Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance (32 page)

“Thank you all for coming,” President Travers said. “Let’s call the meeting to order, and then I’ll make the introductions around the table.”

After everyone had settled down, Travers gestured toward the ambassador from the Philippines. “Everyone on the council has met Ambassador Juan Ramos from the Philippines from our meeting last week. To the Ambassador’s right is Ambassador Timothy Randall from the North American Union, then Ambassador Li Quan from China, and finally Ambassador Yoshimaro Saito from Japan.”

“We have asked the four of you to this emergency meeting to share with each of you the intelligence we have gathered from the Australian attack on the alien pyramid off North Island in Western Australia. Hopefully, with this additional information, you will all be able to coordinate an effective attack on the alien pyramid infesting the waters off Babuyan Island in the northern Philippines. Now, does anyone have any questions before I turn the floor over to Fleet Admiral Brooks for his briefing?”

Seeing no takers, Sir William gestured to Brooks to begin his briefing.

“Thank you, Sir William. If you will all follow along on your in-table monitors, we have put together an after-action report that includes a video re-enactment of the battle from last week. I have built in pauses for my commentary and for any questions you may have. The Australian Navy has reviewed this video, and they have provided several corrections that have since been added to the re-enactment.

“The actual battle began at 0800 Western Australian time with two destroyers,
HMAS Perth
and
HMAS Anzac
, firing four self-guided depleted uranium shells from their six-inch deck guns at the black pyramid. The DU shells were custom-made by the Australians for this specific action, and they were delivered by helicopter that morning, about two hours before the battle started.

“The Australian plan was to damage the pyramid with the DU shells and then hit the pyramid with a tactical nuke to finish it off. If you look at your screens, you will see a depiction of the two destroyers and the missile frigate
HMAS Darwin
about ten nautical miles west of the pyramid. To the east of the pyramid, you will see the depiction of the cruise missile launch site that was set up on the North West Costal Highway several kilometers inland and just north of the small town of Northampton.

“The cruise missile was released just as the attack started and was expected to detonate less than a minute after the DU shells hit the pyramid. I will now play an audio recording of a conversation between Captain White of
HMS Perth
and Admiral Westcott at the Australian naval base in
Perth
describing the action. First you will hear the admiral and then you will hear the Captain’s response:

“Give me a sit rep.”

“We had eight direct hits with the DU shells. The only visible response from the pyramid was an attempt to shoot down our incoming shells with laser fire. Right now, we have visible damage on the western side of the pyramid and the slick around the pyramid is on fire. There was no, I repeat, no secondary explosion indicating that the tactical nuke reached its destination.”

“The cruise missile was shot down by laser fire just as it passed over the coastline. Your orders are to commence firing standard shells at the pyramid as rapidly as you can to try to multiply the damage inflicted by the DU shells.”

“Yes sir,”

When the recording ended, Brooks looked up at the group. “This short exchange provides a wealth of useful tactical information about the pyramids’ defenses. First, the pyramids have shown only laser defenses. Second, the laser defenses are sophisticated enough to try to bring down eight incoming shells from one direction and a cruise missile from the opposite direction. Third, the lasers had no impact on the DU shells, so they are ineffective against heavy inanimate objects. Fourth, the lasers are very effective against any guided missile attack. Finally, the depleted uranium shells were able to penetrate the exterior of the pyramid and do some significant damage.

“We also learned that the pyramid was able to communicate with the main alien ship that was in high-Earth orbit on the opposite side of the globe over South America. We know this, because that ship began an attack run from that orbit shortly after the battle began. Our monitoring indicates that the alien ship took a least-time path directly toward the North Island Pyramid. The Navy attempted to interfere with the alien ship by launching missiles at it from the
Eisenhower
and the
Churchill
as soon as it broke orbit.

“The alien ship launched six volleys of missiles in five-second intervals that overwhelmed our ships’ defenses. Both ships were destroyed. There were no survivors. The missiles that our ships launched at the alien were completely ineffective. They were destroyed by defensive lasers well before they got anywhere near their target.

“When the alien ship reached low-Earth orbit above Western Australia, it launched six salvos of three missiles each at the two Australian destroyers and the one missile frigate. The missile frigate was able to destroy the first two salvos of missiles, but the next four salvos all got through and obliterated the three Australian warships.”

“Here is what we have learned from the follow-up alien attack: First, our Space Navy destroyers are unable to cope with missile attacks from the alien ship. Second, our Space Navy missiles are unable to penetrate the alien ship’s defenses. Third, when attacked, the aliens respond with overwhelming force.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want you all to know that this is very import intelligence, but it is also very expensive intelligence. The Australian Navy lost over eight hundred men and women on those three vessels. The United Space Navy lost over five hundred men and women on those two destroyers.

“Finally, I have been asked to assist your four nations in coordinating an attack on the Babuyan Island pyramid. I will be glad to assist in any way I can with your planning. Sir William, I yield to the floor for questions.”

“The chair recognizes a question from Ambassador Randall,” President Travers said.

“Thank you for your very succinct analysis of the attack on the North Island pyramid,” Ambassador Randall said. “The North American Union wishes to pass its condolences to the families of those lost in the battle.”

Brooks nodded in acceptance.

