Evolution's Essence (14 page)

Grand Admiral Nathan of Earth, the highly
decorated military advisor asked “Has it been field tested? Has the
weight been compensated for?”

“
Yes. I personally did it.”
Oliver nodded. “It consumes ten times the power, but I set up
relays to distribute weight with the gravimetric strips. Since most
who have the Solarian therapy will become Class Twelve in time,
it’ll take a week to fully charge if the power containment field is
depleted. I’ve calibrated it to react near identically to the
standard issue from holo-vids I’ve watched. You can use the shield
systems if you want, but I doubt it’ll be needed unless there is a
hull breach. There is minimal chance because you may not see it,
but after I moved a few moons on IC-99-VCX I telekinetically threw
it literally through an entire moon and as you can see, it came out
the other end with
out
a scratch.” The group was stunned again. “If you fight and
want to preserve power it makes for an effective battering ram. The
dampeners have been modified for collisions at extreme speeds. You
could give a Goliath the world’s worst enema and likely feel little
more than a shake.” This imagery made the group lighten up and
chuckle. “I’ve quadruple checked it meets military specifications
and merely incorporated a hyperdrive into the sublight engines for
proof of concept. The hull may be paper thin, but it went
through
a frozen moon with
an iron core.”

“
One way to find out about
durability. Everyone step back.” The Emperor said and they did as
he drew his katana. Both hands gripped the emerald sparkling blade,
lifted overhead and he brought it down over the nose with all he
could muster. No sparks flew, but metal clanged and the blade
rebounded. Emperor Coleson was startled, as were everyone else.
“That’s never happened to me before.” Rather than using the natural
blade, he infused power till the edge turned blue and he swiped,
unleashing a slicing wave that broke apart as soon as it met the
fighter. “I want five billion fighters exactly like this.” He
wasn’t joking. “Name your price, Mrs. Menann.” He was dead serious.
“This tech will finally let us have a fighting chance and minimize
loss of life.”

“
The fighter is a gift,
Emperor. Have your engineers take a look. I plan to loan my Gravity
Forge for a million credits a month though.”

“
Done. What is the
turnaround for one Gravity Forge to produce a fighter?”

“
Two days roughly. Each
piece is compressed separately and must be done in vacuum mainly
for heat dispersal.” She said.

“
Send me the schematics and
I’ll pay you your proposed million a month for each loaned forge.
You will hold all patients and royalties.”

“
Sir, we’ve yet to have our
pilot test it.” The Grand Admiral reminded.

“
This Gravity Forge can be
applied to put up an outer hull for our ships, Admiral. I’ve never
had anything block my blade.
Never
. By a defensive standpoint alone
we can save shield power and
let
them hammer us. We can also make blades to shred
an enemy. All the mass of sheets of steel thrown like a Frisbee
will cut any surface almost as well as my own sword. Even if we
can’t create a fighter with a better power to weight ratio, this
could save many more lives.” He turned to meet Jessica’s
hazel-green eyes. “Mrs. Menann, I take it you also planned to lease
us that prototype.”

“
You beat me to the punch.”
She smiled.

“
Good, I want to test it as
soon as the pilot gives a report. Corporal, you’re up.”

The Marine saluted and raised the hatch to
climb in. He adjusted the seat forward since Oliver and Stone was
so much taller. He looked around to say “Near similar configuration
I fly with, Sir!”

“
Take her for a spin,
Son.”

The hatch closed, sealed and the man started
the near silent engines. Everyone backed away moments before
landing gear lifted and slowly put the fighter through its paces.
The Admiral tapped his ear. “What is it like, Soldier?” there was a
pause. “Good. Push it to the extremes.” A blast of plasma shot from
the rear, sending it forward fast. The pilot was certainly one of
the best and a challenge burned in Oliver. “Er, Sir, what are you
doing?”

“
Going to harass him and
start a dog fight. He won’t be able to keep up with my Flare, but
it’ll be practical as a test. I’ll send images so you can follow
along.” Oliver didn’t wait for permission as he disengaged the ring
of Sun Spots and Nova climbed in as always. In moments he overtook
the pilot, careful to avoid the fliers circling, to say “Let’s
reach space and do a simulation.”

