Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  General Adams looked at the president and then replied in a grim voice. “Nothing, if Winters is right, we have no weapons that will be effective against these aliens. There is nothing we can do to stop them from taking whomever and whatever they want. They’re not talking to us because they don’t believe it’s necessary.”

  -o0o—

  On Holbrook Station, Darren Kirby sat in the Control Center, his eyes focused on the main viewscreen, which was showing a close up of the alien ship. They were trying to collect as much data on the alien as possible to study later. Holbrook station was built as a massive wheel with six spokes connected to a large central hub. It had artificial gravity and a crew of six hundred.

  “I wished we had some damn weapons,” Shirley Melvin commented as she came back into the Control Center from her latest rounds of the station. Once every two hours, she was making a quick tour of the station to ensure everything was as secure as they could make it.

  There were six docking ports on the outer wheel and she had just finished inspecting them to make sure they were secure. She had placed four crewmembers at each one with orders to report anything strange, particularly a ship attempting to dock. They were prepared to jam the airlocks if necessary so they wouldn’t open.

  Darren looked at his second in command with a frown. “I don’t think we want to be firing off any weapons inside a space station,” he chided. “So far the aliens are ignoring us; perhaps they will continue to do so.”

  Shirley brushed her long blonde hair back behind her shoulders and nodded. “I realize that; it’s just frightening knowing how defenseless we are.”

  Darren looked around the Control Center. There were twenty people operating the different consoles that oversaw the massive station. Everyone seemed to be going about their jobs even though there was a lot less talking than normal. He knew everyone was feeling considerable stress over the situation with the aliens.

  Studying the main viewscreen, he looked at the alien ship. There were dozens of massive weapon turrets visible, and it was impossible to tell what was hidden behind some of those closed hatches. The ship’s hull was not smooth; it was covered with various types of unknown devices, indentations, and small structures. To Darren this ship seemed to be built for war, and that thought was extremely worrisome. If that was correct, then why had they come to Earth’s solar system?

  -o0o—

  Michael Kirby was at one of his larger mining operations after dropping off some equipment at his most recent prospecting site. He was sitting in the cockpit of his prospecting ship, the Raven. The small ship was fifty meters long and held a crew of twelve.

  “I wish we knew more about what the hell is going on!” his second in command uttered in growing frustration. “Can’t we send a message back to Vesta and ask?”

  Michael looked over at Brian Jones and shook his head. “You know we can’t do that, Brian. We’re under strict orders to maintain radio silence and to stay at the mining site until Vesta signals the all clear.”

  “Aliens,” Brian oathed, his eyes narrowing. “Where the hell did they come from? We’ve been out in the solar system for decades and they never put in an appearance. Now all of a sudden here they are!”

  “It had to happen sooner or later,” responded Michael. They were listening to the communications channels, seeing what news they could find. They were picking up a few media stations from Earth, but they sounded more panicked than anything else. He wished he were home with Susan and the kids. He knew this entire situation had to be worrying her. At least Mason was back at Vesta. “Look, even Mason is building an interstellar ship. He just needs the star drive. If we someday go off exploring the galaxy and discover intelligent life in another system it will be us who will be considered the aliens.”

  Brian mulled that thought over for a moment and finally nodded his head. “I guess you’re right; it’s just hard to sit here doing nothing.”

  “Why don’t you go check on the mine?” suggested Michael, knowing Brian just needed something to do.

  The small asteroid they were on was nearly six kilometers in diameter. They had sunk a mineshaft to the asteroid’s center and were in the process of mining a lucky find of gold and gemstones, which would fetch a good price on the Earth precious metal’s markets. They had also found some platinum. Michael had a crew of twenty men and women working the mine in a three-shift operation.

  Much of the operation was automated, and the miners primarily watched over the equipment and implemented occasional repairs. They had built temporary quarters in a small auxiliary mineshaft beneath the surface since this operation was going to last for a while. They had dug the shaft and then put in several rooms off the side for sleeping and eating. It was sealed tight with a double airlock for safety. While they weren’t the greatest quarters in the world, they were still quite comfortable.

  If this had been a smaller operation, the mining crew would be living and working out of the ship. Michael went out of his way to make sure his crews had everything they needed. He had a reputation for having one of the best safety records of all the prospectors. He also had the best crews.

  Michael had eight mining properties he was currently working. He also had leads on half a dozen more potentially new mining sites. The plan had been to check several of them out on this trip, but now he was not so sure. The Raven was one of the newer prospecting ships and he usually felt safe in her, but not when it came to aliens. For now, he would stay docked to the asteroid and wait this thing out, and then return to Vesta to find out what had happened. His eyes strayed to the ship’s sensor system, which was scanning everything within ten thousand kilometers of the asteroid. So far, nothing unusual had shown up on the sensors. Michael just hoped it stayed that way. He was also concerned about his brother, Darren. Holbrook Station was very close to the alien ship and Michael greatly feared that Darren was in the middle of everything.

