《The R.A.C.E Alternative》


 Prologue

    By 2250 AD, humanity had ( it thought) done rather well for itself. Not a single war had taken place on Earth since 2143; the result of that 17 hour conflict being the incineration of the last terrorist regime to refuse assimilation into the United World Government. Perhaps best put into perspective by the governor of its neighbor nation; " The needless waste of 10 million fanatics lives will not be forgotten easily, but will be forgotten.¡±


    Earth''s population remained steady around 30 billion citizens, counting all habitable areas of Earth, her lunar colonies and space stations. There wasn''t any room or tolerance for warlike petty dictators anymore, or their followers. Now, floating cities and farms covered roughly 35% of the Earth''s ocean surface. These sweeping reforms did not come overnight of course. The changes were brought on by the mother of all such dramatic and fundamental evolutions; (necessity). Mankind of the 23nd century was shaped and molded by the wretched conditions of the 22st. In 2180, man lived (barely) in a highly polluted and shrinking world, as more and more of the natural world died mankind¡¯s quality of life deteriorated as well. The 22st century was set down in history as the second dark age of man. Everything man needed to live was in dangerously short supply; food, drinking water, medications, energy, living space, and even breathable air were expensive and difficult to maintain. Temperatures worldwide in the inhabitable areas were seldom below 96 degrees Fahrenheit.


    The average man of 2185 was sick physically and psychically, with various toxins slowly building in his tissues. No privacy or escape from his humdrum existence, no opportunity to relieve stress or frustration. Mankind was sinking into a morass of his own making. Violence was rampant as those who had no hope or wealth raided the communities of those they perceived as better off. The main upshot of the violence was the death of man''s oldest institution; cities. Any once bustling metropolis, by the 21st century''s close, had now become empty shells of their former greatness. Their buildings now loomed over streets choked with refuse, under skies filled with smog and dust. Their bare dead trees reached toward the sunlight that could not reach them. Their last inhabitants, those to old or weak to flee the dying metropolis, wore special government issued masks to filter the air, and stayed indoors until dusk so they could avoid intense solar burns. They trekked each night to the designated distribution sites for food, water, and drugs (also government issued) before returning to their hovels of glass and stone.


    The suburbs, overwhelmed by the more violent ex-urbanites flowing into them, gathered what they could and retreated even further from the dying giants. The raiders took over the suburbs with very little resistance and were marooned there. The last vehicles had gone with the exodus to the rural country and sheer distance and hardship kept the raiders from moving away from the distribution sites. Just as mankind¡¯s life on Earth looked bleakest of all, he was spared by a phenomenon that had never happened before in his history. On the 25th day of May 2197, a massive meteor shower began and lasted for 41 days and nights. The sky looked afire with them; there were so many in sight. Something about the chemical properties of the meteors, released in Earth''s atmosphere as they burned, removed huge amounts of free ozone and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and precipitated much of the ash and dust suspended nearer to the surface. No sooner had the meteors stopped than the storms began. Torrential rains pelted the Earth for weeks, the drainage carried away thousands of tons of topsoil and refuse alike. Throughout this violent cataclysm, no fewer than 50,000 human lives were lost. The survivors of this spectacle (approximately 26 billion people) were witness to their world being cleansed by fire and water in turn. On July 27, 2097 the rains slowed, and eventually stopped, and the long prayed for sun appeared in the sky. Little wonder that this entire generation of mankind felt they had been granted a second chance to make amends for their mistakes. The formation of the World Protective League from the old United Nations took place shortly after and culminated nearly 150 years later in the United World Governments formation, and its credo was a result of that long past experience. ¡°Man belongs to the Earth, but Earth belongs to no one."


    The fringe of Antarctica (740 miles inland on all sides: averaged :) supported its maximum 2.1 billion humans; the decision to move out into the cold reaches of space could no longer be postponed. The concept of the greatest good for humanity as a whole being paramount over all other considerations had finally come into its own.


    Violent crime had been drastically reduced by several fundamental changes in world psychology and economic pressure. Malcontents and sociopaths who may have gone unnoticed or undiagnosed until adulthood in the 21st or 22nd centuries, were now virtually all identified in their formative years in this crowded 32nd century world. Steps were then taken to divert or utilize these tendencies for mankind¡¯s good.


    Crimes involving property and money were also near unheard of by this time since E.C.T. was implemented of the global economy, making paper and coin money worthless. All purchases, payments and taxes were now electronic in nature and every transaction was traceable. Banks now contained only records computers; accounts were credited from your employer''s computer payroll and debited by electronic requests from sales computers. A subcutaneous barcode (visible to U.V. light only) provided the individual with identification, Global Economy account number, origin, birth date, genetic information, Global Security number, and eligibility for government operated medical or psychiatric services. Both inner forearms of every infant were marked painlessly with this 38-digit code at its birthplace, hospital, or clinic.


    With no loot to stash and no place to hide, no way to get around without being identified, in a world where you let the scanner read your code or you can''t eat, travel, cross borders or enter dwellings, crime had become a dying profession. The average human being now lived to an optimum 120 years if male and as always a bit longer if female, 125-130 years. Through genetic engineering virtually all-hereditary and inherited susceptibility to diseases were eliminated.


    The ability to clone tissues for transplants came of age during the 2900''s and was widely used by medical firms to solve hundreds of basic problems. No laboratory used animals for testing now since living human organs were readily available. Law expressly forbade cloning complete humans after 3105, however a very bloody and costly interdiction effort by the U.W''s military police did succeed in stopping the 30 copies of a serial murderer and his original were captured and executed. This showed the United World Government that complete cloning was too apt to be misused, under any security conditions. Perhaps single greatest good to ever come from mankind¡¯s sciences. The United World Government used cloning to re-establish every endangered species known. Man who was nearly the doom of all animals on Earth finally saved his ancient competitors. The U.W set aside 10,000 square miles of each continent to preserve the wilderness. Parceled in north to south strips 10 miles wide and 1,000 miles long. These preserve areas were forbidden to be poached or inhabited by human beings. The UW. established a wilderness ranger force (more to look after the animals than to intercept humans); the area''s fences were more than sufficient to stop invaders. Anyone wishing to view the areas could watch them anytime on remote holovision. Plant species were cloned and preserved in the wilderness areas and where ever space permitted their growth. Due to this proliferation of plant life and the reduction of pollution, Earth''s oxygen level and air quality both climbed back to healthy norms. For the present Earth was in better environmental shape now than it had been in the 16th century. Oceanic life was carefully maintained as well. Mankind farmed many aquatic plants and animals and managed these habitats to benefit both domestic and wild aqua life. Mankind de-salinized sea water for his use, treated and returned it to the sea cleaner than ever before in history. The Great Lakes of America were severed from the St. Lawrence and returned to a fresh water system. The Aral Sea in Asia nearly destroyed by draining of its tributaries for irrigation and industry was slowly re-established and re-stocked with life. Efforts even extended to genetic scientists resurrecting extinct plant and animal populations, also by cloning (after DNA reconstruction from their preserved remains.).


    Along their ancient flyways, thousands of birds again darkened the skies. Mankind found new pets more beneficial to Earth and humans than dogs and cats. Farmers provided a habitat for owls, lynx, and bobcats to control rodents effectively, also snakes and birds to control insect numbers. Man, for so long concerned with dominating nature had finally become caretaker and faithful servant.


    Cancer was now a treatable and almost curable condition. However, with such a huge population to deal with, the common cold and other virus born infections continued to make billions miserable and in many cases, these claimed more lives each year than that of cancer or aids put together. AIDS, the bane of the sexually prolific 20th, 21st, 22nd centuries was now a more contagious but less feared disease, since now only 3 in 10 of its victims become ill and of them only 1 in 70 died; (results of the virus mutating to a less lethal form to become a better parasite). We were lucky on that score.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Therefore, with their comradeship of billions and longer, healthier lives and secure World Government, humankind reached and explored 20 of the bodies of its own solar system, and established eleven lunar colonies. The average citizen of the U.W. worked 30 hours a week, lived in climate controlled environments where power for heat and lights came from low cost fusion production. All was provided by the community itself. Whenever possible his/her clothing, furniture and appliances, utensils and dishes were made of recyclable materials. Items that needed repair could be traded for a credit on a new purchase. Manufacturing companies could either rebuild the item and sell it again, or recycle its components if repair was not economical. All organic wastes were recovered and processed as nutrient for the community¡¯s hydroponic farms. The huge garbage problems of the past were now only regrettable facts in historic records.


    Somewhere among the things humankind had grown out of, it also lost something. Drive, initiative and ferocity of purpose had faded from the race as they became increasingly undesirable. For instance just as in earlier organizations of laborers, ¡°unions¡±, a man or woman who out worked his/her peers not only broke the rhythm of other workers but also created tension and outright malice in the workplace. The adoption of the uniform wage system, administered by the United World Government in 3225 set the workers income based on the value of the product or service they provided, time of service and cost of living plus 20%. ¡°The rat race¡± for riches that trampled so many souls underfoot in the 19th, 20th, and 21st, centuries was over. The corporate rebellion of 3228 was one result of the U.W¡¯s 20,000 companies closed their doors and threatened to starve the U.W. Government economically by producing nothing and employing no one until the repeal of the uniform wage act. The Government having time on its side and the good will of every worker (who didn¡¯t share in his employer¡¯s elitist lifestyle) simply waited them out. For the first time since the opening of the industrial revolution, every piece of commercial machinery in the world was silent. The government shipped all of the produce the eleven lunar colonies didn¡¯t need for themselves to Terra and distributed it to everyone who was not an executive for free. Since power generation by fusion was already government run (along with communications and health care) the only people who suffered through the rebellion were the corporate officers and their families, who had to buy food and generate their own power. As their immense credit base was slowly eaten, spent and burned, the corporatists tried one last action of spite. Into every commercial computer connected to phone lines or fiber optics, they fed a lethal virus program which erased every memory byte in 3 hours time. Believing their cause won, the corporatists then sent a communiqu¨¦ to the U.W. Council, demanding immediate action, (repeal of the Uniform Wage Act of course). What they got was immediate all right; but action it was not. Alex Dorman, 37th United World president, was within two years of his 20-year term¡¯s end when he went on worldwide holovision and announced the council¡¯s unanimous decision to outlaw all corporations, conglomerates, holding companies and multinational firms. Legal companies were now defined as institutions that provided a needed service or product, produced no non-recyclable wastes, paid 10% of their gross profit each year to the U.W. and could not exceed a net worth of 70 million credits. Any institutions exceeding the limit would be split into two new firms with 50% of the capital going to each one. The world¡¯s stock exchanges, closed since the first day of the revolt, would remain so. As Dorman completed his speech, another first was at hand. Every telephone system in the world went to operator service only; they would place calls only to fire departments, hospitals, and government officials until further notice. Along with the phones, the U.W. also had control over the electronic credit system, and under an emergency code access, adjusted all accounts corporate and personal to $100,000.00. An aide of the president stepped to the podium and calmly announced this last item to the public. Then added in an anachronistic Texas drawl; ¡®Well sir, everybody¡¯s got the same marbles in their sack now, so it¡¯s back to work.¡± The corporatists in their condominiums and private compounds were shocked to disbelief. ¡°He¡¯s bluffing, he¡¯s lying, he can¡¯t, he couldn¡¯t,¡± they mumbled. The next morning telephone service was opened and they called their banks, their brokers, their offices and associates, it was true, every one of them had $100,000.00 and nothing more. Regrettably, several chose suicide rather than what they perceived as mediocrity.


    The middle class, the working poor and destitute were also overwhelmed, however in the opposite way. Just as the mega-millions of credits were removed from some accounts, all others were filled to $100,000 overnight. A well remembered scene of the day July 4th 3229 was president Dorman holding the first baby born after the 12 midnight transaction. He handed the child an account book with $100,000 credits printed on the first line. The furor over this sudden change lasted a few months time. The government assisted ex-employees to takeover and run their ex-bosses businesses as partners and shareholders now, not peons. Mercantile dominion of world politics was over, and poverty faded into the past. What about the money left over after the adjustments were made? $875,000,000,000,000.00 was split three ways into the Global Security System, Global Healthcare & Education System, and the space colonization sections of the United World Government. Those responsible for the virus attack were tried and convicted (by U.W. court) of data tampering and sentenced to life among their fellow men.


    The only truly military organization existing now was the United World¡¯s military police. This unit guarded all U.W. governors and the General Assembly at Geneva on Terra herself. Seldom but sometimes used as a peacekeeping force in local situations, more often than not these men performed their drills for ceremony only. They carried a small side arm at their belts that were both communicator and recorder. Heavily indoctrinated in the martial arts, U.W. police did carry weapons on guard duty. Their sidearms fired an electronic pulse of 100,000 volts at .3 amperes. This burst caused intense pain and nerve impulses scrambled in the victim for 10-15 minutes.


    Space travel graduated from hydrogen oxygen fuel rockets to fission of hydrogen (ion drive) to hydrogen fusion drive. At their best however 1/10th of the speed of light was their upper limit. Divisions of velocity were variable in negative powers of 10 down to 1/1,000,000 of C. After which the ion drive would engage and speed was registered in feet per second for docking or landing. Line of sight communications progressed from radio waves to digital laser transmissions to digital microwave systems. At the furthest manned outpost, Charon (moon of Pluto) delay in Terra¡¯s response was 9-10 minutes. Due to all Earth had learned about its immediate neighborhood. No space vessels were armed or built to be.


    Altogether, the expansion of humanity into each colony required intelligent, hard working people who could not content themselves on Earth. As the race expanded into the solar colonies Earth population fell back to a maintainable 4.5 billion people. U.W. analysts now estimated total census of humans at 48 billion by 3900 AD, +/- 10 million. The challenges of constructing self-sustaining and protective structures for the colonies, mining the asteroids and planets for materials needed, and keeping the systems functioning provided employment to 95% of the available workforce. Earth and Venus, always the greenhouses of the solar system, became the breadbaskets of the republic. Over the next century Earth¡¯s colonies spread outwards from Luna to Mars, Venus, 18 of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Her furthest manned outposts were Pluto itself and its moon Charon. Once this vast expansion halted however, the populace had more living space than ever before, more leisure time than any generation in history, and the human spirit became even more peaceful. Probably the most independent and tough minded of Earth¡¯s scattered people were now that of miners. They were tasked with surveying, sampling, and processing materials and ores, from planets and asteroids alike. Solid, liquid, and gaseous needs of the colonies and Terra were found and filled by these companies of hard nosed professionals. Zipping around the asteroid belts and Jovian satellites, these small ore ships, crewed by 10-20 persons, brought their bounty of metals, ores, chemicals, and radio actives to the colonies.


