Ancient enemies the spac.., p.29
Ancient Enemies (The Space Legacy Book 3), page 29
“How many could we recruit from our own population?”
Jack was the one to answer. “We have two thousand ex-military citizens we can call upon, and another two to three thousand from the general population that could be used in supporting roles. Most of the ex-military folks have experience with ground combat, which could be useful for boarding actions and surface combat—but not for a space battle. They were included when we assessed our need for additional people for the space navy we are building. But let’s face it, our immigration policies were heavily in favor of scientists and their families. I had no problem with that, but they aren’t the best material for soldiers and don’t have a warrior mindset.”
Michael nodded. “All right, I may have a solution even if I don’t personally like it. At the impending meeting with the UN General Assembly, I can ask for additional manpower from the member countries. If I can get them to agree, finding the crew for all these ships shouldn’t be a problem. If they don’t agree… we’ll go all out with a recruitment campaign that will encompass the entire world. Both solutions are less than optimal, and I hate having soldiers belonging to other countries serving on our ships; there are bound to be some troubles there. But as the saying goes, ‘needs must when the devil drives.'
He could see the relieved expressions on Jack’s and Colonel Fletcher’s faces. For some time now, new personnel recruitment had been their main job. But now, because of the exponential increase in need, the techniques they had been using were exceedingly inadequate. They had been looking for specific individuals, which was suitable while they were planning for slower growth. But now, with their sudden shift in priorities, they needed specific types of people—in bulk.
Michael made a note of the personnel problem and faced the people around the table again. “Alright then, that’s settled; what’s next…”
Over the next few hours everyone got the opportunity to speak and present his or her ideas. Some exceptional suggestions showed great promise. One of the more surprising ideas came from a quiet little man, Dr. Joseph, who had several doctorates in various fields. He suggested they take asteroids from the belt and equip them with Gravity-drives, making them into enormous Hammers. He admitted that their chances of even getting close to the enemy were probably minimal, but every missile expended on them was one less their pilots and the crews on the ships would have to face.
A dozen boarding teams would be assembled exclusively from S.U personnel, and trained to do the same thing Michael, Tyron, Pete, and Zac had done when they went inside the scout ship. Their sole objective would be to get more demon prisoners and gather as much intelligence as they could.
Some of the proposed projects had to be put on the back burner, despite the impressive and original ideas they were based on. There simply wasn’t enough time to do them all. Only those with the greatest chance of successful completion within the allocated time were even considered. All the rest were filed and would be used after this incursion was beaten back.
Once all presentations had been given, Michael rose and addressed all those present. “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for the efforts you’ve made so far. Know this; the things you’re about to do are what will save the human race from an unimaginable fate. A project of this magnitude has never been attempted before, but because of your efforts, I’m sure we will prevail. We have no other option.”
It didn’t take long for the room to clear out and soon Michael was left alone with the AI.
“Is everything ready?” Michael asked, massaging his temples.
“Yes; in half an hour you get to address everyone. I’ll monitor all communications to stop any leaks until you make your speech to the UN.”
“Oh, I can’t wait,” he murmured sarcastically. What he really wished for at that moment was to be somewhere far away, ideally on the bank of some isolated lake with a fishing pole in his hand and a cooler of cold beers beside him.
City-Ship Ascension - Central Park
Michael stood on a specially constructed raised podium in the Ascension’s Central Park and was head and shoulders above the large crowd gathered there to hear him speak.
He couldn’t help but realize he was being forced by events to act just like a politician. Damn. A small video drone hovered a dozen feet in front of him and transmitted a live feed, not just to those who weren’t in the crowd, but also to the new space station. Behind him was a huge holo-screen, which would show the presentation Max had prepared. His speech would be supplemented by images and videos taken from the Knowledge Vault.
The speech was purposely postponed until after the earlier meeting, so the people could see that those in charge had already made plans to confront the threat. In turn, it would give them hope and incentive to work towards the common goal.
Michael took a deep breath and began. “Some of you know bits and pieces of the things I’m about to tell you, but to many of you this will be completely new information. It’s time for you all to know a part of our world’s history that has been forgotten and only remains in vague myths and legends. To some of you, this history may prove offensive as it has some serious religious implications. But I assure you, it is all true.
“It all started almost thirteen thousand years ago, in a solar system other than our own…”
It took more than an hour for him to tell the story about angels, demons, and Atlantis. From the expressions on their faces, he could see some were skeptical, a few were amused, and there were plenty who showed fear. When he got to the part about the Demon scout ship’s recent attack, there was visible dismay in their expressions.
“… So now you know the stakes. We are in a state of war with an alien species who will accept nothing except their utter domination over humanity. They would either use us as slaves or for food. They absolutely will not acknowledge the rights of other sapient life forms to exist independently, and they will not coexist with others unless they are under their dominion.”
