The Black Planet (22 page)

Chapter 46

The new gunships went into full production.  Every second of every minute of every day was cherished on Earth.  The whole world turned its attention to the impending invasion.  New tactics were hurriedly introduced to accommodate the new weapons.  Every tank man and artillery gunner on the planet volunteered as did many naval gunners.  The youth of the World stood forward and volunteered for service.  Millions of men now lived off world and trained daily in a zero gravity.  The huge mountains of rubbish on the Earth were slowly gobbled up.  Many of the dumps the crews salvaged materials from were now large empty craters. 

A large Imperial fleet had caught up with the Albany fleet and was now escorting it towards the great barrier.  As a result the humans now had detailed scans of the fleet, its resources and defences.  A large portion of the ships were troop carriers.  It relieved some of the pressure however none of the ships were defenceless.  The Albany City Ship was a hive of activity as hundreds of cargo vessels arrived and left every day.  It took three months longer than expected to reach the great barrier.  The giant fleet split up and slid through.  On reaching the other side safety they regrouped before two thirds of the fleet began a dash for the Black Planet.

For the first few weeks Steven shadowed the fleet.  Tension was high as they waited to be detected but nothing happened.  He didn’t dare scan the ships but within a few days he began to slip in between the vessels and took high definition pictures.   He then travelled back to the city ship.  When they detected no shields, he did a thorough reconnaissance of the city ship.  With their reconnaissance completed,  they raced at top speed to get ahead of the assault fleet.  He rendezvoused with  Earths Battle Fleet a few weeks before the Albany Battle reached the Black planet.

Chapter 47

Commander John Logan sat in the seat of his fighter in the all-consuming darkness of the freighters hull.  He knew Alfie was just a few meters away to his right but could see nothing of him, his ship or the other members of the squadron.  Now the cold was beginning to bite and he wanted to puke.  They had been inside the freighters hull for hours now and had powered down with the approach of the enemy fleet.  A violent bought of shivering racked his frame but they dare not switch on even their suits heating unit.

The freighter was now abandoned and he knew it would never be recovered.  It had been returned to its exact position on the Black Planet; the grasses so hastily dumped before had been picked up and disposed of.  For weeks, months now teams had been on the planet preparing a surprise for the enemy.  The Burning Wind had also returned to her spot on the planet but was now manned by a human crew apart from the tenacious chief engineer who refused to die, despite having being hit many times by the suns deadly neutrons.

He stood beside the new captain of The Burning Wind and watched as an Albany probe headed straight for them.  He rarely dwelt on his luck, assuming correctly that the heavy gravity of his home world, a colony world, gave his body the density he needed to survive the deadly neutrons of the human’s sun.  His world produced some of the best engineers in the Empire and yet his people were always being ridiculed by the rest of his race for their smaller stature.  For the first time in his life he felt like a giant.  Few humans could reach even his diminutive height and with them he finally began to receive the respect and recognition many from his home world craved.

‘The probe is trying to scan us sir.’ An operator announced.  The captain looked towards his weird looking chief engineer who shook his head.

‘Ignore it and let the ships automatic defences deal with it.  Once they have destroyed it I will bring the ship up to full power sir.’

The captain frowned, ‘won’t they be suspicious?’  

‘No, they will expect it.  The Albany tried to gain access to The Burning Winds access codes on the black-market but they were fed false ones.  Don’t worry about it though.’

‘You mean they will suspect the codes were false?’

‘That’s right sir.  I think you humans have a saying for it.’

‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

The engineer grunted his agreement.  ‘The Burning Wind would have been a great asset to them, it was worth the risk.’

‘The probe is attempting a link sir,’ the same operator reported.  The automatic defences of The Burning Wind swung into operation and blasted the probe from the dark sky.  ‘It’s down sir and the ships following behind have turned away.’

‘You were right,’ grinned the Captain.

‘I have played this game many times sir.  It’s time to bring The Burning Wind up to full power, no one will approach us now.’

The captain agreed, ‘do it.’

The engineer growled out commands to his team and The Burning Wind seemed to spring to life as all of its systems came online.  ‘They will expect the automatic defences to stay alert for six hours before winding down again.’

