HADRON Havoc

by Stephen Arseneault

  In the next half hour, he saw the facility control room, the workers quarters, support facilities, and the massive construction bays where smaller assemblies were being pieced together to form the major assemblies of the ship under construction. With his pick-up time approaching, Mace turned back toward the docking bay. Fifteen meters into his walk a loud horn sounded. The hallways in and around him were soon full of workers coming off their shift and heading for their quarters.

  As the heavy crowd moved forward, Mace was continuously bumped and shoved. A curious worker raised a hand in an effort to understand what it was he had just bumped into. Mace dropped, rolling to the worker���s feet, causing him to be pushed forward and over. A quick roll to the side saw the worker sprawled on the floor, the others behind him pointing and laughing. A quick duck into a side room allowed the rush of the crowd to pass by.

  Mace reached the docking bay door just at his scheduled time, but the door remained shut. Five minutes of pacing did nothing to uncover a solution. When two workers moved up the hall, Mace circled behind them and shoved one on the shoulder as he came close to the door. The sensor triggered and the automatic door opened. Mace moved quietly through as the two workers began shoving each other in the hallway.

  An all-out brawl ensued and the dock worker rushed out to check on the commotion. The worker who had been shoved was quickly atop the other on the hallway floor, his small Karthian fists flying. A check of his timer told “the boss” he had missed his ride. The next hour passed slowly as the commotion in the hallway cleared and the workers were taken away. The second attempt at a pickup saw Mace back aboard the Royal Fortune.

  Jenny taxied out into open space. “What took you so long? I got everyone else first try.”

  “I went all the way down that left arm to check out the construction area and got caught in the hall during a shift change. Had to trip a worker when he began to get curious about the mysterious bumps and shoves he was getting. Then I got stuck at the automated door.”

  Jenny asked, “You at least made it to the power room, didn’t you?”

  Mace nodded. “I did. How’d everyone else make it through that door?”

  Jenny laughed. “The big red button on the right side? You press it… the door opens.”

  Mace sighed. “Mine was covered with a poster on both the inside and out. Nobody else had that?”

  Jenny replied for the group. “Guess not, everyone else was waiting… puddin’.”

  Mace smiled. “OK, I guess I deserve that. You already drop the rest at their next dock?”

  “Yep. Probably all waiting on a pick-up already.”

  Mace moved over to the ramp as the shuttle settled in the next dock. “I’ll try to pick up the pace this time.”

  The remaining construction docks were videoed and layouts collected. No further encounters with Karthian workers took place. A run out to free space was followed by a jump back to the Alpha site. The data collection operation had taken just over ten hours.

  Mace walked down the ramp to a waiting Jasper. “Any luck?”

  Jasper replied, “We’ve covered about a third of the known Karthian colonies. We have one other construction yard, probably a third smaller than that one. All of the bays had gatrellium plating being installed on the ships.”

  Mace said, “Everyone up for another run?”

  Nods were returned.

  “OK, give us the coordinates of the new yard and we’ll get it tagged and bagged. After that, we’ll need some rest.”

  Jasper passed the info to Mace. “We’ll have the rest of their territory swept in a day and half. We’ll take a little time to plan out our missions when we have all the data. Once we’re done outfitting the explosives, I suggest we blow them all immediately. They’re turning out new ships every day.”

  “Sounds like the plan.”

  Chapter 20

  *

  Three days later, a third and larger construction yard, this one containing a hundred forty-two docks, was video logged and passed to Jasper. Two days of planning and implementation saw the explosives placed and the teams returned to Alpha. A single Targarian, Collins-class cruiser remained in stealth mode at each of the yards. Video feeds from each were displayed on a holo-wall.

  Mace took a deep breath. “There’s no taking this back. Are we sure we don’t want to throw up a speech from some radical Harpoonian dictator?”

  Jasper asked, “You got a speech prepared?”

  “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

  A Targarian officer entered the room. “Your Highness, a Karthian cruiser has entered the Alpha Centauri system. It will be within weapons range in minutes.”

