RAN, page 19
There were none.
“On my lead, close V-formation until we form up in a line at the north end of The Geroptic Nation.”
The five M-Class spacecraft performed a coordinated MBH transfer to their designated location over the north end of The Geroptic Nation. They spread out over 4,000 kilometers and commenced a southward sweep.
“This is Snout. I got four hits over Dragon City off my port.”
“This is Rainbow. I got four hits over Dragon City off my starboard.”
“This is Bobcat, Roger. Maintain the sweep until we hit the south end of the continent.”
An hour later, the five craft had covered all The Geroptic Nation with only the four hits near Dragon City in the northeast corner of the country. Kenred pulled the flight away from Arcan.
“This is Bobcat. I’ll disable the nukes. StarChick, hang ten klicks off my starboard quarter to back me up. The rest of you return to Andromeda.”
Kenred gave the nuke site coordinates to the AI.
“Cupcake, take us to the location five hundred klicks above the target.”
Neepons Kited faced the control console, her scales rippling dark blue with excitement, and ordered, “Mother, take us five hundred klicks above the coordinates Bobcat just gave you.”
Moments later, Armstrong was hovering over Dragon City. Kenred confirmed the presence of four nukes. “Cupcake, hit each target in sequence with a narrow-focus neutrino beam.”
“Roger that.”
The occupants of the spacecraft noticed nothing. Any outside observer would have noticed nothing. Technicians near the warheads would have noticed nothing. A warhead technician actually conducting preventive maintenance on the weapons might have noticed a passing transient, but Klarot had no one trained for such maintenance.
“Okay, Cupcake, take us home.”
Udachnyy Zvezdolet Sergei Krikalyov—Flashing In and Out of Warp at Lodan L4, Operations Center
Once again, General Klarot floated mid-air in Orlov’s cabin aboard UZ Sergei Krikalyov. Orlov, as usual, had strapped himself into his chair.
“Orlov, I’m here to report the completion of our troop training and our readiness to proceed. The missiles you supplied are at the ready in the Dragon City Military Compound. Your technicians have set the missiles to launch ready and verified their targeting information. I have strategically placed lizards in locations throughout Ceffid and Arcan with hyper-bricks set to open fourteen-meter-wide portals.”
“When will you launch operations?” Orlov asked.
“How long can the missiles remain at launch ready?”
“Three days. Then they need to stand down to undergo another launch check. That takes about a day.”
“I want to run through our complete plan one more time with my field commanders before we launch the operation. That will take me a day, leaving us a two-day margin.”
“Remember,” Orlov cautioned, “when the two bombs explode, both countries will be without central governments. You will have a relatively short time to invade unopposed, before someone takes charge and organizes an effective resistance. Give it a day for the realization to sink in that their governments are gone, then hit them with everything you’ve got.”
Back in his Dragon City Headquarters, Klarot reached out to Dombit, and together, they hurried to the newly established missile compound. Ran shone brightly in a nearly cloudless sky on that cool morning. It had taken Dombit several days of diligent design and construction supervising to create the launch facility so close to the HQ.
Guided by Academician Borisovich, his troops dug five-meter-deep pits under each launch pad, curving to horizontal, and then twenty-meter tunnels opening through the face of a small rise. They piped seawater to fill the pit below the pad with sufficient water to flash to steam on launch, but keeping the horizontal tunnels open to exhaust the steam and flame.
Both missiles sat launch-ready above the flooded pits. A hundred meters distant, a blockhouse-style control room completed the launch facility. It contained two countdown timers and launch switches, nothing more. The ballistic missiles were programmed to launch, orient themselves regarding the target, and drop the first stage as soon as the fuel was spent.
Launch time for missile one was arbitrary. When it launched toward Ceffidia, the second timer started so missile two would launch to bring its warhead over Amred City when the Ceffidia warhead exploded.
Klarot and Dombit completed their inspection of the launch facility. “You did a great job installing the blast pits and deflectors,” Klarot said. “Tomorrow, we’ll see how well they work.”
Klarot called his field commanders to his Dragon City HQ. They arrived one by one, following Dombit’s protocol for cycling the portals.
“This is our final meeting before we commence hostilities,” Klarot told them. “Each of you has received a Locus and its accompanying small LANR that will power your troop portal. I know these portals seem like black magic to you, but you all have seen them work. LANRs power your troop transports, so you know they work as well. I want to emphasize to you that the LANRs powering your troop portals are very small. They pack more power than anything you’ve ever known, but the troop portals consume more power than anything you’ve even known. You need to get your troops, your carriers, and yourself through the portal as quickly as you can. When your LANR runs out of power, your portals will collapse.
“You have trained your troops hard. Captain Dombit tells me that each of you can push a five hundred seventy-six troop block through a portal in ninety seconds. I’m impressed. That means that you can field three hundred eighty-four dozen troops in twelve minutes. Your LANR will keep the portal open at fourteen meters wide and fourteen high for seventy-two minutes so you can pass your troop transports, field artillery, and additional troop blocks. After seventy-two minutes, the portal collapses to a small pipe that will accommodate the comm lines Captain Dombit supplied you with. The LANR will maintain this small portal for several weeks. When you need ammunition or other supplies, the portal can open to door-size long enough to pass through the ammo and supplies. Try to keep this mode as short as possible, since every time you go to door size, you decrease your total comm line time.
