Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers (34 page)

Everyone knew that the bomb was their only possible salvation
from the moons and comets that the alien’s arrival would send flying around the
solar system.

“The next topic on the agenda is the subject of explosive
devices,” Leewood announced. “The last request made to the Loud was that they,
using their advanced technology, come up with a plan for the most powerful bomb
that they could create.” He looked up at the observers section, “At their last
meeting, Adamarus made the request…” he looked back at the avatar, “and…” he
extended his hand out, palm upward towards the Loud and raised his eyebrows,
“Bugs, you came up with an answer, yes?”

The avatar stood calmly, looked at Leewood and said, “No.” Then
it leaned forward and busied itself at its access console.

Around the avatar everyone froze. Leewood looked around
helplessly for a second then he stood uncertainly. His mouth parted to say
something, but whatever it was wouldn’t come out, so he just stood that way,
mouth open, eyes looking curiously at the Loud.

Adamarus saw immediately what was happening. Slowly over the
months of his discussions with Bugs, Adamarus had figured out a little quirk
with Loud/human communications. He should have sent out a memo or something, he
chided himself, as he got to his feet. Leewood had inadvertently phrased his
last sentence in just such a way that the Loud had been thrown off as had
happened to Adamarus from the very first day. At first Adamarus had thought that
it was a problem with the translator, but slowly he had figured out that, if
before asking the question you mentioned something that happened in the past,
this set the timeframe for the question! Leewood had done this by stating just
before his question that Adamarus had made the request at the last meeting. Therefore,
Bug had interpreted the question to be ‘You came up with an answer at the last
meeting,’ which had not been the case.”

Disregarding protocol, Adamarus said in a strong voice, “The
Loud has misinterpreted your question, Mr. Chairman. It thinks you stated that
the Loud had had the solution on the same day that the request was made.”
Adamarus waved his hands, brushing the incident aside, “Let’s move on.”
Adamarus turned and directed his voice towards the avatar, “Do you have a
solution today?”

“Yes,” the avatar answered. It had stopped what it had been
doing to watch and listen to Adamarus. It cocked its head as if attempting to
determine what had happened, then went back to what it had been doing.

Adamarus sat back down. Everyone was looking at him
curiously…
as well they should
, he thought. He made a quick note to
explain this quirk. As he leaned back, he suddenly frowned…alarms had started
going off in the back of his mind. Bugs had started speaking and Adamarus tried
to focus on both the Loud and what was bothering him, but whatever had set off
the alarms had slipped away. He shrugged and focused on the Loud.

The Loud explained what they had come up with and the
participants were suitably impressed. It was a graviton bomb or grav-bomb. Although
testing would be needed to be certain of the theories and precise yields, it
was believed that base level yields would be in the 4000 to 6000 megaton range
with upper end yields of 3000 to 4000 gigatons. An 8000 megaton yield would
vaporize Aster’s largest moon, and maximum yields of 4000 gigatons would knock
out widespread groups of comets pulled loose from the ice cloud. Development
would begin immediately and initial testing might begin as early as next month.
If the new grav-bombs were going to be placed near the ice cloud, they needed
time to get them there and set them up.

Someone suggested that a path might be cleared for the black
hole to pass through, but this was shut down when it was pointed out that the
ice in the ice cloud was constantly moving and rotating all at different
speeds.

Aster’s rings would still be a problem—it was estimated that twenty
percent of the ring material was just big enough to potentially wipe out a good
section of a city. An idea from the Loud that might deal with this: a dozen
large graviton enhancement devices, similar to the Umbrella Ship gravity
engines, would theoretically divert the rings, forcing them down and into the
gas giant.

---

Day Three…

The third day opened and the spotlight turned to Evelyn and
Brandon Eden and estimates on getting Hideaway up and running, implementing
ship upgrades, and new ship production.

After lunch, the Edens wrapped up with preliminary estimates
for converting both the Anderson and Bentley shipyards for warship
construction.

---

The meeting broke up a little early because Radin and
Burnwall had asked the seventeen people at the conference table to assemble in
the command center’s large viewing room at 5:00 PM. The eighty-two observers
and the various aids had also been instructed to assemble in various areas
where they would also have a view. No one knew why, but figured that it was
important. Once they were all assembled, Radin asked them to find a place where
they could look out of the large view ports.