  Jasper replied, “They can’t see us. Probably just a scout. Come back and tell us if something changes.”

  Jasper turned to the others with a scowl. “Probably Stark gave them coordinates and they’re trying to flush us out. Unless they take action, I ain’t biting.”

  The officer bowed, turning back toward his station, only to return less than a minute later. “We’re receiving a hail from Malcom Stark. Should I respond or remain silent?”

  Jasper growled. “Why is he always a thorn in my side?”

  Mace said, “Patch him through. I’ll take the comm.”

  An image of Malcom Stark popped onto the display. “Ah, Mr. Hardy. I thought you might be here. Excellent. I wanted to run a few things by you and your team. I believe I’ve convinced the Karthians to stay away from your Targarians. And I’m working to convince them to focus their efforts on the United Front rather than the Hoorka and your Harpoonian nuisance. By the way, your pirating efforts will come to an end in a few months. The Karthians will be ferrying cargoes through wormholes starting about then, so no more defenseless freighters for you to abscond with.”

  Mace asked, “You here for a reason?”

  Stark nodded. “Yes… I know you have no interest in revealing your stealth technologies to me, so I would like to instead enlist your help. We… I am planning an invasion of the United Front territories. They are currently the biggest threat to the Karthians and I plan to change that. We will strike hard at the center of their empire, taking control and forcing a surrender.

  “Once that is accomplished, we can turn our efforts toward the Hoorka. However, before any of these plans can be put into play, I require intelligence. I need to know fleet strength and planetary defenses. This is where I enlist your help. You and your ships can move in and about the United Front and Hoorka territories without being seen. With the information you’ll be providing I can plan and execute precise attacks… bringing quick ends to any conflicts.”

  “And why would we be motivated to do this in any way?”

  Stark smiled. “To save Human lives, of course. The more decisive the victory, the fewer the lives claimed for that purpose. A very simple concept that I am certain even Mr. Collins can understand.”

  Jasper muted the comm. “Give me two weeks before giving him a definite answer.”

  Johnny said, “Uh oh. What you got rolling around in that skull of yours?”

  Jasper replied, “We have those construction yards ready to blow. I’m certain my teams and I can rig at least half the Karthian warships to blow right along with that. Give me two weeks to accomplish it. After that, you decide what you think is best for us and I’ll follow.”

  Johnny said, “You’re talking rigging thousands of ships in a couple weeks. How’s that possible?”

  Jasper turned. “It’s possible because I’m a determined individual. Look, I have thirty-five ships. Those ships each have two shuttles. So that’s really a hundred five ships. All of which are wormhole capable and all of which are stealth. And my crews are trained.

  “Let me set the explosive charges in as many Karthian ships as I can for that two week period. At the end, I set them off and you make your decision based on the results. What I think will happen is the Karthians will freak and not try to attack anyone until they have their ship numbers back up.
If we play this right we might be able to push any planned attacks of theirs, plans made by Stark, out for several years. Heck, we might even be able to weaken them enough that Stark himself could finish the job.”

  Johnny said, “That’s quite the plan. I’m guessing you didn’t just now come up with it.”

  “It’s been in the works, ape-man. Planning our freedom is something we do 24/7 around here.”

  Mace asked, “You really think you can rig a substantial number of their ships in two weeks?”

  Jasper nodded. “We’ve been practicing on one of the captured cruisers. The warships are a little more tricky than the civilian reactors, but we can do this. My guesstimate of half their ships is conservative, but it does rely on them being clustered in fleets like they previously have been. Give me this two weeks and I’ll cut them down to size.”

  Mace looked at Johnny. “Thoughts?”

  “Stark will not be happy. You’re gonna be taking away a large part of his planned power base. Control of their ships is what he’s been after.”

  Jasper leaned in, palms of his hands flat on the table. “Please. I can do this. Let me poke him in the eye with a sharp stick one more time.”

