Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth

by Dale C. Musser

  “And you and the rest of your crew do not object to his odd behavior?” Andy queried.

  “Oh there are some among my crew that it irritates, but as far as I know A’Lappe has never used this in any voyeuristic sense nor invaded anyone personal life’s, and he had better not, or he might find himself living on a very small asteroid with limited supplies.” I said while giving A’Lappe a stern look.

  “I can assure you both,” A’Lappe responded, “I never spy or pry into the personal life of any of the crew nor anyone aboard this ship unless the safety of the ship is involved.”

  “I detect by your pulse and breathing you are telling the truth,” Andy said, but I still fail to understand your actions.”

  “Can you tell if an android is lying?” A’Lappe asked.

  “Only by finding out the truth,” Andy answered stone faced.

  “Do androids lie? I asked, somewhat astonished by Andy’s response to A’Lappe’s question.

  “We are capable of lying, but rarely do so.”

  The next hours we spent in discussion on how the androids would govern the planet until elections were held and the new government assumed control. In the meantime, I would be searching for an uninhabited planet suited for the androids’ needs. With any luck, by the time elections were held on Goo’Waddle I would have located a planet for the androids to migrate to and inhabit.

  Even though it went against the advice of Commodore Stonbersa, I gave Andy an abbreviated tour of the NEW ORLEANS before he left, I didn’t take him to the bridge nor some of the engineering departments, but I showed him a lot more of the ship than Stonbersa was comfortable with. Androids don’t show emotions, if they have any to show, but I got the feeling that Andy was impressed by the fact that I had given him the courtesy of the tour. Just before he boarded the patrol ship that was to return him to the surface, he said. “First Citizen you are the first human that has truly impressed me with genuine respect. It will not be forgotten by me or any of the other androids. We do our best to honor the bargain we have with you, as I believe you fully intend to honor yours with us.” Then without further comment, he turned and boarded the ship.

  Later that day Kala and I were relaxing in the private garden area that she had created for us on the NEW ORLEANS when a message came in on my personal communicator. Normally anyone on the ship trying to contact or meet with me contacted Kala’s staff first, who then contacted Kala, who passed the information on to me, , Only in emergencies or some issue of extreme importance did a handful of selected persons contact me directly.

  “This is Tibby,” I said into my communicator.

  “Tibby, this is Wabussie. I just received new information about events of your home planet, Earth. The team which has been monitoring the medial radio signals from there which occurred five years in the past reveal the asteroid that was headed toward the planet most likely impacted there two and a half years ago; there are no indications of any broadcasts since that time from the planet. However, there are weak signals originating from within the solar system, probably from satellites.”

  “Can you meet with me in about 30 minutes to go over the data? I’d like to have some of my team meet with us as well.” I asked.

  “Certainly, where would you like to meet?”

  “How about the conference room in the wing we use for admiralty when they are aboard?”

  “That will work for me, it’s near my quarters. I’ll see you in 30 minutes.” Wabussie said and signed off.

  I turned to Kala. “Contact the Commodore, Kerabac, Marranalis and A’Lappe. Oh, and go ahead and invite Cantolla as well, I’m not sure what she will be able to add, but her knowledge and expertise may come in handy.”

  “I’ll do it Tib, but what do you think you will be able to do?” Kala said as she put her hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know Kala, but one thing is certain, we’re going to Earth!”

  The meeting with my crew was a blur for me, while I was absorbing the details, it all seemed like a nightmarish dream. I still find the words ringing in my ears, but can’t recall the reactions of the people in the room. It was as though I was the only one there as the news hammered home.

  My fellow earthlings had been at war off and on several times since I had left Earth over 60 years earlier. By 2030 China and Russia had formed a political alliance and had begun expanding their territories militarily. Both countries recognized the United States no longer had the strong leadership it once had, and its citizens had grown tired of policing the world and trying to defend its allies. On top of that, several decades of poor leadership from both main parties had resulted in the loss of manufacturing, as well as the production of natural resources in the country. This left the nation in economic ruins. Relationships with other nations declined as our Presidents treated them poorly and with an air of dismissal when in their presence. With the weakening of the Americas influence in NATO, and the stressful relationships within the European Union, both Russia and China saw the opportunity to expand their territories unchallenged. Russia made the first move in taking over the Crimea and the Ukraine and while the NATO countries and the USA made verbal protest and threatened sanctions;, however, serious actions were never taken. China, observing Russia’s success, moved against Japan, Viet Nam and the outlying islands offshore territories, laying claim first to oil-rich regions and fisheries, and then later to islands in the area. Once again, while many nations made protest, and some posturing was made by the U.S. Navy, no real actions were taken to stop China as territories were taken over. In the Middle East and throughout Africa and Indonesia, country after country fell to Fundamental Terrorists’ rule. Without strong allies to help defend them, these countries slowly crumbled under the Terrorists’ oppression. When old governments were ousted, the countries quickly deteriorated into conditions which existed pre- World War II, and human rights violations abounded; but other than rhetoric, no one stood up to stop them. Once the oil fields in these nations were lost, the energy prices sky-rocketed, forcing the United States to relax most of the regulations that had prevented domestic production in the early 2000’s and slowly its economy began to recover.