At first, nothing happened, but then a Leviathan Battleship
came into view and began traveling past the window, then another and another
and another. Formations of L-fighters streaked past traveling between the large
ships. After several minutes, all forty battleships were visible. They were in
a formation that allowed all of them to be seen and they seemed to fill space
itself. It was a monstrous show of force and it was powerful and very impressive.
It was just the morale booster everyone needed at this stage.

Radin had also requested Bugs’ presence and Adamarus,
Leewood, Radin and Woodworth stood around the avatar, watching the overwhelming
sight.

Harrington came up and merged into the group. After a few
minutes, she bent over, and speaking over Bug’s shoulder in a voice just loud
enough for the group to hear, she said, “Bugs, tell me now what chance you
think we have against the alien.”

Bugs did nothing for several seconds, then he turned and
said, “No chance. We have no chance at all against the alien.” The show of
force had not changed its mind.

Chapter Nineteen – Private
Disclosure

“Communicating with an alien ‘human’ species
would probably be fairly easy, although you can never be sure. This is because
mammal brains all work in the same basic way and at about the same basic speed,
and nature’s blueprint for mammals is the same here on this planet as it is
seventy-eight billion light years from here. However, communicating with an alien
of a different species could be very tricky. The brains of other species work
in different ways as well as different speeds. Obvious differences will come to
light right away, but subtle differences may slip by unseen, or they may be
caught and seemingly corrected while, in fact, they are not. Layers of
falsehoods and misunderstanding can easily build unnoticed until sooner or
later the layers collapse under their own weight.”

Dr. Lorraine Harrington

Lecture on The Dangers of
Non-Human Alien Communications

Source: The Archive

After Radin’s “show of force” demonstration, everyone seemed
to have more of a spring in their step. Adamarus, however, had returned to his
room feeling spent. He did not turn on the lights…the dim light coming through
the cabin’s view ports painted everything in a half light that fit his mood. He
collapsed onto an overstuffed recliner, leaned back in the dark and closed his
eyes. He was too tired to focus on anything in particular and he let his mind
wander at random while he drifted into a state that was neither asleep, nor
awake.

Actually, things were going well, he mused.

He kicked off his shoes.

Considering…

A laugh almost bubbled up to the surface.

Considering…an alien ship powered by a black hole as big as a
small solar system was coming directly at them at almost the speed of light, the
same ship that had destroyed a civilization a thousand years more advanced and
had done it in a single day. And now it was coming to pay them a visit.

That pretty much summed up the number one problem on their
list of problems.

This time the laugh made it, escaping from Adamarus’ lips as
a sharp bark, breaking the silence of his dark room.

He forced his mind to go blank. The blackness behind his eye
lids swirled and flowed…

He remembered how Leewood had asked Bugs about the ”super
bomb.” Bugs had answered “no” because of the way the question was phrased. No,
that wasn’t right…it was because of the sentence uttered before the question. The
Loud took any kind of time qualifier and extended it until another was in some
way indicated. They would have to be very concise in the way they phrased their
questions from here on out.

Adamarus rubbed his eyes and wondered if anything else had
been misunderstood and answered incorrectly in this way. Unconsciously his hands
squeezed the chair’s arm rests as an uneasy feeling coursed through him.

It had certainly taken the wind out of all of them when
Harrington had asked Bugs if he still maintained that they had “no chance”
against the alien. Once again it had answered, “You have no chance at all”…“No
chance at all”…“No chance at all”…how could it be so certain? It knew nothing
of the aliens. It had not seen the alien weapons used on the Loud’s home system.
That the aliens had harnessed a black hole to power their ship was a huge point
in favor of the Loud’s view, but it seemed to Adamarus that Bugs was basing it
on more than just this.

Adamarus immediately looked for some “qualifier” within
Harrington’s question that might have skewed the Loud’s answer but could find
nothing.

He remembered that after he had corrected Bugs’ answer about
the bomb, something had bothered him…almost panicked him. What had he been
thinking? Again, he came back to Bugs’ “no chance at all”—how could Bugs be so
sure? Bugs had said that the Loud knew nothing about the alien, so…

Adamarus’ eyes opened wide and he bolted upright.

What if, when they asked Bugs what the Loud knew about the
alien, some “time qualifier” had been mentioned beforehand!
That would be
ridiculous,
he thought. He settled back into the chair but couldn't relax.
Well,
it'd be easy enough to check.
He moved to the computer console and drilled
down into the Archive's data. After several minutes, he pulled up the
transcript of that first meeting after the Loud ships had returned. After
scanning it, he was a little surprised to find that there was only two places
where they had asked that question, and he read them carefully.

