Nu Trilogy 1: The Esss Advance (8 page)

“Gomez,” Sted called, “
Shuttle II
is at your nine o’clock approaching with the shuttle bay doors open. Get everyone aboard ASAP. We have less than four minutes until those charges blow.”

Sted moved alongside of Gomez to add his suit’s thrust to that of Gomez to make up for the extra mass of Chandler’s body and armor. Even with the extra push, they were the last to make it into the shuttle bay. As the shuttle doors closed, the outer hull of the colony erupted with a series of explosions. When Sted moved to the cockpit to get a better view of the damage, he saw that the interior of cargo bay three must have given way. Atmosphere was pouring out of the breach, along with melted and twisted pieces of cargo. He also saw suited and unsuited bodies floating listlessly among the detritus of what looked like a pitched battle.

“
Charger
, this is Commander Richardson. The squad is back aboard the shuttle. We have two casualties. The entire area around cargo bay three on the colony has been destroyed with multiple casualties. I recommend you coordinate a rescue mission with the colony. There may be a few suited survivors outside of the cargo bay.”

“
Charger
copies,” Captain Landsted replied. “Make your best time back. I don’t want you exposed to any retaliatory strikes. We have five destroyers inbound to either finish off this hidden shipyard or board and secure the facility if they surrender. We won’t be dealing with survivors from those explosions until the action is over.”

Commander Kim Cho’s voice sounded over
Shuttle II’s
speakers, “
Shuttle I
is clear of passenger bay seven.” Sted and the shuttle pilot could see the other shuttle pulling away from the
Northern Song
colony as it accelerated in a wide arc back toward the
USpN
Charger
.

“
Northern Song
, this is Captain Landsted aboard
USpN
Charger
. You are ordered to stand down all forces aboard. We will give you one hour to accept full surrender of your facility to the United Space Navy. If you do not acknowledge surrender, your facility will be destroyed. No ships will be allowed to depart from your colony. Please observe the five additional destroyers inbound from Earth. Their ETA coincides with your one-hour window. Acknowledge receipt of these orders.”

“
Charger
, this is
Northern Song
acknowledging receipt of your orders.”

With that settled for the moment, Sted returned to the shuttle bay from the cockpit to check on the status of Chandler and Singleton. When he got there, both had been stripped of their battle armor and were strapped to medical gurneys with IVs running into their arms. That meant both men were still alive.

Sted turned to Gomez. “What’s their status?”

“Singleton took a hit to the back of his helmet that knocked him unconscious. We’ve stabilized him for now, but the docs onboard will have to check him out, because he hasn’t regained consciousness. Chandler lost his left arm below the elbow. The suit saved his life, but he’s still in shock. We’re keeping him warm and hydrated for now. There’s nothing else we can do until we get him back to the
Charger
.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Sted replied. “We should be back aboard in the next ten minutes. I’ll go forward again and report their condition to the doc so he can be ready in the shuttle bay.”

With that, Sted turned back to the cockpit to make his report, hoping the doctor would be able to patch up the two marines. He didn’t want to lose anyone under his command. He thought of little David Barns being carried away in the ambulance, never to be seen again.

A conclave of master chroniclers displaced an entire nursery on one of the few remaining worlds not yet overrun by offspring. The masters submerged themselves in the birth waters and settled at the bottom of the crèche. Soon, the thrumming began. It was a low-pitched rumble emanating from the torso of each master. All had to be in sync for any true resolution to their dire situation to unfold into their combined consciousness.

Soon, a soft descant could be heard but not felt above the insistent thrumming in the crystal clear birth waters. This was the signal. Every master’s tail began sweeping slowly back and forth, spilling an effervescent pink cloud into the now sacred waters. Each master’s unique essence was being made available to every other master.

As the waters swirled from the tail motions, the clouds dispersed and merged with each other into a complex solution that could be ingested through the gill-like openings just below each master’s head. As the solution passed over and around their brainstems, appropriate molecules were selected and incorporated into the ever-increasing complexity of each of their individual brains, bringing them into a single, synchronized, higher consciousness.

At this point, the deep thrumming altered its pitch, scaling up several registers. Communication through sound waves in the waters was now possible at a bandwidth and speed not possible in any other state. It was like a symphony being created on the fly with each master contributing, receiving, discarding, or refining suggestions from the others. At first, the symphony sounded discordant, not unlike a master composer experimenting with different musical phrases while trying to find just the right combination of notes to express a desired feeling.

The discordance did not last long. Discarded ideas fell away. Accepted ideas were embellished into sound shapes of pure beauty. The surviving ideas were combined into a symphonic whole that left each of the masters elated but also exhausted. A path forward had been found. 

Choosing the right planetary body from the right star system was of primary importance. The star system had to be on the periphery of their galaxy and in the right quadrant for them to catapult themselves in the direction of the next galaxy. The star itself needed to be a double star with one brown dwarf and one red giant star in its final stages of life. The cooler surface temperatures of the stars would allow deeper penetration into the gravity wells of the two stars without worrying about ablation of the outer layers of their planetesimal inter-galactic ship.

