The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict (16 page)

He flew past the three fighters without firing at them and flew to the next screen. The enemy fighters followed him and were much closer than usual. He had his electronic warfare package turned on to help keep the threesome from locking on to his fighter.

He approached the Hiriculan cruiser, dodging heavy enemy fire from in front and behind. He obtained a firing solution and fired his shield buster missiles at the shield deflector just above the engine room. He scored a direct hit, causing a small portion of the ship to become unshielded. He fired almost his entire inventory of missiles to partially damage the ship and slow shield recovery. Then he attached his homing beacon to the hyper communication missile and fired it at the damaged portion of the ship that was unprotected by its shields. He had 3 ship-to-ship missiles left.

The three enemy fighters suddenly had a clear, unambiguous view of their target. They locked on the target and fired every single weapon they had, including one ship-buster missile each. The first wave of missiles hit the Hiriculan cruiser and exploded, further opening the area unprotected by the shields. The next missiles penetrated the hull and created an opening to space. Then came the three ship busters, still locked on the fighter’s homing beacon. They ignored every electronic trick and trap and headed directly for the opening in the hull. All three went inside and exploded. The result was unbelievable.

The Hiriculan cruiser blew up, exploding into thousands of particles. Very little was left save a cloud of dust a kilometer in length. Jim pulled the fighter into the hardest loop he could manage. The turn pulled 7g’s and was simulated through the fighter cap. Jim almost passed out, but somehow managed to complete the turn. He fired his three remaining missiles, one at each remaining fighter. The enemy fighters were blinded by the dust from the explosion and didn’t react. He scored three direct hits and killed all three. He was the first person (in Alliance history) to destroy the enemy cruiser and also the first to destroy all three fighters.

He landed on the Alliance cruiser with three lives remaining and watched as a dozen Advranki crewmembers on the flight deck cheered. His final score was 11,130. He immediately jumped in the on-line rankings to #1 overall.

Jim posted the solution on the chat boards and soon everyone was trying it that way. In just a day after he succeeded, over 100 gamers that had scored greater than 10,000 and the number was climbing hourly.

………………

The on-line solo and group missions were also a huge success. Lorano programmed a series of hundreds of missions and released a few new ones each day. Gamers could form impromptu teams with friends or be assigned to a team randomly. The missions ranged from relatively easy to nearly impossible. Lorano had been feeling particularly malicious one day and released one that he believed was impossible to complete.

The scenario was simple. An Alliance cruiser jumps to an unknown location, and then moves well inside the gravity well of a nearby star to investigate an anomaly. As a result, it cannot jump to hyperspace. Then, the Alliance cruiser detects an enemy destroyer. The enemy destroyer launches fighters. The cruiser launches then responds by launching its fighters (e.g. the 20 gamers) and setting course backwards away from the destroyer and toward the hyperspace window.

Once the fighters are halfway to the destroyer, Lorano had programmed a battleship to make a micro jump from a hidden location to just beside the Alliance cruiser. The gamers now had a choice of generally four options.

(1) They could proceed to the destroyer, kill all of the enemy fighters and blow it up. This is a difficult task, but one that could usually be accomplished by most teams. However, by the time they finish off the destroyer, the battleship will have killed their cruiser. The battleship will then launch 80 fighters and destroy them.

(2) They could sacrifice themselves by distracting the battleship long enough for the cruiser to get away. This is difficult because the battleship is between them and the cruiser. Also, the battleship has 80 fighters, resulting in a very lopsided battle. Teams have been able to save the cruiser, dying in the process.

(3) Launch and stay next to the cruiser. This way, when the battleship appears, they can dock back on the ship. There are 20 fighters and only 2 launch bays, so they have to violate fighter spacing protocols and land as a group to make it back to the cruiser in time.

(4) They can try to engage the destroyer, then race back and dock with the cruiser. The problem here is the Alliance cruiser will jump as soon as it reaches the hyperspace window. If the fighters are not aboard, they will be abandoned. Further, if the cruiser waits for the fighters to slow down enough to dock, it will be killed by the battleship’s missiles.

