by Kris Powers
“Where the other end of that wormhole is.”
“Already have it, Lathiel,” he said.
“Execute.”
The organic blue ship with its connected set of wings began to glow from the emitters attached at either end of its appendages. They flashed before the entire ship became a tiny bright star and disappeared from that part of the galaxy.
The Easter Island Agreements’ last battle was fought to overthrow what they perceived as the real threat to their continued survival. The Coalition. To achieve this, they sent all of their reserve forces against an Alliance weakened by a decade of war. With the Alliance occupied by a full scale attack, they could send only thirty—seven warships to reinforce the Coalition lines at the climatic battle at Phobos. The number become a motto for many Coalition soldiers afterwards and is still believed to have originated the long standing schism between the two surviving powers.
A Great Downfall: The Last Days of the Easter Island Agreements
by Ronald Emmerich
Chapter IV
“I don’t know about this,” Fleet Admiral Nelson said. He sat at the head of a table with the twenty most senior admirals in the fleet. They resided within a room of concrete deep below the streets of New York.
“I think there is an issue here of putting all of our eggs in one basket,” one of the many admirals said. “If the Phoenix Project is a failure, then we would have no other recourse but to surrender to Coalition forces.”
“And you’re telling me we need more options?”
“I’m suggesting that we need to ensure the Alliance survives this.”
“I hear what you’re saying,” Nelson said. He brought a glass of water to his brown lips. “I hear what you’re all saying, but the military hasn’t drafted a general order in fifty years.”
The other general leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on the thick conference table. “We need to ensure our survival, Ronnie.”
“Signing this seems like an early notice of surrender to me.”
“It broadens our options.”
“I will sign this only with your full backing and I mean everyone’s.”
“You’ve got it,” said the first admiral, her hands outspread in a placating gesture.
“What about you, Eli?” Nelson looked down the table to the admiral facing him from the distant end of its oak surface.
“I have the same reservations as you do Admiral,” Elliot replied.
“And?”
“I hate to admit it, but under the circumstances, it’s the best decision for all concerned.”
“Fine.” Nelson took an electronic pen to the document and scratched his signature into the link.
“Thank—you, Admiral.”
“Don’t thank me, Clair. I may have just ensured that a large part of our population becomes future bohemians. Now, if that’s all then I suggest we adjourn.”
The gathering of brass got up from the table and slowly filtered out of the room. Fleet Admiral Ronnie Nelson caught up with Elliot before he could return to the Endeavour.
“Thanks for coming, Eli.” Nelson extended his right hand.
“No problem.” Elliot said, returning the handshake. “Why did you need me here? All of the other admirals here have been around a lot longer than I have.”
“You’re head of Phoenix now, Eli. I needed some firsthand input.”
“Thanks for the call.”
“Do you really agree with the new general order?”
“Honestly?” Elliot asked.
“You can speak freely here.”
“I don’t know. It seems like a good idea on paper. I would just like to know if this sort of thing will be good for everyone left behind,” Elliot said.
“I know what you mean, but I assure you, I will only give this order if there’s no other option.”
“Is there anything else? I’ve got to get back to finalizing the initial plans for the project.”
“How is everything going? I heard you found a few adjutants to help you out,” Nelson asked.
“Things are going pretty well. The only thing we’re having a problem with is building the warhead.”
“I’ll make sure you have every resource you need,” Nelson said while they walked down a fluorescent lit corridor. Elliot stopped him by placing a hand on his arm.
“It’s not that. We can build the warhead and have it ready within a few months.”
“So what’s the problem?” Nelson inquired as the last of the other admirals passed between them.
“Is it necessary to have the warhead? We’ll have what we need with the new ships and the transports for the civilians.”
“Now Eli, this won’t work without it,” Nelson said in frustration, “you know that. The only way the Coalition will let our ships leave is with the threat of that warhead hanging over their head and that’s that. Without it, they’ll corner us in less than an hour.”
“I guess so, Sir.”
“Good. Is everything else alright?” Nelson asked.
“Yes, the rest of the project is proceeding apace.”
“Then I won’t keep you,” Nelson said.
Elliot nodded and began the walk towards the lift that would return him to the surface.
“Eli,” Nelson said to his retreating back. Elliot stopped and turned to face the Fleet Admiral.
“You’re not the only one who had reservations. I protested too. The Prime Ministers overrode me despite my objections. I wish it was a different story. Why did you suggest the name Phoenix, anyway?”
“It’s from a poem my wife loved. It seemed appropriate.”
Nelson smiled politely with a brief look to the ground in memory of Lillian before saying: “Dismissed.”
Ranik placed a number three card to his total on the square, black table.
“I’ve got twenty—five.”
Lathiel pulled another card from the deck and placed a four in front of his cards, bringing his hand to a total of twenty—seven.
“I’m over, you win,” Lathiel said.
