Star Glory (Empire Series Book 1) Read online

  “Captain!” yelled Chang from her Tactical station. “We’ve got moving neutrino emission sources behind us! Long ways back but they are between us and the magnetosphere edge.”

  “How many?” growled Skorzeny.

  “Twenty-seven sources, sir.” Chang tapped her panel, looked back to the XO, who gestured upward, then she faced the captain. “They are spread out in a dome that covers ten million miles. The dome reaches out to our starboard, port, foc’sle, belly and stern directions. We are surrounded. Except for the space directly ahead. The sources are going up on our system graphic. Sir.”

  “What is their speed?”

  “Same as us, one-tenth psol.” Chang looked back to her station, focusing her attention on a holo that showed the system graphic of planets, asteroid belts, cometary zone and the green dots of our three ships. Behind and around our ships were twenty-seven red dots. All the dots were moving inward, toward the local star.

  “Range to the nearest alien ship?”

  “Sir, the nearest ship is fourteen million, three hundred sixty-eight thousand kilometers directly behind us. Two other ships are at the same range.”

  That was equal to almost nine million miles. At our current speed of one-tenth psol, or eighteen thousand six hundred miles per second, our ship could cover that distance in about eight minutes. It began to sink in just how close these aliens were. Are. And can be.

  “XO, how did we fail to detect those neutrino emission sources?” Skorzeny said, his expression worried.

  “No idea, sir.” Kumisov tapped on her own control panel, then looked at a system graphic hologram that sprang into view in front of her. “We passed through the middle of this dome formation. We should have detected those ships’ fusion reactors and thruster emissions. Sir, even if they were on the other side of a rocky planet, the neutrinos would pass through. Nothing material can block neutrinos. We should have detected them. We didn’t.”

  “Astrogation, put us on a vector track away from our sister ships. Move to position 195 degrees down from the ecliptic plane.” Skorzeny looked to a different area of the function stations that filled the front of the Bridge. “Weapons, put our lasers, missiles and railguns on Hot Ready status.”

  “Sir, new vector set,” called Louise Ibarra from Astrogation.

  “All Weapons stations moving to Hot Ready status,” muttered Bill Yamamoto, a Japanese-American from San Francisco I had met twice in the Mess Hall.

  The captain touched his right armrest. “Chief O’Connor, fire up our thrusters. Give me flank speed in forty seconds.”

  I saw my boss’s thick shoulders tense. “Sir, thruster containment fields going up. DT pellets injecting. Fusion implosions are nearing max plasma density. Exhausting!”

  My feet felt the deck vibrating from the pumps that transported frozen deuterium and tritium pellets from our fuel bunkers down their feedlines and into the implosion chambers where they were hit by a dozen terawatt-power lasers, causing fusion and the creation of excess energy that became glowing yellow-orange plasma. The plasma was contained by each thruster’s containment magfield. Then the Chief tapped another control to open the exhaust funnel of each thruster. Those funnels were enclosed in magnetic fields that kept the positively charged plasma from touching the metal walls of the three implosion chambers and exhaust funnels. At the outer edge of the exhaust funnel for each thruster were three antimatter injector ports. They would shoot negative antimatter into the positive plasma exhaust when the Chief ordered an afterburner push. No such order came.

  “Astro, move us ten thousand kilometers away from the HMS Dauntless.” The man looked up. “Captains Jacobsen and Nutsov, I suggest you do the same. Let us adopt formation Victor Unity. The sudden appearance of these alien ships is not welcome news.”

  “Moving out,” called the captain of the HMS Dauntless.

  “Pyotr Velikiy is moving to its formation position,” the Russian said bluntly.

  Since the Chief had not told me to open the antimatter injector tubes to feed AM to the thruster exhausts, I could not help visualizing the new formation. It was basically a triangle, with the Star Glory at the apex and the other two ships at the lower angles. Each ship lay just beyond the 10,000 kilometer range of our carbon dioxide and proton lasers. The point of the formation was to prevent blue-on-blue collateral damage from laser firing, while being close enough to allow each ship to use its railguns in defense against incoming missiles and Smart Rocks. The formation allowed for mutual defense while maximizing the laser targeting angles.