Reinforcing the structure of the planetesimal to withstand the gravitational forces involved with multiple passes through deep gravity wells required the Esss to breed a new class of engineer to handle the higher-level mathematics, but the Esss were driven by their biological need. What was required would be provided.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made over the millennia involved in this massive undertaking. The containment of the crèche birth waters during the multiple gravitational accelerations was particularly difficult. Each failure, however, added to their knowledge. Each attempt got them closer to their goal. They would not be denied.

By the time their galaxy made one complete rotation, they were ready. Six planetesimal ships were prepared. Each ship was over 300 kilometers in diameter, with the crèche imbedded in the core. The ships contained enough consumables in their bowels to support a caretaker nursery staff of 2,000. Each ship also contained the parts necessary to construct six interstellar ships that would be required upon arrival. They would be needed to begin the search for the home of their first nursery planet.

The six inter-galactic ships would be released at intervals that would allow them to arrive at the new galaxy far enough apart that their expansion would not encroach on the others for a long period of time. Also, the redundancy of sending six increased the chances that at least one would make the journey successfully.

It had been exactly one week since Sted’s interviews at AMC and Lockheed. His exit interview with Vice Admiral Bunting had been quick and painless. He had palmed his signature on four different forms on the vice admiral’s desktop station, the most important one being his recognition of the Navy’s right to recall him to service in case of an emergency.

His goodbyes with Emily and Alice were much more difficult. He had established a strong bond with each during the months of his recovery and considered both to be special friends. Without them, he would have probably died in his own self-pity. Now he was making a fresh start with a bright outlook. How could he ever repay the debt he owed these consummate professionals?

All of this was playing through his mind on the shuttle ride from Tranquility Base over to the AMC Headquarters facility in the walls of the Shackleton Crater near the lunar south pole. With a shrug, Sted tried to change his focus from the past to the future. He had to compartmentalize his emotions and concentrate on his upcoming meeting with Cam Dunston and his staff.

As the shuttle rose over the rim of the crater, Sted saw the lights from the landing field at the edge of the crater floor, about four kilometers below the rim. The landing field was in perpetual darkness, just as the heights were in almost perpetual sunlight.

“If you look up and to your left, you can see the corporate tower rising above the crater rim,” the shuttle steward said as he sat down next to Sted and strapped in for the landing. “Mr. Dunston’s office is on the top floor of the tower, where he gets sunlight into those beautiful windows almost ninety percent of the lunar month.”

“How do I get there from the landing field?” Sted asked. “I have an appointment with Mr. Dunston as soon as I arrive.”

“Don’t worry. Mr. Dunston will have someone waiting at the shuttle station to take you directly to his office. I have given instructions for your gear to be moved directly to one of the corporate apartments high on the crater rim and facing outward. The windows in those apartments have a beautiful view looking directly toward Shoemaker Crater.”

As the shuttle settled onto the lighted landing pad, Sted noted a much larger cargo loading area half a kilometer away. Shipping cranes were unloading large containers and placing them on what looked like railroad flatbed carriages. The tracks led into a large, open passageway in the wall of the crater. It looked like an efficient way to bring in parts and supplies for building the assay ships as well as consumable supplies for the local population.

“Does AMC have any mining operations nearby?” Sted asked.

The steward nodded. “Definitely. This location started as a mining operation and only became AMC’s headquarters after the discovery of the platinum group metals in abundance from the asteroid impact that formed this crater. In fact, this discovery was the reason for organizing AMC in the first place. The revenue from the original mining operation funded the entire corporate startup that became Asteroid Mining Company. If we found this many valuable metals in what was left in the impact crater, imagine what we might find in some of the asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.”

Just then, the pilot turned off the fasten seatbelt sign, and the steward got up to prepare for the departure of the passengers into the ground shuttle just pulling up alongside.

“If everyone will wait in their seats for just a moment, I will verify the seal of the docking tube to the ground shuttle, and then you can all be on your way,” the steward announced.

“Good morning Mr. Richardson,” said a young woman with her hand out in greeting. Sted had just gotten off of the ground shuttle and hadn’t even had time to look around the small terminal area.

“I’m Lisa Calderon, and I work in Mr. Dunston’s office up in the tower. He sent me down to guide you up there for your meeting.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms. Calderon,” Sted replied as he shook her hand and bowed in acknowledgement.

Lisa had a slight build with short, silver-blond hair that crept over the collar of her lime green single-suit. She had a bright smile and seemed genuinely happy to meet him.

As they released each other’s hands, Lisa pointed to a corridor off to her left. “If you’ll come this way, we have a short walk to the main elevator bank up to the tower.”

The elevator ride was unlike any Sted had ever taken. The elevator cab was circular in shape and could hold five or six people comfortably. Once the doors closed, the cab lifted on a cushion of air and accelerated up the four-kilometer tubular elevator shaft to the top of the crater wall.

As the doors opened at the top floor, they stepped out into a typical corporate elevator lobby with a sign announcing “Office of the President.”

“This way please,” Lisa said as she walked briskly toward the corporate reception area. “Have a seat right here, and I’ll check to see if Mr. Dunston is available.”