Ranik took the chips from the center of the table and got up to pour himself another drink. He opened a small coral blue cabinet on one wall and pulled out a bottle of Ruby Brandy.
“Would you like another?” Ranik asked while he poured himself a glass.
“Anything to pass the time.”
“I don’t know what’s worse,” Ranik said, as he sat down with two glasses of glowing liquor, “the waiting or your poor playing.”
“I’ve got another twenty sterling that says you’re wrong.”
“Done,” Ranik said. He watched Lathiel shuffle the cards. “I wonder: what do you think they’ll be like?”
“Who?” Lathiel asked as he dealt the first two cards.
“This new species. I’m a little worried about what kind of people they are,” he said. Ranik looked at his card lying face up on the table. “Another card.”
“I just hope they’re friendly.” He gave Ranik a second card. Lathiel put one in front of himself as well.
“That’s what has me worried. You saw the sensor data. Their Faster Than Light drives are inferior to ours. We can get to their system in a few days and it would take them how long?”
“About a decade.”
“A decade,” Ranik repeated and looked at the two cards in front of him. “I’ll take an alternate.”
Lathiel nodded and removed the second card from Ranik’s hand only to replace it with another from the deck. He took a look at his hand and decided to keep what he had.
“What’s your point?”
“That’s how far behind us they are in propulsion. But did you look at the sensor data on their weapons systems?”
“It has to be at least fifty years beyond ours.”
“Closer to a hundred and I’m concerned about that. Next card.”
“They may have a lot to teach us,” Lathiel said. He took another card from the deck and placed it with Ranik’s hand. Ranik looked at h
is cards and pondered his next move.
“Do you think they can teach us about war?”
“If they could outfit our ships with their weapons,” Lathiel began.
“Then we would have a considerable advantage over the Nevargh. Yes, I’ve thought about that.”
“It would strengthen us considerably.”
“I’ll hold with this,” Ranik said. Lathiel took another card for his hand. “What if they don’t want to part with their technology? What if they don’t want to part with us?”
“I’ll keep these. I take it you mean that we’re going into a trial, right?”
“Next card. Yes, we do have something to answer for. No matter how unintentional our actions, we’ve still put them in danger.”
Lathiel placed a third card in front of him.
“I’ll take an alternate.”
“Two is the maximum.”
“I know.” Ranik received a different card. “I’ll stay with this.”
He had twenty—four. Lathiel took another card from the deck and placed a ten with his other cards, for a total of twenty.
“There isn’t just that, Lathiel. Advanced weaponry can mean advanced hostility. Do you have any idea what their reaction to us will be?”
“We still need to make amends,” Lathiel said, and took another card from the deck. He placed a six on top of his cards. “I’m over.”
“You should have alternated with that first ten.”
“I thought I could handle it.”
“You’re too cautious.”
“Another game?”
“Do you have any money left?” Ranik asked with a feline smile.
“Some.”
“It’s my turn to deal the cards,” Ranik said. Lathiel handed him the deck and he began to shuffle the cards for another round.
“No Ma’am,” a soldier repeated as a small woman attempted to enter into a hatchway on the bottom deck of the AWS Endeavour. Now even the warships of the orbiting battle groups had been ordered into transport duty as more and more people became desperate to leave the prairie states. “You can take one suitcase with you, not two.”
“I’ve got everything in my life in these two bags!” the woman exclaimed.
“I’m just following the rules, Ma’am.”
“I’ll pay the baggage fee,” the woman said, nonchalantly. Maria stifled a laugh while she watched from a terrace overlooking their boarding guests.
“This isn’t a Space—Liner, Ma’am. Please leave the bag behind or leave the line.”
The woman looked at the officer, incredulous at the perceived lower class treatment of her presence. She huffed at the stern response and threw one of the bags to the metal deck with a loud smack.
“Thank—you, Ma’am. Welcome aboard,” the soldier said. He motioned for her to advance into an interior room as more clamoured to board the ship behind her.
“I’ll write to my Senator,” she shouted over her shoulder. “My tax dollars pay your wages, you know.”
Maria admired the Petty Officer’s patience as he ignored the remark and moved on to the next person in front of him. Long lines of people entered the ship which sat on a large farmer’s field in the state of Nebraska. The central prairie states were nearly abandoned. The government had subsequently turned all of its focus on the outer states. The other ships of the Second Battle Group were spread out across some hundred square miles of land. Frantic people were rushing in from the nearby city of Omaha to board the makeshift transports.
Maria left the scene and travelled to the top of the ship by elevator. She didn’t go to the Officer’s Lounge, which had become a temporary hostel, but instead found an outer hatch to the sunshine outside. She walked out onto the hull and looked out around her. To the east and west, Maria saw the silhouettes of the Trafalgar and the Destiny. She discerned rising smoke in the Omaha skyline where protests to the evacuation had become riots. The decision to let the fires burn seemed to have sobered the resisting population’s belief that this was some sort of conspiracy.
