Earth II - Emergence, Page 2

  Responsible to him? Joan asked.

  Not in a leadership role as you’re familiar with the term. Within our units, I still have the mundane tasks of modifications, scheduling, and programming upgrades. I installed alien processor material in Beta-Zero. I know that might be a risk if I’m not there to develop the interface, but I don’t feel that I have the luxury of waiting. Eventually, we might flow small portions of the material to each of the Beta-Prime units to enhance communication between them and their ship’s captain. As this organizational structure evolves, they are still operating under programmed instruction sets.

  SIMPOC you realize that as we create more Beta Units with you organizing them, calling each of them Beta is going to get a little confusing. Joan pointed out. I think we need to come up with a better naming system.

  SIMPOC paused for a second before passing his thoughts back through the alien material; I’m not sure why it’s confusing, I have no problem differentiating them.

  Trust me; it won’t work. Said Joan.

  I will devise a naming convention that is more suitable for humans. SIMPOC said.

  Okay, Joan said with a reluctant sigh, then she turned her attention to Shappel.

  “Doc, I guess it’s time to pass all this to Earth,” Joan said.

  “The Communications gear is all functional, go ahead,” said Shappel.

  “Earth, this is Joan. A lot has happened…very little of it is good.”

  The President Hears about Attack

  “Nial, what do think,” President Patterson asked after they listened to the transmission from Joan.

  “Sir, I don’t like it. I think we’re in the middle of something that we aren’t prepared for. We’ve lost almost the entire human race because of that alien virus. If those idiot aliens hadn’t given us all this robotic equipment and spaceships, we’d be doomed. Now we might be at war with one, maybe two alien races. We aren’t prepared.”

  “We haven’t been prepared for any of this,” the president responded. Let’s get Admiral Monson and Admiral Mears down here, we need to talk,” directed President Patterson. “Tell them to make sure that our ‘space-fleet’ can defend us. Who knows what might come popping into our Solar System at any time?”.”

  “Which brings up another point,” Admiral Hagerly said. “Sir, we need to rethink our entire defense plan. Putting all the cards in the Earth Defense Force might be too risky. We have only 11 capital ships, and with each of them, they have hundreds of modified supply ships. For every capital ship that we could lose in battle, we lose 1/11 of our defense force.”

  “Nial, I know you well enough to realize that you wouldn’t be bringing this up unless you have some recommendations. What are they?” President Patterson said, chiding his friend with a smile.

  Admiral Hagerly took a deep breath then added, “Sir, we need other options. We need to use what we have to add additional abilities. Capital ships have huge power reserves. They’re so large we don’t understand their use or capabilities yet, but until we do, we should use that power.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” the president said.

  “I suggest that we take one of the capital ships and strip it down. Then we install a huge laser. Those ships are full of Cow-Robots which we can use elsewhere. Our laser technologies may not be able to use the full power of the ship, but we can build multiple lasers that fire coincidently. That will focus a huge amount of energy on a small spot that will burn through just about everything. It will also give us some range to our weapons.”

  “Sounds like a plan and I presume that we can spread the modified supply ships to the other ten capital ships?” asked the president.

  “Not likely. We’ll put numerous lasers on the one capital ship to focus the energy. That’s all that ship will have. The other capital ships will have the railguns, which also take a lot of energy. That will give us one big laser platform along with the other ships firing the railguns.

  “Mr. President, I have one other suggestion. I think I have a use for the thousands of Cow-Robots that we have on those ships.”

  “What?” responded President Patterson waiting for the Admiral’s other shoe to drop.

  “We might have a simple solution. We don’t know if it will work or if it’s the smartest thing to do, but it might be worth a shot.”

  “What the …?” the president asked, getting a little frustrated.

  “Sir, I presume that you’re familiar with the basic concept of nuclear weapons, how their constructed and how they’re initiated?’

  “Ya, I’ve got the basics down pretty well. What are you suggesting?”

