Chapter 60
Second Offensive
‘I say we attack the cylinders and we do it now!’ Steve argued.
‘But there’s 100,000 of them!’ Alison countered.
‘We’ve more than enough fire power on the starship!’ Steve continued.
After the information regarding the discoveries under the ice caps had registered, the astronauts focussed on their next steps. Doing nothing was not an option. The previous night they had witnessed the advance of the black masses to the structure where Scott was located. The black masses had also formed outside the lines of dwelling to either side of this structure. They could see that the black was advancing but were unaware that it was already attacking farming dwellings of blue workers with devastating results.
‘We’ve already destroyed one of their dwellings and God knows how many Blue People!’ Alison said with anguish.
‘We’ll be firing at the ice cap – nowhere near the land mass – we must destroy their base!’ Steve was adamant.
‘I agree with Alison,’ Martha joined in, ‘we failed miserably with our first attack.’
‘We can’t just do nothing!’ cried Olivia, ‘The Black are killing people down on the planet!’
‘That’s right and Scott’s message is clear. We must attack.’ Pete added.
‘We must vote,’ said AJ with authority, ‘the proposal is we move the starship and fire two ‘D Plus’ warheads at the discs under the ice cap.’
Six hands moved forward and the proposition was carried by four votes to two.
Zec-C moved LifeSeeker-1 to a position 1000 kilometres from the ice cap and 500 kilometres above sea level. The astronauts sat looking out of the dome at the idyllic scene before them. Wonderful blue seas fringed the brilliant blue white of the ice cap. How could this vista harbour such a menace below its surface?
‘Command Zec!’ AJ said, ‘Prepare to launch first ‘D’ Plus missile.’ ‘D’ Plus was another dual detonation warhead but with twice the explosive power.
AJ looked at the other astronauts and all hands went forward to confirm the decision.
‘Launch first missile!’ commanded AJ, and they watched the missile streak away from the starship on a descending trajectory towards the blue sea below. They had chosen the lowest cylinder in the group of ten directly in front of them in the belief that this would collapse the objects above like a pack of cards.
Visibility was so good that they could watch it as it travelled towards a point at the sea surface 50 kilometres short of the ice cap.
Suddenly the sea just ahead of the speeding rocket turned black – a deepening black that covered a square kilometre of sea surface – directly in line between the missile and its target.
The projectile hit the black and the astronauts watched the double detonation of its warheads. A massive eruption of sea and black shot into the atmosphere and when it settled the Black was gone but the cylinders were still intact. The Black had protected its base!
‘Launch second missile!’ commanded AJ and the astronauts watched in the hope that they had destroyed the forward defences.
Again, shortly before it reached the surface of the sea, the black reappeared, but bigger and denser, and this time it had formed a huge circular mass 2 kilometres in diameter.
And then the impossible happened!
Just before the missile hit the mass, the centre opened forming a ring of clear sea in front of it – an area of about 500 metres in diameter.
‘Warning! Warning! Communications with missile computer lost!’
And the rocket entered the open sea encircled by the ring of black mass.
‘Warning! Warning! Black mass building up quickly under the sea to the left of entry point!’
The astronauts had to watch the mimic display to see the black expanding with alarming speed under the sea.
‘Warning! Warning! The black is forming a u-tube shape under the sea which is rising to the surface 5 kilometres to LifeSeeker-1’s left!’
The astronauts looked, pointed and gasped as the sea blackened away to their left. An identical ring of black formed on the surface of the sea.
Suddenly something shot out of the centre of this new mass and headed directly for the starship!
‘Emergency! Incoming missile on collision course with LifeSeeker-1!’
‘Deploy anti-missile defence!’ shrieked AJ.
‘No time! Double red emergency!’
‘In my design for the defence systems of the starship, I factored into the model the remote possibility of ‘friendly fire’. The force field is capable of absorbing the double impact of the ‘D’ Plus missile with an added 25% safety contingency. Furthermore, any incoming threat is immediately pinpointed and triggers the anti–missile systems which eliminate the danger well before it reaches the starship. I must confess that I did not foresee that one of LifeSeeker-1’s own ‘D’ Plus’ attacks the starship from such a short distance and at 100 times design velocity.
‘Double red is the highest threat level to the starship. The dome blackens immediately and emergency bulk head doors slam into place sealing the command dome and accommodation quarters from the nuclear ion drive. Dozens of thrusters rockets on each side burst into full power but in opposing directions.
‘In the vacuum of space, the starship turns quickly on its axis to present its mammoth ion drive to the threat and use its massive bulk to protect the command dome and accommodation module. This requires huge power and Zec-C must judge the timing perfectly and then concentrate the force field at the area of attack.’
