Obsidian Ressurection

by T J Bryan

Silvi recalled what she knew about Girots having never been there. The planet was in the 'Goldilocks' zone circling a G2V sun. Girots had been discovered by the Imperial Survey Service more than a thousand years ago and colonized more than 600 years later by refugees fleeing famine and climate disaster on Earth. Girots had a gravity well of 1.02 of Earth and three major oceans. Four continents had formed on Girots although one was at a polar location and frozen much of its' 310 day annual year. Girots had three moons, although all were very small, but they did produce significant tidal surges which contributed to the planets fair weather. After settlement Girots proved enormously successful in growing grains and legumes such as wheat, rice, oats, amaranth, and near-potato. As commerce grew before the Great War Girots was one of sixteen systems upon which much of the civilized world relied upon for sustenance. But with the descent of The Dark, commerce had shrunk and eventually been extinguished except for the Obsidian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth as a mining and fabrication colony remained as Girots only supply of solar panels, steel, pumps, hydraulic equipment, power distribution systems, and other subsystems needed to support extensive agriculture. In return Girots fed Jamon. It was a fair exchange.

  Girots had in the last 100 years became more integrated with the Habitat as they both became isolated by The Dark. Girots' exchange students at the Collegium resulted in a constant flow of both information, education, and genetic material. Families intermarried and Bountiful always carried berths for about 400 souls on each voyage. The two systems were fully integrated and Silvi looked forward to re-establishing contact too long delayed.

  Lennie spoke calling Silvi from her reverie, "Exiting the tunnel for Girots in one minute."

  Moments later they were in Girots. They increased acceleration to 170,000 kilometres per second for five hours under GWP, then began decelerating as they entered the gravity well of the Girots system. Another 39 hours under reaction engines would take them to orbit.

  "Bring up Girots on comms Mr. Brunner." Silvi said.

  Buddy responded. "Pinging Girots now, expect an 6 minute delay at SOL."

  "Very good, Mr. Brunner." responded Silvi.

  Buddy was hunched over the defence station which also housed the overall communications facility of the ship. He was pressing his headphones to his ears. After a few minutes he began to shake his head.

  "What do you detect Mr. Brunner?" Silvi asked.

  Buddy looked up and toward Silvi and then returned his concentration to his headphones and communications panel. Then he turned back to Silvi. "I have nothing on comms Captain. Nothing at all. No satellite communications, no broadcast stations, no ground emissions, nothing."

  Silvi thought a moment. "Lennie bring up Griots on long range scan. On the vids please."

  Lennie passed his hands over the controls and the bridge vids sprang to life displaying the Griots system. Girots was a tiny dim dot in the far distance.

  "Give me a magnification of Girots on the vid please Pilot Karrlson."

  Moments later the video shifted to an enlarged but still distant view of the planet.

  "Looks a bit dim for a goldilocks planet," Silvi found herself saying. "Mr. Burnner can you give me an albedo reading for Girots?

  "Yes Captain." Moments later Buddy responded. "I have an albedo reading on Girots of 0.07 Captain. I double and triple checked. It is 0.07.

  As a planet similar to old Earth in so many ways the albedo of Girots would have been about 0.30. "Check again Mr. Brunner," Silvi repeated.

  Buddy responded, "It's 0.07 Captain. Something has happened to the atmosphere and surface of Girots. It's far too dim even at this distance."

  Silvi called out, "Astrogation, Nomi, are there any anomalies in this system. Anomalies that are detectable now but are not in the historic record?"

  Nomi acknowledged with a grunt. Soon she was passing her fingers across the astrogation station at speed. Then she stopped. She was very still and without motion. Everyone on the ship knew she was thinking, and it was best not to disturb her, or interrupt her thought process. Silvi, was intently aware of Nomi's skills and limitations, chose to remain silent. Best to let Nomi think.

  Nomi turned and looked at Silvi. "Something big, not a planetoid, is disturbing Girots. Massive I think. No. I know. It's massive."

