Tides of the Continuum 1: Making History (9 page)

-MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM ' BISHOP '

-FILTERING...

-DECRYPTING...

-TRANSLATING...

-DISPLAYING MESSAGE CONTENT:

We will meet your ship

head-on. Be ready for extraction, we will not

wait for you.

-COMPOSING REPLY FROM 'ROOK':

I will be ready. They’ve seen your

test target and fear your power.

When you meet HER, act quickly

to disable her and the ship will be

yours.

13

Aurora was awakened early, an alarm chirping in her room. She dressed as quickly as she could, hefting her compliment of weapons onto her back. “Athena?” she said, as she was leaving her quarters.

“Yes, Aurora?” came the response.

As she entered the nearest maglev, she continued. “I need to be told any pertinent information about the enemy that I haven’t already been told. Do you know what I’ve been told about this Gracchus dude?”

Athena was quick to answer. “Yes, I am aware of all the
material with which you have been informed. I can, however, only repeat to you that which you have been told, because all files regarding him, and his group, are classified. Anything you have been told has been declassified in your specific circumstance. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Would you like me to repeat the information you received?”

Aurora felt only slightly deflated by this information, though it did let her know that Lincoln valued her enough to share top-secret intelligence. She gently declined the offer. Her lift arrived at the nearest outlet to Ops. She stepped out as the doors opened, only to be startled. Six metal men, armed with various weapons of their own now guarded the door to Ops. Athena sensed her hesitation, “Go on, Aurora. I’ll move them aside. They are meant to p
rotect you and the senior staff while you protect the ship.”

Aurora gingerly took a step forward toward the end of the hall. The two guards at the door moved to either side, opening the way for her to pass into the room. Inside the room, the story was much the same. There were no less than ten armed artificial soldiers, positioned around the various stations. Lincoln looked up from his work as she entered, walking ov
er to greet her. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

Aurora answered, “Truthfully, I didn’t get but a few hours. This is the first space battle I’ve ever been invited to and I gotta admit, I’m pretty pumped.”

“Well, “Lincoln began, “You’re in for an exciting show, as long as things go as planned; but then, things rarely, if ever, go as planned when we’re dealing with a battle. We’re almost to the proposed battleground, if you’d like to take a peek, you’re welcome.”

Aurora agreed, “I’d like that. But I don’t see any windows. Wait, didn’t you say this place was near the middle of the ship? How am I supposed to see it if I can’t look outside?”

Lincoln stepped forward, taking Aurora’s hand, and gently lead her into the center of the room. “Oh, come now. Can't you use your imagination? If you can't, I’ll have to use it for you,” he chided.

As Aurora watched, a new wonder unfolded. He tapped a control, and a panoramic image gently fell from the ceiling, as if a sheet of luminous material, which displayed outside images, was lowered in slow motion. The bottom edge had no real boundary but was slightly hazy suggesting that it was non-corporeal in nature. This ‘viewing screen’ filled nearly one-third the room’s circumference. The image was not translucent at all, but showed distinct, high-resolution images.

Lincoln spoke, “Athena, show us our destination, please.”

As he requested, the viewer displayed what appeared to Aurora to be a binary star system. The two stars were small, but very bright, like those in her dream. “Do they have names?” she asked.

“As a matter of fact, they do. But they’re not as exciting as they would be if movie writers had named them. In our database, as well as that of Earth, they’re called 36 Oph A and B. There is a C also but it doesn’t orbit the barycenter.”

“Barycenter?” asked Aurora confused.

“It means the point in space that they both seem to move around,” explained Lincoln. “You see, they don’t orbit each other."
Lincoln tapped some controls on a science console to his side and the image on the main viewer changed. It showed two elliptical orbits with small overlapping areas on the tight sweeping ends of the orbit paths. “As they get closer to each other, they both interact with each other’s gravity fields. They speed up and pass very near to each other. But their speeds overcome the direct pull they both exert and as a result, they fling themselves far out and away, only to be coaxed back again as they lose directional momentum,” Lincoln said.

“That’s just so cool,” said Aurora almost unconsciously. “Binary systems are awesome. It’s too bad there aren’t more of them.”