“
What’s the objective, Elder
Void?”

“
Try to keep up. I’m going
to push your limits so aside from simulated fire you need to take
me down and I’m going to do the same.”

“
Roger. I’m on your six.”
Together they left the atmosphere. Below, the rest of the Pride
surrounded Renee while he was so far away.

Leaving the atmosphere was a simple matter,
but then the full impact of the imperial ship Gaia was revealed.
Seemingly taking a slow orbit was the great ship pattered much like
the one on the ground, but it had six massive wings with thousands
of rotatable cannons to deal damage no matter the angle. It made
the Dorgenox seem diminutive. It could hold hundreds of thousands
of personnel and their families. Great docking platforms had a thin
blue film from photon shields keeping air from being sucked into
the airless void of space. All around it was spiraling fighters and
cutter class spaceships forming a perimeter in the event plans go
awry and the enemy comes unexpectedly. The only thing is that the
great ship wasn’t painted like the miniature version on the ground.
It was far too large to coat the wooden ship.

Outside the perimeter were warships who came
to the call he commanded. More were still on the way to fight.
These warships were easy to distinguish. No two were alike and were
made more robust and tough. Made of metal and belonged to Marines
and privateers with jobs more hazardous than most.

Connected as he was with Nova, after
establishing a link he saw through the eyes of the one Renee called
Snowball, the biggest female, that Jessica’s tablet threw up a
holo-vid and expanded it and everyone who was solely focused on the
test.

“
Engaging in Three. Two.
One. Start.” Oliver forewarned.

Owning up to the namesake, the Flare’s
engines shot in a circle, creating a disc of brilliant plasma,
flipping around and using his thumb to press down on the bright red
trigger, firing a simulated cannon blast. Oliver was glad for his
technical prowess because although his ship was larger to
accommodate Nova’s bulk and have added accommodations, it still
handled exactly the same at a price for power he easily could
sacrifice. The pilot shot aside, barely missing being hit and
proved his skills by returning fire at a difficult angle. The Flare
rotated in a loop, outmaneuvering all known ships to humanity,
never passing past prototype phase due to pilot sickness because of
speed the human mind couldn’t keep up with without disorientation.
He slammed a foot on the accelerator petal and came up from
behind.

Targeting systems warned the Marine ace pilot
was hit, but suffered no damage though the engines were hit and he
pulled on the stick between his legs, the nose thrusters flipped
him backwards and the rear ports on top flipped him a hundred and
eighty degrees to fire blindly, expecting the golden ship to
continue aiming for his sublight engines. Oliver wasn’t there. He
was already firing for the cockpit right above, somehow knowing
what the Corporal planned. A powerful blue shield covered the
cockpit, taking the blow that didn’t happen from large cannons.
Changing tactics the Marine hit the accelerator and flew directly
in sunlight, trying to blind the pursuer using stellar light, but
Oliver beat him to the punch and hit him a dozen more times in
different areas by using more powerful engines. Anticipating the
Solarian was impossible because he was too damn fast and smart to
get caught in a trap. Amazingly though the ship’s hull readings
falsely showed mild shocks from each blast, but not a scratch would
have been made.

Twenty minutes passed before the pilot came
out from behind the moon saying. “I’m finished testing its
limits.”

Back on the ground thirty minutes later Grand
Admiral Nathan waited for the man to exit the cockpit and ordered
“Report.”

The Corporal touched the collar of his flight
suit to make the helmet plates retract and show his face. Everyone
looked at him to hear his expert opinion. “Sir, had I not tested
this personally, I will swear on my own life I could feel no
difference in a standard fighter that’s been in use for the past
decade. The power consumption is a drawback and so is the clear
cockpit lid. The lid is the only exploitable weakness that can be
remedied if it too was made like the hull. After we finished
simulation fire. As I’m sure you witnessed, when I exited the
fighter in space and used Elder Void’s wing to be stable, it
withstood a pinpoint cannon blast that would have ripped standard
shields apart and shredded the ship thereafter. I recommend this be
the new replacement for our men. The significant output needs to be
watched closely, but I’ve never felt safer in my whole life except
strapped in. Even momentum dampeners were working properly. I
didn’t feel any weight shifts.”

