HADRON Chaos

by Stephen Arseneault

  Johnny raised his glove. “No we don’t.”

  The concussion wave from Johnny’s arm busted a huge hole in the concrete block wall in front of them.

  Johnny smiled as he gestured. “After you.”

  The wall collapsed in front of them, bringing with it materials from the floors above.

  Mace shook his head as he turned back. “As I said… we go around.”

  Liam came over the comm. We’re free of the atmosphere, Mr. Hardy.”

  Mace said, “We have a few minutes still. Take them to Earth and come back for us. We need them working on that weapon.”

  Liam asked, “You sure about that?”

  Mace stopped, looking down a hall to check for a clear path. “I’m sure. We can keep ourselves alive for that long.”

  At the end of a short run, they kicked a door down. The lab room was full of dust that had yet to settle, and smoke from a dozen small fires.

  “Crap, we’ll have to dig for it. It was sitting on the table right there.”

  The two Humans began throwing aside the debris covering their prize. Johnny hoisted a heavy beam over his head before tossing it to the side.

  “I do love these suits.”

  Mace replied, “Help me with this. I think it’s… right there.”

  Mace grabbed the boxy device, quickly falling forward as he began to lift it. “Whoa. Gah! It’s bolted down! We need a wrench!”

  Johnny stepped up. “Move.”

  A concussion wave flew from the top of his glove, angled to only impact an exposed bolt-head. The steel bolt snapped off, freeing the corner of the device. Two more attempts had all but a single corner free. A powerful plasma blast impacted the side of the lab building, sending debris in their direction. The two Humans were knocked to the ground.

  “You still there?” said Jenny.

  Mace slowly pulled himself up. “Mostly.”

  Johnny rolled over and grunted, pushing himself to his feet. “So much for the proto.”

  A steel shank was buried in the front section of the device.

  Mace said, “We still can’t leave it. Hit that other corner.”

  Johnny stepped up to the table, firing a concussion wave into the bolt. The shaft bent but didn’t break. A repeated attempt failed to free the device.

  Johnny reached down, firmly gripping both sides of the frame, pulling with a fierce growl. The device lifted only slightly. Mace took hold and the two Humans pulled with all the might their exosuits could muster. The bolt snapped free.

  Johnny said, “Lead the way!”

  The building rumbled, dust clouds rose. Fires raged as the Karthian bombardment of the capital city increased in intensity. Mace sprinted and Johnny followed behind. The two emerged and immediately ran up the shuttle’s ramp as Jenny directed it to close.

  As the shuttle lifted, a heavy plasma round impacted its hull, slamming it to the ground and knocking out a third of its transducers. Mace and Johnny flew up against the ceiling and slammed back down to the deck. The device bounced from Johnny’s grip, tumbling across the deck. Again the shuttle lifted, this time avoiding another plasma round, and shot up and across the city center.

  Mace slowly pushed himself up as Johnny rolled over. “Not sure how much more of that I can take.”

  Johnny chuckled and winced. “Yeah, not what I signed up for either. You said there would be cabanas and beaches.”

  Mace laughed as he stood. “You misheard. I said cannons and breaches.”

  Johnny took a deep breath. “Well, at least it all makes sense now.”

  Jenny asked, “You two OK?”

  Mace moved up, dropping himself into the copilot’s seat. “How we looking?”

  “Yentis is trashed. The microwave stations are almost all gone. Jasper is fighting on, but he has fewer than fifty ships left. This shuttle is damaged. We can’t leave the atmosphere.”

  Johnny stood behind her chair. “We’re stuck here?”

  “Until the Rogers gets back, we are. All we can do is keep flying in the meantime.”

  Mace opened a comm. “Jasper, you have to leave. This fight is lost. Take what you have left and move back to Earth.”

  Jasper shook his head. “I won’t abandon my people!”

