Chapter 1

The Devil In The Mirror
Chapter 1 Draft (01-25-10)

“When do we tell them they’re all gonna die?”

“I think we can wait before we don’t tell them anything like that because they aren’t. At least not initially. But it wouldn’t hurt if they thought they were. What’s that saying about a hanging getting one’s attention?”

“Concentrates the mind I think—something like that.”

“Well what I think will happen is that the surprise is going to be so quick and complete that they will react only to the immediate crisis and not give a thought to us or any additional thereat we represent. Our estimates show that just about everything electrical in the system is going to fail, and all at once, when that first blast from the supernova sweeps through. It will probably take out all of their ships in space and any other orbital infrastructure as well. And that means both of the entry-points are going to be unguarded until they can get something on one of their planets surfaces into position again. By that time we can be in and holding the high ground if you do your job.”

“But all those in space, all the ships and their crews in the Chulmur System — when they lose control of their reactor containment we are just going to let the ships blow and the Chulmurians die?”

“Yes. — And have the music ready.”

It was January 5, 2499, on a trip between Ternary and Truscott carrying 40,000 tons of unrefined hydrocarbons in the tanks strapped to the ships central core, when the god of fortune smiled on Clancy Baldric and the crew of five on his bulk transport Roustabout. Between jump points they powered through a system that in the ten years since its discovery had shown exactly nothing beyond a dim red dwarf circled by some useless rock, none of them large enough to land a ship on or make a decent foundation for an emergency repair base or even a manned astrographic research station. There wasn’t a single thing to indicate that humans had ever passed this way before.

This entire globe of space was just the setting, a place holder, for a corridor leading to another jump point and the doorway to a system beyond. This particular pathway between the worlds had come into use only recently, just since the successful conclusion of the war against the Fed Gov and Earth, if one could call any war a success that had left that many tens of millions dead and so much destruction in its wake.

The dwarf star was particularly unexceptionable, showing only moderately bright from 800 million miles away. It was located 19 lightyears from Truscott, and the two transit points in its grav well were known only by the order of their discovery as TP-63 and TP-64. This route cut the number of jumps between the two planets in half, something important for an older ship like the Roustabout though not of much concern to the ships being built by New Texas and the other worlds after the war. All of their near magical improvements in drive efficiencies and the technology developed during the war were changing the rules concerning time and distance.

It used to take a ship days to travel from a system’s planets to its jump points or between points in the same system. Now for a new ship it took only minutes or hours in a crowded location to cover the same distance. So where a more direct route at one time was guaranteed to cut couple of weeks off a multi jump trip today it might mean only a couple of days or less. Ten more years and the Roustabout would be too old and slow to turn a profit. Enjoy the life while you can.

When Baldric’s ship jumped into this void his navigator, new for this trip, was slow to issue the status report. “What ya got Tom?” the Master asked of his exec in order to buy the navigator a little more time. The navigator was good but maybe she was a little too afraid of making any mistakes. Not that making mistakes was something to aim for, but fear of the same showed a lack of confidence in ones own ability.

“Looks Ok,” Meredith Dilly said, answering for herself, though not in a tone that conveyed much of that confidence Captain Baldric was looking for, “but I can’t find the third beacon, not even an out of order signal.”

“Let me take a look,” Clancy said switching his own display from the engineering readouts to those showing navigational details. “All the stars match so this is the right place, guess we just get to do us a little extra math and report the problem when we get to Truscott. Let’s try to keep this close even without the guide beam.”

“About all we can do I guess,” Meri replied.

The Roustabout might be getting old, but in the 18 months since the end of the war there was so much demand for shipping and so much money to be made that her owners, the Ditmars Combine operating out of Tethys in the new Texas system had spared no expense in making sure her working systems, if not her drive, were as good as they got. It didn’t hurt that the owners of record, Charles and Sally Ditmars, had thrown in their lot with New Texas, and especially the Davis and Webb groups, even before the war began. Even with that kind of pull, and Ditmars being a prime contractor for new hulls, new drives went into new construction. But there was still a lot of work for ships like the one drifting away from the TP-63 jump point and calculating a new trajectory.

With double and triple checking and a sleep period in between twelve hours later the Roustabout was on a course for TP-64 and the final jump to Truscott. A day later Meri noticed a low yellow glow at the bottom of her display. And zeroing in saw numbers superimposed on top that didn’t fit with a readout on the vacuum of empty space. The Roustabout had her own sensors active and radiating, looking for loose rocks or dust concentrations, but what Meri was seeing matched neither of these as far as she could tell. Another hour and she was certain; she called for the Captain.

