Eventually, precise observations of the Builders’ ship resulted in the surprising conclusion that it would not stop at the Vert-Ring. Projections based on the velocity and angle of the ship’s approach ruled out the possibility of docking at the Vert-Ring’s stationary position. It also appeared increasingly likely that their ship would pass by both the earth and the moon, which produced sighs of relief because the dangerous scenario of having an alien ship with an unknown agenda suddenly appear in the daytime sky would be avoided. Crime was still virulent and contagious in the post-Ring world. Aki shuddered to imagine the damage that would be generated by worldwide, large-scale riots.
When the Builders had reached a distance of eighty astronomical units from the sun, about twice as far from the sun as Pluto, their final destination became clear. They were traveling at an astonishing 1,500 kilometers per second on a direct course for Mercury.
It would take six months for their velocity to slow to forty kilometers per second; at that speed the Builders’ ship would reach its final destination. UNSDF Fleet Headquarters immediately went to work devising a plan of defense that was not dependent on where the Builders would be when they were attacked but instead was based on the velocity of the incoming ship. The plan was to target the Builders’ propulsion system before the ship dropped below the velocity required to escape the sun’s gravity and leave the solar system. If the UNSDF could disable the Builders’ deceleration capabilities soon enough they would pass through the solar system—never able to return—the way they would have if Aki had not been persuasive and if the Ring had not been restored with the Vert-Ring.
If, however, the Builders’ ship were not stopped in time, even if that ship were destroyed, its remnants would be trapped by the sun’s pull and would eventually enter a stable orbit somewhere within the solar system. A fear was that remaining in the solar system would allow the Builders to launch their invasive nanobots to transform one or several planets into the massive factory that Mercury had become.
The escape velocity at the likeliest point of contact, the decreasing speed of the Builders’ ship, and the velocity of any debris propelled away from their line of trajectory were used to calculate the plan’s execution. Once the calculations were checked and rechecked, the UNSDF analysts announced that the interceptive attack had to begin five days before the Builders would arrive at Mercury. More precisely: by 1 am GMT on July 29, 2041. In the highly probable event that negotiation by the Contact Ship failed, the UNSDF would commence its attack when the Builders were traveling at a speed of eighty-eight kilometers per second, thirty million kilometers from Mercury.
The UNSDF fleet was comprised of nine ships: the UNSS Phalanx (Contact Ship); UNSS Rutherford, Chadwick, and Curie (First Armada); the UNSS Crookes, Einstein, and Millikan (Second Armada); and the UNSS Thompson (Graser Ship) and Becquerel (Graser Support Ship).
As determined by Strategic Command, the Phalanx was the only noncombat ship and the only vessel authorized to attempt a rendezvous with the Builders. The attack would be executed in three stages, with twenty-four hours separating the waves. This allowed the ships to reconfigure themselves for the next stage. The First Armada would attack on Day 1 and the Second Armada would take over on Day 2. After launching its nuclear missiles and spiderwebs, each ship would retreat fourteen hours before impact in order to attain the reasonably safe distance of two hundred thousand kilometers.
The two remaining combat ships would be used, if needed, on Day 3. As a final resort, the Thompson would attempt to destroy the Builders with the graser. The Becquerel would transport the graser initially, then the graser would be transferred to the Thompson. The crew of the latter ship would board the Becquerel and the Thompson would use all of its fuel to propel the graser into position where it would then be operated remotely.
Aki and her Contact Team on the Phalanx traveled ahead of the combat ships to rendezvous with the Builders’ ship and, if all went well, board it. On a technological level, this would be an incredibly challenging feat. The Phalanx would need to match the Builders’ speed, direction, and position with meticulous precision. Moreover, to allow ample time for the planned attack, the rendezvous had to be completed while the Builders were still traveling at relatively high velocity. To achieve this, the Phalanx had been retrofitted with four nuclear-powered NERVA III engines and a massive liquid-fuel booster rocket that would be jettisoned after its use. Even though the UNSS Phalanx carried only five crewmembers, the ship measured an impressive 180 meters with the booster rocket attached, making Aki’s ship longer than any space station.
Of all the fleet’s ships, the Phalanx had the greatest capability to change its velocity. Nonetheless, the Phalanx would wait until the Builders’ ship decelerated to less than ninety-five kilometers per second before attempting to dock. This allowed twenty hours of negotiation before the UNSDF attacked the Builders. During that time, the Contact Team hoped to board the alien vessel and communicate with the beings presumed to be on board. If the Contact Team were not able to ascertain the Builders’ intentions, or if the Contact Team concluded that the Builders were intractably hostile, the attack would be launched as scheduled, whether Aki and her team were still on board the Builders’ ship or not. Without any reservations, Aki was ready to consider that worst-case scenario and accept the potential consequences of her actions. After plotting the Phalanx’s voyage, Aki felt that she had analyzed her ship’s contingencies. Her only task left was to hope the computers functioned properly and that, above all, the Builders did not change their course.
ACT II: JUNE 14, 2041
THE PHALANX BEGAN its long voyage in the invisible current of the sun’s gravity. Heading toward the blazing star, on the 120th day, the ship passed perihelion. The eight combat ships fired their nuclear engines one by one to enter their deceleration phase, placing them into a solar orbit that nearly matched Mercury’s. Since Mercury’s orbit is elliptical and the fleet’s was circular, Mercury would approach the fleet from behind, temporarily pass and then retreat as the two met a second time. That point in space was where the Builders’ ship was projected to arrive, which placed the fleet in the best possible strategic position to launch their attack. The Phalanx used Mercury’s weak gravitational pull to shift its trajectory outward, causing the ship to decelerate slightly just before reaching perihelion. When the Phalanx reached Mercury’s orbit again, the Phalanx would point itself toward Mercury and accelerate, propelling itself toward the planet with as much speed as it could muster.
In such close proximity to Mercury, with the Vert-Ring production facilities still operating, the ships were likely to come in contact with ring material being ejected from the surface. For protection, each ship was coated with a prophylactic coating immunizing the hulls to the corrosion that resulted from contamination. Advances had been made in decoding the inner workings of the messenger cells. Messenger cells had been reprogrammed to deactivate ring material when the messengers touched it. The reprogrammed cells were replicated and applied to the hulls of the fleet’s nine ships. If the retardant functioned as planned, the fleet would avoid a recurrence of the situation that led to Mark Ridley’s heroic sacrifice.