“Check the pressure,” Trevis ordered.
Zithe was on his feet first and scanned the console beside the airlock. “Pressure is holding, but I am getting a radiation spike outside.”
“How much?” Marda asked.
“Levels inside are fine, but if we were outside we’d be baked by now,” he replied indicating the radiation levels as they soared into the danger zone outside.
Blazer scanned the seams in the old prefab walls. “I want a manual check of all the seals. They could have been damaged but haven’t blown yet.” He grabbed one of the riflescopes, checked the model number, and tossed it to Deniv over by the hatch. “Use this, set it to macro and search for micro fissures too. The leaks may be small enough not to be noticed yet, let’s move.” Blazer turned to Gavit as he lay next to the generator console. “Gavit, how are our power reserves?”
“The generator and reserves are still in the blue, we’re good to go here.”
“Zithe, check the status of the air tanks and recyclers.”
Zithe keyed in the request. “Tank pressures and quantities are unchanged, recyclers are in the blue.”
“The water tanks and cleansers be in the blue as well,” Telsh reported, checking the console beside the refresher station, as others searched the chamber for any damage.
“Does anyone have any idea what just happened?” Blazer asked.
Everyone shook their heads except Gokhead as he examined the radiation report from outside. “Based on these radiological readings, I would say it was a reaction weapon.”
Everyone stopped and stared at him, disbelief on their faces. No major faction inside the Confederation used reaction weapons. They were however the dominate warhead of the Galactic Federation.
“It could be another simulation though,” Gokhead continued.
In response, a howling screech answered him over the PA system.
“Oh what is that?” Gavit yelled over the noise.
“It sounds like Tak Birds,” Marda replied, sliding closer to Blazer.
Gokhead shook his head. “It’s another test. They’ll use this and other stimuli to wear down our nerves. See how we react.
Blazer felt Marda’s hand in his. Not sure I like the sound of that. Shreg Marda has a phobia of Taks. She said they’d attacked her as a girl.
“They’ll likely hit us with various stimuli, stop for other periods. It will be completely random,” Gokhead explained.
Blazer looked around the room. The screaming of the Tak birds seemed to have no source; there were no visible speakers in or on the wall. “We’ll deal with it on the dawn,” he hollered. Best not to say that the sounds could come from the fears in our psych profiles.
Everyone looked back at him.
“We all need to get some kind of rest now.” Blazer looked over at his helmet and survival kit as it lay with the rest, Marda’s hand now trembling. “I don’t know about you, but I know I have something in my kit that will help block out the sound.”
Blazer hustled over and pulled out the earplugs and survival blanket from his kit. He helped Marda fit the earplugs first, and felt his hearts lighten as she smiled back at him.
The others got the idea and did the same. Some even folded up their flightsuits to use as pillows. Then, everyone lay back down for a fitful sleep, Zithe and Porc standing the next watch.
UCSB DATE: 1001.024
Star System: Classified, UCSBA-13, Singularity Base
Blazer could feel everyone’s nerves fraying as the test in the bunker continued. The close quarters weren’t so much the issue for most of them, but it was impossible to ignore the randomly changing psychological warfare directed at them. Sometimes it was just sound; at other times the lights would flicker, often at nausea-inducing frequencies and colors. Foul smelling gasses flowed in on occasions and most disturbing, the bunker would rock as if the whole planetoid were coming apart. Each stimulus could last for hects or just a few pulses. Even the breaks between stimuli were random in duration, keeping everyone on edge. It began to fray even the most solid of nerves.
Focusing on a task seemed to help the most. Within two cycles, everyone had field stripped the rifles at least twice. Blindfolded fieldstripping when the lights would act up became something that even Blazer looked forward to. Zithe and Arion led the others in meditation and exercise routines, often turning them into competitions. Others busied themselves with maintenance of the shelter or cleaning their old clothes and flightsuits. No one knew when they might need them again.
