Ran, p.23
RAN, page 23
Dombit followed the instructions and activated the transceiver. “Hello, hello,” he said. “Is anybody there? Hello?”
“Hello back. I’m Judhee Groklet. Who are you?”
Amred & Ceffid—Planet Arcan
Ten troop portals opened within seconds of each other, four from south of the Geroptic equator and six from the north. Two southern portals targeted the outskirts of Amred City and Ceffidia. Four portals opened across Amred near strategic cities or military installations. Four opened across Ceffid, as in Amred, near important cities or military locations.
Two portals to Ceffid found no opposition. They established well-fortified strongholds and moved toward their objectives. Three portals to Amred also found no opposition. As in Ceffid, they fortified their positions and moved toward their objectives.
The third and fourth Ceffid portals opened to intense machine gun and mortar fire. Machine guns took out the first several ranks of Geroptic soldiers. They didn’t have a chance. At first, the mortars lobbed their shells over the portals, where they exploded harmlessly in the grassy fields. As deadly arrows rained down on them, taking out every second lizard, the Ceffids adjusted their aim and took out the archers. After that, it was wholesale slaughter. The Geroptics kept charging, screaming, “Dragon!…Dragon!… Dragon!”
At both portals, the dead piled up in front of the charging lizards, who leaped to the top of the body piles, only to be killed by a hail of machine gun bullets, collapsing where they stood to grow the piles, or rolling down the piles of bodies, coming to rest in the deepening pools of blood spreading from the base of the piles. When it was all over, both portals collapsed and the Ceffid troops counted 576 slaughtered Geroptics at each portal.
Over in Amred, the fourth portal opened to machine gun and mortar fire. When mortar shells began to explode on the Geroptic side of the portal, the commander shut the portal, abandoning the troops already on the other side—about a quarter of the troop block. Then he lined up four troop carriers with four more behind them, they were three meters wide, at the portal line. He put archers inside the rear carriers with instructions to loose their arrows at the closest possible range. Regular troops filled the front carriers and closely followed the carriers on the ground with instructions to spread out rapidly as soon as they cleared the portal. The two outer troop carriers would also turn left and right to give the troops on the ground some protection from the machine gunners.
“Stay behind the carriers as they turn left and right and attack the enemy flanks,” he ordered, and opened the portal.
When the portal opened, the machine gunners peppered the armored troop carriers without effect. As the outside carriers turned to flank the Amred position, the gunners shifted their aim to the carrier sides, but the armor stopped the bullets. The mortar troops had insufficient time to adjust their aim to the moving carriers as Geroptic arrows rained down on them. The carriers completed their flanking movement so the Amred troops found themselves surrounded on three sides with ferocious Geroptic warriors swinging sabers, shouting, “Dragon!…Dragon!… Dragon!”
It was all over in three minutes. The surviving Amred troops retreated in disorderly array as Geroptic warriors picked them off with saber and spear.
Chapter Eighteen
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Conference Room
Presidents Binecot Katengi from Amred and Spajo Boszut from Ceffid entered the Andromeda conference room. Generals Edoetti Kaylambo from Amred and Darflam Baxerd from Ceffid followed them. Thorpe, who was sitting at the head of the table, rose and gestured for the four lizards to sit on either side of him, Amred to his right and Ceffid to his left.
“It’s good to see you, my friends,” Thorpe said, as the rest of the team arrived, having waited for the two presidents and their generals to enter first: SPC Director Sudaro Ferron, Kenred, Jocara, Daphne, and Dale. Max strolled in and remained on the floor this time, rubbing legs as he greeted Humans and Arcans he knew.
Thorpe looked left and right at the two presidents. “You Lizards called this meeting,” he said with a smile. “What’s on your minds?”