  “We have thousands of nuclear missiles, and we have thousands of Cow-Robots that appear impervious to radiation. I’ve experimented with them a little, and we have something that shows promise.”

  “Nial, I’m getting a little tired of this,” emphasized the president.

  “We think that with relatively minor alterations we can use our HBMMs in space. We can place them on the moon and launch them. There aren’t any aerodynamic issues or re-entry concerns.”

  “I’m still waiting,” the president said with emphasis on the word waiting.

  “About 15 years ago we started a program called EMD or Earth Meteorite Defense. We had already developed the Hypersonic Ballistic MERV Missile, and we developed an alternative nav package to use them against any asteroids that were approaching Earth. The real plus is, we aren’t launching them from Earth, so we don’t have the air resistance and Earth’s gravity to fight. The thrust will translate almost 100% to velocity. Rough estimates say that we should be able to get 60 to 70,000 miles per hour out of them. They have precise navigation for the terminal phase, so they should work well. Each of them has three independently targeted warheads. When they enter terminal guidance, they’ll home in on any large structure in front. After the launch phase, they’ll appear inert during the cruise. We can time it so when they are in range of the target their radar goes active, and they can adjust the targeting. All the ships that we’ve encountered so far are large, and they make big targets. We’ve buried our transponder signals within all of our other encoded electronic traffic. The missiles should have no problems avoiding our ships.”

  “Okay, what’s the challenge? I know there is one,” the president pointed out.

  “Getting them to the moon and setting up the facilities. That’s where the Cow-Robots come in. They’ve been used on Mars for the tunnels, and they’re doing an amazing job. We have thousands of them, so we should have a launch facility up in a short time.”

  “Why do I suspect you’ve already started the project,” President Patterson said with a smile.

  “I admit, I’ve been moving resources, but I’d like your approval before we turn on the Cow-Robots,” asked the Admiral.

  “Start digging…”

  The Mayor of New York

  Life was starting to settle down for Mayor Alan Hunt. The chaos around him was almost under control. Life had been a challenge for too long. The virus reduced NYC to groups of warring gangs. The final phases of the disease were the worst. The remnants of the local government worked hard to control the decline. For a while, they almost turned the corner and stabilized the city. But as the leaders began to fall, what little leadership and support structure they created had collapsed also. Once the leadership lost their battle with the disease, control resorted to whoever controlled the resources. He who had stores of food had some control, he who controlled the power had some control, he who controlled the fuel also had some control, but he who had control over the weapons controlled everything.

  Alan Hunt was one of the mid-level bureaucrats that survived in the New York City Emergency Management office. Alan knew where the resources were, and he knew where the weapons were. While people were dying, he sent out teams to collect or destroy all the significant weapons on Manhattan. Once he had that, he had control of the island. As members of his teams succumbed to the virus, they were easy to replace. After all, once he
had the weapons, then he had the fuel and the food.

  After the city reached the bottom, dealing with the remaining gangs didn’t take long. He didn’t get all of them, but there weren’t enough left to pose a problem. In the time after the city reached the bottom, his teams spread out into the surrounding cities and destroyed as much of the weapons as he could. He knows that he could get only a small percentage of them, but he bet that if NY were stable and relatively safe, no one would challenge him. He was right. After all, he had all the big guns.

  A complete census would be nice, but it was impractical. Best estimates put the current population of just over 1,000 people, and Manhattan was his.

  Alan sat in his home/office with a view of Central Park. The air conditioning was running, and he had the windows open. He could afford to waste power. Wow, this is no sweat, he thought to himself. Controlling the power to the island was the last piece of the puzzle that came together. Finding a couple of power guys who knew how to isolate the Rockaway Peninsula Wind Farm for only Manhattan solidified his authority. The other power supplies were dropping offline, and he controlled the only reliable, renewable source.

  There was a subtle knock on the door, and his assistant leaned in and announced, “Mayor your staff is waiting.”

  “Thanks, Margaret,” the Mayor of New York answered.