“They are awesome,” agreed Lincoln. “But the truth is, a little more than half of the closest ten thousand stars to Earth are binary systems. The stranger thing is that our solar system didn’t form as one.”

“Yeah
that I didn’t know.”

“Ironic that we’re choosing this place to meet the enemy,” mumbled Lincoln to himself as he remembered an experience from the years before.

“Are we sure that this is where the bad guys meet us? I mean space is pretty big. They could just change their course angle by an incalculably small fraction and miss us completely,” Aurora said.

“They haven’t changed course yet. Besides, they probably sense us too, and if our profile of Gracchus is correct, he’ll believe he is invincible and try to meet any challenge with which he is faced. He probably already knows we’re coming, but we still have the upper hand,” said Lincoln. He winked as he continued, “Athena, ETA to our destination?”

“I estimate nearly one-hour before we reach 36 Oph. All our troops are ready and in position to be deployed,” reported Athena.

“Will either of the stars cause interference between you and your control over our soldiers?” asked Lincoln.

Athena paused before answering, “I don’t foresee any inconveniences related to the stars.”

“Good,” said Lincoln. “I want you to keep a star between the Legion and the Black Core carrier. Hopefully, it will give us some protection against the gravity field.”

“Understood, Sir,” complied Athena.

“If we keep a star between us and the battle, how will we see what’s happening?” Aurora asked, confused.

“Each of the androids will act as my eyes, giving me a complete view of everything happening on the other side of the star. I can show all this information to you, should you desire.” Athena answered.

“That would be thoughtful, thank you,” said Lincoln. “In the meantime, we have 55 minutes to finish our preparations.”

Aurora watched as the people around her flew into a flurry of activity. Before too long, new shapes appeared on the viewer. Vessels of various sizes traveled in clustered groups and formations. There were hundreds of them There were some which displayed vibrant colors and others that seemed so black that they were almost invisible with the stars as their backdrop. Athena explained that androids piloted the entire fleet. She also noted that it would take several hours for her to decode the enemy’s frequencies.

“Colonel, I believe I’ve identified the Black Core carrier.” Athena announced.

“Show me.” said Lincoln.

Their view changed slightly, zooming in on one particular grouping of craft. They saw one vessel, nearly surrounded by other smaller ships traveling in escort formation. It seemed to hang back from the rest of the fleet. Athena began, “This is the only ship carrying biological life signs. Colonel, it's hailing us, audio transmission only.”

“Well then, let’s talk to them,” mused Lincoln.

They heard a clicking sound
, and then a voice spoke in perfect English. Aurora whispered to nearby Buck, "I was expecting another language."

Buck whispered back, "Athena is translating for us, but she can also mimic other vocal intonations so it sounds like they are speaking."

“This is Gracchus calling the very large vessel. I assume you are connected to Earth Protection Force. I will warn you once: do not interfere or you will suffer consequences. I invite a response.”

Lincoln looked at Aurora, winking, he began, “This is Colonel Lincoln
Smyth. You assumed correctly. We are connected with Earth Protection Force. We are prepared to repulse any attack on planet Earth. I invite a response.”

There was a pause, then another statement. “Our mission will not be thwarted. Your actions are your own choice. We will not be merciful. You have been warned. I invite a response.”

Before Colonel Smyth could respond, Athena interrupted, “Sir, we are under attack! Several of his fighters have broken away and are assuming an offensive formation.”

Lincoln ordered the channel closed. Giving the command to scramble their forces, the Legion moved to a safe distance. From various openings on the ship’s surface, thousands of small crafts, hundreds of larger refueling freighters, and dozens of immense support vessels emerged. Their movements were coordinated and well executed.

Although there were thousands of space vessels, all piloted by EPF androids, each and every one of them moved in perfect formation. A dance of the fighters commenced in complete harmony.

14

Gracchus sat back in his large chair. He watched as his dome shaped viewer showed the swarm’s approach. He hated them, all of them. The entire human race, those still living on and around Earth had earned a special place in his heart as his most bitter enemies. As a young officer, he’d heard the old stories of Earth ostracizing his predecessors. He’d read the reports concerning power struggles written by Alexei Romanov. He'd forged his own way to the top in spite of James Benton.

