The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (28 page)

As the two groups closed in the soldiers stopped and saluted. The officers in his group stopped and returned the salute.

Paterson just walked over and shook hands with the closest scientist.

“Welcome home Christopher.”

The astrophysicist smiled at his older colleague. So did the others.

“It’s good to be back. She is a beauty James.”

Both of them turned and looked at the ship.

“Gentlemen if you are finished we have a lot of work to do. I believe that there are some things that we should take of that ship. I would like your help about that.”

The group of scientists turned towards the waiting admiral. Simonson smiled as the group of scientists turned toward him. He was several years younger then most of them. The scientists watched him and the other officers and soldiers carefully.

“You are right admiral. Everything that has to be taken of the ship is in the hangar bay. The rest of the soldiers are there.”

One of the officers, this one wearing the ribbons that identified him as a general, waved with his hands at the people in the distance and several vehicles started moving towards them. Most of them were large trucks. A large group of soldiers and base personal was coming as well.

“We need to do this quickly so that the first group of passengers can board the ship.”

“Yes general.”

The older general saluted to the admiral and started forward towards the ship.

As he did that one of the soldiers stepped forward.

“Sirs before they start I believe there is something you need to see.”

The general stopped and turned. The admiral and the rest of the officers turned as well.

As they did that they noticed that the scientists lowered their heads.

“And what that might be Lieutenant?”

Bradley just looked at the group of officers and so did the rest of his soldiers. The look they gave made both the admiral and the general quiet.

“Lead the way Lt.”

Bradley inhaled.

“Yes sir.”

As he turned so did the other four soldiers. They slowly went toward the ramp. As they started forward Dr. Paterson left the group of scientists and joined them.

As they entered the ship they noticed two more soldiers waiting for them. They quietly passed through several hallways and stopped as they approached a closed door at the second deck. Two soldiers stood guard there. When they saw the general and the admiral and their staff approaching they saluted.

The Lt. turned toward the general and with a serious face nodded toward the door.

“They are here sir.”

The group went forward. As they approached one of the soldiers pressed his hand on a button on the wall and the door slid open. It revealed a large room far larger then any other they saw on the way there. And as the officers stepped in they saw that it was filled with hundreds of coffins.

“My God… There are hundreds of them.”

The general just nodded at the words of the younger admiral. They all took of their hats.

Bradley stepped forward and joined the group of officers. So did Dr. Paterson.

“Seven hundred and sixty nine sirs…There are seven hundred and sixty nine of them sirs.”

His voice was serious. It was the voice of a man who can recognize the loss that he was now seeing. And he could feel the pain it brought.

As they watched a shimmering light appeared in front of them. It took them by surprise and they stepped backward. The light disappeared and they all saw a beautiful young woman. The hologram smiled weakly and turned toward the coffins.

“They were members of my last crew. They never managed to see this world but they died so that others may have that chance, so that you may have this future.”

At those words she looked at them and in her eyes Bradley saw gratitude for his words.

Simonson looked at the coffins and at the strange flag that covered them. It was torn at places, a casualty of time. Then he looked at the avatar of the AI. He knew that her name was Aria from the briefings.

“They will be buried with all honors Aria. They will be buried alongside our own, like heroes.”

“Thank you Admiral.”

General Alexander looked at the admiral and nodded. Malcolm Alexander knew the price of the sacrifice that he saw now. He saw lots of that in his long career. He was a veteran from the first Golf War, and the war on terror in Afghanistan and in Iraq in the beginning of this century. He looked at the AI. He sensed that although she was artificial, she felt pain.

“If you allow, my men will take care of them.”

Aria turned and looked at the bodies. She didn’t feel pain but she could steel feel sadness and pride as well. They were finally home.

“They are in your care. Treat them as they deserved general. Treat them like the heroes they truly were.”

“We will.”

The AI just nodded with its head and disappeared.

General Alexander turned toward the admiral.

“If you allow me I will go and make the preparations for their removal.

Simonson looked at the general and nodded.”

The general and the rest of the soldiers left the room. The small group of officers left with them leaving Simonson alone.

He looked at the bodies and raised his hand to wipe a tear from his face. The bodies brought back memories of the people, of the friends he lost. The pain was still there.

He kneeled and raised the torn flag that had fallen from the nearest coffin and gently he placed it over it. As he raised himself he kept looking at the coffin. He wondered if this was just a premonition of what was to come, of the death he and every other soldier will soon have to face. He felt fear inside him but as he looked at them he also felt pride. He remembered the words of the AI.

“
They never managed to see this world but they died so that others may have that chance, so that you may have this future
.”

“You gave us this chance. Thank you.”

He saluted and left the room. As he did that the AI appeared again. She looked at the admiral as he was leaving and then she turned towards the bodies.

“You are finally home.”

                                       CHAPTER ELEVEN

12 May 2018 12:00 hours

Sedna Sol System

Dr. Paterson looked at the beautiful view from the bridge of Argus. He couldn’t believe that just seven days ago he was back on Earth. Now the small moon humans called Sedna was circling before his eyes.

He never dreamed that he would get a chance to be in space. Not even when the first news about the discovery arrived.  But with the arrival of the Demetrion everything changed. In just seven days the cruiser transported five and a half thousand people.  Beside the large contingent of soldiers that arrived and the pilots, there were hundreds of scientists, engineers, linguists, and many other people. Most of them were Americans and people from NASA, but there were also people from almost every nation from Earth. He turned and noticed the Demetrion. The cruiser was preparing for another trip to Earth. It was carrying the rest of the dead crewmen of both the Argus and the Hidea. The ship this time had no crew on it. Aria was good enough to make this trip alone. She was taking them to join the rest of their comrades. She was taking them on their last trip.

