Theogony 1: Janissaries (32 page)

* * * * *

CO’s Conference Room, TSS
Vella Gulf
, WASP-18
System, May 29, 2019

“We found out what they were working on at the base,” said
the intelligence officer. Everyone looked expectantly at him. He let the pause
build. It was the first time he’d been able to actively contribute the entire
cruise. “As expected, it was a high energy laser research facility,” he
explained.

“Which explains why their lasers were so powerful,”
commented Calvin. “They went through our shields far more easily than they
should have.” He shook his head thinking about the next of kin letters he still
had to write. Without a doubt, that was the worst part, by far, of being a
commanding officer. It was even worse now that he was in charge of two units. “I
just hope we got enough to make it worthwhile,” Calvin added, thinking about
the men and women they lost on the moon and in space.

“It’s not your fault Calvin,” said Captain Deutch. “We
couldn’t have known that they had the lasers, or that they’d blow themselves up
to avoid capture. I was the one that directed the two fighters to stay behind; I’m
just as responsible for their loss.”

“Thank you sir,” replied Calvin. He looked back at the intel
officer and asked, “Did we get anything we can use?”

“Actually, we did,” he replied. “And to be perfectly honest,
we couldn’t have broken their codes without the help of Mr. Jones and Ms.
Rozhkov. They have an excellent future in intelligence if they should ever
decide they want to pursue it. Thanks for allowing them to help out.”

“I’m not sure wild horses could have dragged them away from
it,” replied Calvin, “literally. I’ll let them know about your career advice
too,” he added with a wry smile. “They just might decide to go into the intel
business some day.”

Captain Deutch chuckled at the confused look on the
intelligence officer’s face. “So what did we get?” he asked, trying to get the presentation
back on track.

“To put it simply, we got everything,” the intel officer
replied. “Not only did we get the files for how the new lasers work, but also the
templates for building them in a replicator. We can produce their designs for
everything from handheld lasers on up to lasers for monitors.”

“What is a monitor?” asked the administrative officer.

“It is a class of ship,” replied the intel officer. “We are
on a cruiser, which is a medium-sized ship. The next size up is a
battlecruiser, like the lizard ones we just fought. Bigger than that are
battleships. And bigger than battleships are dreadnoughts and monitors. We
would be barely noticeable tied up alongside one of those. I saw designs for some
of the dreadnoughts and monitors, and they were miles long.
Miles
. I’m
glad we didn’t run into one of them. We would have been destroyed long before we
could have even shot at them.”

The administrative officer shuddered.

“Calvin is going to like this,” continued the intel officer.
“In addition to the information on lasers, the data we captured also had
information on a new ship type that had been designed to support the lasers.
The craft is a modified space fighter. The interesting thing is that, because
the laser requires less space and energy, the space fighter is able to mount five
anti-ship missiles rather than the four that our fighters can now. Once the
missiles are launched, the data suggests that the fighter will be at least as
maneuverable as the ones we are already using.”

“Do we have the pattern information to load into the
replicator that we captured?” asked Calvin.

The intel officer smiled. “No need,” he replied. “It’s
already programmed into it.”

Bridge, TSS
Vella Gulf
, Epsilon Eridani ‘a’ Orbit,
June 3, 2019

“Good luck!” said Captain Deutch in farewell as he watched
the shuttle turn away from the
Vella Gulf
and back toward the planet.
“We will be back as soon as we can.”

“We’ll watch the skies for you,” replied the ambassador.
“Fair winds and following seas!”

“The same to you,” replied Captain Deutch. “Be safe. Deutch
out.” The screen went dead.

As promised, he dropped off the ambassador to set up his
embassies on the planet. Due to the lack of local transportation, Deutch had
authorized leaving one of the shuttles with him so that he could go back and
forth between the two civilizations. It also allowed the civilizations to begin
stockpiling raw materials for his return, hopefully with a replicator for them.

