00:35 (Kyoto Alpha Time)
Tuesday, October 19, 4021
Command bridge of the exploration cruiser MARCO POLO
Kyoto Alpha Spaceport, fourth planet
Alpha Centauri A System
‘’Captain Montoya, what is the latest estimate about the arrival time in orbit of the Morg fleet?’’
‘’One hour and ten minutes, Commodore. What is left of our fleet will barely delay the enemy.’’
‘’I know that too well, unfortunately. Where are we with our loading?’’
‘’We will be able to start closing our access airlocks in twenty minutes, Commodore.’’
Thanking his second in command, Henry Ferguson rested his back against his seat: he had not been this tired in a long time. Punching a call number on his personal communication screen, Ferguson contacted Captain James Grant, who had established a mobile command post at the foot of one of the main access ramps of the MARCO POLO. Grant’s face soon appeared on the screen, showing as much exhaustion as that of Ferguson.
‘’Yes, Commodore?’’
‘’Captain Grant, I would like first to thank you again for all that you did for us and for the Centaurians during the last 24 hours.’’
Grant managed to smile despite his fatigue.
‘’No need to say it, Commodore. After all, I was simply doing my duty. I also had a vested personal interest in helping you leave as quickly as possible, since my family is now aboard your ship. I suppose that you would like to get a quick list of what is now in your ship?’’
‘’I sure would, Captain!’’
‘’Well, apart from the 15, 173,520 persons now asleep in your cryogenic vault and in containers stored in your cargo holds, we were able to pack another 1,005,312 persons in the auxiliary quarters and in other available living spaces of the MARCO POLO, including 603,188 infants and young toddlers. This makes for a total of 16,178,832 civilian refugees aboard your ship, to which we can add 1,800,000 more refugees in cryogenic sleep from planet B-III who are now aboard the civilian cargo ships ALTAFJORD and CONFUCIUS, which will depart with you for Earth. Also on your ship are the 12,680 commandos of the 58th Assault Division, who are about finished loading their combat robots, heavy equipment, ammunition stocks and their 163 assault barges in your hangars. In terms of cargo, we have loaded on the MARCO POLO 689 million tons of equipment, supplies and foodstuff. That includes the habitat modules, the construction materials and the heavy machinery that had been produced for the Phase Two of the colonization of Mirphak III, enough to quickly build a city of over a million inhabitants.’’
Grant suddenly grinned as he read a particular line on his list.
‘’An assistant of Grand Administrator Anaker thankfully reminded me to load in your ship stocks of diapers and baby food and milk. You can picture the situation on your ship if she had not thought about that.’’
Ferguson covered his face with one hand at those words while shaking his head.
‘’I would not have thought about that, Captain. Please thank that person for thinking about that.’’
Ferguson then realized that the person in question would most probably not survive the next few hours, like Grant. He looked gravely at the officer on his screen, measuring his words.
‘’Are you sure that you don’t want to come aboard and join your family, Captain Grant?’’
Grant shook his head at once.
‘’As much as I am tempted to do, no, Commodore! If I come aboard, then where will we stop? Who will stay to lead the people still in Kyoto Alpha? I will die happy, knowing that my family is safe on your ship. Goodbye, Commodore Ferguson.’’
‘’Goodbye, Captain James Grant.’’ Replied with difficulty Ferguson, a big lump in his throat, before cutting the video link.
00:59 (Kyoto Alpha Time)
Landing Area Number Five
Kyoto Alpha Spaceport
‘’TO ALL THE PERSONNEL OF THE 58TH ASSAULT DIVISION STILL ON THE GROUND: CLIMB ABOARD IMMEDIATELY!’’
The announcement from the loudspeakers of the ship started an orderly rush up the access ramps by the 3,000 commandos still guarding them. A group of three Navy officers that had stayed near the foot of a ramp made sure that all the soldiers were now aboard before one of them contacted the bridge of the MARCO POLO by radio.
‘’MARCO POLO, the landing area is now empty. Close your ramps and airlocks and have a good trip to Earth!’’
James Grant then looked at his two assistants and pointed their air car parked nearby.
‘’Let’s get out of the way, quickly! The MARCO POLO’s departure must not be delayed because of us.’’
