Prelude to Extinction

by Andreas Karpf

  Something caught his eye. Jack stared more deeply at the screen, trying suppress what he was sure was false hope. Despite the plume’s fading energy, enemy ships continued exploding. The wave of destruction continued outward faster than the fleet could react. His eyes drilled into the image until he finally saw the cause. A faint distortion in the background stars swept forward, like a ripple in a calm pond bending the image of the rocks below. It was the gravitational wave pulse Alpha had mentioned – visibly distorting the fabric of space-time before his eyes. There was no defense. It just tore through the enemy formation, shredding them as it flowed forward. His attention was drawn back to the missiles heading toward them. Jack knew the answer, but asked anyway, “Computer, can you increase thrust any further?”

  “Engines are at maximum,” was the answer.

  It was like watching a chase in slow motion. The weapons inched toward them, trying to catch the IPV with its alien engines; the advancing distortion wave, crept towards the missiles. Slowly, but surely gaining ground. In the back of his mind he knew that even if they survived the missiles, they still had to outrun the distortion wave. However, he sat there, hoping the wave would somehow move faster, and eliminate the inbound weapons. He knew he was just a spectator; but kept his focus fully on the screen anyway, as if it might give him a hint of something he could do. The seconds passed intolerably slowly, as if they were hours. Still no one spoke a word.

  A bright orange flash caught his eye: the wave had caught the first of the missiles. It took only another few seconds before the rest were dispatched in a silent display of orange and red fireworks. The bridge remained still as they watched the progression of the gravitational disturbance. It was weakening; but he couldn’t tell if it was fast enough. Soon it was little more than a barely perceptible arc that made the stars twinkle. However, it was nearly on top of them.

  “Brace for impact,” Jack called into the intercom, though he had no idea of what to expect. The ship lurched sharply forward throwing him against the back of his seat, then backward nearly knocking him to the floor. Pressure alarms, sounded throughout the ship.

  “Warning, hull breaches detected,” an automated alarm announced.

  Jack lunged toward an emergency sealant kit, when the voice announced, “Auto-sealants deployed, stand by.”

  His patience lasted only a couple seconds before he shouted, “Computer, list compartments with pressure loss.”

  “Auto-sealants holding in all compartments.”

  Jack looked around; everyone was standing by their stations, their eyes wide in shock. He glanced at the screen to see the last of the flames from the vanquished enemy fleet flicker out. All that remained was a benign field of stars.

  Unexpectedly, in the distance a new star appeared: the AGC in the other system had collapsed. Its explosion destroying the last of the enemy blockade they’d left behind.

  “Don do a scan of…” he started; but Don cut him off saying, “Already on it.”

  “Kurt,” he called into the intercom. “Are you OK down there?”

  “We’re fine. We just got knocked around a bit. What’s happening?”

  “It looks like we’re through; standby.”

  “Jack,” Don said. “Radar scans look clear. Nothing’s following us.”

  “Is that it?” Nadya asked. “Are we home?”

  Jack was caught off guard by the question. He’d focused so much on simple survival, that he nearly forgot to check the obvious. “Computer,” he said calmly, “Identify this star system.”

  They waited for only a few seconds before the machine replied, “This is the Earth system…”

  “Thank God!” Don exclaimed. Jack blocked out the shouts from the others as he continued his questioning of the computer. “What is the date; Earth-time.”

  “September 28, 2129.”

  “Only six weeks after we arrived at E-Eri D,” Don said.

  Jack finally allowed himself to smile. It looked like it was finally over. He turned to Nadya who gave him a hug. He was overwhelmed and only managed to say the obvious: “We made it.” He took a deep breath and said, “Now go find Kurt and tell the others.”

  As she bounded off the bridge with a grin, Don surprised him with a quick embrace and said, “Jack, you really pulled it off. I don’t know how, but you did it.”