Katengi spoke up. “Despite our advanced weaponry and trained troops, we are taking substantial losses. The Geroptics have developed effective techniques that neutralize our advanced weaponry. They opened five portals on Amred. Four were unopposed,” he looked at General Kaylambo with a scowl, “and we were slaughtered at the one portal where our predictions were on the mark. At the four unopposed portals, the Geroptics spread out so that our machine gunners were ineffective. Their archer sharpshooters took out our sergeants and officers from four hundred meters. They hit our mortar units and machine gunners with a withering hail of arrows that effectively neutralized them until we developed an arrow-proof tarp we suspended over the mortars and gunners. By then, it was too late for several thousand Amred soldiers. The bottom line is we need help, or we will lose this war.”
Boszut took up the narrative. “We were fortunate where we accurately predicted the location of two portals. Both resulted in a heart-rending slaughter of the Geroptic troops—five hundred seventy-six at each portal. I’m guessing that is a troop block of seventy-three rows of twelve. They marched through the portal to their deaths. We had no opportunity to take any prisoners. We lost a few mortar lizards and machine gunners to their archers, but we took them all out before they could inflict serious casualties. The three portals whose locations we did not predict are another matter. As Binecot described for Amred, the Geroptic tactics pretty much neutralized our machine guns when we finally encountered them. Our troops have performed better than Amred, possibly because of our former Leader, but we, too, are not winning. Like Amred, we need help.”
Kenred listened to the conversation with an incredulous sense of disbelief. Both militaries, he thought, have access to M-Class fighters armed with lasers. Any field commander could call in a fighter and wipe out the entire opposition. So, what’s the problem?
“Excuse me for interjecting a comment into a high-level discussion,” Kenred said, “but why don’t you use the M-Class fighters and their lasers?”
“You’re here for your expertise, Kenred. You are not interrupting anything.” He turned to Katengi. “Would you care to answer Kenred’s question, Mr. President?”
“Kenred,” Katengi said, “both President Boszut and I greatly admire your dedication and accomplishments. I know you could end this conflict with your fighters and their lasers. But think of the carnage. We could have atom-bombed each of the portal Locuses before all this started, with even more death and suffering. We didn’t start this conflict, but neither did the common Geroptic soldier. I understand the common soldiers believe that if they die in battle for the Great Dragon, they will have unlimited access to nubile females in the afterlife.
“I want to give these lizards a chance, and lasers will not bring that about.”
He’s a good Lizard, Kenred thought, but he will lose the war with that attitude.
“Even if we could interfere,” Thorpe said, “all we have are weapons of mass destruction, nukes and other greatly lethal devices. None of these are suitable in your present conflict.”
Dale had been quietly following the proceedings. He lifted a hand, and Thorpe acknowledged him.
“Our radars are fitted with a device that throws a stasis field around anything the radar detects. Inside this field, time virtually ceases to exit. Oh, it’s still there, but moves so slowly that light would take several centuries to cross a medium-size stasis sphere. I think we can modify our fighter radars to project stasis spheres that would encompass a large group of Geroptic troops. Several of your troops could enter the sphere wearing anti-stasis suits we would supply. They could disarm the Geroptic warriors, shackle them together, remove their weapons from the sphere, and finally collapse the sphere once all the warriors inside are disarmed and shackled.”
“You can do this?” Boszut asked.
“Yes, Sir—absolutely!”
“Well, that’s what we’ll do then,” Katengi said, “just as soon as you can modify your fighters and supply us with the anti-stasis suits.”
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Engineering Spaces
Kenred sat down with Ustrun Strozid, the Asterian Chief Engineer in his office in the bowels of Andromeda’s engineering spaces. Kenred didn’t know exactly where, because he had come to the office by portal. Strozid would know where his office was located, as would Thorpe and several others on the first team, but Kenred was ignorant of much location information, because he had used portals almost exclusively since he had joined the crew.
“I am familiar with the stasis field,” Kenred said. “I know a lot less about the anti-stasis suits and the material used to coat space craft to make them impervious to the field.”
