. A thin green line indicating the planned course, connected the two objects.

  “Proceed to target.”

  Without a sound, or any sensation of motion, a bright green bead, indicating his ship, climbed along the thin green string, slowly working its way toward the blue target.

  “Estimated time of arrival?” He asked.

  A voice designed to sound identical to the IPV’s computer answered, “Five minutes, twelve seconds.”

  “External view.”

  The map disappeared and he was again floating in space. The icy world he just left was little more than a rapidly shrinking grey ball behind him. Their destination was still too far off to make out.

  Palmer’s voice broke the silence, “Captain?”

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “We’ve got a problem.”

  “Explain.”

  “Alpha reported detecting more enemy ships.”

  “That could be good. I was worried that they were holding part of the fleet back.”

  “No sir, it’s not good. There are two distinct formations in addition to the one we knew about. The problem is that they just started decelerating.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The group we knew about has been running their engines for over a day now and is still a couple of hours away. Like we calculated, they were going so fast they needed to use their engines that long to slow down enough to engage us. These new formations, however, are coming in much, much faster.”

  Jack turned to look behind him and spotted a small swarm of painfully bright lights. His gut told him it was bad before Palmer came back on the comm.

  “Captain, you need to get back here now! Kurt you too!”

  “What the hell’s going on?” Jack demanded. “We’ve got to finish.”

  “Alpha just finished analyzing the new formations. They’ll be on top of you in only a few minutes.”

  “Jack,” Kurt called. “Janet and I are already on the surface of target three. Let me just place the charge.”

  “Make if fast,” Jack answered. “Palmer, explain what’s going on.”

  This time Don’s voice came in over the comm. “Jack, you don’t understand. Alpha says those new ships have engines nearly a hundred times more powerful than the others. While we were watching the first group approach at a distance, these were still closing on us at nearly the speed of light. It means they’re already in this star system, and with engines that can decelerate at thousands of g’s, they’ll be able to engage you immediately. We just couldn’t see them until they turned their engines toward us.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you think’s possible, Jack. They’re going to intercept your position in maybe five minutes. You’ve got to get back now.”

  Jack didn’t answer. He still wanted to plant the last explosive package, but as he stared at the fleet, he knew it was a moot point.

  “Captain, do you copy?” Palmer added.

  “Understood,” he finally answered. “Prepare to detonate the other explosives when they get closer. Maybe we can still do some damage. We’ll just wait until the last second.”

  “Understood.”

  “Map!” Jack barked at his ship. His view jumped back to the surreal black sea with its array of floating planetoids. The green bead of his ship was nearly half way to target four. “Abort current course,” he said loudly. “Identify the IPV and sphere.”

  Two yellow circles appeared in the distance to his left. He reached out to the one labeled ‘IPV,’ and said, “Proceed at maximum speed.”

  Again, there was no sensation that anything had changed. A new thin line simply appeared, leading to the IPV. It traced out a serpentine route, avoiding a myriad of small icy bodies. The course only straightened out when it reached one of the large Kuiper belt voids they had identified earlier. Jack’s eye followed the planned course back and forth, but kept coming back to the void.

  “Computer, identify the antimatter bomb in void A.” A bright orange circle instantly appeared. Located near the void’s center, its explosion would destroy anything that entered or even came near the region.

  “Alpha,” he called out.

  “Yes captain?” the alien answered.

  “Is there any way to eject some of the antimatter in that explosive?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think we can set a trap. What’s the density of the interplanetary medium in the void?”

  “About a hundred grams per cubic kilometer.”

  “Ok, back to my first question: can we release in a controlled way about half of the antimatter in that bomb? Is there anything that could act like a valve?”

  “Yes, that could be done.”

  “If we spray that antimatter across this part of the void, it’ll immediately annihilate any particles present in the interplanetary medium.” Jack said. “Between that annihilation and the resulting shock wave, it should clear a small region of space of every bit of matter, correct?”

  “Yes,” Alpha replied. “But it won’t last very long. Between the local star’s solar wind and the thermal pressure of the surrounding gas and dust, it would only take a few minutes for it to fill back in with matter.”

