The Oort Plague

by Cliff Deane

  Turning the Mag over, Sergeant Rainier saw that it had been a gang-banger. “Look at this, he has tats all over his face. My man, you not only took out a Mag, but you also bagged a gangsta. Well done, oh yeah, very well done.”

  The second Private had assumed the role of guarding the younger Mag. As the two Rangers arrived, the Mag began to moan.

  “Oh, hell, no!” said Rainier as he jabbed another vial of the sleepy-time drug into the arm.

  Both the backup RF and Home Plate had been monitoring the events of the capture. RF 2 arrived and took possession of the captive and made their way back to Home Plate, while Sergeant Rainier’s RF returned to their nest to await the arrival of Captain Abraham and his Party.

  29 April 2118, 0030

  Home Plate,

  Forward Tactical Operations Center (F-TOC)

  Atlanta, GA

  After four days of Mag watching, Jake was very happy to be back on friendly ground. Even being dead tired, Jake and Gale followed up on the turnover of the two Mags to the CDC. Once the mission was complete and all the data garnered from the last four days was transferred to the CDC, he and Gale made their way to a very comfortable bed; sleep came quickly.

  The First Sergeant had ordered that Jake’s quarters were established in one of the plush Executive Suites overlooking the field. As Jake drifted into slumber, his last thought was from an old Mel Brooks movie, “It’s good ta be da king.”

  First Sergeant Bill Tomlin ran a tight ship and Rangers expected nothing less, the Med staff, well, not so much. Following the third complaint from Major Stowers, the Med Commander, Jake told him to Ranger up. There would be no turndown service with little chocolates on their pillows each night.

  Stowers was furious and quickly contacted General Merritt to complain about a Captain showing such a lack of military courtesy to a senior officer.

  General Merritt was not amused at the whining of Major Stowers and informed him, in no uncertain terms, that there would be no mollycoddling. To ease the Major’s concern of a lack of military courtesy, the General immediately frocked Captain Abraham to Lt Colonel. Now, Stowers had to make nice with his superior, Colonel Abraham.

  30 April 2118

  Colonial Governor’s Office

  Red Sands, Mars

  The Governor’s appointment with Admiral Adolphus Perry was set for 30 April, at 0900 hours. “Governor, Davis? Admiral Perry and Admiral King are here for your 9:00,” said Mrs. Tanya Roberts, the Colonial Governor’s secretary.

  “Ah, good, thank you, Tanya, please ask them in.”

  Tanya smiled at Governor Davis, then ushered the two Admirals into his Office. Davis stood and welcomed Perry and King as he said, “Good morning, gentlemen. How may I be of service to the U.S. Space Defense Force on this beautiful Martian day?”

  The three men sat around a small serving table, upon which Tanya Roberts quickly place coffee and muffins. The three men said their thanks to Tanya, nearly in unison. She smiled and said, “You are all so welcome,” as she stood to return to her desk.

  “Governor Davis…”

  “No, no, interrupted the Governor, please call me Jeff or Jeffrey.”

  The two Admirals obliged and offered their first names, although King offered his nickname, Sky.

  “Wonderful,” said Davis, “now, how can Red Sands be of service? Oh, I guess that first, I should ask about the situation on Earth. Please provide any updates you may have.”

  “Yes, sir,” offered Gus Perry, “the situation is far worse than we could have ever anticipated. The Mag-Flu killed over eight billion people, then, roughly half of the survivors of this monster pandemic became monsters themselves. Sir, may I assume that you have seen both the vids from our mining ships and the Mount Weather Facility?”

  “Oh, my, yes, dreadful, just dreadful. My staff and I have been racking our brains trying to come up with a way to help. Unfortunately, our limited capabilities and resources make that currently impossible.”

  “Yes, sir, we understand, and that is why President Holcomb has directed us to request this meeting.”

  “Yes?” asked a suddenly wary Governor Jeff Davis.

  “Sir, President Holcomb, as you know has sent us with a tremendous amount of resources to assist Red Sands in the transition…”

  “Transition? What transition? I don’t think I follow.”