Blazer found himself at the main table with Gokhead, Gavit, Chris, and couple of the Explosions. They were taking advantage of the rare silence in the shelter to focus on determining the nature of the planetoid. Blazer looked over the numbers again, checking them against Gokhead’s. They had limited data on the planetoid and all of it proved confusing.
Chris held up her macomm for all to see. “I’m telling you these are the numbers.”
Gokhead shook his head. “No, your numbers make no sense.”
Chris shuddered with anger but remained seated. “Look, assuming we really are where Korto said, then we have knowns and we have unknowns. What we know is the radius of this rock, a little over 335 kimet. We’ve seen and measured it while out on maneuvers. We also saw and measured the curvature of it with our helmet cameras, when we were on the outer surface. We know the gravitational pull here is a quarter standard G.”
“We also have the density measurements to twenty-five kimet deep that I took while on maneuvers, which your numbers fail to take into account,” Gokhead snapped back. “You accept every other number I give you, but not those.”
“What else could it be, Gokhead?” Chris replied, referencing her earlier theory, throwing up her hands. “I know you said you’d memorized the numbers from when we shot by this place on maneuvers and I want to believe you. But look at the gravitational pull here,” she held up her macomm and dropped it. It fell straight down and she didn’t even have to rush to catch it. “Even the instruments in our suit agree that we are under one quarter standard gravity here. We prove it every pulse that we’re here.” Her wild hand gestures threatened to throw her out of her seat before she grabbed onto the bench. “So how can you tell me that my density numbers are wrong?”
Gokhead raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. “The name of the place reveals it all. Singularity Base, not Neutronium Base, which would be about the only thing that would match your density numbers,” he explained, implying that the base could not be made of the degenerate matter of collapsed neutron stars.
“Not this again. You really think there’s a micro-singularity at the center of this planetoid? It would have eaten up this place ages ago!”
Gavit shook his head at that one. “Chris, you obviously haven’t been through the Kaveres Sector.”
“No I haven’t been through the Kaveres sector. I’m not as widely traveled as some of you,” she sneered.
Blazer cleared his throat at the head of the table, drawing their attention. “Let’s calm down, people. This is the first time in two cycles that we’ve had some extended peace and quiet. So let’s use it to our advantage and try not to kill each other. Now, why are we even talking about the Kaveres Sector?”
Gavit sighed. “I’ve been through Kaveres. It’s known as one of the most dangerous sectors out there, and it’s filled with micro-singularities. Most are only a few nanometra across and the largest I’ve ever heard of was a little over three micrometra. But, each one had some significant gravitational pull. If you weren’t shielded, they would crash right through your ship. If they hit something nice and dense they would take up residence and collapse your ship in upon itself.”
I remember now. The theory goes that the Kaveres had even more micro-singularities long ago, but they’d eventually dissipated because they were too small. But there’s nothing habitable there, heck, no planets at all, just a whole lot of asteroid fields that might have been planets at one point. “Okay, so you think there’s a mi
cro-singularity at the heart of this place?”
“Gokhead does and I’m beginning to agree with him. It makes more sense than Chris’s neutronium crust theory,” Gavit replied.
“How, how, how?” Chris asked. “There have been so few cases of micro-singularities occurring outside of the Kaveres sector to make the idea laughable. Most are made in labs to kickstart fusion reactors. You’re telling me there’s a micro-singularity at the heart of this place, and I don’t buy it.”
Gokhead threw up his hands in frustration before he turned to her. “You’ve seen my notes. I’ve dated the carbonates out in the asteroid shell. The figures match with this asteroid field only being a little over a millennia old.”
Chris rolled her eyes at that comment.
“Think about it Chris, what happened a millennia ago?”
“The Confederation was formed, so what?”
“And what predated that?”
“The Vedekian war,” she answered, trailing off. “And the Vedekian Horde was known for using micro-singularity bombs, something no race has been able to safely develop since.”
