HADRON Resurgent

by Stephen Arseneault

  “I have the labor here with me if you need it,” said Jasper.

  Frado shook his head. “Unnecessary, Your Highness. This one is on me.”

  The comm closed. The diamonds were delivered. A jump was made back to Earth space.

  Jasper sat in his crown chair with Mace in a lower seat beside him. “Before we go, would you have any interest in seeing my mobile throne room?”

  “Your what?”

  “My throne room for while I’m on the go. Come on, follow me.”

  The two hulking Humans walked down a long hall toward the center of the ship. Targarian crewmen stopped and bowed to their king.

  Jasper waved his hand. “Don’t pay any attention to them. I gave up asking them to stop after the hundredth time. It’s tradition, and they like their traditions.”

  They turned a corner, walking between two Ionic columns.

  Jasper pointed. “You like that? I always fancied myself as a Roman or a Spartan. And check out the walls… all Veriganian marble. Notice the gold streaks? All real gold. And over here, my indoor pool. And that area would be for my harem if I ever decide to have one.”

  Mace chuckled. “Harem?”

  “Hey, you never know how things are gonna go. While I ain’t planning on doing any procreating, I do like to admire the ladies. I mean, I ain’t saying I’m getting a harem, but who knows.”

  Mace nodded. “I won’t try to talk you out of a harem, if that’s what you want. I’m sure you could find a long list of ladies who would be quite happy living the life of luxury in exchange for a dirty old man doing some gawking.”

  Jasper scowled. “Hey, I wasn’t talking about anything untoward going on. Just, you know, kings should look like kings when they have guests.”

  Mace patted Jasper on the back. “Don’t worry, Mr. C. Your secrets are safe with me. I’m not much for throne rooms, but you know who would be? Johnny. He would love to see this.”

  Jasper replied, “Fine. I’ll show it to the ape-man. I suppose we should head out. Should be setting down any second.”

  Chapter 5

  *

  Within weeks the new reflectors were coming in. The manufacturing facility on Earth was changed around to begin the construction of the space-based stations that had been named Theater High Orbit Radiators or “Thor” stations. With designs in place and a skilled workforce provided by Jasper’s Targarians, the first Thor station was ready to be moved into place after only three weeks.

  Jeff sat at a console. “Release the drone. This time we’ll shoot for a moving target.”

  Humphrey said, “Drone away. At five kilometers in three… two… one.”

  Jeff pressed the fire button. Telemetry from the drone came to an abrupt halt as a half meter wide hole was burned through the center. A shuttle was sent out for recovery. The defunct drone was deposited in the Rogers’ bay two.

  Mace walked around the outside. “The burn through is clean on both sides. Let’s run one out to ten thousand kilometers, and then a hundred.”

  The tests were conducted, proving the prowess of the new Thor station. Jeff signaled the ground to ramp up the production of the expected fourteen-hundred forty-four station defenses.

  Jasper’s team was moved home to Divinia, where an identical manufacturing facility was built and brought online. The output soon matched the number of incoming domain reflectors from Canto. On Earth, within a week of the final tests, the fifteenth Thor was online and manned.

  Mace, joined by Johnny and Jane, sat back in the dining hall with his hands clasped behind his head. “Looks like our luck may have finally turned. Stark’s people are doing a decent job of governing, considering the circumstances. And defense of Earth will soon be complete. Another three months and we won’t have to worry about a Union invasion.”

  Jane replied, “I can’t say I thought this was coming six months ago. You’ve done some great things here, Mace. History will be kind to you.”

  Johnny nodded. “She’s right. You managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat on this one.

  Fina raced into the room with Zax at her heels. “Mommy? Can we go out into the woods to play?”

  Jane’s eyes got big. “The woods? I’m afraid not. Not without supervision.”

  Fina whined. “But why? We’ve been there before. It was safe.”

  Jane shook her head. “There are bears out there. Big bears. Bears that will eat little children if they catch them. Now, you two go find the Dowda girls and play with them.”

