The Silent Planet: A Space Opera (Cosmic Cyclone Series, Book 1) Page 2

  Thus many colonies had lost sight of one another, only to rediscover one another again, until those that still resembled traditional humans got together and formed the Human Union.

  An act that was not uniformly welcomed.

  Fact was still that all aliens mankind ever met, no matter how unusual, bizarre, attractive or appalling they looked: when their DNA was analyzed, it was invariably proved that it was human and had originated on that special blue planet in the Milky Way galaxy of stars. A shadow of Adam and Eve was present in all of them, how ever remote. Not once had a race been discovered where this didn't prove true.

  There were no aliens.

  "You know what I mean when I say aliens," Admiral von Schwarz said.

  "Did you get your drones back?"

  "All but one."

  "You lost one? Which one?"

  "The one checking on the space station." The admiral shrugged. "But that may have been due to a technical malfunction. My eye's definitely on that pyramid."

  Ben chafed his chin. "There once was a civilization that majored in pyramids," he said, "and I'm not talking about ancient Mexico. Its raiders came down the pylon road out of the Serpent's Head and attacked Neo-Ba."

  Admiral von Schwarz pricked up his ears. It was not often that Ben Harrow spoke of Neo-Ba of his own volition. Usually the subject was a no-no in talks with him.

  "Took almost a year to eject them," Ben said. "They had primitive ships. But once on the ground, their warriors were as fierce as they were ugly, and they operated in tightly-knit units. Typical hive mentality. The individual meant nothing to them. Not afraid to die, even though they were human at their core as my scientists affirmed. You could see it in their eyes. Daniel, they were ants with human eyes.

  "They lived underground like ants, too, and the top of their structures manifested in black pyramids." Ben's gray eyes looked straight into those of Admiral von Schwarz. "Tell me, Daniel, what kind of pyramid did your drones detect on Kasaganaan?"

  "It was a black structure."

  Ben inhaled deeply. "We called them Magog, because they were so infernal. After Magog in the Bible, you know, the evil fighters at the End of the Age."

  The admiral nodded thoughtfully. That was interesting. He'd imagined that Ben might be familiar with the threat Kasaganaan—and consequently Terra Gemina—was facing.

  Von Schwarz told him that and added, "Ben, if Kasaganaan's been taken over by an outside force with conquest on its mind, the logical next place for them to sink their teeth into is our fair planet. The Human Union members are at peace with one another as far as I know. But an outside race won't declare war before they strike.

  "They'll just do it.

  "And we are hopelessly outgunned right now. The naval yards on Bagong Lupa haven't produced a new cruiser in more than five years. Since they got marooned in this galaxy, Cho and Guofeng have been pouring all their expertise into developing a new way to travel, to make pylon jumping obsolete, because they were desperate to get back to Terra O. They were building a new motor. They weren't developing any tools for defense."

  "It's a little-known fact," Ben said, "but we exterminated Magog. They just wouldn't let go of us. Kept attacking our outliers. So we followed them into their system. They are history."

  A look into his friend's face showed him that von Schwarz wasn't convinced.

  "I'm responsible for the defense of this planet, Ben," the admiral said. "I'm not interested in making war on Vlad Jones or any of his settlers. I don't think they're a threat, if they are still around. But somebody else may be. Somebody else may already have taken possession of Kasaganaan. Maybe Jones in his pursuit of Utopia teamed up with them."

  Ben frowned. "Daniel, you're getting carried away…"

  "A possibility, if they offered him a means to secure his hold on his people. Utopians are always about power, especially when they jaw about bettering the plight of the little man. That's an alibi for ambition, nothing else. You can be a pig in human form: doesn’t matter as long as you spout the party line that you care for the little guy. Power, Ben! Power is what they really care about.

  "Anyway. What I'm saying to you is, pylon jumping is possible again and as a result a hostile fleet may wind up on our doorstep.

  "That would be our ruin.

