Galactic Startup

by Brian Whiting

  Cindy narrowed her eyes for a moment, and then nodded. She filled a bowl with cereal and sat down at the nearest table.

  “I heard Amanda is pretty good in a pinch.”

  “She described the situation as, empowering. I think.” Alex’s face turned red as he recalled the moment.

  “When I met her, I assumed she was a pushover, like most nerds,” Cindy smiled as she began to eat.

  “This coming from a Nasa astronaut, you’re like the queen of nerds.”

  ***

  It was early the following morning when Earth was once again a giant orb on the view-screen.

  “I am sure the country will be eager to have you back,” Alex said, while shaking hands with the President.

  “I am not so confident. My stand-in has been President longer than I have at this point.”

  Alex raised his eyebrows at the thought.

  “Cindy, using our new sensors, please plot a path free from any orbital collisions. Take us directly to the White House.”

  The next hour went by as a blur for Alex. His mind stuck between Amanda and the Zorn. It wasn’t long before something needed his direct attention again.

  “And how do you feel about this development, Alex?”

  He realized he was staring at the ceiling, still lost in his thoughts. Except this wasn’t his cabin. This was the Reception Room at the White House. He blinked and looked at the President, in the plush armchair opposite, and then at Renee, who was hosting the live interview.

  “I, ah… We’ve learned a lot. It’s concerning, certainly, but also encouraging, in many ways. We are glad that it has strengthened our partnership with the United States. More importantly, we know there is a thriving galactic community and I am eager to be involved.”

  He remembered the agreement he had reached with the President. He would portray their relationship as positive and beneficial, and in return the US would endorse the UEF. The President had insisted that the Destiny drop them directly at the White House to make a dramatic entrance, side by side, the Zorn carcass in tow. A follow-up press event went without saying. Now he watched as the President extended his hand towards him. He had no choice but to shake, as behind Renee, flashbulbs popped.

  “I concur. The voyage was one of the most illuminating experiences of my life, and I have returned resolved to foster the strongest of working relationships with the bold men and women of the UEF, as well as with our new interstellar allies, the Theans.

  “Mr. President, did you personally meet any Theans?” asked Renee.

  “No. They could not communicate directly with us. They entity known as Kalibri served as an intermediary.”

  “But you saw one?”

  “Members of the UEF crew made physical contact. Video will be made available of the incident.

  “The Theans have been at war for decades with the Zorn. Does the United States now consider itself at war as well?” Renee continued.

  “Yes, I must be clear. Not only the United States, but this very planet is in a de facto state of war, and not for territory or power. For the survival of humanity itself. As Alex says, it is concerning. I am optimistic that we can work with both the UEF and the other nations of the world to combat and defeat the threat.”

  “Alex, would you agree we are at war?”

  “Absolutely. The Zorn are the most terrifying things I have ever seen. They attacked without provocation or reason. They will not tolerate the continuation of our peaceful existence.”

  “What is the next step for the UEF?”

  “The UEF will request resources from the nations of the world. We will use Thean technology to build warships, and we will defend our planet from what is surely coming.”

  “And what is that?”

  “More.” Alex fixed Renee with a dark look. They had decided not to hold anything back. Better for people to know the truth than let their imagination run wild. “When they get here, they aren’t going to ask what country you’re from. They aren’t going to ask you anything, because they do not speak. They intend to destroy the intelligent population of the Earth and harvest its resources.”

  “I wasn’t there when you killed it. How did you do it?” Renee asked.

  “It was hard to kill, but it is not entirely immune to bullets.”

  “What do you say to the those who claim the Zorn would not be coming if we hadn’t left our planet.”

  “I understand your fear and the confusion you face. This is all hard to believe. But just like a hurricane, nothing you do will change the enemy’s approach, and nothing I did on Titan affected it.”

  As soon as they came off air, someone handed Alex a phone. It was Timmy on the line. He was with the Destiny back on the research vessel.

  “Alex. We really need you back.”

  “What’s wrong?” Alex responded.

  “There are well over a hundred messages from heads of state. The United Nations wants you at a summit. Alex, there are three different warships parked right off the boat. Someone is demanding to board us. I’m trying to hold things down, but I’ve sent Cindy back to get you. She should be there in a few minutes.”

  “Understood. See you soon,” said Alex, gesturing at the crew members who had been waiting behind the cameras.

  “Guess that means we aren’t staying for dinner,” said Amanda, looking around the lavish room while the others started making for the door. Alex took her hand and squeezed.

  “I’m afraid not.” They looked at each other.

  That evening, on board the Destiny, Alex called for a meeting. He realized it was the first time in over a month that he and his three friends were in the same room together, and considered how rare it would be in the future as the UEF continued to grow. Then he looked at the others around him, his crew.

  “I know everyone is tired. Let’s get through this meeting and we will start fresh for tomorrow,” he began, as much for himself as his team. The Destiny was swaying a little with the rolling sea. The Earth was a ball of roiling energy compared to the void of space.