“It’s another transit point! Can’t see how the first survey missed it but they did. We probably have gear a bit better then that original team had, and our drift during the first 12 hours after we got here must have taken us wide enough to put it at the edge of detectability due to this new course. Still the survey ship should have crossed all this volume at least once. Equipment failure’s bout all I can see explains it.”

“Sure. Only thing that makes sense. But what now? Do we report it or go in and take a look?” Captain Baldric was obviously unsure in his own mind what to do next and talking aloud to order his thoughts.

“If we go through and find something important, like minable recourses, or even more unlikely a habitable planet, we’re all rich beyond belief—provided we make it back. But if we find nothing it’s just time wasted as far as the owners are concerned. And a lot of fuel burned to boot. If we just mark our charts and make a report we will get a nice little discovery bonus with the possibility of more if a real look by experts turns something of value.”

“I think we should go look ourselves Clancy. No Guts No Glory!” Meri didn’t seem the least bit hesitant now.

“Easy for you to say, you don’t answer to Charles Ditmars. Still if we do the exploration his share is larger too. Are you sure Meri, that if we do go in you can get us back?”

“I’ll record everything in triplicate. If we go through at a slow rate of speed we can be jumping back ten minutes after we stick our nose under the tent.”

Baldric paused for a moment then said, “I’ll put this to a vote then, but we know how it comes out. So let’s do all we can to insure when we do stick in our nose it doesn’t get cut off!”

“Here we go!” And they were through. Every screen on the bridge lit up and showed—nothing—just an empty patch of space between the stars. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Jump points were associated with stars or at least very large, near stellar type masses. With nothing close Meri started increasing the sensitivity of the ship’s sensors while the comp went about matching the stellar background to information in the ships data base. They would soon know what part of nothing they had stumbled into.

“Put most of the ships comp cycles to plotting a return course back to the point, just in case, then we figure out what happened.”

A of couple hours later some detail began to emerge. Meri summed it up for the Captain and especially the other four crewmembers.

“What we have here is not much more than a small hot cinder, not near enough mass to form a jump point as far out as this one, least that’s how the theory goes. And stranger yet, way far out, starting a couple of light years away and all around us, something we might call sky glow if we were on a planet. What we have is the trailing edge of a shock wave, the heavier particles not yet cooled to the stellar background temperature. It’s an unreported nebula and we jumped right to the center of it! We’re looking at the results of a recent nova! What should have been here is this: And she called up the data from the nav-base.

HR 8510

HR 8510 or IK Hydra is likely one of the most unusual stars in our stellar neighborhood. It is both variable and highly unstable. It is a narrow double made of a Delta Scuti type star (A) and a large white dwarf (B).

Their separation from each other is too great for an interchange of matter, but this will change as soon as the A-star starts to expand to become a red giant. Then it will nearly reach the orbit of the white dwarf and this will suck off the hull of the red one. Thereupon the white dwarf will exceed the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.44 solar masses.

It is quite certain when that happens that HR 8510 will explode as a type Ia supernova some time in the future. Maybe in 10 000 years, but more likely in several million. If it were close enough to a habital system, about 15 light years, it could potentially be disastrous. As it is the effects of the nova will attenuate to safe levels by the time they reach any of the worlds we presently colonize.

Constellation: Hydra
Distance from Earth: 140 light-years
Radial velocity: -9.8 mi/sec
Space between HR 8510 A and B: 0.38 AU
Orbit period of HR 8510 A and B: 19.7 days

“So what it looks like is the thing blew up ahead of schedule.”

“Yes, near as I can tell it went off about nine years ago.”

“But still no danger to any of our systems?” Clancy asked for all of them.

“None of ours, the closest, Cerulean, won’t see a thing for another thirty years. But look here.” Meri moved a blinking pointer on the screen. “This little dot here, just over ten lightyears away; it’s Alkes, home of that Alien race that is causing such a ruckus most everywhere. They could be in for a world of hurt.”

“Let’s get back then; I think we need to report this at once. And I think Ditmars and Company will be mighty glad we did! Get ready to jump!”

* * *
Alkes 5, the planet of the Chulmu: It is a cold dark world located far away from its sun, in human terms uninhabitable. But to the silicon and ammonia based lifeforms adapted to its conditions and calling it home, it is heavenly sublime compared to the hellishly hot inner worlds that circled the blue distant white star casting such a cold harsh light into the depths of space. There should not have been time for an intelligent race to evolve. Alkes was less than a billion years old and would remain on the main sequence for another 100 million years before its own supernova event.

