Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers (31 page)

Radin’s transmission was just wrapping up. "So,” Radin
was saying on the com screen, “the training and exercises have been going
reasonably well, though thankfully, Slave Mode continues to work great, and
provided we maintain our current speed, we should be seeing you in about a
month. Of course, we should be talking in real time in a few days. We
rendezvous with a Loud Umbrella Ship two days from now to get our very own
Tachyon com unit, and as I understand it, a day later you’ll get one. I think
that’s about it. General?”

General Burnwall, standing beside Radin, smiled and raised
his hand in mock salute to the camera. Radin nodded his head, "Until then,
Radin out.” The screen went dark.

"Well," Leewood said, "it sounds like they've
certainly had their hands full."

Brandon rubbed his eyes – like the rest of them, he looked
exhausted. "Well so have we, but it all seems to be coming together."

Evelyn put her hand on Brandon’s arm, "I can’t wait to
see this instant com device…but look, we’ve only got four hours to get some
shut eye and then it's back to work for all of us so..."

"Yes," said Leewood, "let's not waste any of
it.”

Harrington’s eyes wandered over to Leewood, her expression
neutral.

They all got up and Leewood and Harrington headed towards the
hatch.

Harrington turned, "We'll see you in four hours or so,”
she said with a little wave as they left.

Out in the corridor Harrington and Leewood walked in silence
towards their quarters. Harrington's room was right next door to the Edens’,
and Leewood's was right next door to hers. As they approached the hatch to her
quarters, they slowed down and then paused for a minute, smiled at each other,
then proceeded down the corridor.

Inside the Edens’ quarters, Evelyn said to Brandon,
"Honey, catch Leewood and remind him that he has to meet with Flannery and
Mac before the end of their shifts."

Brandon walked quickly to the hatch and opened it. He looked
down the corridor just in time to see both Leewood and Harrington entering
Leewood's quarters. He blinked and then stared blankly down the empty corridor
for several seconds. Finally he retreated back inside and closed the hatch. He
stood there wearing a befuddled expression for a moment. Evelyn peeked out of
their sleeping area half-undressed and gave him a questioning look. "I...I
just missed them…” Brandon motioned awkwardly at the hatch, “…er, him…ah, and
her…missed…both,” he finished in a distracted manner, arms dropping to his
side.

Evelyn gave him a look, then her eyes sparkled and she
grinned as she quickly ducked back into their sleeping area. "No
matter…just come to bed, my love."

Brandon had seen the smile grace Evelyn's lips as she had
ducked back into their sleeping quarters. He wondered briefly if he should tell
Evelyn what he had just seen. Then he smiled too, realizing what Evelyn’s
departing smile had really meant and what he should have already known…that
she, as always…already knew.

---

Though the sun shone brightly, a cold crisp wind blew from
the North—the warm days of summer were passing, the season was changing. Large
patches of crisp auburn leaves blew across the ground with a dry scratchy
sound. They crunched underfoot as Adamarus and Bugs walked along what was now
their standard walking path around the vacant lot. After their first walk
almost a year ago, Adamarus had been stunned when, the next day, Bugs had insisted
on going for a walk again. Ever since then, Bugs had been adamant on starting
each of their meetings with a walk, and that’s what they’d done except twice
when it had been overruled by Adamarus due to pouring rain which didn’t bother
the robot one bit.

Today as they walked, Adamarus was lost in thought, thinking
of how close he, Grace and Nero had become over the last year. The time had
flown by and now the time was again upon them when he would have to leave.
Adamarus and Bugs would depart for Hideaway for a high-level meeting the
President had scheduled. Also, Bugs would get a chance to tour the Leviathan
Class Battleships, the L-Class fighters, and review their current weapons
systems. At least it would be a fast trip – they would be traveling on the
Loud’s Umbrella Ship.

 “Oh,” it said, “and congratulations on your promotion,
Admiral.”

Adamarus smiled. The promotion had come through the day
before without ceremony, fanfare or speeches – everyone was too busy. “It’s
‘Fleet’ Admiral, Bugs…not quite a full admiral yet.”

They entered and rode the elevator down to the underground
situation room where Adamarus, Bugs, scientists, engineers and others had held
meetings on the Loud’s new or improved weapons systems proposals.

Many times, Radin, Burnwall, Leewood, Harrington and the
Edens as well as others would participate in these meetings, although this was
done virtually. Today, however, the teleconferencing screens were dark and it
would be just Adamarus and Bugs. This would be their last meeting before
departing for Hideaway the next morning. They sat down at the table across from
each other.

