Stars & Empire: 10 Galactic Tales

by Jay Allan

  The major then turned and left the training room along with the two aliens that had entered with him. Wade and Corporal Stern just looked at one another.

  “He never said what happened to Earth,” Jamie commented in a low voice.

  “No, he didn’t,” replied Wade, feeling deep concern. “These Kleese are worrisome; they just came in and killed all fifty of the army troops due to the infraction of just one of their number. They seem to have a very low regard for the lives of others.”

  Wade also wondered if Major Sanchez knew what had happened to Earth. It was at that moment Wade decided one thing for certain: someday he would learn the secret to these collars that everyone wore, and when that day arrived, he would find some way to return home.

  CHAPTER 5

  Mason stared with growing anxiety at the main viewscreen in the Control Center. It had been over a week since the alien ship had launched its deadly missile at the Earth and its effects were obvious. The atmosphere was a darker and more sinister color from all the ash, smoke, and other gases being thrown up from the erupting volcanoes and numerous fires that were sweeping across all of the continents. Each day, he knew that the air was becoming more dangerous to breathe, and the number of survivors rapidly dwindling. All the major media stations that normally broadcast from Earth were silent.

  “We’re only picking up a few of the smaller private stations now,” Pamela Cairns informed Mason as she scanned the latest reports. “I’m sure some stations are being blocked by the interference in the atmosphere from all the ash and other pollutants being released from the fires and volcanoes.”

  “Holbrook Station is still picking up a lot of pleas for assistance from isolated communities all over the planet,” Jessica Lang added with a look of anguish in her eyes. Her parents lived just outside of St. Louis and she knew there had been a major earthquake in that area. She greatly feared she would never see them again.

  “There’s no one to help them,” Drake answered in a low voice, trying not to think about the misery the scattered survivors on the planet must be suffering through. “Everyone is on their own now. As near as we can tell, there are no effective governments left anywhere on the planet.”

  “The disaster overwhelmed them,” Pamela said, her eyes focusing on the main viewscreen. “No one could be prepared for this; if any government leaders survived they are either in bunkers or trying to escape themselves.”

  “Which brings up another important issue,” Mason said, looking over at the other two. “What do we do when a government official does shows up? There are bound to be some governors, senators, or other world leaders that have survived.”

  “As far as I am concerned, they’re all civilians now,” Drake replied in a steady voice. “They will be treated like everyone else and will no longer hold any authority. We don’t need some lifelong politician trying to tell us how to run Vesta or anything else.”

  “I agree,” Pamela added with a nod, looking at Mason. “You and Mayor Silas need to remain in control.”

  Mason nodded; he knew this was a situation he would have to deal with when it occurred and it was one he wasn’t looking forward to. “What’s the latest status on the new construction going on at Luna City?” he asked, looking over at Drake who was standing next to Pamela. The two had been busy talking to Luna City as well as Mars Central trying to get their latest status reports. The last week had been frantic, trying to find people on Earth, make arrangements for their evacuations, and working on the ships in the spacedock.

  “Mayor Silas has started an emergency expansion program to build more dome settlements,” replied Drake, glancing over at Mason. “They managed to send several shuttles down to one of the other launch facilities that had some of the equipment they need. They also found four usable shuttles in several undamaged hangars, which they are in the process of attempting to recover.”

  “We probably should send teams to the other launch facilities to see what is salvageable,” Mason commented, pleased that additional shuttles had been found; they were going to need every one. “Why didn’t the launch facility get the shuttles off?”

  “Everyone at the facility was dead,” responded Drake, sadly. “One of the commanders of the two shuttles believes they were overwhelmed with poisonous gas from a nearby erupting volcano. The shuttle crews wore protective suits so they were not affected.”

  “What about these new domes that Mayor Silas is building, how soon before they’re ready?”

  “They won’t be very comfortable, but he thinks that, within twelve weeks, he can handle an additional twenty thousand people. He can finish the domes later with added necessities when they have the time,” answered Drake, recalling his long conversation with the mayor. “For now the domes will consist of heat and air with basic life support. Their biggest problem is getting the materials with which to build the domes.”

  “They’re also going to need food,” added Pamela, wondering where that was going to come from.

  “See if there is anything we can send them to help,” responded Mason. He knew Vesta normally kept a large stock of food supplies on hand in case of an emergency. “Also, contact Lawrence and see what they can find to send up to Luna City, both in the way of food as well as building materials.”

  “I’ll get on it right away,” Drake promised. The list of things they needed to do was growing daily. They had a mountainous task ahead of them.

  “What about Mars Central?” asked Mason, satisfied that Mayor Silas was doing everything he could to accommodate more survivors.

  “They’re not going to be of much help,” Pamela replied as she recalled her recent conversation with Professor Alex Scott who was in charge of the large Mar’s exploration base. “They currently have slightly over fourteen thousand people on the base and he believes that with their available resources it could be expanded to hold around twenty thousand. He also estimates it would take four months to finish the additional expansion.”