As he watched the ship started moving forward. He felt eve as he watched it leave. He admired the technology that he was now watching. A small smile appeared on his face as he noticed the other ship that was visible in the distance. The Deadalus, the first real starship that humanity managed to build. The Deadalus was preparing for its next mission. The last three days the small, but fast shuttles that all three ships had made dozen trips to the warp point placing a hundred nuclear bombs around it that the Demetrion brought from Earth. They were bombs that came from the large stockpiles of Russia, the United States and China, and several came from several other countries as well including to the surprise of everyone from South Africa, Iran and North Korea. As he watched the Deadalus drifted slowly in the hangar bay of the Argus. As the ship did that he heard Anaya.

“The Deadalus is in the hangar bay Admiral. We are ready for the mission.”

Simonson looked at the AI before him. He came here in the first trip and took command from Captain Jennings. The captain was now on the Deadalus together with the marines and several scientists.  From the original crew several scientists were staying here and they were replaced by several new astronomers. The reason for that was simple. The Deadalus was going to make the first trip to another star system. He smiled at that thought. The sixty people on that ship were about to make a trip that every human wanted to make. They were going to make history.

“Ok Anaya. Let’s make the delivery.”

“Yes Admiral.”

The AI turned and just seconds later the ship started moving. He couldn’t feel the movement, but he knew that they were moving thanks to the fact that Sedna disappeared from the screen. The trip didn’t last long. Even with all the damages that the Argus had, the mighty battleship made the trip in less than an hour. When the ship stopped he noticed the data map showing the presence of one more ship. It was the second cruiser, the Hidea. The cruiser arrived here several hours ago and it was planned to stay on watch until the Deadalus returned. The Argus was supposed to stay as well.

When the ship stopped he stood up and looked at the place where the warp point was supposed to be. He couldn’t see anything but from what he could see on the sensor readings it was obvious that the point was there. The screen also showed the hundred nuclear bombs that were now drifting around it.

“Anaya give me a link to the Deadalus.”

The AI complied.

“Deadalus your mission is a go.”

“Thank you Sir.”

The voice on the other side belonged to Jennings.

Moments later the far smaller Earth starship exited the hangar bay. It moved slowly and stopped just before the invisible warp point.

“Godspeed...Godspeed.”-the prayer exited from his leaps without noticing.

Jennings looked at the people on the small bridge of the Deadalus. He noticed excitement on their faces. And he knew that his face showed the same. As he was watching them several of them smiled.

“Well let’s make history.”

“For the second time…”-the comment came from Linda.

“Yes…for a second time. Well let’s make history. Take her slow Linda.”

She smiled at him and activated the engines. The ship started moving slowly. They approached the point carefully not knowing what exactly to expect.

“Are the sensors showing anything?”

“The readings are indicating strong gravities but we still can’t see anything sir.”

“Take us in slowly. And continue relaying the information to the Argus.”

“Yes sir.”

As the ship neared to the warp point Simonson stood up. It seemed as if the Deadalus was hanging in space until it closed in with the warp point. Then it simply winked out of space and disappeared inside the warp point. As it did that Simonson and the rest of the people on the bridge gasped.

“Is there any contact from the ship at all Anaya?”

“There’s nothing there sir. The ship is not there. It’s not in this system anymore.”

“Is this normal for when a ship enters a warp point. Do you have any information’s about it in your database?”

“Your ancestors…sorry my creators rarely used the warp points. They are rare and not represented in every system and are hard to discover. But the information’s gathered at the time confirm what we are seeing. Once a ship enters a Warp Point it can’t be tracked.”

Simonson looked at the screen and then at the AI. He knew that there was nothing he or anyone else can do now, but he felt that he needs something more. He needed more information’s.

“It seems that they started the journey. I’ll be in my office, inform me if there is any news. Retreat to Sedna and inform the Hidea that they should keep a close watch and inform us of any changes that occur.”

“Yes sir.”

“And send me all information’s you have about the warp point in your database. I would like to have a better understanding of the warp point next time we do this.”

The AI looked at the captain as he asked the question. Every day that passed she got to know her new commander better. She read the information about the way his career developed through the years and was intrigued by his rapid success at rising among the ranks. The request he made now was the same one that almost every other officer and scientist made since the ship came here and it proved that the crew and all the others took the upcoming threat very seriously and that they are ready for anything. She knew that on Earth extensive preparations were being made to ready and prepare the population for what was to come, massive productions was already on the way in producing the known military hardware and as the information she gave them about the weapons they could develop quickly were implemented and understood the construction of those weapons was already under way. She was amazed at how quickly some of the weapons went from theory to practice and testing and then production, not by the speed but because it was understandable considering the threat that production would be implemented before the real testing could be performed, but they still managed to avoid some real mistakes and disasters in the process so far. She hoped that that that will continue to be the case as the production was only going to increase as the invasion got nearer. And the behavior of the commanders that took command of the ships in the fleet were proving to be a real asset and capable and more importantly they were ready to learn and ask questions about everything. That was a good thing from her experience. It was good also that they treated her with respect and as a real person. It only deepened her affection to them.