Colony (Terran Chronicles Book 3) Page 12

  The Terran limps home, thin wisps of gasses vent into space as fresh sections of armor flake off. The ship’s systems automatically, and methodically, seal off these new hull breaches one by one. The forward section of the ship is buckled and dented and even missing a portion of its nose area. Some of the armor plates are peeled right back, revealing internal decks closed off by the ship’s containment system. The bridge area, having taken a direct hit, is heavily damaged. Where the armor has not been vaporized completely, it is dented and charred.

  Inside the ship, things are far from better. Many of the ship’s crew are dead or seriously injured. Only a lucky few survived the attack unscathed. Some, like Emma, were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. Survivors rally to the mess hall, where a temporary triage has been set up. The medical staff is few and far between. The Terran was not scheduled to go anywhere soon, thus they are ill equipped and unprepared. The ship’s freezers quickly fill with bodies of the dead, those that can be moved, anyway. Throughout the ship, many lay where they died, grotesquely mangled, or worse. The only saving grace is that most of the ship’s crew had yet to board.

  Those at the space station stare in awe through their small portholes, as the beaten Terran slowly enters. A chill runs down the spine of the station’s commander, while others are simply numbed by what they see. The fact that the ship is able to return at all, amazes all who see the carnage.

  Once docked, Joe shuts down all propulsion systems. He then gets to work unsealing the closed off areas with atmosphere still beyond them. It does not take him long, once he finds the lockouts and releases them. Though battered, the ship itself looks worse than it really is. Joe stares at the list of damaged components and ship sections, then sighs once more, we have had worse, almost anyway, either way, a few panels, and she’ll be alright. With that though, Joe packs his laptop, the access key, and the calibration device into his backpack. Patting the console gently, he says to himself, “Goodbye Terran. I am done! Nothing could make me come back here again.”

  Location:

  Outback

  Western Australia

  The very next day finds most of the base staff in attendance of a hastily organized mass funeral service for those that died on the Terran. The service is short, and conducted so swiftly that only a few of the old bridge crew gets a chance to attend. Joe stands with Emma as Andrew’s representatives.

  After the mass funeral service is over, Joe turns to Emma, “So, what are you going to do now?”

  Emma sighs deeply, “Well, I am not going back to that ship... that death ship,” she says, bursting into tears.

  Joe steps close to her, and tries to console her, but she pushes him away. Sobbing, she looks into his eyes, then adds, “It’s not just that. I thought Peter and I had something, and now he has… just disappeared.”

  Joe turns his gaze downward, feeling momentarily awkward, “Yeah, Cindy is the only person I have been able to contact. George, Patrick, heck, everyone else has just vanished.”

  Off in the distance, General Walker observes the proceedings, his jaw tense. Turning to his civilian superior, his voice is filled with anger, “You want me to get George and Patrick back here, to fix the ship.” He glares at the tall, slender Senator, adding, “After we packed them off. And then, to top it off, denied their right to attend this funeral.”

  The Senator responds calmly, “Now, now. None of their friends were denied anything.”

  The General feels a muscle tick in his neck as he restrains himself, “We didn’t even tell them we were having the service!”

  The Senator lifts his eyebrows in a well practiced move. “See! We have an understanding.”

  General Walker gazes around his room once more, holding back a fury that only a man who has lost people in combat could understand. He looks the Senator in the eye, then states firmly, “I won’t do it. You can do your own dirty work, for once.”

  The Senator nods his head passively, then smiles, “Your new orders will arrive soon. Goodbye General.”

  The Senator stoops as he leaves the room, his head barely missing the door frame. Walker stares at the man’s back, seething in anger at the heartlessness, damn, too bad his head missed!

  The next few days are a blur as Joe and Emma, along with the other survivors, are almost grilled in their debriefing of the attack. General Walker is noticeably missing from the series of interviews. The official review finds that when GUS failed, it started a cascade effect throughout the Gamin systems. Joe does not dispute the findings, even though he knows in his heart, that something else must have caused the Gamin systems to reset. Perhaps they reset due to the main drive calibration being interrupted?

