The Vampires of Antyllus Page 5

  "Matt showed us how during the battle."

  Just then, a voice boomed throughout the classroom, "Will everyone please be seated? Thank you.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Doctor Lawrence Mayat. Tonight's briefing really is just a get-together in order that we may all become acquainted. As all of you are aware, we will very shortly depart for the next step in human advancement. We are expanding humanity out into the universe. The fear that a solitary meteor, comet, or the action of some nuclear-equipped madman might one day destroy all that we as a species have learned and achieved is, at this very moment, mitigated. As we speak, there are already six thousand eight hundred of our fellows residing, building, and improving conditions on Antyllus. They are eager to receive your assistance. In future, we will be bringing more colonists to join you all.”

  The assemblage began to applaud, but Doctor Mayat quickly put a stop to it.

  "Please, please. Now, for some cold hard facts: there are some simple reasons you have been selected for this great adventure. First, each of you possesses a skill that is needed on Antyllus. Some of you have also been selected for another reason. We are colonizing this new world; our species must grow. So, we expect that you will pair off and produce offspring—thus, this little social gathering. Please take a look around and pick a mate. However, we request that no one become pregnant until after we arrive at our new home."

  The doctor's audience was both confused and a little embarrassed. Heads turned and a murmur began to rise.

  The Doctor adjusted his notes and continued. "The trip to Antyllus will take six point three years. During that time, the humans among you will be in cryostasis for the duration. The SUBs will be placed in a state we simply call suspended animation, which will allow for the periodic reactivation of selected individuals for various reasons as determined by the ship's AI.

  "Three of the four existing massive interstellar spacecraft are in lunar orbit right this minute. Their cargo has been loaded. There is still much that is manufactured on Earth that they require on the new world. You will depart JILL tomorrow beginning at zero nine hundred lunar, for a short drive to the shuttle that will deliver you to your assigned spacecraft." The audience, shocked to learn of their imminent departure, came to life at that news.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please. The ships, the Nina, Pinta, and the Demeter, are loading the final portion of their cargo right now. You will be the last passengers to be loaded. We can conceive of no reason to delay. You have about thirteen hours before departure. You will all be asleep for the next seventy-four-and-a-half months, so perhaps you'll want to stay up tonight, have a party, or whatever.

  “You are forbidden from consuming alcohol after midnight tonight. Do not eat after zero one hundred. You humans will all have your bowels voided starting at zero six, so all humans are to meet back here not later than zero five three zero. Thank you."

  Everyone started to rise and depart the classroom. The mood was decidedly subdued.

  Cassie turned to Kathy. "Did you hear that, ma'am? The humans this and the humans that. Susan once said we are all human. There are just some of humans without cyberneticly enhanced functions." Then she looked at Chuck having forgotten he was there. "No offense, Chuck."

  "Naw, it's okay. You're right."

  Kathy looked at everyone and asked, "What are we supposed to do for the next ten hours or so?"

  Cassie took hold of Mitch's hand. "Well—we have plans," she said smiling. "We're still newlyweds."

  "Well, of course," Kathy replied, and then extended her hand. "It was a pleasure to have met you two." As they left, Kathy turned to look at Chuck.

  "Whoa, ma'am, I don't fraternize with brass."

  "Sergeant, I think in the time before we depart, I'm gonna shove you in an Eagle and drop you into Hohmann's Well. Then you can be Cris Salazar's problem." And she smiled at him.

  "Ya know, ma'am, I hadn't thought about Cris in some time. I wonder what ever happened to him."

  They stood silently together as the classroom emptied. Then, a voice brought them both back from the past.

  "Chuck?"

  They both looked up to see Dave Mitchel approaching.

  "I was wondering if I might know anyone here," Dave said.

  "Hey, Dave, this is—"

  "Major Kathy Selina," Dave interrupted.

  Chuck shook his head and said, "Introductions are impossible with you SUBs."

  "You read my identifier, eh, Master Sergeant Dave Mitchel?"

