The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (30 page)

“You mean that you will leave a team here?”

“Yes we will Dr. Antonov. Two pilots, four soldiers and four scientists will remain in system and await the return of the Deadalus. Your target is the fourth planet which is closest at the moment. The Deadalus will return in this system after it picks up another shuttle along with one of the civilian ships that are in good condition. We will bring more shuttles and supplies and do an extensive search and scan of the system, and of the other that is close as well. I plan to use the other ship and the shuttles to look in Alpha Centauri as well.”

As he finished the sentence everyone started speaking and asking questions. He was expecting the reaction. He knew that everyone wanted to be on the mission. Hell even he wanted a slot on the shuttle. The discussion took another hour before they agreed on the four scientists that were going to stay. It was decided that two biologists, a physicist and Dr. Antonov should be the ones to remain. The team of soldiers was far easier to pick up. One of the soldiers was a medic in case of something unexpected happening.

One hour later the shuttle left the bay of the Deadalus and headed towards its target, and the Deadalus turned and entered the Warp Point.

Paterson together with Admiral Simonson and Edward looked at the images and the report that Jennings brought before them. They all looked amazed, especially the scientists. Their looks were literally lost in the images that the tiny crew of the Deadalus took with the ship telescopes. They were hazy but still showed worlds that clearly had atmosphere. And plant life if the spectral analyzes were to be believed and water. The only question that remained was weather the atmosphere was breathable for humans.

“Sam this is amazing…Habitable worlds… and so near and at a red dwarf.”

“We still don’t know if they are habitable…”

“They have atmosphere, plant life and water. They are habitable. Maybe not soon, but we can build colonies on them…Closed domes. This will change everything. And if there are planets here, than what about Alpha Centauri…The chance there is even greater. We can’t miss this opportunity. Admiral you have to pursue this.”

Simonson looked at the three people in the room with him. On the outside his face was revealing nothing but on the inside he was just as excited. So excited in fact that he already made all the arrangements to prepare one of the civilian ships a ship they named Intrepid changing the Alteran name that meant actually the same. It didn’t have an AI on board, but it was a ship that was in a way a testing ground for the crews that made the transition on the large ships. And Anaya said that she could make a transition herself and command the ship. After a short discussion it was decided that the transition should be made from another AI one that commanded a civilian ship named Hestia. The ship was in a bad shape and it was going to be scrapped so the decision wasn’t hard and Hestia’s AI agreed. It was a lower class model, a class five but that was no obstacle for the mission. As he was having this meeting the AI was already transferring to the Intrepid. All that was left was to pick a crew. That was a headache he was planning to leave to them.

“And it won’t be missed Doc. The Intrepid will go through under the command of commander Jennings and I will carry the entire crew of the Deadalus. It will carry six shuttles and two vipers for support. The Intrepid can carry a crew of four hundred. A crew for flying the ship is already on board. You will take command once you are onboard Captain Jennings. The crew consists of twenty nine people. I will also transfer five platoons of marines just in case. Use them captain. The rest of the crew is yours to choose. You leave in forty eight hours.”

As he finished his sentence he waited for a question but none came.

“That is all gentlemen. You are dismissed all except you captain. I would like to have a word with you.”

Jennings smiled and just nodded. The scientists just nodded and with smiles on their faces left the office.

As they did both officers smiled and started their friendly discussion.

                                         CHAPTER TWELVE

15 May 2018 11:00 hours

Proxima Centaury

As the shuttle slowly descended on the ground Antonov watched the landscape. It was the third continent on the planet that they were now visiting. The planet was cold, most of it covered with ice and snow. But that didn’t bother the local flora and fauna. It was obvious that they are used to this icy world. The air was breathable, a little bit heavier than the air on Earth similar to the air on higher altitudes. They were all excited but the biggest excitement came from the discovery could be seen on the faces of the two biologists. The chance they had now to study a life on an alien world…that was irreplaceable. He smiled as he watched them now. They were young. Addison was twenty eight and Marcus thirty four. It was strange to have so young ones on a mission in space but they were renowned and well known, one of the best in their branch. And of course times were changed now.

He sighed.

Everything was changed now, everything was different. The invasion… that changed it all, and all this no matter how beautiful it was, how amazing, it still was just something that lost its beauty, its innocence.

He turned and looked at the four soldiers with them. They were ready for anything with faces that showed the same emotions of surprise and hidden joy but were also serious. They were the ones that were really important now. Not he and the other scientists. The whole future of mankind depended on the soldiers. And he hoped that he and the rest of the people in his branch will be able to provide them with what they needed.

