The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (47 page)

“Where
is that?” demanded Mason, stepping even closer to the screen
,
staring at it in disbelief. Surely, this had to be a joke of some
kind.

“That
image is being broadcast from Luna City,” Jessica replied as she checked the
video feed. “We just started receiving it a few minutes ago. Holbrook Station
has confirmed it.”

Upon
the screen was a massive spacecraft, larger than anything Mason had ever seen
before or even believed to be possible. He had thought the Phoenix was huge
,
being five hundred meters long and ninety meters across, but the Phoenix would look like a gnat up against this monstrosity.

“How
large is that thing?” Drake asked in a stunned voice. He knew there was not any
way that ship had originated in the solar system. This could mean only one
thing; aliens had found the Earth!

“LIDAR
readings from Luna City indicate that it’s eight thousand two hundred meters
across
,
and one thousand meters thick,” Jessica replied as
she glanced at a computer screen showing additional data that Luna City was transmitting. “It looks like a giant black disk.”

“Contact
Holbrook Station and inform them to halt all traffic,” ordered Mason as he
tried to grasp what was happening. “I don’t want any launches until we know
what this thing is and why it’s here.”

“Yes,
Sir,” Jessica replied. Then she glanced at Mason with a frightened look upon
her face. “Sir, is that an alien spaceship?” Several of the other communication
specialists paused as they waited expectantly for Mason’s answer.

Mason
was silent for a moment. “I think so,” he finally replied. “I don’t know of
anyone on Earth that could have built something like that. That’s why I want
all launches halted. I don’t want them to misconstrue the movements of our
ships as being threatening.”

Jessica
nodded and turned back to her console to begin transmitting Mason’s orders to
Holbrook Station. “I just hope they’re friendly,” she commented in a strained
voice, her heart racing.

“So
do I,” Mason said as he continued to look at the screen. “Pamela, I want you to
send a message to all of our mining operations, as well as all prospector and cargo
ships. Until further notice, all communications are to be halted. Only in the
case of an extreme emergency is anyone to send a message. Tell them an alien
craft is approaching Earth and we’ll keep them informed as we get more
information.”

“Yes,
Sir,” Pamela replied as she stepped over to her command console and began
speaking rapidly over her com unit to all the operators in the large room.
There were lots of messages that needed to be sent out as rapidly as possible.
Even as she passed on the orders, her eyes kept glancing nervously up at the
viewscreen and the alien ship. She could feel the rising tension in the large
Control Room.

“What
do you think they want?” Drake asked as he gazed uneasily at the alien ship.
His wife would be scared to death when she saw this thing on the news. Hell, a
lot of people were going to be!

Luna
City
was now sending some
close-ups of the ship, and it was evident that it was heavily armed. Large
weapon turrets were visible upon the hull of the ship as well as numerous hatches
that were now opening. Drake was glad that his family was here inside Vesta.
His parents, his brother, his wife, and daughter were all safe in Smithfield.

“That
thing’s armed,” Mason spoke
,
not liking what he was
seeing. “Why would an exploration ship be covered in weapons?”

“We
never even considered putting weapons on the Phoenix,” Drake responded as he
looked intently at the weapon turrets on the alien ship.

He
shook his head in worry, knowing he needed to call Larcy soon. He was sure it
was only a matter of time before this breaking news was all over the major
media outlets, most of which could be received in the homes of the people who
lived in Smithfield.

“Sir,”
another one of the operators broke in. “The United States government has been
attempting to contact the aliens.” She paused for several moments as she
continued to listen. “They are reporting that there has been no reply from the
alien ship to any of their communication attempts.”

“I
don’t like this at all,” muttered Drake, shaking his head.

They
continued to watch as over the next half hour the alien ship continued its
approach to Earth
,
finally settling into orbit twenty
thousand kilometers above the planet. From several of the large open hatches on
the ship, smaller vessels could be seen leaving and heading toward Earth.

“The
United States has just raised their defense status,” Pamela reported uneasily
as she monitored the main communication console and talked to the four
communications specialists. “The U.K., Russia, Germany, France, China, Australia, Canada, and several others have followed suit. They are also launching
interceptor aircraft
,
and the U.S. and the U.K. have just activated their missile defense grids.”

“This
could get serious fast,” Drake said with a concerned look upon his face
,
looking over at Mason meaningfully. “Why won’t they speak to us
,
and where are all of those small craft going? What if a fighter jet
shoots one down?”

“I
don’t know,” Mason responded as his eyes gazed fixedly at the main viewscreen.
He didn’t like the way this situation was developing. There were too many
things that could go wrong.

For
several heart-stopping minutes, they waited for additional information. At any
moment, they expected to hear reports of one of the smaller alien ships being
shot down.

“A
special report is being broadcast over all media stations confirming the
approach of the alien ship,” Pamela informed them with a pale look upon her
face. “The people are being told to remain indoors and not to panic
,
that the world governments have the situation under control.”

“Like
hell they do,” commented Drake, shaking his head. “They’re just as scared as we
are.”

He
knew he should go make a call to his wife and tell her not to worry. Larcy had
a bad habit of overreacting to situations at times. It might not be a bad idea
to ask his parents to go over to the house to help keep her calm.

Mason
remained silent. He was looking at the alien spacecraft
,
noting that there was no visible sign of what type of propulsion it was using.
The size of the craft, the obvious presence of numerous weapons, and its
continued refusal to communicate worried him. This was a situation that could
go south in an instant if anyone overreacted, and the small ships that were
flying into the Earth’s atmosphere might just cause that to happen. All it
would take would be for one of the fighter jets to shoot one down and they
might find themselves in an interstellar war.