The giant access ramps of the vessel were starting to close as the air car rose from the ground and headed towards the passenger terminal at the periphery of the landing pad. Even at its full speed, the air car took over a minute to get to the terminal. Parking the car alongside a concrete wall, Grant stepped out with his two officers and watched the huge mass of the exploration cruiser as it started to rise in the sky. Heavily loaded, the MARCO POLO took over two minutes to climb to the altitude judged to be safe before engaging its main propulsion system. The cruiser then accelerated out of sight in less than twenty seconds, all its navigational lights blinking as a last salute to Kyoto Alpha.
‘’Goodbye, Helen! Goodbye, little David!’’ Said softly Grant, his eyes filling with tears as he fixed the now empty sky.
01:12 (Kyoto Alpha Time)
Morg command ship
Second Morg armada, approaching Alpha Centauri A-IV
‘’Master Pilot, from Detectors! A Human vessel just took off from the fourth planet. Over fifty other Human ships are apparently waiting for it in orbit to escort it.’’
‘’What type of ship?’’ Asked the commander of the second armada, which had been sent urgently by the Emperor following the disgraceful defeat of the first armada.
‘’Unknown, but enormous, Master Pilot. It has an approximate diameter of 2,800 drams.’’ Answered the Sensors Master. Mreg-Hel took a few seconds to digest that information. The gross incompetence of the commander of the first armada, which had caused the loss of over half of the combat ships that the Morg Empire possessed, had completely unraveled the strategic plans of the Empire. Instead of attacking as planned the system of birth of the Human vermin with his armada after the taking of Alpha Centauri, Mreg-Hel had been ordered directly by the Emperor to go finish the job in the Alpha Centauri System. Included in his armada was a ship equipped with a still untested experimental weapon that would, he hoped, help him to accomplish his task. If a solitary ship rated the protection of so many Human ships, then it had to be vital to the enemy. Mreg-Hel finally turned towards his tactical conductor.
‘’Detach the Tenth Fleet and the Xanta weapon. They are to intercept and destroy that Human ship at all cost!’’
01:22 (Kyoto Alpha Time)
Morg experimental cruiser
‘’Another group of Human ships has joined the target ship, Chief Supervisor. That group is composed of nineteen large support ships.’’
‘’Pilot, can we get within conventional weapons range before the Humans accelerate past the speed of light?’’
As his subaltern made a quick calculation, the Chief Supervisor mentally swore at the technical inferiority of the Morg ships, which were slower than the Human vessels. Once above the speed of light, the Humans would effectively be out of reach, Morg ships being incapable of going faster than light and needing an inter-dimensional tunnel to travel from star to star. The answer from his pilot only increased his frustration.
‘’Negative, Chief Supervisor! The enemy is too fast and the distance too great. The distance between us and them will only increase from now on.’’
‘’Too bad! Power up the Xanta weapon!’’
It took only a few seconds before the image of Kron-Tegad, the scientist responsible for the Xanta weapon, appeared on the display screen of the Chief Supervisor.
‘’Tag-Dohr, I counsel against the use of the Xanta weapon. We still do not fully control the resonance harmonics of the weapon. To fire now could damage the weapon or even destroy our ship.’’
‘’Kron-Tegad, are you ready to tell to the Emperor that the Humans escaped us because your weapon, which has already cost so much resources to the Empire, was not ready?’’
The eight eyes of the scientist started blinking rapidly, a sign of extreme agitation in a Morg.
‘’I will do my best, Tag-Dohr.’’
‘’I hope so, for your sake, Kron-Tegad. Now, calibrate the weapon to fire in a wide arc: I want all of the enemy fleet to be destroyed before it can accelerate past the speed of light.’’
‘’Understood, Tag-Dohr!’’
The experimental Morg cruiser soon started to vibrate at a very high frequency, a sign announcing an imminent discharge by the Xanta weapon. However, instead of diminishing just before firing, as normally expected, the vibrations increased suddenly and dramatically, violently shaking the structure of the cruiser. A blinding blue arc of energy then shot out of the muzzle of the Xanta weapon. The energy discharge expanded as it headed towards the MARCO POLO and its escort fleet, while the experimental Morg cruiser disintegrated into pieces under the stress of the weapon discharge. Six seconds after the firing, the halo of Xanta energy caught up with the Human ships, enveloping them. Each ship then disappeared at once in a blue flash, leaving empty space where they once were.