Leewood: “Bugs, what can you tell us about the attack on your
solar system??”

Bugs: “Not much, I’m afraid.”

Adamarus let out the breath he hadn't realized he been
holding but then shook his head. This question asked about the 'attack', not
the aliens. He scanned further down and found what he wanted.

 Leewood: “So, you do not know who the aliens are, where they
came from or why they attacked you?”

Bugs: “No.”

Adamarus quickly looked at the transcript above these entries
for any kind of time reference and saw it at once. Running everything Leewood
had said together would read:

Leewood: “So between the time the alien was first detected
and the time the ship left to come here, your world learned nothing else about
the alien? You do not know who the aliens are, where they came from, or why
they attacked you?”

Bugs: “No.”

Adamarus felt his insides twist. He stared at the screen in incredulity.

He reread the question and the answer and the time qualifier:
“…between the time the alien was first detected and the time the fourth ship
left to come here.” This was not good.

Adamarus rubbed his eyes trying to throw off the fatigue. He
scanned through the rest of the transcript as well as the transcript for the
2nd meeting praying he'd find something more solid. No, they had really only
asked the Loud that one time: ”You do not know who the aliens are, where they
came from, or why they attacked you?” And if you applied the previously
mentioned time period to it, Bugs would not even know an alien approached!

The room seemed to swirl around Adamarus.
This is crazy
,
he thought.
This can't be possible.

He got up and left his cabin.

---

He found Bugs’ in the main hanger discussing improvements to
the maser cannons with Radin. He walked right up and inserted himself between
the two, interrupting their conversation. “Bugs, do the Loud know more about
the aliens or their ship or their motives or their actions than you've told us?”

Bugs just stared at Adamarus for almost thirty seconds then
replied, “We have answered every question you have asked us.”

“Do you know more than you have told us?” Adamarus asked
again more sternly.

Again, Bugs paused for many seconds before replying. “What
other questions do you have?”

Adamarus exploded. “Damn it! That IS my question! Answer it! What
the hell is wrong with you?” Adamarus hollered at Bugs. Half a dozen people
scattered around the hanger heard this and turned towards them.

Bugs looked around at them then said in a lowered voice,
“This discussion should be continued in private.”

Bugs, Adamarus and Radin left the hanger and found an empty
conference room. They went inside and closed the door. Adamarus and Radin faced
Bugs and waited.

“We know more,” Bugs said without further pretense.

Adamarus demanded, “Exactly what? Tell us.”

“It is a substantial amount of information, Adamarus,” Bugs
replied. “Around 800 years’ worth.”

“What?” Adamarus asked incredulously.

Radin was beside himself. He leaned in towards Bugs and
yelled, “You told us that you knew nothing about the aliens! You…you lied to
us? Why, Bugs? Why?”

“We did not lie,” Bugs said. “We did what…”

Radin lost it and screamed at the avatar, “You said you knew
nothing, had no information! Now you say…you say…”

Adamarus grabbed Radin’s arm and pulled him back, “Radin, listen
to me. Listen to me! Strictly speaking, based on the way we phrased our
question, Bugs told the truth. But…I do think this is total bullshit.” He
turned to Bugs, “You knew that we needed all the information you had. Why did
you withhold it from us?”

Again, Bugs paused for many seconds before answering. “We did
not believe that you could handle the truth.”

A chill went up Adamarus’ back and now it was he who paused
for many seconds. Then, “I will call an emergency meeting and you will tell us
everything you know. Everything!”

“Okay,” Bugs’ avatar actually seemed to slump a little, “but,
I strongly advise you to keep this meeting very small—no more than absolutely
necessary. Once you’ve heard what we know, then you can decide how many people
should hear the truth.”

Adamarus stared at the Loud as a sick feeling spread through
him.

---

Adamarus and Radin were pretty sure where Leewood could be
found and decided to go up one deck and check there before trying to raise him
on the com unit. They found him just where they thought they would – in the
One4U. He was sitting at the bar having a drink with Harrington and Evelyn. They
walked up behind the group and Leewood sensed them and turned. His eyes
crinkled in a smile, “Gentlemen! Have a seat,” he turned and raised his hand to
get the bartender’s attention.

