The Blue Gem, page 8
The visual record of the attack on the Star-Seeker and the sight of the searing destruction on the alien planet rippled through Qu’uda’s society. Planetary ecologists were sure the devastation had ended all civilization on the planet. Even though the Star-Seeker had been attacked without warning, the fact they had destroyed a civilization shocked the Qu’uda society.
They studied the records from the Star-Seeker to learn all they could about the ill-fated civilization, which they named Hoo-Lii from the sound made at the start of their recorded broadcasts. Scientists’ analyses concluded that sound was a greeting used by those on the planet.
The Qu’uda engaged in a planet-wide debate on the morality of the crew’s act, the crime of destroying a civilization. Yet, because the alien civilization had used a powerful weapon on the Star-Seeker, that posed a dilemma to their inward-looking ways. Perhaps there were other civilizations willing to use weapons of such horrifying power. The realization scared them, for they feared such weapons could be used on them. They quickly reached a consensus of the need to intensify their watch upon the heavens.
Meanwhile, the remnants of an ancient comet, worn-out by the ceaseless erosion from the solar wind of the Epsilon Eridani star, now myriad of tiny fragments, passed through the system. The storm of micrometeorites closed upon Qu’uda and shredded the receptors of the orbiting radio telescope facility.
With Qu’uda’s ability to scan the heavens gone, blind to any signs of alien life, fear rippled through their world. This stimulated their scientists to action, for this was an opportunity to get a much larger array of receptors, one that would stretch wide in space with improved detection sensitivity. Interest in getting better deep-space data and worries about the aliens carried the day.
It took several years before their scientists and engineers completed a new radio telescope array. It was far larger, stretching across a measurable fraction of the distance between Qu’uda and its moon. Finishing its data processing and collection system took almost as much time as its construction. Once completed, the scientists wasted no time putting it to work.
To their astonishment, they almost immediately picked up a multitude of electromagnetic signals from a nearby system, including a video image of an alien. However, this image used analog radio signals of varying length—very different from Hoo-Lii signals. It was convincing evidence that there were other aliens and they were light years closer.
The Qu’uda held a planet-wide debate on what course of action to take. One faction that believed no alien civilization could be ignored—because it might have the capability of finding them—prevailed.
There was also the need for living space, and the presence of a civilization was a sure sign of a habitable planet. Yet, if the aliens were hostile, they were a potential danger to the community, and this could not be ignored.
This became the consensus on Qu’uda, which voted to send a community of investigators to this star system, which they called Kota, the home of the new aliens. The Qu’uda now had a goal, an objective, behind which they united to build a new interstellar craft.
This craft was different, for it was an immensely large, fusion-powered craft, which they made from an asteroid. They named it the Egg-that-Flies. It was powerful, armored and capable of withstanding the rigors of the long voyage; much bigger and stronger than the Star-Seeker. It carried a large crew and three fusion-powered shuttlecraft. After years of construction, the Egg-that-Flies finally departed, to head toward the Kota star system, the home of these new aliens.
War started on Earth for reasons that I, Kot-Nih, still find hard to understand. It was a bitter war that caused social and economic upheaval. A faction resorted to the use of nuclear weapons, destroying the leadership of many governmental units. Soon, all semblance of control crumbled; the nuclear weapon attack was the final blow to the stability of the countries of Earth.
In one country, the United States, the nuclear weapons decapitated its leadership. Riots started, and they spread rapidly as the hungry sought food. The internal security forces—called the police and the National Guard—with few exceptions, soon ceased to function. The riots caused widespread fires that destroyed much of what was left of the basic services in the cities. As the forces of law and order disappeared, strong and ruthless men and women took charge.
Once the Qu’uda ship, the Egg-that-Flies, reached the halfway point to Kota, it detected a series of powerful electromagnetic pulses similar to those produced by fusion weapons. Soon after that, the electromagnetic emissions faded. Methodically, the Qu’uda checked their equipment; but it worked properly. They feared that something terrible had happened to alien civilization they were about to visit.
Chapter Seventeen
As the Egg-that-Flies dropped toward the center of the Kota system, it deployed a magnetic-sail as a supplemental braking system. After a close passage with the system’s star, the Egg-that-Flies set course for the only place that could support life—the third planet. They approached from out of the sun to minimize chances of detection. Since the giant gas planet was on the far side of the system, they postponed the refueling until later.
Up close, the world was blue and white. It had more land than Qu’uda, with higher mountains and deeper oceans. Sensors revealed the atmosphere was breathable—the planet was habitable. The climate was drier and colder and more extreme than that of Qu’uda. Its gravity was seven-eighths as much, and its day was only five-eighths as long with a longer year.
Scouts in the Birds-that-Soars spotted bipedal life forms that seemed odd—even their gait was different. They were the same creatures seen in the transmissions received on Qu’uda—the aliens. It didn’t take long to realize damage from a nuclear war was everywhere on the planet.
When it became time to refuel the Egg-that-Flies, the navigator, Cha KinLaat, set a course to pass close to the edge of the planet’s atmosphere. As a scout craft crossed above the northern pole, a tiny point of light flashed. He examined the volume of space from where the light had originated and saw a long, ungainly satellite that appeared derelict.