“How
many of the small craft did Luna City detect leaving the ship?” Mason demanded
as his eyes focused back on Pamela.

“Over
thirty,” she replied as she checked a computer screen. “Luna City is reporting that each of the small ships is nearly two hundred meters across and similar
in build to the mother ship.”

“I
think I saw this movie a while back,” commented Drake dryly, glancing over at
Mason. “It didn’t end well.”

“Pamela,
contact all of our cargo ships that are currently in transit to Earth and turn
them around,” Mason ordered after thinking the situation over. He was getting a
bad feeling about this. “I want our ships to stay away from Earth space for the
time being until we know more about these aliens.”

“Is
there anything we need to do here?” asked Drake, raising his eyebrows. “What if
one of their small ships heads out our way?”

Drake
knew that all the major weapons that might be a threat to the aliens were
located on Earth; none had been allowed to go out into space due to numerous
treaties. Those treaties were aimed at keeping the solar system weapons free.

“Make
sure all the airlocks are secure
,
and place armed guards
at the ones in the transit stations and a few in the spacedock,” Mason ordered
as he thought about what they could do. “I want Vesta locked down tight until
we better understand what’s going on.” He knew the thick metal airlocks would
make it virtually impossible to break into the inhabited sections of the
asteroid.

For
once, he wished he had a larger security force. Crime was almost unknown in Smithfield. His security force only consisted of thirty men and women with light weapons
such as pistols and small caliber assault rifles. They were all the treaties
allowed.

“Where
have those small craft gone?” demanded Mason, looking back at the viewscreen.
The way those ships had headed toward Earth looked ominous. This was not how he
had visualized a first contact situation.

He
could hear people talking in the Control Center as they speculated about what
the aliens wanted. He couldn’t blame them; this was making him nervous also.
This would be their first contact with an alien species and from the look of
their heavily armed ship; Mason wasn’t sure just how friendly they were going
to be.

“We
don’t know,” reported Pamela worriedly, turning around to face Mason. “Luna City and Holbrook Station lost track of them when they entered the Earth’s atmosphere,
and it seems that no one on Earth can track them either. The United States has just upped their defense status to the next level and we can expect the
others to do so shortly. They’re scrambling more fighters to find and intercept
the alien ships that have entered the atmosphere. The United States government has ordered the fighters not to let the alien ships land unless
they initiate communications first.”

“All
we need is for someone to start shooting,” Drake muttered
,
his eyes growing wide at the developing situation on Earth. “We don’t need to
start an interstellar war! If these aliens can build ships of that size
,
who knows what type of weapons they possess.”

“A
shuttle is being dispatched from the International Space Station to attempt to
make contact,” Pamela added as new information appeared on her screen. She was
staying busy trying to stay on top of everything as it occurred.

Mason
nodded. The new International Space Station was much larger than the previous
one that had been built back around the turn of the century. It currently had a
crew of nearly seventy and was mostly a research facility. He wondered what
that crew thought about the aliens.

Drake
stepped over closer to the communications console so he could read some of the
data coming in over the numerous screens. Most of it was from Luna City, and it was evident that they were feeling panic. The majority of Luna City was built deep underground, and was similar in many ways to Smithfield but on a much
smaller scale. Instead of one large underground habitat, there were a dozen
smaller ones. Over twenty-two thousand people called Luna City their home.
Drake knew it had to be frightening for them, knowing how near the alien ship
was. He also knew that there were very few weapons at Luna City. They were much like Vesta with a small police force equipped with only light weapons.

For
the next hour, they continued to monitor the situation. The alien craft was
still refusing to communicate, and no trace could be found of the thirty
smaller ships that had entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Somehow, the ships were
able to avoid or neutralize all of the Earth’s sophisticated detection
equipment. Radar, LIDAR, and other sensor equipment could detect nothing. It
was as if they had vanished.

“The
shuttle from the International Space Station is nearing the alien ship,” Pamela
reported anxiously. She turned to face Drake and Mason with a concerned look
upon her normally calm face. “They are halting their approach at twenty
kilometers and will attempt to communicate. Some of the scientists on Earth
have suggested several different methods to initiate communications. A few feel
the aliens may not have understood our first attempts. They will be
transmitting a language primer based on numbers. It will contain several universal
concepts and should form a basis for allowing the aliens to learn our
language.”

“Why
do I think it’s a waste of time?” muttered Drake, shaking his head doubtfully.
“As large and advanced as that ship is they are bound to know how to
communicate with us if they wanted to.” He shifted his weight over to his other
foot. He had called his parents and they should have made it over to his house
by now. He hoped Larcy was doing all right; he probably should give her a call
when he had a chance.

“I
think you’re right,” Mason said in agreement. “This whole thing seems kind of
odd. If their ship is as advanced as it looks, they should have a method for
initiating communications in first contact situations. Surely we’re not the
first race they have come across.”

For
several minutes, they waited tensely as Luna City and Holbrook Station
monitored the communications attempts from the shuttle. Everyone held their
breath as they waited for the aliens to reply, wondering what the alien’s first
words would be.

“Nothing,”
reported Pamela after several minutes had gone by with no response. She shook
her head in growing worry. “They still will not communicate, and the crew of
the shuttle have tried over half a dozen different methods of communication
that the linguists down on Earth suggested.”