He sighed again as the shuttle landed.

All this…that fight would be for this too. For the real future that now was open, for all the dreams that now humanity could have. As they stood up and stepped outside, the soldiers first positioning them self so that they could cover every angle and the scientists stepped outside after them, he looked at the white landscape. It was mixed with the dark green color of the tall trees.

The trees were a strange mix something similar to both pines and firs, but a lot ticker, stronger and higher. The trees rose up to fifty meters in the air, some even higher. And as it was common in an untouched nature they were abundant.

Antonov smiled at that thought. Earth must have looked much like this in the distant past before man started walking on it.

Small plant life was scattered everywhere. It was different and yet similar to the plant life that you could see in the colder parts of Earth. It reminded him of Siberia. There was a difference in temperature. Strangely it was colder there than here. The planet was warmer than they expected. Most of it was an icy world but the equator had warmer climate, with temperatures similar to the early spring temperatures on Earth. The temperature there moved from five to fifteen degrees. It was well below zero here though. The thermometer showed minus thirty five degrees…That was cold. When they set out from the Deadalus they packed warm clothes just in case that the world had a breathable atmosphere. The space suits they had were designed to keep them warm. In space the temperature was literally freezing, although without one you wouldn’t have time to feel the cold really, as you would die instantly. They discarded the suits the first day when they discovered that the air was breathable.

The group slowly moved away from the shuttle in the nearby forest. They couldn’t see any animals here but the animals were there all over. They were a strange mix. From what he could see and from what the biologists said most of them were reptilians, but there were also mammals and some other bizarre life forms. They all had thick fur, and were large. Many of the ones they saw were as big as a man, some even larger…

He remembered the strange lizard like beast they saw. Two and a half   meters long, it had four three fingered legs. He could rise and stand on his lower extremities that were larger than the front ones. From what they could see he used his front extremities as hands for grabbing the prey. Two rows of large sharp teeth could be seen in his mouth. In a way they were a mix between the teeth of shark and a cat. It was obvious that it was one of the top predators on this world. They still didn’t name it. The research so far was done by mostly taking soil samples and some samples from trees and taking pictures from everything of course. The real research was going to start once the Deadalus or the ship that the captain said he would bring arrived. Three days or better said almost three days passed since they left Deadalus and it returned through the warp point. They had supplies for ten more days. After that…well he just hoped that they could survive on the local life and water.

As he was watching Addison was trying to take a sample from a tree. She used a drill to punch a hole in to its heart and take samples. The process was going slow. Marcus in the meantime cleared the snow and was taking samples from the grass below. Jamison the physicist was with him. Two of the marines were close by keeping careful eye on the scientists and the surroundings. The world was alien and no one knew what could be lurking behind the trees. Several animals could be seen in the distance and he knew that they were watching them. They were something new on this world, something not seen before. He knew that there were no intelligent aliens here although after they were sure that there was water and air they all hoped and at the same time feared that there might be some intelligent specie. The first few hours they just flew the planet at high altitude trying to detect any signs of intelligent life. In the end they were sure there was none. In a way that was a relief. The attack left deep scars in everyone. If before they all dreamed of finding other intelligent life out here now they feared it. The aliens might be dangerous. That strange sentence use mostly by the SF writers and movies was now a fact. The peaceful aliens that NASA and SETI wanted to present were a thing of the past. And yet in a way they were still there. He knew of the other alien species found on the ship that crashed in Macedonia, of the Sicarians. Even with his dying breath that alien tried to help them. And he remembered the story that Anaya told. About the Alterans…their ancestors in a sense and the other races some of which stayed on their side till the very end. There was good out there but it was obviously hidden. It would take time but there was hope.

As he was encased in his thoughts on of the pilots came out of the shuttle. He approached the commanding officer…Lt. Atkins and whispered something in his ear. Atkins was a tall man from Afro-American descent. He was in his mid-thirties. He smiled as the pilot finished talking and nodded. After the pilot went back to the shuttle Atkins used his radio to contact the rest of his team and then headed toward him. As he did that the other marines also started heading back and on the way they picked up the surprised scientists.

“What is it Lieutenant?”

“Our friends have arrived. They are on the Intrepid. The mission is a go.”

“Did you say the Intrepid? What about the Deadalus?

“Captain Jennings said that they left the Deadalus in the solar system. They transferred on the Intrepid along with a lot more people. They want us back with everything we have. Other teams are landing all over to pick up samples.”