Adamarus reached up and caught his arm stopping him. He
leaned in and spoke in a low voice, “We need to talk.”

Leewood started to protest, but saw something in Adamarus’
eyes—his smile faded a notch, “Okay.” He took another sip of his drink then got
up, “Ladies…if you’ll excuse me, duty calls…I guess.”

---

In Adamarus’ cabin, he had just finished telling Leewood all
that had transpired. Leewood was still for many seconds, using all his will
power to contain the fury raging inside him. Leewood had never trusted the Loud
and regardless of how he had phrased the questions he had asked, Bugs damn well
knew that they had needed all the information available on the alien. Moreover,
in all the time since their initial conversation on the alien…all their
meetings on the subject…all the questions they’d pondered…how could Bugs sit
there quietly offering nothing? Finally, “Bugs said it wasn’t sure we could
handle the truth, huh?” He looked over at Adamarus then Radin. “That’s exactly
what Bugs said?”

Radin nodded, “That’s exactly what the tin man said.”

“And when you asked it what it knew…what did it say?”

Adamarus looked away, “It said it was a substantial amount. It
said, ‘800 years’ worth.’”

“That’s pretty damn scary,” Leewood said. He rubbed his
temples, “And it said to keep this meeting to a minimum, and after we’d heard
what it knew, we could decide who should know?”

“Yes,” Adamarus said, “I got the impression that it was a
bombshell.”

Radin nodded, “Yeah.”

Leewood’s initial fury and outrage had turned to
resignation…then to dread. “I guess we need to call the boss.” Leewood grabbed
his com unit and issued a short message to President Wicker. It simply said,
‘Urgent. Contact soonest,” and he marked the security level as Red Raven and
sent it.

Adamarus had moved to the window. He crossed his arms as he
looked out at the spectacle of Cinder’s horizon. “Bugs has maintained all along
that we have ‘no chance’ against this alien. I guess we’re about to find out
why.”

“Who should attend this meeting?” Leewood asked. “We should
have recommendations ready for Wicker. We have no idea what we’re going to hear
so…as Bugs said, an absolute minimum for now.”

Adamarus left the window and sat down next to Radin. “But at
the same time, we need the right people there to analyze and evaluate this new
information, ask the right questions and make decisions.”

Leewood rubbed the weariness from his eyes, “Well…the three
of us to start with – we’re already cursed…” both Adamarus and Radin barked a
laugh and muttered agreement, “and of course President Wicker.”

Adamarus nodded, “I guess we’ll need minimum coverage for all
affected areas…whatever they turn out to be. We have military and political
covered, so that leaves science and technology…oh, and definitely a
communications expert, the interspecies type.”

Leewood said, “Harrington then.”

Adamarus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Harrington,
and for the sciences and technology…Van Loader, I guess?” Adamarus said this
reluctantly. Dr. Gerald Van Loader was considered Amular’s reigning genus, however,
the man was the most arrogant, condescending person Adamarus had ever met.

Leewood frowned, “Yeah, I guess that’s a given…but let’s have
Donnelly as well.”

Adamarus nodded agreement, “Good idea.” Donnelly could serve
as a buffer between Van Loader and everyone else. Also, Donnelly could serve as
a translator –Van Loader loved to talk above a person’s head.

Radin, who’d been silent, asked, “What about Woodworth?”

Adamarus and Leewood thought about this for a moment, then
Leewood said, “I can’t see any reason to have Woodworth there…not initially
anyway.”

“No,” it was Adamarus, “I say we stick to our initial list.”

“Sounds good to me,” Leewood said. They both looked at Radin
who nodded agreement.

Adamarus shook his head wearily, “We have a full day planned
for tomorrow, don’t we?” he said giving Leewood a significant look.

Leewood thought for a second then said, “Tomorrow’s meeting
agenda includes discussing our strategy for using the mines, and then we
planned to move on to the main defensive options and backup contingencies.” Leewood
noticed the way Adamarus was looking at him, “Ah shit, perhaps all a waste of
time, huh, depending on what Bugs has to tell us.”

“Exactly,” Adamarus said.

At this point, Leewood’s com unit buzzed. It was Wicker. Leewood
briefed him on what had transpired and a meeting was set for 6:00 the next
morning. The President agreed that some excuse was needed to postpone
tomorrow’s meeting. Leewood said they’d take care of it and signed off.