Players generally try to complete the first three scenarios. The fourth seems to be unsolvable.

Chapter 9

Carank had been monitoring the on-line rankings as well as the results of the simulation. He felt certain that 10,000 was the minimum score for Alliance pilots to pass the test. He was thrilled that human pilots had finally reached that level.

He found Lorano and said, “We finally have enough pilots that have passed the test. We can begin the final phase. I believe that our journey is going to prove worthwhile.”

Lorano was equally thrilled, though more about the prospect of leaving Earth than anything else. He responded, “What criteria are you going to use?”

Carank responded, “Well, my first criteria is simple, I want all of them to be the same sex.”

Lorano answered, “Makes sense, we don’t want them reproducing in flight. I don’t think the life support system could handle it. What else?”

Carank said, “I think their gestation period is a little longer than a few weeks.”

Lorano responded, “These simple beings probably reproduce by mitosis.”

Lorano smiled at the comment and said, “Computer, human female gestation period.”

…38.29 weeks. Natural variation allows +/-5 weeks. Impregnation requires both sexes…

Carank continued, “I am also going to choose candidates that are single. I have found that if they are married or are an only child; too many people will be notified of their absence. People will ask questions and look for them.”

“Makes sense,” added Lorano.

Carank continued, “Finally, I am only going to choose pilots that have completed the simulation and are among the top 100 pilots in the global rankings.

“Can you find 20 in the top 100 that meet all of the criteria?” Lorano asked.

Carank responded, “Actually, most of the ones in the top 30 are both single and male. We will have to violate the only child rule for a couple of them, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

Lorano seemed perplexed by that answer. “Why do you suppose that is?”

Carank shook his head, indicating that he understand the question.

Lorano clarified, “Why do you suppose most of them are single and of the same sex?”

Carank responded, “I don’t know. I do know is that a preponderance of the gamers are male. Females don’t seem to play the game very much. However, the few females that do play appear to be as good as males.”

“Okay,” Lorano finished, “I guess it is time to implement operation ‘Candlestick’.” All four crew members had each suggested a code name for kidnaping the humans. The choices had been ‘Victims’, ‘Grab Humans’, ‘Go Home’, and ‘Cranky’. No one was sure how they had settled on candlestick since, like
Sunflower
; the name had not been an option.

The four assembled in the main hold and sat in the recreation area. Carank brought up a screen showing the list of potential candidates. The list was impressive; everyone had scored above 11,000 on the obstacle course and had won multiple one-on-one battles and group simulated missions.

He had chosen 19 of the top 30 ranked pilots. Numbers 17 and 18 were rejected because they were married. Numbers 19 through 23 had been rejected because they had tightly knit families. Numbers 6, 8, 9 and 14 were rejected because they lived outside of the United States. Carank thought that it would be easier to only grab humans located in the USA since they were physically located in that country.

Victor said, “You only chose 19. Who is the 20
^th
pilot?”

Carank responded, “He is number 42 in the ranking. His highest score in the obstacle course is 11,420, but he is special for two reasons.”

Lorano feigned interest and said, “Please, tell us both of them.”

Carank responded, “Well, he was the first gamer to complete the mission and score over 10,000 points. More importantly though, he lives in Akron, only a few kilometers from here.”

Lorano was suddenly interested, but now feigned non-interest. He asked, “Well, why does that matter?”

Carank answered, “Because we can get him here quickly. We can put him in one of the flight simulators and verify that the humans can actually fly fighters before we bring the other 19 humans here.”

“Great idea,” said Crista. “What do you want me to do, go to his house, shoot him with the stun gun, and drag him here?” Her face brightened visibly at the prospect of getting to shoot someone again.

Carank looked at her worriedly and answered, “I have a more subtle idea. Crista, let’s keep your idea as plan B for now.” Carank showed Victor and Crista a short script he had written. They reviewed it and nodded that they understood what needed to be done.

Carank said, “Computer, call the telephone number 330-867-5309.”