In addition to the ambassador, he left the flight crew of
Captain Phillip Price of the USAF and Captain Park Ji-hyun from the South
Korean Air Force to fly the shuttle. Neither of them had any close family back
on Earth, and Calvin said that they had become rather close of late. They
volunteered to stay together. As requested, Cabo Segundo Cristobal Contreras
had stayed with the therapods, as had Private First Class Calhoun Spence.
Sergeant Jacob Hylton and Corporal Berron Wayne had stayed with the humanoid civilization.
In their place, he was returning with two members of each of the local
civilizations. The medibot analyzed their physiologies and, although they could
eat most Earth food, they’d need to take supplements while they were with the
Terrans.

Captain Deutch wished he knew when they’d be coming back
this way. Even if the ship came back, he found it unlikely that he would be
with it, as he doubted that the chain of command would keep him on as commanding
officer once they got back. He hoped to stay on as CO, but he would be
surprised if he ever saw Epsilon Eridani again. Or the blackness of space.

He sighed. “Helmsman, set course for home. Full speed
ahead!”

“Aye aye, sir! Headed home; full speed, aye!” replied the
helmsman. “And away we go!” he said with a flourish as he pushed the button
engaging the drive. It was not standard terminology, but everyone on the bridge
understood the sentiment, and Captain Deutch let it pass without comment. This
time.

They were on their way home.

* * * * *

Terminal Building, Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia
Beach, VA, June 18, 2019

It was a beautiful early summer day in Virginia Beach. The
sun was shining, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. Perhaps too nice,
as the temperatures were expected to climb into the mid-90s, and the humidity
was racing it to 100. A group of about 40 reporters were gathered in a
roped-off area in front of the air station’s control tower. Although they were
sweltering in the sun, a sense of excitement filled the group. Something was
going on.
Something different
, and they were the ones that were going to
cover it...but no one seemed to know exactly what ‘it’ was. “Any idea what this
is all about?” asked the Channel 13 reporter to his colleague from Channel 10. A
previous member of the navy, the Channel 13 reporter was very familiar with NAS
Oceana, having been an F-18 electrician for three years prior to leaving the
navy to pursue a career in broadcasting.

“None,” said the Channel 10 reporter, who also had prior
military service, although his had been in the air force. “We were told that
there was going to be something of international importance happening and to
get our asses down here to cover it.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what we were told,” replied the
Channel 13 reporter. “It’s weird, the navy specifically asked for my crew to
come from the station.” He looked around the ramp area where the reporters were
gathered. “I’ve been here plenty of times and, aside from the podium they have
set up, it doesn’t look like there is anything different that I can see.” He
looked up at the control tower, and continued, “It looks like there are a lot
of folks up in the tower, and they’re all looking around like they’re expecting
something. There must be someone or something important coming in.”

“They asked for my crew too,” commented the Channel 10
reporter. He paused as the terminal door opened and a large group of
well-dressed men and women walked out, surrounded by another group of
well-dressed men that had very intense looks on their faces as they scanned the
surrounding area. “Wait a second,” he continued, “Oh my God!
It’s the
President of the United States!”

The group drew a collective breath as the reporters started
recognizing members of the group walking toward them. The Channel 13 reporter was
able to keep a more professional demeanor than his colleagues and instructed
his cameraman to start filming. He added his own commentary to the shot. “This
is Bob Davies with WVEC Channel 13 News. I’m here today at Naval Air Station
Oceana in Virginia Beach, where we have been waiting to see something that is
expected to, and I quote, ‘monumentally alter the international landscape.’”

As the camera focused on the group walking toward the
podium, Davies continued, “We don’t know what it is, but there seems to be a
large group of dignitaries here, led by the President of the United States, who
has arrived here unexpectedly. Along with our president, I recognize the prime
ministers of Britain and Canada, as well as the president of Germany.”

He turned off the recording. The sense of excitement that
previously infused the group grew exponentially as they recognized various
members of the entourage. Davies, normally the reporter who covered the local
military, didn’t recognize them on sight, but heard other reporters whisper
that the heads of Australia, South Korea, India and Italy were also present.
None of the international reporters present had been aware that the other heads
of state were even in the country.

Something big was definitely going on.

