Condition Zero, page 27
part #6 of The Earth Saga Series
“I have movement.” One of the techs shouted out.
“Where?” John Robert asked.
“Magnifying.”
“Get some senior staff in here!” John Robert barked. It was early in the morning, and Admiral Taark and most of his staff were sleeping.
John watched as the image zoomed in on a creature that was the size of a person but was writhing around on the ground in what looked like a severe amount of discomfort before it stopped moving. Not far away were several other bodies that looked in the same mutilated shape.
“I am reading changes in the air at that location, vegetation changes also.” Another tech reported. “Possible signs of environmental modifications.”
“What the hell are you saying?” John Robert demanded.
“Whatever happened, the pink blast has changed the air and the conditions around that structure.” John Riley answered. “Christ.” He shook his head. “The level of tech required to perform that.”
“Changed them to what?” John Robert asked.
“An environment that isn’t native to this world.” The tech responded.
“Check for any similarities on known worlds.” The senior tech ordered.
It took less than a minute. “No matches.”
“Are the droids still online?” John Robert asked.
“They’re down too.” The tech replied.
“So, what is the status of the team on the surface?” John Robert asked. “Are they all down?”
The techs punched keys and checked bio-monitors. “All humans that were at the structure, including the French scientists are down.”
“Down as in dead?” John Robert asked.
“Yes.” The tech replied.
“Fuck.” John Riley blurted out.
“The humans at the science station are still alive.” One of the techs reported.
It took twenty minutes for Admiral Taark to reach the science station where John Robert and John Riley had been monitoring the surface from.
“What do we have?” Taark asked, looking at the large monitor on the wall of the room.
“Some kind of emission from the structure on the surface, Sir.” The senior tech said. “It killed the landing party and did something to the environment within a fifty-metre radius of the structure.”
“Okay.” Taark said, looking closely at the live image that was being transmitted to the screen. “Have we confirmed that the team is deceased?”
“Their bio-monitors are reading them as deceased, Sir.”
“Damn it.” Taark cursed. “Show me Master Doctor Prure.”
The image moved slightly to the east and showed what was left of the Doctor’s body. Taark rubbed his forehead. “I want a ship sent down there at once to recover the body. Full quarantine measures in place.”
John Robert walked over to the Admiral. “What do you think?” He asked.
The Admiral shook his head. “Probably some kind of defence mechanism. They got too close, touched something. Were careless and triggered something.”
John Robert nodded. “What about the change in the air and environment?”
“The structure did that to make the area near it uninhabitable to us.” The admiral walked away from the monitor. “Hell of a reaction to getting poked.”
John Riley scratched the side of his face. “I don’t know what this is, but this could have far-reaching repercussions.”
It took an hour to get a team of hazardous environment droids to the surface. By the time they reached a point one hundred metres from the unknown structure, the Seven’s command room had been fully converted into an observation post for Kerguelen Island. The island might have been on everyone’s top ten priority list, but now that an entire team had been killed in the blink of an eye by an unknown force or power, it was the number one concern for everyone on board.
“We’re starting to get some readings from the team on the ground.” A tech reported.
“Crossing the fifty-metre boundary.” Another tech called out.
The hazardous environment droids were encased in multiple layers of air-tight carbon-blended fibres allowing access into environments that would compromise even mighty Sentinel’s.
“KU 57 has reached the first body.” A tech called out. “Starting analysis.”
Joe Hunt was standing at the back of the room. He was sipping a cold German beer that wasn’t helping his hangover.
“Deceased is human. Killed by resequencing of their DNA.” A tech reported. “Death was almost instant.”
“Give me a reading of the air.” The senior scientist ordered.
“Unknown type. Foreign particles and readings in the air.” The tech replied.
“Soil sample.” The scientist requested.
“Matches nothing on file.”
“This could be a problem.” The scientist said to himself.
“What is this?” Taark asked, pointing at the structure. “Was that a one-off event, or part of something bigger?”
The scientist walked up to the big monitor and looked at the corpse of, then turned around slowly. “This could be a terra-forming machine.” He said dryly.
“I’ve seen terra-forming before.” Taark said. “They don’t work like this.”
The scientist nodded. “The devices we have don’t work like this, that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a terra-forming machine.”
“Slow down.” Joe shouted from the back of the room. “Do we care what it is? It just killed Master Doctor Prure, a man I owe my life to.” He put his beer down. “We need to stop thinking too scientifically about this shit and destroy that thing now. Before something else horrible happens.”
The room was silent until John Robert spoke up. “We don’t know yet what we’re dealing with.”
“Fine.” Joe said, walking through the throng of people in the room towards the monitor. “But we do know it’s dangerous.”
Taark had heard enough. “Pull back the surface team.” He ordered. “Prepare a concentrated strike on the structure.”
It took five minutes to get the droids clear of the structure and to confirm that none of the French scientists was within the blast radius of the structure.