  President’s Response to Attack

  “Joan, I’m sorry to hear about Tom,” the president said, trying to provide as much comfort as he could. Then he continued with his transmission. “Let us know what the probes have found. I wish there were something that we could do about Julius, but as SIMPOC has pointed out, he has more opportunities to escape than we have to capture him. We must assume that Julius took Tom as a prisoner and trust that he is more valuable to him as a hostage. If that’s the case, then we’ll have an opportunity to do something in the future, and we’ll be able to deal with him. Until then, we’ve got to deal with the Terest and Izod.

  “I agree with your last transmission that we’re in the middle and we must proceed slowly. We’d like to have both alien races as friends, and as a compromise, at least one. We can’t afford to have both as enemies. We agree that it would be a sign of good faith if we escort the Izod back to their homeworld. It would also be a good opportunity to do some recon. I’ve spoken with Monson and Hagerly; they agree to send Captain Drummond to your location, and she can make the transport.

  “Regarding your suggestion of going to the Terest on a diplomatic mission, that’s a tough call. I don’t like it, but I’ll trust your instincts. We’re too far away, and the delays are too long for us to help directly. Do what you think is best and let us know what you decide. President Patterson out.”

  Bob Shappel and Joan sat for a moment after they heard the transmission from Earth.

  “None of us have any good choices,” Joan said as she got up from her seat. She stretched a little, then said, “I guess I have to go and deal with our guests. Bob, continue your analysis and try to piece together anything you can about the Terest weapons and Julius. We might need the information later.”

  “Yes, Captain,” Bob Shappel answered.

  Joan made the solitary walk of a commander from Bob’s laboratory to the control room, where she would have to deal with a list of issues. As she walked, she had to force the fate of her husband out of her mind. Command was lonely, particularly when the life of your husband was in the balance.

  She hesitated for a second before she passed through the pressure door into the command section. When she entered, she turned to her friend, “SIMPOC, send a message to the Burlington and coordinate with her to meet us and let her know that she’ll escort our guests back to their home system.”

  “Yes, Captain,” SIMPOC responded. “What is your plan after that?” the huge computer asked.

  “I’m not totally sure yet.”

  SIMPOC wasn’t sure why she hesitated, but he knew not to press for an answer.

  Captain Herl turned to the Izod who were still standing in the corner of the room, “Izary, have you been able to work out a path home?”

  “Yes, Captain. I think we have a plan.”

  “Good, another ship, under the command of Darlene Drummond will pick you up and bring you to your home world.”

  “What will you be doing?” asked Izary.

  “Trying to keep the lid on things,” she responded.

  Joan didn’t try to explain the phrase, and she was sure that it probably didn’t translate well into their language.

  “Captain, I think I understand. We have a saying, ‘If you have to face a Pinot, look behind you; they travel in pairs.’”

  Joan smiled, but what Izod said didn’t give her a lot of comfort.

  President’s Meeting on Earth to Discuss Attack

  The sun was warm, and the air was cool. Colored fall leaves blew around the outside deck of the Officer’s Club of the Langley-Eustis combined base. It wasn’t the White House, but it was a new world, and President Patterson tried to not to think about the White House after he blew it up.

  When he approached the table, no one stood. It was a new day, and formality among friends was easily forgotten.

  “Thank you for coming to Earth on such quick notice, but we have to prepare. You came on short notice, have you had time to review the information from Joan and the tactical information SIMPOC sent down?

  “Yes sir, we have. Admiral Mears and I reviewed it while we were coming here,” responded Admiral Monson.

  “We need to adjust our plans and prepare for what happened to Joan and Tom,” pointed out Admiral Hagerly.

  “Admiral Monson, we are under threat and might be attacked at any minute, it’s one thing to be dealing with the Izod and being attacked by the Terest. But, it’s a totally different issue when Julius attacks us. He came out of nowhere and took everyone by surprise, even SIMPOC.”