  “We are down to two vessels. The shuttle and the Destiny. I’d like to-”

  “Actually, we have two shuttles now,” said Timmy. “I was able to finish her up while you were gone. But we have new problems. First, we have three ships and two pilots. Second is that we now have a severe shortage of material for the propulsion drive.”

  Alex sat back in his chair. Of course, the dark matter, he thought to himself.

  “We will talk about that after the meeting.”

  “Why the secrecy?” Renee asked.

  “The propulsion drive remains proprietary information for now,” Alex responded. “In the wrong hands it could be a disaster. Zeek, we are going to need pilots. Could you reach out to the US Air Force to develop a training program and simulator?”

  “I think so?” Zeek replied.

  “Timmy, I need you to work on the orbital shipyard. For ships larger than a kilometer in length.”

  Timmy didn’t react, and everyone looked at him. “Alex, I’ve never built anything like that before,” he pleaded. “This could take years. I don’t know where to start.”

  “It’s a big task, I know. But there’s no one else I trust more to get it right. You’ll work with Jorge – he’s been talking to Kalibri and is eager to get started. Your first step will be reviewing Kalibri’s intel on manufacturing. We’re using Thean tech now. We need these ships fast. Zorn could be here any day.” Timmy nodded unconvincingly. His eyes were very wide.

  “Mason. I want you to begin fielding these offers from various governments. We need them building shipyards and ships for the UEF. You’ll be the primary liaison.

  “Jack, I know this is outside your expertise, but we have a human resources crisis. Hire and oversee a couple of HR firms. We need to be recruiting aggressively across all the industries you can think of. And we need the best people we can get. Soldiers, engineers, laborers, strategic analysts, linguists, right down to maintenance personal. They need to tri
ckle in, Jack. We can’t handle a flood of people right away. We need to grow. Timmy, have the Chinese reached out since the incident? What is their stance on what happened?”

  “Ambassador Won Li was executed by rope after he was found guilty of the attack. The paper didn’t say anything about a trial.”

  “I am sure if he had succeeded they would have promoted him,” said Alex.

  “They have offered to double the payment to keep sending cargo, and promised it won’t happen again.”

  “I don’t feel comfortable going back there,” said Amanda.

  “Me neither. For all we know the next one will be a bomb.” Alex let that sink in. “We will suspend transport for now. Curtis, work with Jerry. I want you to talk to the top people in the Army and Marines. See about training space marines or something along those lines. We are going to need troops to repel boarding actions. We need them to build and manage the training facilities, while the troops and Trainees are all UEF. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir!” Curtis responded, always eager.

  “Jerry, in addition to that, I want you to think about the UEF Academy. I expect we’ll need two tracks: enlisted and officer. Consult with Mason, Cindy and Timmy to create a curriculum. Find a good location for the Academy itself.

  “Sir, since we are building and operating an academy, shouldn’t the troops receive some of the same training there as well? If they are going to rebel boarding parties, they need to know how the ship operates.” Curtis paused, ready to take notes.

  “Yeah maybe after completing space marine training, they could move to the Academy for a week or two of on-board training.”

  The meeting continued a little longer, after which Alex asked Jorge, Timmy and Zeek to the remain in the conference room.

  Alex looked at his three friends. They hadn’t spent quality time together in what felt like years.

  “Dark matter.”

  “Yeah, about that,” said Jorge. “I didn’t have a chance to tell you that I ran some tests. You should know that flash we saw on Titan, I’m quite sure it was caused by a dark matter explosion.”

  “Really? The one that felt brighter than the sun? So the Zorn ship had a dark matter drive as well.”

  “That’s what I thought, at first. But the Zorn debris scattered to the left hemisphere and the explosion went off towards the right. Where the Surprise went down.”

  The four of them exchanged glances.

  “I am not entirely comfortable with the dark matter,” said Timmy. “We just don’t know enough about it. What if one day, in a high intensity maneuver, it puts too much strain on the material and it goes off like it did on Titan?”

  “It’s way too late to change things now. We have created massive expectations, humanity’s survival depends on this stuff.” Alex locked eyes with Timmy. “After we get a few ships up and running, we will focus more on Thean tech for travel. In the meantime, I want you to think about something else we are going to need.” Alex pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote two words on it, folded it, and slid it towards Timmy.

  If Zeek and Jorge were curious about what was written on the note, they didn’t show it.

  Chapter 14

  It’s all in the gut

  After a year of signing agreements, planning logistics, and working out the kinks of kickstarting a multinational planetary defense project, Alex felt they had not made enough progress. He studied the latest updates. In addition, he was overseeing the final construction phases of the new UEF complex.

  The Brandon Mallard Orbital Shipyard was still years from completion. The UEF Academy had been recently opened along with two ground-based shipyards, in India and Japan. Three others were close to completion. Alex didn’t want any more shipyards than that, but he was having a tough time saying no to all the countries who were bidding for them. The problem was the supply of dark matter. Jorge and Timmy had designed a series of large dishes to collect the free-roaming particles, kept on UEF sovereign territory within the borders of the USA. At the current rate of ship-building they might be able to keep up with demand, but only just.