  Silvi knew that was all Nomi could provide. "Lennie as we close in give me a greater magnification of the planet and this 'thing' that seems to have taken up orbit." Silvi was letting her formality in language slip away as the dire strait of Girots became apparent.

  Matt Brnseon, supercargo and representative of the Commonwealth sat nervously in the jump seat behind the captain. He had been quiet until now, but interjected, "What's happening. What's going on?"

  Silvi turned and responded to Brnseon, "You know as much as we do Mr. Brnseon. Now please sit down while we assess the situation". Brnseon remained standing as Silvi turned her attention back to the display.

  They watched the orbit of Girots as they closed the distance over twelve hours. Soon it was apparent that Girots was clouded in a dark brown atmosphere of what must be dust, dirt, and water vapor. Buddy measured the atmospheric temperature at well over 150 degrees C. Something had gone very wrong with Girots.

  Silvi began to think the orbiting mass must have something to do with this change in Girots condition. "Lennie and Buddy, can you give me some information of that thing out there orbiting Girots? What is it?"

  "Give me a moment," responded Lennie. Lennie dialed up the display to maximum magnification on the remote object orbiting Girots. At the distance Ragnarök was from Girots it was difficult to make out the details of the orbiting object but its' massive size was clear. "Nomi. Can you get me a graviton measure on that thing. How massive is it?"

  Nomi's fingers began to dance over her keyboard and moments later she stopped. "It's dense but full of hollows. Not a single object. An accretion of objects. Like mud ball with stones in it."

  Silvi thought for a moment that was the longest description of anything she had ever heard Nomi speak.

  Lennie spoke next. "Silvi look at that. That plasma beam streaming from that thing to the planets surface. It's scalding Girots on every pass. What the heck is it doing?"

  Ana Njall, the Cadet in Training, spoke before anyone else, but Silvi knew what it was before Njall opened her mouth. "Terraforming. They are Terraforming," said Njall. She continued, "Well, not terraforming, but they are sterilizing the planet for their own use later. They are killing everything on Girots to remake it in their own image."

  Silvi only stared at the vids and knew that Ana was right. In the ancient past humans had done the same. They found a goldilocks planet that was infested with native life, often hostile life, and as a result they 'terra-formed' the planet which began with sterilizing all the planetary surface from orbit killing all flora and fauna in the system. Even analogs for bacteria and viruses would not survive. And now someone or something had done the same thing to defenceless Girots.

  Matt Brnseon shouted, "Do something. Stop this! You must do something. I have family on Girots."

  Silvi turned to Brnseon. Then she turned back to the command con. At this distance and under these circumstances there was nothing that could be done.

  Matt Brnseon continued to shout that something needed to be done, but to Silvi and the crew, Girots was finished as a habitable planet for human kind. Someone, some alien force, previously unknown had decided that it wanted this system and was willing to remake the system regardless of the human cost. Silvi thought for a moment, whoever these aliens were, human cost was nothing in the balance of the universe. One species rose as another fell. Silvi thought of the ancient philosopher Darwin in a galactic context.

  Brnseon continued to shout. "Do something! You cannot let this continue. Why can't you stop this."

  Silvi knew full well that Ragnarök was too small and too insignificant to take on something as large as the orbital mass destroying Girots. Cries by Brnseon could have no effect. They were
witnesses to genocide and they were helpless to prevent it. And Silvi realized that the populace of Girots had undoubtedly been killed months ago. The planet was now a cinder awaiting seeding from a new species.

  Silvi felt a tug on her shoulder and then a thrust backward. Brnseon had grabbed her shoulder and was demanding action. "Stop this." he shouted over and over again. The crew which shared his concern knew that the fate of Girots had been decided months ago. Nothing could stop that thing.

  Silvi spoke, "Lennie, give me max vis on that thing. I want to see it."

  During the discussion of the attack on Girots the Ragnarök had moved closer and the distant scan vid revealed a strange object. The object or ship was a mass of lumps punctuated by odd spikes. Its' size was well over four hundred kilometres in diameter but its' form was lumpy. As Nomi had said it looked like an accretion of odd interstellar debris. But covering the entire surface were spikes. Four sided spikes tapering to a pointed end and often thousands of meters long. To Silvi the thing was truly alien.

