SODIUM:5 Assault (16 page)

As I passed through an interior wall and into a hallway I became aware of hundreds of Frekkin who were occupying the building. Before I made it to the next wall an alarm sounded on a wristband of one of the Frekkin and he raised a pistol weapon at me and fired. It was the last I remember before waking up in another room... once again naked from having my BGS removed.

I stared up at a low white ceiling while still in a state of confusion. Once I was fully alert, I turned my head to my left and then to my right. There on a table next to me, and still unconscious, was Hershen. I attempted to contact my staff over my QE comm channel. It had been disabled. I was soon visited by a Frekkin scientist.

She used a crude translator to begin asking questions. She was interested to know if we were the Humans that had taken the outer worlds. She pointed with her tiny fingers towards Hershen and said that it was a rhetorical question. They had been watching our progress with fascination. Aside from the Por Hollis, we were the only species they felt might be worth saving. We had potential and could possibly be very useful as subjects of their empire.

I responded that their empire was non-existent as was evidenced by their abandonment of their own world. I was quickly persuaded with an electric shock to refrain from giving belligerent answers. The questioning continued for several minutes before the Frekkin inquisitor decided that I would not be answering her questions willingly. Hershen remained unconscious.

A second Frekkin entered the room with an injection. Before it was pressed against the skin on my neck I asked the inquisitor her name. It was Shtia. She was the equivalent in rank to our Colonel and was the science officer left behind with the group hoping for the chance to gather further information on our species.

She went on for several minutes explaining why they had fled their own world. There was another race of beings out there that had attacked them without provocation. A Frekkin scout ship had inadvertently entered the domain of their new enemy and when it fled it was followed back to one of their other worlds.

The red ships soon followed leaving nothing but a scorched ball of rock of what had been their capital planet. They had no defense against the waves of fire the red ship elicited from their sun. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) the size of their planet had been directed their way and within days nothing remained but a charred rocky crust with no atmosphere.

They had attempted repeatedly to contact the aliens, but received no response. I told her I knew the frustration that they must have felt as the Kurtz had done the same when attacking our world. She laughed as she looked at Hershen and replied that our world must have been weak to allow such a lowly race to nearly conquer it.

I wanted to break free from my restraints and show her just how weak Humans were, but the gravity straps holding me down were such that I could not move. The other Frekkin then growled at her before leaving the room. I was soon given the injection and began telling Shtia everything I knew.

The questioning continued until I blacked out. When I awoke I was on a pad, in a cell, traveling towards wherever the Frekkin people had fled to. I was again a prisoner on a ship heading to a far world. After sitting up on my pad my first thoughts were to once again begin my fitness training program. The Frekkin gravity was only slightly below that of Earth so my workouts would have to be rigorous if I wanted to maintain my strength.

As I walked around my small cell I took note of the two doors located in its walls. One was locked, but after some fumbling the second door opened into another room. The room had a wash basin, cloth towels and a commode. It was a joyous day. But the washroom had still another door on its far wall. When it opened I was staring at a still unconscious Hershen lying on a bed pad. I was happy to once again have the company of my old friend.

Back on Hale my commanders had a brief skirmish with the Frekkin we had encountered. Less than an hour after Hershen and I had drifted inside a Black Pearl ship had come screaming up through the transparent dome of the building and had achieved light speed before completely exiting the atmosphere. Our forces did not have time to respond and once through light speed our long wave sensors were of no use. The remaining Frekkin had absconded with the Supreme Commander of the AMP.

An acting Supreme Commander was selected from my staff and other than a small science team left on Hale the fleets had headed for home. The threat of the Frekkin Empire was no more. Because of our mistrust of the Borten our new commander left a quarter of our fleet on station at the Borten worlds. A single fleet was given a rotation on the Kurtz worlds just as a precaution. It was believed that with our presence they were far less likely to get rebellious.

At home much of our farmlands had been restored to natural vegetation. With every citizen in a BGS, food was no longer an issue. Vast resource processing plants were given raw materials which were then assembled into the food packs that adorned the belt of the BGS. The multitudes of small factories that had been used to build our defenses had been shuttered with the production moved to giant space factories that sat just outside Earth's atmosphere.

Our world was evolving at a pace that would make it unrecognizable from only 50 years before. Technology had advanced rapidly propelling the human race ever forward. But a new nemesis loomed on the horizon. A nemesis with weapons we had not yet seen and with technologies that were perhaps beyond our grasp. The AMP was not yet ready for another war.

I attempted to keep count in my head as my journey through space continued, it had been three months. I could only guess that I was thousands of light-years distance from Earth. My only friend was Hershen and we passed the time telling stories that we made up in our heads. Hershen had become quite the bard in his years in my service.

I was unsure if our location was in orbit around some new Frekkin home-world or if we had merely joined with their fleet and continued to travel farther from home. Our Frekkin captors only made the rare appearance in our cells. Those visits were typically to gather blood, hair and skin samples for whatever experiments they had decided to conduct. I was happy to give knowing the experiments were not being performed directly on me.