“Now, I have a few questions regarding our subsequent attack on the Babuyan Island pyramid. First of all, do you think the aliens will allow a second surface attack from naval vessels or will they learn from the first attack and keep the waters around all of the other pyramids clear of any ships?”

“The Brazilian navy has had a ring of ships around the Amazon Delta pyramid since shortly after it landed last week, and these ships have not been attacked,” Brooks said. “However, that does not mean that the aliens will allow any surface ships to approach the pyramids in the future or that they will continue to allow the Brazilian ships to remain in place. We just don’t know at this point. One of your surface ships could test the aliens’ learning capability by approaching one of the pyramids to see what reaction this causes. However, in planning your attack, I would include contingencies where no surface ships are allowed in the vicinity.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” Randall said. “At the moment, I see two alternatives to attacking without depending upon guided missiles or surface battleships. I would like your opinion on a possible attack by submarine or by ballistic missile like one of our ICBMs or one of China’s ICBMs.”

“Submarine warfare is completely out of my theatre of expertise,” Brooks replied. “I’m sure the laser defenses would be completely helpless against a torpedo, but I have no idea how much damage a torpedo could do to one of the pyramids. They are all offshore but in relatively shallow water. You might even be able to get a submarine in shooting distance of its deck-mounted gun before the aliens could respond. However, I think you would have to get your submarine experts involved in any further discussions.

“Regarding missiles of a ballistic nature, they might be successful if they can reach their target before the alien ship intercepts them. I’m sure the pyramids’ laser defenses would be ineffective in stopping an ICBM. The problem with ICBMs is that they take about thirty minutes to reach their target. I think a short-range or tactical-range ballistic missile would be a better choice with launch to arrival times in the ten- to fifteen-minute range but still within reach from China. That would give the aliens much less time to react to a launch.”

“Excuse me,” Chinese Ambassador Li Quan said. “What do you think will happen to the launch sites once the alien vessel reaches the battle theatre?”

“My guess is that the aliens could track the missile back to the launch site and that you could expect a lethal response on that site shortly after their arrival,” Brooks replied. “My suggestion would be to leave the mobile launch equipment at the launch site and remove all personnel by helicopter immediately after the launch. I also recommend that you pick a launch site well away from any densely populated areas. Of course, this is all speculation on my part, but I hope it is helpful.”

“Thank you Admiral,” Li Quan replied. “Your insights are very much appreciated. I believe we can now put together a meeting of our countries’ military personnel to formulate a comprehensive attack strategy. None of us can afford to let those pyramids keep polluting our fishing waters. We might all starve before long.”

“I am now completely sure that that is their intention,” Admiral Brooks observed.

It was exactly one week since the Council of Eight meeting with the various countries’ ambassadors. The plan that China, Japan, and the NAU had devised was comprehensive but still very simple in its approach. A diversionary attack on the Galapagos Islands pyramid would draw the attention of the alien ship while the real attack came in the Philippines.

The NAU would launch an intermediate-range Trident III nuclear missile from a submarine stationed out of Hawaii but 1,000 nautical miles closer to the Galapagos Islands. This should draw the attention of the aliens, but if it didn’t, then perhaps they would destroy that pyramid. In any case, the environment had been completely destroyed already by the aliens, so the only difficult task was evacuating the islands before the strike.

As soon as the alien ship was committed to defending the San Cristobal pyramid, the USpN would signal China to begin the attack on the Babuyan Island pyramid. Three Chinese submarines would launch torpedoes at the pyramid from three different directions and then dive to their maximum depth and head away from the island at their maximum speed to avoid the consequences of the ballistic missile.

From just south of the Mongolian border, China would launch one of its Dongfeng 61 missiles with a single 1,000-kiloton warhead from its mobile launch vehicle. Then the members of the launch team would be ferried by helicopter to a hastily built bunker 100 kilometers to the south of the launch.

The key to the success of this mission was starting the first attack after the alien ship had passed over the Philippines but before it reached the longitude of the Hawaiian Islands. That way it would pick up on the initial submarine launch quickly and commit itself fully to defending the San Cristobal pyramid.

The master chronicler received the signal from planetary re-engineering module one just after releasing the replacement for module four and after checking the status of module five. The alert indicated an inbound missile from the northwest with a point of origin somewhere in the middle of the large ocean.

“Take out that missile heading for module one and backtrack the missile trajectory to find its point of origin. Master navigator, I want to be over the point of origin as quickly as possible. We need to understand how the locals can launch a missile from the middle of the ocean. There must be some kind of ship in that area.”

With the size of their interstellar scout ship, no one on the bridge felt the release of the counter missile, but the master chronicler tracked the missile all the way to its intercept. These locals were still proving to be a nuisance, and something was going to have to be done about that.

“We are on a course for the missile’s point of origin,” the master navigator said as they headed deep into the planet’s gravity well once again. “I do not detect any ship on the ocean’s surface at the point of origin.”

“Very well then. They must have ships that can travel below the water’s surface Release a missile that will concuss the water at the point of origin, and perhaps we can force them back to the surface, at which point we will destroy them.”

Just then, they received a warning from module five. It was another incoming missile, approaching from the northwest. They were already on a steep dive toward the first missile launcher and would not be able to get to module five before the missile struck.

“The first attack was a decoy!” the master chronicler shouted. “Abort the course for the first missile launch, and bring the ship around on a least-time course to module five. We must see what kind of damage they have done to that module by the time we get there.”