  "What's the distance to that spikey thing Mr. Brunner? Silvi asked.

  Buddy replied, "A bit less than half a light minute, perhaps 7,000,000 kilometres."

  "How long to get half the way there by reaction engines?" She asked.

  Lennie replied, "About four hours give or take a bit. We can increase speed and make it in three hours, but I don't see the need. What is done is done. Girots is dead."

  Silvi thought a moment as Brnseon continued to shout about taking action to defend a now dead planet. "Weapons officer Schneider what resources do we have to confront that spikey thing."

  Mabel Schneider looked up at Silvi. She had practiced on the simulator and had been advanced to full weapons control. But she was not an aggressive person and thought that much of her training as a game. Something to brag about with her juniors, like the Banshees, while visiting the pub looking for handsome boys. This was different she thought. This was war.

  Silvi repeated, "Weapons officer Schneider give me a weapons status?"

  Mabel regained her composure and looked at her weapons status board. "I have 64 'K' missiles available. I am loading now."

  Silvi thought a moment. "Pilot Karrlson how long till we are within accurate firing range for the 'K's."

  Lennie looked up, "We are in firing range now, but look at the size of that spikey thing."

  Silvi spoke again, "Weapons set the warheads to the maximum fusion power available. We can at least let that spikey thing know we are here."

  The Silvi thought a moment about Abel's rules of engagement. Then she simplified Abel's admonitions. Genocide is genocide and is unforgivable under any circumstance.

  "Weapons officer Schneider prepare to fire a salvo of sixteen on that spikey thing in four broadsides. Given its' size aim for the middle. On my mark. After firing prepare to fire another 16."

  Silvi waited close to an hour as the spikey thing grew nearer. "Mr. Brunner do we have any contact with the Spikey thing?"

  Buddy replied, "No. They are as silent as a tomb." Buddy soon regretted his turn of phrase.

  "Mr. Brunner let me know the moment the Spikey moves."

  Buddy continued monitoring his defence station. "They have not moved a centimetre out of orbit since we entered the system. I'm not sure they know were here, or at least they see no danger in our arrival."

  Silvi sat in her captain's chair. "Well let's disabuse them of our peaceful arrival. Weapons officer Schneider prepare our first volley on my mark."

  "Aye aye, sir," responded Mabel.

  Silvi waited and waited as the 'spikey' loomed larger and larger in their field of view. Still the spikey seemed focused on its' annihilation of Girots.

  "Weapons officer are you ready on my mark?"

  "Aye aye," responded Mabel

  Still Silvi continued to wait. Soon they were within a five hundred thousand kilometres. Outside the kill zone of anti-mater weapons she thought, but well within the kill zone of 'K' class missiles. The only problem was the sheer size of the spikey thing. It was planetoid size and even 'K' class nuclear explosions would have only a marginal impact.

  Silvi thought back to some ancient philosopher she had read in middle school. She could almost quote what he had written. 'These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.' Silvi took a deep breath. You may fire Mabel when you are ready.

  Mabel reacted rather than thought and launched a full volley at the spikey thing.

  Chapter Thirty Five

  Jamon System - OCN Iceland - Year 3245. December 20 ET: 13:14

  Abel, Helen, and Emmitt were having their daily status meeting on the OCN Iceland. The critical issue of the captaincy of the OCN Greenland had taken most of the lunch discussion. Although they discussed a dozen names as potential candidates they simply could not find someone with the leadership skills and maturity to command the ship. Age was not the issue as was clearly demonstrated by the captaincy of Silvi on the Ragnarök, but most of the crew they discussed were young, very young, and lacked the caution, the will, and the gravitas needed for a leadership position as captain. Eventually Abel decided that Emmitt should remain as Captain of the Greenland, despite Abel's need to have him remain and train crews.

