Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers (41 page)

Leewood followed with, “We’ve had two suicides and…two more
on very shaky ground.” Everyone knew he was very worried about Harrington. “How
can we risk losing more people?”

Adamarus nodded, but said, “Bugs systematically unloaded all
of it on us at once, showing us shocking visible proof, reinforcing each point
with overwhelming comparisons and then extending them to the next logical level.
It didn’t pull any punches and it kicked our asses. If we’d seen all this in
some science fiction video, there would have been no impact at all. Galaxies
are so vast we can’t begin to comprehend them, and although we see active
galaxies tearing themselves to pieces…”

Leewood interrupted this time with a harsh laugh. “Well, we
are no longer sure that they are doing it to themselves, are we?”

This caught Adamarus off guard and for a minute he just
stared at Leewood with his mouth open. Finally, “Right...right, and of course,
as we know, it goes way beyond even this. However, I think we can state the
basic facts without using the sledge hammer Bugs used.” He looked around the
table, finally settling on the President’s screen.

Wicker sighed, “Go on.”

“I think it’s a combination of the harsh undeniable reality
of it all, plus the overwhelming scope that does you in and sent Thornton and
Van Loader over the edge.”

Leewood spoke again, “It’s also the incredible time spans and
the distances, and more than anything else, the age of the Slayers and this
Omega level of advancement! They know everything, Adamarus! Everything. And
they’re coming for us in something the size of a small solar system at a hair
below the speed of light, and they are coming to wipe us out and nothing can
stop them! They just destroyed the world of a species a thousand years more
advanced than us and they did it in a single day! They’re not interested in
negotiating, not interested in surrender, and in fact, we are just an
inconsequential stop on their way to their real objective which is beyond
anything we can imagine!” Leewood took a deep breath and steeped his fingers
forcing himself to regain his control. A harsh laugh emerged then, “Have I
forgotten anything?”

Radin closed his eyes, “Only a couple of minor details like
causing a sun to go nova is obviously a piece of cake for them. Oh, and let’s
not forget there’s a whole fleet of these Blackships, enough to cover a third
of the observable universe.”

President Wicker reluctantly added, “I can't get over that pale
blue galaxy Bugs showed us. They destroyed it 12 billion years ago…they’re as
old as the universe itself!”

Adamarus stood and spoke forcibly, “That’s just it! It’s not
believable unless you see the galaxies as we did and we won’t show them.
Without the harsh undeniably we were subjected to, we let there be an element
of disbelief. We don’t mention that their activities can be traced back 12
billion years…or anything about the Omega level…nor the Loud's calculations that
show that to do what we're seeing the number of Blackships must be in..."
Adamarus faltered unable to say it.

"...in the billions," President Wicker finished for
him.

Everyone was quiet for a long time. Finally Wicker broke the
silence, “Okay, I think that might be okay. I think that would work.” He looked
at the others for support.

Leewood said, “We don’t tell them everything.”

“Exactly,” Adamarus said.

Radin nodded then said, “And we definitely don’t mention that
using us verses the first one-celled organisms that existed on our planet as a
comparison won’t work because our planet isn’t old enough.”

---

Later that day, Adamarus got permission from the President to
brief Evelyn and Brandon Eden, General Burnwall and Professor Woodworth,
provided each underwent a psychological evaluation and it showed that they
could ”handle” the diluted facts.

Adamarus was also elected to do the briefing so he postponed
his departure for several days. Bugs had agreed to bring the Loud ship back to
take him home.

It was not easy getting all the psychological evaluations,
especially since none of the individuals could be told the reason why in case
they failed.

The next day the results came in, and strangely enough, Adamarus
had been right to worry about Brandon as his results came in as borderline. His
passion was cosmology and he knew better than the rest just how impossible the
facts were. It was decided to let Evelyn decide after she had heard the
details.

---

The next day, Adamarus met Evelyn, Burnwall and Woodworth in
the same conference room where the first meeting with Bugs had taken place. He
explained about the ”communication problem” between them and the Loud, and on
top of this, why the Loud had not wanted to tell them.

