“It’s been four weeks since we arrived on Earth, and we’re happy to report that you’ve achieved what is being recognized as the fastest technological and philosophical change in the history of this planet. Frontiers have been abolished, war has ceased, there is no longer any famine. We’ve cranked up the production of helper bots to create new living quarters and bring basic facilities like water and electricity to the regions of the globe that needed it the most. We’ve also relocated the most severe cases into newly built medical centers, more of which are being constructed day after day. Each continent already has at least five of these centers, where the sick, hungry, and dying have been admitted in order of priority and are being treated as we speak. There are still some fatalities due to the speed at which the planet’s infrastructure had to be repurposed, but with each and every day these are lower in numbers. We project that in the next two months, there shouldn’t be any more sick people on Earth. For more on this—Medical Chief Talon Avlar, if you’d please give us a detailed report on the advancements that have been made in terms of health and the medical field in general.”
Chief Avlar was a tall, thin man, with blond hair. His eyes were light blue eyes, and his voice was overly soothing. All in all, he looked and acted like the perfect doctor. He got up from the table and clicked a remote to display a map of the planet on a screen.
“Thank you, Captain. Indeed the progress we’ve made in just a few weeks has already changed much for Earth. The creation of the health centers and their strategic positioning has permitted us to treat a huge amount of sick people in a small amount of time. The region that needed it the most was, without a doubt, the continent of Africa. Many thousands of children were saved and we believe that except for a few isolated cases where the indigenous population rejects technology or are simply afraid to come forward, we should have the region stabilized very quickly.”
As his speech came to a close, a doctor from Earth got up with tears in his eyes. “If I may, Chief Avlar?”
“Absolutely, Doctor Schmidt, by all means.”
Doctor Schmidt had a similar “doctoral presence,” but was in his sixties. He had the gray hair that usually accompanied such an age, and a thick beard that took over half of his face despite being well kept. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his white, medical coat.
“I just wanted to say how truly amazing it is for the medical community of, well of Earth, to see the crisis of hunger and poverty in Africa resolved so quickly. In my wildest dreams I never thought we would manage to do so much good in Africa in my lifetime, let alone in four weeks. Every doctor and every humanitarian on Earth is so grateful for what you have helped us achieve; I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Avlar smiled. “Thank you, Doctor Schmidt, we’re glad to help. And the help from the medical community on Earth has played a vital role in identifying and streamlining our new installation on your planet. Without your expertise and the passion from the community, we wouldn’t have managed to achieve such fast results.”
Doctor Schmidt smiled and nodded, wiping tears as he sat back down at the table.
“Please continue,” said Captain Saroudis, gesturing toward the chief.
Avlar ran a hand distractedly though his hair and glanced down at his notes before continuing the briefing. He briefly explained how the most virulent diseases like cancer, diabetes or AIDS had been beaten with the help of the Regen tanks brought by the Alliance. The tanks were not only made to cure physical damage, but they analyzed living DNA. When a discrepancy was found inside the body, it meant that some sort of illness had started attacking the healthy tissue. The Regen tanks then rebuilt those tissues with unaffected cells with the same DNA and a person was back to a state of perfect health. If enough Regen tanks were built for the population of Earth, Medical Chief Avlar predicted that most humans could easily live to be one hundred and forty years old, maybe even more with the use of augmentation implants.
Chase observed the reactions of the “Earth” side of the table with detached satisfaction. Their expressions were that of sheer wonder and sometimes utter stupefaction. To them, this marvel of health and technology was brand new, but for Chase and the Alliance, it had been the standard way of life for centuries. He was enjoying their varied faces, when his gaze suddenly fell on Commander Sarah Kepler.
It was as if he’d been zapped with a jolt of electricity. He sat instinctually straighter and stared at her in shock. He knew nothing about her other than the fact that he was instantly and intensely attracted. She was listening to the chief finish his briefing with a little smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. Her lips were red, and she wore some more make-up near her deep and beautiful green eyes. Her straight, glossy hair was a shade of crimson and fell well beneath her shoulders. It framed her puffy cheeks in a way that gave her an almost childish look, but every angle and every detail was immensely appealing. Chase found himself mesmerized and staring quite obviously…until she met his gaze.
Flustered and embarrassed beyond belief, his eyes flew around the room, looking for a place to land. He settled on the map, but occasionally checked back in with the commander who was smiling slightly, well aware that he was still watching her. Gritting his teeth, he forced his attention back to the chief.
How ridiculous he’d been! Caught in the act like a child. And when he didn’t even know anything about her. That being said…maybe he could get to know her better in the coming weeks. Maybe there was something else on Earth besides its military defense that required his attention…
The chief concluded his report and it was Chase’s turn to speak. He had been tasked with evaluating Earth’s military technology to propose options as to how they could use or modify the human war machines to help with the defense against the next wave of Zarlacks.
Captain Saroudis gestured toward Chase, introduced him as the newly appointed technological and military liaison with Earth, explained his mandate, and gave him the floor.
