The Legend of Earth (The Human Chronicles Saga -- Book 5) (27 page)

His amusement came from knowing that the Humans had learned too late of the Kracori plans; in fact, this latest maneuver had actually cleared the path even
more
for his small fleet of nine spaceships.

Originally there had been ten ships assigned to the mission, yet when Nunif saw the actions the Humans were taking, he had sent a coded burst-message to the tenth ship ordering them to break off their approach. The other nine ships were already on station and drifting in dark mode just outside the orbital distance of the planet’s moon. They had all arrived from different directions in order to strike at all areas of the planet at once. Number ten had taken the longest route to its station, and therefore had not arrived by the time the Humans had learned of the attack.

Nunif smiled. The fact that the Humans had sent their ships away from the planet meant that they did not know the details of the attack, just that one was imminent. And now there was not a single Human vessel in the space between Nunif’s forces and the planet. There was nothing they could do to stop him.

At the predetermined time, Nunif ordered that the nineteen high-energy neutron and twenty-four traditional hydrogen bombs he had aboard be armed. Even subtracting the weapons in ship number ten from the total, his small fleet still carried within it one-hundred seventy-one neutrons and two-hundred sixteen traditional devices. These were very special weapons, with the neutron devices being the most-powerful of their kind ever built. Coupled with the destructive power of the traditional bombs and the searing radiation from the others, the planet Earth would be turned into a nuclear wasteland … beginning in approximately twenty minutes.

Nunif’s established a shallow well and headed for Earth. The original plan had called for his fleet to use gas jets to slowly drift to the planet’s atmosphere before revealing their presence. It even had an option for conversion to a suicide mission should they be detected prematurely.

But seeing that there were no forces available to oppose them, Nunif opted for revealing his presence now, especially seeing that the Humans were expecting him. Their detection devices on the planet would immediately pick up his gravity signature, along with those of his other eight ships. They would know immediately what was coming and they would be powerless to prevent it.

At precisely the moment Nunif activated the arming computers on his bombs, a small secondary timer – one hidden deep within the maze of electronics of one of the hydrogen weapons – was also brought to life. There was one just like it on each of Nunif’s other ships. The tiny device was very simple, just a timer attached to the bomb’s detonator mechanism. Once activated, the device was independent of all outside signals and power sources – and it would rundown in exactly five minutes….

Chapter 32

 
“Contacts, Admiral! In orbit!” The tech sergeant’s voice was pure panic; he was fully aware of the consequences of his statement.

Keller literally ran up to the station. There were nine very bright and blatant contacts on the screen – gravity signatures – and they appeared to be tracing a leisurely path toward the Earth. They had appeared out of nowhere and well within the planet’s defensive perimeter.

A phone squawked next to him; it was President Sean McLaren, the immediate successor to Danny Ryan, one of Keller’s closest friends. Ryan had been a great president, unfortunately in office during the time of the Juirean attack on the planet. But McLaren was running a very close second to Ryan. He was strong and decisive and incredibly intelligent, and also headed up the Planetary Governing Council that had been put in place right after the Juirean attack. Keller felt sorry for him, as he heard his worried voice on the phone. It looked as though Sean McLaren was destined to be America’s
last
President.

“Yes, sir,” Keller said, answering McLaren’s questions. “They are alien in origin, and we have nothing to stop them with. It looks like they know it, too, because they’re being pretty damn nonchalant with their approach.”

“It would be foolish to ask at this point how they did it,” McLaren said. “What people do survive – and there will be many to rebuild the race – we’ll let them answer that question. I’m just glad there are Humans off the planet and in spaceships who will be safe.”

“We can probably still get you aboard a ship and out of harm’s way, Mr. President.”

“Let’s not even go there, Bill. Let’s instead concentrate on sending everything we have up at these bastards.”

“Already underway, sir. But I really recommend we get you to a safe place. Your leadership will—”

Keller jerked the phone away from his ear as he heard a horrible screech blast from it. Then all the lights in the situation room went out briefly, before emergency backups kicked on. All the screens on the walls were filled with static. Admiral Keller was a high-ranking military officer in the nuclear age; he knew exactly what had happened.

EMP!
Electronic Magnetic Pulse
. The aliens had detonated a nuclear device, more-than-likely a high altitude detonation. Although a fair amount of the Pentagon’s deeper communications and electronics had been hardened against such attacks, Keller also knew that the rest of the country’s infrastructure was not, and that went for most of the world. As the EMP’s from the various explosions spread around the globe, the planet Earth would be cast into a new and literal
dark ages
. Computers, lights, generators, relays, cellphones and so much more would now be useless. And depending on the number of HEMPs, or High-Altitude Electronic Pulse devices the aliens had detonated, that would determine the extent and severity of the damage. And that was just from the EMP.

Chapter 33

RM1 Caleb Cobb had been camped out in the radio shack for almost thirty-six hours. He had napped a little, but adrenalin was now keeping him going. Ever since warning the Earth of the impending attack, there had been a constant stream of incoming and outgoing messages. Sure, there was a four-hour delay, but this type of constant contact made them all feel more attached to their far-distant home.

Caleb queued up the latest message – just a routine update on the latest deployments – and began listening, when suddenly the link went dead. The speaker had been in mid-sentence when it occurred.

Panicked, Caleb quickly ran through his checklist; everything on his end was functioning properly. He replayed the message. Same thing, it just ended abruptly.

Caleb felt a cold shiver rack his body; his breathing grew short and he began to sweat. Vincent Holder, another of the radiomen in the
shack
at the time, had also heard the message and watched Caleb’s frantic efforts to decipher the problem. But when his senior petty officer looked over at him with wild, panicked eyes, Vincent knew what had happened.

Four hours ago, the planet Earth had been destroyed.

Chapter 34

Admiral William Keller walked calmly to the exit of the situation room within the Complex. With all or most of the electronics knocked out, and only dim red light to illuminate the room, he saw no reason to remain.

He led a parade of fourteen other solemn people out into the wide corridor; some were crying, even the men. Other than the sounds of sobbing, no one said a word. In the hallway, they were joined by more people, moving in zombie-like fashion toward the nearest exit. It took ten minutes before they were able to push open the security doors and step outside to join the hundreds of others who had already left the building.

As he stepped into the late autumn sunshine, he noticed that most of people in the vast Pentagon parking lot were staring upward. He followed their gazes.

There, far up in the sky, was a rapidly expanding circle of yellow and blue – the remnants of a nuclear explosion. Keller frowned; there was something strange about the circle. Others of his team noticed it, too.

The explosion was a distant circle, barely more than a dot in the distant sky. Keller knew that EMP detonations were effective at distances of three to four hundred kilometers, well out into space. But then he thought:
why
? Why attack with EMP’s when they had a clear path into the atmosphere, where the deadly heat, concussion and radiation from the explosions would be far more devastating? Electronics could be repaired; a radioactive planet not so easily.

Chapter 35

Xuv had not yet been born when the Klin first arrived on the planet the otherworlders would call
Glasien-4
. Neither were his parents, yet his ancestors of two-back had told the stories. To this day, Xuv and his people still called their world
Giel
, meaning the
Soil of God
. The Klin never called it that, which had always been a point of contention to many Gielians, like Xuv.