Beyond the Event Horizon (11 page)

As soon as the
aliens entered the zone of operation of the base’s weapons, they
would be scanned by radar. If their message was not a bluff, they
would open fire on the base and probably destroy it. According to
military doctrine, the attack on the base would constitute
aggression, and would accordingly call for an act of retaliation.
The aliens would immediately be attacked with everything available.
It was beyond even MacQueen’s power to cancel this order, and that
would mean the beginning of a war.

“How long
before the aliens are within MRS723’s firing range?”

“Sixteen hours
three minutes.”

“Which
servicing team is closest to it?”

“There are no
servicing teams in space at the present time. The nearest team is
at its base, the Mars civic spaceport.”

“How soon can
they reach MRS723?”

“Lift-off from
the planet’s surface, reaching space, flight, deceleration and
docking will take at least six hours. Plus reaction time.”

The General
nodded in satisfaction. That would have to suffice.

“Message for
servicing base. Top priority mission. Send at least three
technicians to MRS723. They are to go on board and await further
instructions. Notify ETA. Act on this immediately.”

MacQueen
glanced at the other screen, where the list of forthcoming video
conferences was displayed. He already had more than twenty of them
lined up, and the number was growing all the time. He looked
through the list of participants. So far there was no-one on it who
outranked him, so they could all be ignored. They could wait.

“Sir, the
formation has speeded up again. ETA Mars orbit seven hours thirty
minutes. ETA Earth, eleven hours twenty minutes.”

“Damn! Is
there any ship within firing range of that blasted base?”

On the map of
the Solar System, three points not far from MRS723 began winking.
MacQueen rapidly ran his eyes over the information about the ships.
Two of them were SSS ships, and the third was a light attack ship.
None of them was capable of neutralising a space fortress. The team
of technicians should get there in time, but it would be tight. If
the base was not switched off, in seven hours the formation would
come within range of the radar and would be scanned.

Even if the
servicing team did reach the base in time and managed to switch off
its combat systems, the aliens would reach Earth a few hours later.
Who knew with what intentions? MacQueen sighed deeply. It looked as
if there would be no choice this time.

“Message for
the President. Highest degree of urgency. Within seven hours, the
first armed conflict with the aliens’ ships is expected. I consider
it advisable to declare a general mobilisation of Earth’s armed
forces. Commander-in-Chief of the Space Fleet, General
MacQueen.”

###

END OF EPISODE
ONE

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