    They came away with food, clothing, new equipment, and entertainment to break up their shipboard routine. These were humanities latest and possibly last frontiersmen. Rough, ready, and free as freedom can be. Their own true masters and servants, but fond of Earth and her colonial children even if sometimes bored by their company.


    ~End Prologue~

 Chapter 1

    Rendezvous & Revelation


    It was an unassuming mining ship that first noticed the ¡°dark spot¡±. The ore cruiser ¡®Terra Twin¡¯ was busy trying  to get a navigation fix.  The ship¡¯s computer announced that one of the main navigation stars was obstructed by an object *NPR.  The commander of th vessel, Jeffrey Calan responded ¡°Switch to secondary nav-set, and display object at full magnification¡±.


    ¡°Fix positive, object displayed¡± replied the computer.


    ¡°How far are we from the object?¡± requested Calan.


    ¡°Approximately 70 million miles¡± replied the computer.


    ¡°Well we can¡¯t get a good look from here¡± he said under his breath. ¡°Alter course to intercept object, proceed at one thousandth, * decal to 1500 fps When we are within 25,000 miles, brake ship and alert me at 10,000 miles from surface¡± He instructed before taking his leave.  As Calan left the central command cell, his ship¡¯s hull began to hum as the fusion drives accelerated smoothly.  He made his way aft to the communications room.  The computer tech Murray Dean was already there, and in good spirits.


    ¡°Hiya Jeff,¡± he greeted his old friend.  ¡°Who do we bother today?  Terra or whichever UW station in the core is fastest responding?¡±


    ¡°Terra, Murray. Sooner rather than later, we could have a possible situation on our hands¡± Jeff explained.


    ¡°Okay¡± acknowledged Murray, turning to his desktop.  He spoke directly at a black globe standing on a two-inch cylinder base.  ¡°Terra Twin OC 1732 of Charon Mining Co. registry TATNCH 1732, calling Terra Comm, or any UW station inside Mars orbit.  We have detected large object NPR in this sector.  Please advise!¡±  Passing his hand across the globe from left to right, Murray turned to Jeff and said ¡°I¡¯ll broadcast on repeat until something comes in. Guess we¡¯re gonna be famous Jeff.¡±


    At this point the computers voice cut off Jeff¡¯s reply, ¡°Stationary ship located 10,000 miles from objects surface commander.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Acknowledged, maintain course.¡± He directed.  ¡°You were saying Murray?¡±


    ¡°No object big enough to eclipse a star has ever been NPR in 16 centuries! I am just saying, this is gonna be a big deal.¡±  Murray rotated his chair and began typing into his computer. ¡°According to this, everything that large was sighted and recorded from Terra before Luna was explored!¡±


    ¡°Well I don¡¯t know if they give medals to computers yet, Murray, but the log disk will tell them the computer located ¡®the big ugly¡¯ not us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I suppose you''re right,¡± Murray sighed.  ¡°But it¡¯s a thought that may come true.¡±


    ¡°Meantime,¡± said Jeff trying to stifle a small grin. ¡°Set me a full crew meeting in 20 minutes.¡±


    ¡°Righto!¡±  Murray replied as he turned back to his ¡®eight ball¡¯ as he called the visible part of his microwave transceiver.  The entire desk consisted of all of his equipment. Amplifiers, filters, linguistic computer and telemetry recorder as well as other miscellaneous gadgetry.  He touched two fingers to the left side of his desk and spoke, ¡°Full complement meeting in 18 minutes, thank you.¡±  Murray smiled to himself as he looked at the chronometer over his door, Chung is gonna have a fit.¡± he muttered.  Her gym period was 18:00 to 20:00. It was 18:09 now, 18:08 ships time.  Jeff back in the command cell queried his computer for more information on the object.


    The computer responded quickly and clearly.  ¡°Object diameter 16,000 meters, approximately 10 old Earth miles across, spheroid shape.  Initial analysis of radar image identify it as  a  nickel iron alloy, mostly smooth with several dents and gouges present, possible collision damage.¡±


    ¡°Motion?¡± inquired Jeff.


    ¡°Negative. Object is stationary relative to star field.  There is no evidence of energy or radiation present. Object is either hollow or composed of lighter objects within. Gravity pull is significantly less than a non-metallic asteroid of comparable size.¡±


    ¡°Commander,  all other compiled data on UO as acquired.¡±  It was 18:16 ships time, Jeff scowled a little, he wasn¡¯t our call to Terra Comm. has been answered, shall I articulate?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± Jeff answered with anticipation.


    ¡°Terra Comm. Satellite stations GS Geneva 15, message from United World Science Affairs Council to Commander Calan, ore cruiser Terra Twin of Charon Mining Co. Inspect and record UO parameters.  Remain with UO until arrival of research vessel Argus enroute from Venus within eight hours subjective.¡±


    Jeff addressed his computer ¡°Transmit all present observed data immediately to GS Geneva 15 and going to be on his survey engineer¡¯s good side for a while.


    ¡°Commander?¡± the computer said.


    ¡°Yes.¡±  Jeff answered.


    ¡°Addendum to previous message.  Prominent UW scientists postulate UO is a wandering asteroid.¡±  Jeff threw his head back as he walked out of the command cell and laughed. Half of those scientists had never set foot off the planet. Ducking his head to avoid a beam, he made his way to the common room.

 Chapter 2

    18:07 ships time.  Room M10 on the ¡®Terra Twin¡¯ was occupied by one striking personality.  Jamie Chung was 6 feet tall with long coal black hair and large green almond shaped eyes. Never one to slack on physical fitness, she took pride in her physique. She had been stretching for about seven minutes now.   Her one-piece body stocking was just damp enough to coat her with a slight chill.  As she finished stretching and prepared to start her salmon ladder routine, Murray¡¯s¡¯ voice came over the ship intercom, leaving her in a cold sweat and a disgustingly hot temper.  She was a stickler for schedules. Deciding she would bide her time and revenge this interruption on Jeff later, she dropped from the bars to the practice mat and stomped to her quarters to shower and change.


    18:07 ships time.  Russell Carlin was happy, he was also hot, cramped, and very busy, deep within the bowels of his asteroid hopper, Terra Nova. He had been out for hours changing all the H2 fittings for new ones where his pocket tester showed metal fatigue and cracking.  He liked working alone. Holding the tester in his mouth and working the couple seals with both hands, he continued his work.  He was faster at this job and all other hopper maintenance than any two other men in the country were, and he had the bonuses to prove it too.  Half the ore hoppers in the system carried two modifications introduced by him when he was two years in service and twenty years old.  At 6¡¯5¡± and 260 lbs, his size as well as his red hair warned people of provoking the big miner.  Oddly enough, he had never fought anyone in his life.  At the sound of Murray¡¯s voice disrupting his solitude, he smiled and slid out of the service hatch.  Somehow, he really wanted to get some coffee before this meeting started.


    At 18:18 ships time, the crew of ¡°Terra Twin¡±  sat at the conference table in the ships common room.  It was a modest enough space. Each crewman had their own tasks that rotated each week to maintain it. On one wall,, there was the cooking station. There was a large glass stovetop, blender,food processor, hydration station, fridge, and microwave. On the other, there was a large sectional pantry and numerous cabinets for dishes and cutlery. The back wall was occupied by a large double sink and waste processor.  Centered in the room was a table in the shape of a large teardrop. The commander sat at the tapered end with his men lining the sides.  Two ten-foot rectangular benches ran parallel to the long sides and a small triangle seat supported the commander.  When the meeting was over Jeff knew these would retract and fit perfectly in their niches in the floor.  Everything about this ship was designed to save space.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    The commander began: ¡°I¡¯d like to say that this is going to be as easy as falling off your g-bed but it might not be.  Terra and the other United Worlds are interested in our whatchamacallit here. He pressed a button and a hologram appeared in the center of the table. They want us to stay here until a research ship can arrive.¡±  A collective groan issued from both sides of the table.  Jeff ignored this. He knew that two months waiting for a ship from Venus to take over watching the ¡°Unidentified Object¡± as Terra¡¯s scientists were calling it, would be straining to the nerves of the whole crew. They had already in space for three months.  ¡°While we¡¯re here,  they want us to learn as much as we can about it and record the data.  Chung and Ennett?¡± The two sat up straight, patiently waiting their command. ¡°I need both our cameras on slow speed,  and maximum illumination to scan the surface as we orbit.  If you can¡¯t get good detail, we can  turn on the infrared and ultraviolet beacons and you can change to those films.


    ¡°Should we tight focus or wide angle our lenses for faster coverage?¡± asked Chung as she toweled her hair dry. Jeff swallowed. He could hear the displeasure in her voice at his interruption to her routine.


    ¡°Use wide angle unless you see something interesting and unique, telephoto the highlights, Jamie.  Send telemetry through Murray to Charon, Ennett.¡±


    ¡°Roger that.¡± Ennett replied.


    Jeff turned and addressed his mining crew.  ¡°Russel that thing is fair sized and metal covered, from what we can gather from the radar image.  Take Nova and Cotta, three and two are in for maintenance.  Start close to its center and deploy on courses 180 degrees apart, when you meet again north and south return by east and west and depart the surface together for the Twin.  Get samples and thermal readings.  Operate your cutters slowly and ring charge it, it may be hollow.  Take Shawn with you in number four, Chuck and Owen will take number one.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡± said Russell and continued, ¡°What do you think we¡¯ll find boss?¡±


    ¡°The scientists in the core think it could be a wandering asteroid.  But it¡¯s not moving now which puts their theory in the flusher.¡±  He paused to shake his head and added, ¡°The Argus should be out here in about fifty five to fifty eight days, then its three months paid vacation for us, okay.¡±  Moods around the table lifted considerably.  ¡°I¡¯ll be in control if any questions come up later, call in and ask, use proper voice command procedure though, because the computer is feeding directly to Terra¡±.

 Chapter 3

    As the meeting broke up, Jeff turned to leave also, but Jamie, closer to the doorway, cut him off from that escape.  She stood directly face to face with him, throwing her towel over her shoulder in passive defiance. ¡°I believe I am owed an apology from you, sir.¡±


    ¡°Look Ja¡­¡± Jeff began weakly.


    She put a finger across his lips and closed the distance between them. ¡°You will do everything you can to make it up to me tonight, and I¡¯ll be taking your gym slot at 20:00 hours as well, and rest assured Commander, after that you will still owe me plenty.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡± Jeff said, gulping and thinking that he had gotten off easy. He had for the moment.Had she been really upset she wouldn''t have stopped him. It wouldn''t be the first time that they had a disagreement on the ship and it was certain to not be the last.  Jeff really hoped Jamie wouldn¡¯t stay mad long but he was looking forward to seeing her later, whether he would be vilified for interrupting her or not.


    Inside ¡®Terra Twins¡¯ receiving bay, hoppers One and Four stood on four splayed legs over their floor conveyors.  The ore gathered by the hoppers could be carried from there to any one of eight storage bays. Each of which could hold four thousand cubic meters of load material, in whatever conditions were required to store it, temperature, pressure vacuum, radiation, humidity, even lighting.  Russel and Shawn Hampton piled into OH-#4 and started its preflight cycle.  Charles Midden and Owen Reed were doing the same in OH-#1.  The hoppers were built in several ways similar to a primitive space lander used on the first lunar missions in the 20th century.  Like their predecessor, the lunar excursion module, they stood on four angled legs each terminating in a large round pad with a spike on the groundside.  The upper section was crew space and control.  The lower was heavy, engines, fuel and storage space made up most of the bottom end of these ships.  Unlike the L.E.M. their legs were rigid not retractable, and the upper half could separate from the lower for emergency purposes, but did not carry enough fuel for a prolonged flight.  Mounted in the belly was a core sample drill, plasma cutter and a pneumatic tube, for injecting explosive charges into core holes.  Where the L.E.M. had its engines in the center, the hoppers engines were mounted between each leg and its neighbor on the ships hull.  Sensor arrays and test instruments took up the rest of the space.  The crew compartment in the upper half was about eight-foot square inside much roomier than the L.E.M.  Also, like the L.E.M. hoppers had four, four way attitude jets mounted radially and could maneuver in tight spaces very well.  There the similarities end.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Hoppers could land on bodies with triple earth¡¯s gravity, load with 1.8 times their own weight of mass, and still escape with enough fuel to reach and enter the receiving bay of their mother ship.  When it was more feasible to move an asteroid rather than mine it, hoppers had been used as apace going ¡®tugs¡¯ to cable tow their goods to market.  Two mechanical servo arms were located on either side of the hopper, so crews could manipulate objects without leaving the ship.


    As #4 finished its preflight cycle, Russel addressed Shawn and #1¡¯s crew.  ¡°P.E.C. complete #4¡±


    ¡°#1 complete¡± came Chuck Midden¡¯s response.


    ¡°Depressurizing bay compartment.¡±  Russel said as his hand hit the pressure control panel.  Bay compartment lights changed from white to red.  The external pressure gauges in the hoppers counted backward to zero from 30¡±Hg bar.  ¡°Opening bay doors¡± Russel said.  This ships receiving bay reminded Russel of a picture in the history records, of an old rail transport building called a round house.  Each hopper entered a single bay door from space and straddled a conveyor track under itself.  Four hoppers and four doors arranged like spokes of a wheel.  The compartment was 50 feet in diameter and all the conveyors ended at four pneumatic shafts in the center of the floor.  When mining in earnest, all four doors would be open, with the ships entering, unloading and leaving independently of each other.


    Beneath the floor or behind this bulkhead in ship orientation was the aft section of the ¡®Twin¡¯ 320,000 cubic meters of load storage compartments, 5,000 cubic meters of liquefied hydrogen fuel, 2,000 cubic meters of reserve fuel, and the ships fusion and ion drive pods.  Forward or over their heads were the survey section, communication room, gym, crew quarters and commissary, equipment lockers and lounge.  On top of these or furthest forward was the command cell, a round nosed cone thirty feet at its base tapered to five at its point.  Two thirds of this space was taken by the components of the computer.  The center of which was the commanders control cell a ten foot diameter room with a real time display of the stars against the inside of the five foot diameter parabolic screen in the nose cones tip.  Eight additional screens lined the walls of the cell and could be opaque or display anything from recorded pictures, to data telemetry, to star fields.  If desired, the commander could sit in his chair and be surrounded by the stars as if he were standing on the hull of the ship outside.