The therapist had recommended coffee, sandwiches and cookies,
saying that the more casual and familiar the meeting environment, the better.
The meeting had also been scheduled so that it was lunch time and everyone
would be hungry, and they were all eating when the meeting started.

“The Loud have been studying the movements and activities of
the approaching alien for some 800 years. They call the alien the ‘Spiral
Slayers’ and they call their black hole powered ships ‘Blackships.’” Adamarus
shrugged, “We’ll continue with those names. The facts about these aliens are
about as overwhelming as it can get. The Loud have detected more of these
Blackships. There is also a Spiral Slayer ‘footprint’ which I’ll talk more
about later, and it is this footprint, in part, which has allowed the Loud to
find the ships as well as track their movements back over time. These ships and
their footprints are widely spread across the universe.”

"Universe!" Evelyn exclaimed.

“How widely?” Woodworth asked.

“They believe that they see Blackships in three galactic
super clusters,” Adamarus said, telling the truth but not mentioning that "signs"
of the Slayers’ ships, the exploding galaxies, could be seen in thousands of
super clusters.

Sounds of disbelief came from all three. Adamarus knew it
wouldn’t be the last time. “Yes, it is unbelievable,” Adamarus continued, “but
I’ll warn you now, this is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Woodworth interrupted again, “Adamarus, that is simply not
possible! The distances and time involved are just too great. The expansion of
the universe puts super clusters out of reach, even to non-stop, near light
speed…” Woodworth’s eyes suddenly went wide, “… are you saying that they have an
FTL drive?”

 “The Loud don’t believe so,” Adamarus said. “No ship the
Loud have tracked has exceeded the speed of light. However, they are certainly
doing something to allow them to cover these distances. What it is, the Loud
don’t yet know.”

It was Evelyn’s turn to jump in. “Wait a minute! How old is this
species?”

There it was. Adamarus took a deep breath. “We simply don’t
know.” It was a lie, but it was also the truth.

Everyone’s mouth fell open.

Burnwall ran both hands through his hair, “So… pretty much
this is like us taking all our military might and bringing it to bare
on…what…?”

“An anthill,” Adamarus filled in for Burnwall.

“Us being the anthill,” Woodworth added.

“So we have no chance at all,” Evelyn said in a stunned and
shocked voice, “just as Bugs has said all along.”

“Listen up, people,” Adamarus got up and leaned forward on
the conference table, “there are some things that may give us some hope, but I
must ask you to be patient and let me get through my presentation.”

Adamarus took a sip of water and set the glass down.
Woodworth was looking at the table. Evelyn’s eyes were tearing up and Burnwall
had that thousand-yard stare…and he hadn’t even gotten to the worst of it. “The
Blackships will enter a galactic cluster and then enter one of the galaxies –
for some reason they only pick on spiral galaxies. The ship heads straight for
the galaxy’s center.” Adamarus shifted positions, “If they encounter any
civilizations along the way, they attack and destroy them as they’ve done with
the Loud’s and…intend to do with our civilization. But their true objective is
the black hole at the center of the galaxy. Once they get to it, they do
something that causes the black hole to explode. This explosion releases all of
the matter within the black hole as super heated plasma and radiation. This,
over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, spreads outward through the
spiral, killing all life and sterilizing the entire galaxy.”

“What?” General Burnwall said in shock.

“Oh my God,” Evelyn whispered in disbelief.

Woodworth’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Realization
hit him after a moment, “And that’s what that thing is doing here?”

Everyone turned first to Woodworth, then to Adamarus.

“Yes,” Adamarus said.

“And we’re just some recreation along the way,” Burnwall
added.

“Yes,” Adamarus said.

Burnwall continued, “I don’t believe it. It is just not
possible to destroy an entire galaxy. It is just not possible to ‘work your way
across the universe’! Unless they do have an FTL drive, then that changes
everything.”