  “Captain, do we launch some x-ray thermonuke warheads?” called Kumisov.

  “Not yet.” Skorzeny hands hovered above his armrest control patches. “Let us see what response we get—”

  “Incoming neutrino signal!” cried Wetstone. “Going up on the front vidscreen. Also going out on All Ship vidfeed. Sir, the signal perfectly matches our ship-to-ship neutrino comlink!”

  How had this alien learned our neutrino comlink frequency? That was the signal that even now conveyed the images and voices of the other two captains. It was not the same signal frequency which Com was using to communicate with the comsat. Unease filled me. I looked up at the nine shimmering antimatter tubes that flared down from the overhead deck, spreading out like the spines of an umbrella and then heading straight down to our floor deck. And through the deck to the three thruster funnels. The reactor Spacers had teased me about hiding inside a cage of antimatter tubes while they sat ‘in the open’ at the control panels that fronted one side of Engineering’s fusion reactor. I wasn’t confined, not really. There was a meter between each tube, which left plenty of room for me to pass out from my station, and to return later. It didn’t matter. The rainbow colors of the tube magfields were beautiful. A beauty I had long ago come to need since I was not good at being sociable. Putting aside my yearning for something meaningful to do, I focused on the nearby bulkhead.

  The vidscreen grew an image in its middle, forcing to either side the overhead view of the Bridge and the images of the other two captains. A creature that resembled a black-furred otter took form. White fur stripes swept down to either side. The otter alien stood on two thick legs. Its two slim arms hung down to its curving hips. The shoulders flowed straight into a curving neck that supported an otter-like head that held two black eyes, a brown nose, sharp white teeth and flaring whiskers. The dome of a large braincase rose up above the creature’s eyes. Looking lower I noticed a black-furred tail hanging from its rear, its smooth fur shiny under a white light. The tail moved lazily from side to side. To either side of the creature and behind it were nine other aliens, their forms far more bizarre than a giant walking otter. The creature’s mouth opened. Inside a pink tongue moved.

  “Greetings to Captain Neil Skorzeny, manager of the Earth starship Star Glory and leader of two sister ships that have now reached the limits of your formation Victor Unity.” The words stopped as shock filled me at the conversational English being spoken by an exotic creature from who knew where. It lifted an arm and gestured sideways with a black-furred hand that held four claw-tipped fingers. “As you can see, the bridge of my starship Golden Pond contains crew working at their function stations, much like your own bridge. My cohort name is Smooth Fur. Tell me, are your three vessels prepared to surrender to the Empire of Eternity?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  I will give the captain credit for not cussing out the alien critter. My Chief was not so restrained.

  “Fuck the bastard,” O’Connor muttered loud enough to be heard by me, the Spacers and PO Gambuchino.

  Ignoring low comments from his XO, the other two captains and some of his Bridge crew, Skorzeny instead acted as if the alien’s demand to surrender the Star Glory, the HMS Dauntless and the Pyotr Velikiy was simple Sunday morning go-to-church chatter over coffee.

  “Captain Smooth Fur, how do you speak our English so easily? Or use our encrypted ship-to-ship neutrino comlink? And just what is your Empire of Eternity?”

  Squ
eaks, chirps and low moans came from behind the otter-like alien. They appeared to be reactions from its bridge crew. Those reactions were not translated into English.