The president walked up to the podium and was flanked by ten
other men and women who stood just behind him. “Good afternoon,” welcomed the
president. “I am very happy to be here today with the prime ministers of the
United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Japan, as well as the presidents of
Germany, South Korea, India, Italy, Nigeria, and Chile. I will have a short
statement, and then there will be a presentation. Unfortunately, we will not be
able to answer questions afterward, but we will have a large media package for
all of you.”

He paused and smiled. “51 nations came together on October
24, 1945,” he said, “in an effort to maintain international peace and security,
develop friendly relations among nations and promote social progress, better
living standards and human rights. This was the founding of the United Nations.
Since then, the U.N. has strived to do all of those things. While it has been
successful in promoting peace and social progress around the world, many times
it has been unable to do all of the things that its founders hoped for due to
fighting amongst the nations.” He gave a small, wry smile. “On most of these
occasions, the United States was one of those nations either blocking progress,
or being blocked from doing something we thought was in our best interests.”

“This has to end!” The president looked around the assembled
group of reporters as if it were their fault. Bob Davies was sure that the
steely-eyed look he gave the cameras was meant to strike fear into the hearts
of any evil-doers that were watching. Davies didn’t know if it worked with
them, but it certainly made
him
want to toe the line. The president
continued, “I’m sure that many of you have heard the term, ‘new world order.’
We are here today to announce the formation of the first real new world order.”

“Due to events beyond our control, we have become aware that
we need to put division behind us. We are here today to announce an executive
agreement to form a new, unified world government. Between us, we bring
together over one quarter of the world’s population, including four of the ten
most populous nations. I call on Congress to revoke all previous treaties and
ratify the one that I am sending it, the Treaty for the Defense of Sol. The rest
of the presidents and prime ministers here call upon their legislative branches
to do similarly, and we invite the other nations of this planet to join us in
this endeavor.”

“I want to be very clear on this. This agreement is
not
a play to curry favor with anyone, or grandstand, or conduct any of the
political maneuvering that you have seen in the past. We no longer have time
for these things. This is a straightforward attempt to end division on this
planet. I know that many people throughout the world no longer believe in
politics and politicians. The time has come to put that skepticism behind us and
move forward as a united planet. As a sign of our good intentions, we have
tried to place the site of this new government at the center of our planet, so that
none of the nations that previously squabbled will have an advantage. The site
of the new government will be in Abuja, in the country of Nigeria. I want to
thank Abasi Oyinlola, the president of Nigeria, for donating the land that will
become the site of the Terran World Government.” The cameras moved to President
Oyinlola, who waved, smiling broadly.

The cameras came back to the president at the podium in time
to see the look on his face soften. The president gave the cameras his best
‘you can trust me’ smile. “Now, I know I’ve given you a lot to think about, and
I wish that it ended there. The fact of the matter is that the time for talking
is past; we need to implement these reforms
right now
. I mentioned
before that there had been some events beyond our control that had driven us to
accelerate this process of peace and unity. It’s time to show you what I mean.”

All of the heads of state surrounding the podium turned and
faced the airfield, looking up. Seeing where they were looking, the reporters
looked up, as well. Within seconds, a silver shape could be seen high overhead
the airfield, which grew quickly as it descended. As it grew and gained
clarity, it was apparent that it was
not
of earthly origin. Although it
flew, the craft had no discernible wings or propellers or jet engines.

It dropped fast enough to make most of the people watching
uncomfortable. As it reached an altitude of 200 feet, it slowed noticeably and
coasted to a gentle landing on Runway 5, touching down on the eight sets of
landing gear that extended from it. Now that it stopped, Davies saw that it
looked like
nothing
he had ever seen before. The spaceship, for it had
to be a spaceship (‘oh my god, it’s a real, live spaceship,’ one part of his
brain gibbered), was huge. Using one of the 56-feet long F-18s that were
sitting on the ramp as a guide, he estimated that the ship was about 1,300 feet
long, 160 feet wide, and 130 feet tall. And holy crap,
it was a spaceship!

