HADRON Emergent

by Stephen Arseneault

  Continuous barking could be heard over the comm.

  Mace laughed. “Demanding, isn’t he?”

  Jane nodded. “Very. And he won’t give up once he’s got his mind set to something. He’ll jump around, bark and nudge you for attention for an hour if that’s what it takes to get what he wants.”

  Mace said, “Sounds just like Johnny.”

  Johnny chuckled. “Tres’s been fashioning treats that look like the heads of each of the aliens who’ve taken over Earth. He really likes the Dedrus heads. I just hope he never gets close to an actual Dedrus. He would rip into it like there was no tomorrow.”

  Geerok said, “That dog still doesn’t like me.”

  Jane said, “That dog only likes Johnny, Mace, and Tres. He only tolerates me.”

  Johnny replied, “He’s just a good judge of character, that’s all.”

  The ramp closed and the shuttle lifted out of the bay. Minutes later it was rushing into the blackness of space. A micro-wormhole opened.

  Mace said, “Say your prayers. Parameters look clean. We’re going through.”

  The shuttle passed through the tear in space without incident. The Dedrus fleet was soon on the sensor display. The transports sat waiting as the warships caught up to them.

  Johnny stood behind Mace as they looked over the data. “What do you make of it?”

  Mace shrugged. “Not sure. I can’t fault them for wanting to protect their troops this time.”

  Jane said, “They aren’t stopping. The warships are heading in.”

  The shuttle crew sat in silence as the Dedrus warships stopped just short of the atmosphere. The handful of ships Malcom Stark had assembled came up to meet them. Several minutes of inactivity passed before the transports began to move forward.

  As the Dedrus troop carriers reached high orbit, the Dedrus warships opened fire. Stark’s mini-fleet was cut to pieces without getting off a shot. The transports dropped through the atmosphere as hundreds of fireballs lit up the sky.

  Mace said, “Can’t say I like the looks of this.”

  Stark came over the comm passed through one of Jasper’s shuttles as to not reveal the location of Gellos. “It was a trap! They’re bringing more troops! Tell me you have some way to stop them!”

  Mace closed his eyes. “You’ve screwed us again, Stark.”

  The comm was closed.

  Jane said, “Doc swapped out the board. Have you tried moving a wormhole yet?”

  Mace shook his head. “He didn’t say anything about it possibly working. He just wanted to gather more data.”

  Jane stood behind Jenny. “Fire that thing up and give it a test!”

  Coordinates to the surface of the sun were entered and a wormhole initiated.

  Mace said, “We have… intermittents. It’s attempting to form but not quite completing.”

  Jane scowled. “If we don’t get that weapon back they’ll have us overrun down there in a few weeks. What is that… another million soldiers?”

  “Probably three,” answered Jenny. “And some of those were cargo haulers. They might be bringing some heavier equipment with them this time.”

  Jane pounded her fist on the top of Jenny’s chair. “Come on, you alien piece of crap! Come to life for just this once!”

  Johnny walked over to the casing that held the wormhole generator. A swift kick from his boot shut the system down.

  Jane turned with an angry expression. “What’d you do that for? Now we’ve got nothing!”

  Johnny pointed back at the screen. “Give it another shot. Always works in the movies.”

  Jane sighed as Jenny once again powered up the wormhole system. Coordinates to the sun’s surface were entered. The data for the wormhole shifted several times before falling into the previous pattern.

  Jenny said, “Just doesn’t want to form.”

  Johnny gave the device another swift kick. The generator again shut down.

  “Please stop doing that!” Jane yelled.

  Johnny pointed at the data on the display. “Hey… it almost worked. I’ll kick the crap out of it ten times if it makes a difference.”

  The generator was again powered up. For only a brief moment, a micro-wormhole opened and a short-lived ball of flame appeared a few kilometers in front of the Royal Fortune.

  Mace said, “Kick it again.”

  The process was repeated four additional times with no further progress.

  Mace took control of the wormhole console, opening a comm wormhole back to Gellos. Jeff Moskowitz appeared on the display.