That name was gone
now. That man died a few years ago in an accident, but from the ashes of that weak and feeble creature, arose Gracchus in a flaming rebirth. He enjoyed comparing his own life with that of the mythical Phoenix. Benton was the older and weaker bird, his once brilliant flames had diminished and begun smoldering as he drew his final breath; his vision dimmed. The life Benton once knew snuffed out in a glorious conflagration, but Gracchus, the child emerged young, and new, and powerful.

Gracchus built his small and improvised fleet in a matter of years, using mostly borrowed equipment and robots, mining his raw materials from the planet he now called his home. It was a giant leap away from Earth, in another spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

As a youth, others teased and mocked him. He was smaller than the others, weaker. His father wasn't much help either. Saddened by the birth of a deformed child, James’s parents had looked into costly and very painful treatments. Physical manipulation of his limbs had indeed made them stronger, but at the cost of a tender heart. James grew to be very violent and mischievous.

As a youth, he inflicted pain in others at every chance, each time feeling that he was somehow stronger, that he had power over them. Again, his parents weren’t very helpful to his developing psyche, rewarding him for retaliating against the other youth. This caused his selfish greed to flare as he received even more incentive for unprovoked attack
s, preying upon his innocent victims.

His mother died when James was twelve, leaving only an overbearing military father and a younger sister in his immediate family. No other cousins, aunts, or uncles lived. The day James’ life changed for the worse was the day his father took the children to a military display.

James had planned to play a prank on his father. He paid one of his few friends to take his little sister hostage. James, pretending to be a hero, planned to negotiate his sister’s release. What happened in reality was very different.

The instant the situation occurred, havoc erupted. Guards swarmed everywhere, all aiming directly at Tavrin’s head. He slumped slightly, hiding his face in Jashelle’s hair. He shouted a demand. “Give me the admissions cash box and a fighter plane
, or she gets it!”

No one moved. The air hung thick with tension. James stepped forward, ready to speak, when a strange question entered his young, twisted mind. What if he didn’t intervene? How would the scene unfold? He was soon to find out. A young man assigned as sentry took aim with his sidearm. The shot did not come from his weapon, however. The report originated from the weapon of Charles Benton, James’
s surviving parent. A small body fell slowly to the ground, mortally wounded by her father for her weakness in allowing herself to be taken so easily.

The young Tavrin looked down at the fallen child in disbelief. It wasn’t supposed to end like that. Another shot sounded, more felt than heard by Tavrin. He lowered his gaze to his own chest, stained with a growing patch of red. He looked unsteadily toward his employer. His view of James’
s smiling face hazed, dimmed, and then went black altogether.

Charles glanced at his remaining child disapprovingly. “I’ve always warned you about choosing proper friends James. Does this finally teach you?”

He turned to leave, to file a report of the occurrence, only to catch a misfired shot from another sentry’s sidearm. Falling heavily to the pavement, his last breath spent cursing the clumsy guard.

Left to fend for himself, James felt only slightly daunted by this failure in planning. Yet it gave him the motivation to be successful, regardless of the costs.

Gracchus visibly shook himself from his reminiscent daydream. He resolved all the more firmly to be strong like his father to the bitter end.

Filled with the anticipation of success, he peered amusedly out at the approaching fighters. They reminded him of a mass of organized creatures, a swarm of flocking insects, all using the same hive mind, a collective intelligence. Gracchus applauded himself for placing a spy within the ranks of his enemy, an ingenious idea. His crew, however, knew nothing of the spy’s history, whereabouts, or even the spy’s name. Most didn’t know of the spy’s existence, save only a few. Gracchus’s reasons were his own; he felt that if he could acquire an informant, so could his enemies.

As the two opposing forces neared each other, the battle was about to begin. The waves of fighters collided. Gracchus watched as his small ships kept Earth
Protection Force busy. His plan was working. As per his orders, a few of his assault vehicles broke away from the squabble, setting their sights on the monstrous Legion looming in the distance. Just before their course was achieved, they became slightly hazy, and then turned altogether a different color! A smile started to grow on his face, beginning under his nose and ending somewhere close to his ears. It was now time for phase two.

Colonel Smyth leaned closer to the viewer in Ops. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. “Athena, did you see that?”