The days turned to weeks and the weeks into months. I began to wonder if the ending of my life would be to die in captivity. I wondered if my extended lifespan was becoming a curse. I had run repeated scenarios through my head of how I would kick the next Frekkin who came into my cell. I would then run into the hallway outside to go on a terror spree. But I knew that would mean certain death, and death was not something that I was as of yet interested in.

Back at Earth Command, an urgent message came in from the science team on Hale. The red ships of the unknown invaders had entered the system. The QE comm on their ship went silent as they attempted to lift off from the planet. The last visual that came through the channel was of a blue glow as whatever had been fired at them impacted their ship.

Several QE comm sensors had been placed throughout the Frekkin system and were broadcasting a live feed of the red fleet’s destructive power. A blue particle beam had been the end of our science team. The invaders then turned their attentions towards the planet.

Numerous long thin cylinders were assembled and then launched towards the Frekkin sun. They drifted for more than an Earth day before disappearing into the yellow glow that warmed the planet called Hale. Our teams watched, wondering if the cylinders were a weapon... or something else. They soon received their answer.

Dark spots began to form on the sun's surface within hours. In the following days those spots coalesced into one large sunspot. It stewed, swirled, boiled and then abruptly erupted. A massive stream of hot plasma shot out heading directly towards the path of the planet. Three days later Hale was consumed in flame and the last Frekkin world... was no more. The QE sensors in the system went dark one by one.

A recon destroyer had been stationed at half a light-year distance. Our long wave sensors had failed to detect the incoming threat. When the QE sensors went silent we had no way to know what our new enemy was up to... or if they were our enemy.

Back on Earth work continued on construction of the Sodium shield. Nearly three quarters of the planet, including the Moon, was masked by the great shield. The side facing the Sun had been left open as our engineers worked on a solution for their one remaining problem; how to not block out the warming and life giving rays of the Sun.

On Alvin a single city had been constructed that covered the planet's one continent. Its human citizens numbered more than a billion strong. It had thriving industries and was the primary trade route between Earth, Toledus, Mabia and the Borten worlds. Its spaceports greeted a continuous stream of transport ships.

The Kurtz worlds had been fully transformed. Shining cities of light dotted their surface, factories hummed and the people moved about their daily lives with a freedom they had not experienced in thousands of years. With drastic changes in their education system they were fast becoming premier worlds for science and technology.

The Borten continued their emphasis on being a manufacturing powerhouse. New ships were produced in days and the rewards of being a member of the AMP had easily doubled their standard of living. As always, they continued in their decadent and slothful ways, but at a pace that was sustainable.

The AMP had begun to mature as an empire and plans for exploration and further expansion were in the works. Each system had been given four teams of explorers with the ships and supplies that would take them on years-long journeys into the unknown. New planets and new species were needed if the AMP was to grow. Celebrations were still underway on the Borten worlds from their first exploration teams being launched when the red ships appeared.

The first Borten ships to react were quickly cut in half by the powerful particle beams of our new red enemy. The Borten fleet of more than 150,000 ships was quickly called to service. It was a call that they were not immediately ready for. A hundred smaller ships had been destroyed before the first battleship came online.

The Human 17th fleet was parked a light-year away and was powered up and readied for a fight. The other 26 Human fleets were given orders to join the battle and to setup defenses at Toleda and Alvin. Ten of those fleets were ordered to join the 17th at the Borten system.

The red ships were not impressive in size, but their sleek menacing appearance told of their power. Five external energy conduits fed into the single gun-port on their bow. The conduits glowed white moments before the particle beam fired. The beams power easily cut through the smaller unshielded ships of the Borten defenders.

When the first battleship entered the fray the beam was absorbed and passed around the massive ship. The space between the first red ship and the Borten battleship was soon flooded with mini-fighters, Drillers and protactinium pellets. The red ship countered with a wide pulsating beam and the Borten assault soon proved ineffective.

The standoff lasted for an hour before eight more Borten battleships joined the fight. As the Borten ships assembled for battle two of the red ships moved forward and joined with the first. As the Borten watched-on the three red ships drew together and became one.

Moments later 15 bright white conduits fed a blue beam of particles that cut into the first Borten battleship. The shields ran to 70%, but held against the tremendous beam of energy fired at them. Another dozen Borten ships joined in and the space between the warring parties was again flooded with mini-fighters, Drillers and pellets. Wide sweeps of the red ship’s beam eliminated the threat.

The final two red ships then joined with the first three as the Borten numbers grew tenfold. When the beam was next fired the first Borten battleship turned Sodium-white as the shields failed and the beam ripped through the ship. Minutes later the Borten battleship was nothing more than a charred hulk of space debris. A crew of 3,000 and their compliment of 40,000 Borten Marines had perished.

More than 400 Borten ships then charged the red menace, firing all weapons as they went. Again, their assault caused no damage. Another Borten battleship, and then another, were destroyed as the red ship continued with its single overwhelming particle beam. The battle raged for days as the Human fleets approached.