However, a worn but still functioning rail gun platform left over from the pre-Collapse period remained in orbit. The heat from a rising Bird-that-Soars’ engine had tickled its infrared sensors into life. The heat from the Egg-that-Flies’ fusion drive exhaust attracted its attention.
The rail gun platform lined up on the mammoth infrared signal from the Egg-that-Flies. When aligned, its solid-state relays discharged a massive current flow into the electromagnetic coils of the rail gun. A depleted uranium slug, jacketed in a tough steel alloy, accelerated along one-hundred-fifty feet of rail to a velocity of twenty-five miles per second. The gyros, never designed to aim the rail gun, rotated the platform too far. The slug struck the Egg-that-Flies’ thick iron-nickel hull with a flash of brilliant blue-white light.
The ship rang like a gong from the impact.
The defense system extended its sensors.
“Mata ChaLik,” Cha KinLaat called over the comm-net. “The ship was struck by a fast-moving object.”
“Damage report.” Mata ChaLik BuMaru, spokesperson for the Defenders of Qu’uda asked. He was their military leader.
“None detected.” Cha KinLaat continued the scan but saw nothing. The Egg-that-Flies accelerated closer to the turning point. As the fusion drive built power, the tail of rose-violet plasma grew and the ship approached escape velocity.
The platform’s gyros reoriented the rail gun as its tattered solar cells recharged the capacitor banks. Its aim was on the source of the massive amount of heat.
It fired.
The slug’s temperature—above that of the icy-cold of deep space—alerted the Egg-that-Flies’ defense system. The object was moving fast and on a collision course—not natural, the defense system reasoned. It responded with a beam weapon.
It was too late.
The slug sliced through an outer cooling-coil on the ship’s fusion drive. Silently, the polycarbon containment exfoliated in a cloud of glittering black flakes, driven helter-skelter by hydrogen jetting from the cut coil. The cooling system’s pressure drop initiated an automatic shutdown. The flaring fusion drive winked out.
“Cha KinLaat.” Mata ChaLik overrode the conversation on the comm-net. “Why did the drive shut down?”
“Loss of superconductor coolant pressure,” Cha KinLaat said. “System status, pressure drop cause?” he asked.
“Gas leak, external line,” the drive biocomputer answered.
The navigation biocomputer chirped for attention. “Yes?” Cha KinLaat said.
“Velocity too low and gas leak caused course change. Ship about to enter atmosphere.”
The Egg-that-Flies could not land on a planet, for it was designed as a true deep space ship.
Cha KinLaat knew they needed a sustained burn. “System status, can fusion sequence be initiated?”
“Low coolant pressure mandates system lockout,” the drive system biocomputer said. “Repairs required.”
“What’s going on?” Mata ChaLik asked. “Well?”
“The drive shut down. We may impact the atmosphere.”
“May?” Mata ChaLik said. “Find out now.”
“I’m doing that.” Cha KinLaat calculated the new orbit. “It’s going to …” He rechecked the figures. The course is heading directly into the atmosphere. Fear gripped him like a predator—it was the end.
If the Egg-that-Flies crashed into the planet below, the explosive impact would be like that of a giant meteorite. It had been theorized the sun-like temperatures from a high-velocity impact could ignite deuterium in the fusion power supply reactor.
Oh, sacred Egg, thought Cha KinLaat. Not only is it our end, but we may destroy all life on this planet.
This is what happened to the Hoo-Lii planet—only this time, it would be an accident.
“Atmospheric impact imminent.”
The image on the course computer showed the Egg-that-Flies sliding into the atmosphere, a cool, green object changing to flashing white.
Cha KinLaat imagined he felt the searing heat of impact dissolving him into his constituent atoms.
The ship started to vibrate. The roar turned into an insane shriek. The ship shuddered and rang like a giant cymbal. Gravity surged for an instant. Cha KinLaat slammed into a forward bulkhead. Pain exploded through his being. A red haze engulfed him.
Chapter Eighteen
Cha KinLaat was surprised to be still alive.
The Egg-that-Flies pinged and crackled as it shed heat from its close encounter. The ship had skipped off the upper atmosphere to coast out into empty space.
Blood dripped from Cha KinLaat’s face as he calculated the new course. It was a highly elliptical polar orbit. The apogee reached far into space with the perigee dipping back into the atmosphere.
“Mata ChaLik,” he called into the comm-net.
“Yes?” His voice was faint and distant.
“We’re in orbit around the planet.”
“Then we’re safe?” Mata ChaLik sounded relieved.
“No.” Cha KinLaat hesitated. The image of the Egg-that-Flies being consumed in a fiery dive into the atmosphere again haunted him—that still lay ahead. He shivered.
“You have something else to tell me?”
“We will enter the atmosphere on the next perigee pass.”
“What must we do?” Mata ChaLik demanded.
“We must boost the ship’s orbit.”
“Do it.”
“Emergency options for drive start-up?” Cha KinLaat spoke to the drive biocomputer.
“Diversion of reserve fuel to increase cooling system capacity. Not known if coolant pressure can be raised to operate drive system. Leak cause and status unknown.”
