Astronomicon 2: Distant Relatives

Astronomicon: Distant Relatives

By Paul Vincent

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012-2015 Paul Vincent

www.Astronomicon.co.uk

Twitter: @AstronomiconSF

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorised retailer. Thank you for your support.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One - Strangers in the Dark

Chapter Two - Emergency

Chapter Three - Contact

Chapter Four - Historic Handshake

Chapter Five - Technical Problems

Chapter Six - Revelations

Chapter Seven - The Announcement

Chapter Eight - Revelation

Chapter Nine - The Attack

Chapter Ten - Decisions

Chapter Eleven - Retaliation

Chapter Twelve - The Call

Chapter Thirteen - Seizing an Opportunity

Chapter Fourteen - Motives and Secrets

Chapter Fifteen - The Plan

Chapter Sixteen - Contacts and Favours

Chapter Seventeen - Change of Plan

Chapter Eighteen - The Voyage Home

Chapter Nineteen - Akhena

Chapter Twenty - The Secret

Chapter Twenty-One - Coming Home

Chapter Twenty-Two - On the Run

Chapter Twenty-Three - Debrief

Chapter Twenty-Four - Interception

Prologue

A reminder of events from Astronomicon: The Beginning

The colony on Proxima 3, now renamed Melius (meaning Better), has survived its first quarter century. Without support from Earth, it is not thriving, but its population has increased and the colonists are mostly confident about the colony’s long term survival.

Christopher Sergov, captain of the first colonisation vessel to arrive on Proxima 3, was involved in the discovery of the Astronomicon, a large, stone-like block of unknown origin. He led the initial scientific investigation into the strange device and, after establishing communication with the intelligence that operates within the Astronomicon, he discovered limited information about its purpose and function. From what little information the device divulged and more it hinted at, Chris became the first person to realise its true importance to the future of the human race. His efforts to get the device transported back to Earth have so far failed.

The Astronomicon is one of several devices, each one responsible for monitoring and assessing one of several key species in our galaxy. The device informed Chris that each Astronomicon shares information with all the others and that the ultimate aim is for the most successful species to completely wipe out all the others.

After almost a year of preaching its importance, Chris gained little support from his own community, the colony on Melius, and none at all from Earth. He was forced to eventually drop the idea and return to simply continuing with everyday life.

During all of this, political changes back on Earth have caused the complete cessation of space exploration programs on Earth and the planned closure and evacuation of the mining colonies around Jupiter. This plan however met militant resistance as the miners took a stand against the government, ultimately forcing the government to back down and let them become an independent state.

Due to this compromise the President of the Coalition of Nations incurred the wrath of one of the more extreme activist groups with aimed to bring all humans back to Earth permanently.

In an expertly executed attack the President was assassinated, to some degree revealing the extent of terrorist resources and support. There had already been a strong swing towards cancelling expenditure on off-Earth activities and the Presidential assassination ensured that few politicians would dare express opinions in any way supporting space exploration or development.

Melius continued in isolation, left unsupported, its community reliant on its determination to thrive and a growing sense of independence. The Astronomicon was left in storage, seemingly with no way for it to ever get to Earth.

Chapter One – Strangers in the Dark

June 2079

Doctor Yoshido! announced a tinny voice via the intercom on his immaculately tidy desk.

Doctor Hira Yoshido, a wiry, balding man in his seventies, was head of the Mars Deep Space Array project. From the small astronomy control centre in Mars Colony 1, he and his small team, mostly made up of academics and students, managed an array of automated full-spectrum telescopes in orbital satellites and spread across the surface of Mars. They ran several projects that were looking deeper into the universe than ever before, and one which was mapping the outermost reaches of the solar system.

He sighed and pressed the talk button, Yes, Sheila?

It’s Henri Moreau again. He’s insisting that he talk with you immediately.

Doctor Yoshido sighed again inside. For three weeks now Henri Moreau had been calling him with readings from one of his many projects which had previously proved to be unconfirmed, sloppy and poorly interpreted.

