On the viewscreens, the planet’s atmosphere turned darker in color, as ash and other contaminants rose to pollute the air. A short nuclear winter would occur, where, most likely, more of the planet’s frail Human inhabitants would die. This mattered little to Admiral Kalar. The Human worlds had large populations, and the loss of a few billion here and there would only be a minor inconvenience.
“Human ships are attempting to leave the planet,” reported the Druin sensor officer.
“How many?” Admiral Kalar did not want anyone to escape. Those attempting to escape were probably heavily involved in the revolt and needed to be dealt with.
“Twelve passenger liners and four cargo ships. Two of the passenger liners are lightly armed with weak energy shields.”
“Bring them up on the viewscreens.” The Humans had been told that no ships were allowed weapons or energy shields. This was a clear violation of one of the Confederation’s edicts.
On the viewscreens sixteen large ships appeared. All were heading upward toward orbit. No doubt to jump into hyperspace to escape the Druin fleet.
Admiral Kalar did not hesitate. “Shoot them down. Let no one escape. We will send this world back into barbarism, as an example to the other Human worlds. We will not tolerate dissent from our rule.”
“Locking on targets,” reported the tactical officer. “Firing fusion energy beams.”
From the Expanse, bright beams of light flashed down toward the lumbering ships, attempting to clear the planet’s atmosphere. Most of the ships had no defenses or energy shields to protect them. The beams cut easily through the hulls, tearing apart the vessels. In bright explosions, the ships blew up, raining flaming debris down upon the planet, adding to the devastation below. The two lightly armed ships returned fire, but their weak beams failed to penetrate the powerful Druin energy screens. However, the Druin fusion beams had little trouble penetrating the weak screens protecting the passenger liners. In massive fireballs, the two passenger liners blew up.
“All ships have been destroyed,” confirmed the sensor officer. “No other ships are detected.”
“Some asteroid mining operations are nearby, as well as some small Human colonies on several of the other planets and moons in this system,” said Kalar in a cold and nearly emotionless voice. “We will proceed there and destroy them as well. After we are finished in this system, we will make sure the rest of the Human worlds know what we have done. They won’t dare to challenge our rule again, for fear of what we may do to them.”
-
The fleet of Druin warships proceeded throughout the system, stopping periodically to destroy any signs of Human activity. City domes on the moons and on two of the planets were blasted open. Antimatter weapons were used upon functioning mining sites. When the Druins were done, the only surviving Humans in the system were those on Dorman Three in the smaller cities.
-
Admiral Kalar studied the reports from his ships. He was satisfied that he had accomplished the goal the Confederation had given him. He seriously doubted any Human world would dare challenge Confederation rule again. If they did, his fleet would be ready to delve out punishment. “Set a course for the Confederation. I must deliver my report on this action to the Council.”
Moments later Admiral Kalar felt the Expanse transition into hyperspace for its long journey to one of the main worlds of the Confederation. Behind him, he left a devastated star system and nearly two and a half billion dead Humans.
-
As soon as the Druins left, other Human ships from nearby worlds arrived to help the survivors and to comb through the wreckage. The formerly inhabited moons and the other planets were searched for survivors, with few found. Ships were sent to the asteroid mining sites to search through the devastation. Calls were sent out to other worlds to help with repairing the planet’s biosphere.
Already word was spreading as to what the Druins had done, fueling much anger and frustration throughout the Empire. For the present, further thoughts of rebellion had been quelled. They had no surviving military personnel or ships to resist the Confederation, and, even if they did, the Confederation was too powerful. The Humans had no choice but to comply and to obey the rules of the older races.
-
As the years passed, the Human Empire went into stasis. New discoveries and research were discouraged by the Confederation. Worlds were allowed to continue at their current level of advancement, but the implementation of new technologies had been harshly curtailed. Trade between worlds was allowed and even encouraged, so there would be no drain of resources on the Confederation. However, possession of armed vessels was strictly prohibited.
At least twice every year Druin warships would go into orbit around each world of the Empire for an inspection. Any world found in violation of any of the Confederation rules was severely punished. The Druins had no problem dropping an antimatter weapon here and there to remind the Humans who was in charge. Millions of Humans were drafted to serve in dangerous jobs throughout the Confederation. Each year Confederation ships would come to the worlds of the Empire and remove tens of thousands of young adults from each world to serve the Confederation planets. Failure to comply always resulted in stiff punishments.
Every child was still taught the history of the Empire, and many believed that someday the Empire would be reborn. Rumors continued of a secret base hidden somewhere in the galaxy, but there was no evidence to prove those rumors were true. Parents told their children stories of the Empire, and the children, when they became adults, passed the stories on to their children. While the Confederation might be in control, the Humans still held a powerful desire for freedom and for a return to the glory days of the Empire.
On the Human planets, considerable unrest grew over what was not allowed, as far as research and advancement. Even so, a few secret research centers were established deep underground, and some research progressed. Great care was taken to ensure none of these centers were ever discovered by the Druins, for fear of what would be done to the Human populations of those worlds.