“So the mission is a go.”

Atkins smiled showing a row of white teeth.

“It was never in doubt doc…Never in doubt. Of course it is a go. Now let’s go. We all need the rest and a shower.”

Antonov just smiled and headed after him.

Jennings looked at the faces of the men he left behind three days ago. The excitement was obvious on all of them. Even the four marines were according to Ellis stunned by what they saw. And he knew.

The knowledge that there was a habitable world here ... And with the ship sensors that the Falcon had he now knew that there was not one but five in total. That was amazing and it left everyone without words.

“Well it seems we have a habitable world, don’t we Sergei.”

“Yes we do Sam. It will take time with the soil considering that it is colder, and that it is richer in metals than Earth is, but yes it is habitable. And so is the second one. They are both cold ones, with winter most of the time and snow covering most of the planet…but the air is breathable, the water we can drink, not all of it but most of it and as we now know after taking animal samples we can even use some of the local fauna as food source.”

“Well now all we have to do is name them.”

“Actually we already have. We chose the names Metisette and Miridem for the two worlds. As for the other three there is a serious discussion that we name one of the moons Pandora.”

The last name made them all laugh. The name of the famous moon from the popular franchise of Avatar was still fresh in their memory and the magical beauty of that alien moon. They both knew that the chances of it actually existing were equal to none but it was a nice fantasy. And they both knew that the name would stick. It was inevitable.

“And what of the other two…three in fact considering that although it is not habitable we will have to name the third one as well.”

“Well I guess that the planet can be simply called Proxima in memory to its star as for the other moon names are still circling. Hestia and Aeron are the ones that are closest. “

“It is ours to choose so I guess will go with those names. I don’t think anyone will object. They might not like it but we are the first ones here. So it will stick.”

Antonov and the other three scientists smiled. Then the captain turned toward the two biologists.

“Marcus, Addison I’ve read your report. And Dr. Antonov discussed things with you personally.”

They both nodded as the captain finished his sentence.

“Yes Captain. As you know both Metisette and Miridem are cold worlds locked in a way in a prolonged Ice Age. We know that from the meteorological studies made on the climate on both worlds.”

Jennings looked at the young woman and nodded. He knew of those studies he was the one who gave the order for them to be conducted.

And he already was planning for other missions to this system and if there was a planet in the Alpha Centauri that was habitable even starting an early colonization effort. Humanity needed that chance. And Alpha Centauri was just enough out of the way that it might go unnoticed.

“Yes I know Dr. Addison.”

“From the studies of the soil samples that we took we know that the soil is richer in some metals and elements that the one we have on Earth. That means that we will need to genetically modify the seeds the colonists will use to produce food. That will be in the future of course. As for the weather and climate i believe that we caught the mild climate on both worlds.  According to the reports the planets suffer severe storms and hurricanes that are especially noticeable on the third planet. We saw the beginning of one storm actually as we were taking the samples. And the storms here are a lot stronger than those on Earth. The planets can be colonized but it will be a hard process especially for the first colonists.”

Jennings looked at her and smiled.

“It will be a while before they arrive. And who knows we might find better worlds for colonization.”

“If we stop the invasion…If not than all this … it is for nothing, nothing at all.”

The comment from Marcus brought silence. They all knew of the impending danger and what the consequences would be if the fleet that was being built failed. They all hoped that that won’t happen but they prepared for the eventuality that it might. That was one of the reason that the authorization for this mission and for several others that were planned. If humanity lost this war some part of the civilization had to survive, and that is why after the discovery in this system missions were planned for several nearby starts that might have planets as well. Several ships were already being prepared for carrying colonists to some of the worlds that they all hoped would be discovered.

The plan was named “Valhalla” and its mission was to take several hundred thousand people from all branches and a god chunk of them from the military and settle them on a world that would be distant enough and out of the way of the path of the invasion that they could be able to develop enough with the help of the AI’s that would go with them and the information that they would have to one day be able to fight back and free their home world. So far it was known to only few officers and it was still not being announced among the fleet. The secret had to hold just in case they don’t stop the invasion. It was vital that no one knows about the colony so that the enemy can’t find out.

As he thought of that he smiled. If the invasion was stopped then the other part of the plan would work. They would have a developed colony, or a colony that could sustain itself. Maybe, just maybe even more than one.

“That won’t happen Marcus, that day won’t come. Everything you do, we do and the rest of the people on those ships we left behind. That is all just the tip of the iceberg of what they will have to go through. They will fail.”