May 8th, 063 SDE:
Five days had passed since they had arrived in SLR-223. During that time they’d found no shortage of eager volunteers to fill out the work crews. The fragments had cooled. Mining teams had been deployed to extract the raw wealth of critical materials they would need to build their fleet, conduct their research and rebuild the Enterprise. Of more immediate value they had moved all of their industrial bays into a growing complex of temporary shelters they’d built on the surface of a particularly large fragment. Above which the Enterprise was anchored by a series of gravity locks.
Gravity locks were an extension of tractor beam technology. Something they had learned in the storm, and then had to adapt to work in normal space. There were many technologies they had learned in the last fifty years that they now had to relearn. Even now eight years after leaving the Storm, they were still in the process of relearning lessons they’d mastered in the Storm.
As for the gravity locks, they used modulated graviton beams to lock a target into position. In this case they were being used to keep the Enterprise securely positioned over their new industrial complex. Where they’d also built shelters for the 1.5 million people living aboard. In fact, he knew many of them were happy for the modules and domes they’d erected on the surface of the fragment. The communes had been overcrowded for years now, Robins had opened the hospital beds for people to use and some people were camping out in the storage bays. These temporary shelters had solved that problem in a matter of days, and in a few months the Enterprise rebuild would be finished. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about the issue for years to come. The second cityship would help even more, and by then there would be the escort ships which could house even more of their population.
Countryman stared out the observation port at the growing complex. Hundreds of people dressed in environmental hardsuits flitted about on various tasks. Using micro pulse thrusters to control their movement as they constructed modules and moved large pieces of equipment into position. Several people at one corner of the growing compound could be seen, driving spikes into the hard rock which would serve as anchors for a new module.
Behind him the door opened to admit a familiar face, one of his middle daughters, Kelli, to be specific, “Hey Dad, I heard you were down here. Rose asked me to fetch you, our shuttle is about ready to depart.”
“I’ll be there in a moment.”
She sighed, “I know it's hard dad, but it is only for a few months. We will be back home on the Enterprise before you know it.”
He was silent for a moment, “I’m aware it's just the...”
She hugged him, then smiled, “Come on, daddy! Let’s go!”
He let her drag him out of the observation deck and into the corridor, one that felt decidedly empty. Other than a few work crews diligently removing the plating on the walls there was no one here. Most of the usual traffic was gone, but that came as no surprise. Most of the population was either on a mining team, a work crew or down on the surface by now.
They went past several work crews on the way to the shuttle. Each one taking down plating and disconnecting systems in preparation for the rebuild. It would be a few days before they split the ship, but in the meantime they were stripping out modules and disconnecting systems. Everything they were taking off the ship would be stored in a module yard they’d put together on the surface.
Given the extent of the work. They’d already taken the defense systems offline. They didn’t have a choice, but they’d taken precautions in case a hostile alien race showed up. While the Enterprise wouldn’t be available until the refit was finished. They had deployed a network of DP-12 sentinels to protect the debris field. They’d been using them to great effect to defend Anchorage for decades and their main beam cannon could deal serious damage to even heavy capital ships. A small swarm could take down a battleship, they’d proved that decades ago with the sinking of the Maiden.
Not only did they have the defense network of satellites, they were putting out patrols of SF-1204s to keep an eye on the local space. They couldn’t go that far due to a lack of FTL capability but it might be enough. Having to operate them from makeshift hangers wasn’t ideal but they didn’t have a better option. The hangers on the Enterprise would have to be temporarily shut down as part of the refit process. Kelli spoke up as they walked, “Mommy and I did speak to Richards about our home. Two bedrooms has never really worked, you know?”
Countryman chuckled, “Tell me about it, it was tough when there were just nine of you.” he sighed. “Guess it will be interesting, since we will all be living together again for the next few months.”
Kelli grinned, “Yeah I’m sure my daughters will be driving you nuts.”
He gave her a look, “I’m sure they will be, but it will be fun spending time as a big family. Let’s just not make a habit of it.”
“Speaking of family fun. Diana and I have planned a big family party. We have all sorts of games for the little kids and the grown ups.”