A secret Imperial agency was established to monitor the research and to keep it secret from the Confederation. A few distant surviving members of the Royal Family were chosen to head the agency, in the hopes of someday freeing the Empire and restoring the constitutional monarchy. The plan was a long-range one and might take centuries to implement. At least they had a plan, and, with that plan, a little hope for the future. They were based on Lydol Four, since it was far away from the core worlds.
-
Several centuries passed and, in the Bacchus Region, all Druin warships were withdrawn. The original Human castaways were long dead, and their children showed no indications of ever becoming a danger. By now, much of their knowledge of any advanced Human technology should be long gone. However, due to the planet being inhabited by Humans, a quarantine system was set up by the Druins to prohibit the Human inhabitants of the system from ever leaving it or contacting other civilizations. The quarantine system was self-repairing and only required a Druin or other Confederation ship to check on it every century or two. The Confederation felt certain they had ensured the Humans of Earth would never become a threat.
-
On Earth, civilization entered the Renaissance Period. Unknown to the Humans of the time, the marooned citizens of the Empire and their descendants were encouraging the sudden advancements—such as those made rapidly in art, architecture, politics, science, mathematics, and literature. Most of the new advances started in Italy and then spread across Europe, which highly encouraged individuals to use observation and inductive reasoning to advance science and other fields of study.
Across Europe, small groups of Humans spread out, suggesting new ways of doing things. They met with some of the most intelligent people of those times, helping to explain various types of phenomena and even diseases. In some regions, advancement was rapid; while, in others, it was much slower. But one thing was certain. Earth’s civilization had set itse
lf upon a path toward a future technological civilization.
These advances were noted and reported to the Druins. The Druins took note of the advancements but considered them to be a natural development of the Humans of this world.
On the large island where the people from the Empire had been marooned, great pains were taken to preserve their knowledge. Much of their science and technology were recorded in written books and hidden away for the future. Even so, only a small core of the original descendants of the Empire knew of their past and what their destiny was. This core group worked hard at advancing the world around them.
As time passed, and the centuries rolled by, this core group became smaller and smaller. They still went out occasionally and dropped hints that resulted in rapid advancement in some areas. They spoke to such people as Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur, Albert Einstein, and Nikola Tesla, among others. A few simple hints dropped here and there helped to encourage these people to make advancements and to promote theories that would be far-reaching and that would quicken the path toward the future civilization needed to fight the Druins and the Confederation.
Years rolled by. Satellites were launched into orbit, and the first spacecraft was sent to the Moon and then eventually to Mars. Spacecraft spread through the Solar System, exploring the asteroids and the other planets. The first permanent Moon base was established, and then the first colony was placed on Mars. Space travel became more common and more economical. The Druin observation system took note of this but did not consider the current level of Earth’s technology to be a threat.
-
Several years later, in orbit of Earth, the spacecraft Endeavor was built. It was designed to answer the question of whether other intelligent life was out in the galaxy. The highly advanced spacecraft would journey past the Kuiper Belt and then would use its sensitive communications array to listen to the space between the stars. Some of the more talented scientists on the team believed that, by getting away from the sun and from the tremendous amount of communication signals generated from Earth, this silent area would allow the detection of other civilizations, if they were, indeed, out there.
Others were not so certain. Conflicting theories existed as to why no other civilizations had been detected. The mission of the Endeavor was to determine which of the many theories was correct.
-
Andrew Wilcox stepped aboard the Endeavor and marveled at what a special day this was. The Endeavor was the most advanced spacecraft ever built by Earth and would set out on the longest journey into space to date for a manned craft. The ship had artificial gravity and an ion drive powered by fusion energy. It could accelerate as high as four gravities for an extended period of time, if necessary. The journey out past the Kuiper Belt was expected to take a little over three months, counting some stops along the way, where the Endeavor would take some readings on a few asteroids, as well as make a flyby of Neptune.
Andrew was of average height and build with dark hair. He was very dedicated in his work with a touch of genius. People found him easy to be around and he had a good sense of humor.
“Welcome aboard Mr. Wilcox,” greeted Captain Mira Greer. “We’ll be departing early tomorrow.” Captain Greer was an older woman in her late forties, and the first female commander of a long-range exploration mission.
“Is all my equipment on board?”
“Yes, and it’s been stowed away.”
Andrew spent a few minutes looking around. The Endeavor was the largest spacecraft ever built. It was nearly two hundred meters in length and thirty meters at its widest. Much of that space was taken up by the ion drive and the fusion power plant. For the last six months Andrew and most of the crew had spent their time on a full-scale mock-up of the ship down on Earth.
“The rest of the crew?”
“A few are already on board, and the rest should be arriving shortly. We’ll spend twenty-four hours getting the ship ready to leave orbit, and then we’ll set out for the Kuiper Belt.”
“This looks just like the mock-up.”