  “My apologies, Governor, I guess I got just a bit ahead of myself. I have, with me, a personal letter, addressed to you, from President Holcomb. Perhaps you should read it before we continue with our conversation?”

  “Yes, thank you,” said Davis as he accepted the letter from the one time most powerful man in the entire Sol System. Davis read the letter three times before he lifted his eyes to his guests.

  During the second reading, Davis’ right foot began to tap the floor, and before he finished reading the letter a third time his left hand began tapping his cheek in time with his foot.

  Davis exhaled deeply and was, for several seconds, without words. He finally said, “Gentlemen, I, I, I,” stuttered the Governor, who now was the supposed President of what had, only moments before been a colony. A Colonial Governorship was one thing; the first President of a new nation was quite another. “I need some time to digest the full meaning and scope of this declaration. Perhaps we should schedule another meeting to brief my staff tomorrow morning.”

  “Yes, of course, I would, however, like to leave you with a breakdown of the assets, both personnel and materiel with you. Everything is on this tablet,” which Admiral Perry handed to the stunned President of the new Republic of Red Sands.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE REPUBLIC OF MARS

  23 April 2118, 0900

  Governor’s Conference Room

  Red Sands, Mars

  The three Space Fleet Officers entered the Governor’s Conference Room and were introduced to the Governmental Staff. The Governor remained in his office for another ten minutes to allow time for these men and women to get acquainted.

  At 0910 hours, Governor Davis entered the room and directed everyone to their assigned seats.

  President-pro tempore Davis gaveled the meeting to order with three raps on a wooden block.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here to formalize the foundation of a new nation on the Planet Mars. As no name has, as yet, been selected I direct we use Red Sands until a new name for our infant nation can be established.

  “You have all received the lists of personnel and materiel that the United States has been kind enough to provide for the creation of Red Sands. I want it noted for the official record that many items forwarded to us are to be considered as items for safekeeping until the Earthside United States of America has recovered and requests their return. That separate list is also in your packet.

  “My friends, in only a few days, Red Sands has gone from a colonial possession to the sole nation on the Planet Mars. as of this moment, I declare that the entire planet is, now and forever, a part of Red Sands.”

  Some eyebrows were raised at this pronouncement, but there were no objections.

  Davis continued, saying, “As the former U.S. Space Defense Force is now the Martian Space Defense Force. I must say that I am extremely pleased to have this addition to our list of assets. Admiral Perry, I now name you as the Supreme Military Commander for the planet Mars, and I charge you with securing your new home, Red Sands, the mining operations within the Asteroid Belt, along with any support the M-SDF can provide our three mother nations.”

  Admiral Perry stood and while shaking the President’s hand, said, “Mr. President I assure you that the M-SDF will offer total loyalty to Red Sands. As you are aware, sir, I have brought with me the Oath of Allegiance to the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Germany. I hope you will approve the change of names to whatever your people decide to name this nation.”

  “Thank you, Admiral, I approve your request. Now, moving on, and what an opportunity to excel, we are mo
ving on to. My friends, if we took the time to go over every responsibility for every office and branch of government, we would die of old age before finishing. I, therefore, charge you with proposing your individual areas of expertise to the original Constitution and Bill of Rights of the Founding Fathers of our Mother Country, The United States of America. It is my determination that the law of the land will reside around these two documents. Anything added since the ratification of the U.S. will be placed in abeyance until a need to alter it is absolutely necessary. I would also require you to identify the word Man to be defined as Human. Are there any questions about the direction of this new nation?”

  There may have been many questions, but the attendees were so overwhelmed with the task at hand, they were unable to form any intelligent questions, except for one.

  “Sir,” asked the Colonial Treasurer, “how will we pay for this? Trade with the nations of Earth is now, possibly forever, cut off. From where will the cash come to fund the building projects outlined to speed up such things as terraforming, and the construction of new homes, offices, businesses? Sir, the list is daunting, to say the least.”