  Fina crossed her arms. “They’re babies. They can hardly talk.”

  Jane leaned down. “Look, you two are lucky. You’re gifted. Most of us don’t start talking clearly until we’re three or four, and not like you do until we’re eight or nine. So be happy with who you are and go play with the Dowda girls.”

  Fina turned and stomped out of the room with a happy Zax mimicking her every move and expression.

  Jane sighed. “I look at them and I see a three year old. But their reasoning, the questions they ask, it almost scares me how smart they are.”

  Jeff walked into the room looking back at the doorway. “Almost got mowed down by those two in the hallway. They are growing much faster than normal. The growth hormones running through them are at almost twice the normal level.”

  Jane said, “And they’re talking like a couple of eight year olds. I’m just floored every time they open their mouths. They just came in here wanting to go out and play in the woods. I was like, ‘Noooo.’”

  A comm came in from Jasper. “I have bad news. The colonies on Canto and Fombry have been attacked and destroyed. The UF settlers have been wiped out. I sent the normal Dauntless out to pick up another load of those reflectors and this was the news that came back.”

  The comm displays of the others began to fill with charred images of what were UF factories and farms. Only a few smoldering ruins remained where a once thriving new colony had taken root.

  Mace said, “Give us a few minutes to organize and we’ll be out there.”

  The comm closed.

  Mace shook his head as he stood. “I should have known we were just reaching the top of the first hill. Looks like this ride isn’t over.”

  The crew gathered and the Rogers departed. The colonies of the Knuttin Corporation lay in ruin. Her citizens… dead.

  Mace looked over the damage. “I’m thinking we should have first outfitted these colonies with those Thor stations.”

  Humphrey said, “I have debris fields from two Dreadnoughts, Mr. Hardy. Various other rubble says they put up a fight. The damage on the ground was definitely from plasma cannons.”

  Johnny turned to face Mace. “Should we visit the warstation and see if we can get a message to Frado?”

  Mace nodded. “Mr. Hobbs, take us to the UF station.”

  Hans asked, “What if we find that station has been attacked as well?”

  Mace shook his head. “It’s only a guess, but I think that station is too powerful. If this was the Mawga, or the Union for that matter, even with the updates we have, that warstation has them outclassed… if what Frado told us about their weapons is true.”

  The Rogers pulled within sensor range of the UF station as the Gerty pulled to a stop.

  Humphrey said. “I have several debris fields coming up, Mr. Hardy. I suggest we keep our distance. At least until comms have been established. Although I’m not sure how we accomplish that as comm range is within their weapon range. Those debris fields are just outside it.”

  Mace held up his hand. “Mr. Hobbs, bring us to a stop.”

  Mace turned. “Johnny? What you think? Should we risk sending in a shuttle to try to talk?”

  Johnny chuckled. “What you’re really asking is will I risk my life to establish a comm. And the answer is yes, if that’s what it takes. We need those domain reflectors.”

  Jane walked onto the bridge. “You aren’t sending him out there like that, and you aren’t going. We can remotely pilot the shuttle so long as it stays
within comm range. Run it out there and use it as a comm relay. No need in risking anyone’s life.”

  Johnny tilted his head. “I do like the way she thinks.”

  Jane replied, “We’ve taken too many unnecessary risks in the past. We’ve been lucky. We need to start fully evaluating situations like this before acting. There’s no immediate need of contact here. We should take our time.”

  Mace nodded. “I mostly agree. But our time isn’t unlimited, either. The fleet that attacked those colonies could be closing in on Earth right now.”

  A shuttle moved to within comm range of the warstation. “This is restricted space. Leave or your existence will be terminated.”

  Mace replied, “We would like to establish a comm to Frado Knuttin. We’ve just been to his colonies, and we can see from the debris field here that a battle was fought.”

  The warstation officer repeated his warning. “You will withdraw from this space immediately. Your message will be forwarded. You have three minutes to comply.”

