by Doug Farren
Inside this incredibly hard shell of material existed something only the Kyrra could build. Suspended in the center of the warhead casing, held there by the powerful magnetic fields that it was generating because of the large circulating current that had been established within it, was a 35,000 kilogram sphere of pure metallic anti-hydrogen. The detonation of the 15 kiloton warhead initiated a complex combination of thermonuclear and matter/antimatter explosions.
Both the hydrogen and the anti-hydrogen atoms underwent thermonuclear fusion. The armorplast acted like a thermonuclear amplifier containing the expanding reaction for a few nanoseconds and allowing it to build in power. At the same time the matter and antimatter were mutually annihilating each other releasing even more energy.
The thermonuclear reactions vaporized and dispersed the surrounding material. This allowed the antimatter to react far quicker than if it had simply been put into contact with matter. The two reactions fed on each other creating an unbelievable release of energy.
Such an explosion had never before been created by any sentient race. For a brief moment, a runaway chain reaction rivaling the power output of a star existed a scant 100 kilometers above the surface of Bantrich. A gargantuan fireball over 450 kilometers in diameter vaporized everything in its path.
The momentum of the fireball, combined with the initial jet of plasma, created what could only be described as an inverted mushroom cloud. This caused the fireball to literally splash into the planet’s surface creating a crater 730 kilometers wide and eight kilometers deep. It was as if a giant blowtorch had been turned against the planet by some malicious cosmic being.
A wave of destruction traveled across the surface of the planet in an expanding ring of slowly cooling, hypersonic plasma, obliterating everything in its path. From the edge of the newly formed crater out to a distance of four thousand kilometers nothing was left standing. All life caught in the open up to a distance of 8,000 kilometers from ground zero was instantly killed.
A seismic shock wave rolled through the planet’s outer crust forming a traveling ring of devastation that could be seen from space. The planet literally rang with the power of the explosion. The ring of destruction continued all the way around the planet until it encountered itself on the other side. The energy contained in the ground movement compressed the crust on the opposite side of ground zero shattering it and thrusting it up into the sky.
The intense radiation pulse changed the chemistry of the atmosphere causing it to turn a deathly brown. Material blown from the surface of the planet into space would, over the next few months, slowly form a faint ring around the doomed world; a reminder for years to come of what had happened here.
The target, a very large military base had been located 15 kilometers from ground zero. It, along with the tens of thousands of Chroniech that worked and lived in the nearby area were now wisps of particulate matter blowing through the contaminated atmosphere. Every city and town on the planet was either destroyed outright or had been so badly damaged by the weapon that few survived.
What little life remained would soon be extinguished as the planet fell into a darkness that would last for many months. The atmosphere, chemically altered by the tremendous burst of gamma radiation and contaminated by the vaporized and burnt material that had been blasted into it, became unable to sustain life.
The orbital installations, of course, had not been touched. The crews watched in stunned horror as the planet below them died. Most had had families and friends living on the surface. The once beautiful world now had an ugly brownish atmosphere with nothing left alive anywhere on it. The devastation caused by the Crossbow was sadly reported to the Chroniech home planet.
* * * * *
On distant Havatanu, Jim Cross, along with the entire team of scientists who had developed the Crossbow, watched their screens in eager anticipation. The probe the interceptor left behind had trained a powerful telescope on the planet. It appeared on the screen as a small bluish orb about the size of a baseball held at arms length.
A pinprick of brilliant light suddenly appeared on one side of the planet. The light quickly grew in brightness until it blotted out everything in the telescope’s field of view. The scope’s electronics quickly compensated allowing the stunned scientists to witness the fireball in all its glory. It slowly faded over the course of nearly ten minutes as the expanding ring of fire seemed to eat away at the planet. When it had finally dissipated, the telescope revealed a glowing orange spot on the planet’s surface. This quickly disappeared as the atmosphere became nearly opaque.
“Good God,” was all Jim could say.
Falnath bowed her head, slowly turned around, and walked out of the room. Others soon followed. Instead of a room full of cheering scientists there was a silent exodus. The ability to wipe out practically all life on an entire planet with a single weapon was something that should not be cheered but contemplated. Everyone involved in the weapon's development realized they had created a device that no race should every possess.
* * * * *
The Chroniech reaction was similar but their response was far from predictable. The Alliance and the Kyrra had both hoped that a demonstration of the weapon’s destructive abilities would convince the Chroniech to cease all hostilities and to open negotiations with the Alliance. Those Humans who were versed in their own history would have recalled that this was exactly how world war two on Earth had been terminated.
The Chroniech were furious with rage and revenge. The military quickly ordered all available ships to immediately head into Alliance space and to attack and destroy every Alliance ship and planet they encountered.
Aboard his ship, Captain Zatch heard of the disaster and felt his blood burn with the desire to kill. He nearly abandoned his quest but for reasons he could not comprehend decided to go ahead with his previous plans. As he reached this decision the sensors he had placed near the transmitter detected the approach of the Komodo Dragon.