‘Do you think they will approach again?’

‘Not within that six hour period sir.  If they have more than one set of codes they would return but by then the battle should be over.’

‘Here’s hoping.’

‘You have two thirds of the enemy fleet here, more than we anticipated.  If you can kill all of them then you will be left with even numbers.’

‘Yes apart from a bloody great city ship seventy miles in circumference.’

‘The city ship only has light defences sir.  Enough to take out any amount of those ballistic missiles you humans are so fond of, but those guns will barely scratch The Burning Wind.’

‘No, but formidable enough to destroy landing craft.’

‘That is true sir.  If I was you sir I would worry about this battle and not the one to come.’  

‘You make a good point, let’s do just that.  Do you think they will actually land?’

The chief engineer did something to his tablet and a big screen appeared, he zoomed in on one particular craft.  ‘Do you see the strange shape of this vessel sir?’

‘Yes it seems to have a big hole cut out of it.’

He zoomed in on the side of the ship, ‘those markings on the ship state that it is a hospital ship, immune from harm.  It isn’t though.  Our ships managed to do an in-depth scan of the ship. It is a medical ship, but it’s also a factory ship.’

‘I see it, it’s for making serum, and I have no doubt that its shape will slip right over the top of their facility.’

‘That’s right sir,’ the engineer zoomed in on some strange looking pipes that ran up and down the side of the ship.  ‘Those look like tethers.  You can pass anything you want through them from ship to ship.’

‘Like inline refuelling.’

‘I understand the concept sir and yes that is quite a good analogy.  Only I think they are there to pass the serum from ship to ship.  The structure is on a flat plane of almost a hundred of your Earth miles square.  All ships have the ability to tether together like that.  You could easily land a whole battle group and link them up.’

The captain sat forward, ‘oh my god that is brilliant.  Once the serum is ready you could dose whole squadrons at the same time.’

‘I think that is exactly the reason for this sir.  Time; every minute they live unprotected can cause a death.  I think they will land, link up and then wait for the serum to be made.  Make a batch deliver it.  Transfer to the ships will only take a few minutes.  They move off the next battle group lands, lands, links up.  By the time they have linked up the next batch is ready.’

‘Simple but very effective.’

‘Yes sir and the little accident we staged at the facility door should delay the medical ship landing.’

The captain nodded, ‘which should give more ships a chance of landing.  That was a brilliant idea, whose was it?’

The chief engineer shrugged but his 2ic leaned over, ‘I think it was Admiral Baxter’s sir.  He wanted as many ships in as small a space as possible for their big surprise and thought a small delaying tactic would concentrate them nicely.’

‘It my well work to, I just wish I could see what the hell was happening now.’

Chapter 48

Commander Gee Ran To’ Nach, felt himself swell with pride at his achievements.  His father had set up this base many years before and his sacrifice had helped propel his sons to greater heights.  Somewhere down below his father’s corpse lay with those of his companions.  The bodies would be retrieved with great pomp and ceremony.  The ceremony would be broadcast live as was every step of this adventure.  News crews were already aboard the medical ship and would go in with the first element.

His command ship hung high above the planet.  All of his crew and the leadership element had already been inoculated.  Below there was just enough serum for the invasion fleet which would travel straight to the planet Earth.  They would begin by destroying the planets nuclear capability.  He knew their primitive weapons could not destroy a shielded warship, but he didn’t put it past the disgusting meat eaters to try and irradiate their own planet.  The second part of the plan was to eradicate much of the population and the wildlife.  The third was to effect a landing and gather up as many survivors as they needed to complete their plans and finally they would eradicate every other living thing on the face of the planet.  The creatures in the seas would be harvested at a later day to provide a fertiliser for the great savannahs that they would create.

The city ship was full of agricultural workers ready to go to work on this new planet.  Things would be hard on all of them to begin with due to the Earth’s gravity, but in time they would adapt and future generations would be able to cope much easier and build a natural resistance to this sun’s harmful rays.  He already loathed the meat eaters of this planet.  Like many other species of meat eaters they had been content to sit upon their own world and kill one another.