  "I did, ma'am, but I didn't need it. I was the maintenance chief for Red section of Eagle Squadron Eight."

  "Of course—I remember now. You were friends with Sergeant Pacherd."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  "Funny—Sergeant Alister and I were just discussing comrades we've lost up here." There was a pause in the conversation, then Kathy asked, "How long have you been a SUB?"

  "I was one of the first, ma'am. I recently had a body upgrade, though. You?"

  "I'm brand new."

  "Listen," Chuck chimed in, "I can see you two have a lot in common, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go get a drink or two before—well, before. I'll see ya later."

  ○O○

  As they were leaving the classroom, Dave turned to Kathy and asked over Ismay, "Do you know specifically—" Just as he spoke, Kathy jumped with a start, and looked at him oddly. "Are you all right ma'am?" he asked, still via Ismay.

  "I'm sorry." she exclaimed aloud, then started over again in Ismay. "I'm sorry, I'm still not used to this thing."

  "You'll get there, ma'am, and quicker than you think. Listen, if you have nothing better to do, I'd like to show you something you will never see again."

  "I'm all yours," Kathy responded nonchalantly, and headed for the exit. But her words stopped Dave for a split second in his tracks. Thankfully, the major did not notice. It occurred to Dave that he'd not heard a female voice utter those words to him…ever.

  Once in the corridor, they walked southward along one of the BSC's curvilinear hallways to a bank of elevators, one of which they took to the top level. They turned south again along another hallway. As they walked, Kathy asked, "Back in the classroom, you were about to ask me a question before I jumped out of my skin. Say, that's not possible is it, to jump out of this skin?"

  Dave laughed. "No, ma'am. It can be patched and replaced but I don't think you can jump out of it. I was just going to ask if you've been told, specifically, what your job will be on Antyllus?"

  "No. I assume they have a squadron of Eagles or some other craft they want me to command. I'm promotable, so there are a lot of options. What about you?"

  "Dr. Magobie alluded to my experience as a soldier and as a maintenance supervisor. I was an infantryman for several years before I branch-transferred. I'm hoping they need an NCO in the ninety-one series. I've pounded enough ground."

  "Still," Kathy went on, "you'd think with what's been said thus far that they would have spoken directly and specific to us about our duties at the colony."

  "Well, ma'am, they are playing this thing very close to the vest. I imagine we'll get the S-1 when we get the S-2."

  She laughed. "So, we won't know what our assignments are until we get told about the situation. This is starting to look like a very bad decision."

  "Here we are." Dave opened an airtight door and turned on the light. The room, not much larger than a broom closet, was made to accommodate a single spiral staircase. Dave led the way up, and soon they entered into a small, dimly lit, circular room surmounted by a faceted transparent dome that looked out over the top of the BSC and onto the lunar landscape beyond. As they entered, they were looking northwest. "I never tire of this sight," Kathy stated.

  Dave tapped her on the shoulder. "Ma'am, if you'll turn around, this is what I brought you here to see." She turned around and Dave pointed to the east. There, some thirty degrees above the horizon, sat the blue, green, and cloud mottled disk of the Earth. Dave watched as Kathy's eyes became transfixed upon it, and her lip
s parted. Clearly, she was in awe.

  They both just stood there for a period of time that was lost to them. Kathy watched the Earth. Dave watched Kathy. They stood in silence long enough to perceive the Earth's rotation.

  At last, in a low tone, almost a whisper, Kathy spoke. "You were right. This is a sight I'm never going to see again. It really hadn't hit home until just now, this very moment. It's quite a sobering thought."

  "Because you are a SUB now, you can replay this moment in your mind with absolute clarity any time you wish."

  Several more minutes ticked by with Kathy still wide-eyed. She lowered her head, then turned toward Dave. "Thank you, Sergeant—thank you Dave. This means a lot to me."

  "You're welcome, Major."

  A tufted bench ran around the inside perimeter of the small room. Kathy took a seat along the west wall so she could look at the Earth in the east. Because the Moon was in a selenocentric orbit with Earth, the home world never left its spot in the lunar sky.

