Star Kitten

by Purple Hazel

  Naturally, as the surviving Earth troops and tanks retreated, they created a cave-in which sealed off the shaft again. Naustie Army units, when they retook the tunnel and Schpleefti village a few days later, discovered this had happened and found where the lead tank had accidentally smashed through the wall of the volcanic vent and plunged thousands of feet into the molten core of the planet. Most everyone at the time celebrated the minor victory. A tank had finally been destroyed!

  Yet Solomon still had to pose this question, “Just how could they not notice they were getting close to a volcano? The heat in that tunnel would have been practically unbearable to an Earthman. Was it because of those climate-controlled suits they were wearing?" The Slarts on his staff thought about it for a minute. Solomon had raised a good point. Naustie miners working near this area typically wore little if any clothing at all; and the heat was so stifling at times that they had to take breaks every hour to cool off, working only six hour shifts to protect their health, most days.

  However… these Earth men somehow didn’t notice the sudden increase in temperature before they’d nearly set off a volcanic discharge and opened up the depths of hell itself. Solomon had to ask his colleagues bluntly, “Gentlemen, just what would have happened if this had happened say… deeper and closer to the volcanic core? Could they have caused… an eruption?”

  Chapter 25:

  Hell Cracks Open

  A month had passed now since the beginning of the campaign. Tens of thousands of Nausties were now dead; and the Naustie army had been reduced in size to a mere thirty thousand—or less depending on who you were talking to. Earth forces were hunting them sure; but as the Slart planners on Solomon’s staff observed, it seemed the Earthmen's strategy was more of a systematic attempt at CORNERING them somewhere closer to the bottom of the known mining network. Sensing this, Solomon and his planning team met nearly day and night to discuss plans for a final defense of the planet.

  When and where might it occur; and what would they do when there was nowhere left to run? There were still plenty more tunnel tanks… still lots more Earther troops. How would they fight them?

  Many ideas proposed were later determined to be infeasible, but some were almost crazy enough to work. The discussion just kept circling back to that doomed Earther tunnel tank which smashed through a volcanic vent and then plunged to its own destruction thousands of feet below into an infernal sea of liquid hot magma. That’s why Solomon asked his planning staff, “If this tunnel tank had been a large explosive devise… could this have caused an eruption?”

  Luckily there was one Slart on Solomon’s planning team—a rather diminutive squid-like being named Cuttlefish—who really seemed to have a good acumen for volcanos and eruptions. Cuttlefish had a vast knowledge of major volcanic activity throughout the galaxy’s history, so he knew what caused them. As a younger Slartigifijian; he’d actually studied geology in college, which made him immensely valuable as a prisoner working in the mines. But his big passion was the study of volcanos. It had remained a hobby of his all his life.

  As Cuttlefish explained to Solomon and the rest of the team, "If you want to try to cause a volcano to erupt, you’ll need to do a few things: First you must find a volcano that is already showing some signs of magma instability. This might be high levels of volcanic gases, shallow earthquakes, or deformation of the volcanic shaft. Basically you want something “primed” to go. We have one such magma chamber several miles below the surface and it’s located right underneath one of our tribal territories actually….”

  Cuttlefish then took out a grease pencil that miners often used, and drew a cutaway diagram of New Australia. He drew a big circle; then detailed the interior of it, showing the locations of where they were standing in relation to this magma chamber. He also marked where the tribal lands of one Pumalar tribe was located nearby it. A volcanic vent did indeed lead right past or next to this massive cavern where Pumalars had been digging out industrial diamonds for the past several years. While he drew this enormous diagram on a smoothed off section of cave wall at central command, he continued to educate Solomon and the others on how a volcanic eruption can be triggered:

  “Next you need to figure out a way to release the lithostatic pressure that’s ‘keeping the cork on the bottle’, so to speak. This must be done so that bubbles can form. Think of a bottle of carbonated beverage; or even champagne. When inside the bottle and sealed, the liquid appears to be dormant. Once the cap is released, the carbon inside the liquid tries to escape rapidly or even violently. If we were to set up enough explosives to “remove” this “cap” so to speak, then this could create instability in the magma below. And then finally we need to figure out how to get a lot of water into the volcano quickly … but not too quickly of course."