 Chapter 4

    Jeff Calan watched from the cell as his crews slid out of the ship and moved toward the UO.  He keyed his chair to track them as they approached the surface.


    As Russell maneuvered his hopper to transit over the UO. From south to north, Charles oriented his ship opposite and the two separated moving farther from each other as they close scanned the object.  At two miles apart, both stopped moving and began to descend to the surface.  Upon landing Russell and Chuck started their EM checks and released a cable with a cup shaped end ¡®seismograph microphones¡¯, and began drilling into the surface.  Russell read the core drill depth and drive pressure as the bit sank into the alien alloy.  At three and a half meters down the drive pressure dropped to zero.  As the bit had no further resistance against it.  Almost at the same moment Chuck called in with a similar report ¡°Broken through at three point seven meters depth¡±.


    The next steps were up to Jeff.  Russel called in their results and waited for his reply.  ¡°Ring Charge .001 T and monitor echoes.¡±  came back  Russell instructed his charge rack to release one 1/1000 T charge into the breach of the air gun tube already locking into place over the drills hole.  Russell set the detonation signal so the charge would explode ten meters after clearing the drill hole¡¯s mouth on the UO¡¯s interior.  These remote controlled charges made asteroid mining much more profitable and less risky.  Now using the charges to take sound image pictures of the interior of planets, moons and other bodies was fairly routine.  Chuck informed Russell his sound probe was on the interior now, about four meters from the inside surface.  Russell launched the charge and started the detonation signal timer.  At three tenths of a second after firing, the charge exploded. Chucks probe was recorded and telemetry transmitted simultaneously.  When sound echoes disappeared Chuck withdrew his sensor and both hoppers retracted their seismic microphones from the surface.  Russell and Chuck cut shallow surface cores in two places, one to go with the deep sample and one to plug the long hole.  Their plasma cutters glowed as they superheated the larger end of the plug and then again as the core was sealed back into the hole.  Russell could hear the hum and rattle as the core drill changed cutting bits below his feet.  Russell and Chuck¡¯s hopper¡¯s continued this pattern of stopping, drilling, charging, and plugging around the UO.  Every two miles they parted, till the two met on the opposite side of the ¡®Twin¡¯.  They alternated dropping the charges, so pictures would be more accurate and sound shadows eliminated.  Each turned ninety degrees at their meeting point with Chuck returning west and Russell going east.  They repeated their earlier actions now coming around the object¡¯s sides, relative to Jeff¡¯s viewpoint, and meeting in front where they had started, left the surface and returned to the receiving bay of the ¡®Twin¡¯.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The core samples were carried by conveyors to the pneumatic tubes, along the way they were tagged, recorded and sealed in a tough ceramic compound.  All data collected by both ships was also ¡®downloaded¡¯ into the ¡®Twin¡¯s¡¯ computer as well.  Jamie Chung knew pictures and computers, and loved mysteries most of all.  She was quite an expert at taking pictures with ¡®Terra Twin¡¯s¡¯ camera satellites (cam-sats).


    As Russell and his team was finishing its first pass, they began turning out of Jeff¡¯s sight.  The two high-speed telemetry cameras operated from the survey room. Jamie observed and recorded her data as fast as the ship could process it. She had already finished mapping the UO in visible light scale.  She called Jeff in the command cell and asked for the two non-visible light beacons on the Twin¡¯s communication mast to be activated.  She then changed the film and visual display modes on both cam-sats and repeated the opposing spiral pattern she and Ennett had used earlier.  On one side of the UO Jamie had located a dish shaped depression in the surface, oddly enough there were very few collision marks near it and none on its rim or in it. She had never seen a UO so clean before.  She took several extra shots with each type film of this and charted its location on a grid reference map, used for all globular objects by the survey instruments. At almost exactly the bottom of the sphere, she noted two pairs of long lines raised on the surface like low walls, or some kind of tracks, but they were only about one hundred meters long and six inches high.  When she completed her third spiral Russell was just returning with his crews.

 Chapter 5

    Over the next fifty days the crew of the Terra Twin poured over every scrap of information they had collected from the object.  When the Argus arrived they had a lot more questions than answers.  For instance, the gravity of the object was all wrong. Its mass was measurable and solid but no amount of figure juggling could put the gravity to rights for the mass. In short, this mass somehow had less gravity than it should by half.  The iron nickel alloy was not natural or homogenous. It was fused out of several source ores, and several impurities remained in the metal.  The percentages of iron and nickel in all core samples were roughly similar but some contained cobalt, others were high in sodium, cesium, cadmium and other incompatible elements.  The samples also left no doubt that what or whoever was responsible, the sphere was an artifact, a made thing, and one piece of nickel iron this large hinted that the responsible party did not think in small terms.  By all previous knowledge of asteroids, meteors, and planetoids, the crew knew the object had to have a magnetic field, but it did not.  Even at this distance from the sun, light energy should be reflected just as well as it reflected off the Twin¡¯s sunward side, however the sphere¡¯s ability to absorb energy striking it was phenomenal only thirty percent of any radiation into the sphere was reflected, seventy percent literally disappeared.  The parallel lines Jamie found were very enigmatic, apparently they were also composed of the basic alloy but with absolutely no impurities what so ever.  The dish as they were calling it now, was also of this higher grade metal.


    The most interesting of all the observations were the inside sonographs done by Russell and company.  The inner surface of the sphere was supported by huge buttressed columns extending miles toward the center of the sphere.  This center itself appeared about one and a half kilometers in diameter and was completely covered by the flared and interlocked bases of the columns.  From all points inside the sphere the sonographs looked like a child¡¯s concept of being inside a spider web.  The space between the shell and the center contained no air or any gases for that matter.  The resonance patterns of the shell and buttresses were identical, so the same substance was reasoned to be the column material also.  No joints or cracks were present, however the thing was constructed even x-rays could not find a trace.  The very last clues they got were from Jamie¡¯s non-vis.  Light photos, there was the disk reflecting all of the infrared and ultraviolet light and absorbing nothing against a dead black sphere absorbing about ninety eight percent of these wavelengths.  The parallel lines reflected equally bright against the black silhouette of the sphere.  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    For three days the crews of the Terra Twin and the Argus exchanged information and visited each others vessels, as much to vary the scenery as to talk.  The Argus (named for a hundred eyed mythic monster) was covered every square meter of her with instruments and sensors for everything from detecting neutrinos to tachyon emissions to changes in the density of interstellar hydrogen in space.


    Her crew out numbered the Twin¡¯s by forty-eight souls and was for them more cramped than they liked to admit.  The fourth day after the Argus joined them the crew of Terra Twin had a general holiday, the Argus¡¯ commander Nigel Sapps, married Jeff Calan and Jamie Chung on his own ship and let Jeff¡¯s crew remain on the Argus overnight.


    This arrangement suited Russell Carlin just fine as he found ha had much in common with Argus¡¯ maintenance engineer Debra Hilds.  Somehow, the proximity sensors on Argus would not register their location for three days.  Commander Sapps and the scientists aboard Argus outlined their views to Jeff on the ninth day after the rendezvous.  They believed now the sphere was a spaceship or a space pod from an even larger vessel.  They inferred from the energy absorption data, that the ship could still be functional at a low power level.  The age of the object they calculated at between one thousand and twelve hundred years.  The dish was believed by most of the staff to be a communications device and the tracks could be an electro magnetic drive.  The staff of the Argus therefore planned to enter the sphere, investigate the center the Twin¡¯s equipment couldn¡¯t reach, and try to make contact with the alien sphere¡¯s source culture, if the dish apparatus still worked.

 Chapter 6

    Jeff didn¡¯t know why but some of what they intended made him nervous.  He was asked by commander Sapps if Charon mining would accept replacement value plus twenty five percent for two of his ore hoppers, Argus¡¯ only manned out boat was just too big to go inside the jumbled interior of the sphere.  Jeff passed this on to the Charon general manager who accepted readily.  Russell and Chuck ferried the two ships numbers two and three now fully repaired over to Argus and docked.


    Russell stepped aboard Argus¡¯ docking bay and into Debra Hilds¡¯ arms, Chuck patiently waited for his friend outside the inner bay door.  ¡°How long do you think you¡¯ll stay with this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got my ten years in and all my comp time coming when I resign from UW science.  We¡¯re due to put in on Charon before returning to the core, so I¡¯ll see commander Sapps before we get there.¡±


    He pulled he close and they kissed gently.  ¡°I love you¡± Russell said


    ¡°I love you too Russ Carlin¡± said Debra Hilds.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you,¡± he said as their hands unclasped. Russell walked slowly from the docking bay, not wanting to look back and make this any harder on them than it was.


    Chuck noticed his friends long face and put out his hand to him ¡°welcome¡± he said ¡°to the ranks of the hopelessly in live.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± said Russell.


    ¡°Just that sooner or later everyone meets their soul mate and sometimes it hurts a lot more than others.¡±  Chuck added, ¡°My wife and I were engaged for eight years, until she finished college on mars.  Believe and learn from an old hand, Russ, missing them never gets easier.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    As Chuck and Russell were ferried back to the Twin in Argus¡¯ out boat, Russell began to feel more pride, and less remorse, at leaving his new found love.  Back aboard the Twin, the engines were cycling and heating molecular hydrogen for injection into the fusion drive pod for ignition.  Russell and Chuck got into their g. beds and prepared for their three-week trip home.


    The Argus positioned herself one hundred meters from the sphere¡¯s surface, waited while the two hopper¡¯s finished cutting a one hundred foot diameter circle in the surface.  Twenty-five, five hundred-ton charges were placed in angled core holes all around the circle.  When detonated they should blow the new ¡°hatch¡± clear at all edges.  The hoppers attached eighty feet of three-inch cable one end anchored to the ¡°hatch¡± the other to the sphere.  So the hatch wouldn¡¯t be lost.  Commander Sapps gave his hoppers the go ahead as he backed the Argus five hundred meters further away.  Both hoppers stood off to the loose side of the hatch three hundred meters from the sphere.  Debra Hilds fired the charges, and watched as the huge disk swung out into space, hit the end of its cable and began to swing back toward the opening, both hoppers turned their drive engines to face the disk and firing attitude jets in front forced it slowly back till it settled against the sphere.  As number two remained holding the hatch open number three core drilled into the hatch¡¯s inner surface and fused another three-inch cable into the hole.  Number three then carried the other end to the sphere¡¯s surface, and planted it similarly.  Debra Hilds called her commander and announced ¡°We¡¯ve got the door open and tied back, sir.¡±  ¡°Permission to enter the UO, sir¡± she asked.


    ¡°Permission granted,¡± replied Commander Sapps ¡°and plant two AV relays one inside and one outside the hatch.  Two black cylinder shapes separated from hopper number three one locked magnetically to the outside of the hole¡¯s edge, the other entered the sphere and attached itself to the inside lip of the hole.  Through these audio-visual relays Argus¡¯ science staff could see and hear everything the hoppers encountered inside.

 Chapter 7

    As Debra Hilds piloted number three inside, number two left the hatch and followed, with tunnel lights on, both hoppers descended toward the center of the sphere where all the columns joined.  On reaching the center Hilds decided to see it from all sides first, then land.  Weaving in and out between the columns as they circled the center, temperature probes indicated that the center mass was several hundred degrees warmer than the shell or columns of the sphere.  As the hoppers approached the three quarter mark of their circle around the center they saw a column that was much larger than the others here at its base but there was no noticeable difference at the other end.  Grid coordinates placed this as being the column under the dish structure on the surface.  Hilds orbited the center twice looking for an entrance, but found nothing.  Sapps was under the impression that a thirty-foot opening could be made between the column bases as they had done on the shell.  Hilds felt that the center cold indicated other energy was present also.  She proposed a smaller opening, say two meters and two of her team could go in, while two waited in the hoppers at the entrance.  Sapps agreed to this reluctantly feeling the crews were in risky enough straits being inside the alien artifact at all.


    Debra hailed Sam Kohan in hopper number two and outlined her idea.  His assistant Greg Alvich would go in with Debra, Sam and Tony Calvin would stay behind.  As Debra hit the plasma cutter control of her hopper the whole thing became academic.  The last thing she remembered was light, blinding white light that seemed to burn her eyes even after her eyelids were closed.  The scientists aboard Argus were still blind from the white flash they had seen through the monitors, as the crew reported the sphere was rotating.  As commander Sapp¡¯s sight cleared, he saw the round shape of the dish pointed directly at his ship, his mind conjured a word from history ¡°weapon¡± and he was totally sure that¡¯s what it was.  ¡°Computer¡± he called, ¡°course to Charon, one tenth C, initiate!¡±  But Sapps was too late, as the Argus turned and accelerated a beam of pure white light engulfed his ship and an instant later both were gone.  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    No one was present to see the ¡°hatch¡± move outward from the sphere¡¯s hull, see the three inch cables snap and the edges of the hatch reform themselves into the hole.  Every core hole drilled in the sphere disappeared, and the cable pieces were absorbed by it.  Telemetry from Argus was gone, the two AV relays were gone (absorbed by the alien hull).  Debra Hilds and her three teammates were alone in their ships inside an alien spacecraft and trapped.  None of their energy tools would work and the fusion drives were cold.  They had battery life support up to three weeks worth if they were careful.  And racks of seismic charges they couldn¡¯t deliver.  They set two times to call each other daily, so as not to waste life support on communications, and waited.  They did know the hatch had repaired itself, sealing them inside, but had no idea Argus was destroyed.

 Chapter 8

    For the first time since she was very young, Debra Hilds wept.  As far as she knew no one was going to save them.  Each of the UW science stations monitoring Argus¡¯ work, and the science council itself in Geneva received the telemetry pictures of Argus¡¯ demise.  The assembled and technicians and scientists had no doubt in any of their minds, they had witnessed a murder.  Since the day the Terra Twin had found the object a few researchers had trained their largest scopes on it and observed.  Now every scientist worth his pay was scanning constantly for the faintest changes.  Cooperating and combining all their data and observations they knew the sphere was now moving at a slow speed but accelerating toward Mars.  Mars in this age was the center of solar system commerce and transport.  Everything was routed through Mars because gravity was lower, the planet was centrally located, storage and launching sites abundant.  Like wise if anything were to happen to Mars Earth and Venus would be cut off from all their outward colonies and within range of close attack from Mars.  Recognizing that Mars must be defended the UW Security and Science Councils met immediately to plan their response.  Some argument was brought by some of the younger scientists that the sphere was provoked into vaporizing the Argus.  The head of the Science Council responded ¡°If the sphere was disturbed by the two hoppers Argus sent into it, why did it permit them inside at all ?¡±


    ¡°If you grant its ability to destroy a two hundred and fifty ton space cruiser, it could hardly have been afraid of two twenty five ton Landers.¡±  ¡°So why destroy three ships two inside and one out if they were not provoked ?¡± asked the younger man.


