SODIUM:6 Defiance (15 page)

The BGS suit was jet black, unlike any that I had seen before. Its Sodium skin was unmistakable as a thin layer of bright white material was fused to the outer shiny black skin. I slowly spun the body around until I was face to face with the black shield of the helmet. Again my belief of the soldier being Human was reinforced as the controls that locked the helmet to the suit were identical to mine.

I wondered if the Humans and Frekkin had come to some type of a truce or perhaps a defensive pact. Why else would a human soldier be attacking a Meche or Ogle ship from the Frekkin matrix? Why else would mankind fight from a ship of a species we considered a mortal enemy? When I pressed the helmet latch and gave it a slight twist I found the simple truth.

The helmet clicked and released as I gently pulled upwards. I was unprepared for what I saw next. As the helmet rose the face of the soldier was revealed... with a sudden jerk of revulsion I released the body I held. The face on the body was mine!

The Frekkin had taken my body and cloned it millions of times over. I had been made into their super soldier, a soldier that had been raised to have an extreme devotion to its god, the Frekkin. And a soldier willing to fight and die on the field of battle without question or remorse. I had become the Frekkin's newest weapon.

As the body drifted slowly away I again began to flail my arms and legs in an attempt to move towards it. On the right hand of the dead soldier was a BGS glove and on its belt a fresh power pack. I had pushed it away as I had released my grip before realizing the value that it possessed. It drifted only two meters distance from my grasp but again, it may as well have been a million.

I cringed in anger and threw my fist which only served to send me tumbling uncontrollably. The next hour was spent twisting and turning, jerking in one direction or the other, in an attempt to slow my tumble. When I had sufficiently stabilized my movement the dead body had drifted another meter from me, its precious cargo slowly slipping away.

I then took notice of the helmet that floated less than a meter from my grasp. I reasoned that if I could get the helmet I could use the inertia generated from pushing it away to propel me towards the body. But I was in need of something else, something else to move me to the helmet. I reached into the zippered pouch on my pants leg and withdrew the near empty power pack that I had placed there so many days before.

I transferred the sodium reserve in the pack on my belt to the built in suit reservoir before removing the now empty pack. I then placed the old pack squarely on my belt and awaited the signal from my helmet computer that it had come online. As the signal flashed green I positioned myself for the throw.

I aligned my body so that the dead soldier’s helmet was directly overhead. I then pulled the empty power pack in close to my body. With both hands in a downward motion I pushed the empty pack towards my feet. It drifted slowly away below me.

The inertia from the pack was small, but sufficient enough to move me ever so slowly in the direction of the helmet. For 18 hours I drifted towards my prize as the battle around me continued. The Frekkin matrix had dropped to nearly half its original size, but not before taking out another four Ogle pods and countless thousands of Meche ships. Millions of my clones had been released and millions had no doubt given their lives for their gods.

The eighteen hours of drift came to a conclusion as I gently wrapped my fingers around the base of the helmet. I pulled it in close taking care to not send myself further from the dead body. I moved slowly to position myself with my back towards my new target, taking care that my alignment was true. I then gently moved the helmet to the middle of my chest.

With another shove of both hands I sent the helmet moving away. I had taken my one shot at success and now drifted towards my destiny, my attentions now turned back to the battle. Both sides continued to lose ships in quantity. It was a war of attrition and thus far there was no clear winner.

I had been adrift for 12 hours after releasing the helmet; my new prize was still three meters from my grasp. The power pack on my belt had expired and I again removed it, pulled it in close to my chest and pushed it away. Any change in momentum had been ever so slight.

When another ten hours had passed I was still two meters from the tools of my survival. I ran a quick calculation of my Sodium burn, I had 26 hours to reach my goal. As I gazed upon my beautiful planet I suddenly felt a calm that had previously evaded me. I reasoned that the two warring species would weaken themselves to the point where they could no longer destroy the shield surrounding the Earth. If the battle in the heavens continued, Earth would survive.