  Mace gave an angry reply. “Your people are Humans! We need your help! Don’t throw you ships away for nothing! Divinia is gone! You dying won’t change that!”

  Jasper looked up at the bridge ceiling of the Organ Cave, and then around at her crew. “Pull back! All ships! Set a jump for Earth! We’ll regroup there!”

  Before Jenny could speak, the Targarian ships slipped away.

  “Gah! Why didn’t you have him swing by to grab us!”

  Two Karthian cruisers broke off in pursuit of the shuttle. Jenny flew their vessel down to the deck, jinking, swerving and popping up and down to avoid the constant barrage of laser and plasma blasts.

  As they moved up along a group of coastal mountains, Johnny said, “Take us down in the water! Those weapons will lose effectiveness!”

  Jenny shook her head. “Can’t do it. We aren’t airtight anymore. We’d just fill with water and sink.”

  Mace opened a comm to Earth. “Mr. Hobbs! Tell me you’re jumping!”

  Liam replied, “Two minutes at least. We’re still on the ground.”

  Mace growled. “Just come back! We can unload later. We’re damaged and stuck down by the surface!”

  “We’re on our way!”

  The hull of the shuttle shook violently as a partial plasma round clipped her aft. A hard bank to port sent a laser pulse past her starboard side. Jenny pulled up and began flying straight.

  Mace said, “What happened? What are you doing?”

  “They all just left,” said Jenny.

  Mace asked, “Who left?”

  Jenny gestured toward the nav display. The Karthians. They’re all jumping away.”

  Johnny cringed as he gripped Mace’s shoulder. “They’re moving on to Earth.”

  Jenny shook her head. “No, they’re jumping to the rift.”

  Mace looked over the display. “Why? They have us beat.”

  Jenny shrugged. “You want me to call them back? We can ask.”

  Johnny chuckled. “Sick sense of humor on this one. I like her.”

  Seconds later, a comm hail came in from Malcom Stark. Jenny accepted.

  A silhouetted Stark sat in his usual chair. “Mr. Hardy, glad to see you survived. I’m tempted to light this room just so you can see the grin on my face.”

  Mace asked, “What happened?”

  “I did what I do best. I made a deal.”

  “What kind of deal? You had nothing to trade.”

  Stark nodded. “You are correct. But we… had something to trade. A huge stockpile of gatrellium at your Alpha Centauri site. Nicely hidden, by the way. My people almost missed it.”

  “What did you do with it? I don’t understand.”

  Stark sighed. “I returned it to the rightful owners. With that, and with a forfeiture of all the colonies they had captured, they were appeased enough to leave Earth alone. You really did a number on them with the depot raids. You would have set their other plans back by years.”

  Mace shook his head. “You’re a fool, Stark. You’ve just doomed us all. I’d be surprised if your little treaty lasts more than a week.”

  “It will last. I took precautions. I had your friend Mr. Knuttin broker the deal, and since the UF and the Karthians will now be occupying adjoining space, the Karthians will not want to break the agreement. Earth is now safe, Mr. Hardy. We can get on with the business of perfecting the wormhole weapon your ship just brought home, and in rebuilding our world.

  “I’m quite proud of myself as I accomplished all this without firing a shot, although I will say I was disappointed in the performance of the UF dreadnoughts. We lost a hundred and eight crews before the retreat, but their sacrifice was needed to buy us time.”

  The Rogers settled into Divinia’s atmosphere.
The shuttle was brought aboard and they plotted a return trip to Earth. Jasper’s ships were still coming through.

  Mace opened a comm. “It’s bad there. I know.”

  Jasper stood on a catwalk as the Organ Cave, hovering above a devastated Yentis. “So many lives wasted.”

  Stark joined in on the comm. “You can’t be there, Mr. Collins. Those worlds now belong to the Karthians. You’re risking breaking the very agreements we just signed.”

  Jasper said, “There are survivors down there. We have to help them.”