  Mason let out a deep breath of disappointment; he had hoped that Mars Central would be able to hold many more. “That’s six thousand more survivors,” he said after a moment of thought. “Perhaps later, we can expand the base even more if we can find the resources that we need. What’s the latest from Jornada?”

  “Lawrence is working closely with General Wainright and General Pittman,” Drake reported. “General Pittman is from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado and has placed himself under Wainright’s command. General Dreland at Cheyenne Mountain has placed general Wainright in overall command of all surviving U. S. military forces.”

  “Any additional word out of Cheyenne Mountain?” asked Mason, knowing that General Dreland would have been high up in the military chain of command. He waited patiently for Drake’s answer.

  “No, there’s a volcano close by that has erupted and the entire Cheyenne Mountain complex, as well as Peterson Air Force Base, is being buried under ash. That’s why General Dreland turned command over to General Wainright.”

  “What about White Sands; is that where the military is evacuating to?” Mason had spoken to General Wainright a few days previously about another matter that had been weighing heavily on his mind. A lot had changed in the last day or two.

  “Seems like it,” replied Pamela, looking at some data on one of her screens. “General Wainright and Pittman have ordered nearly every surviving military asset to make for the testing grounds. They are also bringing in a tremendous amount of supplies as bases around the country are evacuated.”

  “We’re going to need those supplies at Jornada and Luna City,” Mason said as he thought about everything that needed to be done at the spaceport and on the Moon. “Contact Lawrence and see what he can work out with General Wainright.”

  Just the logistics of what they were attempting was overwhelming. For the last week, Mason had gotten very little sleep as he worked with the others trying to get everything organized. How could he afford to sleep when people on Earth were dying? Susan had even come by
and told him that he needed more sleep. Mason knew his sister was worried about the pressure he was under.

  “They’re bringing in military troops as well as their families,” Pamela continued as she read through the data on her screen. “At last count they have nearly eighty thousand people at White Sands alone, and that doesn’t include the two military bases that are close by.”

  “How much can they help Lawrence with Jornada’s refugee problem? I know they’ve been helping out some.”

  “General Wainright has sent a large number of self-contained military tents to the spaceport and they are setting them up on the south side of the complex. The tents have air filtration systems since they were designed to be deployed in the deserts of the Middle East. Lawrence estimates that, between the tents and the two large hangars they’re converting, they’ll have room for close to sixty thousand survivors.”

  “That’s not a lot,” said Mason, disappointedly, hoping they would have been able to accommodate more. He knew there were millions of survivors scattered around the country.

  “General Wainright has brought in some military construction people and they are in the process of building additional permanent barracks. He is still bringing in supplies from all over the country,” Drake added. “They have some large transport helicopters that were designed specifically to work in the sand of the Middle East, and they can fly through the ash fall if they’re careful.”

  “Those might be useful for gathering other survivors,” Mason commented as he thought about some of the people he would like to locate and bring to Vesta. There were scientists, doctors, and engineers spread out all over the country that he would like to attempt to find. They had already located a few, but many more were still missing.

  “I agree,” responded Drake, knowing Mason wanted to rescue as many key people as possible. “Wainright and Lawrence feel they can greatly expand the holding area for survivors and be able to keep a large number safely for a considerable length of time, even in the deteriorating conditions. Lawrence also reports that thousands of survivors are arriving daily and a large tent city has sprung up just south of the spaceport. They are processing the new arrivals to see if any qualify for immediate evacuation; the rest will have to wait until later.”

  “What’s the latest status on other survivors?” asked Mason, knowing that there were still probably hundreds of millions of people alive on the planet. He couldn’t imagine how it must feel to be trapped on Earth knowing there was no hope for the future.

  “Not good,” Pamela responded in a slightly strained voice. “General Wainright is trying to set up a second survival center just south of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle. The earthquakes and volcanoes have pretty much destroyed the East and West Coasts, and the eruptions at Yellowstone are taking out the northern half of the country. We have also had massive tidal waves on all the coasts, including the Gulf of Mexico. Holbrook Station has been broadcasting non-stop instructing survivors to stay in their homes and try to ride it out until they can be rescued.”

  “What about other countries?”

  “Canada, the U.K., Germany, and Australia have all set up survival centers. The U.K. reportedly has several shuttles available and will be launching them from Lakenheath airbase in Suffolk. That’s also where they are gathering their survivors. The same in Germany; they are concentrating their survivors around Ramstein Air Force Base in the hope that we can eventually send in shuttles to pick them up.”

  Mason nodded; it was hard to think about the hardships the survivors were going through. “I need to go meet with Sean and Ethan at the Phoenix. Keep me posted if anything new comes up.”