“I am not sure what you mean. Are you referring to the fou
r sloops that just vanished?” she asked.

“Yes,” answered Lincoln, “what happened? Did they disintegrate?” It was very odd indeed.

“As near as I can tell, they are using a kind of material on their hull which, when catalyzed, makes them invisible to my systems." Then Athena paused for a moment, only to route her voice through the Colonel’s comlink. “Sir, may I speak to you in your alcove?”

Lincoln looked to Aurora. “Come with me,” he said as he led her from the main Ops area into a side room, adjacent to it. When the door was closed he sealed it, then turning to Aurora, he continued. “Please, Athena, resume.”

“I believe we may have a traitor on board. I understand this is a big accusation. I am, however, prepared to support my claim.”

“Explain, quickly.” Lincoln ordered.

“Those other ships are most likely headed right for us. That’s why they went invisible, so we couldn’t accurately defend ourselves. I believe my sensor array has been tampered with. I am not yet positive as to who sabotaged us. Whoever they are, they covered their tracks very well. I sense no abnormalities in my mainframe of any kind, yet I am supposed to have no problem detecting chemicals in the vacuum of space, and I cannot sense those small craft. Someone on the Legion wants me blind to this residue after it has been catalyzed.”

Lincoln chewed his lower lip, as he pondered the computer’s statements. He turned from Aurora’s gaze to stare at the door through which he had entered. He asked, “How many people have access to your sensory settings and equipment?”

Lincoln already knew the answered before Athena spoke. “Only those who have top level clearance. They can comfortably be counted on two hands, Colonel.”

A sick feeling came over Lincoln as if a pit had formed in his stomach and was swallowing up his heart. There were indeed only seven people who were allowed access of that level. Four of them were at that moment back on Earth, waiting for the Legion’s safe return. “Can you tell when the damage was done?”

“I can tell you that it happened sometime on Sunday night. This information rules out Jason Claridge, Devon Gray, Greg Ash, and Ray Slate, as they’ve all remained on earth. The remaining suspects include you, Paul Cutler, and Peter Ambrose. I am excluding you because of the way your organs reacted upon seeing the occurrence. Your heart rate jumped ten points, your blood pressure increased by nearly five, your breath quickened, and your eyes began a rapid
scan of the viewing display, all suggesting that you weren’t expecting this to happen.”

Aurora leaned forward locking eyes with Lincoln. "I've always hated these types of plot twists in movies when some loveable character is actually a traitor. It's always tough to figure out who the real bad guy is."

Lincoln's brows knit together as he considered his options. "That can wait. The immediate danger is the invisible fighters."

Aurora shifted in a padded chair, thinking frantically. She looked up and sputtered, “What about their propulsion, can you detect that? Show us a view of the outside.”

A wall screen came alive with flashes of light and trails of fire and energy. Their view zoomed way out then turned off color as other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum were being calculated.

“I might have something. Four field distortions approaching fast on vector one three eight. They correspond with known data on the last location of the assault vehicles.” Athena reported.

“Fire at will,” Lincoln ordered, “Don’t let them reach us intact!”

An artillery placement on the side of the Legion came alive with vibrant colors of energy bolts. Half of the attacking squad was destroyed before the other two cut their engines and disappeared completely. “Sorry, Colonel,” Athena apologized. “I’ve tried extrapolating their locations but they’ve changed their course or speed. I can’t find them until they get closer. If we have time, my proximity detectors may be triggered by any magnetic field they might be dragging, but it isn’t likely that they’ll let us catch them that easily.”

“Good work anyway. You managed to cut the knife in half. The question is where are they going to stab?” asked Lincoln.

“I think they may be trying to board us. They were too small to cause any real threat to our defenses.” Aurora said, wringing her hands.

“Securing all exterior bays,” Athena said, “It’ll take a bigger blow to rupture my doors than those puny craft can deliver.”

The massive hull plating being moved into position was over fifty feet thick, with twelve feet of overlap to affect a proper seal. As the doors grew closer two small optical distortions raced into the ever-shrinking gap. With only seconds left, before the doors made contact with each other, a fiery explosion erupted into the interior of the launching bay. Immediately, an alarm sounded. It could be heard throughout the expanse of the Legion’s decks. “Intruder alert!”