“It’s pretty arcane stuff,” Strozid said. “Asterian scientists developed the stasis field some time before the Humans, and we built Andromeda. They actually used it in their battle with the rogue Human, Orlov. His scientists ended up figuring out our anti-stasis material and manufactured bolts of it to cloak their spacecraft. It was too late to affect the outcome of the battle, but it definitely made a difference in future contacts with Orlov. It turned out that we still could detect a cloaked craft with neutrino detectors. Because only we have these devices, cloaking remains an effective tool in space warfare.” Strozid pursed his lips while opening and closing them, an expression Kenred knew was an Asterian grin.
“Let’s talk about anti-stasis suits. The suits are made from a woven fabric consisting of a blend of the rare earth metals gadolinium and yttrium alloyed with indium to add needed malleability without reducing the anti-stasis characteristics of the rare earths.”
“That’s it?” Kenred asked. “Just a cloth made from some rare earths?”
“It may sound simple,” Strozid said, “but they are called rare earths because they are—rare, that is.” He pursed his lips, a smile, Kenred noted.
“Let’s modify your craft. We need to adjust the radar sensor so sphere placement is half above and half below ground. We can do this by feeding the lidar return to the controller. The precise measurement from the lidar will give the controller the parameters it needs to place the stasis sphere accurately. My guys will create small modules that you can install into your radar transmitters. This will automatically give your radar what it will need to place the stasis spheres accurately.”
“I presume you will use a Nanocosm to manufacture the modules,” Kenred said.
“That’s right. We will not actually know exactly what is inside the modules, but I guarantee they will function exactly.” Strozid pursed his lips again.
“When will you have the modules?” Kenred asked.
“You will need five of them. Give me three hours. I’ll call you if they are ready sooner.”
Kenred left the engineering spaces thinking about the Nanocosm. What an amazing device. They write specifications for something they need in plain language in one of any number of languages. The machine returns a verification in the input language, and then it programs nanobots to construct the desired device, literally molecule by molecule. I am really glad these guys are our friends and not our enemies.
Kenred returned to his quarters and informed Jocara about the meeting in the conference room and with the Chief Engineer. To his total surprise, an hour later, he got a call from Strozid.
“Your modules are ready. It took a lot shorter time than I thought it would. I’ll have them delivered to the hangar bay.”
Phoenix Starship Andromeda—Hangar Bay
Kenred assembled his Amred pilots and their backups in the hangar bay. The rumor mill had preceded this meeting, and everyone already knew what he would say. Nevertheless, everyone listened with rapt attention.
“You Lizards are finally going to join the Holy War, as it is being called in The Geroptic Nation. I want you guys to understand our role. The presidents of both Amred and Ceffid are determined to keep casualties at a minimum—on both sides. We could go in there and totally take out the Geroptic troops, their installations, and even their command structure. Both presidents want to avoid this at all costs. We will be saving lives, not taking them.”
Kenred stopped talking and scanned his pilots. They were young, capable, probably the best pilots on Arcan. Certainly, they were the best spacecraft pilots anywhere. He would put them up against any Andromeda pilots of any species.
“You will install these modules.” He pointed to the five small modules at his feet. “The installation is an easy, two-wire job that should take no more than a minute. I’ll give you five minutes. When you’re done, we’ll test the installations, and then we’ll go into battle.” He opened his eyes wide, blinking them. “Questions?”
“Where will we test them, and how?” Jocara asked.
“I will lead you to an open terrain area south of the equator in central Ceffid. We’ll run the tests there.”
As Kenred predicted, the module installation was quick and easy. In ten minutes, all five craft were ready to deploy.
“This is Bobcat. Set your destination to these coordinates.” He gave them a single set of coordinates south of the Ceffid equator. The AIs on each craft would coordinate their actual destinations so they would arrive in formation. Moments later, the five craft floated three kilometers above the empty Ceffid landscape.
