KAIJU APOCALYPSE II
ERIC S. BROWN
&
JASON CORDOVA
KAIJU APOCALYPSE II
Around him, the world crumbled and burned, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Captain Nathan Whitmire gasped as the last bit of cryo-sleep began to wear off, his higher brain functions pushing the subconscious reactions to the back as he became aware of his surroundings and his location. His lungs burned as they took their first breath of true oxygen. His throat felt raw and abused. Strength slowly returned to his body as his nervous system came fully online. With that strength, though, came the realization that he was still alive.
Instead of opening his eyes, however, he reached for the dream that had been tormenting him. He knew that scientists believed that when the subconscious mind dominated during a long cryo-sleep, a sort of “precognitive” experience could occur when the changeover began. It was a very rare experience, but Nathan knew that it was always accurate – if the memory could be retained. Science could not explain it, and it was the rare individual who could remember the dream. Unfortunately, the last vestiges of this particular dream slipped from his mental fingers, gone forever.
“Good morning, Captain Whitmire,” a hollow, yet cheerful sounding voice greeted him as he woke up. It belonged to the Argo's artificial intelligence system, Medea.
His mind drifted back to the faded memory. Something bad was about to happen, he recalled. However, the rest of the dream eluded him. That memory washed out as well as his mind came fully aware of his surroundings.
Nathan stretched out his arms and struggled to wiggle his toes as the cryo-juice was flushed from his system. His stomach gurgled noisily, reminding him that, if all had gone well, it had been over seventeen months since he had last eaten. An intense pressure was suddenly applied to his bladder and a soft moan passed unbidden through his lips.
There was no way around it. The human body was not designed for cryo-sleep, and coming out of it was one of the most painful experiences outside of childbirth. His skin felt like it was on fire as every single nerve in his extremities came alive. If he could have screamed, he would have. Fortunately for his dignity, his vocal cords were not yet up to snuff for any sort of screaming. The pain slowly became manageable as the moments passed, and finally went away fully. He cracked open his eyes and slowly went through his mental checklist.
“Relax, Captain,” Medea tried to soothe him as his fingers began to twitch and respond to his commands. “The cryo-juice is almost completely out of your system. In eight seconds, you should have full control over your motor skills once more. How are you feeling?”
Nathan didn’t answer, focusing instead on his left big toe. It was a trick he had learned when he had come out of cryo for the very first time during the trial runs. If he could focus on something small and typically ignored, the rest of the pain would drift away.
“How long has it been, Medea?” Nathan asked as the last wave of pain went away. His tongue felt thick and his jaw was sore, but that was to be expected. He had not used it in a very long time.
“You have been in cryo-sleep for one year, five months, two days–”
“Thanks,” Nathan said, cutting the AI off. “That’s good enough. Give me a SITREP, starting with structural integrity of the Argo.”
“Structural integrity of the hull is at satisfactory levels,” Medea began, her voice still cheerful as Nathan swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. The room spun slightly as blood rushed to his head. He grabbed one of the overhead handles and waited for the sudden bout of dizziness to pass. Meanwhile, Medea continued to drone on. “Environmental levels in occupied sections are nominal. Oxygen levels are coming up to hospitable levels at primary duty stations throughout the Argo. Engineering is showing green on all four engines, and both the primary and secondary bridges are fully powered. All stations, save one, report green beds. There was one catastrophic failure of a cryo-sleep bed, Portside Section, Subsection D, resulting in a singular fatality due to irreparable damage to the vagus nerve, and thus causing a complete nervous system failure. Resuscitation was not possible. Notification of the death has been passed on to the Medical Board.”
“Damn,” Nathan grunted as he grabbed his uniform from the storage closet. He quickly pulled on his trousers and buttoned up his blouse. “Medea, who was the individual that died?”
“Engineering Apprentice Bahwoh Buhtan Woods, Captain.”
Nathan shook his head. “Never heard of her.”
“Him, actually, Captain,” Medea corrected in a gentle tone. “Single, nineteen years of age. Family origins were from Liberia, a member of the ruling National Humanist Movement before he emigrated to Lemura Base after the fall of Abidjan. Completed his first apprenticeship just before the Argo left Earth, though he was not one of the engineers who were wakened upon our arrival at Alpha Centauri. He left no dependents.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Nathan muttered as he rubbed his scalp. “All right, let’s get up to speed.”
“We are currently in a heliosynchronous orbit of Earth,” Medea began. “The Argo is currently stationed at four hundred kilometers above the Earth’s surface and is maintaining a constant speed of 11,973 kilometers per hour. The Argo is currently above Pacifica Base, and soon shall be moving into position above Lemura Base, then crossing paths with Atlantica Base. I am currently running diagnostics on our communications system due to unknown anomalies, which are interfering with connectivity of any relay on Earth, or to any of the satellites which are still in orbit.”
“Wait,” Nathan paused while lacing up his boots. “Is it an issue on our end or Earth’s?”
“Unknown at this time,” Medea replied.