“Sounds interesting, when is it?”
“Right after the big separation. Figured we could use a successful separation as a reason to celebrate.”
“I see,” he replied as they passed through the doors into the hanger. In the distance a shimmering field could be seen holding the air in, while several shuttles sat on the pad. Ruri was right next to one and saw him.
She smiled and greeted him, “Hey Jac, can you talk to the loading crew?” she gestured at a few crates, “They don’t want to load my equipment.”
Countryman sighed. It seemed he had another problem to solve.
The man in the uniform turned from the lab telescope and said, “I don’t think she fabricated this.”
“Really? Did you see the film? It doesn’t make sense!” commented the official.
The young scientist sighed, but didn’t say anything. She’d known going in that the government wouldn’t want to believe. Hell some of them accused her of making things up and others claimed she was fabricating something to benefit the Confederacy. It was just the sort of nonsense one learned to expect during a war and the League had been at war with the Confederacy for nine years and it didn’t seem likely to end any time soon.
The League of Allied Nations and the Confederacy were separated by the Great Channel of Sauris, a body of water roughly one point two thousand kilometers across with several islands dotting its length. It ran in a rough north-south direction. On the East side of the channel was the continent of Eronadis which was controlled largely by the Confederacy. On the west was the continent of Aral’ma but that wasn’t where her lab was.
Instead she was south of the two continents across the sea of Meridis. Much of the fighting between the two great powers had happened here on the continent of Myrva. There were other land masses but she didn’t get much news on what happened that far out.
The military man gestured at the telescope, “She didn’t imagine that and Mau'sar isn’t where it's supposed to be.”
“Surely she did something to the telescope.”
“No she didn’t. I checked, it's in perfect shape. Instead of a planet there is a debris field where Mau'sar is supposed to be.” he sighed, “And if her film was fabricated, it is a hell of a good one. My team didn’t find any issues with it, hell it does a really good job of explaining Mau'sar.”
“Really? Do you know how ridiculous this sounds? Alien life from out there just shows up and blows up our neighboring planet?”
The military officer gestured at the telescope, “Well we are going to have a hell of time explaining that one, unless you want to ban telescopes. Anyone with a half-decent telescope will notice a missing planet.”
The official sighed, “It can’t really...” he trailed off after peering into the telescope. Then ran up the ladder and checked the other end before coming back down, then glanced at her astrochart and looked at the aiming.
She finally commented, “It’s pointed at Mau’sar right now, or well what’s left of it.”
“It’s pointing at an asteroid field.”
“Planetary debris field, it's much denser than any part of the asteroid belt.”
The official just looked at her. “How is this even possible?”
She had no answer for that. The idea of destroying a whole planet was bonkers, and since she saw it she’d hit the library for every book on any subject even closely related. None of them could explain it. The only answers she’d found were highly theoretical and unproven science. “I don’t really know. We are talking about a field of science we know little about.”
The military man commented, “Whatever the answer,” he gestured at the telescope, “that! Is a clear threat to all of us. No matter the affiliation or background, all people are threatened.”
She couldn’t say they were wrong, a broken planet didn’t exactly seem the most friendly of acts and if they could do that to Mau’sar they could do the same to... she didn’t finish the thought she didn’t need nor want to, but she knew they had no way to protect against such a thing.
They had no protection and the very idea of space travel was science fiction to her. Or it had been, until a few months ago when they’d had the lucky sighting of the alien vessel. It had just been a strange object to her at the time, but when it started acting strangely, that told her it wasn’t just some strange object. Mere days ago when she got her first real look however was when she finally understood that whoever or whatever the object represented they were so far beyond them as to be gods. Could they be the gods returned? Yet if they were, why destroy Mau’sar? She realized she might need to look up the old religious texts, her own knowledge wasn’t enough to present any theories.
Her assistant ran in suddenly at that moment, sputtering.
She frowned, “what happened?”
The younger girl turned on the radio and reports of a lost battle were being detailed with war warnings about Confederacy military movements; they were heading this way. She paled, damn it they didn’t need this right now!