Blazer felt his eyes widen. Son of a… I hadn’t even considered that.
“Exactly. Somehow, this race that hadn’t even developed hyperspace travel, was able to create the most devastating weapon in history,” Gokhead explained. “A weapon we’ve not seen since the age of the ancients, nor since. Every attempt to make or harness a micro-singularity bomb has resulted in severe devastation.”
Porc held up a hand. “Um, you know I’m really crap at history. Does someone want to fill me in what a singularity bomb is?”
Blazer looked at him dumbstruck. Every vid about the Vedekian Horde he’d ever seen mentioned the Singularity Bombs. “The singularity bomb was the Vedekian’s ultimate weapon,” Blazer began. “When they deemed a world unsuitable for them, or too much trouble, they would deploy singularity bombs to destroy it. The Drashig were lucky to avoid getting hit by one after they revolted.”
Gokhead nodded in response.
“The singularity bomb is better known now as a planet buster. The Vedekian would fire them into a planet or into a high-speed low orbit. Once activated, you would have the mass of a small moon either tear through your planet or flying right above it. There was a trail of destroyed worlds leading back to what we think might be the Vedekian homeworld, but we’re still not sure. Heck, it might even explain this asteroid shell.”
“Wow,” Porc commented, his eyes wide. “I wouldn’t mind dropping one of those on the Terrans.”
Blazer shuddered at the comment. “You can’t be serious.”
“I was joking, I swear.”
“Your attempts at humor are really starting to bug people, Porc,” Blazer scolded.
Porc shook his head and pushed back from the table, crossing his arms in defiance. “I don’t care if it’s against UCSB policy or not to attack homeworlds like that. I was just trying to make a joke and lighten the mood. You all are way too uptight.”
Blazer shook his head. “Anyway, Gokhead, let’s hear your theory.”
“Easy. In most cases, the singularity bomb would dissipate after use. They were not known for their stability, after all. However, there are numerous cases, especially in the Kaveres sector, where the singularities remained.”
Gavit nodded. “There’s a running theory that the Vedekian developed the bombs in the Kaveres Sector, and the micro-singularities left there are either remnants from tests, or they’re leftovers from what they gathered up to make the planet busters.”
“Exactly,” Gokhead continued. “So if what we have here is the remnant of a singularity weapon, then the numbers work better. If we assume a density consistent with most planetoids of this size, 20.85 kilobar per cubic metra. Then, knowing the radius of 335 kilometra we get a mass of the planetoid of only 3.29 times ten to the fifteenth tons. That’s far too low for the gravity here,” he said holding up his macomm and showing the group.
Everyone nodded their understanding.
“So we know that we need to have 1.26 times ten to the seventeenth tons to get the right gravitational potential. A micro-singularity with an event horizon of 273 nanometra would give us an activated mass of 1.24 times ten to the seventeenth tons.”
The equations he displayed on his macomm all worked and made sense to Blazer. Even Chris began to nod along.
“That will give us a micro-singularity large enough to consume quite a bit, but small enough that it will take it a few millennia to eat the entire planetoid.”
“You’re still making a lot of assumptions, though,” Chris replied. “What about the radiation? We should be getting cooked from all the X-rays coming off that thing.”
“This is the best I can do without proper scanners. But my density takes into account some deep iron, and lead deposits to absorb the radiation. All of which is consistent with the background radiation we saw upon arrival. If I had the kind of equipment I needed to make a proper survey, I would have even more accurate numbers, and someone like you wouldn’t be arguing with me.”
“Calm down, Gokhead,” Blazer said, waving him and Chris both back into their seats. “Do we agree with Gokhead’s assessment?”
Everyone nodded, even Chris. “Yes, but it’s still making some pretty big assumptions,” she added. “And, it’s requiring a lot of faith in those assumptions.”
Gokhead shook his head again and turned away in frustration.