Honor Fulfilled
“The Chroniech attack force has been detected by our long-range sensors,” the Almaranus Base Commander reported to Fleet Admiral Gortanith Brin. “I guess they were unimpressed with the Crossbow.”
“Very well,” the Fleet Admiral replied. “Ensure the fleet is arranged as previously discussed and inform the planetary governor.”
After the connection had closed, the Admiral leaned back in his chair and carefully considered the morality of his next order. The Chroniech fleet would not be within weapons range for several hours. And he had no desire to issue an order which could not be revoked.
The Almaranus defense forces had been arranged to defend the planet in conjunction with the defense stations, which had all been moved to a position farther from the planet. This would allow them to concentrate a lot of firepower against the enemy fleet. Thirty-one jump drive defense stations were standing by to add their own firepower.
Anticipating the Chroniech’s refusal to accept an end to the war, the Alliance had convinced the Kyrra to provide them with a second warhead. The interceptor carrying that warhead had already accelerated to the desired attack speed and was patiently awaiting the order to proceed to its designated target. This target had been identified by the Kyrra as a major production center of Chroniech weaponry. It had a population of 3.8 billion.
The Fleet Admiral closed his eyes and tried to justify the annihilation of the entire population of a heavily populated world. The Chroniech had already killed more than that number of Alliance citizens. Unless they were stopped, they would kill more. And, according to everything they knew of the Chroniech, they would continue killing until every last non-Chroniech person was dead.
But Admiral Brin was not Chroniech and ordering the death of billions of lives was not something he wanted to do. Glancing up at the small tactical display in his office he noted the time remaining before the Chroniech were within weapons range. He leaned forward and spoke a command to his computer. A moment later the computer indicated that it was re
ady.
“Attention Chroniech fleet. You have witnessed the destruction of the world you called Bantrich. If you do not withdraw your forces from Alliance space we shall destroy one of your heavily populated worlds. We do not wish to see billions of lives lost. Withdraw from our space and the lives of billions of Chroniech will be spared.”
The Admiral watched the approaching fleet with hope in his heart. He did not want to go down in history as the person who gave the order to kill several billion people – no matter who they were.
* * * * *
“Dropping to normal space,” the Helm announced.
“Anything on the sensors?” Stricklen asked.
Lieutenant Commander Wittie scanned his console for a few moments then replied, “Nothing on any of the sensors sir other than the small metallic object that has been identified as the source of the transmissions.”
“It’s obviously a relay station of some sort,” Commander Tobunga mentioned.
“And a sensor platform,” Wittie said. “The general broadcast has ended and we are being scanned.”
“I want him to make the next move,” Stricklen said leaning forward in his chair. “He’s the one that… ”
“Picking up a short-range transmission carrier,” Wilks announced. “Audio only. I’ve opened it up on com channel one.”
Stricklen punched the appropriate button on his console and said, “This is Captain Stricklen of the Alliance heavy cruiser Komodo Dragon. You have scanned us and I am assuming you have scanned the surrounding area. As you can see, there are no other Alliance ships in the area per your request.”
After a brief delay a voice replied, “Do I have your guarantee of my safety if I approach?”
“I pledge by the blood of my family and on my word of honor as an Alliance officer that neither you nor your ship shall be harmed. We will await your arrival.”
On his own ship, Captain Zatch broke the communications link, powered up his systems and prepared to drop his cloak. While he worked, he thought about the response he had heard from the Alliance Captain. It was probably a coincidence that he had replied as he did. Most likely his reference to the blood of his own family was simply an echo of how he had phrased his own statement.
What he found even more interesting was the name that had been given. According to the historical records the name of the Captain of the Komodo Dragon when it had first crossed their space 15 years ago was Ken Stricklen. The person who had replied to his hail claimed to be the same person. It did not seem likely that the Alliance would allow anyone to remain in command of the same ship for such a long time.
Shrugging off the problem for now, Zatch completed the command sequence and a moment later his ship engaged its stardrive and he sped toward the Alliance ship.
Aboard the Dragon, Shawn announced, “Drive wake detected! Distance 0.26 light years. He must have either been cloaked or drifting with most of his systems powered down.”
Stricklen glanced at the tactical display and smiled. He would have expected the Chroniech Captain to have hidden his ship in the nearby star system among the vast number of asteroids that existed there. It would have made it nearly impossible to find his ship among the debris. Stricklen was impressed that Captain Zatch had chosen a completely unexpected location to hide his ship – out in open space. As Ken thought about it, he realized that Zatch had parked his ship in such a location that he could instantly engage his stardrive and leave if Ken had not kept to the agreement.
“Maintain alert status,” Stricklen ordered. “Weapon systems are to remain at standby. Commander, what can you tell me about his ship?”
“Limited information at this distance,” the tactical officer replied. “It doesn’t appear to be very large, not much bigger than an interceptor. I am detecting nothing to indicate he has his weapons charged. ETA 23 minutes.”
Outwardly displaying calm, Stricklen was nervous. While they waited he reviewed everything he had learned from Arukt Chaktekt. The other ship dropped out of stardrive and maneuvered to within 1,000 kilometers of the Dragon. The two Captains spent a few minutes sizing each other up.