  Dave took a seat a respectful distance from her. "Ma'am, I want to tell you something that I believe is the main the reason I'm here. We're both in the military, you're the highest ranking officer I know, and I feel I can trust you."

  He related the discussion he'd had with his new friends in the Crater House restaurant and the suspicions everyone expressed. He told her of his little trip out to Milichius Crater and what he'd observed. "When I got back to JILL, Magobie's men in black were waiting for me, and they were armed. Magobie gave me the same story I believe he and the IIEA have given everyone, and then he showed me orders directly from the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that were all of twelve minutes old, assigning me to the IIEA. I was then escorted directly here. Now, granted, it could all be coincidence, but it doesn't pass the smell test."

  Kathy remembered her conversation with Amar and Bruckner. "Sergeant Mitchel, as you say, this could be coincidental, and there's no evidence to indicate that the IIEA are engaged in anything—nefarious."

  "Anything, what, ma'am?"

  "Nefarious, it means reprehensible, despicable, and utterly evil."

  "Evil, hmm. I hope not. I'd hate to think that all those people on Antyllus are either evil or being used for something evil."

  "I think we're letting your conversation with your friends, and your encounter with the men in black, to allow our imaginations to run amok. The distance alone precludes any sort of illegal activity, don't you think?"

  "Yeah, of course. It just felt like I was being gotten out of the way. I had the feeling that had I refused the assignment they would have shot me."

  "Really? You think Magobie capable of murder?"

  "Ma'am, I'm a SUB. I don't think he would hesitate to disable a machine that threatened his plans."

  "Until there is something more substantial to go on, I'm going to have to err on the side of caution, Sergeant. I hope you understand.

  "However, if at any time you come up with any additional details, don't hesitate to let me know." She rose and went to the east side of the room where she crossed her arms and put her elbows on the rim at the bottom of the dome. "I know why you brought me up here," she murmured softly.

  "Ma'am?" Her accusatory words genuinely shocked Dave. The thought flashed through his mind that perhaps he'd misplaced his trust.

  "In addition to the view," she said, turning to look into his eyes, "Lilith has no sensor in here."

  ○O○

  All the colonists were loaded into several LPCs and shuttled out to the milk cow spacecraft in Milichius. Here everyone strapped in and, after an hour's wait, the ship departed the Moon. On the monitors that each seat was provided, the image of the Moon fell away. Dave whispered his last goodbyes to JILL. The camera angle changed and Dave could now see the three interstellar spacecraft awaiting them in lunar orbit.

  The three craft looked like they were constructed of long lines of enormous railroad box cars clustered in groups of four and strung end to end. This line was punctuated every so often with large spheres, of which there were four.

  The stern of the craft looked like a massive refinery with all its pipes, spheres, cylinders, tubes, and boxes. At the very stern were eight massive copper colored bell housings, each supported behind the engine by metal lattice work arms.

  The bow gave the ship the appearance of a hammerhead shark. The fore structure was wide, about two hundred and fifty meters, but perhaps only three decks tall.

  All along the exterior of the ship, there were several structures that reminded the observer of the Eiffel Tower. These were evenly spaced down the length of the vessel, alternating from top to port to bottom to starboard.

  The ships were each twelve kilometers long. The Nina and the Pinta were identical, but the Demeter was just a tad different. Just behind the hammerhead, the Demeter sported a large, black cylinder, two hundred meters in diameter, and two hundred and fifty-five meters long. There were no lights and no windows visible on this addition.

  As Dave sat examining the ships on his monitor, Kathy was busy downloading information off the milk cow's computer.

  "Those ships are really technological marvels," she commented aloud, which was necessary, as the milk cow was without Ismay.

  Kathy leaned toward Dave and pointed at the slowly advancing image of the ship on his monitor. "Have you read about the breakthrough in EM engine design?" she asked Dave.

  "No, I remember reading that the first successful tests were made back in the early twenty-first century, and that researchers had been trying to perfect the concept ever since."