Henri was one of the more intelligent and enthusiastic students, probably the most enthusiastic, but sadly one of the least diligent. He already had a reputation amongst the other astronomy and astrophysics students for hare-brained and ill-thought-out interpretations of data from the many telescopes. He was not a good team player and hated waiting for second opinions. Doctor Yoshido believed that enthusiasm was simply no compensation for being a poor scientist. Diligence and accuracy were not part of Henri’s work ethic.

Doctor Yoshido had explained to him on too many occasions that all results must be triple-checked, verified with other sources and that there were many advantages to working in a team. Henri, however, kept getting carried away with the excitement he found in interpreting new data. He worked alone and rarely had much to do with the other students, mostly, Doctor Yoshido suspected, because the other students did not want anything to do with him. It seemed that at the end of this term, Doctor Yoshido would have no choice but to send Henri back to Earth and give a more worthy astrophysics student the opportunity to work in his department.

He rubbed his eyes, picked up his glasses and placed them carefully on his face, before pressing the talk button again, Send him in, please.

He had not even released the intercom button when his office door slid open and Henri Moreau burst excitedly into the room, clutching two electronic pads and a jumbled bundle of crumpled paper.

Doctor Yoshido, you have to see this.

Henri, must we go through this again?

I’ve checked it. This time I’ve checked it over and over. said Henri as he dropped the battered-looking electronic pads on Yoshido’s previously tidy desk and the papers cascaded on top of them.

Doctor Yoshido hid his disdain for the mess poorly.

So what do you think you have found this time?

The same as last time, Doctor, but I now have consistent data covering two weeks and the objects are getting closer. Look at this. he excitedly held up the larger of the two electronic pads. Its screen displayed a diagram of the paths of the outer planets near the bottom and at the top it showed a cloud of objects with their predicted trajectory on a path through the inner planets.

Henri, Henri, we have never detected any interstellar bodies travelling towards our system. The chances of such a thing are trillions to one, but according to this, you have detected a cloud of interstellar bodies heading almost directly towards us.

Henry sorted rapidly through the crumpled sheets of paper, knocking a couple of them onto the floor of the office. Finding the one he was looking for, he grabbed it and slapped it down in front of Doctor Yoshido, Look at this! These are the readings from two weeks ago, these the readings one week later and these are the ones from today. I got some time on the full-width array this morning – I had to scrounge a lot of array credits to get that. It’s the most accurate data yet and it confirms my previous findings. Look at it, just look!

Doctor Yoshido tentatively held up the piece of paper and tried to decipher the handwritten scrawl and hastily created diagrams.

Henri, I can barely read this.

Wait, I have the raw data. he said, picking up the smaller electronic pad and frantically navigating its touchscreen to find the key information.

Doctor Yoshido lifted his glasses onto his forehead and continued to scrutinise the sheet he was holding. Henri found what he was looking for and excitedly placed it in front of the Doctor. He compared the crumpled sheet of paper to the data now displayed on the electronic pad’s small screen.

And this data has been checked?

Yes. replied Henri, as he pulled up a guest chair and perched on the front of it.

By whom?

I got Dave and Melissa to check it. You know Melissa is a maths whizz. If there was something wrong in the figures, she’d find it. And she’d love to prove me wrong yet again.

That I don’t doubt. This data does seem to be consistent, if scientifically unlikely. mumbled Doctor Yoshido as he scrolled through more of the data on the electronic pad.

They are definitely heading this way. added Henri.

And we seem to be looking at a very significant number of bodies. added the Doctor.

My best estimate is in the order of three thousand, but the fascinating thing is that they appear to be in a coherent formation. None are rotating, the distance between them appears to be static.

Henri, I think you are reading too much into your results. The bodies may just be sufficiently symmetrical that we cannot detect rotation at this distance. As much as I am wary of your results, I will authorise further investigation. It will make a good project for all the students to work on together.

But it’s my discovery! protested Henri.

And if the discovery is true then it warrants a much more detailed examination. As is normal practice, for that we will use a team, and the best team I have available right now are the twenty students here in the M.D.S.A. project.

Okay, okay, but will I still get credit for the discovery?