    ¡°Perhaps they are curious,¡± said the chairman, ¡°Perhaps the two out craft are not destroyed, but hostage.¡±


    ¡°But it was dead, inert, lifeless¡± said the advocate, ¡°No energy emissions, no sound, no lights.¡±


    ¡°However we do have the data referring to energy absorption to consider¡± the chairman continued ¡°just because the alien does not waste all the energy into space we do, don¡¯t believe he¡¯s not at home.¡±  ¡°And further, the more I look at the structure of the vessel, the more I believe it came from much, much further out in the galaxy than we first thought.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Why do you believe that?¡± asked the young man. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t jibe with the objects age.¡±


    ¡°How do we measure age sir?¡± ¡°I asked you to define the age of any material in space,¡± said the chairman.


    The young scientist searched his mind desperately for an answer then said ¡°all meteors, asteroids and planets have been dated by their background radiation back to the core explosion which formed them.¡±  ¡°What if you took material, say metal ores and smelted them together from say fifty different bodies?¡±


    ¡°That would make dating an impossibility sir.¡± The advocate said.  ¡°But why mix so many samples together to build one ship.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they wish to remain anonymous.¡± Said the chairman, ¡°our spectrographs and spectrometers could tell us where they came from if the materials were produced only around their home system.¡±  ¡°Three of our best men in the quantum energy field were lost with Argus,¡± said the chair.  ¡°But Dr. Hopewell and Professor Sackett have some theories they wish to trot out before you gentlemen.¡±  A thirty-foot square view screen at the end of the room lit as the room lights dimmed


    Dr. Ernst Hopewell began to narrate.  ¡°Professor Sackett and myself have pored over the same data on the age and composition of the sphere as you all have.  Most of this comes from the two hundred core samples provided by the Terra Twin preliminary survey.  On a hologram projection the ages of each core we assigned a color to correspond with the relative age.  Displayed like this we can see that the areas of the sphere where these cores were taken were added to the object gradually as it approached our system.¡±


    On the hologram before them was a dim blue sphere with colored points of light indicating each core samples source and its age approximate to + one hundred years.  Around the dish structure and the tracks the material was one thousand to two thousand years older than in all other areas.  The picture changed to a single core sample of the nickle-iron alloy lying horizontally.  Each area of the core was tagged with the same colors used to mark the sites.


    ¡°Several of these cores exhibit duel age readings on the spectroscope¡± said Hopewell, ¡°but, all of them are newer at the outer surface and older on the inner surfaces.  We went over the energy absorption data, which to us was astounding in itself,¡± exclaimed Hopewell, ¡°this craft picks up seventy percent of visible light and except for the tracks and dish structures one hundred percent of ultraviolet and infrared light.  I¡¯m willing to bet if we had tested it we¡¯d have found one hundred percent absorption of neutrinos and cosmic rays also.¡±  Several whistles and expressions of surprise came from all directions around the table.

 Chapter 9

    Edward Sackett stood and took up the podium.  ¡°Ernst has shown you what we saw and how we saw it.¡±  He began, ¡°but, what we deduced from it is the sobering part.  Deduction one.  This craft was launched at least five thousand years ago.  Deduction two.  It has been busy adding to itself both mass and energy all along the way.  Deduction three.  This craft is hostile, and on a destructive mission to our system.  Evidence to support the third deduction; the complete destruction of the science cruiser Argus, and the direction of flight of the object since said destruction.  If this craft destroyed Argus in self defense only, why would it move closer to the system Argus came from, and if it were coming into our system in peace why destroy the cruiser at all, and lastly, no attempts to communicate with our vessels were made.  Self defense would not serve to put off other vessels, unless they allowed the Argus to escape and warn other ships.  Deduction four.  They do have a weakness or something to hide and it¡¯s at the center of that sphere.  Evidence to support this deduction.  No attack was initiated against the Terra Twin although she orbited the object for two months, and drilled core samples, and fired seismic charges.  Her activities did no injury to the center.  The sphere¡¯s attack on Argus was instantaneous with the beginning of a cutting operation on the centers surface.¡±


    ¡°Dr. Hopewell and I have three hypothesis and here (with their probabilities of accuracy, based on the sphere¡¯s behavior overall) they are.  Hypothesis one.  The sphere ship is some sort of bomb to soften us up for an invasion, sixteen percent.  Hypothesis two.  The sphere ship is a war machine, a soldier and spy to analyze us prior to invasion, thirty two percent.  Hypothesis three.  The sphere ship in an invasion vessel itself with alien troops aboard, fifty two percent.  That¡¯s all we have, Mr. Chairman.¡±  Sackett concluded. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Gentleman and ladies¡± said the Science Council Chairman, ¡°I yield the floor to the chair of the Security Council.¡±


    Linette Hughes approached the podium.  ¡°From what our records and projections can tell us¡± she began, ¡°If this vessel is able to reach Mars and destroy our transport and storage facilities, there we stand to lose all our people on Mars and all other colonies as well.  This thing is aimed at our jugular and I believe it is no coincidence.  My question and my order for all of us at this point is what can we do to stop it and the faster we get it done the better.  Our people have lived for nearly fifteen centuries without war or civil conflict, putting our spirit into art, literature, science, and tolerance.  Our warlike past is far behind us and we have not missed it.  If this vessel is the vanguard of an invading race, and we fight them directly, I fear there can only be one outcome.  Our race, softened by centuries of peace, genetically culled of all violent tendencies will probably go like lambs to the slaughter.  We have no arms for the populace, no hardened shelters of militia.  The only weapons we can makeshift in time will be woefully inadequate.  Unless someone can devise a weapon strong enough to destroy this vessel, in time, to intercept, Mars and our colonies are doomed.¡±

 Chapter 10

    Chairman Hughes waited for the noise to lessen a bit then continued.  ¡°By all estimates of this things power and composition we can poke some holes in it, delay it perhaps, but ultimately it will reach Mars.  Evacuation of all woman, children, and hospital patients of Mars began yesterday, on my order after the Argus was lost and the ships destination was determined.  Thirty, one thousand ton mass drivers are being sent to augment the twenty-one already located on Mars.  We plan ro arrange them in groups of seven or eight on the side which will face the sphere the longest as it approaches and pelt it with as much rubble as possible.  Dr. Hopewell believes if we use rock exclusively the ship will incorporate it into its shell and become brittle.¡±


    ¡°When the sphere comes within range of all the mass drivers we will change to hydrogen/oxygen solid packed in divided containers with contact detonators like those used on digging charges.¡±  Dr. Hopewell said.  ¡°If we manage to expose the central core we want to fire on it with modified digging lasers and mass drivers.¡±


    ¡°And pray to God it¡¯s enough¡± said Sackett.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Four companies of UW military police with weapons are already on Mars and will remain for the duration¡± said Chairman Hughes.


    ¡°Dogs to herd the lambs¡± Prof. Sackett thought to himself.  ¡°Six hundred men with stun guns weren¡¯t going to cow aliens with this advanced technology.¡±


    Hughes recognized a Mars science delegate.  ¡°Madam Chair¡± he said  ¡°several of Mars mining and transport companies have donated ships to¡­¡±


    ¡°We have ships delegate!¡±  Hughes snapped.


    ¡°If madam would allow me to finish.¡±  The delegate said in a low loud voice, ¡°the idea is to pack these ships with explosive and have them wait behind Jupiter¡¯s bulk until the sphere passes by, then ram it at one tenth light speed.!¡±


    ¡°My apologies to you and yours delegate¡± Hughes said,


    ¡°It warms the heart to know the Chairman would not entertain a weak proposal,¡± said the delegate.


    ¡°Members Hopewell and Sackett will be in touch with you delegate,¡± said Hughes, ¡°any other proposals can be submitted by any means to the Security Council.¡±


    ¡°Gentleman and ladies¡± said the Science Chairman.  All seven hundred and fifty members and delegates stood and cheered Hughes from the chamber.  Nothing like it would be heard here for many years to come.

 Chapter 11

    About the same time Chairman Hughes was ordering Mars evacuated, Jeff Calan was Breaking the story of the Argus to Russ Carlin.  Russell was a strong man but Jeff knew this could destroy him.  ¡°We just lost contact with the Argus, Russell,¡± Jeff began.


    ¡°Are we behind Charon already,¡± he asked his commander.


    ¡°No Russ, the Argus is gone, destroyed.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± said Russell, ¡°Debra¡¯s aboard.¡±


    ¡°No¡± Jeff said, ¡°she was in hopper number three.¡±


    ¡°And she¡¯s safe?¡± Russell¡¯s eyes filled with hopeful tears.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know¡± Jeff replied, ¡°the hoppers were inside the sphere, before the attack on Argus.¡±


    ¡°Then their marooned out there, waiting for us?¡± Russell asked.


    ¡°No Russ they¡¯re still inside it, trapped, the hatch they cut closed itself and seemed to be welding itself back in to place when the AV relay died.¡±


    ¡°So she could still be in there, and alive?¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°Or dead¡± answered Jeff.


    ¡°Then we¡¯re not going to help them?¡± asked Russell, with vacant eyes.


    ¡°No¡± said Jeff, ¡°it¡¯s coming to us.¡±  Jeff showed Carlin the trajectory of the sphere, and played the final scenes from Argus¡¯ telemetry.  ¡°It was so fast, they had no chance to get away.¡± Jeff said, ¡°no traces were left of Argus, either.¡±


    The last scene of the hatch closing up, glowing at its edges then the static burst as the AV relay melted along with it.  ¡°Who ever they are they have it all over us in technology, Jeff.¡± Russell said at last.


    ¡°It would appear so.¡± Jeff agreed.


    ¡°The hopper launched two AV relays didn¡¯t it Jeff?¡± Russell asked pointedly.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Yes, yes it did,¡± answered Jeff.


    ¡°Then we saw the outside posted one go out,¡± said Russell, ¡°our receivers could lock on the remaining on if they find it again, commander.  We could at least hear enough to know if they¡¯re alive.¡±


    ¡°True, if the inside AV relay is working, Russell, but meanwhile the UW science and security councils are meeting in an emergency joint session.  Before we do anything about this, they want the core samples we¡¯re carrying on Terra immediately.¡±  Russell looked stricken, that his rescue of Debra would have to wait.  However, he said, ¡°let me call up all the physical parameters we¡¯ve got on the sphere, Jeff I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a way to get them out other then how they entered, and maybe we can find a way to keep it off Mars too.¡±


    Jeff smiled; his friend had been dealt a hard blow, but was still fighting not fleeing.  As Terra Twin accelerated toward Earth, Russel Carlin dug into the most difficult engineering problem of his life.  As he ran and re-ran the telemetry scenes and recorded data he began to see a pattern and as Russell had always felt patterns were made to be broken.  The sphere drank in energy like a sponge, but not all energy.  Thirty percent of visible light was not absorbed but reflected away from the shell.  Russell reasoned that a strong laser beam in the reflected spectrum would slice the sphere like a knife.  According to the light spectrograph data from Argus telemetry and recordings by the Twin while still pacing the sphere, the green band of visible light, bordered between yellow and blue was the most reflected wavelength.  Therefore, his ¡®sphere cutter¡¯ would have to emit visible green light in a concentrated beam.  Much more intrepid thinking was needed to figure how to get the hoppers out of the sphere.  Mass and the gravity pull of the sphere had never coincided with calculations or maps.  Therefore more of the sphere¡¯s structure had to be hollow and either empty or filled with light elements; gases or vapors perhaps.  Russell re-ran and re-ran the echo recordings made by Chuck and himself.  Finally, he thought of the resonance patterns all being the same in the shell and its support columns.  If the so called support columns were hollow the mass to gravity equations worked, almost, but not quite.  One column was found to resonate as a solid object, the column immediately under the dish structure.  This was obviously the sphere¡¯s cannon was designed to obliterate any vessel which could threaten it seriously.  The survey room on Terra Twin had its own spectrometer.  Russell used this to identify the sphere¡¯s light beam that destroyed the Argus, from the AV relay recording.  All colors of visible light except green were present in the beam.  Since the sphere was only visible in greenish light and no green was present in its light weapon, Russell deduced that green may well be outside their visual spectrum, in effect invisible.  Just as infrared and ultra violet rays were invisible to humans.  This information also brought out another observation.  The aliens home system must have contained a blue-white or red-white star only, because a yellow-blue light had to be produced by the same sun to produce green.

 Chapter 12

    As soon as Terra Twin landed, Russell made an immediate call to the science council and took the first shuttle to Geneva to outline his ideas to Hopewell and Sackett.  Both men listened attentively and made some notes on their personal recorders.  Finally, as Russell concluded both men rose from their seats and shook his hand.  Russell stood the praise well, but then hardened his expression saying, ¡°I hope all of what I¡¯ve figured is right, and that the councils can make use of it, but I have a request to make of you gentlemen.¡±


    ¡°You, sir can name whatever you want,¡± said Chairman Hughes entering the room.  ¡°I was listening in on your ships communications as you approached us.  You have managed, with less resources, less experience, and less financing to succeed in finding two distinct weaknesses in the sphere ship.  No one else on mine or any other science staff has found before.  Now I¡¯d like to hear why and how you did it.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect madam chairman,¡± said Russell, ¡°what I want is a ship and a place to re-work her, also a crew of five to join myself and two friends aboard.  I want to attempt the rescue of the two hopper crews inside the sphere, and the sphere¡¯s destruction if possible.  Time is my main enemy in the endeavor, because if Debra Hilds and her teammates are alive they have about ten days of life support left, for us to find and release them.  The sphere advances slowly, and, so it begins.  My hope has found these answers chairman, and that hope is that one ship covered in green can approach the alien still beyond Neptune¡¯s orbit, slice through and recover the two teams and return to Terra with them intact while your ram ships also colored in green lay in wait for the sphere in case our attempt fails or only partly succeeds.¡± Russell said.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have your ship, Mr. Carlin,¡± said the chairman, ¡°but I reserve the right to choose her commander.¡±


    Russell had foreseen this turn of the political wheel and allowed for it, ¡°although he is overdue for his honeymoon, commander Calan has agreed to skipper the ship if I get one¡± said Russell


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± replied the chairman, bringing fresh doubt to the fore of Carlin¡¯s mind.  ¡°This is a military vessel, the first in sixteen hundred years to be so dedicated, it must be under a military commander, you Captain Carlin.¡±  Hughes continued.  ¡°The Security council has voted me an emergency powers act, which among other things includes the authority to form a military space service to patrol our frontiers for future alien contacts and assist in emergency situations as well, evacuating a colony or station, for instance.¡±  ¡°Later this afternoon, say fourteen hundred hours, Dr. Hopewell and Professor Sackett are going to introduce you to the Science and Security Councils, about forty minutes later I¡¯m going to commission you.  We have about four hours to crunch details until then¡± said the chairman.  ¡°We need a uniform style, an insignia and some way of differentiating between officers and enlistees.  As our first officer, I¡¯ll give you that task Carlin.  I¡¯ll consult the history records and get the ceremony planned.¡± Hughes said.  ¡°Ask the military police commander for help if you need any advice, his military history library is enormous,¡± she added.


