Two hours later the fourth and final spaceship was in orbit. As soon as the Australians were in orbit, Tom and the other three captains heard from Ian Thorpe, who informed them they were fine and ready for the next move. Tom and the other three commanders knew that whatever decisions they made would mean life or death for the people on board their spaceships, but it wasn’t clear yet if life and the future of humanity were as precious to some as they were to Tom and his crew.
Part V
Pioneers Providing
Nowhere to Hide
Chapter 65 – A Great Warship Needs Big Skies
Russian Federation President Ivanov, the Kremlin
Ivanov sensed something was wrong. He was inside the Kremlin with his generals but had not given the order to send his missiles. Could the Americans be aware of what they were doing? He did not think it could be this easy.
He thought perhaps that Stevens had tried to tell him or warn him that he knew about the plans. There were no signs that pointed to this, but he could not be sure.
He asked his chief military officer what he thought.
The general replied, “We have not seen abnormal activity by the Americans anywhere. I am sure they are monitoring all the spaceships, but that would be normal. They also have a few subs in the Black Sea, but they have always been there, and they are quiet now. We did notice an aircraft carrier moving in our direction. Yet, our navy base at Sevastopol has not noticed a change in their behavior. I am confident that we can destroy that spaceship. We must fire the missiles before they break orbit to leave the solar system.”
Ivanov called Yuri. “Congratulations on getting into orbit. In less than a half hour, we will launch the first set of missiles in the direction of the Ukraine and Estonia. It is an honor to follow our doctrine, is it not? Glory will once again be ours. In space, for the first time, you will be among the first Russians with a front row seat view of another first we can claim. We will be the first in moving beyond our current cyber and electronic warfare attacks in the form of one our nation’s space assets, the Oligarch. It is not just a step, or a rover, or a station—it is the Oligarch. With it comes the great certainty that we will continue to be able to reduce any weaponized satellites, weaponized pseudo planets and any threats to Russia’s expansion. It has not gone unnoticed. You are already heralded in every news stream, on VKontakte and social media channels, and among our diplomats who tout your success in world forums and summits. No nation with any ambitions will be able to avoid replicating the sophistication of our space weapons, including our disruptive airborne lasers, that equip your ship once we destroy the American ship and you destroy the German and Australian ship if they do not comply with your authority. Since monarchies have become relevant again, you may soon hear from Earth’s monarchs. I will put them through to you. They will be delighted to convey their country’s wishes.”
“I am sure it will be a welcome gesture.”
“There may be cause for more than gestures.”
“To those, I will defer to you of course, Sir. We have gained more influence than the Americans in the last decade, and I am certainly happy to oblige for our doctrine. Thank you and my family thanks you. May it be one of many chances for our beloved Russia and the people who left our protection. For the time being, however, I do have a question,” said Yuri. “Dr. Burns is a smart man. He may suspect something is happening. What shall I tell him if he is suspicious of anything? They may be able to see us power up our weapons on board.”
“Do not prepare to fire on the other two ships until the Americans are destroyed. I am sure you can do this in one hour after we are done. They will not suspect anything if you just act normal and keep your ship in orbit as planned.”
“I will do my best, sir. I am sure we will talk again later.”
“Yes, Yuri, we will be toasting to the New Russian planet in a new galaxy. You will be a national hero on Earth as well as all of your crew and family. We finally get to see the day when we can boast of how superior we are to the Americans.”
Chapter 66 – Safety First
Yuri Pavlov, The Oligarch
Minutes later, Yuri received a call from Dr. Burns on the view screen.
“Congratulations on getting into orbit. It is an inspiring day. All four ships finally did it. The German and Australian commanders have had no problems either.”
Yuri did not notice anything abnormal about what Dr. Burns had just said. It appeared Tom was excited, as he claimed to be, and after all those years of hard work, why would he not be?
It was clear that Tom did not suspect a thing.
“Tom, congratulations to you too. I know we have been a little harsh with each other, but now we can work together and cooperate as we make our way to a new galaxy. I hope to see you on board the Russian ship when you visit us sometime.”
Tom said, “Yes, Yuri. That would be nice. See you later.”
Inside, Yuri felt a little sad for him. He was happy to hear that Tom was now very pleased. In the next few hours, he would be dead along with the rest of his crew. Yuri had done what he needed to do to protect his family and team on board the Russian ship. That was the only thing that mattered to him.
It was going to be a long journey, but he would be a national hero like Ivanov said.
He felt totally safe with the plans now.
Before Ivanov had hung up with Ivanov, he’d heard him give the Russian general the order to send up the first seven missiles, headed to various cities in the Ukraine and Estonia, including Lviv, and Tallinn, the capitols. Several million people were living in those two cities and the surrounding areas. It would only be a short matter of time that the US would be preoccupied.
Chapter 67 – Waiting for Dead Men’s Shoes
Tom Burns, The Imagine
The U.S and its allies readied for the launch of the missiles.
Tom had a first-row seat to the whole thing on his spaceship in orbit. He watched the missiles from his command post with the officers the bridge. When the missiles hit, it would be utter chaos.
However, most of his crew did not have access to a view of Earth. This told Tom that there was only a short time before the nuclear missile would be launched at them.
He immediately contacted Major Johns and the president to verify that he had also seen the missiles.
Major Johns had seen the missiles. He was standing by at the controls to maneuver the spaceship with Tom.
“Tom, all our military personnel and the president are intently monitoring the situation. First, we need to neutralize the seven missiles about to hit Ukraine and Estonia. The missile detection system in Poland was built around 2019. It is fully operational and ready to launch rockets. The Pentagon wanted to intercept the missiles before they reached their target, while they were still over Russia or the Black Sea. Five minutes after the Russian missile launch, the missile defense sent out seven rockets on an intercept course for each Russian missile.”
“Thank you for the update, Major.” Tom stood by.
This was a very tense moment. The only thing Tom or anyone could do was wait to see if the interceptions were successful. At the Pentagon, the generals could see the missiles from Poland and Russia on the satellite radar system as they approached each other.
If one missile were to get by the defense system, it would mean certain death for many civilians.
“Dear god!” said one of the Pentagon generals.