Encounters (The Spiral Slayers Book 1)

by Rusty Williamson

  Finally, he lifted his hands about to restore order, but amazingly, before he could say a word, all the noise and commotion dropped off except for the low sound of weeping from several quarters. “Of course, the light from these events will take one hundred and twelve years to reach us.”

  A wave of dizziness passed over the President. He closed his eyes for a long moment, then opened them again. “The Loud have informed us that, except for the Loud here in our system, their race is…” again his voice broke, “…extinct.” He paused to let that sink in as well as to compose himself. The hundreds within the large hall as well as the billions throughout the star system were in total shock. He continued, “I have, of course, told the Loud that they are, and will always be, welcome here. We can do no less.” He paused to turn a queue card.

  The stunned audience remained frozen for several seconds, then one person stood and started clapping, then another and another and the applause quickly turned into a roar. Everyone was standing up. The President looked up somewhat surprised. He calmed the audience. They returned to their seats and he continued, “The destruction of their home world was due to their sun exploding. However,” his voice rose and gained strength, “it started with the unprovoked attack by this unknown species. Since their sun was still young, we can only conclude that this hostile alien force somehow caused enough damage to their sun for it to destabilize and explode.”

  The President looked across the assembly trying to gauge the mood. Every mouth hung open. He continued, “The Loud know nothing about this alien species: who they are, where they came from or why they attacked. However, you can rest assured that as soon as we heard of this tragedy, we started ramping up our own defensive capabilities. The Loud, with their advanced science and technology, have agreed to help us.” Wicker sensed, almost smelled, panic spreading through the audience—they were just realizing what his last words implied. He hurried onward, “These aliens will probably never come here, but if they do pay us a visit, we’ll be prepared.” Applause exploded through the hall, quickly replacing most of the panic. It quickly turned into another standing ovation. Wicker sensed that a good level of panic and fear still remained just under the surface. Good, the President thought. He would need massive funds approved for the defensive build-up.

  The President continued, “The Loud, who have not had an armed conflict in thousands of years, had no defensive capabilities, none at all.” He paused briefly, his eyes holding the cameras, to let all the implications of that sink in. He looked down at the people packed just outside the door and beyond. “Therefore, this attack on the Loud’s home world went completely unopposed.” His voice rose, “Such will not be the case if they ever come here. The Loud…”—applause interrupted President Wicker and he waited for it to die down. He continued, “As I mentioned, the Loud with their advanced scientific knowledge, estimated to be about a thousand years ahead of us, have agreed to help us improve our defensive capabilities, and I can assure you that once in place, we will be able to repel any attack made on us.” Again, the chamber erupted with applause.

  The star-system-wide address went on for another five minutes with overviews of what was being done and more assurances that the people had nothing to fear. That the aliens used a ship powered by a black hole big enough to span the distance between their planet and the sun, and that it was headed straight for them at almost the speed of light, was not revealed—that news would be released later and in small doses to soften the blow.

  ---

  The five giant slivers of stone stood in the cold blackness of space in mute tribute to the foresight and ingenuity of their creators. Back dropped by the jet black horizon of Cinder, which was starkly outlined by the brilliant shimmering specks of solar wind soaring upward, the featureless black silhouettes, five miles tall and one mile wide, looked like fingers reaching out for the stars. They had been nudged here from the Aster Trojan points; the forward point providing three of them, the other two from the trailing point. It had taken seven years to convert them into the largest shipyards that Amular had ever constructed.

  Once completed, the orbital factory that had supported the construction of the five shipyards had been nudged away and allowed to orbit around to the sun side of Cinder. There, it had melted then, driven downward by the solar wind, splashed into the molten surface.

  To this day, the Hideaway Shipyards, when put together, stood as the largest structure ever built and the largest project ever performed by Amular. Of course, very few people knew of this.

  Next to the five slivers of stone—actually dwarfing them—was the rectangular formation of thirty never used Leviathan Class Battleships.

  Just 150 miles away was the loneliest and most mysterious posting in the star system: Cinder Station, a richly appointed control center always manned by five officers, 10 pilots and 20 marines. All personnel had to have top-secret clearance. The station had five fighter attack craft and managed 200 unmanned remote guard stations. These formed a “globe” around the shipyards and the battleships, and none of them ever got closer than 100 miles. The officers that had rotated in and out of Cinder Station had, for over 30 years, never seen anything more than dark shapes—the few times the lights had been turned on, everyone at Cinder Station had been confined to quarters where they could see nothing. None had ever known what they guarded or what the status indicators reported on—it was simply known as “the package.”

  Today this would finally change, and everyone at Cinder Station would be crowded around the view screens and port holes waiting for they knew not what.