  Mace slowly nodded. “I’ll give you your two weeks. Just keep in mind, if your people get compromised, we need to blow everything we have already rigged. If they figure out what your people were up to, they’ll search every reactor in their empire.”

  Jasper grinned as he stood. “You won’t be sorry about this decision.”

  Jasper clapped his hands together as he left the room. “Lieutenant Jolus! Bring my staff together pronto!”

  Mace enabled the comm audio. “We need two weeks to clear out some projects we’re working on. If you’re still interested at that time, we’ll see to it you have the info you need for your next decision.”

  Stark bowed. “Excellent news, Mr. Hardy. This should be the first major step toward restoring Human control. Now you know why I’ve continued to allow you to operate in this rogue manner. You have the ability to move about outside of the confines of politics. We have much in common with our goals, Mr. Hardy. I hope we are able to cooperate more in the future as all this unfolds.”

  Mace replied, “We’ll see. Come back in two weeks and we’ll talk.”

  The comm closed. The Human-piloted Karthian cruiser turned and departed the system.

  Johnny said, “Hope we’re not biting off more than we can chew. The Karthians will be furious over this. They might even take revenge on our people.

  Mace shook his head. “I don’t think so. If this works, they’ll be needing Stark more than ever. Their truce with the UF is tenuous, and the skirmishes with the Hoorka will quickly become a very unwelcome conflict.”

  “What do we do with Terrenet? The reactors of that city are still wired up.”

  “I’m not sure. We’ve got two weeks to figure that out, though. Maybe we use that as leverage for a type of surrender, or at least a bargaining chip for human freedom. I hope we’re not just climbing one more hill of this rollercoaster. Not sure how many more letdowns I can take.”

  Johnny nodded. “You and me both.”

  For two weeks, Jasper’s crews buzzed about. Thirty-six hundred Karthian ships were identified, with twenty-two hundred having the explosive device applied to a reactor. As the last day came to a close, a Karthian cruiser again appeared in the Alpha Centauri system.

  Stark opened a comm. “Well?”

  Mace replied, “Just waiting on Mr. Collins to return. I need him here for this meeting. How goes it on the political front?”

  Stark sighed. “The Karthians are a stubborn lot, but they will come around. They have already given control of a hundred warships to me. That effort has been put on hold however, awaiting information that is to come from you. Have you done any forward planning?”

  Mace nodded. “Some. It’s mostly just a question of flying in and gathering passive data. We could do a single orbit of a planet and give you a good idea of its defenses. I’m not expecting this task to be difficult. What I don’t know is the size of the UF Empire. The more colonies there are, the longer this will take. Same issue with the Hoorka.”

  Jasper’s shuttle settled in the crevasse that held the hidden cave. After slipping through the faux projected cover and a gravity wall, it parked on the deck of the docking bay. Jasper emerged, walking down the ramp with a grin.

  “I think we’re all set. I’m passing a feed to the display wall. It shows a hundred eighty feeds coming in from various places. The three on top are the construction yards. The ones below are ordered by the number of warships that are parked in one place.”

  Johnny said, “Do we want to add Terrenet on there?”

  “Not yet,” said Mace. “Let’s hold that one for later. We need to see the Karthian reaction before doing anything with that.”

  Jasper said, “Wish I could see Stark’s face as he watched all this.”

  Mace said, “I could pass him this feed. Anyone have any objections? I think we all might derive some satisfaction from seeing his reaction.”

  Johnny replied, “Do it. I just wish we had Jane and the others here to see this. They deserve it, too.”

  Jasper scowled. “Let’s not wait. It just invites risk.”

  Mace returned to the comm with Malcom Stark. “Mr. Stark, there’s been a slight change of plans. I’m passing you a video feed. You’ll probably want to scrub your comm logs before returning. And I’m certain you’ll want to make new plans after having a moment to take in the new playing field. There’s about to be a huge disturbance in the Karthian Empire.”