As I drifted to within inches of the BGS glove and power pack before me the Frekkin and Ogle fight was drawing to a close. The Frekkin matrix held only a few hundred globe ships while the Ogle pod numbers had been reduced to one. The half million Meche ships had fallen prey to the millions of my clones that had been released from the Frekkin black clouds.

In a last effort the Frekkin matrix spun wildly towards the remaining Ogle pod. Just before impact a final spurt of black soldiers were released as the matrix crashed into the Ogle ships. Four of the Ogle battleships crumpled and exploded as the fifth detached and broke free.

The orange glow of the Frekkin matrix disintegrated as the last of the globe ships went silent. The final release of clone soldiers moved quickly around the final Ogle ship. Small explosions could be seen on its surface as a new internal war raged. Again I had a feeling of calm as the last of the attacking ships was taken offline. It looked as though Earth had again survived.

The dead clone soldier was now in my grasp. The power pack was removed and attached to my belt. I was excited to now have another 45 days of power. I detached the BHD glove from the lifeless body and was again rewarded as it connected perfectly to my BGS suit. I aimed my fist towards Earth and for the first time in more than a month I was again moving under my own power.

I did a quick calculation of my ETA on the planet and was a bit depressed that I had a two day flight to reach home, even with the glove on full. As I flew towards Earth I took note of the disabled Ogle battleship to my right. The battle within continued to rage as the occasional blast could be seen on the ships exterior. No doubt my clones were pressing forward with their fight.

I again began to broadcast a mayday message with the hope that a ship would be sent to assist me. But a rescue was not in the works. Thirty minutes after my journey had begun the Ogle ship regained power and turned its bow towards the Sun. My mood then turned from one of elation to one of terror. Four CME cylinders were launched and quickly began their journey towards the Sun; double the number that the Ogle would normally use. Minutes later, the Ogle ship exploded in a bright blue flash as the neutron tubes on-board were compromised.

I continued my progress towards home until I saw that the CME cylinders had entered the Sun's corona. I screamed into my helmet as Earth's time was now limited to a little over two days before the super-heated plasma from the coronal mass ejection would reach her. After checking my distance I began to I altered course to a perpendicular angle. I would be watching the death of my planet from above.

I struggled with the idea that the massive fleets of Earth were gone. Not even a single transport lifted up through the atmosphere to ferry citizens to safety. Had all the ships of Earth been committed to battle elsewhere? Were my fellow citizens left to die a fiery death by CME? And what of Alvin? Had the Ogle destroyed the new colony there?

Once again the feelings of despair rampaged through my mind. I was trapped, floating in the vastness of space, about to witness the complete destruction of my world, and I could do nothing to stop it. Was there no one left in the AMP to assist us? Were we truly alone in the universe and on the verge of complete annihilation?

My despair only grew as the great dark spots began to form on the side of the Sun facing the Earth. Tears rolled down my face as the inevitable plasma flares began to build in intensity. I screamed into my transmitter for someone, anyone, to escape, but received no reply. The dark spots on the Sun boiled with activity until the forces of gravity could no longer hold back the super-heated plasma. It burst forth with a rage that far surpassed any other CME event I had been witness to.

The huge flares curled outward before straightening and then releasing wave after wave of highly charged electrons and protons. The highly charged super-heated matter streamed towards Earth like a slow motion flame from a flame-thrower. I watched and waited, desperately hoping for that last minute miracle rescue. But Earth's time had come to an end.

The first wave was deflected by the still partially working shield. Only fingers of plasma swept around to the broad opening that had been cut into it by the Ogle on their earlier visit. The scarred Earth was still visible on the surface below. As the waves grew ever stronger the shield around the opening began to fail causing section after section to buckle and then incinerate due to the million degree matter that washed over it.

My heart sank when the forward quarter of the shield collapsed all at once, allowing the white hot plasma to begin its work of boiling away the atmosphere. As the oxygen in the air and the matter on the surface began to burn I turned my head away. I could no longer watch the destruction of that which I so cherished, the destruction of my home and everything I knew.

The full shield collapsed only minutes later and the mass of super-heated particles began to scorch the remaining lands. The plasma wave continued for hours as the surface of the Earth turned from life giving molecules and minerals into the hard black lifeless substance of Carbon. Earth... was... gone...