  “Yes, but that would be long enough.”

  “Jack, what are you talking about?” Don interjected.

  “The way I see it, those ships are moving so fast, and are so maneuverable that I don�
�t think it would be possible to detonate the weapons and get them with the ensuing shockwave and shrapnel. I’m sure we’d get a few, but a large fraction, maybe even the majority would dodge the danger.”

  “Maybe,” Don said reluctantly.

  “If we clear this region and then release the rest of the antimatter into the resulting, completely empty void, they won’t be able to see it. There’d be nothing for it to interact with. It would be a completely undetectable cloud of antihydrogen. If we time it right, and use my ship as bait, I think I can get them to fly right into it. It’ll rip through them before they even have time to react. At very least, we’ll get a lot more of them this way.”

  “Captain, this is too risky. You should…” Palmer started but Jack cut him off. “I don’t see any other way.”

  The comm. unit stayed silent as Jack surveyed the map again; he was only three minutes from the void. “Alpha,” he called out.

  “Yes captain?”

  “I’m going to trace out a region near the explosive on my map. You’ll be able to see it right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ok, as soon as I define the area, spray half of the antimatter into that region. I figure it’ll take about a minute to expand completely clear the area.”

  “Yes, that sounds correct,” the alien responded.

  “Palmer, I want you to detonate one of the Kuiper belt objects I just mined, try KB24. Do it the instant Alpha releases the antimatter. We’ll need that explosion to mask the initial effects of the antimatter and its shockwave.”

  “Understood,” Palmer replied.

  “Good. At the speed we’re going, my ship should pass right through void as soon as the region’s been cleared. Once I’m half-way through, Alpha, release the rest of the antimatter.”

  “That will be risky. There may be some residue that could damage your ship.”

  “I know, but I need to draw them into it. Do it anyway.”

  Jack used his two index fingers to trace out an oblong region centered on the explosive. “Alpha, Now,” he said.

  Almost instantly, an expanding red haze appeared on the schematic. “External view,” Jack called out. A blinding white pinpoint, like an intense sun appeared and made him shield his eyes. An instant later there was a flash from behind him; he looked back to see a fireball envelope KB24. Reflex took over, and Jack buried his face in his arm to avoid the intense glare. Squinting, he lowered his arm slightly and looked forward again. The explosion evolved into an oblong orange cloud that was spreading toward him. Years of training told him to pull his ship back, but he resisted: he needed to maintain a direct course toward the cloud. The trap depended on making the enemy think there was no risk ahead. The glow dissipated quickly, and Jack called out, “Nadya, you OK?”

  “Yes, I’m fine back here. Let’s just hope this works.”

  “Computer,” Jack called, “how long until we pass the explosive?”

  “One minute,” was the emotionless response.

  “Alpha?”

  “Yes captain,”

  “How close is the fleet from...” Jack’s question was answered as his ship jumped sharply to the left. A bolt of enemy weapons fire narrowly missed them. He looked behind, but was thrown back into his unseen seat as the ship dodged several more incoming shots. Turning his head again, he spotted at least a dozen ships; their blinding engines still firing at what he guessed was full thrust.

  “Alpha, they’re still decelerating, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is there any way we can see the antimatter once we release it?”

  “Yes,” Alpha answered. “For all intents and purposes, the antihydrogen behaves exactly like normal hydrogen. I could have our ship fire its maneuvering engines in your direction. It’ll emit broad spectrum light. I can configure your pod to view the scene at the wavelength of a regular hydrogen transition. It’ll see the absorption and display the cloud perimeter from that.”

  “Excellent, release the antimatter now.”

  “But you’re not clear of the area.”

  “Just release it now. We should be able to dodge it. They key is, they won’t be able to see what we’re doing.”

  “Be careful captain, I’m starting the procedure now.”

  Jack ignored Alpha and instead said, “Computer, superimpose the map over the external view.”

  The artificial colors of the schematic overlaid his view of the stars. An expanding, computer-generated blue haze identified the new antimatter cloud. Jack pointed to an area barely a finger’s width away from the edge of the cloud and said, “Computer, continue evasive maneuvers, but take us here.”