  Mace passed the video stream from Jasper’s ship to the orbiting Karthian cruiser.

  “What is this, Mr. Hardy? Why am I seeing this?” said Stark.

  Mace smiled. “You’re looking at live video feeds of the Karthian construction yards, and about two thirds of their fleet of ships.”

  “What are you planning?”

  Mace replied, “It’s not what we’re planning… it’s what we’ve already planned. You’re about to witness one of the greatest Human feats of all time, far bigger and more decisive than even the invasion of D-Day in World War II.”

  Mace looked at Jasper. “You ready?”

  Jasper nodded. “I passed the control button to you. You’ve been the binding force that has gotten us this far. I thought you deserved it.”

  “You sure?”

  Jasper waved a hand. “Just do it before I start tearing up.”

  Mace said, “Behold the power of Human determination!”

  The button was pressed… nothing happened.

  Mace turned to Jasper. “How long should this take?”

  “Should have been immediate! Mr. Joles! Tell me why this isn’t working!”

  Stark began to laugh. “Should I be seeing bubbles or balloons or what? With the buildup you just gave, I was at least expecting some fireworks. Should I come back in another two weeks?”

  Jasper yelled, “Hold your bald-headed horses! This is happening any second!”

  Stark replied, “Mr. Hardy. I’m beginning to second guess my desire to have you gather intelligence for me. It seems you wanted to surprise me, and your plans for doing so have fallen through. Perhaps if you just gave me the means to your stealth technology this could all be handled professionally.”

  Jasper scowled. “Keep it up and I’ll be boarding that ship to shove my fist in your smart mouth!”

  Lieutenant Joles hurried into the room. “Your Highness, our sincerest apologies. It seems there was a typo in the planted passcode.”

  “Tell me we don’t have to go do all those again, Lieutenant!”

  “No, Sire. The button is ready to press.”

  Jasper’s scowl turned into a grin. “Hold onto your shorts, Stark. This is happening now!”

  Mace pressed the button… the images on the displays began to light up with explosions. The ships went fast and burned bright before quickly fading as their hulls broke apart
and scattered. The construction docks spewed debris from their exploding power rooms, damaging and destroying everything within several hundred meters of the blast. Fires raged as oxygen bled from other parts of the great structures.

  Mace glanced over at Jasper. A single tear rolled down his right cheek. Malcom Stark sat in awe of the destruction unfolding before his eyes.

  Johnny said, “That has to be the most beautiful and inspiring thing I have ever seen. That’s just… wow. I can’t believe we just pulled that off.”

  Mace stood. “Mr. Stark, I suggest you get to work on your new plans. The Karthians won’t be invading anyone for quite some time. In fact, they’ll be lucky if their people don’t revolt against their current government. This which you have just been witness to… is monumental, and is only the beginning. We will not stop until Earth has been freed.”

  Stark slowly closed his lower jaw that had been sitting open for most of a minute. “Impressive. You are correct, Mr. Hardy. This changes everything. I’m now concerned about a knee-jerk reaction against us.”

  Mace said, “We have one more card to play in that regard. The Karthians will be scrambling to make sense of this event before they take any action. Give me an hour and I’ll be delivering an ultimatum from the Harpoonians. The Karthian regime will cease all hostilities toward other species and give up the Humans to the Harpoonian Empire. In return, the Harpoonians will not invade, conquer, and wipe out the Karthians.”

  Stark asked, “And just how are you going to convince them that they should comply?”

  “We’re prepared to blow up their capital this time. If they fail to come to their senses, we’ll just have to pick another city and another until they do.”

  “They will rebuild and they will come after you.”

  Jasper huffed. “We’ll see to it that they don’t. We can take out more cities and more ships whenever we like. If they start repairing those construction docks we’ll just blow them up again. The Karthians are now in the weak position. If they want to survive, they’ll do as they’re told.”

  Stark sat quietly for most of a minute. “Impressive indeed. I’ll assemble my team to assess our options. Is there anything you’d like from me?”