  ---

  The Star Quest had completed a controlled stop half a mile from the stone structures fifteen minutes before the transmission of the President’s speech was due to arrive. Captain Duncan Murray’s dour and clipped voice came over the ship wide intercom, “Attention, this is the Captain. We have just arrived at Dock One and the ship is currently secured at station keeping. I want to welcome everyone to the ultra-top-secret installation known as the Hideaway Shipyards.” Cheers could be heard down the long corridors of the ship. “Due to the fact that the President’s speech will start in about fifteen minutes, we’re going to pause operations so that everyone can make their way to a video station to watch the speech. For those critical stations that can’t pause operations, please contact me and something will be worked out to allow you to watch the President’s speech. The speech is scheduled to last about twenty minutes. I’ll expect everyone to be back at their stations in forty minutes to resume operations. That is all. Murray out.”

  The mid-ship conference room had a large screen, and Evelyn and Brandon made their way there with Harrington and Leewood in tow. Someone had already scooted the chairs around into rows facing the screen.

  The Edens found seats, and Harrington and Leewood got seats right behind them. Harrington and Leewood’s chairs were close together and she could smell his aftershave. She liked it.

  Then the lights dimmed and the speech started. In the semi-darkness, Harrington saw Evelyn reach over and take Brandon’s hand. The sudden feeling of loneliness surprised her. She was glad the lights were dimmed for she knew that she was wearing her feelings on her sleeve. She blinked her eyes then found that she was looking down at Leewood’s hand. It was only inches from hers. She moved her hand closer to his and a hollow feeling formed in her chest. She looked up to see Leewood’s strong profile facing the screen, but that was not what she saw. Instead, Leewood’s head was turned towards her and he was watching her with a neutral expression.

  She felt the blood rush to her face as she cleared her throat and quickly looked forward. She laughed softly at herself, but loud enough for him to hear. Then she turned back towards him. He was still looking at her. In the semi-darkness a sad smile seemed to form on his face. She gave him a little smile as well, then a shrug, raising her hands palms up as if to say, ”Hey…what do you want?” then looked forward again and tried to focus on the President’s words.

  Out of the c
orner of her eye, she could see he had turned forward as well. She thought he was still wearing that sad smile.

  A moment later, she felt him take her hand. He squeezed it lightly. Her heart skipped a beat then she squeezed back.

  ---

  Woodworth and the rest of the PR team had watched the President’s speech from the capital building. When it concluded, they could only wait and watch…and hope that the one/two punch—the Special on all of the things the Loud had done for them and now the President’s speech—would have the desired effect.

  In the hours that followed, it certainly looked that way—the outpour of offers to help the Loud as well as outrage over what had happened was phenomenal. There was even serious talk by some people in the military about mounting an expedition to go out and hunt the aliens down.

  By that evening, people were lining up at recruitment offices to join the military and for employment applications with companies who had announced that they would be involved with the defensive build up.

  The first flowers appeared at the guarded gate of the listening dome compound a half hour after the President’s speech ended. And then they came all night and the all the next day and the next…the young, the old, the rich, the poor…alone, in small groups and in large…all of them walking…heads down, carrying flowers, gifts and—at night—candles.

  On the third day, an avatar came out of the listening chamber and made its way to the gated entrance. It was Bugs. It went outside the gate and then slowly walked around the giant mounds of flowers and gifts and it looked at each one. Then it said “thank you” to every person that was already there and all those who came. The avatar spent three hours outside the gate.

  Most of the time, during the 200 years before the alien ship was to arrive, Woodworth and the PR team wanted public sentiment and enthusiasm to be at “normal” levels. High levels of sentiment and enthusiasm could not be maintained over long periods time, let alone a 200-year span. However, during crucial periods, the public would need to be keyed up about defending their world, feeling sympathy and friendship towards the Loud, and equal portions of anger and outrage towards the alien for what they had done. Right now, right at the start, was definitely a time for high levels.

  Woodworth and the PR people projected that the overwhelming support and unity they were seeing now would last for about three months. This would fade and be replaced by a “positive” mood that would last among the majority of people for five to eight years. After this, public sentiments would return to and remain more or less at “normal” levels for another five to eight years.

  It looked like the “one-two-punch” they’d put together had worked.

  ---

  The Star Quest had maneuvered to a point a half mile from the mile-high rock sliver that was space Dock One. It was more or less in the center and surrounded by the other four space docks.

  Unlike the others, space Dock One had a large pointed skyscraper-like structure rising from the top. This was Central Control, which controlled and managed all five of the space docks, each handling a single battleship. Central Control would be the first structure to be activated and vented.

  All four were sitting at the access and control stations in the forward science lab. “Okay,” Evelyn said to Brandon, “let’s light them up.” She entered a sixty-four digit code to gain control over the next group of systems, double-checked all the numbers, and then hit Enter. Then she typed in the console command “stations(all):lights(all)=ON” and pressed Enter.