  The alien’s whiskers spread out from its muzzle, forming a brown halo around its toothy mouth. “Simple are the answers. First, your English was encoded in the primitive First Encounter program broadcast by your comsat. Second, you earlier spoke to your fellow ship captains using this particular neutrino comlink frequency. We detected those communications. The encryption was easy to break.” The alien lifted its left hand and snapped two opposing fingers. A meter-high hologram appeared to its left side. In the holo was an overhead view of the Milky Way galaxy, appearing far more detailed and colorful than anything I had seen in my studies at Great Lakes. “The Empire of Eternity is the controlling body of this galaxy. You call it the Milky Way. The Dominants who reside closer to the center have given it the name of Warm Swirl. The Empire directly rules every space-traveling species in the four primary arms of Warm Swirl. My fleet is here because we are extending our rule out to the stars and nebulas of the fifth arm, which you call Orion.” The critter’s whiskers moved back until they barely stood out from its muzzle. “What is your response to my demand?”

  “Captain,” called Heidi the AI. “My firewall is registering 3,142 attempts to enter my digital abode. The attacks are arriving by way of this neutrino comlink and by riding atop the radio emissions from the comsat.”

  “XO, analysis.”

  “Sir, recommend we move to flank-plus speed and exit this star system,” Kumisov said. “Also suggest we isolate the neutrino comlink receivers from all other ship systems.”

  “Heidi, isolate,” the captain said.

  “Isolating,” the AI said, her tone sounding worried.

  The black fur above the two eyes of the otter-like alien rose. “Human, your efforts to resist entry by our non-material probes will fail. The Empire has long experience in dealing with new and recalcitrant species.”

  The captain sat back, raised his right fist and gestured at the alien. “How long has your Empire existed?”

  “Ninety-three thousand Earth years,” Smooth Fur replied.

  “How many species does your Empire control?”

  “At the time we left our fleet base in Sagittarius Arm, the Empire consisted of 14,331 member species,” the alien said. “Member rankings range from Dominant to Masterful to Associate to Intended to Novice and finally Servant.” The alien waved one arm at some nearby crew aliens. “The pink floater belongs to an Intended species. His world is similar to your Jupiter. The scaly reptile nearby comes from an Associate species. His planet is similar to your Mercury in its heat, but has the oxygen-nitrogen air common to most Empire species. To my rear is crewbeing Zorta, who is a hunting cat similar to your tiger. She belongs to the Toka, which is a Novice species. Her world is very similar to your Earth. These three and the others you see are all respectful members of the Empire. As am I. My species is Notemka, a Masterful level member of the Empire of Eternity.” The whiskers spread out in a brown halo. “What is your response to my demand?”

  “Magnus,” the captain grunted. “How the hell does this alien know about the planets in Sol system?”

  Amidst the silence that ruled the Bridge, and a similar silence from the captains of our sister ships, the boss academic spoke.

  “Captain Skorzeny, the First Contact audiovisual packet included visuals of all Sol system planets. Those visuals included closeups from recent visits to each world, plus digitized data on air, temperature, size and gravity field.”

  “Exactly,” Smooth Fur said. “Your packet was basic but it has given us the essential data about your human species. Though it lacks data on your twelve colony stars. But the older image ‘Earthrise’ was quite useful. The starfield there will be examined to determine your home world’s location within this Orion Arm.”

  “Fuck!” growled Major Owanju.

  “Captain!” yelled Chang. “The alien ships are speeding up! They are at eleven psol and still increasing. They will overtake us within minutes.”

  “Engineering, move us out at flank-plus speed,” Skorzeny said calmly.

  “PO Stewart, activate—”

  I slapped my control panel touchscreen. “Antimatter is flowing down all nine tubes, Chief O’Connor.”

  The deck floor vibration increased as the negative antimatter hit the positive fusion plasma. A digital readout on my panel slowly rose from 10 psol to 10.4, 10.6, 10.9 and finally eleven psol.

  “Chief, we are moving at maximum flank-plus thrust,” I called out.

  “Chief,” called Gambuchino. “Our fusion reactor is feeding ninety terawatts power to each thruster. Similar full power flows going out to Weapons stations, Environmental and to our gravity plates.”

  “Captains Jacobsen and Nutsov,” Skorzeny called. “Follow us at flank-plus speed.”

  “Following,” Jacobsen said, his tone sounding angry.