    Russ stared blankly for a moment, then took control of himself.  ¡°Right away Madam Chairman¡± he said, and strode quickly from the room.


    Dr. Hopewell turned around and frowned at the chairman.  ¡°How do you expect him to get a uniform together in so little time, he has nothing to work with¡± he said.


    The chairman returned the disapproving look.  ¡°He has a better chance of succeeding than any of us, and as for having nothing to work with, gentlemen, a celebrated ancestor of mine used to say ¡®that¡¯s what makes it a challenge.¡±

 Chapter 13

    Having no idea what a uniform should look like, Russell went to call on the police commander first.  As the chairman had said, his library of military history was staggering.  When Russell told him the task he¡¯d been set, the commander gave him a wide grin and indexed one file in particular, then said, ¡°this plays in that old microfilm reader over there.¡±  Russell looked at the title under some yellowed plastic coverings, ¡®The Common Man in Uniform 1900-2200 a Pictorial Collection¡¯.  Russell pored over each picture carefully not wanting to miss anything important, he dismissed the hats and chest plates the very earliest soldiers in the pictures wore, after the commander told him they were a form of armor.  After viewing most of the film, he began to make a sketch and filled the borders with notes.  About an hour later Russell handed the film gently back to his host and said, ¡°look this over and then tell me if it looks okay.¡±  The commander looked closely at the sketch that Russ had drawn.  The uniform as Russ saw it, would be a close fitting jump suit of black cloth and a silver disk fixed to the right breast of the suit.  Thin lapels and a V shaped neck, calf high boots, with the black pant legs tucked inside them.  A belt with a round silver buckle cinched in the waist.  UWSS was embossed into the buckle face.  Officers wore a ship shaped pin at the lapel.  Enlisted men wore of the same metal a smaller silver disk meant to represent any member colony of the United Worlds.  Completing his design with the lanyard and side arm of the UW military police.


    Russell felt quite proud and satisfied with his work.  ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a Commanding Officer more in need of a Sergeant Major,¡± said the Police Commander.  ¡°I volunteer to plan your drill and ceremonies, protocol and rank structure,¡± he said to Russell, ¡°If you¡¯ll have me?¡±


    ¡°Gladly¡± Russell said.


    ¡°Call me Ted,¡± said the Police Commander, ¡°Ted Harmand, let me take your design over to our tailors factory and get it rolling.¡±  With that, he spun quickly on his heel and exited the office.  Russ spent the remaining two hours struggling with an acceptance speech.


    The council chamber of the seat of the United Worlds was hushed with expectation as Dr. Hopewell and Prof. Sachett laid out the particulars of Russell¡¯s findings, and his plan for rescuing the hostages and destroying the sphere.  ¡°I¡¯m very confident¡± Hopewell said, ¡°this man¡¯s intuitions are correct and we will succeed in destroying this invader.  We, on the other side of the issue, must also face some harsh facts.  Our military consists of nine large companies of military police on Terra, Venus, Luna and Mars.  We have not gone to war in sixteen hundred years, we have no conscription system.  We will be accepting, volunteers for all positions, at first until a normal draft can be enacted.¡±  ¡°It is my solemn duty to announce that open enlistment into the United Worlds Space Service begins at 18:00 hrs solar time, on Terra and at the same time for all space stations and colonies.¡±  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The chairman of the Security Council stepped toward the podium.  Linette Hughes faced the full membership of the United Worlds General Assembly, augmented by six to ten emergency delegates from each colony and some representatives of the far-flung mining stations.  Taking a slow sweeping look at the hundreds of faces before her, she thought to herself, ¡®If I can win these people over and get them to believe the treat is bigger than one ship, then humanity will have a fighting chance, at least.  If only enough agree to form a temporary pact to destroy this ship, we will be destined to repeat this scene one day, and perhaps with very few options at all.  Not only that,¡¯ thought Hughes, ¡®but we¡¯ve become peace conditioned, not having to fight for anything for so long, makes people believe that peace is the natural state of things.¡¯  She looked first at the podium¡¯s top as she stepped behind it, Then raise her head and eyes and waited a second for the noise to diminish.  Everyone who saw the chairman was immediately able to begin quieting down and start listening to her.  ¡°Thank you, Dr. Hopewell for the briefing,¡± she began, ¡°the man who provided those insights and the evidence you spoke of is here with us today.  He has come from the farthest colony on Pluto¡¯s moon, Charon to aid our defense against this alien craft. He has, I must tell you, a very personal reason for wanting to attack and destroy the sphere by himself if necessary.  Argus¡¯ engineer Debra Hilds, one of the four trapped within the sphere when the Argus was destroyed, is Russell Carlin¡¯s fiancee.  For his work in uncovering some possible weaknesses in the craft, and volunteering to lead a rescue and sabotage mission against it, under the Emergency Power Act granted to me by this assembly, he is commissioned as our first Captain of a vessel belonging to the United Worlds Space Service on this the 122 day of the year 3960.  His ship of assignment is now within about thirty hours of completion and as yet has no name.  Perhaps he will tell us his choice.  Captain Carlin will you and your Sergeant Major attend us at the dais.¡± said the chairman.

 Chapter 14

    From the two large entry ways at the rear of the assembly emerged two men clothed in jet black uniforms, at the lapel of one man was a pair of silver ships as if flying parallel these were Russell¡¯s captains insignia. On the other mans lapel was a plain silver disk with the single word ¡®Terra¡¯ embossed at the top edge.  Both had a round, silver belt buckle with large letters embossed ¡®UWSS¡¯.  Both wore black boots, calf high of webbed nylon fiber.  Each wore a side holster and lanyard also flat black.  Each man walked in time with the other down the carpeted aisle and up to the podium.  Russell, stepped up to the dais first, saying that his vessel would have a name by the morrow, and that the hardnosed sixty year old next to him was Sergeant Major Theodore Harmand lately of the UW military police.  He continued by saying that the uniforms they wore were being copied for standard issue to all UWSS personnel and that Sergent Major Harmand would be in charge of all training for recruits, assisted by several other UWMP veterans.  Once Russell shot a conspiratorial look at Ted then announced, ¡°After discussing flight and space training with my ground cadre I decided to recommend someone for officer training Commandant, Commander Jeff Calan, if you want to accept it Jeff, Chairman Hughes has already agreed.¡±


    Jeff sat in one of the rear visitors benches and fought the urge to decline Russell¡¯s offer.  Finally he rose and answered he would be proud to train the new Astro-gators and pilots needed by the newly formed service.  Seated beside him Jamie¡¯s eyes were full of proud and frightened tears as she realized little time would be left for their marriage, but that the time they did have would always be special and savored.  That evening at 18:00 hrs the remaining complement of Terra Twin enlisted into the UWSS.  Within one weeks time the space service was enlisted ten thousand five hundred, Men and women, officers three hundred fifty, training cadre one hundred and installations two, on Luna, base one and Charon, base two.  The speed at which the new military was forming met the chairman¡¯s mind with mixed feelings.  Speed on one hand was encouraging indicating enthusiasm and competence.  On the other hand, it was disturbing that there were few difficulties and no major obstacles in establishing the service.  She had opted for open enlistment to attract only those who wished to serve.  History had taught several lessons to leaders who formed conscript armies and lost more than they won.  Their enthusiasm both impressed and distressed her.  Many who enlisted were only just eligible for the age rule of twenty years.  She had no illusions about how little knowledge of the enemy they had.  She was even more concerned that her race was sixteen centuries out of practice at war.  In her memoirs of those years she wrote; ¡®they were all so young and full of their pride and technical skills.  They were confident, competent and competitive.  They looked up at me as sheep do to their shepard, and I turned away so they wouldn¡¯t see my fear.¡¯You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

 Chapter 15

    Luna base was all raucous activity refitting ships, cannibalizing parts, training pilots and astro-gators.  Shipping equipment to Mars and to Charon.  Eight thousand five hundred souls labored there in three round the clock shifts.  Commercial sector donated one third of its resources to clothing, ships and armament for the service.  Armament was the UW¡¯s weak point not having had wars in living memory few arms existed.  The stun guns the UWMP¡¯s carried were designed as humane deterrents, not lethal weaponry.  Technicians and specialists struggled to adapt energy tools for digging, cutting, or heating to military functions.  Mass drivers were made to order for planetary defense, but there was not much choice of ammunition for them.  Rock, frozen gases, or some scarce explosives were all that was available.  The digging beams modified to the green band worked well enough on nickle iron asteroids and targets but they couldn¡¯t duplicate the sphere¡¯s ability to re-fuse itself when damaged.  Carlin had no idea how long finding the hoppers inside would take so he developed three desperate schemes.  The first was assuming his deductions about the green spectrum band were correct.  If his green ship went undetected until close to the sphere, he planned to cut two holes simultaneously and enter through one.  Locate and attach the hoppers to his vessel and cut his way out the same basic way, cut two holes and exit through one.  Dr. Hopewell had come through for Russ in more than one way.  Russell¡¯s ship would have two dozen ¡®drones¡¯ small single rocket engines with remote guidance, able to anchor themselves to the sections he cut away and ferry them into space quickly.  Hopewell reasoned that if the material were removed wholesale the sphere wouldn¡¯t be able to repeat its healing trick so easily.


    Inside hopper number three the attitude of one woman had changed severely.  Debra Hilds had despaired at first, then turned to denial, but knew that soon it wouldn¡¯t matter.  Hopper number two, visible by its windows, (glowing a feeble red from emergency lights within) was dying.  Of the two craft it had preformed much more of the work getting into the sphere and life support was close to critical.  Unable to move either ship Hilds had kept radio contact only but now knew desperate measures had to be taken.  The hopper¡¯s equipment included towing cables and a pair of twenty inch drum winches but power to operate them was gone.  Hilds seized on the idea of carrying one end of each cable to hopper number two and using the cable as a ¡®shuttle line¡¯ to pass number two¡¯s rations, charges, and batteries over to number three¡¯s crew compartment without cramping and most of number two¡¯s salvage would be stored in the boxes of the lower section.  Hilds hoped linking both sets of batteries in parallel would give enough current to extend life support by three to four days even with two more occupants.  The six air capsules on number two¡¯s hull would not be wasted either.  Hilds had figured a possible way out of their metal ball prison.  With much less data to draw on Hilds had made one of Russell¡¯s conclusions also.  The columns were hollow except for the dish¡¯s stalk.  Hilds and her team had nothing but time to hammer it out together.  They would salvage number two, cut with oxygen and acetylene into a column, use the gas in number two¡¯s cylinders to push number three inside, weld it shut, and cut the outer end and pop out of the shell with explosive charges.  They prayed that the blast would help distance them from the sphere quickly and allow the complete inventory of seismic charges (less the six used to pop the roof) to detonate at the bottom of the column creating a second ¡®push¡¯ to carry them outward faster.  All this depended on a lot of outside work in pressure suits, about twelve hours.  For the four of them, they calculated, maybe two to three more.  Debra called for a show of hands ¡°four for and none against¡± she said.  Debra and Sam began running the cables that evening, as Tony and Greg converted the hand held oxygen and acetylene torches into hose-fed units, discarding their cartridge tanks.  It was eerie working outside the ship in total darkness.  Hilds and her team had decided not to use the suits work lights because it would take four hours off the operating time.  As well as to draw no unwanted attention to themselves, after all the sphere had done nothing until it was ¡®poked at¡¯ down here.  Guided from number three to number two by radio Hilds met San Kohn halfway and they locked the cables together.  One hour and twenty minutes had passed.  Joining Sam as he returned to hopper two Debra followed the cable blindly, unable to see the man she occasionally bumped into.  It had almost seemed easier joining the cabled; take a few steps, call for Sam to talk, watch the indicator of signal strength and pan your helmet until it was strongest, step off again and repeat the process.  But floating weightless along behind Sam, hearing nothing and seeing only the low level display across the inside of the helmet visor was somehow more chilling.  Just as she was about to say something, anything in fact the dim red triangles of number two¡¯s windows came into view.  They shuttled the equipment from number two to number three for ten hours.  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

 Chapter 16

    Debra was beyond fatigue now, she was merely numb.  The feel of the cable under her thick glove was unreal, the pain in her shoulders and wrists from hauling on the cable was maddening.  Hand over hand starting and stopping the load (about eight hundred pounds for each of them) took a lot of stamina.  Mass accelerated in any medium, tends to remain in motion.  Weightlessness doesn¡¯t change mass, inertia remains to be overcome.  Finally around 11:00 hours Hilds and her party felt ready leaving one gas canister (a partly emptied one) strapped to number two and ten seismic five ton charges attached to its upper half.  They completed cutting the hole into the column nearest by number three.  Using the remote valves on the tanks they jetted the hopper into the column and began welding the slug back into the wall.  Number three slowly rose to the shell end of the shaft and cut six barely separated crescents in the metal, drilled six core holes between them and planted six ten ton charges.  Number three dropped back toward the bottom of the shaft separated its crew section from the ¡®work horse¡¯ lower half and returned up the shaft halfway.  Number three closed its blast shields over its view ports.  As a diversion, incase there was anyone to divert Hilds had rigged number two to fly a brief distance (via the gas canister) and explode on contact with any thing solid.  She keyed the remote valve on the tank and waited.  About ten seconds went by and then number three and the column she was inside of shook heavily.  Hilds detonated the roof charges, counted to fifteen, and fired the remaining charges stored in the lower section of the hopper.  A ball of red-yellow light seemed to be chasing them up the tube as the blast reached them from below.  The explosion equivalent to five thousand pounds of TNT blew the lid off the tube and the upper hopper module out as well.  Debra Hilds could see the piece of nickle iron above them moving, but was it moving faster than the hopper of not.  If it was then they were safe, if not they would pile into it very soon.  Just as she was beginning to doubt the lid would get out of the way, Debra¡¯s eyes went wide and her neck stiffened.


