Once completed, the orbital factory that had supported the construction of the five shipyards had been nudged away and allowed to orbit around to the sun side of Cinder. There, it had melted then, driven downward by the solar wind, splashed into the molten surface.
To this day, the Hideaway Shipyards, when put together, stood as the largest structure ever built and the largest project ever performed by Amular. Of course, very few people knew of this.
Next to the five slivers of stone—actually dwarfing them -- was the rectangular formation of thirty never used Leviathan Class Battleships.
Just 150 miles away was the loneliest and most mysterious posting in the solar system: Cinder Station, a richly appointed control center always manned by five officers, ten pilots and twenty marines. All personnel had to have top secret clearance. The station had five fighter attack craft and managed 200 unmanned remote guard stations. These formed a “globe” around the shipyards and the ships, and none of them ever got closer than 100 miles. The officers that had rotated in and out of Cinder Station had, for over thirty years, never seen anything more than dark shapes – the few times the lights had been turned on, everyone at Cinder Station had been confined to quarters where they could see nothing. None had ever known what they guarded or what the status indicators reported on – it was simply known as “the package.”
Today this would finally change, and everyone at Cinder Station would be crowded around the view screens and port holes waiting for they knew not what.
---
The Solar Quest had completed a controlled stop half a mile from the stone structures fifteen minutes before the transmission of the President’s speech was due to arrive. Captain Duncan Murray’s dour and clipped voice came over the ship wide intercom, “Attention, this is the Captain. We have just arrived at Dock One and the ship is currently secured at station keeping. I want to welcome everyone to the ultra top secret installation known as the Hideaway Shipyards.” Cheers could be heard down the long corridors of the ship. “Due to the fact that the President’s speech will start in about fifteen minutes, we’re going to pause operations so that everyone can make their way to a video station to watch the speech. For those critical stations that can’t pause operations, please contact me and something will be worked out to allow you to watch the President’s speech. The speech is scheduled to last about twenty minutes. I’ll expect everyone to be back at their stations in forty minutes to resume operations. That is all. Murray out.”
The mid-ship conference room had a large screen, and Evelyn and Brandon made their way there with Harrington and Leewood in tow. Someone had already scooted the chairs around into rows facing the screen.
The Edens found seats, and Harrington and Leewood got seats right behind them. Harrington and Leewood’s chairs were close together and she could smell his aftershave. She liked it.
Then the lights dimmed and the speech started. In the semi-darkness, Harrington saw Evelyn reach over and take Brandon’s hand. The sudden feeling of loneliness surprised her. She was glad the lights were dimmed for she knew that she was wearing her feelings on her sleeve. She blinked her eyes then found that she was looking down at Leewood’s hand. It was only inches from hers. She moved her hand closer to his and a hollow feeling formed in her chest. She looked up to see Leewood’s strong profile facing the screen, but that was not what she saw. Instead, Leewood’s head was turned towards her and he was watching her with a neutral expression.
She felt the blood rush to her face as she cleared her throat and quickly looked forward. She laughed softly at herself, but loud enough for him to hear. Then she turned back towards him. He was still looking at her. In the semi-darkness a sad smile seemed to form on his face. She gave him a little smile as well, then a shrug, raising her hands palms up as if to say, ”Hey…what do you want?” then looked forward again and tried to focus on the President’s words.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see he had turned forward as well. She thought he was still wearing that sad smile.
A moment later she felt him take her hand. He squeezed it lightly. Her heart skipped a beat then she squeezed back.
---
Woodworth and the rest of the PR team had watched the President’s speech from the capital building. When it concluded they could only wait and watch…and hope that the one/two punch – the Special on all of the things the Loud had done for them and now the President’s speech—would have the desired effect.
In the hours that followed it certainly looked that way—the outpour of offers to help the Loud as well as outrage over what had happened was phenomenal. There was even serious talk by some people in the military about mounting an expedition to go out and hunt the aliens down.
By that evening, people were lining up at recruitment offices to join the military and for employment applications with companies who had announced that they would be involved with the defensive build up.
The first flowers appeared at the guarded gate of the listening dome compound a half hour after the President’s speech ended. And then they came all night and the all the next day and the next…the young, the old, the rich, the poor…alone, in small groups and in large…all of them walking…heads down, carrying flowers, gifts and -- at night -- candles.
On the third day, an avatar came out of the listening chamber and made its way to the gated entrance. It was Bugs. It went outside the gate and then slowly walked around the giant mounds of flowers and gifts and it looked at each one. Then it said “thank you” to every person that was already there and all those who came. The avatar spent three hours outside the gate.
Most of the time, during the 200 years before the alien ship was to arrive, Woodworth and the PR team wanted public sentiment and enthusiasm to be at “normal” levels. High levels of sentiment and enthusiasm could not be maintained over long time periods, let alone a two-hundred year span. However, during crucial periods, the public would need to be keyed up about defending their world, feeling sympathy and friendship towards the Loud, and equal portions of anger and outrage towards the alien for what they had done. Right now, right at the start, was definitely a time for ”high levels.”