  Mace said, “We’re passing you back some interesting data. We were able to briefly open the moving wormhole. This was after Johnny repeatedly kicked the generator. And, Doc… just so you know our urgency on this, the Dedrus transports didn’t come to take their troops. They brought more.”

  Jeff returned a look of concern. “I have the data. I’ll assemble the team and look this over. Will you be at these same coordinates should I need to comm you back?”

  Mace said, “We’ll keep this comm running until you or the Dedrus say otherwise. Do what you can, Doc. We’re desperate.”

  Johnny said, “So if we get the weapon working again… do we all just hang out here while you smoke their ships?”

  Mace replied, “What’d you have in mind?”

  Johnny looked at the others around him. Only takes one person to run that device. The rest of us could be down on the surface kicking the crap out of their new forces.”

  Mace winced. “I don’t think we have a choice. We can’t waste time with a run down to the surface for a drop. Every minute those warships are in orbit is one more minute we run the risk of them attacking the surface.”

  Several minutes of tense observation passed.

  A comm opened from Stark. “The freighters are unloading fighter craft. We have to do something.”

  Johnny said, “You sound rattled, Stark. Maybe it’s time you strapped on a sidearm and put yourself in the action. Or are you hiding out in your shuttle somewhere?”

  Stark replied, “I’m parked about a kilometer away from you at the moment. Perhaps you should be down there fighting instead of being up here running your mouth.”

  Jane put her hand on Mace’s shoulder. “You don’t think him sitting that close to us had an effect on the wormhole, do you?”

  Mace returned a half scowl. “How could it have? We were still able to open a comm wormhole back to Gellos.”

  Jane nodded. “True, but we know this unit is temperamental. Maybe we need to back away and try again.”

  Jeff came over the comm. “Mr. Hardy, it appears that cycling the power to that unit has allowed a residual buildup of energy fields surrounding the circuit board we replaced. All indicators say that moving wormhole should have opened. Are you in free space?”

  Mace replied, “We are… but we just found out Stark was parked nearby.”

  Jeff nodded. “Proximity. The data points to that as an issue.”

  Mace moved the joystick, speeding away from Stark. Another attempt was made to open a wormhole near the surface of the sun. This time, a bright stream of superheated plasma shot through it into space a few kilometers in front of them.

  The destination end of the wormhole was quickly guided toward the stationary Dedrus warships. The warships began to move as a fireball consumed the first vessel it encountered, incinerating the deadly ship from the inside out. Four others met their fate before the remaining ships fled. Sixty-two wormholes opened and the Dedrus fleet began quietly slipping away. Three more burst into flame before their jump away was made.

  Johnny shook his fist in the air. “Roast those pigs!”

  Putting his hand on Mace’s shoulder, Johnny pointed. “Now take us down there where the rest of us can do some good.”

  Mace nodded. “Mr. Crawford, I have a job for you.”

  “Name it.”

  Mace pushed the joystick in the direction of Earth. “I want you to fly this ship out to Dedrus space. Chase down
those other warships and do away with them. After that, use the starmaps to jump to every Dedrus colony out there. I don’t want them to have a single ship left flying. And burn every orbiting ship factory you can find. The Dedrus wanted war… we’re gonna give it to them.”

  Mace opened a comm to Gellos. “Mr. Montak, I have a job for you. I need for you to take the EM ships to Dedrus space. Mr. Crawford will guide you on what colonies to target there. Park at least six days’ distance from a colony. Bombard them for five days and then move to another one. I want all four of those ships running continuously.”

  Bontu nodded. “An excellent mission for us, Mr. Hardy. We will do our best.”

  The shuttle dropped Liam Hobbs in Manchester, Hans Mueller in Berlin, and Humphrey Mallot in Montreal, before landing in the field beside the cave.

  Mace stood. “Mr. Crawford, do your worst out there. Work with Mr. Montak and those EM ships. I want the Dedrus brought to their knees.”

  Jordan replied, “They won’t be bothering us again, Mr. Hardy. Should I stop by Gellos? I could use the assistance of a couple others to keep the mission running continuously.”