  Unable to locate General Walker, Joe leaves his backpack with the Terran’s calibration device, and the access claw outside the General’s office. He leaves the facility on one of the many planes that come and go, without telling anyone where he is going.

  Emma also leaves the Outback base. She plans on taking a break from her work, and doing some exploring of her own. Her itinerary includes some of the most beautiful places on Earth, and coincidently, the most remote.

  The tight knit team from the Terran has all gone their own ways. None plan, or expect, to be boarding the ship ever again.

  Location:

  Kangbashi District

  China

  Wu stands on Jie’s old balcony and stares out numbly across the abandoned city. He is stunned as he realizes the enormity of what Jie has done. Almost every building is gone; massive concrete holes are all that remain where they once rested. KANG, their supercomputer remains, along with the series of buildings that manufacture the gravity plating. He gulps as he notices scraps of paper swirling in the vacant courtyard below him. Jie took everyone, and almost everything.

  Wu gazes off at the deserted residential sector, the outlying farmland, and the military barracks. How did he take it all? Wu stares, bewildered at the site. This is even grander than what I had planned. Well played Jie.

  With little to do, except to blame Jie for everything, Wu gives orders for what is left to be categorized. Sitting in Jie’s old chair, he wonders what he will do next. Tapping the desk with his fingers, he slowly comes up with a new plan.

  By the end of the day, Wu receives some great news, the main drive manufacturing plant is still here! He reads the list of things and finds another pleasant surprise. The sub-light engine plant and the ship’s thruster manufacturing facility also remain. Wu smiles as he realizes that Jie did not have room on his ship for everything after all. We have the core of what we need to make another ship. Jie did take the power plant manufacturing facility, but that is no loss, we have another one of those, right alongside the secondary gravity plating center.

  Wu makes plans to visit these facilities, and to rebuild this city. But this time, under his direct supervision. There will be a Wu dynasty on another planet. I have been taught a valuable lesson in underestimating those below me. With these thoughts in mind, he prepares a report for his father, the President.

  During this time, tensions are high around the world. China continues to deny having any involvement in the attack, and yet cannot ignore the fact that it was their ship and crew. Finally, the Chinese Parliament relents, allowing reporters to visit Kangbashi, as proof of their being hoodwinked.

  Robert McKnight, once again, finds himself reporting events directly to the United States Presidential committee. He travels to Kangbashi, the Australian construction dock, and then even gets a shuttle tour of the damage to the Terran. A rather filtered version of his findings makes its way to the masses.

  Hatred toward the Chinese diminishes, instead, it is directed toward Jie. The world breathes a collective sigh of relief as the threat of a major war is averted. China’s shielded tanks withdraw from their borders, while the obsolete navies belonging to many nations, sail home. Peace has come at a price though, as it usually does. Trade concessions and lifted tariffs all work in favor of China.


  Location:

  Starship Terran

  Space Station Unity

  Earth orbit

  The coalition throws every resource it has into repairing the Terran, while simultaneously preparing the Liberty for launch. Numerous shortcuts are taken, in their efforts to make the Liberty space ready.

  A new Admiral steps onto the bridge of the Terran. The thirty-five year air-force veteran stands with his hands on his hips. He is as tall and fit looking as the soldiers around him, and they are at least twenty years his junior.

  “Admiral on the bridge,” announces one of the soldiers as soon as he notices the new visitor.

  The Admiral scans the room with cold, calculating, grey eyes, “At ease soldier,” he replies without even glancing at the man.

  Dozens of people fill the room. Four soldiers stand alert with weapons ready, watching. A handful of computer technicians, along with welders, and other maintenance men, are still working to repair the shattered view screen. Observing people getting in each other’s way, the Admiral issues his orders with a stern voice, “Cease all work. Guards leave the room.” Getting everyone’s attention, he stares at the motley crew before him, “Who’s in charge?”