  As Cuttlefish envisioned it, the eruption could possibly be triggered much like the Indonesian volcano “Krakatoa” from Earth’s ancient history. This disaster occurred on August 26-27, 1883 when a series of massive explosions destroyed most of the island of Krakatau, Indonesia. The eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT, or about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. One hundred sixty five villages and towns were destroyed and over 36,000 people died—with many more thousands injured. In this debacle, a series of Earthquakes finally led to the rushing of sea water into opened volcanic vents; and the resulting instability led to a series of horrific volcanic explosions over a two day period.

  Solomon clarified, "So then we can do it, can't we... I mean don't we have all those things already? We’ve got explosives to drop into the magma… we’ve got glacier water…." The wise little Slart fluttered his facial tentacles pensively as he apparently was pausing to choose his words carefully; but these things were never really clear with Slarts. They didn't lie, however they also didn't reveal emotions as easily as other species. "Technically, we do Commander... may I show you more?" asked Cuttlefish dryly. Solomon smiled slightly; and then patiently gestured for Cuttlefish to continue. He realized the little creature was merely theorizing at this point; and Slarts would never commit to an OPINION unless they’d done meticulous calculations to determine its overwhelming probability.

  Cuttlefish said, "You see Commander, dropping a bomb into a volcano doesn't really address the pressure issue because the explosion couldn't possibly remove enough of the overlying rocks to release lithostatic pressure. Drilling into a volcano would be like trying to bleed a Pumalar to death with a single needle prick. Not enough pressure would be released to really make a difference. That’s why the Earthmen in the rest of the column marching behind the doomed Earth tunnel tank did not perish in a volcanic holocaust, like we need to try and create.” Cuttlefish then paused again and waited patiently for all this science to sink in with Solomon. Out of respect, he waited for his commander to ask any clarifying questions. Seeing none, he continued: “However… here's how I believe we can do it...." Solomon smiled. He had sensed all along that Cuttlefish knew theoretically just how to cause a volcanic eruption and this was finally his great moment to shine.

  The clever little Slart (who had been imprisoned twenty years ago for involuntary homicide when he accidentally started a laboratory fire) went on to detail his proposal to Solomon and the rest of the team. Reactions were mixed; but as much as Solomon could understand from Cuttlefish's scientific explanations, it was indeed clear that the planet had everything necessary to cause a massive volcanic eruption. The only question, as Cuttlefish cautioned his commander, was the issue of TIME. Could the circumstances and triggers be put in place at just the right time—and cause an eruption at just the right moment—when Earth forces were massed in a confined area and most vulnerable? An even better question was whether the rest of the planet could indeed survive the succeeding eruptions which would likely consume thousands of miles of tunnels and shafts.

  Luckily for the Slarts… it was really up to their commander to decide if they should proceed. That’s what Solomon
had taught them… just compile the information and let Solomon take the heat if the idea failed. They were more than comfortable with that. This time Solomon didn’t hesitate. He listened to Cuttlefish explain his plan; and when the presentation concluded, Solomon just said “Very good. Let’s do it.”

  After that meeting, Naustie Central Command sprang into action. Orders were issued, and tasks were delegated left and right. Solomon himself actually went out and organized units of tunnel crews... even took some Prokonji battle units out of the front lines to begin digging a new network of tunnels. These soldiers in the tunneling units were not really told why; but each day they'd be given digging plans and told the direction and distance they were to cut. Teams worked in shifts basically 24 Earth hours a day, rotating in fresh crewmen regularly to keep up the progress. No, they didn’t know exactly why they were cutting all these new tunnels; but they were told this: They had to hurry. Earther tunnel tanks were progressing rapidly toward them from many different sections of the mine network.