  Mace nodded. “Do what you need to do.”

  The ramp lifted and the shuttle disappeared.

  Johnny said, “How are we supposed to get to the fight?”

  Mace replied, “Our supply shuttles are coming and going. We can use them to move us around.”

  “We could be at this for a while,” Jenny said. “The fighting hasn’t started. Might be a good time to review strategies, feed ourselves…”

  Mace gestured toward the cave mouth. “Excellent suggestion, Miss Taub. Lead the way.”

  Chapter 19

  *

  Johnny paced back and forth. “We should scout the wreckage of the Halfbreed for Jasper before getting dropped at any of these cities. The fighting has yet to start. We have the time.”

  Mace replied, “We have a shuttle coming in a few minutes.”

  The group walked down the open ramp, hopping onto the overgrown field beside McDaniel’s Lake, just outside the tiny enclave of Captain, West Virginia. There, on the opposite edge of the lake, half in the trees and half submerged in the water, was the remains of the Halfbreed. A short hike around the water had the team standing beside the wreckage.

  Johnny said, “No evidence of any fight happening here. Ramp’s not even down.”

  Mace attempted to connect to the ship’s comm system. “Won’t let me in. Comm must be down. I get no response.”

  Johnny pulled up a plasma cutter. “I’m going in.”

  Jane added. “Except for the obvious hits to the ass-end, she looks intact. Given the crevasse in the bank over there, I’d say she hit hard just short and skipped across to here. Probably the only reason the ship is still together.”

  Johnny got to work cutting a new doorway. Geerok climbed up on the hull.

  Jenny asked, “See anything up there?”

  “No, just admiring the beauty of the area. I could see myself one day living in such a place. Forests, water, privacy… and a temperate climate.”

  Jane said, “Temperate? Gets cold here in the winter.”

  Geerok nodded. “Yes. Temperate for Rhombia. Our temperatures at this latitude average about five degrees cooler than those similar latitudes here on Earth. Our planets are within half a percentage point of each other in size. The orbit of Rhombia is further from our sun, but that sun is larger than your Sun.”

  Mace said, “The conditions for life seem to be similar everywhere.”

  Geerok replied, “As we have seen, there is no shortage of habitable planets in this galaxy. With upwards of a hundred billion stars, it is likely teeming with life.”

  Mace frowned. “Too bad half of them are hostile.”

  Johnny pulled a chunk of hull away from the side of the shuttle. “We’re in.”

  Stepping through into the cabin, he looked toward the cockpit. “He’s here!”

  Jasper coughed. “You about killed me with those cutting fumes! Get me my helmet!”

  Johnny retrieved Jasper’s gear from a puddle of water at the back of the cabin. “What happened?”

  Jasper scowled. “What’s it look like happened, you idiot! I crashed! Stupid chair broke loose from the hull and jammed me up under the console. I’m pinned in.”

  “We have shuttles in the area,” said Johnny. “Why didn’t you answer their comms?”

  Jasper snatched the helmet from Johnny’s hand. “Because my helmet was back there and the console lost power when the chair went up under. Gah!”

  Water poured from the soaked helmet as he tipped it up. Johnny chuckled.

  Jasper coughed as he snapped the wet helmet back in place. Its environmental filters quickly cleaned the air he was breathing; humidity control began the process of drying it.

  Johnny asked, “What was your helmet doing back there? You not have it on?”

  Jasper half scowled. “No, I dropped it when I took it off. It rolled away before I could grab it.”

  Johnny laughed. “Who’s the idiot here?”

  Jasper returned a nasty look. “You gonna sit there and jabber or cut me out of here?”

  “That depends.”

  Jasper huffed. “On what?”

  “On you apologizing for calling me an idiot.”

  Jasper scowled. “Fine… you’re not always an idiot.”

  Johnny chuckled. “I take it that’s probably the best I’ll get from the likes of you. Hang on.”

  Two supports were cut and the console lifted away. The chair immediately slid backwards, depositing Jasper in the small pond of water. Johnny again laughed.

