“You think we’re just jarheads or something?” Chen asked. “We might act a part, play a role and follow our time honored cultured tradition from since the inception of United Earth marines, but we’re not what they’ve called jarheads.”
Zane caught his lower jaw. “Right, well as I was saying. Forty years ago the orbital Hadron Collider in Alpha Centauri . . . illuminated shall we say, dark matter in the Kuiper belt of the system. It took thirty years and all our advanced technology and understanding of dark energy and dark matter and their relationship with the universe to interact with and contain it.
“More than ten years ago Fleet Research and Design began experiments with dark-matter reactors. We hoped the enhanced power output could push warp factors ten times beyond the former threshold in addition to powering a completely new range of technologies. Phoenix was the test bed for all of it.
“The research languished because they were so afraid that the mishandling of an infinitesimal amount of exotic matter could destroy the fabric of space and time. Then someone decided that if it was going to destroy the universe, it would have done so long ago and deemed it safe to experiment with. Once we understood how to contain it and harness its power—that fear completely subsided—partly due to the fact there have been no universe ending catastrophes.”
Chen turned several shades pale. “What would happen if this dark matter you pulled from where you should have left it, breaches containment?”
“If it breaches containment, nothing. It’ll just be there. The containment is part of the process by which we harness its power. However, I know the military was experimenting with weaponizing it. A kind of planet killing bomb.”
“Why would we need a planet killing bomb?” Mick asked.
“You know the military, Mick.” Dawes said. “We’d weaponize our mothers if we thought it could win us a war.” No one realized the marine had joined them at the bar.
“I can’t imagine Shepherd sanctioning something like this ever,” Mick said.
“Shepherd isn’t the authority on everything,” Zane said. “The project might come under Fleet Research, but there are other powers above Shepherd.” He had a grim look. “Way above.”
Chen was curious. “Did they look into it as a matter of ‘we just need to know if it’s possible’ or do they really want to create this weapon?”
Zane looked thoughtful. “I don’t have an answer to that, nor do I have any insights into their ultimate goals. Maybe it’s equivalent to the nuclear arms race. Perhaps they’d use it as a deterrent.”
“A deterrent to what? If you threaten us, we’ll destroy your planets?” Mick asked.
Zane shrugged. “Maybe an equalizer then. If we both have the same thing and we both know how terrible it is, we won’t use it.”
Interesting. “Isn’t the Baridian Empire developing subspace weapons?” Yuri asked.
They all turned to him, surprised by his sudden question.
“I’ve read intel which suggests such,” Zane said.
“Maybe our experimentation with a dark-matter bomb is in response to that,” Ubu suggested.
“Maybe,” Zane said. “But what about the peace treaty? The formal peace treaty and not just the cease fire that existed for seventy years. Why would either side want such a weapon now?”
“As with all things this complicated,” Dawes said. “We won’t end years of intolerance and distrust with some peace treaty agreed to by our respective leaders. There’s a lot of bad blood, if you will, between us and the Empire. Some worlds were more affected by the war than others. Nova comes to mind. Ask Lieutenant Delaine, she’s from Nova.”
Dawes sounded like he came from one of those worlds.
“What do you think, Sergeant?” Yuri asked. “It almost sounds as if you are speaking from your own heart, and not on behalf of the would-be dissenters.”
“I think . . . I think you ask too many questions for a flyboy,” Dawes said grinning. “I think I’ll have to lobby to replace you with Chen.”
Yuri looked at Chen. “You’re trained to fly starships?”
Chen nodded. “Class two helm officer, class one atmosphere flight rated.”
Class one in atmosphere was the highest level, and he matched Yuri there.
“No thanks, I’m class one rated at the helm, we don’t want sub-par pilots flying Phoenix.”
“Frightened they won’t need you anymore, Flaps?” Ubu asked.
Flaps laughed. “No marine pilot could ever replace me. The day you replace me is the day Lee gets a sense of humor.”
He was being serious, but they all laughed nonetheless.
Chapter 17 – No Love Lost
“Tell me what you need, and it will be done” – Lord Commander Quintus Scipio
United Star Systems Fleet Headquarters
Sol
Shepherd pounded his fist on the desk. The Terran Union wouldn’t lift a finger. No matter how he tried to convince them of the threat posed by the ORA—they wouldn’t budge.
The damn wormhole is right in their front yard!
They saw for themselves the unprovoked attack on Constellation and Endeavor, yet they held some belief they could negotiate—that it was some elaborate misunderstanding.
Declaring a war for no reason was certainly a colossal misunderstanding of epic proportions. He’d wanted to strangle the ORA diplomat. If he could have reached through the screen, he would have.
Not for the same reasons, but it reminded him how he sometimes wanted to strangle Rayne. The communications blackout beyond the wormhole was unnerving. No way to know if Rayne would need help on the other side.
They faced a threat from beyond the frontier a possible invasion and the other enclaves didn’t care. There was one person left who might help.
Quintus Scipio had no love lost for Shepherd.
The Lord Commander had dispatched his brother Platus to the Border Worlds to help identify the Imperial conspirators. They’d learned Shepherd had operatives trying to stop the conspirators on the United Systems side of it. But Shepherd never told him who those operatives were and by the time they found out, Platus was dead. And Quintus believed if he’d known sooner, Platus’s death could have been avoided.
The holo-viewer flickered. The Lord Commander looked dapper as usual in his ceremonial chest plate and gauntlets.
He was on Earth for another round of talks. It was great the talks went well, but Shepherd couldn’t stand them.
He knew Quintus was no full time diplomat, but rather based on what Rayne told him, a cunning fox of a warrior. Yet, how the Imperial could stomach politicians, he didn’t know. It just showed the Lord Commander possessed a fair amount of intestinal fortitude.
“Supreme Commander,” Quintus said.
“Lord Commander.”
“You said it was of dire importance and a mutual friend of ours might need my help.”
“That he might.”
“Decimus told me he’d awoken. Rude fellow. Not so much as a comm I got from him.”
“I did hustle him off in a hurry.”
“No matter. State your query.”
“You already know about the ORA.”
“I do, Decimus has appraised me accordingly.”
“If there’s trouble out there, the task force won’t be enough. Not based on what Constellation observed beyond the wormhole.”