I sat, drifting in space, staring into the black void beyond. My emotions were spent, my feelings gone; there was nothing left to care for. No Grandfather's farm, no family, no Astronaut's Academy or Council of Governance. My complete life had been wiped from existence. My complete life was now meaningless.

As the shock of my situation began to wear off I started to wonder about what was left. I was alive, but for how long? The darkness then began to overtake my innermost thoughts. I contemplated how I might bring my life to a quick and painless end.

I could override the suit med dispensing algorithms and put myself to sleep with a fatal overdose to follow, I could simply raise the face shield on my helmet allowing the vacuum of space to do the deed, or I could set my BHD glove on full and aim myself at the Sun, knowing that my shield would fail as it was overwhelmed causing me to be instantly incinerated.

But my faith soon stepped in with a voice of reason "Never give up... ever". I had 43 days of power left in my power pack and a radio transmitter that still functioned. Perhaps there was a ship out there, a ship that would rescue me from a cold lonely death, a ship that would allow me to again one day take the fight, my fight, to the soulless Ogle species that had destroyed my world.

My despair slowly turned back to anger and determination as I pointed my glove towards a large chunk of burned out ship and pressed my throttle to full. In the coming weeks I made 26 such jumps, each time realizing that the mass of debris held no means of refuge or escape. The despair began to return as my power storage dropped from four days, to three and then to two. A quarter section of a Frekkin globe ship was my last reachable destination.

The section was largely intact but devoid of any means for survival. I sat on an exposed deck plate, my arm wrapped around a piece a railing that was bent and twisted from the fight. I stared out into the blackness as the quarter section slowly turned. I began to sob lightly when the view of a black scorched Earth slowly moved before me. My personal war with the Ogle and my fight to stay alive... was over. I had nothing left to do but wait for the inevitable loss of power followed by a quick death from the cold of space.

As I stared at the charred remains of the Earth the image began to ripple and distort as if a wave of heat had passed between us. I was then shocked into a state of confusion as a voice came over my radio link. "Are you ready to come home?" was uttered in a voice that sounded eerily like Zack. Then, in an instant, my view of the Earth was blocked by a massive AMP battleship as its Sodium skin was deactivated.

Seconds later a shuttle craft emerged and was soon pulling up beside me. I sat, shocked and unable to move as the door opened on the side and Zack and his two boys emerged. His face was all smiles as he worked to release my grip from the bent railing. I remained in shock as my rigid body was carried aboard the shuttle and the door closed.

Zack continued to grin as he removed his helmet and then mine. When the shuttle had docked the battleship quickly turned and in an instant we were slowing down on the opposite side of the Sun. A giant black plate then filled the space before us. The plate then began to spiral outward revealing the wonder that lay beneath. As the ship moved through the opening in the shield I could see the full beauty and wonder of the Earth I had always known. The Earth had survived!

I sat motionless, unable to speak as Zack told the story of our defense. The Earth I had fought to protect, the Earth that I had watched being destroyed, was nothing more than a decoy. AMP command had constructed a transport of such immense size that an Earth sized planet could be moved from another star to our own.

The billions of terraforming robots that had at one time refactored the surface of Toledus and Mabia had been used to alter the new planet’s surface and atmosphere to mimic that of the real Earth. A Sodium shield was constructed with the eventual intent being that it would fail. If the Ogle thought the Earth had been destroyed they would not be prepared for the war that was coming their way.

At that moment, a firm yellow hand gripped my shoulder from behind. It was Hershen, he had survived! He had also given AMP command the location of the Ogle home world and the mighty AMP force of more than 500 battle fleets was preparing to pay them a visit. War was coming to the Ogle, a war that would only end when the last of the vial species had been snuffed from existence.

I attempted to stand but my legs gave way, I dropped back into the chair as Zack and Hershen steadied me. A technician then stepped in behind me followed seconds later by the twin beeps of an audio implant coming to life as it rebooted. He stated that the old device would be replaced by a new bio-organic one when the doctors had a chance. The new "living" device would be a part of me that could not be removed or switched off, it was also undetectable to any medical scan they knew of.