He rose and quickly glanced at Commander Kepler. She was staring at him with a completely different look now, a look of interest. Being a fighter pilot herself, she was clearly interested in what he had to say.
“It’s clear that Earth has a lot of weaponry at its disposal, but unfortunately, most of it is based on projectile propelled technology, and all of it has been solely designed for either terrestrial or in-atmosphere use. There are very few weapons designed for space. There was the prototype satellite, but it was destroyed during the engagement with the enemy.”
He paused and showed an image of the satellite taken in action during the fight with the armada.
“However, the satellite was a good idea. We need to build a network of them around the planet and shield them so they can sustain more hits during our next engagement with enemy forces. Because we only have a handful of battleships ourselves, we absolutely need to find alternate means of defending Earth. I have no doubt that the next wave of ships will be much larger than the one we faced, and this time, we won’t have the element of surprise on our side.”
Commander Kepler raised her hand.
“Yes Commander, would you like to add something?”
“Yes, thank you, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos. I just wanted to say that we should indeed try and prepare ourselves, but we should also devise a strategy to keep an element of surprise on our side. If anything, your brilliant move of flying a squadron of remote-controlled fighters was the very shock and surprise move that made it possible for Earth to survive the attack. That being said, and I don’t know in what shape or form just yet, I believe we should have the same sort of ace up our sleeves for the next battle.”
“I agree, Commander, and I hope we can find a solution together.”
As soon as Chase spoke, he was worried that it could be misinterpreted, but the people around the table didn’t seem to have reacted at all. Commander Kepler, however, looked straight into Chase’s eyes with a slightly different expression.
�
��I look forward to it, Lieutenant Commander.”
Chase gulped uneasily and resumed his part of the briefing. He went into further detail of the plan to build a network of satellites around Earth, maybe even repurposing the ones already in orbit and upgrading them to be weaponized and shielded. He then showed the progress of the orbital shipyard, which was almost complete, thanks to the manpower Earth had been able to provide. The shipyard was intended to create more battleships as well as an exploration class of starships. This part of the universe was not well known to the Alliance, and it seemed important to start charting it. They could find new allies and assess potential enemies as well.
He then proposed the construction of a second shipyard in orbit around Mars, suggesting they terraform the planet so it could sustain life and workers could have quarters while constructing the shipyard. Apparently, it had been a dream for Earth to have a colony on Mars for a long time, and this plan was met with wild approval.
There were also going to be a few additional security measures for the upcoming battle. The first was to repurpose the thousands of tanks from various armies of various nations and retrofit them with particle weapons. They would then be stationed on the moon, where the construction of a small base of operations had been in process for the last week. Thanks to the human labor and the richness of the planet’s resources, the Alliance had created multiple bot factories on Earth, sometimes simply upgrading automated factories that were already building things like cars and planes. These bots were essential to quickly assembling a base on the moon or Mars as well as orbital shipyards.
And while putting modified tanks on the surface of the moon seemed preposterous, it had strategic value. Chase explained how he used the moon as a cover for part of his fleet during the first engagement and how well it worked. He explained that if they could lure some of the enemy forces to a range where the modified tanks could fire upon them, it could create a chokepoint where a large number of ships could be destroyed. Of course, the moon was rotating around the Earth and there was no way of knowing if it would be at the right place when needed, but Chase used the same expression—“ace up our sleeves”—as Kepler did earlier.
Then came the time to discuss the fighters and how the Alliance had lost a large number of ships during the last battle. Some of the factories on Earth could be converted to create new ships, but Earth lacked the necessary alloys. Chase proposed instead that they modify certain factories to retrofit existing airplanes used for in-atmosphere combat, giving them space flight capabilities as well as shielding, and upgrading their weapons from projectile based to particle based.
“I like the Tomcat F-14 particularly,” he said. “It’s a formidable looking craft, and our analysis of many of Earth jet fighters shows that it would be the least difficult plane to adapt to our needs. We should have a modified prototype, renamed the Tomcat F-140 or, as Yanis has taken to calling it, the Thunderbolt, in the next few days. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow.”
“I would like to be allowed to test fly it, if I may?” Commander Kepler blurted without raising her hand. Her excitement was palpable. The prospect of piloting the first space-worthy fighter was irresistible.
Chase paused. “I intended to fly the craft myself, Commander, but, as the F-140 is a two-seater airplane, maybe we can share her maiden voyage.”
“That would be fine, Lieutenant Commander. Thank you for the opportunity.”
A faint blush tinted his cheeks and Chase looked down. “Yes, very well.” This time, when he looked up, he was staring straight into the twinkling eyes of the captain. Mortified, he straightened up and presented a segue. “Now, on to the bad news.”
The entire table stiffened, clearly unwilling to receive anything but good news today.