  President Davis said, “Thankfully, because of trade and the acquisition of natural resources, Red Sands has become a rich nation. We are far from impoverished, unlike the U.S. was in its infancy. While it is true that trade with Earth is no longer possible, at least for the foreseeable future. We do have the processing plants necessary to provide the bountiful resources of the Asteroid Belt to build a vast infrastructure to service the future expansion of, not only our fledgling city of Red Sands, but other cities which must be built across this world. We have the technology and the resources to engage in this expansion. To make all this happen, we just have to move that first shovel of sand and never look back.

  “A prime consideration here is that we must re-engineer the Earth’s carbon dioxide eating moss to assist our fusion powered terraforming generators. If we can manipulate the genes to allow it to survive on Mars, we could conceivably have a breathable Martian atmosphere in another fifty years. “

  Addressing Admiral Perry, President Davis said, “Admiral, there has been a theory for the last one hundred years that if Jupiter’s moon Europa could be towed into a Mars Orbit of roughly two-hundred-thousand miles from the surface the tidal forces created by Europa and its Magnetosphere could possibly cause significant tidal friction of the Mars core. This tidal friction may cause the Mars core to reheat and begin a rotation. We don’t, of course, know if this could actually work, but the premise does have some merit. My question to you Admiral is; is it possible to break Europa away from Jupiter’s gravitational pull and place it in orbit around Mars?”

  Admiral Perry was stunned by this question and responded with, “Mr. President, that is not a question that I can answer spontaneously. Sir, throwing a lasso around the dwarf planet Ceres would seem more doable and might accomplish the same goal. Why Europa, sir?”

  “Good question, Admiral. Even though the Asteroid Belt is only half-way to Jupiter, Ceres is further out of position due to its current point in space. The second reason is that Europa is covered in ice that is hundreds of kilometers deep. That ice, added to Mars ice, is sufficient to provide us with an ocean.”

  “Sir,” said Admiral King, even if placing Europa around Mars is doable, the process will not provide sufficient heat to restart the Martian Core for, well, I don’t know exactly, but perhaps thousands of years.”

  “Yes, that is true. But, if we drill to the frozen core at several strategic points and place nuclear shape-charges sufficient to flash heat the core, the tidal pull of Europa may be adequate to keep the heated magma in motion.”

  “Wow,” said Admiral Perry, “that is an impressive concept, but it does sound quite dicey. Have your scientists worked out the nuclear tonnage necessary?”

  “Yes, Admiral, they have. Let’s set up a meeting with the team making the plan, say, one week from today?”

  “I look forward to it, Mr. President.”

  President Davis said, “Yes, Mars was a dead planet when we established Red Sands, and internally, this God of War still is. We do have the technology to create a livable atmosphere, and we must move forward in discovering those technologies that will bring Mars back to life. My friends, the road forward will not be easy, but it will be done because the human species and civilization require it.”

  The meeting lasted for another hour before President Davis set everyone to their many tasks.

  30 April 2118

  CDC

  Atlanta, GA

  Dr. Moishe Feldman literally ran to the CDC Director’s office and without seeking permission from Dr. Deen’s Secretary, he rushed into Deen’s office shouting, “Tyler, I’ve found it!”

  Deen was irritated to see Feldman bursting through his door, but holding his temper, he smiled and asked, “Found what Dr. Feldman?”

  The Researcher, nearly out of breath from the race to Dr. Deen’s office and the excitement of his discovery managed to blurt out, “Tyler, the turning of the Mags is not caused by either a virus or a bacterial infection.”

  Deen was now intrigued and said, “Moishe, sit down, take a deep breath, then tell me what you have found.”

  “Oh, yes, of course, sorry, but I am just so excited. That damned Holly Thorne didn’t just bring a disease, she somehow manipulated one ancient strand of human DNA. Like so many other such strands that remain beyond our understanding, it was thought to be just a benign part of our ancestral evolution.