  “The cloud will fill that region before we reach the specified location. The ship will not survive a transit through the cloud,” the machine replied.

  The ship lurched to the left again, as Jack said, “I know. We’ll adjust course in real-time as it expands. I just want to be as close as possible. More importantly, I want to be behind the cloud before they get here. That way they’ll fly right into it while trying to catch us.”

  Without warning, the ship dove down as two more shots flew by, missing by only meters. Faster than he could react, the ship inverted, rolled back over and returned to their original course. The cloud grew unevenly. That unevenness, however, presented them with an opportunity. He studied the undulating curves as if they were billows of harmless smoke, and gained a feel for its expansion. Near the left edge, the cloud bent sharply inward before expanding symmetrically near its underside, creating a small tunnel. Jack pointed to the gap and said, “Adjust course to here.”

  “Captain,” the automated voice protested, “that is a chaotic structure. It is uncertain that a clear path will remain before we reach it.”

  “Adjust course anyway,” he responded.

  “Adjustment made. We will reach the structure in twenty seconds.”

  Jack looked behind him, but the bright lights of the approaching ships were gone.

  Though he knew the answer, he asked, “Palmer, what’s going on? I don’t see them anymore.”

  “Alpha just alerted us too. They’ve matched your velocity and have turned to engage you full-force. I count six ships closing in on you at a distance of fifty-thousand kilometers. There’re another ten right behind them.”

  His ship’s sharp jump to the right followed by three enemy shots confirmed Palmer’s response.

  “Kurt!” Jack shouted, “are you out of there yet?”

  “Just about.”

  “Move it now, we’re taking on fire here. They’ll be on top of you any moment.”

  “Just another second,” Kurt answered. “OK, the package is in place.”

  “Good, get back to the IPV now,” Jack said. The ship swerved again as a barrage of missiles whipped past. Jack watched in horror though, as the new set of weapons suddenly turned sharply and came back at him. Responding faster than Jack could follow, his ship dove down at the last second to avoid a head-on impact. The alien weapons missed them by only a meter or two, then turned hard again to come in for another pass. “Warning,” the computerized voice announced, “we are within the boundaries of the antimatter cloud. There is no room to maneuver.

  As the missiles closed in, Jack called out, “Computer, release the explosive package for target number four, and detonate on my mark.”

  “Package released.”

  He watched the small box tumble in space as his ship accelerated away. It took barely a second for the missiles to catch up to it, at which point Jack said, “Detonate now!”

  The explosion was as blinding as it was short-lived. The initial glare faded into an expanding blue-white fireball that swallowed the alien weapons. Within seconds, they burst into a series of secondary explosions.

  Nadya shouted, “Yes!” from behind him, but he didn’t think it was time to celebrate. Instead, he called out, “Computer, how long until the enemy ships reach the antimatter?”

  The machine’s response was cut off by Kurt’s voice, “J
ack, we’re having problems here. We’re taking heavy fire. The ship’s dodged everything they’ve thrown at us, but...”

  Barely a moment of silenced passed before Nadya called out, “Kurt?”

  After another agonizingly long second, Kurt’s voice came through, “Shit, that was close. I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up.”

  “Use the explosive for your fourth target,” Jack said. “We bought ourselves a bit of time with ours.”

  “Can’t do that.”

  “What do you mean?” Nadya demanded.

  “We placed both packages on target three since we knew we weren’t going to get to number four. We thought we’d give it an extra kick.

  “Kurt...” Jack started, but was cut off as his ship swerved hard again.

  “Wait...wait,” Kurt shouted. “We can still use it. We’ll detonate all of them now.”

  “What do you mean? You’re too close,” Jack said.

  “Think of it Jack. We’re way more maneuverable than them. Janet said she’ll take us in close to KB53 and draw them in. Have Palmer detonate all of the mines just after we pass, the shrapnel should get a lot of them. Janet says she’s sure we’ll be able to dodge the debris. Just make sure he blows them no more than a few seconds after we pass or this won’t work. Then let’s just hope your trap gets the rest. I know that...” Kurt’s voice was cut off by a burst of static.