  "Because our space-based artillery is a joke and Bagong Lupa won't be able to produce cruisers—or destroyers or just frigates—fast enough for us to get a viable defense force into place."

  "Ask Terra O for reinforcements," Ben suggested, unimpressed. In his eyes Terra Gemina had a well-trained space fleet. Not big perhaps, but nothing to be laughed at, either. "What ever happened to the Joint Strike Force?"

  "Nobody has ships to spare these days," the admiral replied. "Even if they did, it would take weeks for them to get here, considering the red tape. We're on our own."

  "So, where do I come in?" Ben said.

  The admiral steepled his fingers and reflected for a moment before he said, "Would you be willing to go to Kasaganaan? With a Marine detachment to aid you? Just a little reconnaissance mission."

  Ben grunted and made a throwaway gesture.

  Von Schwarz was undeterred. "Find out what's going on. There's nobody in the universe better qualified to solve this riddle than you. You can do things that nobody else can."

  Ben shrugged. "Oh Daniel, I'm overrated. I don't really know that you need me for this job. If I understood correctly, there was no direct action on your drones. Why don't you send in a platoon of Marines and let them reconnoiter the place by themselves. They're plenty qualified. They need something to do. You almost said so yourself."

  A steep wrinkle appeared on the admiral's brow. "With all due respect, Ben," von Schwarz said. "But in the entire universe there's only one being with your capabilities."

  "Not true," Ben interjected.

  That was news to von Schwarz. "You mean to say there's more like you?"

  "We're two. Possibly two and a half."

  Two and a half?

  Huh?

  "On Neo-Ba?"

  "No."

  The admiral drilled his eyes into him, but Ben wouldn't elaborate. Instead, he pinched his lips and a hardened expression came over his face.

  "Well, I don't know if you are two—or two and a half," the admiral said. "The only one who ever made any waves is you. And waves you made. You know aliens. You've had contact with many races. We're all green compared to you.

  "Ben, if an alien race has taken over Kasaganaan, my Marines may be in over their heads. They are great guys and girls, very motivated, good spirit. But they're all young. This generation has never seen combat. In a first contact situation, your leadership expertise is just what they need."

  Ben was quiet for a long time and stared at his folded hands. Something weighed on him.

  "Do you still calculate with an eighty-five percent loss of Marines in a standard landing situation? You still expect only fifteen percent to make it, to establish a beachhead?"

  Admiral von Schwarz he pursed his lips and his gaze wandered around the room. "This is going to be a reconnaissance mission, not a planetary assault."

  "Daniel," Ben said, "you don't know what you're asking for. You have no idea."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "In a combat situation, when it's about life and death and my powers are unleashed on their behalf, it's very possible that I will become a god to them. They won't see me die; I'm never going to belong to the eighty-five percent. Instead, those kids will see me rule supreme. One by one they'll feel that they owe their life to me. They'll become fiercely loyal. They'll promote me everywhere. Before you know it, I'll be running this place.

  "It's happened before, you know."

  Von Schwarz understood that Ben was talking about Neo Babylonia. He was all ears.

  "Now, after the accident that threw me off the pylon road," Ben went on, "after forty years alone in space and after receiving the grace of being found by you, I've resolved to leave my fellow h
umans alone. I've been humbled. I have no desire to be humbled again. The world is just fine without my input."

  Admiral von Schwarz felt this was no solution. "But you're not supposed to hide your light under a bushel."

  "I'm not hiding a light, Daniel," Ben said. "I'm sparing the world—from lightning."

  There was exasperation in the admiral's voice when he said, "What are you going to do? Go back into your forest to meditate for another thirty years? Those kids are not even thirty years old. Ben, you can't be serious." He caught himself before he started to rant. It was not a wise thing to berate somebody like Ben Harrow.

  When Ben didn't answer, von Schwarz decided to employ his weapon of last resort. "Ben Harrow, I'm in danger of sounding manipulative by what I'm going to tell you now, but I'm the man who found you. If it weren't for me, you'd still be stuck in a starless piece of universe; immortal, but—"

  "I'm not immortal."