When he was appointed commander he had been taken to one of the secret facilities that had bred captive humans.  The stink of these animals had shocked him and to make matters worse a special display had been set up for him.  They had let loose a dozen males on half a dozen females.  The males had literally torn each other to shreds with hands and teeth for possession of the females.  Those that had been able after the fight had then forced themselves on the females.  The sight of them fornicating in their own filth had turned his third stomach.  He was happy there was no longer a single animal left alive on his home world.

A subordinate walked up and saluted, ‘sir if I may disturb you?’

‘You have a progress report?’

‘Yes sir.  The medical ship may well be delayed in taking up its position.’

‘Why what has gone wrong?’

‘It would seem one of the scientists craft crashed into the facility.  Our engineers have cleared it away along with all the others but there is damage to the facility.’

The commander felt a chill run through him, ‘has the integrity of the facility been compromised.’

The subordinate looked at his pad, ‘they were able to see inside sir.  The outer door is badly damaged and twisted and will have to be cut away, however they believe the interior door is secure.  Would you like the engineers to return to fix the problem before the medical ship lands?’

‘Did they say if the medical ship could land the way the door is now?’

‘They did sir and they could.’

‘Then send a team of engineers cross deck to the medical ship.  Tell the medical ship as soon as it is safe to do so to land and the fleet as well.’

As soon as the medical ship landed a small shuttle of engineers slid into its docking bay.  The leading battle group began to land and the ships began to connect to each other. 

Another aid approached, ‘if I may disturb you sir?’  He flicked a hand at the aid as he watched the live footage from the medical ship.  The engineers were now beginning to cut through the thick door and he felt the suspense begin to mount within him.’

‘The codes we procured for The Burning Wind failed sir and the ships automatic defences took down our probe.’

‘No surprises there then, were our hails answered?’

‘No sir.’

‘Then the crew must be dead.’

‘We have also found a discrepancy amongst the ships that were reported to be here sir.’

His thick brows knotted, ‘what ships and where?’

‘Two ships belonging to the builder race sir, they are gone.’

He thought it over, ‘wasn’t there another pair of builders ships reported as having passed through the barrier?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Then they probably harvested the ships nano’s themselves and moved on.  Is there any sign of those two ships?’

‘No sir, none.  Those two ships were driven through the great barrier at a point that is known to be heavily infused with neutrons from this sun.  I am surprised any of the crew lived long enough to reach this far.’

‘What is your concern?’

‘That they might have reached Earth sir.’

The commander shook his head thoughtfully, ‘only young ships have been known to take on a second crew.’

‘I checked sir, they were first generation.’

‘Still, the builders are a timid race and the ships reflect their personalities. Humans are meat eaters.  I am sorry, it just doesn’t fit, however we lose nothing by being thorough.’  He turned to one of his operators, ‘patch me through to the chief medical officer.’ 

‘Yes sir.’

A few seconds later a harassed medical officer appeared on screen.  He struggled to straighten his furrowed brow and lowered his head.  ‘Commander you do me honour sir, the engineers are on board now and are assessing the damage to the building, we do believe the seals are intact at this time I will be able to tell you more soon.’

‘Thank you commander Tar, it is an honour to speak to you too; that is not why I called.  I need your expertise on humans.  Operations have discovered we have two builder’s ships missing and two unaccounted for.  There is some concern those ships may have travelled to Earth and found themselves a new crew.  They were first generation ships.’

‘I see commander that is a concern, however humans do not have the type of brains that can interact with a ship built by the builders.  Let me check to make sure.’

He turned to a console and they waited patiently.  Eventually commander Tar turned back to his screen.  ‘It is as I thought.  To link neurologically with the ship, a human captain would have to be able to utilise at least eighty percent of its brain.  We abducted thousands of humans and tested all of them.  We even followed much of their scientific community and tested them.  The nearest was still under sixty percent commander.  Even if there was one human on the whole planet capable of becoming a ship’s captain, how could those ships find that one person on a planet of billions?  I would imagine we will either come across those builders ships floating dead in space somewhere.  It’s more likely they committed suicide on one of the gas giants after harvesting the nano’s from the two ships on this planet.’

‘Thank you commander Tar; that is precisely what I was thinking.  Your knowledge and expertise is beyond approach.’