On this occasion the starship had completed 150 degrees of turn when Zec-C announced full force field had been applied to the ion drive.
Zero point one second later their own missile struck the force field. The first detonation was absorbed but the astronauts felt the blow as the starship shuddered and lurched forward.
Then the second penetrative detonation occurred. Normally the force field would be capable of absorbing most of this, limiting damage to a minimum. But there was nothing normal about the velocity at which this missile had returned to the starship!
The astronauts were jolted by the second detonation and the starship bucked violently and was shunted forward into a spin. A multitude of warning lights and sirens assaulted their senses.
Amid the shouts and screams in the command dome, AJ calmly focussed on the dome display which showed the starship’s desperate plight. He knew that no human could respond quickly enough to bring the starship under control but he realised that Zec-C’s massive processing power would be juggling the thrust of dozens of rockets – he just prayed that enough had survived the terrible impact.
Slowly and surely, LifeSeeker-1 came out of its spin and its forward speed was checked and brought to a stop. Red lights turned amber, then green and an eerie silence ensued. The command dome cleared and visual contact was restored with the planet below. Then Zec-C announced that the double red emergency was over.
‘Damage report!’ AJ commanded.
‘One third of ion drive thrusters completely destroyed, nuclear drive intact, integrity of command dome and accommodation module intact.’
AJ and the astronauts sighed with relief and then AJ broke the silence.
‘What happened, Zec-C? Why couldn’t we destroy our own missile? Why couldn’t we shoot it out of the sky?’
‘We lost computer control just before the black mass opened. The missile travelled around a ‘U’ – tube formed by the mass under the sea and exited the tube 5 kilometres from entry. The on-board computers had been reprogrammed with LifeSeeker-1’s coordinates as target. But during its passage through the tube the missile was accelerated and left the tube at approximately 100 kilometres per second, 100 times its entry speed. We had less than 5 seconds to take avoidance action and no time to launch the anti-missile system. It was the sheer velocity of the missile that caused the second detonation to breach our force field.’
The implications of what had happened took
a while to digest. The astronauts looked at one another. The sheer hopelessness of the situation was in their terrified eyes. AJ quietly broke the silence.
‘Thank you, Zec-C, your prompt action saved us and the starship – we could not have survived if our missile had struck the accommodation module.’
Spontaneously, all the astronauts applauded and thanked Zec-C and looked at one another with relief as the tension in the dome subsided.
‘Command Zec-C, take us back to our geostationary orbit. We have an awful lot to think about before we can consider our next move.’
Chapter 61
Seren has the Key
Scott and Seren sat by the cool pool of the huge pyramid oblivious to the fact that the starship had been attacked by its own missile. Scott was sure that his message would be read and acted upon but was horrified to learn from Zec-1 that there had been a double detonation at the outermost dwelling adjacent to their current position. Had an attack on the Black gone so terribly wrong?
He was further disturbed by the build-up of black masses at dwellings either side of his position. But the major concern was that the black mass, which had killed the blue workers outside this dwelling, had travelled during the day. It had definitely not been there the previous night.
This was a serious escalation of the Black’s capability, as it had thus far only travelled at night.
Of course, Seren was reading his thoughts but she had difficulty comprehending them. However, she sensed that something had gone badly wrong during the night and her eyes blazed,
>> what happened to my people at that dwelling >>
He could not lie and his thoughts immediately told her the answer. There was sadness but no blame in her eyes and Scott felt his chest tighten. He could only admire the way she had coped with the last 2 days, when so much destruction had been revealed to her about the Blue People. And now the devastation was happening again and he felt powerless in the face of such a formidable menace.
He tried to explain that the black masses were outside the dwellings either side of their position but the concept was almost impossible to convey. So he pointed to the octagonal tattoo between her breasts and tried to communicate that he wanted to ‘paint’ a picture. Seren suddenly understood him and left. After a short while she returned with a section of leaf containing red and black liquid.
Using his fingers he drew a line of 10 structures on the clay floor. He pointed to the largest of them and indicated that this was where they were situated. Seren understood. Then he drew 10 structures to either side. Finally he painted a black shape outside each structure and tried to warn that the blue workers must not go out to farm.
But she had understood and rushed to the silver-haired leader inclining her head and he communicated to the drummers in the relevant dwellings. She returned and her eyes blazed,
>> we have stopped them leaving to farm >>
Scott breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Then Seren looked at the drawing on the floor and pointed to one of the black squares.