  He patted Don on the back and corrected him, “We pulled it off.” His joy though was tempered as he looked at Palmer’s and Devon’s empty seats. “I just wish the cost wasn’t so high,” he said softly to himself.

  Turning to Don, he continued, “I need to check on the crew.”

  “Got it,” Don replied. “I’ll work with Janet to plot a course for Earth.”

  “Thanks,” Jack answered as he headed off the bridge. He had no intention on checking on anyone else at the moment and headed directly for his office. Thankful that he didn’t run into anyone in the short length of corridor, he dove into the small room and quickly shut the door behind him. A deep sigh escaped him. “Three dead,” was all that ran through his mind: he’d lost too much of his crew. That and the Magellan. It wasn’t how he wanted to return to Earth. True, there was good reason to celebrate. A tremendous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. But, the entire crew was his responsibility. They relied on him. Any death meant that to some degree he failed. His thoughts lingered for a while on the three of them; especially Devon.

  Fatigue mixed in with his swirl of emotions and his mind drifted back to his last conversation with Alpha. He reached under his desk as Alpha had instructed; his fingers probing until they found a small cylindrical object about the size of a battery. It came loose easily. Before he pulled his hand out he nearly jumped as he heard Alpha’s voice.

  “Captain, I’ll assume that you made it home intact. Let me start by expressing my relief that you made it. I only wish that we had more time. There was so much I wanted to share with you and to learn from you. And, I know there was an immense amount that you and your crew wanted to ask us. First and foremost, though, I apologize for all that has happened. This enemy, whoever they are, was obviously after us. You were simply caught in the middle. I am sorry you lost your crew members and that your world has been put at risk. But as we both know, one cannot change what has happened. This is simply how things are.

  “Unfortunately, this will be the last time you will hear my voice. By the time you play this recording we will be large fraction of the way to HD 10180. We will reach our world in your year 2184. After that it will take over a century longer before any ship of ours or any communication we send will reach Earth. So sadly, we will not meet again. That said, it was important to me to let you know that we are also in your debt. Though very few on our vessel will admit it, I do not believe that we would have survived without you. For that I thank you.

  “The cylinder that you are holding is my attempt to make up for everything – a gift of sorts. It is a device that contains a significant amount of knowledge. I wanted to share this with Earth. Not just to help you advance, but also for the more practical purpose of helping you prepare should this enemy attack Earth at some point in the future. Our analysis of their attacks suggest that they have a home world or major colony about five hundred light-years from Earth. As a result, the danger is not imminent; you and your descendants will have several centuries to prepare. I do not know if they will come, but it would be prudent for you to use this knowledge to prepare. Keep in mind, it will take your people generations to learn the base concepts of what I have provided so that you can then assimilate and use this information.

  “One last thing. And, again I apologize in advance for putting you in this position. As you can imagine, this knowledge will lead to some very powerful and destructive technologies. My understanding of your world is that you do not have a unified government. There are still conflicts between groups of people on Earth, as well as some forms of oppression. In the wrong hands this information could destroy your society or even your world. I was nervous about th
is, but felt that the danger posed to Earth by our enemy was great enough to warrant this risk. I am placing my trust in you to find a way to disseminate this peacefully. As a safeguard against those who might abuse this, I have created the device so that only you can access it. It cannot be hacked in any way. I leave it in your hands to determine how and when its contents should be used. Thank you and I wish you well.”

  Jack sat in his chair staring at the cylinder. He was at once frightened and relieved to have Alpha’s gift. Most important, though, it gave him hope for the future. He was pulled from his thoughts by a knock at the door. “Yes?” he called out.

  Kurt entered and said, “Jack, everyone’s looking for you. Don said with these engines, we should make it to Earth in only a couple hours, ship-time. It looks like we really made it. We’re actually going home.”

  Jack stood up and grinned at his friend. It was time to celebrate. He patted Kurt on the shoulder and replied, “Yes, we did make it.”