“This is Bobcat…Okay, Lizards, listen up! You aim your radar at a specific point, adjust the width of the sphere you want, and activate. Once you have created a stasis sphere, you cannot change the parameters. Your only available action is to collapse the sphere. Also note, you can collapse any stasis sphere by focusing your radar on it and deactivating it.
“Okay…down the line. Each one of you create a stasis sphere. I’ll go first.”
On the plain below, five silvery hemispheres appeared, each a slightly different size.
“This is Bobcat. You will notice that sphere three is right against sphere two—they look like two soap bubbles against each other. They don’t merge, but maintain a single layer between them. That layer—and the skins of all the spheres—is infinitely thin. Don’t ask me how that works, I haven’t a clue.
“Okay, Lizards, collapse your spheres.”
Down below, the silvery spheres disappeared.
“This is Bobcat…Once again, this time, larger distances.”
Once again, five large hemispheres appeared below. They reflected everything and sparkled brilliantly in the bright noon light from Ran.
“Okay, Lizards, collapse the sphere of the craft to your right. StarChick, you collapse my sphere. Go for it!”
Like soap bubbles bursting, the stasis spheres disappeared, leaving the sunlit plain as untouched as it was before.
Later, Kenred commented to his team over drinks that the plain where they practiced creating stasis spheres really was not the same following their exercise.
“The plants and bugs captured inside the spheres were in stasis for the time the spheres existed,” he said. “This extended their lives by the same amount.”
“Do you think,” Jocara piped up, “these minor extensions could have a world changing consequence—you know, the Butterfly Effect?”
Kenred chuckled. “Okay, Lizards, stand by for immediate orders. You will be on individual assignment. I suspect you will be zipping all over the planet.”
He got to his feet and grabbed Jocara’s hand. “Good luck to you all!”
Amred President Binecot Katengi’s Office—Amred City, Amred, Planet Arcan
Amred President Binecot Katengi sat at his desk talking with Spajo Boszut, newly inaugurated President of Ceffid. Over the last few months since the inauguration, they had become fast friends. Katengi, older and more experienced, had guided Boszut as he set up his administration following the removal of the dictator, Leader Bopr Arclando. Ceffid was well on its way to becoming a free and prosperous republic.
On this morning, the two lizards were solving a joint problem, the apparent military successes of The Geroptic Nation in its campaign against both nations.
“There’s no need,” Katengi said, “to remonstrate over our losses. I deeply regret the loss of life on our side, but also on theirs. Of all the wars I know about, this one seems the least meaningful. I know we were attacked, and we must respond, but I will not go down in history as the lizard who used atomic weapons to take out primitive fighters.”
“You know I agree with you,” Boszut said. “So, let’s set up the gift we have received from Andromeda.”
It turned out not to be complicated. Field commanders from either Amred or Ceffid who found themselves facing a superior Geroptic force or even one they could overrun, pressed a button on a small console they each carried, supplied by Andromeda. The console transmitted a signal on a specially designated frequency that gave their exact coordinates. All five M-Class craft received the signal, and their interconnected AIs autoselected a craft and sent it by MERT Drive to a kilometer above the position.
The crew then evaluated the situation and placed a stasis sphere around the Geroptic troops. Sometimes, they would use several spheres to cover the maximum number of enemy troops. Several times, the sphere captured a shower of arrows in flight, freezing their motion until the sphere was collapsed.
The Village of Cordan—Southeastern Corner of The Geroptic Nation, Planet Arcan
Judhee Groklet grabbed his satellite transceiver. Fortunately, it was fully charged. He activated it. The transceiver beeped and then Groklet heard: “Hello, hello…Is anybody there? Hello?”
Groklet pressed the transmit button with a shaking hand and said, “Hello back. I’m Judhee Groklet. Who are you? Over.”
“I am Major Teynal Dombit of the Dragon Forces. I was told you wish to speak with me. Over.”