  -o0o-

  The small alien craft dipped back into the Earth’s atmosphere. The commander of the craft was quite pleased. There had been no armed resistance from the planet’s inhabitants to attempt to restrict their flights to and from the planet. Of course, it wouldn’t have done them any good; their technology could not harm his ship, and he could destroy anything they threw at him.

  The ship went down deeper into the atmosphere and was soon flying ten kilometers above the surface. They were returning to one of the planet’s small military bases to pick up some supplies for the Human soldiers they had taken. A few of them had been awoken and interrogated as to what they would need to survive away from their planet. It was his mission, as well as a number of other ships, to begin procuring those items.

  -o0o—

  It was daylight down below, and the ship was plainly visible. This time there was no effort to hide their presence. Two F-45 fighter jets suddenly appeared and flew just below the alien ship, keeping a watchful eye on it. Both pilots wanted permission to engage, but orders from the higher ups strictly forbid it because of fear of reprisals from the larger ship in orbit.

  The two pilots watched as the alien ship continued to descend. Both pilots felt frustrated, knowing they were helpless to stop the invader. All they could do was watch and report.

  -o0o—

  The alien ship landed at one of the bases it had stripped of its Human personnel the night before. The ship had once again used its paralyzing beams as it descended, making sure that all Humans within ten kilometers of the base were unconscious. The ship’s hatches opened and its armored crew descended the ramps. This time they were dragging anti-gravity sleds behind them to stack the supplies upon that they had been sent to get.

  For two hours, the armored figures entered various supply buildings, stripping them of everything that was needed except for weapons. The Human weapons were too primitive to be taken. Instead, they focused on food supplies, uniforms, medicines, and other basic provisions that might be needed in order to keep a Human alive for the long term. Above them, the two Human
aircraft were circling but not making any aggressive moves.

  -o0o-

  In Washington, the president and his staff sat in shock as reports continued to come in. They had now confirmed that there were thirty-two of the smaller alien ships in operation around the planet. The aliens were still abducting military personnel, but now they were also taking supplies from the various bases they had visited previously.

  “What are they doing?” President Barnes demanded as he looked over the most recent reports of the supplies being taken from the bases. “Why do they need these items?”

  “Food, water, uniforms, medicine, and other basic supplies,” spoke General Adams, letting out a deep breath. “They are gathering what might be needed to keep the people they have taken alive.”

  “But with their technology, why do they need these supplies?”

  Winters looked over at the president. “We have no way of guessing their thought processes,” the science advisor explained. “They still refuse to communicate and seem to be just taking whatever they want. This could indicate that they have done this before, and it has become a standard operating procedure for them. What concerns me most is what happens once they leave.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Barnes, looking confused.

  “If they came to our planet once, what’s there to stop them from coming back again?” Winters answered, his eyes showing deep concern at the thought. “They may raid us continuously for more military personnel as well as whatever else they want. This may just be the beginning.”

  Everyone looked at each other with growing worry on their faces as they realized that Winters was correct. What would stop the aliens from coming back and continue to abduct the planet’s military personnel? It also made them wonder just what was going on out in the galaxy that a ship as large and obviously as powerful as this one would want troops from a relatively primitive planet like Earth.

  “If they come again, we need to be prepared,” General Adams grated out, feeling frustrated at being so powerless against these aliens. “We need to put our scientists to work and develop weapons that we can deploy in space. Next time they won’t find us such easy pickings.”

  Winters looked over at the general but decided it might be best not to speak. It would take years to develop the type of weapons and delivery systems the general was talking about. Winters doubted that the aliens would give them the time.

  -o0o—

  Two days passed and the aliens continued to raid the planet. The Earth’s militaries refused to engage the aliens for fear of what the mother ship in orbit would do in retaliation. At the end of two days, it was estimated that the aliens had abducted close to sixty thousand military personnel and thousands of tons of supplies. Finally, the alien’s small craft docked back with the mother ship and did not come out again.

  -o0o—

  Mason had been summoned by Pamela to the Control Center. As he stepped inside he saw that Drake was already there gazing in rapt attention at one of the large viewscreens.

  “What’s going on?” Mason asked as he walked up to stand next to Drake and Pamela.

  “The alien ship’s leaving,” replied Pamela, glancing over at Mason. “Luna City reports that it broke orbit and is slowly accelerating away from the Earth.”

  “It’s over,” Drake said with a sigh of relief. “Once it’s gone things can finally get back to normal.”

  “I don’t know if things will ever be normal again,” Mason responded as he thought about the events of the last few days. “The appearance of this alien ship will change a lot of things. We know a faster than light drive is possible because that alien ship has one. We also know the galaxy out there is a dangerous place if that ship represents what is waiting for us someday when we leave the solar system.”

  “I wish we could have gotten a hold of one of their small ships,” Drake said wistfully as he continued to watch the screen. The alien ship was moving faster now. “We could have learned so much.”