  “This one tiny strand of ancestral DNA has come alive and has caused a series of other gene manipulations. I have now isolated that singularly specific gene strand. We can’t, at least I don’t think we can reverse the effects, but we can correct the problem and make all survivors immune.”

  Dr. Tyler Deen sat upright in his chair and said in an excited voice, “Gene manipulation, what, how, I mean, oh hell, I’m not sure I know what I mean. All right start from the beginning. Wait, let’s get some coffee in here and take a second to relax. I don’t want you to leave anything out.” Deen called his Secretary and asked her to bring in coffee and donuts.

  Feldman took another deep breath and said, “All right, remember Sarah who came to us with the data-pack from the Mag transition?”

  “Yes, Moishe, of course, I remember, please continue. No, wait, I need to record this meeting. Dr. Deen then pressed a button that initiated the recording session. Dr. Feldman, you have stated that, though it is still unclear whether the Mag-Flu is actually a virus or bacterial infection that causes some form of gene manipulation. Is this correct?”

  “Yes, sir, when Sarah O’Connor first arrived and was put in isolation. She gave us both a blood and DNA sample. Upon examination of her blood, we could find nothing to indicate that she had ever had the flu. Still, we began testing the antibodies from the blood sample.

  “I directed the rest of the team to continue testing Sarah’s blood. I decided to take a lark and run a series of DNA tests. It took several days before my Assistant, and I were able to discover and isolate one small strand of DNA that was unlike that of anyone else here in the CDC. I know, because I ran cross tests against every person on site, including the two Mags.

  “The Mag DNA also showed a mutated strand that was somewhat different from that of Sarah. I have postulated that this tiny Mag variation from the human norm may prove to be the puzzle part which led them to devolve into the monsters they are.

  “However, Sarah’s mutated DNA strand seems indicative of her saving grace. Like everyone else who has been exposed to Holly Thorne the snippet of that one DNA strand which mutated in one of two ways made all the difference. We don’t, of course, as yet, know why this mutation caused roughly one-half of the population to become Mags, while others came through.”

  “Dr. Feldman,” asked the Director, “are we able to create this gene manipulation for anyone who has not been exposed?”

  “Oh my, yes. It will take a couple of weeks to work th
rough the process, but yes, it can be done. There is one small stumbling block,” added a hesitant Dr. Deen.

  A stunned CDC Director, with a sense of urgency, made hand signals to encourage Dr. Feldman, ‘Yes, Moishe, go on. What is that small snag?”

  “Oh, yes, sir,” said Deen, “I apologize. The snag is that the only way to test the therapy, well, when it’s ready for testing, of course, is to find three volunteers willing to go outside.”

  5 May 2118

  Communication Center

  Cheyenne Mountain

  The phone rang in General Morse’s Office. Hank Morse, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs picked up the receiver and said, “General Morse.”

  “Sir,” said the General’s Secretary, Captain Barnes has asked if you can come to the Communications Center. Admiral Perry wishes to speak with you on a secure line.”

  “Yes, please tell him that I am on my way.”

  Four minutes later General Morse was in the secure, soundproof room waiting for the connection with Admiral Perry aboard the MSDF Vessel Leyte Gulf.

  A voice came over the line informing Morse that Admiral Perry was on a secure, encrypted call and that there would be no appreciable delay.

  Hank Morse heard Admiral Perry say, “Hank, we need to talk, so I’ll get right to it. I am aboard the Leyte Gulf and accompanied by Enterprise. We entered Earth orbit thirty minutes ago. Enterprise is currently mapping Mag presence around the Earth. The Captain anticipates that this survey will be complete and ready for downloading to you in approximately seventy-two hours. That, however, is not the reason I am back in Earth orbit.

  “Hank, in the weeks before this Holly Thorne mess, the whiz kids at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) made an AI breakthrough that must not be lost. Their newest version of our AI software allows for instantaneous communication between AIs with have this software update. Hank, I’m not talking about avoiding the booster systems currently in use. I mean that if you have this upgrade, we can speak at any time with no time lapse or signal degradation.”