“Well, that’s great,” Nathan grunted and finished putting his boots on. He bloused his trousers and stood up. “Okay, run an internal diagnostics and wake up a sensor team to run a diagnostics on our own relay in case this is a hardware issue. Also, continue waking vital crew of the ship as per standard operating procedures. How long will your internal diagnostics take?”
“Five minutes, eleven seconds,” Medea responded.
“Okay,” Nathan nodded. “Do it. How long until the sensor team is up and about?”
“I took the liberty of waking them already, sir,” Medea stated. “I was unable to initially identify any type of radio transmissions upon clearing the asteroid belt. Even accounting for the fourteen minute delay when we passed Ceres, there has been no radio waves detected in the time since.”
“You’re not picking up any radio signals or laser transmissions?” Nathan asked, surprised.
“Correct.”
“Do we have any visuals of Pacifica, Atlantica or Lemura yet? Or any of the bases?”
“I have visuals of Pacifica Base stored in my memory banks, Captain,” Medea answered. “Bringing them online now.”
Nathan walked over to his console and watched as the image of the base appeared on screen. He frowned and zoomed in on the image. His frown deepened as he stared at the screen, his mind not comprehending what he was seeing. Pacifica was there, yet the walls appeared to be ruined. There were life forms in the streets, but they were shorter than he expected to see, bulkier somehow.
Pacifica had fallen, it appeared. Nathan’s heart grew cold in his chest. If Pacifica had fallen, then the smaller bases did not stand a chance.
“How long until we pass over Lemura?” Nathan asked, his voice suddenly hoarse.
“Fourteen minutes,” Medea answered. Nathan swore softly.
“Okay, let’s start waking up vital personnel only,” Nathan ordered. “Keep the colonists and non-essential crew in cryo for the time being. Also, wake
up Governor Trion. Begin operating under Gamma Protocols until we have more information. Everything we have in the visual banks are now classified Top Secret and above.”
“Yes, Captain,” Medea said. “Might I remind you that the Gamma Protocols require some sort of civilian oversight of all military personnel?”
“I know that, Medea,” Nathan replied. “That’s why I had you wake up Governor Trion and only the governor. She’ll function as my oversight, and I can control one civilian much easier than I can a dozen.”
“I am not entirely certain that is why this protocol was written this way...” the AI’s voice tapered off. Nathan smiled grimly.
“I’m violating the spirit of the law,” Nathan told the machine, “not the letter. It’s a human thing.”
“Indeed.” If AI’s could sigh, Medea would have. “Very well then, Captain, Gamma Protocol initiated.”
Nathan collapsed into the chair next to the console. “Continue trying to raise someone – anyone – on the planet. I need to know what’s going on down there and what sort of assistance they can provide, or God forbid, we can provide them.”
Something was wrong, terribly wrong. There was no way a ship as large as the Argo could enter orbit and someone from the surface not spot it. The Argo contained over twelve thousand men, women, and children within her stout hull. This also accounted for its crew, and the detachment of five hundred defense force soldiers assigned to provide internal security as well as serve as a protective force. She was the United World’s first colony ship and was to have been mankind's greatest hope for continuation of the species. When the great disaster occurred and the oceans of Earth rose to claim most of its landmasses, the need to expand to the stars in order to survive had changed from an afterthought to a desperate gamble. Earth, it had been decided by the powers that be, could no longer support the human race as it once had. The rich and powerful, the military, and those with much needed talents and skills found shelter in the great island cities like Alantica, Pacifica and Lemura. Those less fortunate, who had survived the floods, were left to fend for themselves outside the massive protective walls as the Kaiju began to encroach further into human territory than ever before. Small enclaves fell before the might of the Mother Kaiju – towering, massive creatures who attacked any and all humans with single-minded drive.
The island city-states were, for all intents and purposes, military bases before the invasions began in earnest, or humanity wouldn't have stood a chance in those early days at all. Alantica and Pacifica were the two largest and best funded, with a work force that dwarfed the remaining bases, and through their combined efforts, the Argo was constructed in the safety of space next to the International Space Station. Even with humanity's continued existence on the line and a dedicated work force devoting all of its time and energy into construction, she took over a year to complete. Nathan knew that her being finished so fast was nothing short of a miracle, but those months had passed like years as he readied her crew and oversaw the work being done on her.
During the first stages of construction, the Kaiju attacks had been limited. One or two of the giant “Mother” Kaiju attacked a given city roughly every month, but as the Argo neared completion, the attacks began to increase. Mere weeks before he left the Earth's surface for the final time, a new breed of Kaiju had shown themselves. They weren't like the Mothers but were much smaller and faster. Their numbers seemed endless and they attacked with a frenzy mankind had not seen since the last world war. The “Dog” Kaiju, as the unfortunate infantry, which was tasked to fight them dubbed them, attacked the city-states en mass, armies of them swarming onto the beaches and overrunning any given base defenses. Many of the smaller city-states had been feeling the strain of defending against their relentless attacks, even as the Argo's main engines came fully online. The bloodbath at Nor-wic, Nathan recalled, had been especially horrific.