Woodworth and the PR people projected that the overwhelming support and unity they were seeing now would last for about three months. This would fade and be replaced by a “positive” mood that would last among the majority of people for five to eight years. After this, public sentiments would return to and remain more or less at “normal” levels for another five to eight years.
It looked like the ”one-two-punch” they’d put together had worked.
---
The Solar Quest had maneuvered to a point a half mile from the mile-high rock sliver that was space Dock One. It was more or less in the center and surrounded by the other four space docks.
Unlike the others, space Dock One had a large pointed skyscraper-like structure rising from the top. This was Central Control which controlled and managed all five of the space docks, each handling a single battleship. Central Control would be the first structure to be activated and vented.
All four were sitting at the access and control stations in the forward science lab. “Okay,” Evelyn said to Brandon, “let’s light them up.” She entered a sixty-four digit code to gain control over the next group of systems, double checked all the numbers, and then hit Enter. Then she typed in the console command “stations(all):lights(all)=ON” and pressed Enter.
Like the previous trip, harsh white lights lit up the five yards in stark relief. Both Leewood and Harrington had seen this before, but it still took their breath away. Harrington looked over at the Edens expecting to see awe, wonder, excitement or something along those lines. Instead, she saw only concern and furrowed brows. “Hey, what’s the matter with you two?” she asked.
They both looked over at her in some confusion, then seeing the look in Leewood’s eyes as he gazed out the view port, Evelyn figured it out. “Oh, you’re overwhelmed…awed by the size of our space do
cks.” She laughed. “I’m afraid that what we see is a ton of work.” She shrugged. Her gaze drifted over the five blazing rocks. She took a deep breath, smiled and nodded. She took Brandon’s arm, pulling him away from a console he had been studying and pointed at the shipyards, “Look! We’ve come home, honey.” She squeezed his arm.
Chapter Seventeen – Initiating the War Machine
“...a mysterious substance called dark matter and, its counterpart, dark energy. What’s going on is simpler and stranger than you think.”
The Loud Named Bugs
Opening Speech, 23rd Amular Symposium on Quantum Physics
Source: The Archive
The amazing and versatile five-inch metal spheres known as sphere-bots had come home, although they didn’t know it. Sphere-bots had been developed at Hideaway some fifty years ago, and like so many of Hideaway’s off-shoot technologies, they had been brought back to Amular for general public utilization through military channels, which easily hid the true source of the technology.
First developed to take care of low priority maintenance at Hideaway, they had eventually carried this function and others across the solar system. They had become a common fixture in spaceships, space stations and literally everywhere. If it was in outer space, you had the help as well as the company of sphere-bots.
They were cheap, low maintenance, broad application, self-maintaining AI units that did everything from common maintenance to first aid. They were easy to take apart and fix and normally they did this for themselves. Using rechargeable atomic batteries and solar cell skin, each one was capable of reconfiguring itself into an amazing assortment of functional shapes and tools. Each one had a low level of intelligence, but their strength came from the ability to network and function together in groups, both expanding their functionality and their level of intellect. But, although they could function on their own, normally they became an extension of whatever central AI system was available, further increasing their usefulness.
They were also, at times, quite comical. When they first appeared, people swore they had individual personalities and were far smarter than believed, even self aware. People marveled as they communicated with each other and went about their tasks. Undoubtedly their most hilarious and endearing feature was when one-on-one or even in small groups, to reduce traffic on their local networks, they communicated with each other visually and audibly through a rapid series of reconfigurations, which looked riotous, and when done in an atmospheric environment, made musical-like clicks, clanks and toots.
They could get around in a weightless environment by using small vapor jets, but usually in the artificial gravity of a ship, they flew around on low field magnetic tractor networks installed for this purpose. Otherwise they rolled, bounced, slid and hopped about taking care of the central AI’s bidding.
When first introduced, people loved them, children adored them, and in no time at all, they had saved enough lives to make the little metal balls heroes in many people’s eyes. Now, after forty years of service, everyone took them completely for granted.
The first thing the Solar Quest did after lighting up the docks was to release exactly 1000 sphere-bots. All of them were slaved to Solar Quest’s central AI. Once outside the ship, the small metal balls quickly assembled, separated into work groups, then set out for the Central Control structure a half mile away. The ship’s AI had been carefully instructed by Brandon and Evelyn during the trip out, and Leewood had run diagnostics as well as some virtual testing so the cluster of bots knew exactly where to go and what to do.
Out of necessity, most of the Hideaway shipyard structures and all the battleships had been left with their reactors up and running at the lowest settings. This was done mainly so the inside could remain pressurized and heated just above freezing. Many of the inside materials, parts and machinery would deteriorate if exposed to the freezing vacuum. Also, monitoring computers needed power to send status reports to the manned guard station to be monitored by its occupants who knew the status, but not the status of what.