  Two men step forward. One wears a collared shirt, the other wears overalls. They look at each other, hesitating.

  The Admiral points to the man in overalls, “I am Admiral Spenser, explain to me what you’re doing.”

  The man wipes his hands on his pant-legs, then responds, “Kevin, here,” he says with a thin smile. He continues on quickly, “We have figured out how to repair the outer hull’s sensors, and have crews in spacesuits working on it right now.” He glances at his collared counterpart, who offers him a supportive smile, then takes over from him.

  “I am senior technician Jeff. You see Admiral, these,” he motions to the wall behind him, “are not really windows at all. The outer hull is made up of billions of sensors that receive data from many spectrums of light and energy, while the inside is actually a pretty ordinary screen, technically speaking.”

  The Admiral nods, “Go on.”

  Jeff gets a little excited, as he always does when working with Gamin technology. He continues on enthusiastically, “Well, not only are the outer hull sensors, data receivers, they are also double as very advanced solar collectors. Thus, even with the ship being unpowered, we can view through the screen to see what’s outside. To the casual observer, it would look just like a window.”

  The Admiral nods once more, motioning for Jeff to continue.

  Jeff’s voice picks up its pace as he adds, “The armor plating between the external sensors and this screen is layered with specialized data transfer pathways, and thus, is not as strong as the rest of the ship. That could be why there is an external armored wall that can be raised to protect the sensors.”

  Spenser frowns, then questions, “Wouldn’t that make the ship blind?”

  Jeff responds even more excitedly, “No, no. We are learning that the ship’s outer hull is riddled with these sensors, just not as many as here on the bridge. The problems we are having are with the Gamin computer interface. We can’t replicate the Gamin computer technology.”

  Spenser takes a deep breath as he listens intently, “Please continue.”

  “Well…” says Jeff hesitantly, “we need to reconnect one or more of these Gamin modules to the screen, but we don’t know which one.” Jeff points to three terminals before him, “The one on the left is an interface to one system, the one in the middle another. But this last one,” he frowns in confusion, then adds while pointing to it, “it looks like it was disconnected on purpose, before the missiles hit the ship.”

  Spenser nods, then says, “So you’re telling me that once you’ve replaced the damaged sensors and the interior screen, you have to connect these Gamin consoles in order to determine what they do?”

  Jeff nods, “Correct. Plus, we hope they’re not damaged.”

  Spenser glances around the seemingly complete room, “So when can you hook them up?”

  Jeff looks at the man in overalls, who shrugs his shoulders then replies, “Couple of days.”

  The Admiral measures the two men, and can find no fault with the work or their efforts, “Very well. If there is anything that would expedite this repair, do it.”

  Spenser begins to tour his new ship, flanked by four well armed guards. He walks straight past George’s old room, oblivious to its existence. Inside the room, away from prying eyes, George’s bodysuit rests against a wall. Though it is disconnected from the power grid, it has two fully charged power modules attached. As if psychic, Spenser ponders what happened to the missing suit. Probably fetched a decent price on the black market to some country. But how did it get off the ship?

  Making his way down, then forward, Spenser comes to the room which houses GUS. He stops one of the busy computer technicians, and asks, “Are you guys repairing this system?”

  The technician replies, “Uh, no. We’re upgrading it.”

  Spenser frowns, “I thought this was a state of the art system.”

  The tech glances back over his shoulder and into the room, “It was when they left, but not anymore.” With enthusiasm he adds, “We’re doubling its computational speed and quadrupling its storage capacity.”

  The Admiral is quite familiar with computer technology and nods in understanding, “Of course! The technical briefs on this ship are all three years old.”

  Glancing into the room, the Admiral is pleased to see a few well armed guards inside, no surprise attacks will happen on my watch, he muses to himself. Nodding again to the technician, he casually dismisses him, “Carry on.”