>> how does the black get to our dwellings >>
‘It comes from the sea,’ and Scott pointed, ‘and travels through the clouds.’ Again this was difficult to explain so he added to his floor drawing. He tried to show the sea, estuary and beach and then he drew the six structures on the bank of the river and she understood. So he continued the drawing depicting the river where, at the head of the valley, it terminated at the outermost dwelling. Then he drew his impression of the mountains and cloud. Finally he added black masses at the edge of the sea and tried to indicate that they moved over the mountains and through the clouds.
Seren seemed lost in thought for a while and then her eyes blazed.
>> the black came from the sea > through the clouds > killed my beautiful people > killed all those wonderful males in the dark pyramid > and that was in our past >>
It hurt to feel her slow comprehension but she carried on.
>> now the black has come again from the sea > through the clouds > and > has just killed our revered workers outside this dwelling >>
Her anxiety heightened and it hurt Scott’s head.
>> and if we cannot stop them > the black will kill us > all my people will die >>
Scott found it hard to answer because he was shaken with her grief for her people. He felt totally at a loss when he saw.
>> we must find a way > we must find a way > we must find a way >>
And he felt a renewed determination.
Seren looked at the drawing on the floor and pointed to one of the black squares by the sea and then asked a question so fundamental, so logical that it dumbfounded Scott. Her eyes blazed as she looked at him,
>> why did not the black just travel up the estuaries > rivers and canals to kill us >>
‘What did you say?’ Scott had not caught the gist of her question.
>> the black could have travelled up the estuaries > rivers and canals > that would have been easier > why did it go through the clouds >>
Why indeed, and Scott’s mind raced. What had he missed that this beautiful blond Serenite had seen with her basic logic? In the back of his mind he was trying to recall the events of one of the crystals in the dark pyramid, the one after the tsunami – what was it?
Suddenly Scott grabbed Seren’s hand.
‘We must go to the dark pyramid, now!’
It took Scott a couple of attempts before he located the crystal he needed. Then it ignited and the amazing dark pyramid filled with red light shafts and they were on the beach, the terrible aftermath of the tsunami still painfully obvious. Scott led Seren up the ramp and onto the ledge and they looked out to sea with the estuary below them and the beaches stretching away either side.
‘Look, Seren, look, the black at the edges of the ocean goes on as far as we can see. But there is no black at the estuary and none where the river flows out to sea! It’s not as if the river rushes into the sea – on the contrary the flow is very gentle.’
Then Scott remembered Zec-C’s analysis from the starship. Both coast lines had a black edge all around the seas except at the estuaries – none of the estuaries had black in them!
‘The black can’t travel through the estuaries or through the rivers!’ Scott shouted aloud as he looked at Seren, ‘But why? – it can travel through the sea, it can travel through clouds – what’s stopping it entering the rivers?!’
Then it hit him! Was it that simple! Could it be that obvious!
‘The rivers, canals, the estuaries – of course, they are stuffed full of chlorine! We had to wear masks when we first landed because the atmodisc was so bad.’ Scott mused.
‘Chlorine! Chlorine!’ Scott shouted at Seren, ‘You clever girl! Chlorine must be a barrier to the black – but why? And have we found its Achilles heel?’
Seren understood hardly any of this, but she felt Scott’s excitement and she beamed one of her wonderful smiles.
‘We must send another message to the starship!’ he said and pointed upwards.
Chapter 62
Message Received and Understood
Alison and Steve instructed Zec-2 to take ROL-2 out of the huge lander bay. They cleared the doors and were awed by the size of the starship. From inside it was easy to forget that this was a giant of engineering skills and technology. As they moved around the starship, the lander seemed small and puny. Then they turned at the rear of the ion drive, backed away and faced the damaged section.
In the command domes of LifeSeeker-1 and ROL-2, everyone was shocked at the extent of the appalling destruction in front of them. At least one quarter of the thousands of thrusters that made up the ion drive were gone, completely sheared off at the base plate which held them. The base plate itself was buckled and there was no sign of the fourth major rocket booster which was once attached to that quadrant of the ion drive.
‘It’s just as well they didn’t design this baby for a return trip!’ Steve said as they moved the lander to the centre of the ion drive for a
double check on the nuclear reactor.
‘No radiation detected.’ Alison informed after checking her instruments thus confirming that the integrity of the nuclear chamber had not been breached.
‘OK, good, return to starship,’ AJ commanded.
Later, in the command dome of LifeSeeker-1, the astronauts were debating and arguing their next moves but in view of what had happened they could not see how they could mount an offensive strike.
‘The Black seems to anticipate our every move! Why it can even re-programme our computers, it’s always a step ahead of us!’ Steve said in exasperation.
The Blue People of Cloud Planet Page 29