Every attempt at a BGS Marine assault was thwarted by sweeps of a wide beam by the enemy. Nothing penetrated the red ships shields. It was apparent that the Borten would lose and lose badly. Several attempts had been made to move large numbers of transports loaded with Borten citizens, off-world, towards the current safety of Alvin. Redirected beams from the red ships brought those attempts to a bitter end with millions of Borten killed.

Just over 27 days had passed when the Human fleets arrived. The once massive Borten fleet had been devastated, having only a few thousand ships remaining. They stayed alive by continuously being on the move, changing directions randomly.

The first Human attempt at an assault was by the 17th fleet. They set a course where they could drift in unseen before unleashing their wrath. Just as the order to fire their weapons was given the battleship Milan, along with its crew and compliment of 200,000 Italian Marines and 50,000 Kurtz Marines, was ripped in half by a new pulsating particle beam. The remainder of the fleet scrambled to move back to a safe distance as seven more of its ships were detected and destroyed. Even the highly effective shielding of the best of the Human ships was no match for the red ship’s weapon.

The next Human assault brought with it the use of the Starburst platforms. Five modules deployed their black holes and the first Drillers and Marines penetrated the enemy's shields. The Human fleets sat in wait as the Drillers and Marines did their dirty-work. Nearly a full day passed before the first external explosions were seen. Shortly thereafter, the particle gun went silent and the battleships moved in.

When the Human Marines had drifted safely off-ship the charges they had left behind detonated. The remaining ships then unloaded their weapons until the combined red ship was reduced to little more that space junk. The unknown invader had been annihilated.

The Borten worlds remained largely unscathed. Their fleet was in tatters with just over 900 ships remaining. The Human fleets were largely intact. But the unknown menace was gone. The celebrations had barely begun when the next red ship arrived. It appeared from nowhere and was massive compared to the ones that had been destroyed.

As the reminder of the Borten fleet attempted to assemble they were met with 52 particle beams whose intensity was an order of magnitude stronger than the first attackers. Within hours the Borten fleet was no more. Five Human fleets were ordered into battle and it quickly became apparent that they were no match for the new mammoth ship.

Attempts at launching Starbursts were met with immediate particle beam fire before they could ever deploy. Every tactic was met with an overwhelming response and the five Human fleets were recalled when their numbers had been cut in half. The mammoth red ship then deployed the same cylinder technology that had been used to destroy the Frekkin planet of Hale.

As the cylinders were being assembled the 4th fleet managed to drift two squads of Marines aboard the small mechanized assembly ships. Once their presence became known the red ship fired a wide beam destroying the cylinders and assembly ships and killing the Human Marines. New cylinders were then deployed. Further attempts at stopping the cylinder assembly were unsuccessful.

Nine hours after the red ship arrived, the cylinders were put into action. Two days later a massive black spot appeared on the side of the Borten sun facing the planet of Trephin. Two days after that the three billion Borten citizens living on the capital world were consumed in a massive CME that engulfed the planet. Thousands of small ships had been swept from space by the red ship as they attempted to flee the ejected solar plasma.

The following day Pelvic met with the same fate and soon thereafter Logic. Other than the few thousand Borten diplomats on Earth, Alvin and Toledus, the great Borten civilization was no more. Billions of years of three planets evolution had been wiped out in a matter of days. The mammoth red ship then left in the manner in which it had come.

The Human fleets pulled back to Toleda and once again attempted to create another masquerade. Faux cities were constructed and automated transports were set moving about. Hopes were that at a minimum, the unknown attackers could be slowed by the illusion, if only by a few days.

Back on Earth and Toledus the scientists and engineers scrambled to come up with new defenses and new weapons. The great shield of Earth was nearing completion. But the planet of Alvin was nearly defenseless. Its citizens screamed for attention.

Hershen and I remained captives of the Frekkin. We both continued our daily workouts to keep our fitness at its peak. Our captors continued taking their monthly blood, skin and hair samples; our questions as to why fell on deaf ears.

I leaned back on my mattress pad as Hershen spun a yarn about three blind Kurtz brothers. As tragic as the story had begun, he had turned it into a friendly and funny tale. It soon had me daydreaming of my early years on the farm. As he talked and I closed my eyes I could see old Bessie chewing on her hay, I could see the old rooster exerting his dominance in the chicken pen and I could see my grandfather out working in the tomato patch, in his favorite coveralls. I wondered if life could ever possibly be the same.

The unknown invaders were still out there... able to appear at any moment and to attack our tiny fledgling empire. Our weapons and technologies were not adequate for a defense. Our intelligence about them was a bare minimum. I wondered if Earth would still be there should I ever have the chance to return.

The immense galaxy called the Milky Way no longer seemed so large. It was fraught with danger and threats of annihilation in each new star system we encountered. It was teeming with life and yet much of that life seemed hostile to our own. I wondered if life as a Human had gone full circle and we were again at the point where staying alive would be a daily struggle. I wondered if Man had what it took to survive.