Adamarus leaned forward in his chair, “In this meeting I’d
like to initiate getting the Loud’s assistance in constructing a new weapon…”
he paused searching for a nicer name for it, but couldn’t come up with one, “…a
bomb.”

Bugs stared at him for a moment, then leaned forward as well,
“What kind of bomb?”

Adamarus replied, “We don’t really care.”

Bugs drew his head back, “You…don’t care what kind?”

Adamarus considered what he’d just said and decided he didn’t
blame the alien for its reaction. He gathered his thoughts for a moment, then
continued, “No, we don’t care ‘what kind,’ only that it be…” again there was
only one way to put it, “the biggest…most powerful bomb that you can come up
with.”

“The biggest, most powerful bomb we can come up with,” Bugs
repeated.

Adamarus smiled and nodded, “Exactly.”

---

That night Adamarus, Grace and Nero had a special dinner and
spent time together allowing Nero to stay up an hour past his bed time. Later Adamarus
and Grace made love slowly and purposely. It might be a long time before they
could do it again.

The next morning, everyone was racing around getting ready
for work, school, and Adamarus’ departure. Finally the time came. "Well,
thank God…Nero and I are so in need of a break!” Grace teased as she pushed Adamarus
towards the door. They were all close to tears as well as laughing at her
joking around, glad for the levity she had injected into the always awkward
sorrowful goodbyes. "Now..." she patted down his uniform and straightened
his tie, "you take care of yourself ‘Admiral.’ Promise me!"

Adamarus brushed his finger across her cheek, "I'm going
to be with Bugs! If anything happens…well, I’ll just come back…”

“…even younger,” Grace said in unison with Adamarus and they
all laughed again.

He picked up Nero and hugged him, “You’re going to be a good
boy and help mother like we talked about?”

“Yes,” Nero said.

“Okay,” he kissed him on the forehead, hugged him tight and
then put him down. “Goodbye, son, but remember, with the Loud’s new com device
we’ll be able to talk in real time no matter where I am.”

Grace composed herself and then pushed him out the door, "Alright,
Mister…oh, I mean, ‘Admiral’ Maximus, go…go on…you’re going to be late. Off you
go. Goodbye, my love. I love you.” He started to turn, but she pulled him back
for a final kiss, released him and watched him walk away.

Adamarus, carrying only a small suitcase, walked out toward
the limo. Steam rose from the exhaust pipes in the early morning chill. The
driver hurried forward and took Adamarus’ bag and placed it in the trunk.
Adamarus got in the back and the limo drove off as Grace and Nero continued to
watch from the doorway.

Some minutes later the limo pulled to a stop at the guarded
gate of the compound that had long ago formed around the Loud ship and the
listening chamber. Adamarus glanced out the dark gray window knowing what he’d
see—just outside the gate, half a dozen civilian men and women were marching
around in a circle blocking the gate and holding signs. They parted to let the
limousine through without resistance. As they passed by, Adamarus was able to
read one of the signs. It said, “Prepare 4 Peace, Not 4 War.”

When the protesters had first appeared a few weeks ago, the
realization of what he was seeing was like a slap in the face. It seemed only a
few months before people had been leaving flowers at the gate. Adamarus’ mouth
had fallen open and he had been dumbfounded! He had seen this type of thing at
the start of the Asteroid Harvest project and it always caught him off guard.

When he pulled up to the entrance of the listening chamber,
Woodworth, Jan, Lenny and Trevor were out front waiting for him. Adamarus had
not yet met Jan, Lenny or Trevor, and introductions were made.

The sun had barely lifted off the horizon and a chill wind
blew around the group. Adamarus gestured back toward the gates, "I think
the numbers are falling off."

Woodworth laughed, "I saw a new sign this morning, 'Make
Bongs, Not Bombs'!”

“Make…Bongs…” Adamarus’ expression went blank. He blinked and
shook his head.

Jan held her hand up to block the sun and studied the distant
protestors, "Woodworth predicted this, but it happened a lot faster than
any of us expected."

Adamarus muttered almost to himself, "By now you’d think
I’d be used to it…” a little anger crept into his voice, “but it always catches
me by surprise,” he finished in a resigned tone. “We saw it at the beginning of
the harvesting project.” He continued staring thoughtfully back toward the
gates, “But this is unbelievable. Don’t they know what’s going on? What choices
do they think we have? What…” his hands made a helpless gesture and he just
went silent not knowing what to say. His head shook briefly as if he was
shaking off an unwanted annoyance, then he turned away and motioned everyone
inside the entrance.