  Mace gestured. “Bring the shuttle back, Mr. Hobbs. Take us into orbit around Canto. We’ll wait there for a response from Mr. Knuttin.”

  When six hours passed with no reply, a wormhole was opened to Earth and the two ships moved through.

  A comm came in from Jasper. “It was the Union. The Mawga complained to the Dellus about their territories being overrun. Whatever deal they had with Knuttin must have fallen apart, or was a farce to begin with. My spies suggest Earth might be their next target.”

  “Who are the key players in the Union now?”

  Jasper replied, “The Sarkesians lost most of their ships. They are in the weakest position. The Gorange appear to be the mediators in all this. The Quelli and Zinka have closed ranks. They’re the power brokers, with the others in opposition.”

  Mace turned in his chair. “Mr. Geerok, what do you think could be gleaned from a visit to Rhombia? Would the Mawga be willing to take sides with us? An alliance?”

  Geerok laughed. “The Mawga will not turn on the Dellus, Mr. Hardy. They fear the Union, and will bow to its every demand. The Emperor is not a fighter. He likes rules. The Union offers rules. And thank you for asking. I’ve felt as though my contributions have been lacking of late.”

  Mace replied, “You’re a valued resource because of your experience, Mr. Geerok. Unfortunately, with all this running around, I haven’t had need of your expertise. That may change soon enough.”

  Mace turned back to his comm. “Mr. Collins, when you attacked the Quelli worlds, was there anything to be destroyed that would dissuade them from a fight?”

  Jasper replied, “We hit their ship factory. My spies report it is fully functional again. In addition, they have transducer and reactor factories just like the other founders. You take those out and it would be a setback, but nothing that would prevent them from coming to Divinia to do the same.”

  Jane said, “How about their gatrellium supplies? Certainly the location of any mines must be public knowledge. Would we be doing ourselves any good to try to steal any stockpiles they might have?”

  Mace stroked his beard. “We talked about this before. Whoever controls the gatrellium controls ship movements between the stars. Mr. Collins, what would your opinion be on a raid of the Quelli capital world to steal their gatrellium? We would also plan a jump to Zinka space to do the same if the first attempt was successful.”

  “Well, we’d need to know where those supplies are kept. And that happens to be something we know. The Union was very strict on monitoring stockpiles with the purpose of seeing that no members were cheating. On Divinia, that stockpile is close to the capital. I believe that to be where it is for each founder. Records will show.”

  Johnny asked, “Speaking of gatrellium, how are you keeping up your supply? Was there a mine in Targarian space?”

  Jasper nodded. “A smaller one, but it provides enough to keep our stockpile near current levels. Used to be jumps were being made in search of new colonies. We aren’t doing that anymore. My jumps here are the primary use right now. And if we want to talk about the stockpiles, those Muhatha ships carry a substantial amount. We could steal every kilogram they have and they would still have enough to jump their fleets a dozen times.”

  Jane said, “If we took out their Muhatha, they still have their Dauntless to jump and attack with.”

  Jasper replied, “And word has it those ships have been upgraded as well.”

  Mace shook his head. “Great. So now we have dozens of ships that can damage us.”

  Jasper pointed with a single raised finger. “You know, we haven’t talked about raiding ships lately. We’re still facing the same squeamish aliens when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. What we need is a way to get aboard those ships.”

  Johnny replied, “With those upgraded cannons we can’t get close. They would fry a shuttle before we could get within a thousand kilometers. I know we talked about this before, but why can’t we just open a wormhole portal inside those ships and walk through?”

  Jeff answered: “The portal generator can’t establish and generate the tear in space-time if it’s within a kilometer of a large mass. There are no such spaces within a Muhatha or any other ship. This is also why it cannot be opened to the surface of another planet. The best we could do would be high orbit, as the mass of an atmosphere, even though small compared to a solid object, is still significant enough to disrupt the process.”

  Jeff turned to his arm pad. As the discussion continued he swiped at several displays, eventually moving over to a free console, where he typed feverishly. He stopped, scratched his head, rubbed his chin, and began typing again.