  Epilogue

  Jack climbed out of his car into the brisk, late autumn air. Bright sunlight warmed his face – one of several simple feelings he’d never taken the time to appreciate before. Even now, over a year since their return to Earth, it was something he continued to enjoy. Standing at the edge of the small gravel parking lot, he admired the nature trail that lay before him. It wound through a grassy field before heading into a mostly bare forest; its quiet isolation pulled at him. There was near complete silence, save for the rustling of dried leaves in the occasional breeze, and the call of a distant crow. Resisting the urge to follow the footpath, Jack instead checked his watch. It was 1:05 pm: they were late. He didn’t mind the delay, however, and instead just continued to enjoy the fresh air. His eyes followed the trees and surrounding hills, searching for that distant bird. Instead he spotted the movement of his ever-present ‘protection’ detail. Two men, dressed in black, loitered a couple hundred meters away by the tree-line – one to his left, the other to his right. He was sure there were others hidden from view.

  The low crackling of gravel under tires pulled his attention back to the parking lot, as a small red car pulled up. Kurt climbed out first while Nadya waved to him through the window. Jack smiled back. It had been over eight months since he’d last seen his friends; or any others from the crew, for that matter.

  “Jack, it’s been too long,” Kurt said as he quickly embraced him.

  Nadya followed with a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, before saying, “Have they really been keeping you too busy to even call?”

  Jack shook his head and smiled with mock embarrassment as he said, “Let’s just say that I haven’t had much time of my own.” He took a breath before asking, “How was the ride up from D.C.?”

  “Not bad,” Kurt answered. “At least until we had to show our IDs to your guards at the park entrance.”

  Jack nodded and asked, “Do you have any phones or other computers on you?”

  They responded with puzzled looks.

  “Leave them in the car for now, OK?” he said in a hushed voice.

  “You know, I’m sure they’ll be able to hear everything we say regardless,” Kurt replied as he quickly placed their phones in the car’s glove compartment.

  Jack just nodded in response and led the way down the footpath.

  “So, I guess the rumors were true,” Nadya said. “Someone did try to kill you.”

  Jack nodded again. “They felt it was best to cover the whole thing up, but I think most everyone guessed that there was an attempt on me.”

  “So what actually did happen?” Kurt asked.

  “Someone took a couple of shots while I was on the highway,” Jack answered. “But luckily the government considered me too valuable, and had insisted that my vehicle be armored. They might have gotten me otherwise.”

  “Any idea who did it?” Kurt asked.

  “The official story was that some lone fundamentalist did it, claiming the knowledge I brought back would destroy the world. But it could just as easily have been an agent from one of the unaffiliated countries that refused to sign the unification treaty. Or maybe even someone from within our own government. Remember, our economic and technological advantage over the rest of the world went out the window as soon as I insisted that Alpha’s device be shared with the entire planet.”

  “Yeah, I bet you didn’t make very many friends with that,” Nadya quipped with a smirk.

  Jack nodded and said, “You don’t see my name being tossed about in the press for any awards or anything do you?”

  “But you did get a nice title, right?” Kurt said with a chuckle, “Special advisor to the secretary general.”

  “Like that’s what I wanted,” Jack shot back sarcastically. They climbed a small hill before stopping at the edge of a pond. Jack stood silently, admiring a pair of ducks paddling toward them.

  “So what have they had you doing?” Nadya asked. “I mean we’ve all been given the pick of nearly any position we wanted: we’re still trying to decide. But it was like you practically disappeared.”

  “After our four months of debriefings together they brought me back to Washington, for what they called negotiations.”

  “Negotiations?” Kurt asked.

  “Well, it seemed we had to work out the terms of who would have access to Alpha’s device, as well as what freedoms I would be given.”

  “What do you mean?” Nadya asked suspiciously.