  Helen decided to change the subject. "With all the idle hands in the Habitat I have started a few work projects to keep folks mind off their hunger. At least for a little while."

  "What kind of projects?" asked Emmitt as Abel went for a second cup of black coffee.

  "I have given much thought to our dependence on Greayson technology. That we have access to their remarkable technologies is a real god send to the Commonwealth. However it is not enough for us to rely wholly on the blessings we have received. I have begun the construction of a new Quark. Converting a SAR to debris clearing and ore hauling is possible but the SAR's were never designed as such and any significant modifications might well go wrong given the high degree of systems integration."

  Abel leaned back on the mess chair.

  Helen continued, "Now the most critical and difficult parts we need we simply lack the fabrication and design skills to produce such as jector engines and gimbals, some environmental controls, and other technically advanced items. However we can use supplies or spare parts from the supply ship to meet these critical needs. As spares they are not very complex and we understand their function even if we lack the skill to manufacture them."

  Abel interrupted, "I thought integration was a problem. With the SAR's everything was so tied together and integrated that even touching one subsystem would endanger the function of all the others. Not to mention the billions of lines of code in the command comp that managed the entire structure of the ship."

  "Well," replied Helen. "The spares we need do not have to rely on a totally intergraded command system. A jector is a jector. It is designed to be fitted to a Greayson command and control system, but I have looked very closely at those parts and I think we can make them work with our home made simple control systems, such as simple comps and of course human hands."

  Abel asked, "You really think this will work. Some Greayson spares lashed together with some simple home made tech?"

  "It's worth trying Abel. It's worth trying."

  Abel thought a moment and then Helen continued, "What I propose is that we have the Fabricators Guild build us a shell of a ship. We can use what we know of the old Quark design. We will need the some cybernetics folks, and probably a lot of cooperation from the Collegium, but I think we can build a basically tight shell of a ship. Then we add impulse and reaction jectors to the hull along with a spare fusion engine. Flight controls will be simple and primarily rely on human hands, much as Quark did."

  "I like the idea," Abel commented. "In fact we should expand the work contribution as far and wide as possible. The more people involved in building the shell and lash
ing on the Greayson spare parts the better. A project like this will focus many on a future less bleak than we face today. In fact we should try to create other projects, hopefully not just make work projects, but projects that will keep the skill sets we have now and hopefully allow us to learn new ones. And if it is really just a make work project that might be just as well. People need to focus on the positive."

  Emmitt spoke, "Now I have a project we can add. You know that repair ship the one with the slagged fabrication comp. I think we might have given up too early on trying to use some of that equipment. We have learned a lot about Greayson tech in the past months and I think it's worth another look. I doubt we can ever get her running again, but if we could just get one of those auto-fabs to work, even the light weight ones we could possibly begin the manufacture of some Grayson sub assemblies. Now this is probably a make work project, but I'd like to give it a try."

  "Another positive project," Abel replied.

  Helen spoke, "We can get the 1044 to haul that repair ship over to the Old Mining Dock. It wont be easy because that ship has quite a lot of mass, but it will be good training for the 1044 training crew. Might take a week or two to get it here, but I like the idea."

  "I have been thinking of another project as well," said Abel. "I have been watching the food recycling and processing systems on our ships. Now I know that replicating them is well beyond our ability. That tiny part that was broken and resulted in inedible paste on Ragnarök is just an example of how difficult the entire process must be. However we do grow algae on Dios to make algae paste for food. I have been thinking we might be able to extend that system to a fuller aquaculture. Perhaps with some study and feed stocks we have here on board, we might be able to raise those tiny shrimp that provide the food for our bigger critters. If we just could get a production of small shrimp then shrimp paste would be a real possibility. After we master little shrimp we might go further, but right now shrimp paste would be considered a mighty triumph by our people."

  Emmitt responded, "We will need some folks from the Nutrition Department at the Collegium, and I think the EG has tons of data on aquaculture. Also we need the support of the Food Synthesis Guild but I am sure they will cooperate. They are as tired of eating this restricted diet as the rest of us."