“
I want a full report on my
desk by this time tomorrow. Dismissed.” The Admiral got a salute
and the man made a direct path to the imperial yacht to get
started. “Emperor, the only issue I may have is it’s near
indestructibility. If a pilot goes rogue or someone steals one and
tries duplicating, how can we stop them?”

“
Good question.
Well?”

Oliver hopped out after landing and leaned
over on his ship to say “Figure that out yourselves, but remember
that the ship isn’t held together by welding or some adhesive. It’s
held together by its own pressure of each plate building on each
other.”

To prove it his hair began to float up rather
than sway in the heated breeze. It didn’t turn color though. Before
their eyes the polished silver fighter exploded into thousands of
individual pieces. Only the engine was spared disassembly. Jaws
dropped for none had ever seen someone so effortlessly and so fast
do the like. And as fast as it was dissembled, it was put back all
in under a minute. Good as new. “See? It’s a completed puzzle. Tear
it down because blasting will do no good if someone uses it for
ill.”

Amanda Lockwell caught it all on camera and
it would later become one of the most viewed clips of all time and
become part of telekinetic curriculum.

“
That was pretty
interesting, Brother.” Elder Scythe slapped his back, hitting the
hidden shield under the cape.

The Emperor approached Jessica, speaking over
his shoulder. “Admiral, put both the fighter and the Gravity Forge
in the cargo hold of my ship and let the analysts’ get started… and
make sure they first look at the compact hyperdrive’s FTL function.
That will be their topmost priority. We need that speed advancement
for faster response and Booster Oil efficiency.” There followed a
‘Yes, Sir!’ and movement to pursue the command. “Mrs. Menann, look
forward to the credits. Your idea will save our people many lives
in deep space and at home.”

“
I already appreciate the
advance.” Jessica glowed, already foaming at the mouth after the
bargain was struck before Oliver and the test pilot even landed.
The Emperor’s aid already allocated a million credits to her
account for taking charge of the Forge. The ship being flown around
to land in the cruiser/yacht was a gift as promised.

They shook hands to seal the bargain and
future promise.

“
Well now that that is over
I can give you all some news.” All eyes were on the leader of a
people. “When I returned to my ship I summoned my advisors to
explain what occurred yesterday with Archiver Tammat. I expected a
fervent denial for change, but aside from minor disagreements on
how we’ll deal with our foremost citizens being sacrificed if they
come to a similar conclusion we aren’t ready to know certain
secrets, the five monarch system, three hundred laws were
unanimously deemed an adequate tradeoff for a chance we never were
offered before yesterday. It will take some time to iron out the
details and how to effectively spin the changes in favor. Likely a
year to get it all ironed out. Many won’t like the change, but I
must admit that my lawyers have studied the three hundred laws up
and down and cannot find many loopholes. The translations you
helped us make were invaluable.” This part was to Oliver scratching
a furry chin of the male Renee dubbed Flurry. “But we’ve got to
come up with a plan of action on the assault. We’ve got ten days to
come up with contingencies. Oliver, your tactical mind would
greatly be of aid. You seem to be able to predict future outcomes.
As was proven in the half hour you two fought recently.”

“
Nope. I’ve got more
important matters to deal with. This is your show. If you want to
know what I’d do I’d teleport over right now and vaporize the
entire dreadnaught. It would be a simple matter for me and I’d be
back in a few minutes. Is that what you want?” it was rhetorical
and smug.

Eyes all around narrowed except by Renee and
Sparky laughing softly. The Emperor calmly said “Much as I would
love to see you in action, sadly I must request you withhold that
option unless we get in a dire situation. Since you seem rather
preoccupied I’ll let you be dismissed, but later this evening may I
request you and I sit together and swap stories over a drink?”