  Mace backed him up. “He’s right. They aren’t all dead.”

  Stark snarled. “And they aren’t part of his kingdom anymore. His kingdom is gone, defeated. The survivors are now subjects of the Karthians. You’re putting us all at risk by being there!”

  Mace replied, “They are our people, Stark. They stood by us in this fight. We have room here on Earth. We need to bring them here. We owe it to them.”

  Stark stood in anger. “We owe them nothing! You are going to ruin this deal! The Targarians put us in this fight to begin with. I had a treaty all ready to be signed and they dashed in and broke it. Are you so dense you can’t see this?”

  Mace closed the connection with Stark. “Jasper, he’s not gonna allow us to move them here to Earth, but we do have an option. We can take them to Hardy. It’s uninhabited, it’s unclaimed, and it’s habitable. It will allow them a chance to reestablish a life there.”

  Jasper nodded as he looked over the destruction with a downtrodden face. “I suppose you’re correct.”

  Mace replied, “I’ll make a jump out to check its status. If all looks good, we’ll assist with moving your people there. I’m thinking we need to do this as fast as possible before the Karthians come back.”

  The investigation of Hardy came back as expected. It remained unclaimed and was ready for immediate occupation. Targarian ships gathered up able-bodied workers for transport as the others who remained cared for the injured.

  Four weeks passed before the last of the Targarians were moved from Divinia. With a population that had numbered close to eight billion, the Collins kingdom now held only twelve million citizens.

  Establishing the Targarian species on Hardy would be a struggle, and that struggle was compounded by the fact that Stark would have nothing to do with it. No help was offered and none would be forthcoming. To Malcom Stark, they were Karthian subjects running afoul of their empire.

  Back on Earth, the wormhole weapon project was taken over by Stark’s people. Jeff Moskowitz, Gnaga Klept, and the others on his science team refused to offer assistance. Having the data and the unit that was nearly assembled, Stark made the decision to release the others. They moved back to the cave compound, where their efforts were put to use assisting the Targarians.

  A Stark spy was finally outed. He had initially come in with Jordan Crawford’s men and had been passing information to Stark since the beginning. He claimed to have mixed feelings about the venture, but had been unable to withdraw once in. From that point on, the otherwise happy community mostly kept to themselves.

  From the chaos, a renewed Earth emerged. Trade was again established with Canto, new factories came online, and the fields of Earth were producing a large excess. Trade attempts with the Mawga had been cut off, their worlds placed off-limits to travel. The UF was tightening their grip.

  For Humans, a new baby boom was underway. Efforts to repopulate the world with the recovered embryos was in full swing. With food and space being plentiful, the population was once again set to double. King Stark reigned supreme with the people’s support. He had spared Earth from the Karthians and the masses were grateful for it.