  During this time, China made several journeys to the Moon, laying claim to the whole moon as part of China, and they began establishing a colony and military presence on the lunar surface. Their claims to the complete moon were rejected by the United Nations and every other country on Earth, but no country was prepared, interested, or strong enough economically to go to the Moon to challenge the claim directly. The United States joined with England, Germany, India, Japan and Brazil in sending a team to Mars to establish a colony and were joined later by other nations, including Russia, in sending teams and supplies with following expeditions.

  Early on, the United States had abandoned their base at Guantanamo in Cuba only to have the Cuban government turn around and lease the base out to Russia. By 2040 there were five huge Russian military bases in the Western hemisphere. By 2050 China had taken over Viet Nam and absorbed North Korea, after the mysterious death of Kim Yung Ill, numerous border skirmishes took place with South Korea. Japan and South Korea formed an alliance in an effort to provide a unified front against China. By then Russia had reclaimed many of the old countries that once had been part of the Soviet Union. All the while the European Union continued to suffer economic problems, but realizing the growing threat of the new Russia, they abandoned the weakened NATO and formed the European Unified Armed forces as a defensive measure. One event that had surprised me was hearing that Israel had continued growing in strength, even without the assistance of the USA, which had abandoned supporting them completely by 2023. The conflicts between Israel, Egypt and Palestine suddenly came to a halt in 2030 when both groups realized the threat of the Jihadists against them, and all signed a pact to fight them off. “War does indeed make strange bed fellows,” I thought. The expansion of the Fundamentalists was brutal throughout most of Africa and Indonesia, all non-believers either were converted or beheaded. T
heir strict religious codes forbade most forms of education beyond the very basics of reading and math and reading was restricted to the Koran. Education for females was totally forbidden, and women who could read and write had their hands cut off so they could not write, or were blinded so they could not read. With the end of real education, these countries quickly eroded until conditions were practically apocalyptic, medical care diminished and virtually vanished, and maintaining of city infrastructures came to a halt.

  In 2045, China declared war on the Philippines, and for the first time in the 21st century, the United States realized the danger China was presenting and that Hawaii would be next on their list. Suddenly, the United States began beefing up its military might and started pulling out secret weapons they had developed many years earlier but never used. The United States decided to live up to a long-held treaty it had with the Philippines, and after several skirmishes defending the Philippine islands in battles that inflicted heavy losses to the Chinese, China withdrew from the area, only to immediately attack the Muslim held islands in Indonesia. Although these islands were heavily armed with personal arms, they had no warships or planes, nor did they have the pilots, sailors, and technicians to operate and maintain them. China quickly swept through the islands, taking over the smaller islands and executing religious leaders, outlawing religion of any type and implementing new communistic government controls.

  India, which had nervously been watching China’s aggression in the region and had a few border conflicts of their own with China, had been building up their military in anticipation that China would one day turn its eyes toward them. Then China began taking over many of the islands in Indonesia resulting in India and Japan signing an alliance treaty to provide a defense against the Chinese aggression. South Korea and the inhabitants of Jakarta soon joined with India and Japan Creating the Indian Ocean Alliance Pact, IOAP, to defend Jakarta against the Chinese. Oddly, between 2045 and 2056, Russia unexpectedly stopped their aggressions, even though they continued to build its military spending and military growth. Russia's change in direction was not as altruistic as they tried to make it appear but the proposal was seen as a move in the right direction. Russia had seen that China had no intention of stopping its aggression, and if it succeeded in its conquest of Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines, Russia would be next on the list. Russian spies uncovered plans by the Chinese to invade Russia suddenly in a brutal attack. Russia knew that they would be better off joining with the other nations in putting a stop to China. For the first time since World War II, the United States and the countries of the European Union were on the same side with Russia against a common aggressor and global World War III was officially on. China made a surprise attack on Australia before the allies had a chance to establish strategic bases there, and all-out war broke out with fighting on all fronts of the Chinese borders and captured territories. China, realizing the strength of the forces against it, made a daring attack using nuclear submarines and missiles. One of their atomic ballistic submarines had moved up into the Gulf of California undetected and launched strikes on the central portion of the USA, hitting Denver, Phoenix, and the military bases in both Arizona and Nevada, including Area 51, where most of the U.S. top secret aircraft were kept. At the same time, two submarines off the eastern coast of the USA targeted Washington D.C., New York City, Norfolk, and Atlanta. Fortunately the USA had heavy defenses against an attack from this direction, and only Boston was hit. The western targets were totally caught off guard and not prepared for an attack from the Gulf of California; extensive damage was inflicted and millions of life’s were lost.