Captain Greer smiled. “In every detail. We felt it was easier to train on Earth rather than here in space. That way, if something went wrong, we wouldn’t cause billions in damages to the ship or the station.”
The huge orbital station was at the LaGrange Point between the Earth and the Moon. Most expeditions to the other planets left from that station, which was capable of doing repairs and building about anything the ships might need. Routine trips were now occurring between Earth, the Moon, the station, and Mars. A few prospecting ships were even venturing out to the asteroid region to search for minerals to sell back on Earth. Space travel was expanding rapidly, and already discussions were ongoing about enlarging the station.
Andrew made his way through the ship to the central section, where the crew’s quarters were. He passed a few others on the way before reaching the hatch with his name on it. Opening the hatch, he went inside, finding a bunk, work desk, and several comfortable chairs. The restroom and showers were at the end of the corridor and would be shared by the entire crew. Separate restrooms had been established for the men and the women.
Looking around, Andrew saw his bags on the bed, so he got busy unpacking. He had brought one bag on board with him, and this one he carefully stowed away. Andrew was a communications specialist, and part of the communications array on the hull of the ship had been designed by him. It was more advanced than it should be, as part of it was based on Imperial technology.
It had taken a lot of work to get Andrew assigned to the Endeavor project. Fortunately the Imperials had amassed a large fortune over the centuries and had used that to partially fund the Endeavor, under the conditions it would carry some specialized communications equipment and Andrew to operate it.
One thing greatly concerned Andrew. If his group was correct as to why no communication signals from other interstellar civilizations were being received, this could be a dangerous mission. There was a good chance Andrew would not be coming back. Even so, he had volunteered for this trip out beyond the Kuiper Belt. It had always been a dream of his to travel into space. This mission was a culmination of his childhood fantasies and the hard work he had put in at Cal Tech in Pasadena, California, demonstrating his knowledge in natural science and particularly engineering, involving advanced communications technology.
The classes at Cal Tech had been a breeze, considering his knowledge of Imperial science. It had also allowed him to build the communications equipment that had been emplaced on the Endeavor without drawing undo attention to the massive breakthrough in communication technology it represented.
Finished with his unpacking, Andrew left his quarters and headed for the Command Center of the ship, located at the front of the vessel with several large viewports. Stepping inside, Andrew noted that several of the consoles were already manned by some of the crew. The ship had a mixed crew of civilian specialists and military.
“Mr. Wilcox, I’m glad to see you’re here,” said Lieutenant Commander Ganlon Meadows. “If you would take your spot at the communications console, it would be helpful. We have a lot of work to do before we’re ready to depart.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Andrew, as he walked to the comm console and sat down. Reaching forward, he activated the console, and several computer screens came to life. Almost instantly a list of messages came up on one of the screens. Beside each message was an indicator, listing who the message was for. Most of the messages could be sent to the computer stations in the private quarters of the crew. Several were meant for Captain Greer and the Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Meadows.
“I have several messages for you and the captain,” reported Andrew.
“Send the messages to the command console, and I’ll inform the captain.”
Looking out the large viewports, Andrew could see hundreds of unblinking stars, also a large section of the space station the Endeavor was docked to. Andrew wished th
e Endeavor was armed, but it was designed as a peaceful vessel. Not even any handguns were on board. The total crew of the ship consisted of twenty-seven people. Eighteen military and nine civilians. The civilians were all scientists of some type.
“I studied some of the papers you wrote on your new communications array while you were at Cal Tech,” said Rachael Newberry. “I found some of your concepts quite intriguing. Where did you come up with your ideas?”
Rachael was the science officer for the Endeavor and had advanced degrees in six fields of study. She was a petite blonde with a charming attitude and was rather nicely endowed.
Andrew smiled. He wasn’t surprised by this question, as his array was quite revolutionary. He suspected no one on board knew just how revolutionary it was. “You won’t believe this, but I’m an avid reader of science fiction. I read the idea in a book called From Earth to Mars, written back in the nineties. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the technology mentioned might be possible. So, when I went to Cal Tech, I set out to invent a new and better communication method. We’ll know how well it works when we get out past the Kuiper Belt and begin scanning for messages from other worlds.”
“From a science fiction novel,” mused Rachael, grinning. “I used to read them as well. You know that many science fiction authors spend considerable time doing research to make their stories sound more plausible. So it’s not surprising to find some good ideas in some of those stories.”
Andrew nodded. “I thought about writing one myself, but I don’t know where I would find the time.”
“So what do you think about this mission of ours? Do you think, by going out past the Kuiper Belt, we’ll pick up signals from aliens?”
Andrew grinned at the alien remark. Little did Rachael know of the hundreds of inhabited Human worlds out in the galaxy. “Maybe. A professor at Cal Tech claims our system has been quarantined by the advanced races of the galaxy because we’re so primitive. Thus all communication signals are blocked so we can’t receive them.”
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment: Book One Page 5