  The plan behind all this from Cuttlefish was complicated but ingenious: devise a system of channels for the intense heat from volcanic vents to reach subterranean glacial ice above them. These glaciers were located throughout the planet; and above them were subterranean aquifers that held millions of gallons of water. The heat from the volcanic vents would melt the ice and then drain glacier water down into the giant magma chamber below. The water would create instability in the magma and cause pressure to build up (just like the sea water did in Krakatoa). Eventually, once the magma chamber reached an acceptable level of agitation and instability, charges could be placed underneath the cavern floor located above this massive magma chamber and detonated.

  The resulting blast would release the pressure and likely cause an eruption which would send lava shooting up tunnels and shafts—even all the way to the surface—killing or incinerating most everything in its path. It was dangerous, yes, but Solomon believed in his staff completely. They would, he believed, calculate all probabilities for success; and take into consideration all potential threats to the rest of the planet. In other words; they would also calculate “acceptable losses” to the Naustie population. This part of the plan, Solomon really didn’t want to hear about….

  Such a "scorched earth" approach to the planetary defense did indeed have its drawbacks, as Solomon's team warned him; because once unleashed after all, lava flow was bound to go practically wherever it pleased. It might very well wipe out significant numbers of enemy units, yes. But it would also devastate much of the planet in the process; and that was only if they created an eruption large enough. There was nothing they could do to control it; once it began, but Solomon knew it's what he had to do (despite the fact his conscience tortured him most every night worrying about the potential consequences).

  Solomon wisely sent Felina out to visit the threatened areas which seemingly sat in the path of the enemy tank pincer movements; or which might be devastated by the resulting floods and eruption. She pleaded with some of the more stubborn Chieftains there to evacuate their homelands; and move further away from the enemy to new safer locations below. It was a tough sales job at times!

  Felina gave speeches to terrified villagers and demoralized warriors saying things like, "The tanks are coming my friends. Leave your homes so that our army may kill the invader right here at your doorstep. A new homeland awaits you all elsewhere, but for now you must leave...." To each village she'd give that or a similar speech; and each time it was argued vehemently. Schpleefti tribes working down near the planet core were adamant about staying and fighting. Pumalar tribes who'd been isolated down near the volcanic core of New Australia for decades protested as well. Had not Vlad already visited months before and told them to stand their ground and fight to the death?

  It was actually a Pumalar tribal chieftain who posed this argument best by confronting Felina at one of her evacuation campaign speeches. After she spoke to his tribe all gathered in the center of their great cavern; Chief Razor of the Cave Lions climbed up on a huge stalagmite with a flattened top and addressed the very agitated crowd. Speaking to the crowd while gesturing toward his honored guest with a giant paw he bellowed in a gruff voice, "Princess Felina... great wife of Solomon, Chieftain of Schpleeftkorkii... She tell us leave this place and abandon our homes. She tell us not stay and fight. Invader come our way. Army going to flood cavern and kill Earther soldier with fiery lava.” He glanced over at the lovely Felina and nodded his head out of respect. Then he continued, “So be it. We love Felina; and so we shall do as she bids us. However... Cave Lion all know that lava has no master.”

  He put his hands on his hips and thrust out his chest defiantly, inhaling before he spoke loudly, “Takes no commands from anyone. Lava does what it wills. Lava goes wherever it wishes. Lava, Felina says, will kill the invader. And I, Razor, Chieftain of the Cave Lion tribe, agree with Felina. But… the lava will kill Nausties too.” He pointed out toward the crowd, then concluded, “Earther troops will die, yes... but I believe… so will all of us!”

