Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1 (Splintered Galaxy Book 3)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  The hologram shifted to technical specs of the high yield nuclear warheads all UNE ships were equipped with. Salamanca’s face grimace as she said. “We’ll have to be extremely careful where we aim those warheads, I don’t want our own people to get hit by the ass end of a blast because the battle was fought too close to a space station.”

  “Which means that all combat must be a great distance away,” Singh said.

  “Which means fighting in the belt is out of the question.” Xiao shifted the hologram to a three dimensional one of the mining platforms in the asteroid belt. “Knock an asteroid in the wrong direction due to a nuke and it might wipe out a mining platform.”

  “Or we might knock it directly toward Mars or Earth,” Salamanca said.

  “In any case,” Landis said. “Let’s start evacuating some of those places near the asteroid belt.”

  “If this turns into a long war we’re going to need every drop of resource we can get our hands on,” Salamanca said, slamming her fist on the desk. “Gods damn it!”

  She paused for a moment knowing that what she had said confirmed to the rest that she had indeed converted to the Radiance religion. And now Radiance was abandoning her and the hundreds of humans that, like her, had started to believe in the existence of the three gods.

  Singh switched the hologram to one of a top down map of the solar system. “All right, for now let’s have the whole fleet fan out,” Singh said and pointed toward a region of space between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. “Right about here.”

  Salamanca adjusted her glasses and looked at his proposed area. “Hmm yeah that could work.”

  “Assuming they don’t open or have any more wormholes, then it’s safe to assume they have Uranus and will launch future attacks from there. The wormhole they already have there will most likely be used by them to bring in their forces.”

  “I like that.” Xiao nodded in agreement. “We’ll be able to meet them head on and hold them back.”

  “And we can launch as many nukes as we want, the battle will ideally be fought in the middle of space,” Singh said.

  “Make the call to the fleet, Admiral,” Salamanca said to him.

  “Whatever the Winston Churchill has to do at Titan, they need to be quick,” Landis said, eyeing the fact that both the Winston Churchill and Wilfrid Laurier will be a few hours away from the rest of the fleet once they move into position.

  Salamanca nodded in agreement with the General. She understood the game plan of the Winston Churchill, to speak with Ella Lynn who might be able to translate the intel they got. It just—Then it hit her. Titan, and the black site there, the sole reason why Ella was shipped there in the first place. Gods damn it, I totally forgot about that. “Titan,” she whispered to herself. “That’s it!”

  “What?”

  “The project on Titan, we need to have it pushed forward quickly.”

  “I don’t think they’re ready for that level of testing yet,” Landis said, “and with Radiance pulling out, it means that their scientists that were working there will be long gone by now.”

  “Make it happen,” Salamanca said firmly. “Find the greatest minds in the solar system and ship them there!”

  “Some of our greatest minds were aboard the Radiance fleet when it was shot down,” Landis said.

  “As I said, make it happen.” She switched the hologram to a cut away layout of the black site on Titan, a multi-story building on top of a rocky region. “This could be the turning point in this war.”

  CHAPTER 18

  ►► Abyssal Explorer, Oyuri orbit

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  Chloe’s eyes shot open slightly frightened that once again a small nap turned into an extremely vivid dream of life on the Linl home world, with voices speaking to her as if they knew her... and Fiesei. She tilted her head toward the gem as it pulsated with light from time to time.

  Fuck it, she thought while grabbing the gem and moved her body toward the exit of her quarters.

  Chloe stepped off the elevator onto the bridge and power walked toward the stairs leading toward the meeting room. During which she asked, in a firm and aggressive manner for Karklosea, Stolanei, and Ueyei to follow behind with her. All four entered and gathered around Ueyei’s desk, and gazed at Chloe as she began to go over in her head what to say next... and what the consequences may be.

  “Major you wanted to talk?” Ueyei asked her.