  For whatever reason, he spared Mace and the others, leaving them to govern themselves. Organ Cave had become their home. Earth had survived.

  ~~~~~

  What’s Next!

  *

  This Human is asking for your help!

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  (Flip the page!)

  HADRON

  (Vol. 7)

  Havoc

  Chapter 7.1

  *

  Five months after the Karthian peace agreement was signed, the Rogers settled on a broad tarmac in the city of New Yentis. The Targarians, ever busy, had just completed their first community center. Modeled after those on Earth, eight such centers were planned for the area in and around the new colony. Forests were being cleared and fields readied for planting. The first mine had been established and the first port dug out and readied for a fleet of fishing vessels.

  Mace, using funds disbursed from his ownership in the Knuttin Corporation, had been busy acquiring colonization materials. The new colony at Hardy was in desperate need of all things mechanical. Machinery such as tractors or plows, or diggers for mining, were in high demand. Mace used the advice of Frado Knuttin to purchase the items most in need.

  He sat in the dining hall on the Organ Cave with Jasper. “All things considered, I think you’ve got a good start on things here.”

  “Wish we’d had more time to salvage from Divinia.”

  Mace nodded. “Can’t risk it now that the Karthians have moved in. Stark said they’re clearing off every bit of your people’s existence. They plan on letting the natural growth run wild for the next couple decades. After that, they’ll consider it a resource for possibly populating. He says they are already looking to establish a colony on Croawla.”

  Jasper frowned. “It was a world rich in resources.”

  Mace said, “Look, I know all this has been extremely hard on you, but life is what it is. We take what we have and do the best we can. I know you’re toying with how to get back at the Karthians. I think you need to set your house in order here first. The Karthians will still be out there when you’re ready to deal with them. Any effort you put into thinking about it now only detracts from what you’re doing here.”

  Jasper sighed. “I know. It’s just some things can’t be helped.”

  Mace said, “Well I know it’s not much, but you at least have all the microwave stations here that Favia built for us. She was kind enough to donate nine hundred of them to you. She didn’t have to give a single one.”

  Jasper nodded. “I know. And my people are ever grateful.”

  A comm came in from Stark. “Mr. Hardy, I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I just ended a long discussion with the Karthians. They wanted to know where their subjects went. They know they didn’t kill everyone, and yet there is no one there.”

  “So what’d you tell them?”

  Stark was silent.

  Jasper stood. “I will kill you whenever I find out where you are.”

  Stark replied, “I had no choice, Mr. Collins. As I said before, they consider the Targarians their property. They felt that I aided and abetted in the theft of that property, and told me to my face that if I didn’t tell them where you were, they would consider the agreement null and void, making Earth once again a target.”

  “I told you this would happen,” said Mace.

  “As I told you it would happen if you meddled in their affairs.”

  Mace shook his head. “Since you told us this, what would you have us do? Take them back?”

  Stark said, “They would not accept that. What I would expect both you and Mr. Collins to do is to leave that planet. If they find Humans there, they will use that as an excuse to break the agreement.”

  Mace reached into the opening of his faceshield, rubbing his temples. “We’re
not abandoning the Targarians.”

  “Then you are dooming all Humans.”

  Mace stood and began to pace. “I have one alternative.”

  Stark said, “I’m listening.”

  Mace stopped. “We bring them home. Take them all to Earth.”

  Stark shook his head. “A ludicrous proposal.”

  Mace held up a hand. “Maybe. Can you tell me how many of those microwave stations you have? And how many ships?”

  Stark was hesitant before answering. “Four hundred twelve stations, both orbital and ground. Three hundred six cruisers.”

  Mace nodded. “OK, we can add just over a hundred ships to that total. And about nine hundred microwave stations.”

  Stark crossed his arms. “What? Where did you get those?”

  Mace replied, “Not saying. But I think we can get more. Possibly as many as three or four hundred. You agree to allow the Targarians to come to Earth, at least until they can get reestablished elsewhere, and I’ll see to it that you have more than fifteen hundred stations pulling guard duty there at Earth.”

  Stark stood and began to pace as well. “If we had more ships I might consider this a valid offer, but I must decline. The two of you need to come home. I am certain the Karthians will be coming your way. And as I said, if Humans are found there, the agreement will be broken, exposing us to attack.”

  Jasper replied, “Listen, you putrid moron. These are my people. If the Karthians are on their way, then I will meet them here with everything I have. You keep acting as though you speak for all Humans, well you don’t. Not this one anyway. Let the Karthians come. We’ll give them a fight.”

  Mace looked into the comm camera. “I have to say that I’m with him. They’re gonna come for us one way or another. You either fight along with us or you’ll be fighting alone. If you send out your fleet, we could transport everyone home in a couple days. All the stations we have in orbit here would be moved, too. So pick your poison. All together or by yourself?”

  Stark rubbed the top of his head in frustration. “Bring them. I’ll have every transport and warship there for a pick-up within the hour. But we need to make haste. The Karthians may show up in a week, or it could be in an hour. But they will come.”