  None of the new, larger ships were finished yet. In addition to the Destiny, the UEF now had three shuttles and one construction shuttle for the orbital shipyard. The biggest improvement was the nuclear reactor now operating inside the Destiny. It was of Thean design and emitted no nuclear byproducts. They kept the primary battery array in case of an emergency and got rid of the secondary array to make room for the reactor.

  Alex continued to check his notes at the desk in his cabin, when he heard someone walk through his door. He looked up.

  “What are you up to, babe?”

  Amanda was checking her own notes on a tablet as she came in and took a seat on the couch. “You remember the worm? From Mars, that small part I secretly kept? The Academy wants us to dig up more. They say they can make incredibly effective anti-radiation medicines from its secretions. With a larger sample size, they could start work on a synthetic variant. I checked the flight schedule of the Destiny. We have time to do it this week.”

  “Actually, I was thinking of heading back to Dark Star to spend a bit more time with the Theans before they die.”

  “Do you actually do anything with them? From what I’ve seen, you just stare at each other while you talk to Kalibri about the war.” Amanda looked thoughtful. “How about we do both. Keep the crew light and do a high-G sling for a shorter journey. We spend enough time on this old boat as it is.”

  Alex thought for a moment.

  “I spoke to Timmy today. He’s floating an idea that would cut the build time of the orbital yard down to months.”

  “How is that possible? It’s basically just him and John putting it together.”

  “He says we don’t need all the scaffolding. That cuts down about eighty percent of the material required. The main habitable areas are about a month from completion. Everything past that is just…”

  “Captain Alex, communication request from Kalibri,” Lanora, his new linguistics and communications officer advised over the ship-wide intercom.

  “Put it through. My cabin only, please.”

  “Kalibri, are you there?” said Alex, skimming global news headlines on his tablet.

  “Ah Captain, I am happy to report we have fixed the comm link. There should no longer be any distortion.”

  “Yes, I hear you clearly.”

  “I am also pleased to report that we have a fabricator complete and awaiting pickup.”

  “That’s excellent news,” Alex responded. They needed another. Alex had the first one printing out laser pistols and battery packs, and it had just started the task of building a required component for the shipyard.

  “Alex, you should know that another Thean passed last night. I estimate the last remaining will pass before the month is out.”

  “Was it Sticky?” Sticky was Alex’s favorite Thean. It wasn’t as slick-coated as the others, and had a habit of being overly blunt, which always made for interesting conversation.

  “No. It was citizen zero zero four seven alpha.”

  “Damn. Never got around to naming that one.” Alex had learned that Theans don’t have names, they recognized each other by chemical secretions.

  “Alex, there’s another reason why I contacted you. Less than an hour ago, our communications array picked up a signal. It matched the frequency of a Zorn jammer. However, we were not able to locate any Zorn on the sensors, and the signal eventually faded.”

  Alex jumped out of his chair and put on his jacket. Amanda jumped up as well. They immediately started walking.

  “Mimi. Ship-wide combat stations. No drill.”

  “Would you like me to alert UEF command?” Kalibri asked, not having anticipated this reaction.

  Alex thought for a moment. They didn’t have enough proof to put the whole planet on alert and make people panic, but he didn’t want to squander the extra warning time.

  “Commander Mason. The global UEF system is due to have a
readiness drill, isn’t it?” Alex asked, as he entered the bridge.

  “I believe so. But I know they wanted to wait until all the facilities had completed construction.”

  “Start the drill. If anyone asks, tell them it’s a precaution in response to a sensor ghost.”

  “That’s my cue. Be safe,” said Amanda, giving him a quick hug. As she exited the ship via the cargo ramp, she passed two squads of soldiers boarding the Destiny. They were the first to go through ship orientation at the Academy and were supposed to begin on-board training that day. As soon as the troops loaded into cargo bay two, Mason’s display screen went green to indicate their readiness.

  “What are we waiting for?” Alex asked in frustration.

  “Gloria,” Mason replied. “We are not sure where she is at the moment.”

  “If we need her, we will request a shuttle. Lets go!”

  Mason reluctantly closed the cargo ramp to the Destiny and Cindy wasted no time getting airborne.

  “Priority call from the President,” Lanora advised, as the ship was already airborne.

  “On the main screen,” Alex replied.

  The blown=up image of the President glared down at them.

  “Good afternoon, Alex. I thought we agreed that-”

  “Dark Star recorded Zorn jamming signals moments ago, but they were not able to locate a ship. I am being cautious, Mr. President.”

  The President adjusted his posture.

  “If it is them, it will be a small wave, correct?”

  “If they hold true to past attacks against Thean worlds, yes. They begin with a small wave of ships to disrupt orbital facilities and sow chaos on the ground,” Alex replied, as if reading off a page. He had prepared for this eventuality for over a year, and he was angry they had not accomplished more. They were just a few frustrating months away from much better readiness.

  As soon as the call ended, Alex was pushed hard against his seat as the Destiny zipped into the atmosphere. When they reached orbit, Cindy began a sensor sweep.