  Drake watched Mason leave the Control Center; he suspected that Mason hadn’t been getting much sleep over the last few days, not with trying to organize saving as many people from Earth as possible. It was easier for Drake as he had his wife Larcy and their daughter Madison to go home to at night. Letting out a deep breath, he knew he needed to meet with Keith Davis and Lori Wright about the new construction going on inside Vesta.

  If they were going to save many people, they would have to be brought to the asteroid, and in order for that to happen they had a massive amount of construction work that needed to be done. Then later on he had a conference call scheduled with Mayor Silas, Darren Kirby, Lawrence Henderson, and General Wainright. Drake knew it was going to be another long and tiring day.

  -o0o-

  Mason reached the spacedock and stood gazing at the Phoenix. The ship was five hundred meters long and nearly ninety meters wide, containing twenty decks, which added a height of fifty meters to the massive ship of exploration. Mason breathed out a heavy sigh, knowing now the Phoenix would never be used for that. It was going to have another new and deadlier purpose, one it had never been designed for. Looking at the main hatch, which was open, he saw Sean and Ethan both standing next to it in animated discussion.

  Gazing around the large spacedock, Mason could see four of the three hundred-meter cargo ships currently being refurbished to carry survivors from Earth. There were also six of the fifty-meter prospecting ships going through alterations. One of them was the Raven, the ship that belonged to his sister’s husband, Michael Kirby.

  After a minute, Mason reached the Phoenix and saw that both Sean and Ethan were looking at him expectantly.

  “How soon before the first cargo ship is prepared to handle passengers?” he asked, wanting to begin ferrying survivors between Holbrook Station and Vesta as soon as possible. Currently, survivors were being taken to Luna City but they could only handle so many until the facility was expanded.

  “Two more days and the first will be ready,” Sean replied in a tired voice. He had been up for nearly thirty straight hours showing the engineers what needed to be done to the cargo ships as well as the smaller prospecting ships. “By the end of the week, we will have the first four done as well as the six prospecting ships that are in here.”

  Mason nodded, knowing they were doing the best they could. “Let’s take a walk through the Phoenix.”

  Mason led them inside and quickly made his way to the engine room, which took up nearly six decks in the stern of the ship. Inside were the newly installed sublight engines, which would allow them to travel anywhere in the solar system in a matter of a few days. Several of the crew were busily checking ship systems and calibrating the new engines. Everything looked new and modern.

  “The Phoenix won’t be going to another solar system anytime soon,” Mason informed the other two as he turned around to face them. He folded his arms across his chest, and his face took on a very serious look. “We need to be more concerned about what might happen if the alien ship returns.”

  “I don’t understand,” Sean responded with a look of confusion on his face. “What makes you think they will return?”

  “I don’t think we can take the chance that they won’t,” replied Mason, grimly. He hated what he was about to ask them to do. “If they do return, we need to be prepared.”

  “You want to arm the Phoenix!” Ethan said in dawning comprehension his eyes growing wide at the thought.

  “Arm the Phoenix?” Sean echoed in astonishment. “With what? We don’t have any weapons on Vesta!”

  “Railguns and missiles to start with,” responded Mason, evenly. “We can get the railguns from Earth as well as the missiles. I have already spoken briefly with General Wainright, and he can get us what we need. They have a large number of new experimental railguns at White Sands.”

  “Railguns,” repeated Ethan, nodding his head in thought. He knew that railguns depended on sheer velocity to do their damage. A number of U.S. navy warships were currently equipped with them. They would make an ideal weapon to put on the Phoenix. “How many, and will we have to modify them?”

  “Wainright is already having the engineers at White Sands modify them so we can use them on the ship. They will be sending us twenty-four of the railguns. Four of them are quite large, and we will mount them in the bow as our p
rimary offensive weapon. Each one of the four is capable of launching a three thousand pound tungsten round at a speed of over 22,000 feet per second.”

  “What about heat buildup in the barrels?” Ethan asked. He knew that the sheer velocity of the railgun rounds generated a tremendous amount of heat. It was the biggest problem with a railgun.

  “These railguns are made out of a special alloy that is more heat resistant,” responded Mason, recalling what General Wainright had told him. “Even so, the main railguns can only be fired once every twenty seconds.”

  “At 22,000 ft/sec that would give us an effective range of approximately forty miles on a moving target and over two hundred on a stationary one,” mused Sean as he did the math in his head.

  “The general will also be sending us a company of marines to help defend Vesta as well as some specialists that are familiar with the weapons we want to install on the ship,” Mason added. “As soon as they get here we need to start on the modifications. We don’t know how soon the aliens may be returning to make sure their missile did its job.”

  Ethan was silent for a long moment before he responded. “I guess I can see why arming the Phoenix needs to be done, though I don’t know if the weapons would be effective against the alien ship. That ship was huge!”

  Mason nodded in agreement. “They may not be, but they might be effective against their smaller ships or other aliens that might show up. I seriously doubt if the aliens that attacked us are the only ones out there. From now on I want us to be ready.”