    Floating ten inches from her right hand was a blue ball and it was speaking to them.  ¡°Do not fear, escape is our shared purpose, continue.¡±


    ¡°What are you?¡± asked Debra.


    ¡°Friendly, I will help you escape.  Please continue or your race will be destroyed in the same manner your captors have always killed their rivals¡± said the globe.


    As the hopper¡¯s instruments came back on line on by one, Hilds began to cycle the small capsules hydrogen-oxygen rockets and increased their speed even more, angling the ship toward the core of the system.  As Hilds overloaded lifeboat accelerated away from the sphere, Russell¡¯s ship the newly christened Avenger came into visual range of the sphere and hopper number three.  As soon as Carlin¡¯s first officer confirmed it was an ore hopper ¡®upper section only¡¯, Russ changed course to intercept the escaping craft.  Apparently oblivious to all this the sphere continued to move toward Mars and very slowly fused shut the blast hole Hilds had made.  Russell was amazed at the luck he¡¯d drawn, if his ship had been five minutes later arriving he would never have seen the hoppers smaller half.  The Avenger came alongside, and old perceptions of size and scale took a beating as Hilds realized this was a military vessel closing on the hopper.  She immediately opened the communications circuits and waited.  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    A reply from Russell Carlin was instant.  ¡°Prepare to come aboard¡± he said.  Once inside the Avenger Debra Hilds promptly fainted and was taken to the Med Clinic to rest.  Russell contacted UW Headquarters via Luna base and relayed the situation.  The majority of the Security Council voted to let Carlin try out his new ship and weaponry against the sphere.  Russ could not believe this was happening, his ship had just come in sight of the object when Debra¡¯s hopper section made its escape.  Now he could attack the sphere with his entire arsenal without fearing for her safety or her teammates.  The sphere apparently not interested in pursuing the hopper section never broke stride as it lumbered on toward Mars.  Russ signaled his first officer to man the laser gunner¡¯s station at the center of the command room.  The two ensigns at his right and left were the mass cannon operators.  Four mass drivers were built into the ship as weapons, modified to function together or in a salvo-firing pattern.  Jeff¡¯s contribution to Russell¡¯s ship was its crew, half of the complement of the old Terra Twin joined to serve with Russell.  As Russell gave the order to fire a green bolt of several million-candle power lanced from the top center of Russ¡¯s ship.  It struck the sphere at an angle and began to slice away a thirty-meter circle from one side.  As soon as the line of the cut could be seen three more beams from directly beneath, right and left of the Avenger blazed out and added their own incisions in the sphere.  Everywhere the beams vaporized the alloy on contact.  Russ now gave the nod to the mass gunners, each alternately loaded with rock and hydrogen/oxygen ice bombs.  The first salvo of bombs hit the dissected sphere.  The ice bombs worked very well, a globe of solid oxygen surrounded by explosive and insulated from the outer globe of hydrogen ¡®ice¡¯ enclosed in a honey combed steel shell.  A Murchison contact detonator, originally a mining device set off the explosives, thawing and igniting the two solid gases inside the steel casing, which exploded in hexagon shaped fragments, each weighing sixty to seventy kilos and driven at enormous speed the cut sections of the sphere were blown away from it and some completely blown apart by the bombardment.  The sphere began to try to fuse itself but wherever the green beams struck the fusion would stop.  As Russ¡¯s mass gunners switched to rock, the sphere tried to incorporate the new material into itself, but as the boulders two to four tons in mass kept coming earlier wounds were broken open anew, rock being a poor substitute for metal.  The skin of the sphere became more brittle and some holes were now entirely abandoned as the sphere had too little material to repair all the damage.  Slowly the sphere began to rotate.  Russ had anticipated this action and planned well for it.  As the dish came into view at the sphere¡¯s edge Russ ordered all his weapons locked on it and fired at will.  Thirty-two boulders, eight bombs and forty million-candle power of collimated green light, battered, bludgeoned and boiled away the sphere¡¯s only external weapon.  The dish was indeed a broken thing now.  As Russ ordered his gunners to hold and re-arm, he saw a glow of white light, ghostly and dim but increasing in brightness, through the holes in the sphere.

 Chapter 17

    The center was glowing within the torn hulk of the shell.  As all aboard Avenger watched the sphere shrank from nearly sixteen thousand meters in diameter to one and a half kilometers across.  Radar and magnetic scanners now read all metal remaining was closed armor thick around the center on very short thick solid columns, and all the rock was now on the outside surface and fused into slag.  Russell began to suspect the sphere was still capable of some destructive action so he opened fire on it once more.  However now the beams were cutting into thick glassy fused rock and silicates, which tended to refract and diffuse the lasers.  Rocks hurled at the sphere were now absorbed and fused instantly into the surface.  The bombs still produced damage but only gouged and dented the sphere.  No penetration of such a thick and well-supported structure was possible.  The dish structure had not re-formed but the tracks of the opposite side of the globe were glowing now.  Glowing with a pale blue light and getting dimmer by the moment until they seemed to disappear into the sphere¡¯s surface.


    Russell¡¯s scanner tech yelled a single word, ¡°What!¡± then added, ¡°Sir, it¡¯s gone, the sphere itself the metal part, it¡¯s gone!¡±  Russ and all his command room watch were looking at the slag sphere and back at the tech.  ¡°If you think I¡¯m kidding,¡± said the self righteous technician, ¡°bomb that thing again!¡±  Russ nodded to the mass cannoneers again.  They each fired two bombs.  The bombs contacted, exploded and the slag fragments flew in all directions through space.  When the flash from the last blast cleared there was nothing in front of them but stars.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be damned,¡± muttered Carlin.  ¡°Did it explode?¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°No,¡± said the tech, ¡°it was gone while we were watching those lines disappear¡± referring to the parallel tracks first encountered in Jamie Chung¡¯s cameras.  The tech continued, ¡°I read heat patterns, magnetic readings, mass figures, radar image and energy reflection, until those bars vanished, then, it was just gone.¡±


    Russell Carlin had just one remaining question ¡°Well if it¡¯s not here then where is it now!¡± asked Russell roughly striking the top of his console.  Russell looked forlornly at the tech and back up at the bars on the screen.  Russ called in to UW Headquarters and reported, ¡°It acted at first like we weren¡¯t bothering it at all, and then it seemed to be ready to fall apart.  Then it hunkered down and fended off our beat efforts, and then vanished completely leaving the empty rock shell behind it.¡± This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    The reply came from Earth slowly and in several pieces.  ¡°Object has by-passed Jupiter bomb ships,¡±¡­¡­ ¡°no data on course or speed,¡±¡­¡­ ¡°object within eighteen minutes of Mars orbit¡±¡­¡­ ¡°measures one and two tenths kilometers in diameter now¡±¡­¡­ ¡°mass drivers seem ineffectual,¡±¡­¡­ ¡°projectile weapon striking mass driver sites, total,¡±¡­¡­ ¡°repeat total destruction of M.D. sites,¡±¡­¡­ ¡°object appears to be landing of Mars location,¡±¡­¡­ ¡°Plain of Elysium.¡±¡­¡­ ¡°All ships, all ships, general recall, return to OP and await instructions, do not, repeat, do not approach object.  All ships¡­¡±


    ¡°Cut it off Murray,¡± asked Russell.  Return to OP (Origin Point) was an instruction for each ship to go to whatever colony or station it came from and await further orders.  For Avenger that meant Earth and Luna base.  Russ gave his astro-gator and first officer some brief instructions and headed aft to the Med-Clinic to see Debra.  He nearly missed the door entry in his haste down the corridor.


    She was awake now and sitting up in the g-bed.  ¡°Is it over?¡± she asked, looking to him for good news.


    ¡°No,¡± he said ¡°It isn¡¯t.¡±  ¡°Are you alright I was afraid you¡­¡±


    Debra cut off Russ in mid sentence by placing her finger on his lips.  ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll be fine¡± she said, ¡°For now, I was afraid we wouldn¡¯t get out and then, this thing appeared inside the hopper with us.¡±


    ¡°What,¡± Russ gasped.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure myself, darling, but it spoke to us in English-Asian (the official language of the UW Council.).¡±  ¡°It told us to go ahead and it would help.¡±


    ¡°What thing are you talking about Debra?¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°The blue globe that showed up in the hopper just after I detonated the charges.¡±


    Russell placed his hand beneath a circle on the doorway and spoke.  ¡°Intruder aboard hopper craft, disconnect and distance the hopper immediately.¡±


    Just as Russ lowered his hand and returned into the room he found himself starring at the blue globe floating up from behind the g-bed where Debra sat.  Russell drew his sidearm and pointed it at the blue orb.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t!¡± yelled Debra

 Chapter 18

    Before Russ could press the firing stud, the globe faded into nothingness.  The stunners bolt snapped and crackled in the small clinic room as it displaced air.  Russell looked around him quickly and saw nothing of the globe.  Then he heard its voice coming from behind him.


    ¡°You must think me an enemy or spy¡± it said ¡°but I am neither.¡±


    ¡°Why should I think otherwise?¡± asked Russell.  ¡°I can¡¯t even see you.¡± Russ added.


    ¡°And will not until your weapon is holstered¡± the globe stated.


    ¡°How can I trust something I can¡¯t see?¡± asked Russ


    ¡°I have no armament to harm you with, but must protect my existence¡± said the globe.


    ¡°Put away the stunner Russ!¡± Debra said.  ¡°It didn¡¯t hurt me or my crew, and if it had wanted to stop us getting away from the sphere, I believe it could have.¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡± said Russ reluctantly as he holstered the weapon.  He added ¡°besides if it was going to harm anyone it would have hurt me when I drew on it.¡±


    ¡°Incorrect, I assure you¡± said the globe as it reappeared in front of Russell. ¡°I could not attack you under any circumstances, but only evade injury to myself.¡±


    ¡°You won the argument by default then, what are you?¡± asked Russ


    ¡°In your primitive language the best word is computer, however, my capabilities far exceed its definition.¡± said the globe.  ¡°My purpose is simple to understand¡± it said


    ¡°What is your purpose?¡± asked Debra.


    ¡°I am a war correspondent¡± said the globe, ¡°I was constructed to observe record and report on the progress of the war between my creators and the race that built the sphere as you refer to it.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a reporter!¡± said Russ.


    ¡°And a historian¡± it added.


    ¡°I¡¯d really like to know where you came from.¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°From the fifth planet of the star you designate as Alpha Cygni or Deneb, one thousand six hundred light years away from here, using your measuring system.¡± It said.


    ¡°Why were you in the sphere?¡± asked Debra.


    ¡°I was recording and observing¡± it said.


    ¡°If you were built by another race, why are you here, the sphere had to have left there long ago, our figures show the sphere has been on its way here for at least nine hundred years¡± stated Debra


    ¡°Your figures are approximate, but close to correct, nine hundred seventy three of your years have passed since the sphere began its flight here, and yes I was and still am observing and recording.  My builders were under great stress to complete me, and apparently set no time limit for my mission to be completed.  I was aboard the sphere still, because the descendants of my builders are aboard it.¡±


    Both Debra and Russell looked shocked and sickened.  ¡°the descendants of some of the sphere¡¯s prisoners?¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°No, the last survivors of the Denebian Race¡± said the globe.


    ¡°They are still within the sphere and alive?¡± asked Debra.


    ¡°Yes, what remains of them is alive, technically speaking,¡± said the globe.  That is why I have remained with them for eleven hundred of your years.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®what remains of them is alive¡¯?¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°They are no longer the sentient race who built me.  The race who subjugated them has been experimenting with their genetic makeup for eight hundred years,¡± the globe paused, and then added ¡°they are slaves and pawns of their conquerors now, without writing, speech or memory.¡±


    ¡°But you still speak to them?¡± Russ inquired.


    ¡°Not since I realized they were mindless beings, four hundred years ago,¡± said the orb.


    ¡°Why did you leave with us then?¡± asked Debra.


    ¡°I was unable to help them inside the sphere.  You were going to escape and came from an unconquered race.  I decided to stow-away and report to you, perchance to help them.¡±  The globe continued, ¡°I am a sentient machine, I (feel) to use your word, a loyalty to my creators and their progeny.  But once my reporting to them became useless, and since I can only record, observe and report information, this was all I could do.¡±


    ¡°So you hoped to warn us and get your creators set free,¡± said Russell.


    ¡°No!¡± said the machine, ¡°I hoped that with my information to guide you, you would permit them to die before your race is the sphere¡¯s next conquest!¡±

 Chapter 19

    Russell and Debra looked at each other, then at the globe.  Russell said to Debra, ¡°go up the corridor to the command room, tell Murray to get his portable relay back here.¡±  He turned back to the machine.  ¡°If you¡¯ve been aboard so long, didn¡¯t the sphere race try to destroy you as well?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I avoided them for so long they probably have forgotten about me.  That last time I tried to speak to one of the descendants, he pointed me out to them and I was pursued briefly.  The sphere builders set beam activated traps for me in the corridors and airshafts, but I avoided them easily enough.  Several years later the story the guards told their commander made me out to be a hallucination of the slave involved¡± it said.


    ¡°This is probably not relevant to you,¡± said Russ ¡°but our race will need a name to address you by.¡±


    ¡°Of course, it is¡­¡± the sound which followed was somewhat like a few musical notes and a thin scream uttered inside a tunnel.


    When the reverberation stopped, Russ said, ¡°That was different, but I don¡¯t think any of us could say it.  Do you have another name or a title that will translate into our language?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps my machine designation will serve better; Advanced Data Access Memory, well?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll do, but abbreviated it¡¯s better; ADAM we¡¯ll call you Adam!¡± said Russell


    ¡°Adam¡± quoted the globe ¡°yes it will serve, and what is your name?¡± the machine asked.


    ¡°Russell Carlin, Captain of the UWSS Avenger.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°And you came from where?¡± asked the globe.


    ¡°The third planet of Sol, the sun outside out ports, called Earth or Terra.  How do you speak our language Adam?¡± Russ asked.