“Don’t start, Gokhead. Look, it’s our best, most logical guess,” Blazer commented. “But it is just that, and I agree the name of the base is the key. I believe that there’s a micro-singularity at the core, too. I’ve looked at the radiation readings from before they lit off that reaction warhead. It all correlates with there being a miniature black hole a few hundred klicks beneath our feet.”
“Nice catch, boss,” Gavit commented.
Blazer cringed at that comment. It wasn’t because he was fighting being the leader anymore, but because he could see Zithe twitch in response to it, even sitting in his meditative state.
He waved Gavit from saying anything further. “Okay then, Gokhead, stitch that back to the instructors, and let’s see what they say.”
Gokhead sent their calculations with a right-handed smile. He made sure to include all of their measurements and instructions back to the academy.
Bichard then sat up in the corner, drawing Blazer’s attention. He set his macomm aside and scanned the chamber with his own antennae straight up and wildly twitching.
“What’s going on, big bug?”
“I’m picking up strange transmissions,” he replied, feeling his antennae. “It’s odd. It’s not a standard confed link.”
Before Bichard could explain further, an in-rush of air from the main door sent everyone’s eyes pointing at it in search of whoever had opened that portal, failing them all. What they found was not a frustrated cadet pulling the hatch open but instead a Galactic Federation Shock Trooper in full armor pushing the hatch open while his three companions stormed the bunker. The cadets froze for a moment in stunned silence, the four troopers in black studded armor with their weapons poised, in marked contrast to the almost unclothed cadets.
“Don’t move, get down on the floor. Legs and arms spread, and no one has to die,” the one with sergeant’s chevrons on his shoulder hollered.
Blazer flashed a look at Trevis and nodded. The cadets feigned compliance, holding their hands up. Blazer and the others at the table made a show of getting up from their seats before jumping into action.
Falling back on their training, Blazer and Gokhead kicked the table over and ducked behind it. Chris dove behind with them as Telsh slid two rifles over, and skidded up beside it with the third. The shock troopers screamed at them while Trevis tossed the magazines over from across the chamber, by the lockers. Gokhead caught the power packs and gave them to Blazer, Chris and Telsh. Hearts racing, Blazer slammed the magazine into his rifle and checking to make sure the others had as well, jump
ed into action.
Chris leapt up, while Blazer and Telsh rolled out from either end of the table and opened fire. Blazer drilled three rounds into the lead shock trooper, a tiny voice inside him cheering the murderer’s demise. Chris and Telsh downed the next two troopers in the same moment. Before Telsh could engage the rearmost of the troopers, he managed to get a shot off.
Blazer’s went wide in horror as the single blast caught Gavit square in the chest. Gavit slumped down the deck, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Marda rushed to Gavit’s aid as the others hurried towards the troopers. She passed a medical scanner over him several times then turned to Blazer, her face a mask of confusion. “It was a stun blast. He’ll wake up in a bit.”
"These are all set on stun," Arion exclaimed after he snatched one of the Shock Troopers rifles away. “I’ve never heard of Shock Troopers setting their weapons to stun.”
“Neither have I,” Zithe commented, setting one of the weapons back to full power before he brought it up to a ready position. “If there are shock troops here, then I think our test is over. Let’s go find out what’s going on.” Then he paused and looked back at the shock troopers. He took a long whiff from the wound in the man’s chest. “He smells wrong.”
“How so?” Blazer asked. This makes no sense, Shock Troopers always carry slug throwers.
“I’m not sure. But they don’t smell like any Terrans I’ve ever encountered before.”
Zithe reached down to remove one of the trooper’s helmets. As he grabbed the neck ring of the dead man’s helmet Deniv stopped him. “Stop, look at his neck. There’s enough explosive packed in there to take his head off and your arm with it.”
Blazer stood up with his rifle. That sounds right at least. “Everyone, grab your armor off your flightsuits. It won’t be much but at least it’ll keep your core safe.”
“What are you thinking, Blazer?” Zithe sneered from the door.
In Death's Shadow Page 8