  “The same,” responded Nutsov. “I am ejecting Hunter-Seeker mines. The People’s Republic of Greater Russia will defend humanity from these satanic creatures!”

  Laughter came from the image of the otter alien.

  “So you use antimatter to supplement your basic fusion pulse spacedrive? Such a waste,” Smooth Fur commented casually. “Truly your ships are primitive.” The alien shifted its posture. “Zorta, take us to prey chase-down speed.”

  “Oh god,” murmured Chang. “Captain, the twenty-seven alien ships are all speeding up. The three directly behind us are now moving at fifteen psol. They . . . they will intercept us within eight minutes.”

  “Astro, put us on a vector that will bring us to the edge of this star’s magnetosphere.”

  “New vector laid in,” Ibarra said softly. “Sir, it will take us ten minutes to reach the magnetosphere. Since we cannot reverse course I had to choose a vector track that takes us south of this system’s ecliptic plane but keeps us away from the pursuing ships. The vector chord is rather long. Sir.”

  “Smooth Fur, are there any species in your Empire who are independent of your control?” Skorzeny said.

  “None still exist,” the alien said, sounding arrogant and confident. “Those species which resisted Empire control have no home worlds left. Any colony worlds were cleansed. Surviving members may roam the stars of Warm Swirl, but they are irrelevant to the life of the Empire.”

  “Captain,” called Magnus. “The ‘Earthrise’ image does include a starfield behind the Earth image. But the stars that show do not include Cepheid variables, red giants or other marker stars. The starfield could be from anywhere in the Milky Way.”

  “It matters not,” Smooth Fur said slowly. “Your home star is a yellow one. Yellow stars are less common than red or blue stars. We will find your home world. It will be offered the chance to join the Empire. If it refuses, all life on it will cease to exist.”

  “That is a crime against existence!” cried the XO.

  More laughter came. “Hardly, subservient one. Warm Swirl contains four hundred billion stars. One hundred billion planets exist within its boundaries. We have not visited every planet. Which is why my fleet was resting . . . what is your phrase? Lying doggo? Anyway, this system contains a thriving Empire outpost of three life worlds above the gas giant. But it is on the frontier of our expansion into your Orion Arm. Earlier other Empire fleets crossed at the spot where your Orion Arm touches Sagittarius Arm, near to Nebula W51. That was three thousand Earth years ago. We have moved up the length of this short arm since then. Eventually we will control the full 10,000 light year length of Orion. And then the conquest of Warm Swirl will be complete.” The critter’s whiskers went flat against its muzzle. “You have short moments in which you may still live. Will you surrender your vessels and accept Servant status in the Empire?”

  I glanced toward the Chief. Beyond him was the bulkhead vidscreen that showed the system graphic image. The twenty-seven red dots that were these Empire aliens were closing in on the th
ree green dots of our small exploration fleet. We had weapons. We would fight. But no one in EarthGov or at Great Lakes had ever expected humans to encounter a body that ruled the Milky Way. From such lack of an imagination now arose desperation.

  “Captain Smooth Fur, what is the meaning of Servant status in your Empire?” the captain asked.

  Black eyes blinked slowly. “All species that are new to the Empire are assigned Servant status,” the alien said casually, as if its attention were elsewhere. “It means your eight billion humans will follow any orders given by any Empire representative. Your EarthGov managers will answer to that representative. And you humans will provide food, minerals, unique biologicals and anything else the Empire desires to transport on ships of the Empire. After one or two millennia, and consistent obedience to Empire directives, your species may be allowed to advance to Novice status.”

  The captain gave a finger to the alien. “No thank you. As in, hell no! No human will ever be subservient to any alien!”

  Behind the otter alien some of his crewbeings moved. They touched things with tentacles, pseudopods, clawed fingers or chomped on some kind of controls.

  “Resistance is pointless,” the giant otter said, his white-streaked black fur shiny in the white light of his bridge. “No species has ever successfully resisted the Empire of Eternity. If you cooperate now, it will be considered when my fleet arrives at your home world.”