  "But almost. For all practical purposes you are. Nothing short of a fusion bomb will kill you. You'll outlive us all. Now, you were stuck, immortal, but far from your fellow man. It seems that I was sent to you then. Wouldn't you agree?"

  Ben nodded slowly in agreement.

  "Well, here I am, being sent again."

  Ben looked at him out of glowing gray eyes.

  "You need to get re-involved with us commoners. It might do away with a lot of the apprehensions that some of us feel towards you. They fear you because they don't know you. Teaming up with a MARDET at this time and finding out what happened on Kasaganaan would surely put you into the good graces of the people of Terra Gemina."

  Ben was stone-faced as he listened. He let the words of the admiral sink in. "I'll think about it," he finally said.

  "I'll tell the Council," Admiral von Schwarz replied after a few more quiet moments.

  "Hey, you could show me the ship," Ben suggested, "now that I've put on this uniform. It's a Nolan class, right? And it got an upgrade. Quantum wind. I'm eager to find out more about it."

  The admiral took his interest for a good sign.

  Chapter 3

  Motionless, facing up, Ben hovered just above the bottom of the shallow pond in front of his house, where he enjoyed the cool current of the river that ran through it.

  And the silence.

  Trouts zipped around him like silver torpedoes and the bright light of Terra Gemina's two small suns made the rippling surface to shimmer.

  Ben had been in this wonderful spot for more than half an hour by now and was beginning to have an argument with himself. It was daytime and he shouldn't really be floating like this. What if people came by and saw him? They'd be greatly disturbed, thinking that he had drowned and they were witnessing a wide-eyed corpse in swim trunks on the bottom of a pool.

  Not exactly anybody's idea of a good time.

  And Ben had resolved to behave as much like an ordinary human as possible in order not to draw any attention. People were scared enough of him as it was.

  On the other hand, nothing distracted him down here as he considered the request Admiral von Schwarz had made of him yesterday. It wasn't the silence of Kasaganaan that intrigued him. It was something completely different: he, at three-hundred-and-eighty-two, would be working with people in their late teens and early twenties, when they weren't old enough yet to have become cynics.

  Jar heads.

  That's what Marines were called when he'd been young in the late twentieth century. A jar head was an empty vessel, waiting to be filled, to be indoctrinated. The troops had given themselves that nickname, because they understood that they were green beyond measure. Wouldn't it be a privilege to lead those young Marines on an expeditionary tour of duty on a mysterious planet…?

  In Ben's book, leading people was bliss. He loved it.

  He'd be talking to them. They'd be asking questions and he'd answer. And they would listen. He'd fill those jar heads with his ideas, ideas that would stick with them for a lifetime. This way he'd be stamping his image upon them. They'd carry his message with them into the ages.

  Ben frowned, because he realized that there was still a ton of pride floating around in his soul, even after years of consciously forswearing it. His mind still revolved too much around him.

  He hoped he wouldn’t get humbled again.

  Ben was still thinking along those lines when he felt the onset of vibrations in the water. He wondered where they came from. The tremors got stronger and he soon realized that it wasn't just the water…

  The soil was shaking, too.

  Nervous, the rainbow-colored trouts around him were zipping faster. He felt the cool touch of some of them as they darted away.

  The dull roar of a flying object passed overhead. Its shadow briefly blocked out the sun. When it was gone, the tremors momentarily subsided—only to come back even stronger when the aircraft returned.

  Somebody in a powerful float was running laps above Harrow's Dale.

  Who might that be?

  Had Daniel come to snatch him again? This quantum wind module was something else…

  But that was unlikely. Admiral von Schwarz was a polite person. He wouldn't overdo it. The ball was now in Ben's court and the admiral would wait until Ben had made up his mind. He knew that Ben wouldn't take forever. After all, Ben knew that time was of the essence. At least in the admiral's mind.