  The crowd cheered their leader Razor and jeered at poor Felina as she stood on a platform of steel plating erected over a group of stalagmites inside this cavern which was roughly the size of an Olympic sports stadium. Though relatively young as a tribe, having been established only within the past thirty years, the Cave Lions were extremely loyal to their lands and considered the volcano beneath them to be sacred. For three decades they'd been scratching out an existence mining industrial diamonds. And before that, they dug out perovskite crystals, one of which created much of their cavern when it was removed.

  The resulting cavern was located right next to a volcanic fissure that bubbled up hot mineral water into a large spring located at one end of their tribal lands. Meanwhile, they'd carved out caves to live in over the decades, and recently even begun breeding with purchased Pumalar females; whom they'd also now freed and made members of their tribe. Mewing kittens could be heard back in their caves, while a thousand warriors, farmers, and their tribal "wives" stood voicing their disdain. They matched their chieftain’s intensity with their yells and shouts. They shoved their paws into the air in protest at having to flee in the face of an enemy. This would be a disgrace, most of them felt. If they were going to die, then let them do so in battle with the enemy. That would be honorable.

  Felina... cool and calm as ever, merely nodded patiently and waited for the uproar to subside.

  She replied to the Chieftain in a raised voice as though answering him but still also addressing the crowd, "Yes, brave and mighty Chief Razor, I wish for you and your Cave Lion tribe to follow me out of this cavern and abandon your homes. Yes… if you heed my request, you may escape with your lives. Escape to fight another day, we all hope. But when the tunnelers have burrowed under us to allow charges to be placed in the floor of this cavern underneath our feet... when the blasts create a gash in this rock below us... the effect could very well be global volcanic holocaust... a debacle that wipes out all life on New Australia." She paused for the crowd to absorb all this. There was no use telling them everything was going to be okay; when she had no real assurances to give them from her husband (or his planning team) in the first place.

  But then after a few moments she went on, "However… wise Slartigifijians, working for my husband have calculated that the seams created from this detonation will explode gases and lava up through the shafts occupied by our enemy. If successful, fireballs capable of incinerating an Earthman to dust will race through the shafts... back to the planet surface... wiping out all Earthers coming toward us and decimating their army where they stand."

  Felina then paused and thought for a moment. Her audience was almost completely silent by now, and in a sense they seemed to be just hanging on her words; anticipating her next sentence with great anxiety. If she could just say the right thing, they'd follow her right out of that cavern. But what could she say? Oh, how they wanted to believe in her, she could tell. They truly loved her, t
hey really did. But perhaps she was asking too much of them; and that was the problem. That's when it occurred to her. They worshipped the volcano underneath them! Not like a god... Pumalars did not believe in a supreme deity of any kind... they merely worshipped ancestors and believed their souls existed in the afterlife in a manner that reflected the honor with which they once lived their lives.

  A smile grew across Felina's face. A kind and warm, loving smile. The words formed in her mind and her lips formed them into speech, without her even measuring what she said with any form of logic. She was merely channeling what she felt from her audience and speaking instinctively. "Therefore, let us let the planet decide if we live or die!" she blurted out... then paused to give herself a chance to think about what she'd just said and consider whether it even made sense. Suddenly she started nodding enthusiastically. "Yes! That's what we need to do. If we are, as a people, to eventually inherit this planet as our very own, then let the planet choose us... or… if the sacred volcano below us wishes instead for us to join our ancestors in Fukuoka... at the great table in the hall of warriors... then so be it! Let us all die with honor, if that shall be our fate!" Murmurs began arising from the crowd. Shouts rang out too. She was actually making progress! The crowd started nodding together in agreement; with even a few raising their paws to show their support. Felina continued, sensing she was winning them over, "If we are wrong my friends, and the planet kills us all, then let THAT be so! Because...."

  The crowd began cheering as she raised her voice even higher... "Because if we are to possess this planet... if that was ever our right to do so... then I believe this planet SHALL choose us…." she then paused to let her audience finish the thought process themselves. They could see it now. The sacred volcano below them, once released, would determine who was to live or die; and who was to possess New Australia once and for all.