01:25 (Kyoto Alpha Time)
Command bridge of the battleship H.S.S. UXMAL
Andrei Konovalov was stunned motionless for a moment in front of his tactical display sphere, a mix of horror and rage on his face. With the loss of the MARCO POLO and of its millions of refugees, the fate of the Centaurian race was now sealed. He would never be able to protect the fourth planet with the pitiful remains of his fleet. It was however unthinkable for him to simply let the Morgs vaporize the planet without doing a thing. Looking slowly around him, he saw the same wish reflected on the faces of his crew: revenge! Opening a fleet-wide radio link, he then spoke in a cold, firm tone.
‘’Attention all hands! This is your admiral speaking! The MARCO POLO and its escort fleet has been destroyed by the enemy and our chances of stopping the Morg now are zero. The Alpha Centauri System is thus condemned. We will however not sit idle and let the enemy unmolested while they kill our citizens on the fourth planet. The fleet will go on an ultimate assault against the Morg armada, with the Morg command ship as our priority target. Any Morg ship destroyed now will be one less Morg ship that will be able to attack Earth later. I am confident that everybody will do his or her duty to the end. Now, get ready to chew some Morgs!’’
01:34 (Kyoto Alpha Time)
Interceptor AC2943
The violet beams of Morg antimatter discharges closely bracketed the interceptor despite the frantic changes of course from its pilot, Lieutenant Kaprayon. The latter smiled when a Morg ship that was trying to shoot at him accidentally hit another Morg battleship, making it explode. The interceptor was now flying right in the middle of the Morg fleet, firing continuously all its weapons while pushing its molecular propulsion system to the limit. Kaprayon felt a pang of the heart when the last interceptor that had accompanied him in this suicide charge exploded ahead of him. His interceptor and the battleship UXMAL, following closely behind him, were now the two last remaining Human ships. The voice of Diana Uniko, the weapons officer of the interceptor, then vibrated in his helmet headset.
‘’I HAVE THE MORG COMMAND SHIP IN MY GUN SIGHTS, DEAD AHEAD AND NINE SECONDS AWAY!’’
That announcement was immediately followed by a horrified exclamation from their rear observer.
‘’MY GOD! THE UXMAL JUST EXPLODED! WE ARE NOW ALONE!’’
‘’CONTINUOUS FIRE! WE WILL GET THAT MORG BASTARD!’’ Shouted Kaprayon. The hull surface of the Morg command ship, a huge disk-shaped ship bristling with antimatter cannons, was now being chewed up by the disintegrator fire and the shells of the impulse cannons of the interceptor. A laser beam suddenly hit the small ship, penetrating all the way to the crew sphere. Kaprayon had the time to feel his spacesuit balloon and stiffen as the crew sphere decompressed and to see from the corner of one eye the decapitated and fuming shape of Diana Uniko slump down in her seat. Then the interceptor collided head-on with the Morg command ship. The 1,500 meter-diameter disk was pulverized by the kinetic impact of the 5,000 ton interceptor hitting at a combined speed of over 27 kilometers per second. Another Morg ship that was following too closely the command ship was in turn hit and destroyed by one of the bigger chunks of debris from the spectacular explosion.
The remaining 3,640 Morg ships needed only one hour afterwards to silence the few defensive batteries located on the surface of the fourth planet or on space stations orbiting around it. A salvo of heavy antimatter missiles was then fired by the Morg fleet, hitting the surface of the planet and penetrating deeply before exploding. The planetary crust split open under the pressure of the titanic underground explosions, letting out masses of molten magma. The waters of the planet’s oceans then flashed into steam at the contact of the hot magma, killing most of the marine life in minutes. A second volley of missiles followed, this time armed with highly radioactive warheads, spreading radioactive steam and debris, contaminating the whole planet and condemning whatever life was left on it. The Morg fleet then split up to systematically ravage the other inhabited corners of the system. No Human survived in the Alpha Centauri system on this dark day of October nineteen, 4021.