They took the moving walk up and then walked down the
windowed tunnel to the soundproof door and the two guards who were expecting
them.

The door opened, but instead of the listening chamber, it
opened up to a large rectangular compartment with a dozen comfortable looking
seats. The seats were arranged around three oval art deco tables with subtle
lights near their bases. Viewers and cup holders were arranged on top. At the
far end, a stylish bar sat opposite to male and female restrooms. The group
entered looking around with expressions of approval.

It looked very familiar to Adamarus, but at first he could
not place it. Then it came to him. “It’s the Presidential shuttle – but without
the view ports!” he said to no one in particular. It was a copy of the cabin in
the Presidential shuttle they had first taken out to Hideaway. “At least this
time the trip won’t last as long.”

Woodworth sat down in one of the seats. “More time will be
spent making orbit and docking with the Umbrella Ship than the actual trip to
Hideaway itself…only minutes, according to Bugs.”

Lenny said, “Alright!”

Jan walked past him whopping him in the stomach as she did
and he doubled over with an “Oof.” “Lenny, if I hear that word one more time,
I’ll…” but Jan was interrupted by a racket at the end of the cabin.

Everyone quickly looked that way just as Bugs’ avatar sprung
up from behind the bar exclaiming, “Drinks are on the house!”

This sudden appearance startled the hell out of everyone. The
inactive avatar had been laid out behind the bar where it had inadvertently
remained hidden.

Bugs’ head swiveled from side to side looking at the startled
group. “What?” it asked.

Chapter Eighteen – Council of War

“What can we say about infinite density -- if we
could somehow peek inside some -- what would we see; what characteristics would
it have? Well, not much. Everywhere you look is the same. Uniformity rules.
There are no atoms, so there is no temperature; no motion, so no events, and
therefore time does not exist. There would be only a single state or a unistate
and the first cosmic law says this cannot exist -- within a universe. Singularities
define the edge of the universe, the actual unistate lying just beyond outside
the universe. Now, do the characteristics of infinite density happen to fit or
describe anything else? As a matter of fact, they do. They also describe...an
absolute vacuum which is supposed to be the exact opposite of infinite density.
However, if they have the exact same characteristics...then...they are the
same. Both are unistates. Both produce gravity as all things seek the lowest
number of states. Once it is realized that both matter and the lack of matter produce
this attraction called ‘gravity,’ everything falls into place, startling new
vistas open up and ‘dark matter’ is eliminated."

The Loud Named Bugs

Opening Speech, 23
^rd
Amular
Symposium
on Quantum Physics

Source: The Archive

Space Dock One had a large battle-hardened room called “the
atrium.” Originally, due to the war, this room had held the central command
center and other vital functions to protect these from attack. The room resided
within a 4200-foot square cavern that the engineers had carved out of the
asteroid’s solid rock near the top of Space Dock One—the asteroid itself
providing solid rock walls 1000 feet thick.

Within the cavern, the engineers had constructed a huge
circular domed room from the strongest battle armor of the day and suspended it
between six dozen 200-foot steel springs. The armored room measured 3000 feet
in diameter—the dome rose to a height of 1000 feet. It was estimated that the
room could survive anything short of a direct nuclear hit. Here, the shipyard’s
central control center and other vital functions resided in relative safety. However,
this seemingly logical arrangement did not last long.

During the war, the enemy – the United Settlements of the
Independent Mining Consortium (USIMC) – had a good spy network and their
intelligence gathering capabilities were sometimes frightening. They had
learned the name “Hideaway” and then discovered that it was some kind of a
secret facility. So far, that was all…but it was enough. If the USIMC ever
discovered the location of Hideaway, they would send everything they had to
destroy it. This caused extreme difficulty in shipping supplies and materials
to Hideaway.

Supply convoys bound for Hideaway had to go through elaborate
procedures to avoid giving away Hideaway’s position. First, the convoys had to
depart as individual ships, in secret, at different times, each headed in
different random directions. As soon as any freighter departed Amular's
planetary system, they picked up a USIMC spy ship that would attempt to follow
them covertly and learn their destination. So first, Hideaway’s supply
freighters had to find the Consortium’s spy ship they knew was there, and then
they had to lose it. They had a lot of help finding it from the military;
however, losing it -- that is, breaking the lock the spy ship had on them -- was
not an easy task.