  “What if they come back?” asked Pamela, worriedly folding her arms across her breasts. Her son had been full of questions the previous night about the aliens and why they had come. It had caused her to do a lot of thinking. “Many people have been abducted; what’s to stop them from returning and doing it all over again, or even coming here?”

  Drake and Mason were silent as they realized that Pamela was right. The world had changed dramatically with the arrival of the aliens and things would never be the same. They would have to be ready for the aliens if they ever returned. That might mean they would have to arm some ships to meet the aliens before they could reach Earth. As large as the alien ship was, was it even feasible to mount a defense against it? They knew that someway they would have to try.

  “The ship is now nearly to the Moon’s orbit,” Pamela informed them as the data from Luna City continued to come across the screens. One of them was now showing a close up of the alien ship.

  “I’ll be glad when it’s gone,” Drake muttered as he gazed intently at the screen. He knew that Larcy would be relieved. They had sat up much of the night talking about the aliens; his wife was scared to death that when the aliens were finished at Earth they might come out to Vesta.

  Even as they watched, a small black hatch slid open and something gray and sinister looking exited it and headed back toward Earth.

  “What was that?” Mason demanded loudly. It almost looked like a missile.

  “I don’t know,” Pamela replied worriedly as she tried to contact Luna City to see if they had any idea.

  “I have Darren on the com,” Jessica suddenly reported.

  “Put him on the speaker,” Mason ordered as he stepped closer to Jessica. “Darren, what’s going on?” He knew that Darren wouldn’t break radio silence unless he felt it was important.

  “The aliens have launched what appears to be a missile toward Earth,” Darren replied in a strained voice. “We’re tracking it, and it will impact the planet in six minutes.”

  Mason felt a cold chill run down his back. What were the aliens up to? Were the aliens targeting a single city to send a message that future resistance would not be tolerated?

  “Darren, keep us informed. I’m going to keep the line open.”

  On the screen, Luna City had now turned from tracking the alien ship to tracking the inbound missile that was targeting the Earth.

  “It’s just one missile,” Drake muttered, his eyes focused on the viewscreen. “What have they targeted?”

  “Luna City thinks its target is somewhere in South America,” reported Pamela, turning toward the other two. “Possibly in Brazil.”

  Minutes quickly passed as the missile neared Earth. From the surface of the planet, a number of interceptor missiles rose up on pillars of fire as the missile defense grid in the United States attempted to intercept and destroy the in coming missile. This was an obvious attack and the Earth’s military was going to do everything in their power to try to stop it.

  The alien missile easily evaded the interceptors and darted down toward the surface to vanish into the high cloud layer. Brazilian fighter jets on afterburners tried to reach the missile before it impacted, but it was moving too fast and they couldn’t lock onto it with their long-range interceptors.

  “Impact,” Darren spoke over the com, sounding confused. “We’re not seeing or recording any type of detonation.”

  Drake looked over at Mason with a puzzled look upon his face. “Is it a dud?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Mason, looking over at Pamela wanting an explanation. “Are we receiving anything from any of the Earth stations about an explosion?”

  Pamela spent several minutes scanning the various Earth frequencies as well as several government channels they had access to, and then she turned back toward Mason and Drake. “No one is reporting anything. The missile came down in Brazil in South America, and the Brazilian government is rushing troops to the area to secure and attempt to locate it. The area of impact is mountainous and in a r
ain forest, so it may take a while to reach the area and find the impact point.”

  “I don’t like this,” spoke Drake, clenching and unclenching his fist as he continued to watch the screen, which was now focused on South America. “We’re missing something. There has to be a reason why the alien ship launched that missile, and I can’t believe that it malfunctioned.”

  “Luna City is reporting that the alien ship has vanished,” Jessica reported as she listened to a message that was coming in. “Their scientists believe it activated some type of star drive and has left the solar system.”

  “Darren, activate all of Holbrook Station’s scanning equipment and scan the surface where the missile impacted,” Mason ordered. It was time to take a more active roll now that the alien ship was gone. “I want to know if you can detect anything out of the ordinary. Also, contact the International Space Station and see if they’re detecting anything.”

  “I’m passing on the orders now,” Darren replied. “Give us a few minutes.”

  Holbrook Station was equipped with advanced forms of radar, LIDAR, weather scanning equipment, devices for monitoring earthquakes and volcanoes, and everything else that could be thought of. Much of the information on weather, earthquake predictions, and volcanic eruptions was furnished to various countries on Earth for a token fee.

  -o0o—

  In Washington, President Barnes and his staff continued to listen to the reports coming in from South America. The missile had come down in a remote region, and it was going to be nearly an hour before the Brazilian military could reach the impact site.

  “Any ideas?” Barnes asked as he looked around the conference table. “They had to have launched that missile for a reason.”

  General Adams shook his head. “Perhaps it was just to show how helpless we are against their technology. We launched fifteen of our best interceptors in an attempt to take down that missile. None even came close.”

  “That may not have been the purpose of the missile at all,” Winters spoke as he stepped back into the room with several computer printouts in his hands. “We are detecting some minor earth tremors at the impact point.”