  Well here goes nothing, she thought and tossed the gem on his desk. The three aliens around her all looked at the gem wide-eyed, then slowly tilted their heads away from it and toward Chloe.

  “Oh, okay,” said Ueyei. “Where did you get this?”

  Chloe briefly remembered the chaos that came about because of this very same gem being brought aboard the Winston Churchill without the rest of the crew knowing about it. “I don’t like repeating mistakes,” Chloe said. “I had it on me, brought it aboard, I should have told you earlier. I know how much you guys see these things as being a source of evil.”

  “You could say that,” Stolanei said.

  “Stolanei, you remember Gavin Chambers, right?” Chloe asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, I do.”

  “His dead wife had this gem here, she gave it to me before she passed and I was meant to give it to him.”

  Chloe then asked everyone to sit down, as she had a long story to tell them about the gem that shone its light onto the desk. She told them everything else about it, how long Gavin had it, and that Ella slowly became interested in it and held onto it for a bit. The dreams she had during the invasion of Earth, Hannah. How the gem brought Chloe and Ella back from the brink of death, how the gem switched Ella’s mind with a Hashmedai salvager in Morutrin. Then the latest bit of unexplained events, the strange visions Chloe has been having since coming aboard all with Fiesei making an appearance in them.

  It was a lot for them to take in and she could tell by Karklosea’s face-palm expression. But in the end, she felt it was necessary for them to know the truth. If they were to uncover some crazy events here, it’s better that they get this information now and use it to put the pieces of the puzzle together as new ones drop from the stars.

  “Oyuri,” Karklosea said, shortly after Chloe finished her story. “Stolanei and I had strange visions during our meditations.”

  “Not to mention the strange psionic energy we found,” Stolanei said. “There might be a connection.”

  “Captain, permission to explore the surface in greater detail?” Karklosea asked Ueyei.

  “Granted, we’ll be here for a while until the explorers are satisfied with what they found,” Ueyei said. “Take the major with you as well and,” he pointed his index finger at the gem, “take that with you as well please.”

  “Thank you, Captain,” Karklosea said with a bow.

  “Watch your backs while you are down there, the heretics love gems like that. And if this gem is truly reacting with the planet then they’ll probably be there too.”

  Chloe grinned at his statement. “I’m counting on it,” she said and proceeded to exit with the gem in her hands.

  The Abyssal Explorer’s transport bay was full of life and movement as several explorers, scholars, and archaeologists aboard kicked and floated their bodies into their assigned transport ships. Many of them hitched a ride to the planet from Rasi after the new ruins were discovered. Chloe, Karklosea and Stolanei boarded their own transport and waited for the all clear from the bridge to leave.

  The floors of the bay slid apart allowing the small fleet of transports to descend away from the Abyssal Explorer and fly toward the sandy, rocky surface of Oyuri below them. All transport ships adjusted their course toward the blackened area of the planet smothered by the eternal eclipse.

  … … …

  ►► Unearthed Lyonrian city, Oyuri

  ► Barnard’s Star system

  Eicelea and Vynei’s transport landed at a small makeshift camp next to the newly discovered ruins of the Lyonr
ian city. The camp consisted of four rectangular bays to be used as sleeping and dining areas. All of the transports from the Abyssal Explorer came to a stop at the adjacent landing pad.

  Eicelea cursed as her arms and body weren’t long enough to grab her environment suit’s helmet from the rear storage closet of the transport. Vynei noticed his struggling Vorcambreum boss and stepped over to hand her the last bit of equipment she needed. As her tiny helmet sealed shut, a small holographic HUD loaded displaying her suits status and air supply levels. Lights inside the helmet activated as the transport doors swung open, revealing the darkened camp thanks to the eclipse blocking out what little light the red dwarf star provided.

  She saw most of the people leaving the transports headed toward the airlock to gain access to the lounging areas inside. Most likely setting up shop to stay here for a few nights. Their mistake, she thought and motioned with her head toward Vynei to follow her toward the ancient city instead.