“As you all know, our technologies are hundreds of years ahead of Earth. And while we’ve been adapting your technologies and upgrading them to serve short-term purposes, we are quickly running out of the resources we’ll need to make all of this work.”
“What kind of resources?” asked a scientist at the other side of the table.
“Well, our engines and most of our shielding technology is hinged upon a crystal-based element known as quadrinium, a resource that is very abundant where we come from but that we haven’t been able to find in this solar system. This crystal is very dense; only a small amount can fuel a ship for weeks. We were lucky to have a significant stock of it on one of our cargo ships, but we estimate we’ll run out of it soon; we may already lack the necessary amount needed to power all the defense systems we need to build for the next attack.”
The news hit like a hammer and everyone in the conference room stayed silent for what felt like an eternity. Finally, General Adams spoke.
“What can we do then?”
“I propose we prepare a mission to nearby systems to try to find more. Maybe at the same time, we could find some more allies.”
“But can we afford to split our forces with the threat of an impending attack?”
“That’s the risk. We can’t afford it but, on the other hand, we still need to send a ship accompanied by some fighters to be able to defend it in case we’re attacked. We could even take some of the F-140s, should the test flight go well.”
“Alright, son, who will lead this mission?”
“I’d like to go myself if that’s alright. Perhaps General Adams could dispatch some of Earth’s ground troops to help on the planetary side of the mission if necessary.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea. You’ll get as many men as you require, Lieutenant Commander.”
“Thank you, General.”
The general nodded. He had been an invaluable ally ever since Chase had arrived in Earth’s orbit. Without his help and the satellite, Chase wouldn’t even be here. There had been an instant trust between the two of them, a reliance based on strong respect.
“That settles it then. In the next few days, I’ll lead a mission to find quadrinium and hopefully some new allies along the way.”
Chase was pensive the rest of the meeting. His thoughts wandered from the ongoing presentations about the financial shift and the paradigms used to get rid of the monetary system as Earth knew it, and what problems the global economy was facing ever since the first changes had been put in place. A temporary transition phase where time would become a currency until all the necessary infrastructure changes were put in place was being discussed. His thoughts wandered even more and he focused instead upon the coming attack. As of now, Earth was vastly unprepared and, if he wasn’t able to find any quadrinium, they would never reach the level of readiness they needed to survive. But the mission itself could take him away from the people he cared about exactly in their time of need.
If only he knew when the attack was going to happen. How much time did they have before the skies opened and rained down fire?
Ten days? Ten hours? Ten minutes…?
Chapter XIII
Today’s the day, Sarah thought as she got up.
The previous evening Chase had called to let her know that the F-140 was ready for its maiden test flight. He sounded very polite but also a little shy. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination or if he was genuinely interested in her, beyond the professional. She liked him. He was, after all, an attractive man. But the timing? She was still recovering from the attack on Earth, the death of her wingman, the knowledge that there was life on other worlds, the goddess intervention…not to mention the impending doom of her planet.
Needless to say, there was a lot on her mind.
But Sarah was a pilot at heart. And despite everything going on around her, she found herself completely preoccupied with the blissful reality that she was about to fly a modified Tomcat F-14 into outer space. The thought alone was intoxicating!
Intoxicating and impossible. Who would have thought that everything Earth had achieved in the last month was even conceivable. Sometimes it felt like she was living in a sci-fi movie, about to wake up and discover her life and her p
lanet was exactly how it had always been. Fixed in its corrupt ways. Unable to change. Plotting its own destruction. If Chase and the Alliance hadn’t decided to intervene, perhaps they would never have changed.
That thought was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Sarah looked in the mirror, adjusted her uniform, and then quickly went to answer the door.
It was Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos, also in uniform. The Alliance uniform was striking—mostly black with hints of grey, and some blue and gold lining here and there. It commanded both class and authority; the fabric seemed soft yet solid. It also looked like it wouldn’t be easy to crease.
“Good morning! You look quite stunning in that uniform, if I may say, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos.”
Chase was clearly caught off guard and blushed as he glanced at the ground. Sarah smiled to herself. Further proof that she had indeed sensed something between the two of them that went beyond work. But now was not the time for such things. She had a Thunderbolt to fly.
“Huh, thanks.” He gave her a small smile. “I’ll get you one if you like. After all, we’re all part of the same Alliance now.”
“Not really a priority these days, Lieutenant Commander, but yes, I would love to own one of these.”
“I’ll have one made for you soon. And please, call me Chase.”
“Very well, Chase. Only if you call me Sarah.”
“Sarah it is then. Ready for the test flight?”
“Impatiently so!”
Chase grinned. Her enthusiasm for flight matched his own. “Let’s go then; a shuttle is waiting to take us directly to the test site.”
After a twenty-minute ride, the shuttle landed somewhere that used to be Sweden. The doors opened in a military base of some kind, lined up with one hangar after another. They descended the steps at hangar seven, where not one, but two F-140s stood waiting.
Earth Last Sanctuary (Universe in Flames Book 1) Page 13