“Attack when ready.” Taark ordered.
“Drone bomber coming into range.” Called a voice from the bridge over the intercom. “Releasing weapon.”
The drone’s onboard cameras had a clear view of Kerguelen Island as it raced eastwards over the Southern Indian Ocean. A single missile dropped out of its weapons bay, fell five metres, then activated its engines, and accelerated towards the target.
“What is that carrying?” Joe asked Taark.
“Low yield nuclear device.” The admiral responded.
“Blast radius?”
“Under a kilometre.”
“Lot of punch in a small area.” Joe said.
The video from the drone bomber was joined by imagery from the missile as it raced towards the structure at Mach 6. Tearing across the cold skies, the twenty-metre long missile flew straight and level at two hundred metres above the ocean. It was programmed for an air-burst over the target, but when the weapon was just under a kilometre from the target, the feed cut out.
“Contact with weapon lost.” The bridge reported.
“Report!” Taark ordered.
“Signal lost from the weapon.” Came the report. “Missile has dropped into the ocean and failed to detonate.”
“You think that was by chance?” Joe asked, sarcastically.
“No.” Taark replied. “Have the bomber make another run.”
“Retasking bomber for run two.”
The result was the same.
“Target structure with ship weapons.” Taark ordered. “Fire when ready.”
“Weapons locked. Firing.”
Everyone in the room watched the image of the structure, waiting for the lasers to obliterate it, but they never made it to the object. They were stopped five hundred metres above it by an unseen force field.
“This is not good.” Joe said.
“I’m growing more concerned by the moment.” John Riley said.
“If this structure has these defensive capabilities,” The chief scientist started. “Then this structure is precious to whoever made it, and whoever built it has highly advanced tech.”
“And from that conclusion you arrive where?” Taark asked.
“That this may, in fact, be a terra-forming device.” The scientist responded. “If a culture needed to terra-form a world in an emergency, then certainly they would equip it with advanced defensive capabilities.”
“Why would anyone need to terra-form a world in an emergency?” John Robert asked. “The planet is already inhabited.”
“That is true unless someone else has designs on it.” The scientist responded.
“Who?” Joe asked.
The scientist shook his head. “I have no idea, but that structure was built by a culture more advanced than ours, and if it is a terra-forming device, then I can only come to two conclusions.”
“Which are?” Taark asked.
“That the device was switched on by accident.”
“And the second?” Joe asked.
“That the device was deliberately triggered.”
“For what purpose?” John Robert asked.
“To condition the planet for its new hosts.” John Riley said.
“Well if that happens, what happens to us?” John Robert asked.
The head of Nasa took a deep breath, shaking his head.
“What happens to the Earth?” John Robert asked.
“The Earth we know dies.” The scientist replied.
103-Asiatana
Sinus Fu was standing a few paces to the rear, and one to the left of Prince Salrugina. He had known that the Prince was ill, if from nothing more than old age when they had met on Qera, but now he looked more fragile than ever before. Fu’s appearance at the previous conference with the Grand Marshall had been an obvious sign of the monarchs declining health.
Looking around the clearing, Fu noted how it was the emptiest he had seen it. Except for the Grand Marshall, the Prince and himself, the only other figure present was Il Rotana. She was stood in the same position he was, unarmed, just as he was.
Peace.
It was a dream that Fu had for a long time. In the chaos after the fall of the Empire, much had happened. His eldest sister had been the entrepreneur in the family and had gone from selling fruit in the local market on their home-world to running a system-wide crime syndicate on Fury 161.
“We are ready to sign this document?” Prince Salrugina asked. “The step towards peace.”
“We are.” The Grand Marshall answered. “Is it time to call forward the witnesses?”
The Prince nodded, then looked over his shoulder. “Fu, bring them in.”
Fu brought his communicator up to his ear and sent the signal to the massive dropship that had landed over a kilometre behind the clearing. On-board were delegates from every department of the Pohjois government ranging from military to agricultural administrators. All eager to be a part of history. There had always been objections to peace with a price, but none of them had ever anticipated about peace without strings attached. The idea of the Etelainen not wanting to extract their butcher's bill was too far-fetched for some within the Pohjois government to believe.
Now it was a reality. There were almost no concessions on either side. Prisoners were to be released at once. Borders were to be opened, and commerce was to start again. The two great forces that had been battering each other for seventy years had finally decided to stop the bloodshed without asking for compensation. Work out the big strategy first, everything else would fall into place.
Sinus Fu couldn’t complain. Had the war never started, there was an excellent chance that his sister would still be alive. Instead, she had died for nothing more than money and harbouring a fugitive from the Etelainen.
That was where it all started for Fu. Watching perfection at work. Being in the presence of someone so dangerous that if one knew their true nature, then everyone would fear them. He had learned that lesson on Fury 161 and used it to transform himself into the operator he was today. If it hadn’t been for that warrior showing him what real power was all those years ago, he probably wouldn’t have developed into the tool of war he was.