The protests began the night of the announcement for the mass evacuation. Mobs grabbed large three foot square links and stuck them to what ever stick or post they could find and marched across every city and town hall in the Midwest. The angry crowds turned to rioting once the ships arrived to take them away from their homes. Police and the Military clashed with the protestors while the sensible half of the population grabbed what they could and boarded the evacuation craft.
Some of the dissenters decided to leave once the fires continued to burn and more ships took off with their friends and neighbours aboard. However, of the ten or so thousand that gave up and left, several hundred thousand stayed despite the threat of what was coming. Politicians were dumbfounded when decades of telling their supporters that their rivals had an “agenda” backfired. Many of their most ardent believers actually dug in expecting a secret army to come in and take their homes away from them.
All of the local stations went dark, one by one, until only the Interplanetary News Network remained on the airwaves. At first they were convinced that the mass evacuations and panic across the states of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado were deliberate fakes to scare them. Once the power was shut down and the last municipal employees left, there was a sudden outcry for help. Fear gripped the remaining populations as reality began to sink in. Frantic calls went out by wireless devices to the government for a rescue.
With the civilian vehicles now on their way out of the system, the government realized all that was left were the fleet ships to evacuate them. Maria had to break orbit and land under the scrutiny of Coalition destroyers tracking their every move and twitch. Now she watched these refugees boarding her ship with the same resistance as before. They wanted to survive but resented being taken from their homes and saw the military as being somehow responsible.
Maria couldn’t blame them, though. If she was ordered from her childhood home or any other place she cherished she would probably have put up a fight as well.
“Quite a pretty sight isn’t it?” Benjamin Phelps asked from behind her.
“Except for the smoke. How did you know where to find me?”
Her new first officer smiled at the question as he joined her in looking out on the horizon. The thirty decks of the ship only partially obscured the crowds waiting to board the Excalibur.
“I’m a good first officer and your earpiece is still on.”
“Oh,” Maria said and thumbed the device at her ear off. “What’s the situation?”
“We should be able to take off in another four hours.”
“Have you ever been there?” Maria said while she looked at the distant city of Omaha.
“I was stationed there when I was a Lieutenant for a few years.”
“What is it like?” Maria inquired.
“A little smaller than a few of the cities I’ve been to. Have you ever had a Reuben Sandwich?”
“A what?” Maria asked.
“They’re good, so are the people. I didn’t think I’d ever get around to visiting the city again just because of life. I never thought that I wouldn’t go back because it wasn’t there anymore.”
“There may be more than a few cities that end up like that in a few hours.”
“Ma’am, may I speak off the record?”
“Yes,” Maria replied.
“You’re an admiral. Have you heard anything more about this alien weapon? Is it really going to hit Earth?”
“Our scientists have revised their data. They’re saying that the amount of energy the Moon can absorb is beyond their ability to calculate,” Maria replied.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that they don’t know.”
“I think half the population is thinking that,” Phelps said. He took his hat off in the strong breeze and briefly checked his dark curly hair to ensure that it wasn’t tousled.
“What about the other half?”
“They’re probably pissing thems
elves right about now,” Phelps replied.
“I don’t blame them.”
“Just as long as you don’t join them, Ma’am.”
Maria smiled at the remark and turned to the middle—aged officer. “I think we just might get along, Commander.”
“Thank—you, Ma’am.”
“Why aren’t you a Captain by now, Phelps? You should be.”
“Who ever said that I wanted the job?”
“Well, I guess it’s not for everyone,” Maria said.
“That doesn’t mean that I couldn’t do it, Ma’am. I just never wanted to.”
“Now that’s an interesting statement,” Maria said.
“I just don’t know why anyone would want to make decisions that end people’s lives on a scale like you do. It just doesn’t hold any interest for me.”
“I guess I can see that. Would anything convince you to take a promotion?” Maria asked.
“The end of the world.”
“The Moon’s not enough?”
“Orbital Base Two has signalled and said that they have the components of a new planet—side base ready to move whenever you give the signal,” Madison reported. She handed a link to Elliot.
“How soon can they get it up and working?”
“They said about a month,” Madison replied.
“What about the particle warhead, Josh?”
“They’re already building it off world,” Joshua replied.
“Where?”
“At the science station in orbit around Venus. Once the different components are ready, they’ll ship it to wherever on Earth you need it to go,” Joshua replied.
“Good.”
“That brings me to another question, Eli. If Phoenix goes ahead, where will we ship the warhead?”
“We’ll decide on that only if Phoenix goes ahead,” Elliot replied.
“Is that it?” Madison asked.
“That’s the last of it. Phoenix is as ready as we can make it.”
“You mean before the weapon hits us.”
“The evacuation is as far as it can go as well. Every ship is working overtime and it looks like things will get done in time,” Elliot said.