    ¡°I accessed the computers of the mining crafts, the hoppers, and listened to the crews talk by microwave signals until my vocabulary was sufficient.  Frankly, the race which built me would have been amazed at a language with only twenty-six characters.  The Asian addendum to your language was an afterthought or a compromise I gather.¡±


    ¡°Both actually¡± Russell said as a few laughs escaped him.  Remembering from his history lessons the computer incident which combined the two most populous languages of the old Earth.  ¡°About two thousand years ago these were separate languages, Asian spoken by the Chinese Mongolian and Japanese peoples, and all the rest of the world was using one called Amer-English.  Actually English, Spanish, German, and African words made up Amer-English.  Computers on the two sides of the world were programmed in the language preferred locally.  When, at last, all computers on the Earth were joined on the UW network, they gibbered and gabbered at each other until every concept had a word to define it in any language.  The machines of course opted for the clearest language with the fewest letters for easy storage, only when no word in Amer-English existed the computers use an Asian word, and even then wrote it in AE letters and used english pronunciation rules.  The Orientals were furious at first but finally calmed down when the machines also rejected the western measuring system and went completely metric at last.  There were advantages and drawbacks to this of course.  The huge number of Chinese characters made it a perfect language to encode, literally one character per word.  Tolstoy¡¯s War and Peace would have been a paper back three centimeters thick in chinese writing, but to teach all children to read speak and define thousands of characters was impractical.  Also new concepts would have to be characterized and recorded in a new letter as they were discovered, very tedious and mind tiring.¡±


    ¡°So your machines actually chose your language for you?¡± asked ADAM.


    ¡°Yes ADAM, we programmed them to be like us and always take the easiest job so that¡¯s exactly what they did.¡±


    ¡°The fight you will have with the sphere builders won¡¯t be easy, Captain¡± said ADAM.

 Chapter 20

    At this point Murray arrived in the clinic room toting his portable microwave relay and a computer link up interface.  ¡°I understand we have a visitor,¡± said Murray.


    ¡°And a talkative one at that¡± Russell replied.  ¡°Before I leave you with Murray and his kit, ADAM, I have a few more questions for you,¡± Russ paused, ¡°What star do the sphere builders come from?¡±


    ¡°Your designation is Alpha Lyrae and the layman¡¯s name is Vega¡± ADAM replied.


    ¡°Just as you thought,¡± said Murray, ¡°A blue white with more reds and blues nearby, Russ.¡±


    ¡°That much followed if the green was outside their visual spectrum¡± Russ agreed.


    ¡°I was monitoring the sphere¡¯s inhabitants during your attack Captain Carlin,¡± said ADAM, ¡°your ship and its beams were invisible to them.  Only your mass projectiles could be seen.¡±


    ¡°Your sure of that ADAM?¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°Positive Captain,¡± ADAM replied, ¡°you saw tham flee your assault.¡±


    ¡°I was tricked by them into fighting an empty husk, from my viewpoint¡± said Russell.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said ADAM, ¡°Their shift took you be surprise.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me ADAM, what is their shift exactly?¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°When they realized you could harm the core ship, they shifted into your (past) to avoid you.¡±


    ¡°And back into (now) again, near Mars?¡± Russ asked.


    ¡°Precisely¡± ADAM answered.


    ¡°Of all the injustices so far, this is the worst, the enemy has time travel and a light drive¡± Russell barked.  ¡°Anything else?¡± Russ asked more calmly.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Your agitation is understandable Captain, but you conclusions are wrong.  Their drive is slower than yours, and only by shifting temporally do they appear to command speed.  When my creators fought the enemy, they also thought them capable of trans-light speed.  They accomplished this illusion by temporal displacement or shift as they call it.  If you will permit me to explain?  They can barely achieve six hundredths of light speed, but some time before they will enter a system, they shift into the past and then proceed to advance appearing to arrive at trans light speed,¡± explained ADAM.


    ¡°The results are the same,¡± said Russ ¡°so what¡¯s the difference?¡±


    ¡°You can follow them, Captain,¡± said ADAM.


    ¡°I¡¯d sure like to know how!¡± Russ blurted.


    ¡°I know how¡± ADAM replied.


    ¡°That really doesn¡¯t reassure me ADAM, your creators had temporal displacement and they still lost!¡± said Russell.


    ¡°No Captain, after tapping into the enemy¡¯s computer records, I modified myself!¡± said the globe.  ¡°My creators were already defeated by then.¡±


    ¡°Can this ship be modified? ADAM¡±


    ¡°Any metal hulled vessel is adaptable to the system Captain,¡± said ADAM.


    ¡°Why modify yourself, ADAM?  You were inside the sphere anyway,¡± Russ asked.


    ¡°True, but not able to hide for eternity.  I needed their time shift ability to avoid discovery onboard, and to follow them.  I can also help to upgrade your beam and missile systems.  With the information from their own data banks and your ship¡¯s invisibility the next engagement will be different.¡±


    ¡°Murray, get everything recorded for us and transmitted to Earth.  Delay should be slight, we¡¯re over half way there by now¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Will do Captain,¡± said Murray.


    ¡°ADAM, I want you to give Murray and our computer every scrap of information you¡¯ve collected about the enemy and how your creators are imprisoned aboard the sphere?¡± Russ looked at the little machine almost fondly, as he asked.


    ¡°I can not comply quickly enough Captain,¡± the globe replied ¡°after four hundred and sixty two of your years I will once again be able to execute my primary function.¡±  Russ believed if the little robot had limbs, it would have danced.  As Murray connected the voice pickup to the interface, ADAM floated above his shoulder and asked, ¡°Does your computer require sound transmissions to receive data input?¡±


    Murray sat back, scratched his head and answered ¡°no, but can you interface with the system directly? ADAM.  Circuit to circuit, I mean.¡±


    ADAM, floated back a little and came to rest on the g-bed, then asked ¡°what, technician Murray, is a circuit?¡±

 Chapter 21

    ¡°Oh brother,¡± Murray stifled a guffaw ¡°do we have a technology gap here.  ADAM,¡± Murray asked, ¡°what is inside you?  What makes up your physical self?  Your hardware, your memory banks, your working parts?¡±


    ADAM lifted from the g-bed slightly, ¡°I am constructed of artificially grown, living, crystalline cells identical in nearly every way to the brain calls of my creators race.  My external shell is a perfect sphere four and five tenths of a centimeter thick of adamantinum and titanium alloyed steel containing no impurities.  The inner surface of the shell serves to collect, process, recycle the wastes produced by my cells, and return them for reuse to sustain me.  The shell draws energy from light, heat, vibration or radiation with an efficiency of ninety six point nine percent.  This collected energy is used for movement, warmth, cooling, recycling, and communicating.  Since my modification an outer layer one point eight centimeters in thickness has been added, made of the sphere¡¯s pure nickle-iron alloy and contains the temporal displacement lattice.  This layer absorbs and conducts all ambient energy to the inner layer and stores excess energy for later use.¡±


    ¡°The way you¡¯re describing the metals in your shell, you use them as super-conductors, ADAM.  When these materials are properly slated with silicates and ions and arranged to exact patterns by electro magnetic influence, in a liquid state then solidified in that pattern they become super-conductive materials, containing huge volumes of free electrons.  The atoms are so polarized that electron (expressways) are formed throughout the matrix.¡±


    ¡°The pattern of my matrix is an expanded copy of the brain synapses of my creators mind, Denebian scientist Rath Logam.  He pioneered cybernetic science on Hathlon; Deneb five my original planet.  He built the first artificial intelligence machines.  I was his thirty ninth project and success, an artificial war correspondent I was assigned to observe and report on the progress of the war with the (shapers) and preserve the history of the Denebian race, including the war.  As you must plainly realize, Murray, to voice transmit all my accumulated data, even if the subject of the war only is permitted, would take up an alarming amount of time.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°How much time ADAM?¡± asked Murray weakly, cringing inwardly at the thought of telling Russell how long it would take.


    ¡°At the fastest rate your recording devices can maintain reproduction two and seven tenths years.¡±


    ¡°Balls of fire,¡± said Murray ¡°Mars is waiting for help, now, is that the best you can do?  Wait a minute,¡± said Murray, his face lit with sudden inspiration.  ¡°How did you say you tapped the enemy¡¯s computer records?¡±


    ¡°I read their computer¡¯s thoughts.  Its makeup was cruder but somewhat similar to my own and without a protective vessel.¡±


    ¡°So the Shaper¡¯s computer is a living machine like you are?¡± Murray asked.


    ¡°It is alive, but not a machine, Murray, it was grown by the Shaper¡¯s scientists to perform the functions of astrogation, maneuver, deployment, repair, life support, armament, supply and evaluation.  The Shapers reserve flight, battle, and exploration functions for themselves.¡±


    ¡°So the Shapers hold glamour jobs, eh?¡± asked Murray.


    ¡°Quite so, they consider the functions of their computer as menial chores best left to animals¡± ADAM replied.


    ¡°So it¡¯s an animal,¡± gasped Murray, shocked himself at the thought of it.


    ¡°No, Murray, it is a hypertrophied brain of one of their species, removed from its body and altered to function only on a sub-conscious level.  It initiates no thoughts itself, but obeys all commands given it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, horrific, ghastly, in human¡± Murray sputtered halfway in violent nausea.  ¡°How could an intelligent rac, do ¡­ that?¡± Murray croaked as he held his gorge down through sheer willpower.


    ¡°From their records it was one of many ways they utilized undesirable individuals in their society¡± ADAM said.


    ¡°You mean criminals, ADAM.¡±


    ¡°No Murray, what humans consider criminal would not impress them.  Their definition of undesirable is the strong willed who won¡¯t conform, or the weak bodied who cannot labour for their masters, or the weak spirited, too gentle to join in the traditional pastimes of the Shapers.  The computer aboard this sphere was consigned to its fate early on, Murray.  It had a birth defect, it was blind.  Actually, it believes it made a bargain with its masters, it lost its limbs and body, but now it ¡®sees¡¯ the stars and planets, ¡®by sensors linked to the optic nerves¡¯, and travels through space obeying its orders like a trained dog.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s unconscionable to use a sentient being that way, ADAM, monstrous and evil.¡±

 Chapter 22

    ¡°My creators,¡± said ADAM with a genuinely sad voice, ¡°felt the same way.  Rath Logam himself wept while he built me, and often repeated, ¡®forgive me but I must try to save my world even if I must create a synthetic being and condemn it to slavery¡¯.  Yes, he meant me Murray.  The war was going badly then, he built me as much for revenge on the Shapers as any other purpose in my program.  The governors of Hathlon funding his work had final say on all my directives and instructions.  Rath Logam impressed the feelings and convictions I have into my psyche by talking to me as he worked.  He taught me as if I was his own child, to be noble, honest, and faithful.  Much of what your race calls personality in me is really his.¡±


    ¡°Your opposites of the same type, ADAM¡± Murray stated, ¡°It¡¯s a living, sentient being¡¯s mind converted to a mechanism.  And you¡¯re a cybernetic mechanism built so well you become a sentient being¡¯s mind, or at least the extension of one, your creator¡¯s, Rath Logam¡¯s, your father, ADAM.¡±


    ¡°It is a fact Murray, you have shown me, that I never saw myself despite my prodigious mind and memory.¡±  ADAM¡¯s voice trailed off slowly.


    Murray leaned forward and said, ¡°were your creators humanoid or similar to us at all?¡±


    ¡°They were similar to your species, Murray, but not exactly so.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Rath Logam was childless, wasn¡¯t he, ADAM?¡± Murray asked gently.


    ¡°Yes¡± ADAM replied quickly, almost angrily ¡°how did you know that Murray.  I never told you or anyone, even a Denebian that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a very similar story from ancient Earth history, ADAM.  ¡®And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me¡¯¡± said Murray, ¡°Saint John 45, New Testament, another father who gave his gave his only son to save the world.  ADAM you can receive thoughts and transmit them right?¡±


    ¡°Yes Murray¡±


    ¡°But our computers are non-living so they can¡¯t receive thoughts right?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± ADAM replied.


    ¡°But you can generate electronic impulses right¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± ADAM said.


    ¡°Then convert your thoughts to a binary code of impulses and input that code at top speed into the Avenger¡¯s computer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± said ADAM.


    ¡°I hope the Avenger¡¯s computers can handle the load of information your carrying.¡±  At first slowly, then faster as he learned to change thought impulses for electron flows and transmit it as a high-speed signal.  The interface lay in the room¡¯s center on the floor next to the g-bed, ADAM rested in the center of that.  As ADAM converted thoughts to signals and transmitted faster and faster, the memory cells of the Avenger locked in more and more storage space, automatically they called up more memory from auxiliary systems and filled it.  Finally, with only twenty percent of the capacity of the last out boat¡¯s memory space left, the Avenger¡¯s computer slowed and stopped recording.  Seven and a half hours had passed, Earth loomed large in the ports now, and Murray Dean was fast asleep.

 Chapter 23

    The Avenger sped for home bearing the best clue and clarification of the sphere yet to be had.  The UW Science Council sat awed as ADAM¡¯s data poured into their computer base like an electronic tidal wave.  ADAM¡¯s very existence awed them, a sentient, living cybernetic device, well over a thousand years old.  The ability of the sphere, and ADAM to (jump) from one time into another, and ADAM¡¯s assurance UW ships could soon do like wise, had them in near hysteria.  As Avenger was only an hour and some minutes from landing, they were as impatient as children sent to bed on Christmas Eve.  The holovision cameras floating on their platforms shot every angle as Russell Carlin, Debra Hilds, and ADAM emerged from Avenger¡¯s launch bay door, Murray Dean and the three rescued hopper crewmen behind them.  The balance of Avenger¡¯s crew filed out to meet and embrace their families and friends.  At the approach to the landing berth Chairman Hughes, Jeff Calan, Dr. Hopewell, Professor Sackett and Sergent Major Harmand awaited them with stately dignity.  Chairman Hughes hugged each of them tightly and waited to be introduced to ADAM.  Hands were shaken all around between the fellows and Debra Hilds received several kisses to which she presented whichever cheek was closest.  ADAM, feeling crowded in this human tangle, levitated above it.