“Emergency override,” Cha KinLaat said. “Blow down one-half of the reserve fuel through the cooling system.”
“Initiated.”
“Cooling system status?” Cha KinLaat asked.
“Pressure marginal and fluctuating, temperature stable.”
It violates normal procedures, but I have no choice. We must have thrust, he thought. This is a job for Bilik Pudjata, the builder of the drive system. “Bilik, take control of the drive system. We must get it started.”
Bilik realized something was very wrong, but knew the system and its computer. “Start drive sequence.”
Deuterium and helium three entered the propulsion tube. Lasers flared like a sun and the fuel ignited. The fierce heat of the fusion reaction expanded the gas in the cooling system. Pressure rose in the damaged coil; it stretched and ruptured. Coolant spewed into space.
The superconductor coils overheated. Magnetic fields convulsed and collapsed violently. White-hot fusion plasma, pinched by the dying gasp of a powerful magnetic pulsation, cascaded into a fusion explosion. A ball of pure energy blossomed on the Egg-that-Flies’ stern, slamming the ship forward.
Bilik collided with the rear bulkhead. There was no up or down. He spun freely in zero gravity and absolute darkness, lost somewhere in nowhere. Distantly, words echoed. Dizzy and sore, he focused on them.
“Bilik, answer me. What happened?”
The harsh tonalities of Mata ChaLik’s voice were an anchor for Bilik. “The fusion drive …” he said. He dug his claws into his sides. Their sharp bite and the new locus of pain helped him regain control. “I don’t know.” His head throbbed violently.
“We have no drive,” Mata ChaLik’s voice was lower in volume but even more difficult to ignore. “I have no data on my comm-net. What happened?”
Emergency lighting brightened to a dull orange. Status monitors flickered into life. The hull was intact. The life support systems still functioned. Warnings about the propulsion system flashed randomly.
Bilik activated the outside monitors. There was no sign of the propulsion system at the rear of the Egg-that-Flies. “I tried to start the drive system,” he said.
“Explain what happened,” Mata ChaLik said.
“The propulsion system …” Cha KinLaat paused.
“Get on with it.”
“Egg-that-Flies, do you hear me?” A voice came from the external communication system.
“Who is it?” Mata ChaLik’s voice resonated with anger.
“This is Dekah NahBu, scout-pilot on the third Bird-that-Soars. The entire aft section of the Egg-that-Flies is gone. The drive system disappeared in an explosion.”
“Bilik, what is our new orbit?”
“It looks stable, but for how long, I don’t know.”
“Then why don’t you figure out how much time we do have?” Mata ChaLik said harshly. “And quickly.”
Bilik found the explosion had raised their orbit. The computer warned the ship would still lose velocity on each perigee pass due to atmospheric friction. “First approximation shows the Egg-that-Flies has somewhere between 2,000 to 4,000 orbits before it dips into the atmosphere.”
“Send me a precise estimate. And use a private channel next time.” Mata ChaLik’s voice was as cold as outer space. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mata ChaLik, leader of the Defenders of Qu’uda, I understand.” The use of his formal title acknowledged the rebuke.
After Bilik inspected the stern of the ship, he saw the explosion had totally destroyed the drive system and had blown away the spare propulsion tube. In addition, one of the Birds-that-Soar had been vaporized and the other damaged beyond repair.
In normal operation, the chance of the main propulsion tube and the spare tube being damaged had been considered remote. The only remaining shuttle, piloted by Dekah NahBu, returned to land near the remnants of its hangar.
The thought depressed Bilik when the reality sank in the Egg-that-Flies needed a new propulsion tube to leave the orbit around the Earth. He knew it was impossible to cast a propulsion tube with the needed properties from pure iron in zero gravity, for that would result in a casting containing voids, which would be likely to fail prematurely. Without thrust, there was no gravity.
The crew on board the Egg-that-Flies could make the rest of the parts; replacement coils for the magnetic containment, the ion drive, and the tube’s polycarbon lining. However, without the iron propulsion tube, they were stranded.
After Bilik informed Mata ChaLik of their situation, he chose Bilik to go to the surface of the Earth to make the repair parts because he was an alien specialist and drive system specialist.
The medical staff surgically modified him, fitting him with a skin-tight facemask designed to what they believed the Earth people looked like. After many difficulties, Bilik found a place among the Earth people where they had an iron caster.
The task was far, far more difficult than the Qu’uda originally envisioned. Earth’s alien biosystem caused Bilik health and dietary problems. He had to fight for his life and mobilized an old electric steel furnace to make the huge parts needed to repair the damaged drive. In addition, he had to use a cannibalized fusion drive unit from the damaged Birds-that-Soar to run the generators to make electricity to power the iron melting furnace.
Unknowingly, Bilik provoked a civil war when he introduced new technology. When he called in the Qu’uda shuttlecraft to evacuate defenders from a besieged settlement, it confirmed the presence of advanced alien technology. The civil war worsened and precipitated a crisis among the humans. One faction sent an expedition to attack the main city of the Qu’uda agent’s allies, which had the steel furnace where piece by piece, Bilik made a new propulsion tube.
Chapter Nineteen