A warble tone soon signaled my first call. It was my parents and as they spoke I again began to cry. The BGS meds from my suit could not keep pace with the adrenaline from my changing emotions. My earlier desperate situation continued to get better and better.

It took much of the day before I began to regain my composure. I had many questions concerning what had happened. Had the Kurtz worlds been destroyed? And what of the Gidden and Nickarians? And why did the Frekkin attack? My questions were many and the answers were given, but slow to come as the information covered a complex array of topics.

The Kurtz had been transported to another planet, a planet they had worked on for five years. A suitable star had been located with a planet, similar in size to Toleda, a planet that already occupied a habitable zone. The massive planet pusher had been used to move the new planet to its optimum orbital location. From there, the billions of terraforming robots were released. Within three years the Kurtz began to move their population.

A suitable atmosphere, oceans, land masses and rivers were constructed as a close match to those of their original planet. Cities were dismantled on Toledus and Mabia and reconstructed on the new Toleda. The population was moved soon after and construction of the Sodium shield began. Toledus and Mabia were then given the faux planet makeover for the benefit of the Ogle attackers.

On Earth, the planet Alvin had been moved from its location at Epsilon Eridani. Alvin had been terraformed to appear Earth-like in almost every way. A shoddy Sodium shield had been constructed with the full intention of it having an epic failure. Alvin was placed in an orbit on the exact opposite side of the Sun. A moon was borrowed from Jupiter to act as Earth's moon. I had been witness to the destruction of a duplicate Earth.

The Gidden and Nickarian planets had indeed been wiped out by the Ogle along with billions of their people. Earth was busy with our own defense and our fleets had not been updated to the newest shields, shields that could withstand the Ogle particle beams. Amp Command could offer nothing but transport assistance once the assault had begun. It had been anything but well planned and executed.

Four billion of their citizens had been saved before the attacks on their worlds subsided. Those citizens were now living on the transports that had been hastily forced into service as they looked for a new home. AMP Command promised full assistance once the Ogle threat had been removed and a suitable planet located.

I then asked how it was that I had watched Zack's death, and yet here he was standing before me. The answer seemed every bit as farfetched as the faux worlds explanation that had been presented to me. Amp Command had been hard at work creating cloned bodies. With the new bio-organic audio implants those clones were easily controlled by a human at the other end of a QE Comm connection, much like the ever popular human controlled robots I had been witness to a decade before.

With the new implant and a properly trained mind a Human could control their clone as if they were controlling their own body, even while sitting in a chair on the other side of the galaxy. Techniques for sensory pain suppression had been mastered allowing the cloned soldiers to fight without fear of pain or death. I had been witness to numerous clone deaths, all as part of the charade.

AMP Command was only beginning to explore the possibilities that the clones could offer. One could imagine going into war with no fear of death, traveling to distant stars with the clone in stasis while the "natural" human went about their daily life. The possibilities were near endless.

I asked why the mass of AMP fleets, with their clones, had not been used against the Ogle. The answer was that we were only now training soldiers to use the clones throughout the AMP force. The military was in the final stages of training and were expecting to give word within days as to when they would be ready. The crews of 518 fleets plus the 129 million cloned Marines that went with them would be used in a full on assault of the Ogle world, but not before they were ready.

The force numbers were staggering as compared to when I had last been in contact with home. Our capabilities, including shields, drives and weapons had been updated across all ships. Cesium reactors now powered the fleet as well as the Sodium skinned shield surrounding Earth. Our ships could travel at one-half million times the speed of light. Our new static field shields could deflect the most powerful orange glow of the Frekkin as well as the neutron particle beams of the Ogle. Our weapons however, even though improved, lagged far behind our propulsion and shielding.

A recon destroyer that had been stationed near the Ogle home world told us that the majority of their fleet had been committed to the battle for Earth's destruction. Eighteen Ogle battleships were all that remained and several of the 18 were older models. But the Frekkin had a superior planetary shield and our weapons experts had predicted that our weapons were not powerful enough to penetrate it. Our Marines would be going in on foot along with a multitude of mini-fighters.