What made life possible was that the planet was rich in heavy metals and radioactive elements. In the ammonia and nitrogen laced seas of Chulmur life evolved rapidly due to the high levels of radioactivity and environmental mutation. The culture of the Chulmu evolved to counteract incessant change. At first it was not a conscious decision. It was an inherent revulsion to birth defects a genetic insurance policy. With evolving intelligence it turned into a revulsion for differences in thought and outlook, anything different from the norm, and the fundamental feature of the culture.

When ever so slowly they had advanced enough to organize into large societal units the modes of governance were static with much more reliance on guidance from the past than a look towards the future. The reigns of power did not pass from one generation to the next. They skipped an intervening generation and passed from fathers to grandchildren. These alternate generations strove for power, and were responsible for what change there was. Those not engaged in its pursuit maintained stability and vetted any social or scientific progress less it corrupt the legacy of the past. New ideas needed to be blessed first by agreement as to propriety, and were only then and over time, accepted by acclimatization.

An older species than that the humanoids on Earth; on a technological level they were only slightly ahead in some areas, low temperature physics for one, and behind in most others. They had the capacity to learn and grow but except in times of extreme stress the society was programmed to resist such change.

Some three years ago, when the exploration team from Earth discovered a jump point into Chulmurian space and started a colonization project on an inner world, the reaction was swift and violent. It led to destruction of the invaders and preparations for war against them. This was something the Chulmur had experience with from long in their past. Thousand of years before another race had invaded their territory and been driven off after unimaginable death and destruction, almost the elimination of the race. From that war the Chulmu learned much, but not the secret of the jump point, they figured out how they must work, the math and science of the thing, but not how to locate them. Because with the threat gone most just lost interest.

A small group within the scientific community of this present generation and outside the power loop did maintain an interest, though small enough as not to appear threatening. Heplar Sinktaw operated a small department with a few ships. When the Earthmen arrived surprise enabled the capture of the UN Federation ship Africa along with the colonist at the settlement being built on Alkes 3. This time the Chulmu saw the ships coming through the jump point and so its location was fixed.

When a second group of humans independently found another entrance into the Chulmur system, the fight reflex went full on. Ships long in storage were placed into service and the secrets the Africa held were deemed important to the race and laid bare. In addition to this the Africa’s captured crew and a few members from the colony building team were taken for further study to a habitat designed to mimic conditions on Alkes 3 where they had been building their base. After an uneventful confrontation the fleet from New Texas withdrew to their own side of the jump point at Bolthole 2 and put in place a detail to guard that point’s terminus. They also sent ships to guard the one in Earth’s solar system. The Chulmu knew little of this but certainly as far as they were concerned war was now inevitable.

Victorious in their own war with the Islamic Federation driven government of Earth the people of New Texas, or at least those directing it, set up a working group headed by Henry Carling, former chief of the New Texas Intelligence Service, to “Deal” with the situation. Something much easier said than done.

Heplar Sinktaw Henita, the last part of his name was out of place on a scientist administrator from his generation but granted as the only way to insure the warrior class would follow his direction, knew how pointless and unproductive the Chulmurian class structure was, and likewise how powerless he was to change it. He also knew how little actual respect he was given by those he was nominally in charge of, especially the higher ups, the ship captains and ranking military officers. It mattered not—so long as he had Condish Kuimur Henita, leader of all the Chulmu, behind him. But if that support were to fade Sinktaw knew his days were numbered.

Because of that, and because he felt it was the most effective use of his time, Sinktaw spent untold hours studying his prisoners, even learning their language and forcing others to do the same. He did not necessarily trust all that he learned, but in a strange sense most of it hung on an evolving framework that he found captivating. This was an opinion he must ruthlessly suppress. The destruction of this race was all that mattered. And based on all he had learned thus far in the humans themselves he had a willing and in fact eager ally.

One of those allies, Ellis Edgerton, captured on Alkes 3 was a main source of information, one Heplar was cultivating as if he were a prized meat animal being readied for slaughter. Edgerton was not tame but appeared trainable and that, for Heplar Sinktaw, was enough.

* * *
When word of the Roustabout’s return reached New Texas it took several hours for the information to make it all the way to Hank Carling’s office. In fact it came from the Newsies and not from any kind of governmental source. And more specifically from his own wife Katherine, (Kaybe) Carling. With two of their children out of the house she was not about to give up her job in town working for a major information service and spend all of here at the ranch even though for now the money was no longer important. At least that source of annoyance was out of the way.

Eighteen months ago when Hank agreed to this position, Andy Webb of Webb Enterprises and Rob Williams head of the New Texas government made sure he would have no major distractions. But Hank wasn’t sure whether to bless them or curse them for the favor. His old position at Plans and Intents went to Emmet Clark; a better choice could not have been made. Emmet had even more time in the department there then Hank had and had been Hank’s second in command from the buildup to war through its completion. With Emmet stayed most of his old employees. Hank did take one of his former assistants with him, Ric Sanders, more to keep an eye on him rather than knowing what exactly he would have Ric working on.