  Several minutes passed before Jeff turned back to the discussion. “I’ve just done a quick analysis … but I think I may have a new weapon of sorts for us to use … if it would work at all.”

  Johnny waved his arm: “Spit it out.”

  Jeff pushed an image of the sun to the wall display. “We all know what this is. It has a surface temperature of around ten thousand degrees Fahrenheit. That’s fifty-six hundred degrees for you metric people. Anyway. You move two thousand kilometers away from the surface and you hit the corona. Five hundred kilometers into that, and the temperature rises above a million. We can’t take our ships within a million kilometers without our shields and thin armor failing. But what if we could open a wormhole near the corona? And have the other end open a kilometer away from a Muhatha? I’ll need further study, but we may be able to light one of those ships up using the power of the sun.”

  Jeff stood, “Let me go consult with my team on the possibilities.”

  As Jeff left, Jasper stared at the image of the sun. “Won’t work. The wormhole is opened a kilometer in front of a ship for a couple reasons. The first is it has to be away from any mass. The second is any further requires more power. The generator struggles to create that tiny fracture at a kilometer and a half. I know because I already had my scientists looking into the possibility of moving the wormhole once it was established. They axed that idea fairly quickly.”

  Johnny said, “Jeff was still talking about a kilometer.”

  Jasper nodded. “He was. Which leaves the same problem of how do you keep your ship that’s creating the wormhole from melting? Besides, the gatrellium would be useless for expanding the wormhole at those temperatures.”

  Johnny laughed. “And how would you know that?”

  Jasper replied, “Ape-man… I know that because I am the King… and I ask a lot of questions. I’ve been searching for ways to weaponize the portal—without success, I might add. The best thermal material we had on Earth would be good to about two thousand degrees Celsius. The members of the Union have a few ceramic materials that are stable up to twenty-three hundred degrees. With our most powerful dampening field, we can push that to about three thousand, far short of what we would need when dealing with a million degree temperature.”

  Johnny held up a hand. “Well, pardon me. I didn’t know you w
ere such an expert.”

  Jeff returned shortly after with Gnaga, Heeb, and Hooba in tow. “We might have an experiment to try. Currently, the gatrellium is fed into the initial fracture where a reaction is used to push the sides of the wormhole outward. We still have to run some numbers, but it might be possible to instead expand that fracture in one direction without using any more gatrellium than we do now. Imagine a wormhole a nanometer wide, but a million kilometers long.”

  Gnaga stepped up. “Yes, one end of the fracture would be opened a kilometer in front of the ship as is currently done. The gatrellium reaction is then used to push the expansion in a single direction. The limit to the distance would be a factor of the amount of gatrellium to be used. Theoretically, we could open a wormhole at a million kilometers from the corona, and a million kilometers from a Muhatha. As the fracture is pushed into the coronal area, the temperature at the corresponding other end of the wormhole would equal that of the coronal area. If we had the coordinates of the Muhatha, we could open this nanometer slit in space-time only a kilometer away from it.”

  Jeff nodded. “As I said, we have to run some numbers, but we could be ready for a trial as early as this afternoon.”

  After twelve hours of continuous testing, Jeff plopped down in a chair on the bridge. “We can’t get it to work, Mr. Hardy. With every attempt the fracture has collapsed. We just don’t have enough knowledge about how the whole process works. We know that it does. But beyond our standard use, we’re like toddlers trying to operate an automobile.”

  Johnny chuckled. “I’m guessing you are talking about Zax and Fina. Those two could figure out a car in ten minutes if you left them alone.”

  The two toddlers raced onto the bridge, chasing one another as always.

  Vanessa followed with the three girls. “Sorry. They got away from me. Zax, Fina, come here. They’re working.”

  Zax stopped to look at the image of the sun. “Look! Solar flares!”

  Fina raced by to the exit. Zax chased after.

  Johnny shook his head. “How does a kid who’s physically less than a full year old know about solar flares?”