“Would you like some tea?” The Grand Marshall asked.
It snapped Fu out of his thought process and back to reality.
“Tea?” Salrugina asked.
“We’ve brought some black tea from Mechcharga.” The Grand Marshall said, waving Il Rotana forward. “It is meant to have great healing properties.”
“I am indeed an old man.” Prince Salrugina said. “I am dying. No need to hide it.”
Rotana placed a small intricate carton on the table and stepped back.
“And am I supposed to drink this marvellously attractive box?” The Price asked with a smile on his face.
The Grand Marshall shook his head. “Of course not, Prince. It requires two friends to place a finger on the box at the same time to activate.”
“A puzzle of sorts.” The Prince said. “How quaint.”
He leaned forward and placed a finger on the top of the box at the same time as the Grand Marshall. Silently the sides of the box flipped down, while what had been the top morphed into a powder that dropped into an off-white bowl that had been hidden inside the box. Once the powder hit the liquid that was in the bowl, it started boiling, sending up steam.
While the Prince watched the process unfold, Rotana brought forward two cups in the same off-white colouring as the bowl and placed them in front of the Prince and the Grand Marshall.
When the liquid stopped boiling, Rotana picked up the bowl, and pour out its contents evenly.
“How long until your witnesses arrive?” The Grand Marshall asked.
The Prince just shook his head.
“I think we should enjoy the tea while we wait for them.”
Salrugina nodded, and leaned forward, picking up his cup by the handle.
“To peace in our time.” The Prince said.
The Grand Marshall smiled. “To peace in our time.”
Taking a sip, the Price sat back in his chair, smiling. “We’ll be on Jarosis in no time, signing the final peace treaty.”
The Grand Marshall raised his teacup. “I look forward to it.”
Fu watched the pair sip their tea. The roar from the incoming drop ship was growing louder. He had often been a cynic about the galaxy, but here he was, metres away from the two most influential people in the galaxy and it was finally starting to look like all the talk of a cease-fire and peace were finally coming true.
That prospect made him wonder of where his place would be in the new galactic order. If peace was achieved, what would a warrior like himself do? He could always do what his late sister had done. Go into the Core and raise a gang, make a name for himself as a warlord of some piss-ant little planet somewhere. His sister had found it rewarding, but when he had been there at the end, he knew that it wasn’t for him.
Fu needed a vacation. He needed to get away from all the noise of the war, from Qera and the palace in Curzon where he had been spending time lately. He needed to put some distance between himself and the Prince. He needed to clear his mind. He needed to find someone to talk to. Someone who could help clear the fog from his mind and point him in the right direction. Finding that individual would be his mission. But before he could do that, he had a reconnaissance of Jarosis to perform.
104-The Five
Ship Master Jalei, Admiral Rasanna and the senior crew, were bent over the command consul, studying the information that they were looking at. The Ship Master wanted everyone present to answer any questions he might have from such startling results.
Doctor Rhea Stokes was looking at a single data-pad, with a summary of the report the reconnaissance station had submitted. She couldn’t believe it. The object in front of them was massive, and now, without a doubt, a Dyson Sphere.
“How many possible entry points are there?” Jalei asked.
“Around the entire sphere?” One of the techs replied.
“Yes.”
“Dozens.” The tech replied. “That we have mapped so far. The size of the sphere makes any survey challenging.”
“Who could have built this?” Rhea asked.
Admiral Rasanna shook her head. “Someone with advanced technology.”
“Do we know if anyone is even inside?” Jalei asked.
“Until we’re able to gain access to the interior, or receive contact from someone on the inside, your guess is as good as mine.” Replied the tech.
“Suggestions?” Jalei asked, looking over the gathered faces.
“Our options are limited.” Rasanna replied. “Considering the dire state of the engines and jump drives.” She looked over at the Master Engineer.
“Fuel levels are critical, and we need time to repair the jump drives and sound the ship.” Master Engineer Petla replied, rubbing the back of her neck. “And regarding the sphere.” She pointed at the holographic image floating about the centre of the table. “It will take weeks to map the surface of the sphere, considering the size.”
“We should stay here.” Rhea said. “This find is of too great an importance to leave.” She glanced over at Petla. “Or even attempt to leave.”
Jalei nodded in agreement. “Other than the jump drives, would you say that the ship is in good order?”
Petla tilted her head to the side. “My teams need time to give you a full analysis, but the Five appears to be functioning, albeit at non-optimal levels.”
Jalei slapped his hand onto the table. “There you have it, then.” He looked around at the faces staring back at him. “We will begin a full survey of the sphere and attempt to gain entry.”
Rhea leaned back in her chair, a grin on her face. Here she was, tens of thousands of light-years from home, faced with what could be the most significant discovery of scientific value that humanity or the Alliance had ever come upon. Not a bad place to be, even if it wasn’t part of the plan.