The Department of Alien Affairs, the name given to Hanks new organization, was so small as to be almost invisible. Eight people and twice as many computers in three rooms at Government House handled everything with help coming whenever he requested it.

This latest news would cause a complete reevaluation of all of their plans made so deliberately over the last year and a half. A full fledged invasion of the Alkes system might no longer be in the cards. Negotiation had long since failed, failed even before they had started. During the war when six ships from New Texas made a brief foray to Alkes the technical superiority of the New Texan construction was evident. And the Chulmu did respond with threats and demands at that time. Being in no position to press the issues raised five of the six ships set up a blockade on the Bolthole 2 while the other brought back a warning. With the defeat of the Fed ration Government a blockade was set on the Earth end of the other jump point as well.

Every attempt since to establish contact, to send a ship and now even a sensor platform was met on the Chulmur side of the Bolthole 2 jump point by massive firepower, never a response on a comm channel to show the Chulmu were interested in anything other than target practice.

So the news from the Roustabout was either a godsend or a curse, because now instead of waiting for more and better penetration aids to force their way in for a military confrontation it looked like nature was making things easy. “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” Hank said to Andy Webb when they got together with Rob Williams later that same evening to talk about just how much thing had changed.

“If we make no attempt to warn them some people will call it genocide, and I’m not so sure they’ll be wrong,” Rob Williams said in a matter of fact tone of voice. He was much more confident man, more comfortable with the reigns of power than he had been when the revolution began. At times he seemed almost—Pompous!

“Come off it Rob! Between the three of us we are responsible for far more deaths on Earth and even amongst our own then these aliens will experience when the wave front from that nova rips through their system.” Andy by nature was blunt, some would say abrasive, either by nature or as a result of the stress from the combined responsibilities of running the largest high tech manufacturing firm on New Texas and being in charge of the planets military as well, but you always knew where he stood.

They were seated in a private room in Liza Morgan’s Far Star Inn, a new addition to the lady’s chain of ‘Lone Star’ eateries and entertainment facilities. Located in central Travis, the Capital city of New Texas it was in waking distance of the Parliament Building itself. The last eighteen months had seen tremendous growth on the planet as all those able to escape the war ravaged areas on Earth and flee to the Colony worlds left for the greener pastures with all they could carry.

This particular location was being run not by Liza but by one of those refugees from Earth. Mario Enrillo, an Armenian of all things, who had once run a much different place called the Detroit Coney Island, and with a little warning was far from the city with his family when the second Detroit air-burst , three centuries after the first, put an end to that snake pit for once and all. Hank Carling knew him from Earth and it was Hank’s help that first gave him warning and then paved the way to his new job. Mario was unstinting in his efforts to please. And so it was that the three were seated eating chili and onion smothered sausages while drinking cold beer in furtherance of understanding.

“We don’t need to make any decision today,” Hank said. “A reexamination of all the data says five months before the leading edge reaches Chulmur. How are you making out with the invasion fleet Andy?”

“Not as well as I would have liked. The fleet part is just fine, lots of ships now that they are not needed at Earth, but getting through the point without major losses is something that scares me. Our recon birds are surviving for several hours at a time now and as you know, sending back some good intel. But compared to a warship their signature is vanishingly small and much harder to detect. The Chulmu are bringing more and more ships to their side of both points. It’s like they were getting ready to attack us. In retrospect we should have done something as soon as we found the point. We were busy and water under the bridge but it will cost.”

“Maybe not so much as you think Andy, Emmet Clark just sent me a most interesting message. He has decoded some of the signals your birds have been bringing back. Not the Chulmurian stuff but what looked like static and random noise. Ellis Edgerton has somehow managed to get a hold of some comm gear.”

“Ellis Edgerton?” Williams asked. “Should I know him?”

“He was deep cover, so deep I was not even sure he was still on our side. But the signals are unmistakably his, and given a little more time Em says he will make some sense of them. We—and that means you Andy, have to figure a way to send something back so he knows we are listening. Maybe a sender on one of your probes, same code and general method.”

“I’ll go over and talk to Emmet as soon as we finish here.”

“No need, he sent the complete packet to the war room same time as he sent it to me. There’s probably a message waiting for you. ”

Andy checked his comm unit. “Appears so.”

“Back to the Government response to this nova thing,” Rob interjected, “ and I have had enough problems with the way some of our erstwhile allies have been behaving before this came along; what do I announce and when?”

“Seems to me that’s your problem Rob,” Andy said with a smile.

Page Author | Wes January 25th, 2010