All through his speech, Max had shown earth’s forgotten history on the holo- screen and the disturbing images of what could be expected from the demons. It is true that when people are afraid, they sometimes tend to act irrationally, so it wasn’t really surprising when one man close to the stage shouted that they should try to negotiate a truce, despite all that had been said. Michael immediately realized he was a pacifist who didn’t believe in violence; the irony was that his beliefs were irrelevant when violence believed in him. So, he asked the man how often he had negotiated with a cow before eating a steak. That produced a nervous laugh from the crowd, but there was still a strong sense of fear.
“I understand you’re all afraid, only an insane person or idiot wouldn’t be when confronting what we are about to face. But we won’t be the sheep waiting for the slaughter. From this day forward, all our efforts are going to be concentrated on making the Solarian Union and Earth as safe as we possibly can. New plans have been created for building our space fleet, one strong enough to make the demons sorry they ever set foot in our Solar System. You can help this effort with your suggestions, which can be given to Max or Ares. You can also actively participate in the war effort. Very soon, I will meet with the world leaders to inform them of this situation, so please refrain from spreading this news to the planet. We are trying to avoid creating mass panic on Earth, and you know how excitable many of them can be. That’s all, folks— it’s now time to prepare for war,” Michael said, and got off the stage.
Maybe it wasn’t the best speech in history, but he was winging most of it anyway. For the entire week, he had wrestled with the thought of how to tell people that actual demons would be attacking them soon. In the end, he had decided to tell them the bare truth, without much embellishment or empty promises. Their reactions in the days to come would demonstrate whether he and the others had succeeded in awakening the unified spirit of the Solarian Union.
The next speech he needed to make would be far worse, and a lot more judgmental. President Garner managed to arrange for another emergency special session of the UN General Assembly. He trusted that what Michael had to say was important, and his support went far beyond anything one would expect from a career politician.
In a few days, Michael would need to stand in front of a group of people who, in every sense that mattered, governed Earth, to tell them that as things stood right now, they were all—royally screwed.
CHAPTER 24
Spaceship Excalibur - Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1
For this event, Michael wanted to be at a particular position in space so he could see it all from a unique perspective. The Excalibur was stationed at the L1 Lagrange point, where the gravitational pull from both Earth and the Moon precisely equaled the centripetal forces required for a station to move with them, and where it could stay in equilibrium, stationary with respect to the two celestial bodies. Max had tried to explain the mathematical three-body problem to Zac, but after the first ten minutes of the flight he had finally given it up as a hopeless task. With resignation in his voice, he finally dumbed it down so even Zac could get it and said, “Zac, the pull of gravity cancels itself out here.”
The holo-screen walls of the craft were set to see-through mode and displayed the exact view as seen from the outside, and it was a beautiful sight. The spaceship’s location was closer to the moon than the Earth, but from this spot, both celestial bodies could be clearly seen on the holo-screens on opposite sides of the Excalibur’s cabin.
Elizabeth, Alice, Anna, and the entire team were with him; nobody said a word, but just stood quietly gazing at the spectacle outside. This was the day when the space station would finally arrive at its permanent site after its long voyage from the Main Asteroid belt. This spot was right on the Earth-Moon L1 point, or to be more precise, in a halo orbit around it. Since the movement of the Moon tends to wobble at that point in space, there would be a need for some minor orbital station-keeping and minute adjustments of the station’s orbital position. Nevertheless, the advantage of this specific place, besides not having to fight the planet’s gravity to stay in space, was that its location enabled quick access to Earth, and at the same time gave enough distance to demonstrate their independence.
They could see the station approaching directly towards them, growing slowly in size with each passing minute. It was an intimidating sight even knowing it would miss them by a few miles. It wasn’t just a small bright speck of light anymore, but a large silver cue ball. Its speed was greatly reduced since it had been making braking maneuvers from the halfway point of its voyage.
Max transmitted the entire spectacle to the Ascension and numerous Earth networks. Everybody wanted to see this momentous event and the numbers of people viewing the live transmission were staggering. By Max’s estimate, billions were at this very moment watching their TVs, computers, or phones, and were following every second of the final approach. It was an event with universal appeal similar to Neil Armstrong’s first moonwalk, and commentators narrated every second of the event in dozens of languages. The Ascension was impressive, and it had an almost cultish following as the city in the skies. But this space station was like an entirely new world, an immense habitat that would eventually support millions.
Max and Ares were incommunicado for the moment, as they orchestrated every aspect of the approach by making millions of calculations each second, to ensure the station would enter its new orbit with zero errors. Michael watched as the station slowly approached them and passed them by, just as an ocean liner would ease past a small aluminum fishing boat as it inched towards its berth.
There was a countdown clock in the transmission feed, and Michael, along with billions of others, watched it as it counted down until it reached zero.
