Second Earth (16 page)

  
“Computer, access
Project Windstorm and display visual contents.”

  
The logo of Sector
Command, the great angular blue bird with downswept wings, briefly appeared and
rotated in the space above the table, then instantly dissolved and was replaced
by a small, tapered cylinder. It rotated about its three axes with the words
“Project Windstorm” floating above it. Shawn tapped at the controls once again
and the holographic tube separated in four nearly equal parts, each labeled as
a different component. From fore to aft the device was labeled “warhead,”
“sensor suite,” “intermix assembly,” and “propulsion module.” He stood back,
then reached out and touched the label for the warhead. This caused the
computer simulation to again bisect the tip of the projectile into even more
components. The computer began to read the contents of a stored text file.
  
“Displayed is the warhead of the
Windstorm particle torpedo. Encased in Tireirim, the Epsilon-6 of the warhead
should withstand temperatures in excess of one thousand five hundred Kelvin.
This will be sufficient to enter the atmosphere of any planetary body known to
exist.”

  
The animation
panned out to show a very Earthlike planet, with a Sector Command cruiser in
high orbit. The simulated cruiser fired the missile, which streaked away from
the ship and headed directly toward the planet, the upper corner of the screen
displaying countdown and altitude data. When the countdown reached zero, and
the device had leveled off at an altitude of one mile, the simulated torpedo
was detonated.

  
The shock wave from
the device was immediate. It spread across a small section of the simulated
world like a hell-born cancer, destroying every living thing in its path.

  
“Maximum initial
impact zone is projected at less than one mile, with an overall blast shockwave
radius of five miles,” the computerized voice stated during the animation.

  
The beautiful green
northern continent of the world was awash in a red glow as a second counter,
reading “Enemies Eliminated” rose with breathtaking speed, easily surpassing
hundreds of thousands in the first few seconds after detonation. Fifteen
seconds after primary detonation, the glowing red shockwave began to slow. With
that, the computer began its audio playback once more.

  
“When the
prevailing winds take hold, the remaining Epsilon-6 isotopes in the upper and
lower atmospheres will begin to shift and fall along a precalculated
trajectory, based on the programmed data and in-depth dimensional scans of the
target body.”

  
The red glow began
to move counterclockwise to the rotation of the planet, soon giving the small
body an eerie red belt of destruction at its equator. It spread slowly toward
the poles, making it nearly halfway between them and the equator before it
slowed to a stop. The number of eliminated enemies began to rise again, this
time surpassing tens of millions.

  
“The simulated
world represented here characterizes the average-sized life-supporting spatial
body in this sector. To assure maximum efficiency against such a body, no fewer
than two weapons should be deployed to guarantee the utmost coverage.” Once the
computer had finished speaking, the decimated planet and the simulated USC
cruiser dissolved from the screen to be replaced by the Sector Command eagle
once more.

  
“Ready for query,”
the
Rhea
’s computer voice chimed in.

  
“My God,” Melissa
said under her breath. “To think that we could have designed something like
that.”

  
Shawn sat in silent
contemplation for a moment before he began inputting commands using the
holographic keypad once more.

  
“What are you doing
now?” she asked.

  
“Well, in the first
video we watched, your father said that his mission was twofold: to search for
the weapon research information and
then
to discover a way to subvert it. He also said he met with partial success. I
want to find out if he found a way of disabling the device.”

  
After searching
through the data, Shawn stumbled across a folder with several other dimensional
animations in it. He ordered the computer to bring it up on the holotable.

  
Above the table,
the image of a modified shipboard pulse cannon came into view. Its circular
base was capped with a familiar rectangular field coil housing, common to most
long-range shipboard weapons, with its three large-bore barrels pointing out
from within. However, instead of the field coil cover being a smooth, flat
shape, this one had an unusual type of secondary device placed on top of it,
roughly the same size as the cover and with a green central glow. The
computerized voice noted that this was a proposed upgrade to the standard
shipboard batteries, and that this new weapon would have nearly twice the range
as standard cannons. The words “seventy-five percent success rate’” glowed in
red under the image of the cannon.

  
Shawn brought up
the next animation, which was a similarly modified shield generator, purported
to give nearly three times the protective power as the current defensive
systems. Yet another animation was a diagram of a radical new sensor palette
design, and the plans for a new breed of supercomputer that would be used to coordinate
all these new systems.

  
“What does it all
mean?” Melissa asked as she watched the diagram of the nearly room-sized
mainframe spin on its axis, the words “fifty-two percent success rate” spinning
slowly below it.

  
“These look like
prototype systems that were designed to destroy or negate the effects of the
Windstorm torpedo. Based on their individual success rates, I’d say they were
less than effective at stopping the device.”

  
“What if we were to
use all these systems in conjunction with one another?”

  
Shawn entered the
information into the computer, and the results came back more quickly than he
had expected. “Whoever designed these systems thought of that already.” He
pressed the key and small images of each of the prototype devices came into
view. They oriented themselves accordingly, and then they became attached to
one another by a series of power conduits and waveguides. The words “eighty-one
percent effective” flashed on the screen.

  
“This may be what
your father meant when he said he’d found the last piece of the puzzle on
Corvan. This series of countermeasures would have to be one hundred percent
effective in order to stop a device like the Windstorm from reaching the
planet’s surface.”