  "Turns out it was little more than an improvement on an age-old kitchen implement; okay, from a really big kitchen. The new AMT, or Advanced Microwave Technology, has been employed to convert electrical energy directly into thrust. It's called an EM, or electromagnetic drive. No propellant is needed during this process. Thrust is produced by the amplification of the radiation pressure of an electromagnetic wave propagated through a resonant waveguide assembly.

  "Those engines can produce seven billion, nine hundred and sixty million, two hundred thirty-one thousand, six hundred Newtons of thrust."

  Dave indicated the Eiffel towers. "What are these?"

  "They generate and disperse a field that protects the ship from radiation and micrometeorites."

  "What about big meteorites?" Dave asked.

  "All these canisters are filled with cargo," Kathy went on, ignoring the question. "The passengers and crew, while in cryostasis are housed in the spheres. The center section of each sphere rotates to create centrifugal force simulating gravity."

  "Ma'am, what about this one with the big black soda can, what's that?"

  "There is no mention of that section in the information I have here. That ship is the Demeter—the flag ship."

  The milk cow carefully docked with the Demeter. Now in zero G, the passengers floated out and into sphere number four. The Bios were directed into the rotating section of the sphere where they would be assigned chambers and placed in cryostasis.

  The SUBs were moved to another section of the sphere where there was no gravity. As they floated in, Kathy and Dave were happy to see Mitch and Cassie.

  All four entered a large dome-shaped room comprising half the sphere. From the apex of the dome, a huge cylindrical shaft ran directly through the area. This was the spine of the spacecraft containing the ship's main transport conduit. The dome’s interior surface was lined with individual stations designed to place SUBs into Suspended Animation.

  The flat bottom of the dome supported all manner of equipment that facilitated SA. On the side of the dome, near the airlock, a control room, with several large windows, overlooked the chamber.

  Each SUB heard the voice over Ismay, which this ship was equipped with. It was a pleasant female voice that seemed to have a slight eastern European accent. "Hello, and welcome to the IIEA's interstellar transport ship, the Demeter. As you are now aware, your connection to one another through Ismay is restored. I am your
AI host; please call me Narcissia. Shortly, you will be placed into SA. Selected individuals may be awakened periodically during our journey, if necessary. While in SA, you will experience no sense of the passage of time. I will be monitoring all your systems and recharging your G-buc's as required. Because you will be in SA, it is anticipated that you will only require four recharges during the voyage. You will, of course, arrive fully charged and ready to assume your responsibilities immediately.

  "Selected individuals will receive additional training and education from me during the voyage. Those selected will be notified as soon as you occupy your designated cell."

  Each SUB now saw a number appear in their field of vision.

  "This is your cell number," Narcissia informed the passengers, "please move there now." Everyone began fanning out, heading for their respective cells as directed by Narcissia. There were cables running through the X and Y axes of the space by which people could pull themselves along.

  Mitch and Cassie waved so long, and, hand in hand, headed off toward their adjacent cells.

  Kathy looked over at Dave and, smiling, asked, "What, no special accommodation for field grade officers?"

  Dave returned her smile, "See you in six years, ma'am."

  "Listen—Dave, I really do appreciate that last look at home. It was a sweet thing to do."

  Dave was happy to be a SUB at that moment; Kathy would not see the blush on his face. Smiling, he responded, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I am never sweet with majors and above."

  Her face lit up in a broad smile, and then she laughed. Dave thought her quite pretty, especially when she smiled. "Sergeant," Kathy began, "you are the epitome of professionalism. Sleep tight." She pushed off and headed for her cell.

  Dave pulled himself along toward his own cell. He had really enjoyed himself these last hours with Major Selina. He was usually very shy around women. Why not with her? He asked himself. For one thing, she's an officer and for another, he knew that he was not likely to have any further interaction with her. She commanded a Squadron of Eagles and he maintained them. He seldom saw her when they were both serving in Easy Eight Squadron, so there was no reason to expect he would see any more of her on Antyllus. So, why was he not shy around her? He felt safe.