‘A pleasure to serve commander.  I have just received notification from the engineers.  They have finished cutting away the door, but will have to replace it before we can enter the facility.  They will also have to fill any cracks in the walls before we enter.  They are afraid that a change of pressure within the facility could cause some of the cracks to widen and cause explosive decompression.  The good news is they can reach all of the cracks without us having to lift off again.  It should only take a few hours.’

‘Thank you commander Tar.’  The screen went blank and he turned back to his aid, ‘are you happy with that?’

The officer bowed politely, ‘yes sir my concerns have been assuaged.’

The commander went back to watching the drama unfold below.  The engineers were working in a space about a meter wide and they were having problems.  It wasn’t until they began injecting a white bonding compound into the cracks that the commander could actually see them properly.  A harassed engineering officer took a few minutes to explain to the news crews what they were doing.  On the inside of the door a section of the wall had been cut away to reveal the door opening mechanism.  Men were working detaching the remains of the old door so they could attach a new door that was being made to the exact specifications as the old one.

It was another hour before the completed door was transhipped to the engineers aboard the medical ship.  It took another hour for them to fit it and reseal the whole thing.  By now the cement used on the walls had hardened and they were ready to go.  Again the tension began to mount.  Suited soldiers entered the facility first.  ‘The integrity of the facility is intact,’ a strange voice spoke aloud to the news crew.  His light shone ahead.  ‘Oxygen levels are low but not as low as expected.’  As he went farther in the lights in the facility began to go on.  ‘That’s better,’ the soldier stated as he switched off his torch.  His eyes studied a hand held scanner.  ‘Oxygen levels beginning to rise.  It looks like everything is still in working order.  No sign of anything noxious.’

The camera zoomed in on the soldier’s scanner and they could clearly see the read out and the oxygen levels were rising rapidly.  He used his viewer to look over the fleet.  They had all landed and linked up, now they were just waiting for the serum.  Something was happening now.  The soldiers had taken their masks off.  A ceremonial guard had marched into the complex, it was their task to gather together the bodies of their fallen heroes.  The Commander felt emotion rise inside him.  His own fathers corpse was somewhere inside that facility and his body was to be taken straight to the command carrier.

The camera crew followed the ceremonial guard.  The camera man panned round and they caught sight of the medical teams as they prepared to retrieve the humans from their stasis pods.  The leader of the camera crew gave a nod to some members of his team and three of them broke away to follow the medics.  A second camera was switched on and began broadcasting live.  The commander watched their progress on a second screen as they made their way through the complex.  When they reached the stasis room the lights flickered on.  The first rows of pods gleamed in the artificial light, but as the lights travelled backwards, deeper into the room, the medics realised something was amiss.

‘Where the hell are they all?’  Asked one puzzled.

‘What the hell is that?’  Asked another pointing to some strange objects in the middle of the room.  It wasn’t enough warning.  Before the cameras could swing onto the strange object there was a blinding flash and the screens went dead.

Below on the surface of the planet there wasn’t just one blinding flash of light, or a thousand.  All over the planet, thousands of nuclear weapons were being launched out of canisters made from the black dust.  These had begun to fire a few seconds before the main detonation.  Sensors on the surface came to life and scanned the area above them.  If they detected a craft the weapons were launched.  The missiles locked on to the nearest target and their rockets fired at the same moment as the initial detonation.  It took that Albany fleet completely by surprise.

The commander was thrown out of his chair by massive concussion from below.  Dazed he had no time to get up before another blast rocked his ship.  Every light went out. 

‘Get the shields up,’ someone screamed.

‘I can’t see anything screamed an operator,’ picking himself up from the floor. 

Shock wave after shock wave tossed them around like peas in a can.  As emergency power struggled to light up their controls; five nuclear warheads ploughed into the command carrier; it dissolved into the blinding flash of the detonations.      

As the command carrier blew it took out its unprotected escort.  The electromagnetic pulse’s ripped through the ships of the unprotected fleet.  Those on the ground died first and those above sitting waiting patiently in a tight pattern weren’t far behind.  Smart bombs punched into the middle of their formations and others targeted the ships themselves.  Burning vessels crashed onto the surface of the Black Planet.