The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict Read online

  There were some exceptions. Giant shopping malls, entertainment areas, government offices, and larger industrial firms were typically located in one particular building. The Academy of Science was another such example. Lorano exited the transport and took an electro lift to his new apartment on the 91st floor.

  Lorano immediately sent Crista, Victor, and Carank a message mentioning that he met Jack Dogbarks and had to modify their story. He told them about the additional corvette. He did not tell them about the transposed coordinates.

  The next morning Lorano went to his new office on the 32nd floor. He realized that he had been away for a long while and was on a new project, but his previous office had been on the 14th floor. It seemed something of an embarrassment to be relegated to such an inferior and perceived insignificant floor. Plus, his new office was facing west. Scientists of his stature were typically allotted the prime offices on the North wall.

  Lorano’s new assignment was to create a more powerful ion cannon without increasing its size. Lorano began by reviewing the specifications of ion cannons in general. An ion cannon’s primary (well only) function was to shoot a very large amount of energy at one’s opponent.

  The cannon had four distinct parts – energy store, mass converter, collector, and aiming device. The cannon required an enormous amount of stored energy to function. On a ship, the primary generator would generate electricity and store it in large batteries. Next, the electricity would flow into a reaction chamber and superheat the atoms.

  Inside the mass converter the superheated atoms are bombarded with radioactive polonium. This process then strips, or ionizes, the atoms by removing its positively charged electrons. The atoms are then collected in a large chamber. The charged atoms are then electromagnetically fired down a long barrel.

  Lorano reviewed each function separately and as a group. He came to the same inescapable conclusion that hundreds and perhaps thousands of his predecessors had determined. There is a linear relationship between the size of the cannon and its power.

  If one wants more power, he simply needs more electricity. More electricity requires bigger batteries. It also requires a bigger reaction chamber and collection area. The barrel was also important; the longer the barrel, the farther one can shoot the ion beam. The barrel had some minimal ability to rotate a few degrees, but for the most part, a ship’s ion cannon had to be pointed directly at the opponent to have any chance of hitting it.

  The final variable was optics. If the beam was tightly focused, it would travel farther than loosely focused. However, the tighter the focus, the smaller the diameter of the ion beam and the less likely the beam would strike the target. The ship had to be close enough to the enemy to ensure that the enemy ship couldn’t dodge before the beam struck him.

  There were curves that described the relationship between distance, speed, and ion diameter. Basically, the farther away one was, the less likely he was to hit a moving target. The weapon was perfect if one was facing a stationary enemy a short distance away. Lorano was beginning to realize why the Hiriculans had begun removing them from their cruisers. They seemed to have little benefit for their cost.

  Two weeks had passed and Lorano had verified that the ion curves were essentially correct. He was starting a review of the collection chamber when a colleague entered his office. The colleague said, “Lorano, I am trying to calculate a hyperdrive fold string, but the answer is nonsensical. Can you review it?”

  Lorano reviewed the calculation on the com pad. He noticed immediately that on the 214th line he had forgotten a variable. Lorano circled it and handed the com pad back. He said, “You forgot to write a variable on this line.”

  The colleague reviewed it and said, “Yes. I see now. This is an extremely difficult calculation.”

  Lorano replied, “Yes, but your mistake was basic. Even a human can add 2 + 2 and get 4 a reasonable number of times.” The colleague left without further interaction.

  He was also starting to feel stuck on Altian-1. The monotonous routine of going up and down an electro lift was bothering him. Once, he even exited the science building and walked across the grass to the next building over just to eat at a different restaurant. However, when he arrived he decided to save time and eat at the chain restaurant because he had a long walk home.

  Lorano realized that he disliked his new project. There was no improvement possible. Realistically, the only improvement was to remove them from the ship design. He wanted to be part of an exciting new project such as designing a new ship or going to a planet filled with hostile aliens.

  Lorano sent his patriarch, Alliance Senator Korno, a message summarizing his research and asking him for a new assignment.

  ……………………….

  Frank was sitting through a boring Alliance Senate budget meeting when he had a sudden realization. He realized that he no longer wanted to be in the boring meeting, so he made an excuse and left.

  He had recently been thinking about what to do with the human pilots if (when?) they returned from the mission to Hepitila. The bill to allow humans in the Alliance Navy was still a secret. The humans couldn’t be allowed to return to Advranki Prime or any other populated area without their existence becoming public knowledge.

  Oh well, he thought. He would solve that problem later. First though, he wanted to check on another of his pet projects. He went into an empty antechamber, activated the privacy screen, and said, “Computer, call contact X. Invoke Senate security protocols.”

  …Call placed, voice only, security in place, the call is not being recorded. Connecting now…

  Frank didn’t wait for the other person to speak. He blurted out, “Well, were you able to get it?”

  The return voice sounded metallic. Frank imagined he must be using a voice changer. The voice said, “No. It is going to take a while.”

  Frank responded, “I asked you to do one simple thing.”

  The metallic voice said, “It may be one thing, but it isn’t simple.”