  Spenser’s next stop is reactor control, where he is met by the sounds of heavy construction. A man wearing a stained and tattered pair of overalls stops the Admiral from entering, “Whoa there. I don’t care who you are, no one goes in there right now.”

  Spenser bristles, then responds firmly, “I am Admiral Spenser, and I can go where-ever the hell I like on my ship!”

  The man smiles, “Well then go ahead, but before you do, you had better call for your replacement,” his smile broadens into a cheeky grin.

  Spenser stares at the disheveled contractor, and demands, “Explain yourself,” he pauses, looks at the man’s name tag, then adds, “Fred.”

  Fred wipes a dirty hand on across his face, leaving a dark oily smudge as he does so. Pointing to the closed doorway, he says, “Some of the reactors had damaged cores, while others were somehow drained of power. The reactor cores should have lasted twenty years or more, but they all need replacing. That’s what’s going on in there.”

  The Admiral frowns again, drained and damaged reactor cores. What on Earth happened to the old crew out there? I had better look over their reports again. Glancing at the grinning fool before him, Spenser responds, “Inform me when the work is complete, Fred.”

  The Admiral continues his walk, this time heading toward the damaged forward area. This time, he comes across one of his own men standing in front of a closed off wall section, “Lieutenant, what is the status of the upgrades?”

  The Lieutenant salutes, then responds efficiently, “The Gamin style power unit is in place. The two rail guns are currently being installed, one on either side of the power unit. ETA thirty-six hours.”

  The Admiral nods in appreciation, and then questions, “And the armor repair?”

  “That Sir, may take some time, perhaps as long as a ten days,” replies the officer.

  The Admiral nods once more, “Good work Lieutenant.” He turns around, then heads to his quarters where he plans to read every report regarding the ship’s journey.

  Location:

  KGB Headquarters

  Minsk, Russia

  The Technoavia Rysachok Petrovich touches down unchallenged, its long flight over. The six veteran soldiers are combat weary, but also excitedly curious why Peter has brought them to Minsk.

  A military jeep comes to a screeching ha
lt at the base of the plane’s stairs. A single flash of Peter’s Red Star, along with a brief discussion, has its usual effect. The jeep accelerates away quickly. Within minutes, a long limousine pulls up, its driver exits, then holds the doors open for them to enter.

  Radclyf cannot stand it any longer and asks, “Okay Peter, where are you taking us?”

  Peter grins broadly, “It’s a surprise.”

  Hayato turns to Chokichi, who simply shrugs his shoulders. Neither man has any idea what Peter is planning.

  The journey to the city center takes a little over thirty minutes, during which time Peter refuses to reveal where they are going. The vehicle does not even slow down for a military checkpoint, its barricade simply lifts at their approach.

  Once the car is through, the driver pulls over and stops. Peter gets out, then leads them all into a nearby building. They pass a checkpoint and its compliment of guards, then walk up a flight of stairs. Another pair of guards open a large door at their approach, allowing them all to enter the spacious room beyond.

  Hayato’s jaw drops, this is the place! Before them, is a long table with dozens of old men seated around it. Heavy drapes adorn large windows, while animal skins cover the floor. Portraits of famous Russians are scattered around the walls.

  Igor stands up, grinning at Peter like a proud father, “Well done, Petrovich. Before we begin, I would also like to inform you that your usual shadow is monitoring the Stantons.”

  Peter grins, “Excellent, he and I have worked together for many years. A very reliable man.”

  Radclyf exchanges a glance with the others, but says nothing. George is being watched by the Russians!

  Igor turns to address all six men, and continues on, “What none of you realize, is that there was a third cave in that valley.” He pauses, glancing at each of the battle scarred men, and in doing so catches their undivided attention. “The gas that was released, sat low to the ground. The prevailing winds spread it across the entire valley, and into this cave system. Malak’s hand has been wiped off the face of the Earth!”