“We have two days remaining to launch the missiles at the capitals. After that, the missiles require a full day’s maintenance, followed by another three-day launch window. Each of you has a comm line that connects to my Comm Center through a comm portal. When you return to your posts after this meeting, review your troop movements and logistics with your lizards. When you are confident extra time will not significantly improve your performance, let Captain Dombit know, and I will set the date and time for commencement of hostilities. Sooner is better, but not at the expense of our ability to prevail.”
Dombit pushed hard, but he couldn’t get every commander’s go-ahead inside the remaining two days of open launch window. A part of him was frustrated, knowing that he could not report success to General Klarot. On the other hand, he reasoned, if the commanders go into battle and fail, then…
When it was clear they would miss the window, Dombit met with Orlov on Krikalyov.
“I need your maintenance tech to recertify the missiles for launch,” he told the offworlder. “The field commanders could not guarantee readiness in the remaining time for the last launch window.”
“I’ll have him at your HQ tomorrow morning. He will take all day for the four missiles, but you already know that.” Orlov paused, and then asked slyly, “Are you sure your commanders are up to the task?”
“I can’t answer that, Sir. The commanders have way more experience than I do.”
“Really? When did they last fight a war?”
“Not in our lifetimes, Sir.”
“So,” Orlov said with a wide grin, “your commanders have more experience parading troops, inspecting barracks, and other meaningless tasks. Do they have the balls to pull this off?”
“I don’t understand, Sir?”
Orlov gave Dombit a short course in Human anatomy and the source for the expression. Dombit opened his eyes wide, blinking them.
“I get it. We have an equivalent expression in Geroptic—Are their snakes long enough? I really cannot address that. I’ve watched them train their troops. From what I saw, they did an excellent job. They adapted to motorized troop carriers quickly and smoothly. They appear to be ready for a successful campaign.”
“So why do they seem reluctant to move forward? Is it balls—er, snakes?”
“Let’s see what happens tomorrow evening when the missiles are once again ready to launch,” Dombit said, his confidence shaken by Orlov’s skepticism.
As the missile tech finished prepping the fourth missile the following evening, Dombit took another survey of the field commanders. To his delight, they all declared a Go! on Klarot’s orders, their schedules coordinated with the time the bombs would explode over the capitals. Dombit reported their readiness to Klarot.
General Klarot met Captain Dombit an hour later in the blockhouse launch center. Dombit reviewed the procedure with his superior.
“Flight time to Ceffidia is forty-seven minutes; time to Amred City is twenty-two minutes. The launch timers are set so the Amred City missile will launch twenty-five minutes after the Ceffidia missile. The field commanders will open their portals twelve minutes after the simultaneous blasts—fifty-nine minutes after the Ceffidia launch. As soon as the first missile launches, you should return to the Comm Center to give the order through the portal lines to open the troop portals at the fifty-nine-minute mark. I will remain here to ensure the second missile launches properly.”
“You’ve done well, Major, way beyond my expectations!”
“Sir?”
“That’s right, Son, I’m promoting you to Major. You’ve functioned at least at this level or even higher ever since we undertook this project.” Klarot handed Dombit major devices. “I expect you to be in proper uniform when you return to HQ.”
With his scales alternating between blue and lavender, Dombit clutched the devices in one hand and reached for the launch lever with the other, He looked at Klarot for confirmation. The general nodded.
Phoenix Starship Neil Armstrong—Hovering over The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan, Ran Star System
PS Neil Armstrong and the other four M-Class starships hovered high over The Geroptic Nation. Kenred knew the location of the four deactivated nuclear bombs, but none of the pilots knew what offensive arrangements Orlov might have made with the Geroptics. Missile delivery of the nukes was an obvious choice, but the Geroptics had no modern military infrastructure. Kenred could imagine no way they could mount an effective assault on Amred or Ceffid. Thorpe had explained that the offworlder Human, Orlov, did not have the physical resources to support any kind of large-scale operation by the Geroptics. And they were mostly preindustrial. To Kenred, the Geroptics seemed hopelessly outgunned and outclassed.
Nevertheless, he and his flight stood guard in space above The Geroptic Nation. When hostilities commenced, they were ready to do their part, whatever that turned out to be.
As Ran rose in the east, reflecting brightly off the ocean surface below them, Neepons Kited announced, “Bobcat, I’ve got radar activity near Dragon City.”
“Be more specific, Cupcake.”
“Mother, analyze radar imaging,” Kited ordered,
“Ballistic missile launch,” the AI said, “toward the west.” Moments later, the AI continued. “Target is Ceffidia. Arrival time forty-seven minutes after launch—thirty-nine minutes from now.”