  
“But this is all
shipboard-based equipment. I mean, you’d need several ships operating in tandem
to coordinate a defensive maneuver like that.”

  
“It would seem so,”
Shawn said with a nod as he looked over the spinning schematics before him.
“And those ships would have to be completely dedicated to destroying that
weapon. They’d be wide open for an outside attack.”

  
“So we’d have to
commit even more forces to protect them.”

  
“Exactly.”

  
Melissa’s shoulders
slumped and she exhaled deeply. “It’s all just theory, anyway. If any of these
prototype systems even existed, they would have been on Second Earth for
testing. So either they were destroyed by the initial orbital attack, the
Epsilon-6 detonation, or they were brought up to the
Valley Forge
and destroyed there.”

  
Shawn nodded. “My
money is on them being aboard the
Valley
Forge
. That
had
to be what they
were ordered to retrieve.”

  
“And now they’re
gone…and all we’ve got are some blueprints and a few equations…and no Windstorm
device at all.”

  
“Unless—and I think
this may be the case—one may exist on Corvan. Or, at least, a way to build one.
Your father did say he was traveling between there and Second Earth quite
often. We should consider that he found something on his last expedition.” Shawn
rubbed at the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on. “All things
considered, we’ve got a pretty thin theory as to what’s been going on around
here.”

  
“
Very
thin,” she agreed. “But it all
fits, and that can’t be ignored.”

  
Shawn folded his
arms across his chest and studied the diagram of the shipboard cannon for
another moment before speaking. “I don’t want to say what I’m about to say.”

  
She smiled and
stepped closer to his side. “I’d feel better if you said it, because I really
don’t feel like saying it myself, let alone doing it.”

  
He nodded, put his
hands into his pockets, and swiveled his head to face hers. “We’ve got to tell
Dick.”

  
She mirrored his
gestures. “Yep. And he’ll call us crazy. You know that, don’t you?”

  
“Yeah,” Shawn
shrugged, then turned back to the image of the weapon system. “And I’d half
believe him.”

  
Melissa stepped
over to the computer terminal and withdrew the gold computer disk. She wrapped
it in the black pouch in which she’d found it and placed it back inside the
wall-mounted safe. She then pulled out a small scrap of paper from her desk and
jotted down a series of numbers before handing it to Shawn.

  
“The combination?”
he asked in surprise. “I thought these safes were biometric.”

  
Melissa went to her
desk and withdrew a small, magnetic keypad and likewise handed it gingerly to
the commander. “I trust you. Besides, you were wondering when I was going to
share my toys with you.”

  
He smiled as he
examined the device. “All things considered, even though I now have access to
everything
in
your cabin, I won’t be
able to get to the safe if your front door is locked.”

  
She reached into
her pocket and withdrew an access card. She handed it to him, trying hard not
to blush. “I…umm…already thought of that.”

  
“You made a
duplicate access card?”

  
Melissa nodded. “An
exact duplicate.”

  
“You realize that
this gives me access to everything your clearance entitles you to.”

  
“Uh-huh.”

  
As she stepped
closer to him he lowered his voice. “And what if I’m a spy? What if all I’ve
been trying to do is get into your…access?”

  
She held the card
edge lightly against his breast bone. “Then I’m going to kill you, and make
sure no one ever finds the body.”

  
While her tone was
playful, something told Shawn that she meant every word of what she was saying.
He reached out for the card, purposely brushing against her fingers as he
slipped it from her soft grasp. “I’ll be sure to knock first if I ever have to
use this,” he whispered.

  
Melissa could feel
her pulse rate begin to climb as their bodies threatened to touch. “I…I don’t
think that will be—”

  
Whatever she was
about to say was cut off by the ship’s general alarm blaring through every
corner of the vessel.

  
“Attention! All
hands, attention! This is not a drill.”

  
Shawn instantly
recognized the voice of the
Rhea
’s
operations officer, Commander Caitlin Hayes. He’d had an unfortunate run-in
with her, leading to an awkward first meeting in the officers’ wardroom several
days ago. He only hoped that she’d been able to get the spaghetti stains out of
her uniform since then.

  
“Unknown vessel
entering the sector,” her announcement continued. “Repeat, unknown vessel
entering the sector. All hands to battle stations! Repeat, all hands to battle
stations! This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill. All gun crews
report to your stations. Medical department stand by on decks five, seven, and
ten. All flight crews prepare for immediate launch. Repeat, all flight crews
prepare for immediate launch.”

  
“Get to the combat
information center,” Shawn said, placing his hands on Melissa’s tightly. “It’s
the safest place on the ship, and Krif is going to need his best intelligence
officer at his side.”

  
“What about you?”
she asked worriedly.

  
Shawn offered his best
cocky smirk. “You heard the lady. I need to get suited up and prepare for
takeoff.”

  
A look of
puzzlement crossed her face. “Are you qualified for combat flying yet?”

  
“No, not exactly,
but I’m certified in everything else. My squadron’s going to need me,
regardless.”

  
They turned toward
the door and, as it opened, Melissa pivoted quickly, grabbing Shawn and
spinning him on his heels with surprising ease. She reached behind his head and
brought his lips to hers. He placed his arms around her just as she pulled her
head back from his and looked into his deep blue eyes.