  “There was a lot of pressure for me to give primary access to the Euro-American union. The way they saw it, they should be the guardians of the knowledge and the planet; and dole out bits and pieces to the Russian block and the Chinese. It’s like they forgot the lessons of the past hundred years.” Jack kicked some pebbles before continuing with unhidden disgust, “I swear, this place was a lot closer to being unified before we left.”

  They walked in silence. Jack knew he’d certainly put a damper on their reunion, but it was necessary to talk about it. He took a deep breath before continuing, “It took nearly two months to iron out the details. In their eyes, I was supposed to be little more than a tool used to access this treasure; they didn’t want me having a say in anything. First they pressured me to do my duty. Then they pushed hard saying that I had taken an oath and was expected to live up to it. When I didn’t give in, there were threats of charges against me for the deaths of three crewmembers and the loss of a twenty-trillion-dollar ship. There were investigations – especially into Palmer’s death. But none of it mattered: Alpha gave me exclusive access to the device. There was nothing they could do about it. The only question was, how uncomfortable could they make me, and could they wear me down?”

  “Who the hell’s behind this?” Nadya pressed.

  “I’m not really sure. It certainly involves people in the secretary general’s and president’s offices. But it’s not clear who’s really running things. The people that questioned me had been fed limited pieces of evidence that made me look like a threat; like I’d somehow been compromised by, as they put it, ‘that alien device that was in my head.’”

  “Yeah, they did a ton of scans on us looking for them,” Kurt said. “But no one ever found even a sign of the implants.”

  “I’m sure Alpha thought about that in advance and somehow programmed them to disappear or dissolve,” Jack answered. “The last thing I’d want is them cutting into me trying to retrieve a piece of alien technology.”

  “Damn,” Kurt said, “I never thought of it quite like that.”

  “So,” Nadya said, “I guess they finally gave in.”

  “Let’s just say it’s a stalemate. I’m giving them access to the device, like Alpha wanted. And it’s on my terms: everyone who signed the unification treaty gets access. No one gets more or less than anyone else. The flip side is – they don’t trust me. At best I’m viewed as someone too naïve for all of this. Most, however, look at me as some disloyal, unthankful ingrate.”

  “They at least take care of you don’t they?” Kurt asked, �
��I mean you’re not in some windowless facility or worse yet, prison. You’re free to move about, right?” Kurt then added with a smile, “And it seems they’re intent on keeping you safe, considering your contingent of body guards.”

  “They’re there to keep track of everything I do as much as to keep me alive,” Jack said matter-of-factly.

  They walked a few more paces before Jack stopped beside a towering oak and took a quick look around. His guards were still in sight; one or two hundred meters off in either direction. Without letting anyone see, he pulled a small brown disk from his pocket. “Maybe I’m complaining too much,” he said softly. “I can go pretty much wherever I want. And, I’ve gotten used to my companions back there. Thought lately, I have enjoyed my walks in this park. I think that comes from being cooped up in space for over a decade.” Jack placed his palm on the tree trunk, pressing the disk into its bark as he said, “Believe it or not, I think it was something as simple as trees that I missed the most.”

  He paused to look up as if he were in awe at the tree’s size. Nadya and Kurt came closer to see what he was admiring. As soon as they were next to him, he pinched the disk on either side.

  Nadya caught site of what he was doing and said, “Jack, what are…”

  “We only have a minute,” he said, cutting her off midsentence. “It’s a little device I built using some of Alpha’s tech. Right now, all of their surveillance equipment is getting a good burst of static. Keep looking up as if I’m talking about the tree.”

  They did as asked, while jack pulled a small brown speck from a plastic envelope in his jacket pocket. It was no bigger than the period at the end of a sentence. He quickly stuck it to the back of Kurt’s hand where it immediately blended in with his skin. Pointing up, as if he were directing their attention to a bird, he said, “It’s something of a failsafe. In case something happens to me, I need you to have it. It’ll give you access to Alpha’s device – we can’t risk losing that knowledge.”