They only had to break the spy ship’s lock for a brief period
– five or more minutes were all they needed. This was because as soon as the
freighters broke the lock, they immediately shutdown all power and went dead in
space. This made them almost impossible to detect. Then the freighter had to
drift through space—sometimes for months – while Amular security indirectly
confirmed that no enemy ships were still in the freighter’s area looking for
them. Only then could they power up and resume their long, independent journeys
to Hideaway.

As time went on, however, the Consortium’s spy ships got more
determined and persistent. Soon, in too many cases, the freighters simply could
not lose the spy ships, or once they did and had gone dead in space, the spy
ships just made it a waiting game, staying in the area waiting for the
freighters to power up. As long as they did this, the freighters could never be
given the “go ahead” from Amular to proceed. This situation soon resulted in
critical supply shortages at the secret shipyard.

At the same time, other factors were coming into play. Hideaway’s
location had thus far remained a complete secret, one that would continue until
present day, and this being the case, its apparent safety reduced the need for
battle-hardened locations for control functions.

On top of this, an independent study revealed that if an
enemy did discover Hideaway’s location and the facility was attacked, while the
battle-hardened areas might survive, the shipyard itself would likely be
destroyed, making any protected vital functions irrelevant anyway.

Due to shortages, mainly the depletion of battle armor for
ship hulls, Hideaway faced a shutdown of production. As the impending shutdown
drew near, the Edens themselves came to the realization that the tons of battle
armor and steel that had been used in the construction of the battle-hardened
area all around them could be used to keep production going.

This lead to what seemed a completely rational decision at
that time: They decided to move the control areas and cannibalize the
battle-hardened structure for its armor and steel.

So all of the vital functions were moved to new locations and
the gigantic domed room was stripped bare. Then, however, as so often happens
in the ever-changing chaos of war, the tide turned, dozens of freighters got
through to Hideaway and the supply shortage abruptly ended. Everyone’s full
attention immediately returned to the construction of the Leviathan Class
Battleships, and the vast domed room, now a useless hollow shell, was all but
forgotten.

With the coming high level meeting, it was decided that the
atrium was the ideal place to host the gathering so it was reopened and
construction began on the facilities that would be needed.

---

Radin and Burnwall would arrive at Hideaway with the ten
battleships within hours, and the Loud umbrella ship bringing Adamarus and
others from Amular would arrive within minutes.

Aboard Hideaway's Space Dock One, half a dozen engineers and
scientists had commandeered the central control center’s largest viewing room. Now
they were busy at over a dozen consoles that they had set up, making final
adjustments on the instruments and sensors aimed toward the spot where the Loud
had said their Umbrella ship would appear.

The scientists of Amular had monitored the disappearance and
reappearance of the Loud Umbrella Ships dozens of times in an attempt to gain
an understanding of how the alien ship did this. They had, of course, come
right out and asked the Loud about the principles behind their Grav-Drive and
the Phased Velocity Shifting and Speed Stepping technologies, and the Loud had
done their best to explain. However, their attempted explanations referred to
too many principles and technologies that stood upon other unknown principles
and technologies. It was like trying to explain the workings of a computer to a
culture that did not yet have electricity.

Evelyn and Harrington peeked in for a second on their way
down to the main shuttle bay where they would meet their arriving guests.
"Do you think they have enough equipment?” Evelyn deadpanned.

Harrington laughed. Evelyn seemed to be in an especially good
mood. She shook her head at her friend, "Well, even I would be interested
in how their ships do that little disappearing and reappearing trick.”

The two of them headed down the hall to the elevator and rode
it down to deck one where the main shuttle bay was located. The Loud Umbrella
ship was due to “appear” in minutes. Over two dozen people were in the area set
aside for welcoming Adamarus, Woodworth and the other new arrivals. They spotted
Brandon and Leewood and headed over to them.

Evelyn took Brandon's arm and turned to Admiral Leewood,
“Well, the big day is almost here.” Leewood had been put in charge of the
upcoming meetings and he had been working day and night to prepare.

Leewood looked over with a rueful smile, “Oh yeah, the fun
will start now. I understand Radin and the battleships from Anderson will
arrive in a few hours.”

“About three-and-a-half hours.” Evelyn looked at her watch,
then got the group’s attention and nodded towards the window. They all turned
and watched.