  Frank responded, “Well, maybe I will just call the Hiriculan ambassador and ask him if he has a spare Hiriculan beam rifle I can borrow.”

  The metallic voice said, “I doubt that. As you know, it is virtually impossible to obtain a Hiriculan beam weapon. However, the death wound only has to look like it came from a weapon of Hiriculan design. It doesn’t have to be from an actual Hiriculan weapon.”

  “Okay,” Frank responded. His curiosity had been piqued.

  The metallic voice said, “I am in the process of having a weapon made that will match the Hiriculan beam signature. This will take time because the beam signature has to be a perfect replica and it has to disintegrate after use.”

  Frank responded, “Keep me informed” and broke the connection. He briefly considered allowing Earth to join the Alliance. That way he could simply hire a human to eat the talkative Senator.

  Senator Korno entered the room a few minutes later and said, “Frank, can you think of any projects that we could reassign Lorano to lead. The ion cannon project is a failure.”

  Frank responded, “As a matter of fact I do know of a project. The Solarian senator has been bothering me incessantly since we stopped the project to look for Old Solaria.”

  Korno said, “Yes. She has been bothering me too.”

  Frank said, “I don’t like the way she smiles and politely reminds me that finding Old Solaria is a top priority. She is so nice and kind I just want to slap her.”

  Korno seemed lost in thought for a moment, so he simply responded, “Yes.”

  Frank continued, “Lorano could use those gravity missile things he invented to potentially search a broader area faster.” Frank smiled at Korno and continued, “Finding Old Solaria would be quite an accomplishment for Lorano and would cement his reputation as one of the greatest scientists of all time.” He knew the smile and compliment would immediately get Korno’s agreement and full support.

  Korno nodded his head in satisfaction. He said, “That is an excelle
nt idea. We can solve two problems at once. I will have Lorano travel back from Altian-1 to Advranki Prime. However, is there anything we can do to get started before he arrives?”

  Frank said, “I don’t know, but I do know who would.” Frank paused for a moment and said, “Computer, place a call to Carank.

  …Connection established…

  Frank said, “Carank, you remember Senator Korno.” Korno waved hello at the communicator. Frank continued, “I have a question for you. If you were going to use Lorano’s missile method to search for Old Solaria, how would you do it?”

  Carank stared at the monitor deep in thought for a moment. He responded, “Am I going to go search for Old Solaria?”

  Frank responded, “Well, at this point it is still hypothetical.”

  Carank said, “Please. I want to go search for Old Solaria. Can I be part of the team?”

  Frank said, “What about your research into heavy defensive missiles?”

  Carank responded, “It won’t work. The project is at a standstill. The technology necessary to make it work hasn’t been invented yet.”

  Frank asked, “Can’t you invent the technology?”

  Carank said, “I’m an engineer, not a particle physicist.” He paused for a moment for effect, then continued, “The technology required will be out of our grasp for centuries. It may not ever be feasible.” Technically, Carank had degrees in both engineering and physics, but he really liked the saying.

  Frank smiled and said, “Yes Carank. You are now on the team. What are the main items that you will need?”

  Carank said, “We need a cruiser or something mobile that can create a hyperspace field. We will also need a machine shop of some significance to build the missiles. Specifically, we will need raw steel and the machinery to stamp out missile casings. We will also need machines to create electronics for the missiles. Oh, and we will need a small staff of 20 or so beings to assist us with building, launching, and tracking the missiles.

  Frank had a devious idea. He said, “Do the beings need to possess any special skills?”

  Carank said, “It would help if some of them were pilots.”

  Frank said, “Does the ship classification matter – cruiser, corvette, or fighter?”

  Carank said, “No. Well, having fighter pilot training might actually be helpful. If one or two of the staff could fly a fighter, that would actually be helpful. We could use a fighter to fire the missiles.”

  Korno said, “There is an old cruiser, the Peerless, at the Conron shipyard that is going to be decommissioned next month. They could use that one. They could get the machinery and most of the supplies here and obtain the rest of the necessary items from the depot in Conron.”

  Frank said, “Gather a list of necessary supplies and submit it the Alliance Senate. You will leave in 5 days. I will arrange to have a mini-freighter transport you.”

  Carank asked, “To where?”

  Korno asked, “Well, where do you think the best place to search for Old Solaria is?”

  Carank said, “I would begin the search from Waylon.”

  Frank said, “In that case, I believe that the team should begin the search in Waylon.”

  Carank smiled and said, “You will have the list tomorrow at the latest.” Carank broke the connection.

  Frank and Korno walked back into the budget meeting. Frank said, “We need to add a new item to the budget.” When he had everyone’s attention, Frank continued, “We need to fund another mission to find Old Solaria.”

  Korno added, “Lorano will be leading the mission and Carank will be assisting. The team was so successful on Earth; it only makes sense to pair them together again. With luck, they will be able to locate it.”

  The Solarian Senator stood and applauded. They voted and the budget request passed unanimously. Frank smiled. Today was an excellent day. He enjoyed solving two problems at once.

  Chapter 15

  Ella said, “We are exiting hyperspace now.”