  Like the previous trip, harsh white lights lit up the five yards in stark relief. Both Leewood and Harrington had seen this before, but it still took their breath away. Harrington looked over at the Edens expecting to see awe, wonder, excitement or something along those lines. Instead, she saw only concern and furrowed brows. “Hey, what’s the matter with you two?” she asked.

  They both looked over at her in some confusion, then seeing the look in Leewood’s eyes as he gazed out the view port, Evelyn figured it out. “Oh, you’re overwhelmed…awed by the size of our space docks.” She laughed. “I’m afraid that what we see is a ton of work.” She shrugged. Her gaze drifted over the five blazing rocks. She took a deep breath, smiled and nodded. She took Brandon’s arm, pulling him away from a console he had been studying and pointed at the shipyards, “Look! We’ve come home, honey.” She squeezed his arm.

  Chapter Seventeen – Initiating the War Machine

  “...a mysterious substance called dark matter and, its counterpart, dark energy. What’s going on is simpler and stranger than you think.”

  The Loud Named Bugs

  Opening Speech, 23rd Amular Symposium on Quantum Physics

  Source: The Archive

  The amazing and versatile five-inch metal spheres known as sphere-bots had come home, although they didn’t know it. Sphere-bots had been developed at Hideaway some 50 years ago, and like so many of Hideaway’s off-shoot technologies, they had been brought back to Amular for general public utilization through military channels, which easily hid the true source of the technology.

  First developed to take care of low priority maintenance at Hideaway, they had eventually carried this function and others across the star system. They had become a common fixture in spaceships, space stations and literally everywhere. If it was in outer space, you had the help as well as the company of sphere-bots.

  They were cheap, low maintenance, broad application, self-maintaining AI units that did everything from common maintenance to first aid. They were easy to take apart and fix and normally they did this for themselves. Using rechargeable atomic batteries and solar cell skin, each one was capable of reconfiguring itself into an amazing assortment of functional shapes and tools. Each one had a low level of intelligence, but their strength came from the ability to network and function together in groups, both expanding their functionality and their level of intellect. But, although they could function on their own, normally they became an extension of whatever central AI system was available, further increasing their usefulness.

  They were also, at times, quite comical. When they first appeared, people swore they had individual personalities and were far smarter than believed, even self-aware. People marveled as they communicated with each other and went about their tasks. Undoubtedly their most hilarious and endearing feature was when one-on-one or even in small groups, to reduce traffic on their local networks, they communicated with each other visually and audibly through a rapid series of reconfigurations, which looked riotous, and when done in an atmospheric environment, made musical-like clicks, clanks and toots.

  They could get around in a weightless environment by using small vapor jets, but usually in the artificial gravity of a ship, they flew around on low field magnetic tractor networks installed for this purpose. Otherwise they rolled, bounced, slid and hopped about taking care of the central AI’s bidding.

  When first introduced, people loved them, children adored them, and in no time at all, they had saved enough lives to make the little metal balls heroes in many people’s eyes. Now, after forty years of service, everyone took them completely for granted.

  The first thing the Star Quest did after lighting up the docks was to release exactly 1000 sphere-bots. All of them were slaved to Star Quest’s central AI. Once outside the ship, the small metal balls quickly assembled, separated into work groups, then set out for the Central Control structure a half mile away. The ship’s AI had been carefully instructed by Brandon and Evelyn during the trip out, and Leewood had run diagnostics as well as some virtual testing so the cluster of bots knew exactly where to go and what to do.

  Out of necessity, most of the Hideaway shipyard structures and all the battleships had been left with their reactors up and running at the lowest settings. This was done mainly so the inside could remain pressurized and heated just above freezing. Many of the inside materials, parts and machinery would deteriorate if exposed to the freezing vacuum. Also, monitoring computers needed power to send status reports
to the manned guard station to be monitored by its occupants who knew the status, but not the status of what.

  The Edens, Leewood and Harrington worked at bringing the yards back to life a little bit at a time, carefully monitoring each step.

  The reactors were fine. There were no major hull breaches. Power and hydraulics networks checked out. The main computer…it was running very slow and that would need to be looked at. The communications network was mostly intact. The water and sewer systems…well, they had some problems. System after system was brought up and checked.

  Due to various problems, they left the other space docks at Ready State Five, but they brought space Dock One, the command unit, up to Ready State Three, which meant all the basic systems were in operation except artificial gravity and the systems that depended on that. There was no way to be sure that some heavy object, not secured to the floor, hadn’t shifted position and drifted over something that would break if the object came down on it. That was something that could only be determined by careful manual inspections.

  “Well, not perfect but good enough” Evelyn said.

  Brandon looked at her and winked. “So…let’s go over.”

  Everyone got up. Harrington stretched then casually asked, “So, who’s going to be EVA Leader this time out?” She caught Evelyn’s eye, smiled wickedly and pointed towards Leewood behind his back.

  Evelyn managed to keep a straight face as she said, “Leewood’s probably the best qualified. He’s got the duty.”