  The city had been buried for several millennia underneath all the rock, sand, and sulfur dust from the volcanoes in the region. Once its existence was discovered, a team of talented psionics combined their minds together to telekinetically remove and uncover the city. The end result was a cavernous pit next to the camp with strangely built structures scattered throughout. Not all of the city was uncovered. Most of it was still buried as the psionics were far too exhausted to remove everything, more work was planned for a future time.

  A crude and rickety elevator carried Eicelea and Vynei deep down toward the streets of the city. The Lyonria structures had a white and light pink color to them. Most were shaped like domes, with sky blue gem like devices directly on the top middle. Larger buildings had a similar design, a dome shaped base, with a square shaped tower arching off the top center. The towers were adorned with glowing blue spheres.

  Much to Eicelea’s disappointment, there was already hordes of researchers in the ancient streets scanning, dusting, then recording their findings with their data pads. Her dreams of being the first to step foot inside the city were crushed in an instant. They stepped away from the elevator and started to walk throughout the city. The scanner on her data pad unveiled that there was power being supplied to the tiny lights along the sides of the structures and sidewalks in the ancient city. An interesting find as all of the other Lyonria ruins she exploded in the past had no power.

  “Oh, this is so exciting!” she said in jubilation.

  “This is much more intact compared to anything we saw in Morutrin,” Vynei’s voice transmitted to her helmet.

  She frowned upon seeing a team of people carry a large device out from a nearby building, no doubt to study it and report their findings. “And drastically more occupied with competition.”

  “Well it is new.”

  “Look at this!” Her tiny hands pointed toward all the environment suit equipped people studying and taking notes. “These people already had a head start, their findings will be the first to be uploaded the knowledge network. There won’t be any interesting findings for us when we get started.”

  “Why not start with this building then?” he said, pointing to a random dome shaped structure.

  “Because it is no different from the last five that we looked at! We must aim higher.” She used her HUD to scan the rock face several kilometers ahead, as they recalled the rest of the city was still buried there. A superimposed hologram appeared over her helmet’s visor, displaying what looked like tunnels and a barricade set up by someone. “Come, come, I do believe I have spotted it.”

  A long walk through the streets led them toward the rock face in question. A holographic projector erected a wide blue colored screen displaying the words in the Radiance language ‘DO NOT ENTER.’ Ignoring the sign, she looked backwards, no one was in sight and she stepped past the barrier. Behind it was a door, clearly made by the Lyonria’s, probably the entrance to a building that wasn’t fully excavated. She signaled to Vynei to force the sliding door open with his raw strength, an act he was all too familiar with when exploring.

  Darkness surrounded them as they stepped inside. The light within their helmets and Eicelea’s data pad was the only source of light, that was until Eicelea deployed a small drone with a flashlight mounted to its front. It flew upwards high above them and began to record video and scan the area for valuable data. Data that would have her name on it when published on the knowledge network, for she was certain they were the first people to step inside this structure in the last several thousand years.

  “I don’t think anyone has the authority to go this far,” Vynei said. “Might be dangerous.”

  “That’s why I brought you along,” she said then knelt on the floor. There were several oval shaped crystals with an opal glow on the ground. “Now, be alert as I obtain these samples.”

  They ventured further in through the narrow passage way as their drone led the way. Light from the hovering device shone upon yet another door, of the same shape and size from earlier. She looked down at her data pad to read the data the drone was transmitting to it.

  “There’s some sort of electronics within it,” she said. “Joints as well, it was most certainly once an automatic door unlike the last one.”

  Their arms worked in unison forcing the heavy doors apart, giving them access to a new and wide hallway. The drone unveiled massive pillars stretching upwards to the ceiling, which were at least four stories high. The pillars all had a vertical slit on them, exhibiting a network of soft glowing blue colored electronics, scans indicating it was receiving power from a central source.

  “What excellent footage we are gathering!” Eicelea said.