  Arean said, “Everyone, welcome to wild and wonderful Hepitila.”

  The Hepitila system consisted of a single, average star surrounded by 5 planets. The fifth planet was a gas giant with two moons of its own. None of the planets or the two moons was capable of sustaining life. In summary, there was little of interest in the system.

  If the Hepitla system were drawn as a two-dimensional circle, the Sunflower’s position would be at the 300 degree mark (Southeast corner). The closest astronomical object to them was the gas giant planet; its 450 day rotation around the sun also placed it in the southeast corner of the system. The physical proximity to the star severely limited the cruiser’s ability to micro jump inside the system. If they were going to go anywhere in the system, they would have to do so in real time using the plasma reactors.

  Solear said, “Scan the area. Quickly people, let’s go.”

  The system’s size is determined by the distance that one has to travel in space to get around the gravity anomaly. If the Sunflower, or any ship for that matter, started on one side of the system and traveled at a velocity of .1 light to the other side, it would take it 80 hours to complete the trip. Light, traveling oddly enough at the speed of light, would therefore traverse the system 10 times as fast, or in 8 hours.

  An initial, or sometimes called passive, scan simply draws a picture of the system using the light immediately available to it. The area closest to the ship is in real time, but as the scan goes farther and farther out, the corresponding light gets older and older. The picture from the far side of the system is 7-8 hours old.

  If another ship was in the system, it could have moved significantly in this amount of time – possibly from the 7 hour band to the 6 hour band. However, if it made a micro-jump, it could be anywhere.

  A full or system scan involved sending a beam of light across the system and waiting for it to bounce off of something and return. Again, the information could be as much as 16 hours old when it returned, but it generally provided much more detailed information about the objects it detected.

  Ella said, “Initial scan complete. No other ships were detected.”

  Arean looked at the results and said, “Aren’t there supposed to be 6 planets?”

  Solear said, “Yes, where is it?”

  Ella displayed the scan on the main viewer. Lexxi looked at the scan and pointed at a large, dark object on the screen. She said, “What is that?”

  Everyone looked at the object. The sensor image was unclear. It looked like a large, artificially constructed object. Arean said, “It is huge. It appears way too big to be a ship. Maybe it’s a fort.”

  Solear answered, “That doesn’t make sense, unless perhaps it is a hollowed out asteroid or our missing 6th planet.” When no one responded, Solear said, “Computer, analysis.”

  …Initial scan inconclusive. The object is partially obscured by the gas giant planet. Physical size is immense. Unable to verify corresponding mass…

  Solear said, “Ella, conduct a full scan of the system. Concentrate on the anomaly.”

  Ella responded, “Full scan of the object initiated. It will take about 2 hours to complete. The scan of the rest of the system will take up to 16 hours to complete.”

  Arean said, “We may have to fly around the planet to get a clear view of the object.”

  Solear said, “Ella, please calculate how far we would have to travel to get an unobstructed view of the object.”

  Ella worked at her station for a few moments. She frowned and looked up once she had completed them. She said, “We would have to proceed at course 12.22.22 at our present speed of .06 light for an hour and 48 minutes to get a clear view.” Ella overlaid the potential course over on the monitor still showing the scan.

  Solear walked closer and carefully reviewed it. He noted that both Arean and Lexxi had joined him. Solear finally said, “We will have to enter deep into the sun’s gravitational field to get a clear view.”

  If they enter the sun’s gravitational field, they woul
d not be able to jump to hyperspace. They would have to retrace their path to get back out of the gravity field.

  Solear said, “Computer, display the gravity field on the monitor in red.

  …The gravity field is in red…

  Captain Solear again studied the chart with the help of Lexxi and Arean. Neither had moved in the last moments. Solear said, “The gravity field is farther out than I had hoped. We will hit the gravity field in 10 minutes.”

  Arean thought it sounded like a questions, so he answered, “Yes. We will be in the field for 1 hour and 38 minutes before we can start the scan. Then, say 48 minutes to complete a full scan and maybe a fly over, then another 1:38 back. It will take us three hours tops to get the information we came all this way to get.”

  Lexxi was still intently studying the map, so Captain Solear asked, “Lexxi, what do you think we should do?”

  She replied, “I don’t care. Do whatever you want.” She reached to put her earphones back over her ears, but Solear was faster. He pulled them off of her neck before she could place them on her ears. Solear said, “Sorry, but I need you to be alert and focused for the next few hours. You can have them back after the mission.”

  Ella said, “So are we going in then?’

  Solear said, “Let’s go around the room. Tell me your opinion and possible options. Clowy, what do you think?”

  Clowy responded, “About what?”

  Solear skipped her and said, “Arean, thoughts?

  Arean said, “The initial scan looks good. There doesn’t appear to be anyone here. I think we can make it in and out before we are detected. I say let’s go.”

  Solear said, “Ella, how do you feel?”

  Ella responded, “Maybe we should increase our speed to .1 light. That will reduce the travel time to 65 minutes each way. We could cut 43 minutes off of the trip in both directions.”

  Arean said, “Yes. But we would be traveling way to fast to get a proper scan.”