The Edens, Leewood and Harrington worked at bringing the yards back to life a little bit at a time, carefully monitoring each step.
The reactors were fine. There were no major hull breaches. Power and hydraulics networks checked out. The main computer…it was running very slow and that would need to be looked at. The communications network was mostly intact. The water and sewer systems…well, they had some problems. System after system was brought up and checked.
Due to various problems they left the other space docks at Ready State Five, but they brought space Dock One, the command unit, up to Ready State Three, which meant all the basic systems were in operation except artificial gravity and the systems that depended on that. There was no way to be sure that some heavy object, not secured to the floor, hadn’t shifted position and drifted over something that would break if the object came down on it. That was something that could only be determined by careful manual inspections.
“Well, not perfect but good enough” Evelyn said.
Brandon looked at her and winked. “So…let’s go over.”
Everyone got up. Harrington stretched then casually asked, “So, who’s going to be EVA Leader this time out?” She caught Evelyn’s eye, smiled wickedly and pointed towards Leewood behind his back.
Evelyn managed to keep a straight face as she said, “Leewood’s probably the best qualified. He’s got the duty.”
Leewood puffed out the side of his mouth in mock disgust but didn’t object.
They all knew what the first order of business was and got in line for the restrooms. Relieving yourself in an e-suit was possible but…not really pleasant.
Twenty minutes later they were outside airlock seven, suited up and checking each other out with the help of two of the crew members.
Leewood, as the designated EVA leader, ran them through the safety protocols. “Radio check,” he said, and the other three responded. Finally, the two crew members helped all four through the airlock’s hatch and sealed it behind them.
The protocols for EVAs were strict, and those who cut corners eventually paid. Accidents could happen too easily and were too often fatal. EVAs were very dangerous even without mistakes for a number of reasons. The primary danger was collision with space debris. The orbital velocity of such space debris could be up to ten times the speed of a bullet, so the kinetic energy of a small particle—a small rock or a grain of sand—was equal to that of a bullet. Other dangers included spacesuit malfunctions, punctures, and AUS incidents (accidental uncontrolled separation, i.e. accidentally being thrown away from your vehicle with no way to get back). Fortunately radiation bursts from the sun wouldn’t be a worry this time as they were shielded from the sun by Cinder.
Leewood, Harrington and the Edens carefully backed into the EMUs, turned them on, and ran the diagnostic test programs. Each signaled to Leewood that their EMU checked out then finished locking themselves into the units.
“Control,” Leewood said over the radio, “we’re ready for Zero G. Please proceed.”
The artificial gravity shut down and each took a moment to adjust to the uncomfortable feeling of falling.
Leewood continued, “Control, we’re ready to vent.” Control acknowledged and over a sixty-second period, the air pressure was reduced until they were in a vacuum. They ran a final suit diagnostics and finally Leewood said, “Control, we’re ready. Kindly open the hatch.”
The entire wall before them slid away revealing the Hideaway shipyard, brightly lit, in the unnatural contrast of a vacuum. With no atmosphere to defuse the light, shadows were completely black and colors were strangely flat and muted. Due to the bright lights, nothing beyond the structures was visible.
The team exited the ship and Leewood led them across the half-mile gap to the main airlock at the base of the central control structure. They arrived without incident.
Their plan was to enter the main structure manually. The only reason for this was that if anythin
g went wrong with a powered entry attempt, the lock could jam and cost them time. Opening the hatches manually was far safer. Their primary mission now was to get inside, not test the airlock hardware.
As planned, five sphere-bots met them there; three had already reconfigured themselves and locked onto the crank to manually open the airlock. Evelyn drifted up to the crank and the three bots and inspected them. Then she looked around for a minute inspecting the surroundings. Satisfied, she looked back to the bots, then moved her hand up and down watching the small fiber optic stem coming from each bot to make sure they were tracking her movements. Then she clinched her hand twice – the universal sphere-bot sign for ”go.” The three bots strained for a moment then the crank started to turn.
When the airlock door opened, some air and debris were expelled. A straw bounced off Leewood’s helmet visor and a plastic fork rotated off in silence. The door slid fully open. Carefully, all four entered. The inside light was flickering and more debris floated around them: the matching plastic spoon, a Styrofoam cup, a paper plate.
The two free sphere-bots made sure that all of them were safely inside before coming in with them. Then they went to the manual crank for the inside door, turned it enough to confirm that it was not frozen before the outer door was closed. The careful step-by-step process went on until finally the inside door opened.
Still using their EMUs, Leewood, Harrington and the Edens exited the airlock and entered the main control center.
It was surreal. The inner hatch led to a large EVA ready area. The lights were bright and harsh. All manner of trash and debris slowly tumbled and danced in the cold thin air.
“Weird,” was all Evelyn said. She turned on the atmospheric analyzer attached to her right arm and it immediately began testing the air.
Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers Page 26