  “I still think we should have waited for the okay to travel this far—”

  “Nonsense! This is for science!”

  Scans from the drone and her data pad revealed three alcoves, one on the left, one on the right and another directly in front of them. Each of the alcoves had a circular pad emitting soft blue light much like the pillars.

  “That light,” she said as they stepped toward the alcove in front of them. “It must still be receiving power, but from where exactly?”

  Being the first one to discover a fully functioning Lyonria power plant. She had a feeling she was close to doing just that. She thought about all the reads her article would get. How famous she would be. They might even name a university after her. And that was not counting how far such technology could advance the Radiance Union. Great secrets lay ahead, and she intended to have her name stamped on them as the person that discovered them first.

  But first thing’s first. They must find it. Her hands input a command on her data pad, forcing the drone to fly closer to the alcove. It vanished as it got near. A blue flash of light took it away, almost as if a psionic had made a teleportation. Darkness consumed them once again as the drone’s light was gone.

  “What did you do?” Vynei asked.

  “Nothing, the drone went over to that pad.”

  She checked her data pad. Data from the drone was still being transmitted. Video play back of the drone showed that it was in another dark room, with faint lights on the walls. “How peculiar, the drone is still transmitting.”

  Vynei knelt toward her to look at the contents of the pad. “I don’t recognize that room.”

  A new interface loaded on the data pad, giving her manual control of the drone. She guided it through the room. Its flashlight shone its white light across what appeared to be computer stations, monitors, and several other alien contraptions she did not recognize.

  “The drone, it must have been transported into that room.” she said. “That pad on the alcove must have done it.” A one-eighty degree turn of the drone displayed another alcove with a similar blue glowing pad inside the room. “Yes, yes, it must be what the Lyonria used to get to other sections of this structure.” She raised her eyebrow inside her helmet. “Fascinating.”

  The drone flew toward the alcove. She hoped it was going to be teleported back to them. Instea
d it was teleported into another room.

  “Oh no,” she mumbled, looking for signs of the drone, hoping she was wrong about what she saw on the video playback.

  There was nothing.

  “It didn’t come back did it?”

  “It’s in another room,” she said. “And I don’t see another pad.”

  This room was different. It was entirely dark, with nothing the flashlight could illuminate. She spun the drone around again to double check if she had missed the alcove. Static was the next imagery that appeared on the data pad. The drone had stopped transmitting. She made several attempts to reconnect with it, but to no avail. As far as the data pad was concerned there was no active drone in the area it could link with.

  “Well that’s not good,” Vynei said.

  “No, it is not, we must recover it at once.”

  “How?”

  “By following it of course,” she said, pointing toward the alcove. “Now Vynei please step through.”

  “Me?”

  “Of course you! I pay you for dangerous work do I not?”

  The lights from inside of his helmet showed his body language of the situation, one of fear and anxiety. Eicelea winced upon noticing it and his reluctance to move, so she stood behind him and pushed him toward the alcove, his buttocks were the only part of him other than his legs she could reach.

  “Well this is a little different—”

  “Silence! Less talk, more walk. I’ll meet up with you.” He stepped in and like the drone, a bright blue light made his body vanish. “That is as I’ll meet up with you as soon as I know it’s safe to use!”

  Vynei passed the first test, his vitals according to her helmets HUD showed he was still alive and in good health. “Vynei can you hear me?” she transmitted.

  “Yes boss, I’m here in that room.”

  “Excellent!” she said, rubbing her hands together, while walking toward the alcove.

  She was teleported into the room full of computers along with Vynei. The sensation was exactly the same one that was felt during a psionic teleportation. Whatever those alcoves were, there was a connection between the mechanics of psionic teleportation and them. Eicelea took one step off the pad, suddenly the room lit up, every computer powered on, and holograms loaded, some of them had words written in the Lyonrian language, others had interfaces, clearly made to be interacted with.