And then it was over; an additional celestial body had become a permanent fixture in Earth’s skies, signifying a new era in the human colonization of space. From the speakers, a wave of sound burst out, the combined noise of thousands of people clapping, hooting, and screaming in approval.
“Congratulations Max. That was beautiful to watch,” Elizabeth said to the smiling image of the AI.
“Thank you, Liz. It was like being behind the wheel of the biggest truck in the universe and trying to drive it right through the eye of a needle,” Max said proudly.
But Max made a sour grimace a moment later when Zac commented, “It’s so round and shiny, just like a Death Star.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s not a Death Star but a modified Bernal sphere!” he said.
The smirking man immediately replied, “You can call it whatever you want, but if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck—”
“Okay you two, stop bickering. You’ve had the same conversation half a dozen times already,” Michael said, interrupting something that could potentially turn into a long, pointless discussion.
"Let’s go inside, the celebration is about to begin," Elizabeth said as the Excalibur took its place in the long line of transporters entering the space station.
Today was the first time they would celebrate Arrival Day, which from now on would be designated as a national holiday. But the station entering its parking orbit was only part of it; there was another event scheduled to start soon. Still, those were only the official excuses to have a relaxing day for the people of the Solarian Union. Because of the recent revelations, their citizens were scared and subdued, which was not surprising considering the threat of the alien invasion hanging above their heads. So, the decision was made to give them all a short respite before the real work began.
Starting tomorrow, the Solarian Union would be going on a complete war footing, doing everything they could to be prepared in the six months they had. Already there had been many reassignments to different positions, where the skills of some gifted individuals could be most efficiently utilized.
The celebration was organized to occur simultaneously, both in Ascension’s Central Park and around the lake of the new space station’s residential level where thousands had chosen to spend the day. To make the transport from one place to another easier, Ascension left orbit and temporarily joined the space station at L1. Almost every transporter they had was in use, going back-and-forth like a long line of space taxis.
The Excalibur approached the station and entered the first enormous airlock. This part of the station hadn’t changed much from the first time Michael saw it. There was a bit more color maybe, and a few safety instructions written on the walls, but the greatest change could be seen on the main level which had been transformed into an oasis in space.
Green was the predominant color, covering the entire floor and the slopes of the surrounding mountains. The effort of transplanting as many trees as possible never stopped, so there were thousands of them carefully placed, to make it seem as if they had grown there naturally. In the distance, he could see where Rivendell was hidden, with only the river flowing from its direction showing the path to it. Even the main support pillar had changed considerably, and now looked far more natural. In the beginning its entire outer skin, made only of glass windows from the apartments built into it, looked rather utilitarian and sterile. Now, every balcony had some greenery on it and there were vertical gardens all over its surface. From the distance it was starting to look like a giant tree trunk which was slowly being covered by moss.
After the craft had passed a few miles from the entrance, Elizabeth asked, “Max, can you take us closer to the lakeshore? There’s a new barbecue place everyone has been raving about.” In no time, they were all outside, marveling at the lawn beneath their feet. It was soft and green and fragrant, and according to Max it was genetically engineered to thrive with minimal care in the conditions found in the space station.
It took them a few minutes to arrive at the wooden pier and the floating raft-restaurant attached to it, where the mouth-watering scent of barbecued ribs circulated through the air. As Elizabeth told them, it was owned by the husband of their leading botanist, who had immigrated to the S.U. so he could accompany his wife. He was also a chef who guarded the secret of his barbecue sauce with a passion. The entire raft was disassembled on Earth and transported to the station. It quickly became one of the most popular eating places, regularly visited by everybody who worked there. Luckily, one of the long tables was unoccupied, and Michael hurried with the rest of his group to seize it while there was still time.
The big man who approached the table asked, “What can I get you, folks?” and then did a double take after seeing who his new customers were.
“Leader Freeman… I’m honored…” The man breathed out, surprised, but like any professional proprietor he quickly recovered and bounced back in no time. “I can recommend the special; it’s barbecue ribs in my special sauce,” he said, taking out a small notebook and a pen.
“Please call me Michael, and I’ll have a special accompanied with any beer you have on tap,” he ordered with a smile, and the others duplicated his order.
“Beer will be right up, and the ribs will be done in ten minutes,” the man said with a nod, and then went back to the kitchen.
“Boss, it seems you’ve become famous,” Zac said with a grin, and then laughed when he saw the familiar uncomfortable look on Michael’s face.
“There’s something to be said about anonymity,” Michael replied. “I don’t think I like this much attention.” He tried to pay no notice to other patrons of the establishment who were discreetly pointing their phone cameras in his direction.
“This place is really shaping up,” Pete commented, looking at the lakeshore and the hundreds of people they could see from where they sat.
“Yeah, I’ve read the latest reports and the lake has been well stocked with several varieties of fish. We’ve added plenty of sweet water shrimp too, and they all seem to be thriving in their new environment,” Michael replied.