  The United States had anticipated that Hawaii would be China’s first target in the USA, but China circumvented Hawaii and took their attack directly to the U.S. mainland. At the same time, China launched nuclear missiles against Japan, India, South Korea and Russia. One missile aimed at Russia made it through to Odessa, and one targeted for India was damaged by anti-ballistic missiles but still detonated over a heavily populated area killing thousands there. It was the first use of nuclear missiles since the USA had bombed Japan in WWII. The world was shocked and incensed, and almost the entire world joined in the fight against China. The USA and Russia quickly retaliated with nuclear strikes of their own, sending a barrage of missiles at China. This proved useless when they were blown up by satellites the Chinese had secretly placed in orbit years earlier. (This had been done in defiance of all the treaties it that had been signed in the United Nations banning nations placing weapons in space). The world thought they had seen the worst with the devastation wreaked by China; however, the Chinese had an even bigger surprise in store. The day after the attacks, astronomers on Earth noticed many large meteoroids and small asteroids headed for Earth. China had set up a rail gun system at their base on the Moon, and they were launching huge moon rocks from the Moon’s surface at timed intervals with slight directional changes that would cause them to impact at desired targets on the Earth.

  During the middle of the 21st century, Russia and the USA, as well as few other nations had joined together to produce rockets capable of intercepting meteors, small comets and asteroids and diverting them from impacting the planet, but the magnitude of rocks heading toward Earth was more than they were equipped to deal with. Nevertheless, these nations targeted the largest of the rocks heading toward the planet and hoped the others would not do severe damage. Their hopes were in vain. The impact of the meteors was devastating. Moscow, Berlin and Chicago were gone in an instant, and large gaping holes existed where they once stood. No one within a 30-mile radius of the impacts survived. One meteor impacted off the eastern coast creating a mile-high tidal wave that swept in land approximately 50 miles at places. In England, France, Spain, Portugal, and the western coast of Africa, similar tsunami waves swept inland, destroying coastal towns and villages. Even with a warning of almost 20 hours few people escaped far enough away from the coast to avoid the disaster. Millions of life’s were lost on both continents. Another meteor impacted in the Pacific;, its trajectory and impact sent the main force of the waves away from the US coast line, but hundreds of thousands of life’s were lost when the waves swept over low lying islands in the Pacific all the way to Asia. Hawaii, Japan, Australia and the Philippines were hit hard by the tsunami wave, and over 3 million lost their life’s there as well.

  The next-day China gave an ultimatum to the rest of the world; either all the countries of the world surrender, or face annihilation from more rocks from the Moon. According to the media broadcasts the Federation had intercepted; it was then that the United States revealed a classified space craft they had developed and concealed decades earlier at a hidden base in southern Idaho. This spaceship had been built for space warfare and had weapons not seen or used anywhere on Earth. Sophisticated space laser cannons and electromagnetic pulse energy weapons, and particle beam weapons. There were two anti-matter bombs that had never been tested, and no one knew how much damage they would do. It carried four small missiles with nuclear warheads. Without advanced warning or consultation with their allies the United States President ordered the US military to launch their spaceship, referred to as THORS’ HAMMER. Its departure from the Earth was witnessed by many in the western states when its blazing engines lit up the night sky. The scream of its powerful rockets was heard hundreds of miles away. No one who saw it knew for sure what it was, but few doubted it was a mighty weapon from the United States, and all believed that it would take a terrible toll where ever it was going.

  The space ship did not turn or level off and go into orbit, but headed straight on toward the Moon. As it passed a few small satellites belonging to the Chinese, laser beams fired out, destroying them, but Thors’ Hammer continued on. On the Earth, news was spreading rapidly that the United States was taking some action against the Chinese base on the Moon. People gathered outside staring at the heavens in anticipation. The journey lasted nearly five hours-- astonishingly fast for an Earth ship. That night, those watching
from the mountains in West Virginia saw three bright flashes on the Moon as it approached the horizon. Even though no official word had been given as to what the sources were, voices cried out in cheers throughout the world, everywhere except for China. A message was not long in forthcoming from the U.S. President on global TV, he announced the United States had struck at and destroyed the Chinese base on the Moon, and the ship responsible was now headed back to Earth and would deal with the Chinese. China was given two hours to surrender or face the consequences. Two hours later, the leader of China defiantly came on TV announcing that the strike against the Moon was of little consequence and that China had many other ways to wreak havoc on its enemies, and continued to demand the surrender of the rest of the world. They also went on to say that any country that would turn and join with them would be spared their wrath and would enjoy the treasures of victory when their enemies were defeated. Three hours after their broadcast, THORS’ HAMMER delivered its blow to China; the first anti-matter bombs struck Beijing. The flash of light was seen around the world, as it reflected from the dust particles in the atmosphere, even on the dark side the planet. When the mushroom cloud and dust settled, there was no sign of Beijing, only a glowing molten mass that covered nearly 500 sq. kilometers; beyond that, everything had been blown clean and level for almost another 100 kilometers. There were no more broadcasts from the Chinese. Three days later, troops from the allied countries began showing up, only to find the people of China in a state of shock and they wandering about aimlessly. Military equipment had been abandoned, and those few men and women still in uniforms appeared totally broken and put up no resistance. A large number of military leaders and top government officials were found dead, having taken their own life’s shortly after the bombing of Beijing. The war was over.

  All of this had happened in the time that elapsed since I had left Earth, but to me it had only been a little over 2 years. Hearing Wabussie read from his vid pad the translations of events which had happened made me feel like it was all happening at that very moment, my battles with the Brotherhood seemed small and insignificant by comparison to what happened on Earth.