…Dialing…

Crista grabbed the receiver and put it to her ear. She heard it ringing and then heard the phone make connection. She heard, “Hello.”

Crista said, “Hello. Is this Jim Donovan?”

“No. This is Jennifer, his sister. I will go get him.”

There was a slight pause, then Crista heard, “Hello, this is Jim.

Crista clarified, “This is Jim Donovan from Akron Ohio who was the first to blow up the Hiriculan cruiser.”

“Yes,” he responded.

This time she thought she detected a little bit or nervousness or possibly impatience in the response. She quickly said, “Hold please,” and handed the phone to Victor.” She then posted the number to her communicator page in the event she would have to redial it and hoped the sister wouldn’t change it in the next week or so.

Victor said, “Hello Jim, My name is Victor Tyrano. I am the CEO of Victory Games, the maker of the Alliance flight simulation game.”

“Is this a joke?” Jim responded.

Victor answered, “No. No joke. My reason for calling you is quite the opposite. Is this a good time to talk?”

“Yes, it is fine.” Jim responded.

Victor continued, “As you probably know, the corporate headquarters of Victory Games is in Akron, just a few miles away from you. The reason for my call is that I have created the next generation of the video game. It is a full immersion flight simulator. I want a person who has actually completed the simulation to try it. Are you interested?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Jim responded. Victor gave him the address and agreed upon a time later that afternoon.

They then removed one of the flight simulators from the freighter hold. There was a secret corridor from the hangar to the adjacent corporate headquarters / assembly building. They used the corridor to move the simulator to the headquarters area. Carank also used it to enter the facility and hook up the machine. At the last moment, Crista noticed that on the side was written in alien language the equivalent of ‘Made in Advranki 3’. Crista exited the office area, went to the assembly line, and picked up a ‘Made in USA’ sticker. She then returned and placed the sticker over the writing.

Jim Donovan arrived at the facility. Crista and Victor were waiting for him.

Victor shook his hand. He said, “Hello, I am Victor. This is my bodyguard Crista.” Victor had found that Crista enjoyed being introduced as a bodyguard and he did so whenever possible. He only introduced her as his wife or assistant when absolutely necessary.

Jim smiled and shook Victor’s hand. He looked at Crista from head to toe, but did not address her or comment about her. She had dumped the cowgirl outfit for skin tight yoga stretch pants and a tight fitting shirt. She had kept her cowboy boots because they were great for hiding knives. Both Lorano and Carank had said they liked the new garments much better than the old one. They had done so selfishly though, as their primary motivation for the compliment was that the new outfit made it easier for them to determine if she was armed.

They gave Jim a brief tour of the facility. They showed him the production floor. It was basically broken into four areas; CD burning, flight cap assembly, flight panel assembly, and final packaging and warehousing. They then went through the office area, walking past HR, accounting, logistics, plant management, and finally Victor’s office.

Jim asked, “Where is the research and development area?”

Victor thought quickly and said, “The R&D department is located in the hanger looking building next door. The scientists seem to prefer the big building.”

Jim followed with, “Just out of curiosity, how many engineers do you employ?”

Victor responded, “Only two. One focuses on software and the other on hardware.” Jim looked stunned at that answer, so Victor added, “We only have two, but they are really, really good.”

They walked into Victor’s office and to the machine. Crista took her usual position near the back door. It appeared to strangers that she stood there to be able to scan the entire room, but in reality she stood there to keep people from seeing the hidden door that led directly to the hanger.

Jim looked over at her. She responded by making her meanest looking face and putting her hands on her hips, each hand just above the gun strapped to either leg. Jim looked away.

Victor said, “Jim, go ahead, hop in and run the obstacle course. Oh, by the way, the opening speech sequence is slightly different. Also, I programmed her with a French accent. After the game, please tell me which one you like better.” Lorano had decided that they shouldn’t modify the software of the flight simulator for fear of being accused of tampering. As a result, the Advranki female gave the long winded version of the welcome speech in Alliance basic versus Lorano’s short version in English.