“His ship is very lightly armed,” Wittie reported. “None of his weapon systems are active and his shield is down. It could be a scout or some type of fast transport.”
“Drop our shield,” Stricklen ordered. “Open a channel using the same frequency he used the last time.”
As soon as the green indicator above com channel one lit up indicating that Captain Zatch was ready to receive Stricklen activated it and said, “Captain Zatch, how would you like to proceed?”
“Your ship assisted a disabled Chroniech passenger liner, is this true?”
“It is,” Stricklen replied somewhat surprised. This was not exactly how he had imagined this first exchange to begin.
“I need to speak to whoever was responsible for that rescue in person. Is that person still aboard your ship?”
“I was not in command at the time, but I am responsible for saving those people. May I ask why you need to speak to me concerning this matter?
“I would prefer to discuss this with you and you alone in person,” came the instant response.
“Very well,” Stricklen replied coming to a decision. “If you wish, I am prepared to shuttle over to your ship.”
Stricklen wasn’t surprised by the looks he got from his bridge crew. This was something he had not discussed with them and it was obvious they did not agree with this recommendation. Stricklen muted his microphone and said, “I have it on good authority that his promise concerning my safety is about as solid as any we can ever get from a Chroniech. I will be safe.”
“Can you pilot the shuttle yourself?” Captain Zatch asked.
Unmuting the microphone Stricklen replied, “It has been a long time, but I think I can manage.”
“I accept your offer,” came the reply. “I will open my outer airlock door so you can easily locate it. You are to be the only individual in the shuttle.”
As the communications link closed there was a loud chorus of disagreement. Stricklen silenced them all with a wave of his hand. “I will be fine. The decision has been made. Commander Tobunga will be in command in my absence.”
Getting up from his seat he walked over to where the Commander was standing. “You are in command while I’m gone. Do absolutely nothing unless that ship tries to leave. Is that understood?”
“Perfectly sir,” the XO replied. “Take care of yourself.”
“I will leave my wristcom open. You should be able to monitor what is said while I’m over there.”
Stricklen made his way to the hanger bay and quickly powered up one of the small shuttles. When it was ready, he called the bridge and had them open the hanger door. It took less than five minutes to maneuver the ship into position near the Chroniech ship's open hatch. A flexible docking ring was extended and sealed itself against the other ship’s hull. After verifying the seals were holding, Stricklen took a deep breath to calm his nerves then cycled through his own airlock and entered the other ship.
Once inside, Ken watched as the outer lock closed. He turned around and faced the inner door. The door shifted inward slightly then raised itself into the ceiling. Standing in front of him, his hand on the airlock controls, was Captain Zatch.
The two Captains looked each other over without moving. The Chroniech Captain was physically large and dwarfed Stricklen in both height and muscle mass. A medallion, possibly a translator, hung from his neck. He was dressed in a leathery, loose fitting, blueish uniform that covered most of his massive body. Stricklen looked for, but did not find, any visible weapons. The Captain appeared to be unarmed.
While Stricklen’s heart was racing and his instincts were telling him to run, Captain Zatch was fighting an entirely different desire. Standing before him was a member of a culture that had just recently killed millions of his people with a single weapon. He represented a threat to all Chroniech and Zatch wanted nothing more than to reach out and kill the
weak, fur-less, claw-less, individual standing in front of him.
It took a monumental effort for Zatch not to react and in bringing his own emotions under control he came to see Stricklen in a different light. The Alliance, he realized, was reacting exactly as his own people would to an invading force – they fought back. When thought of in that light, the Human was not so different than any Chroniech. And, Zatch remembered, this particular Human had saved his entire family making him special.
Ken had been well coached by Arukt Chaktekt on how to act during the first few critical moments of the initial meeting. Standing as tall and as erect as possible Ken locked eyes with the other Captain and extended his arms out in such a manner that his forearms were exposed. He uttered a single Chroniech word that was difficult for a Human to correctly pronounce.
That single word dated back to the earliest recorded time of the Chroniech and had not changed in thousands of years. Chaktekt had explained that its exact meaning had been lost but it could very roughly be translated as ‘I trust you with my life’. The upturned forearms indicated that Ken felt no fear from Batack and he was purposely exposing himself to attack to prove it. Batack could have killed him quite easily by raking his sharp claws across the exposed veins.
Captain Zatch was momentarily stunned into inactivity. This Human had greeted him with a perfectly executed ritual which was normally reserved for the greeting of an honored guest. The Human had actually managed to pronounce the greeting in an acceptable form. In Chroniech culture the greeting demanded a particular response. But this was not a Chroniech standing in front of him and Batack was momentarily at a loss concerning how to respond.
Stricklen waited, heart pounding and sweat forming on his brow. After a long pause Stricklen was about to lower his arms when Zatch reached out and gently placed his hands on Ken’s forearms. Stricklen’s stomach knotted up and, despite all his efforts to remain calm, flinched slightly at the contact.