  Still motionless, Ben left the bottom of the pond and began to rise to the surface. He wanted to see if he recognized the ship that had come to visit—when he heard the hiss of powerful plasma guns. Less than a second later the pond was rocked by the impact as the charges hit the ground nearby.

  Ben's face broke through the surface. He blinked the water away and saw that the forest behind his house was now ablaze. Black smoke topped orange flames that were lunging towards the round modules of his home. The wind blew thick billows of smoke across the pond. The acrid smell bit his nose. Ben blinked.

  What was that supposed to mean?

  Terra Gemina was a peaceful society. No one on this planet had any reason to come out to his place and light it up.

  The ship who'd done this was equipped with plasma guns; no transport sported those. This visitor had to be a military craft. But Daniel von Schwarz and his space feet couldn't possibly behind this.

  Daniel was his friend.

  Who was trying to get his attention?

  He craned his neck to get a bearing on the attacker.

  Ben felt the onset of the tremors again as he stood in the pond. Its surface rippled. Then the craft zipped up and was upon him. It was fast and black and delta-shaped, where the base of the delta was straight and the two sides were curved. It had the aggressive air of an attacking hornet.

  Its plasma guns hissed again. Short lines that were brighter than the sun fell from the sky—and hit the dome of Ben's house, which went up in flames. The plastic evaporated, the sheet metal creaked, vitrum panels exploded, rivets popped and the edifice soon came crashing down.

  Staring at the scene, he realized, this was no weird game of chicken: somebody had come to kill him! A million thoughts raced through Ben's mind. Was this the threat from Kasaganaan that Daniel feared?

  Or had a ship come from Neo-Ba after all those years?

  Was this a rogue member of the Terra Gemina Space Fleet out to get him? Besides Daniel he had no personal friends on this planet.

  The surface of the pond began to ripple again. When he felt the vibrations and heard the roar of the ship in the air behind him, Ben laid back, slipped under the water's surface and sank to the bottom.

  This time the plasma guns hissed right above him. A brilliant light filled the confines of the pond. Ben, who was looking up with open eyes as through cloudy glass thought that the sun in all its glory was coming down on him.

  Ouch.

  The impact rocked the earth. The water evaporated with a puff like a drop that hit a hot stove and for a few moments the pond resembled a blackened bomb crater. Scorched earth. After a stunned moment, the
glittering water from the river gurgled and came back and began to run through it again.

  Ben and the trouts were gone.

  Chapter 4

  The klaxon's blare ripped the air over the Gemina spaceport and a commotion broke out among the personnel in its military section.

  An alpha scramble!

  The first real one in all her eighteen years.

  Lieutenant Charity Jones, helmet in hand, was spurting across the sundrenched tarmac towards her VTOL x-jet, which stood on its four wings, nose pointed at the sky, waiting for her to fire it up.

  Her heart was pounding.

  After six years of fighter wing schooling—yes, they selected tactical aviators that early—after endless days and weeks and months of training for this in a simulator, the hour had finally come. An unknown craft had to be intercepted and she was on duty to do it.

  She was Cherry. By her side ran Juggernaut and Rambler, two young men who were just as nervous as she was. They all wondered: who might the intruder be? Would he respond to their calls? What would they do if he didn't? Their primary job was to escort him back into space.

  But what if he didn't comply?

  She might have to shoot!

  So far there hadn't been any enemies, ever. Consequently Cherry had never fired a shot in anger.

  But now?

  Their spit-shined boots were pounding the tarmac. Behind them, the door to their ready room hung open and the noise of the klaxon echoed in the hangar on Gemina City's Space Navy airfield. The ground staff there shaded their eyes and looked after them.

  Members of the pre-flight crew that serviced the silver birds opened their doors and withdrew when the pilots came running.

  "Go get 'em, Cherry!" their grizzled chief shouted when Charity ran past them. He considered the slim blonde with her flowing hair to be a kind of daughter, even though he was not related to her.