Of course, don’t worry yourself about that, Henri.

- - -

We have an urgent video notification from Mars Colony 1, sir. announced the communications officer on duty.

Who is it? groaned the Major from his watch chair.

It’s Doctor Yoshido, head of the Mars Deep Space Array project.

Okay, patch him through. Maybe he’ll have something to say to alleviate the boredom.

With repeated budget cuts to both the various space programs and the military over the previous twenty years, the Early Warning Station had been cut from four control rooms, with rotating crews and back up teams and support staff, to just one control room with a skeleton team of seven. Thankfully the fleet of satellites that scanned the skies for potential threats were fully automated and would continue to operate without human intervention for decades to come.

Decades earlier, the system to detect potential threats from space had been one of Earth’s key priorities. After a few potentially disastrous near-misses followed by the Apophis catastrophe of fifty years ago, Earth’s leaders had realised that it was only a matter of time before some significant lump of rock or ice hit the Earth again. However, in the years that followed, political changes, a lack of support for anything related to space and a global financial downturn had caused the project to gradually be cut back to a mere shadow of its prime.

Doctor Yoshido’s face appeared on the main video screen on the wall in front of the lines of consoles. He looked younger and more energetic than the Major had ever seen him look before. "Major Hughes, I wish I could tell you this in person. Sadly not possible given the time delay. We’ve found something, something we never expected. I have sent all the supporting data and our best projections. Basically we have a coherent cloud of interstellar objects on an intercept course with the inner solar system.

Initially we thought we had serious errors in our data but over the last two weeks we’ve got highly accurate measurements and now know that the entire cloud has executed at least three, simultaneous course adjustments, including rapid deceleration. Course adjustments far beyond the Yarkovski effect. They have maintained a constant configuration during these manoeuvres which cannot be explained other than by a controlled and deliberate adjustment under intelligent control.

He can’t be serious! commented Major Hughes, stunned by the announcement, a low murmur went around the control room.

We’re trying to get some time on the Hawkins array out at Neptune – maybe you could swing that one for us? We desperately need to get a better look at these objects. Our best figure so far is that there are 2,897 of them, most in the 200 to 400 metre size range, but a few seem to measure at least 1200 metres in length. I think you will agree that if our observations are not severely flawed, then this is the discovery of the century.

A louder murmur went around the few staff on duty.

Our projections currently show that the objects will reach the orbit of Mars in seventeen days’ time. At their current velocity, they should be within shouting range of Earth three days later. Of course these projections only guess at their rate of deceleration, and assume that they will perform another course adjustment designed to intersect the orbit of Earth to coincide with Earth’s transit. Given their current course, that would be very easy, so it very much looks like it is the plan.

Lock the doors to this room. ordered Major Hughes.

The only two soldiers on duty leapt into action and set about securing the room.

On the video screen Doctor Yoshido continued, In conclusion, the government of Earth should prepare itself for a first contact situation within the next twenty days. I can only begin to imagine the complications you will have with that, but I wish you all well and, please, make a good impression for us all.

With that Doctor Yoshido waved almost childishly at the camera and the screen went instantly black.

Major Hughes stood up and announced, I want everyone in this room to step away from their consoles immediately. Stand up and face me. Effective immediately, the information you have just seen is to be classified top secret. You talk to no-one about it, not even each other. You do not say a word of this outside of this room. I want everyone to hand in their mobiles temporarily until the situation is secure.

Several of the staff immediately looked disappointed, but no-one said anything.

I want the video recording reclassified immediately and I want a copy put on a secure thumb drive as soon as that is done. I know we are almost at the end of the shift but I’m afraid you will all have to remain in this room until you are given authorisation to leave. Does anyone have any questions?

There was a general shaking of heads.

Good. Now someone get General McLaren on the secure line.

Chapter Two – Emergency

Vihaan Shah, recently sworn-in President of the Coalition of Nations, was being chauffeured efficiently to Mumbai, India, where he was scheduled to chair the Council of Nations meeting. The security convoy, consisting of four motorcycle Police outriders, two large, black, Japanese four-by-fours and his own state-of-the-art, bomb-proof limousine, was moving at speed along the inner bypass dual-carriageway.