The slaughter of every man, woman and child at Nor-wic pushed the United World Council members into action. The new plan was simple. The Argo was to leave Earth’s orbit and make her way to the Alpha Centauri system. It was a gamble, but a well-calculated one, and offered the best chance of finding a planet Earth-like enough to start over and rebuild. With her cargo loaded and the soon-to-be colonists safely aboard and in cryo-sleep, Nathan had stood on her bridge as space bent around her and she left the Sol System behind.
Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans have a tendency to go wrong.
Upon reaching Alpha Centauri, Nathan and a select few from the crew awoke to discover the sole planet close enough to Earth standards for a colony was already inhabited by a primitive race of bestial bipeds. These creatures were similar in appearance and behavior to the Sasquatch and yeti legends of Earth. Despite the firepower the Argo carried, it would have been impossible to wipe the monsters out completely and as long as they lived, there would be no peace on the new world.
Reluctantly, Nathan made the difficult call to return home to Earth. There was nothing for mankind in the Alpha Centauri system, and he felt the resources aboard the Argo could be better spent helping the whole of humanity fight the war with the Kaiju, than wasted randomly searching for a new home somewhere out in the stars.
Now, the Argo was home. But what, if anything, had she come home to, he wondered.
The visual images and recordings Medea had made of Pacifica Base flooded the screen in front of him, confirming that the city was gone. Thousands upon thousands of the lesser, smaller Dog Kaiju prowled its ruins and the shores surrounding the base. Nathan slumped back in his seat, stunned. So many lives lost. He had to wonder if anyone from Atlantica had survived down there when the Kaiju took the walls. He could only speculate on just how long it had taken the Kaiju to kill every last soul in the doomed city.
“Captain,” Medea interrupted his musings. “Lemura Base will be within visual range in two minutes. Also, internal diagnostics are complete. Our communications relays are working at full capabilities. The problem, it seems, is on Earth.”
“Thank you, Medea,” Nathan grunted.
“And sir? I am sorry.”
Nathan shook his head. He hadn’t flown over 25 trillion miles to give up now. He pushed himself forward to sit up straighter. “Give me a wider scan, Medea. Someone has to be down there, and it’s our job to find them. I want a search of all the bases, even the smaller ones.”
*****
April “Kitty” Voecks rolled out of her cryo-bed, happy to be awake and for the pain to be gone. She rushed to don her uniform and get ready for action. The other members of the Argo's crew in her section were doing the same. They were all home now, and she was glad to be back, Kaiju war or no. Sure, she was disappointed about the mission's failure to find a habitable, safe world in the Alpha Centauri system. However, she had gotten to see the stars and travel among them. That had been her dream since she had been a child, a dream which she had lived at last.
She spotted Lieutenant Dale Fletcher staring at her as she zipped up her coveralls. She offered him an impish grin, which in turn caused him to blush fiercely. His brown hair was wild and hung down over to cover his forehead, though it did nothing for his current predicament. Officer or not, it was his trademark look, one that he was willing to skirt the regulations in order to keep. Despite his rough appearance, Fletcher was a very attractive man. Like her, he was in his mid-twenties, his body lean and hard from the training that came with being a part of the Argo's crew.
“Long trip for nothing, eh?” he managed to ask without stammering, brushing his hair up and out of his eyes.
“I wouldn't say that,” Kitty laughed. “We've learned a lot about long-range space travel, and the Argo proved she's trustworthy. Plus, the astrophysics department learned more about the curvature of space-time around a binary star system.”
“You have some crazy friends,” Fletcher muttered.
“What? They showed me how light can be used to create energy,” Kitty gushed. “Not just like solar energy, but how to actually do
it! That was awesome!”
Fletcher shook his head. “You always look at the bright side of things.”
“Did you mean to do that?” Kitty tittered. “I find it's better than the alternative.” Kitty flashed him another smile. “Got to get to my station, but I'll catch you later, okay?”
“You better,” Fletcher said and dashed away in the opposite direction that she was heading. Kitty was a civilian sensor specialist, while Fletcher was part of the ship’s engineering staff and thus, military. She would be needed on the ship's primary bridge as quickly as she could manage.
Kitty darted into a nearby lift and held its door for two more bridge crewmembers to enter. She found it more than a little strange that they did not have orders yet. When the Argo had dropped into normal space around Alpha Centauri, everything had been so rehearsed and planned out. Of course, she figured, no one had ever counted on them coming home. Things had not quite devolved into chaos, not yet. The Argo's crew was well trained at their jobs, but the air was filled with more than a little uncertainty. It seemed no one knew exactly what they should be doing. Everyone was just treating this as Alpha Centauri all over again, though the doubt of their actions showed in their expressions and movements. Steps were hesitant, and voices carried just a hint of unease in them. Earth was a known world, and likely Alantica or Pacifica had already checked in with the Captain to advise them on what came next. The Argo herself was too large and unwieldy to enter the Earth's atmosphere proper. There was always the threat they she'd break apart if she tried. That did not mean that people and supplies wouldn't start being shipped down as soon as possible.
Kaiju Apocalypse II Page 1