The solar wind rose from Cinder’s distant black horizon in a
steady up-pour. After a second, it seemed to shimmer for an instant and then
the huge form of the seven-mile Umbrella ship simply appeared out of nowhere. That
was it. You could have blinked and missed it. There were a few gasps, a couple
of “whoops” and one “Look at that!”

“Damn,” Brandon muttered in unison with Evelyn’s “Wow!" Neither
Evelyn nor Brandon had seen this in person before – only on video. Likewise,
they had never met Adamarus, Woodworth or the Loud named Bugs face to face –
only on teleconferencing screens at meetings.

Woodworth was famous for the history books he had written
which had been required reading at universities for over twenty years. And, of
course, the Loud named Bugs was known to everyone. The Edens were very excited
about meeting both.

Adamarus, however, was another matter. Fate had thrust him
almost into the realm of myth and legend. His name and his face had already been
household icons for over a decade, and now with the incredible events since the
arrival of the Loud, Adamarus Maximus’ status had been elevated to something
bigger than life.

For ten years, he had lead the MUEC Asteroid Mining and
Collection Project, the largest undertaking in history, and billed as the
effort that would save the species. As the project progressed, his name and
face had appeared periodically not only in the news media, but also on various
video specials and magazines. During this time, his presence, magnetism and
looks had elevated his status to that of a celebrity. Then, just as he had
started to become “old news” – something that was a great relief to Adamarus –
the big moment came for The Asteroid Collection Project and he was seen system-wide,
on every network, sitting in the captain’s chair on the bridge of the Bet’ti bringing
the first asteroid down to the surface. Overnight, he was back, this time as a
conquering hero.

Then the very next day, the world was stunned when it was reported
that Adamarus had been killed along with forty-seven other souls in the worst
space accident in history. Video and images of his grieving wife and child had
saddened the entire solar system. Documentaries had detailed his early years as
a fighter pilot, one of the seven aces, recipient of the highest medals and
awards.

Then a week later, the seven-mile alien space ship had
appeared in the sky – first contact, the most significant event in history –
and, with the populace already in shock and overwhelmed by events, they soon learned
that the purpose of the alien appearance was to deliver a reincarnated Adamarus
to the ER. But this was hardly the end of it.

The public then learned that the aliens had made Adamarus
young again! Then it was leaked that he also would never age – immortality! Directly
after that news was leaked, the aliens gave everyone immortality and the name “Adamarus”
was forever tied to the phenomenon. And although his true part in it was never
known, somehow he became partially credited for this miracle of miracles.

Now he was the primary contact with the Loud who were
showering society with Loud-ware technology so advanced it seemed like magic. To
the public, Adamarus Maximus had become more than just a hero, beyond just
famous, and larger than legend.

Both Evelyn and Brandon had been introduced to Adamarus over
a year ago over a teleconferencing link, and they had seen him often on
teleconferencing screens in meetings. Still, the thought of meeting him in
person and outside of the meeting environment had them both very keyed up.

They both knew that Leewood and Harrington had worked closely
with Adamarus, but neither one had ever thought to ask them anything about him.

Evelyn tore her eyes from the Loud ship and looked at
Harrington. "What's he like?” she asked. Brandon instinctively knew who
she was talking about and turned his head also interested in the answer.

Harrington turned towards her with a quizzical expression. “What’s
who like?” honestly clueless.

Unexpectedly Evelyn felt her cheeks heat, “Well…Admiral
Maximus, of course. What’s he like?” At this, both Harrington and Leewood gave
her a curious look and Evelyn felt her face redden even more. “Well…” she
faltered, “in case you hadn’t noticed…” she made an effort to compose herself,
“…well, at least to the general public anyway, he’s become…” she searched for
the right word, “well…something of a legend. At least according to the news…the
talk shows, magazines and…well…pretty much everyone in the known universe.”

The four of them looked at each other for a moment, then
laughter burst from both Leewood and Harrington.

Evelyn put her hands on her hips and glared at them.

Harrington put her hand over her mouth to stop the laughter,
then said, “Oh, I’m sorry…really.” She glanced over at Leewood who, with
effort, also stopped laughing. “Actually,” she looked back at Evelyn, “to be
completely honest, we really hadn’t noticed how the public viewed him.”

Seeing Evelyn’s expression, Leewood suddenly realized that
she was serious. “Living legend?” he asked, honestly astonished. He looked over
at Harrington and huffed. “Adamarus?” he said in disbelief. “And…what about…”
he looked questioningly back at Evelyn as he pointed to Harrington and himself.