“Cupcake, check the neutrino detector.”
“It’s carrying a nuke—one we deactivated,” she answered.
On portal comms, Kenred said, “Andromeda, this is Bobcat. We have a missile launch from Dragon City to Ceffidia to arrive in thirty-five minutes. The nuke it carries is a dud.”
“This is Thorpe, Roger. Splash the missile when it passes over the western ocean.”
“StarChick, it’s Bobcat. Splash the underway missile once it reaches the ocean.”
Jocara had been tracking the missile over The Geroptic Nation. “Jock,” she said to Kreax Nelgan, “when it passes the shoreline, give it another minute and splash it with the laser.”
Nelgan ordered, “Mother, target the missile with the laser. One minute after it crosses the shoreline, destroy it.”
As Kenred on Armstrong received the splash report on the missile from Jocara, Kited reported “Second missile launch. Mother, generate the specifics.”
The AI responded, “Ballistic missile heading east. Destination is Amred City, time of arrival twenty-two minutes.”
Kenred turned to Kited. “Cupcake, splash that missile now!”
“Mother,” Kited said, “hit that missile with laser and destroy it now.”
Dragon City Headquarters—The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Newly minted Major Dombit stepped out of the blockhouse to watch the missile rise into the sky. To his utter surprise, as it arched out over the ocean, it suddenly exploded. He hurried back to the Comm Center and queried the Northwest Post Commander. He had not personally seen the missile explode, but several of his lizards reported seeing an explosion in the western sky at about the time the missile would have passed. Dombit went to Klarot’s office.
“General, both missiles exploded over the water, The Amred City missile exploded immediately after launch over the water. The Ceffidia missile crossed the continent and then exploded over the water.”
“We need to talk with Orlov,” Klarot said. They walked together down the passageway to the Comm Center.
Dombit explained the two explosions to Orlov over the comm circuit. He concluded with, “based upon my limited knowledge of these things, the Amred City missile exploding right after launch could have been a missile problem. But the Ceffidia missile exploding over the water after crossing the continent does not seem like a missile problem. And both missiles exploding over the water as they did cannot be a coincidence.”
Klarot added, “The major has stated it accurately, and I agree with him.”
“You’re correct. We have an interference problem.”
“What do you mean, interference?” Klarot asked.
“I mean, Andromeda has entered the conflict, however subtly.”
“What can they do…subtly?” Dombit asked.
“You’ve already seen one thing. I suspect one of their M-Class craft shot your missiles down from space.”
Orlov went silent as he conferred with Academician Borisovich. Klarot and Dombit looked at each other with questions, their scales rippling several colors as they showed their uncertainty.
“My Academician tells me he is unaware of any specific capability Andromeda has that we don’t, but he knows they have done much neutrino research. This work could have produced capabilities we don’t know about.”
“Such as?” Klarot asked, his scales turning orange.
Dombit noted the color change, thinking, The general must be pretty angry for orange to break through his control.
“Borisovich tells me that under certain circumstances, neutrinos can affect nuclear weapons, but we have no evidence that Andromeda has anything that could do this.”
From Dombit’s perspective, they had all the evidence they needed. “Can you send a nuclear weapons tech to inspect the weapons atop the remaining two missiles?” he asked, working hard to keep his scales a neutral green.
“We’ll send someone within the hour,” Orlov said.
“That was pretty gutsy,” Klarot told Dombit.
“Ever since receiving my commission,” Dombit said, “I’ve watched senior officers cover their tails in the same way, meaning no disrespect, Sir.” He paused a moment. “I predict their tech will find both nukes inoperative.” Dombit swallowed. “I also predict they won’t be able to repair them. If this invasion is going to work, we need to find another way to deliver nukes to the capitals.”
Klarot offered him an encouraging smile. “You will find a way to make it happen,” the general told him. “I am very impressed with your resourcefulness.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Dombit said, but something inside raised a red flag. Dombit returned to the Comm Center and sat reflecting on the entire matter.
I’m a soldier, and soldiers fight. But why do we fight? The Geroptic Nation hasn’t been attacked. We are facing no external threat—unless Orlov poses an implied threat. The only thing that has really happened is that Orlov assisted the general in displacing the Prophet. And now General Klarot is planning to attack Amred and Ceffid. But why? What have they done to us? This question weighed heavily on Dombit’s mind as he reviewed all that had happened in the previous months.
“Major,” the general signaled him through a recently installed voice tube, “arrange a meeting with the field commanders here in two hours, and meet with me a half hour before their arrival.”
As Dombit set up the field commander meeting via portal comms, he asked himself, What role am I playing in all this? I’ve been the facilitator in virtually every step, as we have armed our troops with modern weapons, set up portals for the invasion, and even prepared nuclear weapons for delivery. Do I want to be responsible for killing several million lizards in the capital cities? This is not the way of The Book of the Great Dragon, and it is not the Geroptic way.
As this realization hit Dombit, he sat and heaved a deep sigh. How can I extricate myself from this mess? he asked himself.
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