The ship was generally cylindrical for most of its length
but had slightly larger caps on both ends like stunted mushrooms. For the last
100 feet on both ends of the ship, these caps extended about 50 feet further
out from the rest of the ship. Looking closer, he saw that there were smaller
ships attached to it. On one end, there appeared to be a ship that was shaped
like a spade and another one that was boxier in nature; the other end had two
of the spade-shaped ships. He guessed that the parasites must be three fighters
and a shuttle. There was a lot of space around the caps that seemed empty; should
there be more of the smaller ships? Were they flying overhead out of sight right
now? Along the side of the ship were nine large doors near the top of it and 27
smaller doors that ran along the bottom half of it. In between the doors, ten dishes
were mounted on some sort of gimbal system. Davies had no idea what was behind
the doors, but he was an avid science fiction fan (some would say “nut”) and
guessed that the dishes were some sort of laser defense system and the doors
must be missile ports. On top of the ship, there was some sort of
superstructure, although it was difficult to see from where he was standing. He
wished he was in the tower so that he could have had a better view.

Davies looked over to find his cameraman staring blankly at
the spaceship with his mouth open. Davies slapped him on the back. “Start
filming, damn it, you’re missing it!” The cameraman gave a small start and then
brought the camera up to his shoulder just in time to catch a ramp come down
from the left end of the ship. Looking around, he saw that almost half the
people present were staring blankly at the spaceship the same way, as their
brains refused to process what they were looking at. They were going to get the
scoop on some of them, although they had missed out on filming the spaceship as
it descended. Maybe he could trade with one of the others later, he hoped.

He looked back to the ship in time to see soldiers in space
suits start coming down the ramp in pairs. At least they looked like they were soldiers;
they appeared to be carrying some sort of rifles. The space suits didn’t have
helmets, and their heads looked...

“Bob!” said the cameraman, who was able to zoom in on the
soldiers with his camera. “Those guys look like humans. I can’t be sure, but it
looks like some of them have U.S. flags on their shoulders. What the hell is
going on?”

Davies had no idea. They certainly
looked
like humans
from what he could see, but if the U.S. had a ship like that, it was the best
kept secret since the F-117 stealth fighter. No, he decided, it was an even
better kept secret than that.

Ten pairs of men (and women! he noted) marched down the ramp.
Wait a minute! The last pair had tails! And lizard heads. Walking lizards? What
the hell are they? Once all of them were off the ramp, the soldiers stopped
marching in unison, with their feet coming together so crisply that Davies
could hear it several hundred feet away. The soldiers faced the center and
presented arms just like he had seen American soldiers do hundreds of times in
his life. What the hell was going on?

Then the aliens came down the ramp. Shorter than the
soldiers by over two feet, on average, the three figures that came down the
ramp next also had disproportionately large heads. “It looks like...yeah, they
do. They have six fingers!” the cameraman whispered.

The cameraman’s comment broke Davies’ reverie, and he
realized that he should have been recording something himself while this was
going on. Damn! He had allowed himself to get wrapped up in the moment. Oh,
well, he thought, at least he could add voice over to the tape later. As the
aliens reached the end of the ceremonial guard, a bus pulled up, and they got
into it. Everyone had been wrapped up watching the aliens; they hadn’t seen the
bus driving up. Once the aliens were on the bus, the soldiers boarded it, as
well, and it drove over to where the heads of state were waiting.

As the bus stopped, Davies started describing the events as the
soldiers again provided a ceremonial honor guard. The soldiers marched off the
bus in pairs without a single voiced command. Having done an honor guard once, Davies
knew that it wasn’t an easy thing to do, and he wondered how they were able to
pull it off so flawlessly. As the men and women formed up and faced to the
center, he could see the flags of the United States, Canada, Japan, South
Korea, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Chile, India and Australia represented on
individual shoulders in the group. The lizards had a flag on their shoulders
too...but it was no flag he had ever seen. They looked even stranger up close. Davies
looked at the monitor of the camera as his cameraman zoomed in, and he could
see every scale on their heads. They each looked like a baby T. Rex, right down
to the mouthful of killer teeth! If they weren’t real, their make-up artists
should get some sort of academy award. The presidents and prime ministers were
beaming at their soldiers, obviously proud at how well the soldiers represented
their countries. Once again, the soldiers presented arms in perfect unison, and
the short aliens walked out of the bus to meet the receiving line of heads of
state at the end of the honor guard.