President Shah was finding it surprisingly difficult to relax in his large, comfy, leather seat in the back of the limousine whilst browsing through some last minute reports on his executive tablet computer. He fully expected the meeting to be another waste of his time, but he had to hold onto the hope that they would make some progress this time.

Suddenly his concentration was broken by the gentle bonging tone of the intercom.

Yes? he said, his voice causing the intercom to the chauffeur in the front compartment to activate automatically.

Sir, I’ve just received a code black alert. announced the driver via the concealed speaker.

Code black? What’s that?

It’s the emergency code reserved for wars and international disasters. I’ve never seen it used before, sir.

So what do we do?

I’ve been sent a new destination for the satnav system. I’m required to drive there as quickly as possible. Our escorts should be receiving the destination too about now. Hang on.

After a short pause, the chauffeur spoke again, I’ve just been told to follow the outriders at top speed and that the escort cars will be leaving us now.

President Shah sat up, turned and peered out of the rear window in time to see the rear escort car slow down and drop back into the distance. The two following outriders passed it on either side and accelerated to keep up with the accelerating limousine.

What’s the new destination? called the President.

Just the next intersection. We’ll be changing to a military escort.

Military? What the hell is going on?

I don’t know, sir. I’m hoping this is some sort of exercise.

The limousine continued to accelerate, the sound of its engine rising from silence to a low hum, so President Shah sat back in his seat. He picked up his tablet again and tried to open a video link to his office. The Presidential shield appeared on the screen for a moment, only to be replaced by a message reading Video uplink not permitted. Communication lockdown in progress.

President Shah threw the tablet onto the seat beside his and spoke to the intercom again, Can you use the radio to find out exactly what is really going on here?

Sorry, sir, I’ve been ordered to maintain radio silence until we reach the destination. That’s only about a minute away now.

President Shah touched the metal trim below the privacy glass that blocked his view of both the driver and the road ahead. The entire sheet of glass smoothly glided downwards, disappearing into the luxury leather trim below. Now able to see the road ahead, he saw a group of khaki-coloured military vehicles, several with blue lights flashing on their roofs, all parked just inside the slip lane for the junction.

An armoured vehicle, resembling a small tank, but with six tyred wheels instead of tracks, blocked the hard-shoulder and had its threatening-looking turret pointed in their direction. His limousine rapidly slowed to a walking pace as it reached the military vehicles. Half-a-dozen soldiers in full battle-dress, wearing body armour and helmets fitted with cameras and communication systems, waved the car into the space between two armour-plated four-by-fours.

Before the vehicle had come to a complete halt the soldiers rapidly spread out and surrounded it, facing outwards from it with their assault rifles raised ready to defend against any threat.

What appeared to be an officer opened the President’s door, saluted him and then told him to get out quickly. President Shah grabbed his leather briefcase and tablet, and climbed cautiously out on to the tarmac. The air outside felt very warm after the air-conditioned interior of his limousine.

Mr President, do you have any communication or electronic devices about your person? asked the officer so quickly that the President was barely able to follow him.

Yes, I have a phone.

The officer stooped down and lifted the lid on a small, metal chest on the ground near his feet. It was painted black and lined with a thick layer of charcoal grey insulating foam. I need you to put all your devices in here.

Reluctantly President Shah reached inside his suit jacket, took out his mobile phone and placed it carefully in the chest.

And your tablet, sir? urged the officer, staring at the electronic pad tucked under the President’s arm. The President looked unsure as he dropped the tablet into his hand and transferred it to the chest.

Now please extend your arms out to each side. Corporal! E.E. scan now.

Before the President had time to comply, another soldier hurried across to them clutching some sort of electronic device, shaped rather like a small hair-drier with three metal aerials protruding from the front of it. He pointed it immediately at the President’s head and then swept it quickly up and down his body, before announcing, He’s clean, sir.

Please follow me, Mr President. announced the officer, turning and running towards the lead four-by-four. The