  Mace helped Jasper Collins to his feet. “You thirsty?”

  Jasper replied, “Please. Ran out yesterday.”

  Mace unsnapped a contoured canteen from his thigh. “Drink it slow.”

  Jasper snatched it with a scowl, and as he lifted his faceshield the smoke in the cabin elicited another cough.

  Johnny chuckled. “Maybe we should take the old man outside before he chokes to death.”

  After an initial sip, Jasper chugged the remainder of the canteen’s contents, handing it back to Mace as he flipped his faceshield back down. “Thanks.”

  The group moved out onto the lake’s edge.

  Jasper asked. “What happened to those ships? Who were they?”

  Johnny said, “Stark’s thugs. He made a deal with the Dedrus. Or at least tried to. Got those crews killed and the Earth re-invaded is what he did.”

  Mace added, “He attempted to get them to come and remove their troops. They brought more instead. About two million more. With advanced weapons. They have fighter aircraft and who knows what else.”

  Jasper flipped open his faceshield. “I am so gonna gut that imbecile when I find him.”

  Johnny said, “If we aren’t there when that happens, make sure you have it recorded.”

  Jane said, “We walking back, or we have a pick-up coming?”

  “Pick-up in about twenty minutes,” said Mace. “They should have their load of ammo distributed by then.”

  “We going straight to our designated cities then?”

  Mace nodded. “Make contact with the local commander when you get there. See if you can somehow coordinate with their defense if possible. We’ll be hitting the five sites the Dedrus transports set down at. You’ll be on your own, so just try to do as much damage as you can. Ten minutes after the last of us are dropped, we start shooting.”

  Jenny said, “Everybody check your packs. Mace, you’ll need to refill that canteen.”

  Jasper crossed his arms. “So what am I doing?”

  Mace said, “You’ve been stuck in there for days. You’re heading back to Gellos to be checked out. If Doc says you’re good to go, you can catch the next shuttle coming back.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Mace shook his head. “Get the checkup. Get yourself fed and fully hydrated, then come back with a full load of supplies. We could easily be
at it for days without relief. If Doc says you’re good, you could be back in just a few hours.”

  Jasper scowled as the shuttle landed nearby and the ramp lowered. “I feel fine but I’ll do as you ask. Just know that I’m coming right back.”

  Mace walked up the ramp. “I’d expect nothing less.”

  Jenny pointed the shuttle for the first drop. “Assuming each of these five camps has ample targets, would we be better off all hitting one and then moving to the next as a group?”

  Mace thought for several seconds. “I’d say no. If we’re operating alone we can fire at will without worrying about where anyone is. And I’d like to cause confusion in all five camps at once.”

  Jane said, “I wonder it would be worthwhile to swipe one of their fighters.”

  Jenny shook her head. “Not unless you want to get in a dogfight with an experienced pilot. We’re not even sure about how to control one. I’d say we’d do best to just take out as many on the ground as we can.”

  Mace said, “I wonder if Stark’s people have any stingers left?”

  “I’d have to guess no on that one,” said Johnny. “Those transports came down unscathed. We didn’t have any reports of fire coming up at them.”

  Jasper stood as the shuttle neared its first Dedrus encampment.

  Johnny said, “Where you going?”

  Jasper said, “I’m taking the copilot’s seat. I’d like to look over the data for what’s going on from a console if you don’t mind.”

  Johnny chuckled as he held up his hands. “Sorry, didn’t mean to offend your tender feelings. Should we designate the copilot’s chair as a ‘safe space’ for you?”

  Jasper stopped. “That was actually a decent slight. You been working on your material like I suggested?”

  Jane scowled. “Don’t get him started. It only goes downhill from the first comment.”

  The ramp opened into a private space behind an abandoned building.

  Mace said, “Jane… this is your stop.”

  Jane stood. “Good luck to you all. I’m setting my alarm for twenty-seven minutes. After that, they will be dealing with nonstop Jane.”

  Mace replied, “If you need a pick-up, expect a shuttle here at the regular intervals we set up. Take care out there.”