Adamarus replied, “The Loud believe that the Spiral Slayers have
reached a very high level of evolutionary advancement. Based on the Loud’s
analysis of the tachyon scans of the battle, they believe that the Spiral
Slayers somehow force their black hole into some kind of upper dimension and
hold it there while they attack the planet, the space installations, and
finally the star." Adamarus paused and closed his eyes. Now was the time
to hit them with it...no choice...they had to know. And there was no easy way
to do it.

 He cleared his throat. "The Loud say that holding the
singularity there takes enormous power and it is likely that they somehow route
the singularity’s power in a feedback loop to accomplish this. The thing is, if
we were to somehow luck out and destroy the Blackship, its singularity would no
longer be held in that upper dimension. It would return to normal space.”

“Oh, great!” Burnwall yelled, literally throwing his arms in
the air. “That’s just great!”

“What does that mean?” Woodworth asked.

Adamarus explained, “Having a black hole that large next to
our planet, or for that matter anywhere within our solar system, would be
utterly catastrophic. It would devour our planet and our moons, then it would
suck in all the rest of the planets – every single one of them, then it would
eat up our sun, and finally it would devour every comet in the ice cloud. There
would be absolutely nothing left of our solar system." He sighed, "We
have some serious problems to work out.”

---

The President and his entire inner circle had hit the bottom.
Overwhelmed and stunned by the events that had brought Amular’s first Council of
War to a premature close, but most of all, the shocking news from the Loud
about the approaching alien’s strength and power, each one of them had simply
shutdown. Each knew that somehow, they had to pick themselves up and carry on;
nevertheless, right now they could not find the strength. None of them,
including President Wicker, showed themselves. Queries from their next level of
command were going unanswered and people were beginning to notice.

Adamarus had been trying to get everyone together for several
days to no avail, but finally on the fourth day, he succeeded. 

Except for the late Lance Thornton and Dr. Van Loader, all
the attendees of the original Black Raven meeting were present, including Bugs.
Also present were Woodworth, Evelyn, and Burnwall.

Adamarus stood before them and said, “We’ve been inundated by
bad news and sudden deaths, overwhelmed by the power and incredible age of the
alien that approaches. We’ve watched a neighboring civilization 1000 years more
advanced than us be destroyed in a single day. Now we sit here frozen in fear
and depression as an impossibly large black hole comes at us at almost the
speed of light for a repeat performance. As if that were not enough, we know
that after it leaves here, it will continue to the center of our galaxy and
unleash a force that will kill every living thing in our galaxy.”

Adamarus paused a beat, gathered his thoughts and then
continued, “I called this meeting because I believe that there is actually some
good news that we have overlooked. I do not know if it will save us, but it is
something…hopefully an opportunity and a weakness we can somehow exploit. In
any event, it’s something in our favor and that is something we sorely need.”
He looked around at the group. The hopelessness he saw made him want to give
up.

He forced himself to go on, “Bugs, I need the advanced opinion
of the Loud.”

“I’ll answer you if I can,” replied the Loud.

“Good.” Adamarus took a deep breath, “What indicates an
evolving species?”

The avatar went still for a second and then replied, “Improvement,
adaptability…change.”

Adamarus nodded as he thought about how to phrase his next
question. “Can a species stagnate, stop evolving?”

The Loud had to think about this. “Actually, no—if a thing is
alive, it is evolving.”

Adamarus glanced around and was pleased to see small signs of
interest – people were leaning forward and listening.

Woodworth spoke up, “Wait…there is a crab who has not changed
in millions of years--I don’t recall its name--but surely that is stagnation.”

Bugs was silent for many seconds. Most knew that the alien
was consulting with other Loud and perhaps checking with whatever the Loud used
for a computer. Finally Bugs said, “If you are referring to the Horseshoe
Crab,” Woodworth nodded, “then you are wrong. It has, in fact, changed. One
hundred million years ago, it looked much the same, but it was a little larger
and it had a more advanced body. Admittedly it is evolving very slowly, but
none the less, it is changing.”