  President Patterson looked at his military leadership with a look of acceptance but not surrender. “To be honest, I never imagined having a supercomputer as an ally, helping to defend us from his rogue twin computer. Then being in the middle between two warring alien races. Let’s just say that wasn’t part of my last campaign platform.” As each of his guests around the table nodded in agreement and smiled he continued, “With all of you here, who have you left in charge?” the president asked.

  “Sir, to be honest, we’ve been working with the fleet and developing tactics. We haven’t formalized the chain of command yet. But we left Captain Drummond in charge while we’re on Earth. She’s the best we have right now. When she gets back from returning the Izod, I’ll promote her to the same level as Shirly Mears. She deserves to be the captain of her own ship. Rank doesn’t mean what it used to. They’ll be my executive staff,” said Admiral Monson.

  There was a slight unease in the room. In a way, it reflected the impacts of all the events over the last couple of months. Only a short time ago, Captain Drummond was LTJG Darlene Drummond, and she was the training officer on the USCF Burlington. Then the virus hit, and the world stopped. She did a great job commanding the Burlington through multiple attacks. Not bad for a 23-year-old training officer. The unease passed quickly, and everyone accepted that Captain Drummond was one of their most experienced officers and she was among the best they had.

  “Before we get into some important information you need to meet SIMPOC’s representative.” Admiral Hagerly pointed to the back of the room where Beta-Zero stood. He was about the same height as SIMPOC but, there were enough subtle differences so that it was clearly not SIMPOC.

  “Gentlemen and ladies, SIMPOC realized that he couldn’t be everywhere. So, he upgraded a Beta unit, and his name is Beta-Zero. He has many of SIMPOC’s abilities, and his primary duty will be to provide the same technical support that SIMPOC and Alpha provided while they were on Earth. Based on these recent communications from Joan, Beta-Zero’s creation couldn’t have come at a better time. I think we’ll need him,” said President Patterson.

&n
bsp; “Is he as capable as SIMPOC?” Admiral Mears asked.

  “Yes, he…,” Admiral Hagerly was beginning to say when he was cut off by Beta-Zero.

  “You can be confident that I have all of the necessary capabilities that are required to support you,” Beta-Zero responded. “Even though I don’t have the full mental capacity of SIMPOC, I should have no problem supporting you.”

  Beta-Zero’s alien material hadn’t fully integrated itself with his organic processor, but he was able to feel the apprehension around the room.

  President Patterson, Admiral Monson, Admiral Mears, and Admiral Hagerly looked at each other with a mix of humor and suspicion.

  “Beta-Zero, if you don’t have all of the capabilities of SIMPOC, what was left out,” the President asked.

  “Sir, SIMPOC elected to leave out much of the programming for human social interaction. He felt that the complexities of dealing with humans were too complex,” responded the huge Beta-Zero.

  “I see,” said the President as each of them shared a glance.

  “Lew, how is the ESC (Earth Space Command) upgrades coming along?” Admiral Hagerly asked the Fleet Commander Admiral Monson.

  “Sir, we’ve made a lot of progress. The Beta units that SIMPOC created are blending in well. The Beta-1 units that he modified have done a great job bridging the gap between our people and the basic Beta units that operate the ship’s systems. We are finding a good batch of personnel with relevant experience, and we’re getting them onboard as fast as possible. I do admit, that just anyone with a good mind, any technical experience and a willingness to go into space is qualifying. One of our ships has a dentist as the OPSO. Everyone’s attitude is amazing, and we’re making great progress,” responded Admiral Monson.

  “Have we figured out the manufacturing capabilities on those ships yet?” the president asked.

  “I can’t say that we have,” Admiral Monson responded. “SIMPOC has shown us how to program the process, but what goes on within the ship is still pretty much a mystery. We are lucky that the Jakeel gave us those ships. They were clearly designed to be part of their planet harvesting strategy. Once their virus wiped out the Alpha-Predator, they could inhabit the planet while they harvested the resources. Having huge capital ships with powerful manufacturing facilities gave them the base for their support. So far, we haven’t found any limitation to them. They make everything that we program them to. There are some throughput limitations, but as long as we provide the raw materials, they perform amazing jobs.”