    ¡°Madam Chairman,¡± Russell began ¡°I wish to present to you and the United Worlds of Earth, the only free representative of the hegemony of Hathlon, known to us as Deneb five.  The war correspondent, reporter and historian, ADAM Logam, son of Rath Lagam eminent cyberneticist and engineer.  ADAM, the Chairman of the United Worlds of Earth General Assembly, Security Council and Science Council, Chairman and member respectively Madam Linette Hughes, Dr. Hopewell and Professor Edward Sachett.¡±


    ¡°I am proud to meet you all, gentle beings,¡± said ADAM, ¡°I feel more alive than I have for four hundred years.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± allowed Chairman Hughes, ¡°our worlds are at your service ADAM, just tell us how to help our common scourge out of the universe.¡±  The UW Science Council spent every minute of the day pouring over ADAM¡¯s war and history records.  From those records and much interpretation of later events during the Shaper-Denebian War, and after it, left the scholars with no doubt as to what and whom they faced.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡®Shapers¡¯ was a term used to describe the race which had originated on Alpha Lyrae four about twenty eight thousand years earlier.  Much like primitive humans, the dominant (or modern) form of their race was evolved while its forerunners (as neanderthal was to cro-magnon man) still roamed their world.  Also, much like humans they hunted and harried this race nearly to early extinction.  The pre-Shaper race subjugated the Shapers spread rapidly and occupied nearly seventy percent of their worlds mass.  Shapers were fiercely territorial and vicious, loners by choice and warriors by nature.  The forerunners of humankind had seemed to melt away once the newer species had arrived.  On Vega four however, events took a more sinister route.  The pre-Shaper race was enslaved and used by its successors to provide labor, security and entertainment as desired.  The Shapers penned and harumed both Shaper and pre-Shaper females.  Some of the most vicious and rapacious males had dozens of females in their retinues.  As primitive man had, they began tribal life using natural shelters, caverns and hollow trees at first, later the Shapers built huge kraal-like compounds and eventually fortresses.  The pre-Shaper race (it was learned from ADAM¡¯s records) still existed to this day enslaved and abused by their own descendants.  Until about thirteen thousand years ago, the Shapers had no knowledge of space travel or alien life.  Then the Shapers were in a feudal age with numerous small city-states making constant war on each other, destroying and rebuilding their world over and over.  They practiced war so much; to their primitive society, it became a necessary part of each males life to kill at least one hundred enemy soldiers before he could choose a name for himself or breed.  The majority of each lord, army was made up of such untitled males.  The working force of each city-state consisted of the elderly, mostly wounded or maimed males, discarded females no longer attractive in the harem and the children of the lord whose only pursuit was the preparation for battle.  While the old males and hags worked to feed, clothe shelter and arm the tribe, the lord continually and relentlessly bred his females to produce more and stronger warriors to expand his power over his lands.  After each war, woman were consigned to the victors harem, the old and lame to the workhouses and all males of breeding age were slaughtered outright.  Thus, the victorious always retained control of their race¡¯s evolution.  Each war and breeding period afterward have accounted for every modification of the Shaper race.  Different Saromes (father king from Vegan language) have had differing ideas of what should be bred for.

 Chapter 24

    Until recent history it was not known how long ago, the Shapers developed genetic surgery, but several of their favorite legends attribute the mastery over all flesh to a court officer and physician, who later usurped his lord¡¯s throne and began the ¡®time of beasts¡¯.  Apparently, several of his creations ran amok after the battle and escaped his fortress.  His soldiers did pursue and destroy all his runaway monsters but tales of their exploits have been found in most areas of the main continent.  Suleg the wise styled a new title for he intended to conquer his entire world.  He thought and shortly invented his answer to the other jealous Saromes seeking booty and assurances of peace in exchange for their fealty.  He united the main continent and subdued three rival Saromes who stood in his pathway.  Suleg took a step beyond selective breeding or surgical alteration (the traditional methods of creating Panit soldiers).  Prior to Suleg¡¯s reign the Sarome¡¯s had bred for size, strength, stamina, and agility.  To further ensure their victory they also surgically attached armor to their bodies and implanted some (secret weapons).  By Suleg¡¯s time the Panit was an eight foot tall burly giant with armor anchored to the bones around his neck, abdomen, spine, both shoulders, thighs, hands, head, kidneys and chest.  So armored in fact, that small arms fire was almost useless against them.  Their skin was tough and very fast healing.  Many a spear or arrow might find an opening in a Panit¡¯s armor only to cause momentary blood loss, clotting was highly accelerated.  Often the skull armor included ridges of spikes from above the neck to over the brow any number of rows between one to six could be present.  The tip of each metal boot held a short spur knife as well as at each heel.  The thumb and index finger of each hand was flesh but well armored.  The remaining three digits were molded into adamantinum steel claws.  At the base of the Panit¡¯s palms were two curved hooks made of the same metal.  These assisted the warrior climbing as did additional rock spurs on the instep of each boot.  The Panit¡¯s knees were each capped with armor and a three-inch spike for climbing and combat.  The elbows were also capped but with a greater weight of metal and rounded smooth.  In full armor and carrying his anock (a spear-axe) he normally weighed six hundred pounds (two hundred eighty kilograms) or more.  His night vision and hearing were excellent.  When deprived of food for several weeks the Panit lived on stored body fat from locations under his main armor plates.  These fat layers also acted as padding and insulation.  The main one of these (pillows) under the back armor from the neck to the rump, completely covered the spinal column.  The armor in this area was a succession of overlaying plates and normally looked doubled.  This allowed the armor to expand as the Panit¡¯s hump grew after feeding.  The anock, the Panit¡¯s weapon was versatile and practical.  Basically it was an eight centimeter diameter metal shaft ten feet long ending in a three edged spear point at one end and a three bladed mace-axe at the other.  Overall, the weapon was eleven feet and eight inches long, (about two and a half meters) and weighed ninety pounds.  The Panit used this weapon as a staff, pike, thrown spear or axe, and mace with equal facility in attacking barriers under twenty feet high.  It also was used as a vaulting pole.  The Panit used these as ladders and bridges when lashed together for the purpose.  When they prepared a defensive position they used them as stockade within a trench perimeter, burying the mace head in the ground.  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The Panit were fielded in groups of thirty-one each six of which were leaders called Panor the senior of these six commanded the Panit (also the name for this thirty one man army).  The other five each led a group of five Panits and obeyed the orders of the senior Panor selflessly.  The Panor was gifted with a larger skull and superior intelligence, his armor and outward appearance were the same as their Panit¡¯s but they were outfitted differently.  The Panor carried no anock; instead, he wore a large war axe at one shoulder across his back and an equally large curved sword at his hip.  A thin, metal braded rope coil was slung across his shoulder to his waist, unrolled this cable was about a thousand feet long.  The tensile strength of this rope was incredible only two-centimeter diameter it could support twenty tons of weight easily.  Most individual Panits carried a four-meter piece of this rope for use lashing anocks or as trip wire or snares.  The Panor lived and fought with his men as one of them, but commanded strict obedience always.  Military justice was swift and merciless, every Panit¡¯s judge, jury and executioner was the Panor.  The Panor was bred to enforce discipline by example and force as necessary.  A few less Panits died under their Panor¡¯s sword than in battle.

 Chapter 25

    By Suleg¡¯s time these groups were being incorporated into a larger body the Panan or as it translates War-Horde.  Consisting of a hundred Panits and twenty new warriors called Panomes or generals.  The Panomes were also surgically armored but carried only two weapons; a firearm called a Doram or wall hammer equivalent to an earthly recoilless rifle or bazooka of the twentieth century, and a three and a half foot long straight three edged sabre.  Each Panome led fifty Panits into battle and answered only to the Sarome.


    Through its history the Vegan city-states were sometimes ruled by a Panome (upon the Sarome¡¯s death) or until the city-state the Panome conquered could name him Sarome.  According to Vegan legend Suleg attacked his own Sarome; Ulbati with two hundred (beasts made men) or so the story goes.  The beasts were actually Suleg¡¯s creations of genetic surgery; their armor and weapons were grown not built and implanted.  Much of the source of Suleg¡¯s genetic material was a Panit he drugged and dissected.  Suleg used Maron¡¯s basic body structure information and added animal genetic information for the special touches.  Suleg cloned each successful individual and in five years had a ferocious force at his command.  The diversity was startling; Suleg had Maron clones with feline characteristics, ursine characteristics, bat, reptile, and lupine characteristics.  Their actions were surer and quicker, armor better and senses keener.  They were larger then the Panit by thirty pounds and eight inches of height.  They carried nothing and could march huge distances.  Suleg devised a processor to provide them food in a concentrated form, any organic material could be fed into its hopper and come out as a high protein and carbohydrate powder, and water would be rendered from the source material.  Suleg¡¯s troops attacked Ulbati¡¯s warriors within their own walls killing three thousand two hundred Panits, three hundred Panors and twenty-five Panomesin ten hours.  The Maron-Beasts then hacked the enemy to pieces and fed them into the processor.  Over the next one thousand four hundred years the (sons of Suleg) dominated the planet and continued the war-eugenics program there to what their race is today.  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The beast-adapted warriors now carry the old traditional weapons as well as several new ones.  In the ten thousand years since, the Vegan¡¯s were visited by a space traveler, and stole his ship and technological knowledge before feeding him into the processor.  Recognizing for the first time that the universe could also be conquered and looted they began their galactic wars.  Eridanus two, Procyon six, Hercule three, Elyrion four, Cladios three, Arcmentes five, and Perseus seven to name a few.  All these planets have been conquered by the Shapers and experimented on as well.


    After reviewing all of ADAM¡¯s information on the war and Vegan history the primary leaders of the UW government and military met with ADAM in the Science Council¡¯s anteroom.  Present were Chairman Hughes, Jeff Calan (now training corp. commander), Ted Harmand, Murray Dean, Russ Carlin, Doctor Hopewell, Professor Sackett, and a scientist Russell did not know introduced as Walter Chambers.  Russ knew that even as they were meeting something new was going on.  Several hundred technicians, medical teams, historians, and archeologists had been rushed to this UW base in Colorado the long ago site of Norad Headquarters nestled inside a solid mountain of limestone and granite.  Russ knew also that five hundred more ships were being designed along Avenger¡¯s specifications, all would be able to jump time as ADAM, and the UW metallurgists had adapted his ship to do.  The Shapers did not have nuclear power either fission of fusion, so Russ¡¯s ship could shift at will without having to lay up and restore energy after each hop.  It had been a supreme stroke of luck that Terra Twin had spotted the sphere during one of these dormant periods or humankind would have had no chance at all.  Now thanks to his own savvy in attacking the sphere boldly and with ADAM¡¯s invaluable data, the odds were much more favorable.

 Chapter 26

    Doctor Ernst Hopewell began the meeting politely ¡°Members, apparently before coming to Deneb four, where ADAM was constructed the Shapers were repulsed from one world, an insectiod race on Fomalhaut six.  This race had defeated two Shaper invasion armies sent against it in the past two thousand years.  The sphere, which attacked Deneb four, (Hathon) and is now threatening our system is a veteran of the failed Fomalhaut campaign, exiled from Vega until its objective is destroyed.  If ADAM¡¯s observations and reports are correct, all of the Vegan¡¯s technology is space travel, communications and time displacement are stolen knowledge and if the equipment which produces these effects is smashed the Vegan¡¯s are not capable of repairing it.  Vega four itself is where all prisoner races are eventually held and exploited for their master¡¯s benefit.  The Denebians aboard this sphere are an exception to this rule since this sphere is apparently out of communications with Vega and acting on its own.  However, it is still very dangerous since it is provisioning itself to return and attack Fomalhaut again.  It is looking for new genetic material, food and armament.  In short, it wants us gentlemen.  It is counting on the fact we will fight it with our best and newest weapons and lose in the end.  By so doing it hopes to capture enough force and firepower to return to Fomalhaut six, destroy it and return to Vega four victorious.  The Panome in charge of this ship is a direct descendant of Suleg himself and continues to dabble in genetic engineering on any race he captures.  ADAM says that on Vega itself the subject races out number the Shapers five to one and that if freed they would easily destroy their masters. The big problem between them and us is the fleet of spheres and their colony worlds if alerted the Vegan¡¯s can mobilize millions of warriors and deploy them on the hundred ships that still function, luckily the two attacks on Fomalhaut have taken eighty of their ships already and they have no more to produce.  The race from whom the Shapers stole the ships last descendant died on Vega in a subject race revolt.  Almost all of the Vegan¡¯s conquered races have been good, peace loving races with high moral standards, thus most of them were defeated quickly.  The human race is also civilized and peace loving so they may be doomed as well, if we cannot recapture the fighting spirit of our forebears.  ADAM has their numbers aboard the sphere; three thousand Panits, four hundred Panors, three Panomes, all under the grand Panome Klana Suleg.  Leadership is their weak link with so few Panor to guide them the Panits will be easily distracted or diverted in combat.  Also we can thank God for Russ Carlin¡¯s attack earlier, the dish or as ADAM calls it the Photon Cannon was destroyed and they have no other energy weapons.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°So why haven¡¯t they attacked our men on Mars yet?¡± asked Carlin.


    ¡°Apparently after a time shift energy must be taken on for some time to replenish the ship.  Also, your attack has confused them greatly.  Your ship and lasers were invisible to them and your projectiles appear from nowhere they could see,¡± answered Hopewell.


    ¡°What do you think they¡¯ll do then, Dr. Hopewell?¡± asked a Venus delegate.


    ¡°ADAM insures us that the Shapers will attempt to raid Mars for men, arms, and food.¡± answered Dr Hopewell.


    ¡°Rationing was in effect when I left the sphere,¡± ADAM stated, ¡°if food is not acquired soon the Denebians will be processed.¡±

 Chapter 27

    ¡°The damage done to the sphere during Captain Carlin¡¯s attack was grievous indeed, in order to maintain integrity the sphere was forced to reduce its size by a factor of twelve.  Life support will have gone into stasis while the ship made the first time shift, flew the two weeks to complete its course to Mars and shifted back into your time,¡± Dr Hopewell paused, then continued, ¡°The sphere at present will be dug in on Mars with only one tenth of its surface exposed to absorb energy.  We can expect them to emerge any time after twenty-eight days have passed.  If they followed their traditional battle style the first out of the ship will be the enslaved Denebians with some Panits to command them and perhaps one or two Panor in charge.  ADAM has given us the basic forms of the Denebian altered Panits and will try to aid us in turning them from Vegan control.  We must fight them and capture them to deny the enemy genetic material, we must not be captured either which will prove invaluable in the future, this is the main reason Fomalhaut is still free.¡± Hopewell concluded.


    ¡°The insects rigged a self-destructive device on all their soldiers and detonated them the moment the battle was over,¡± ADAM added.  ¡°You may find this disgusting but it has more dignity than being a Vegan experiment animal.¡±


    ¡°How much time has Captain Carlin gained us?  ADAM can you estimate?¡± inquired Hopewell.


    ¡°Yes, roughly we will have four of your weeks to prepare ourselves,¡± ADAM replied.


    ¡°How many are there ADAM?¡± Jeff asked.


    ¡°There were one thousand eight hundred when I left the sphere, commander Calan, unless some have been processed in which case there will be fewer.¡± ADAM replied.


    Ted Harmand addressed ADAM next, ¡°What type of weapons or tactics will allow us to stop and capture them, ADAM?¡±


    ¡°Your stunners should suffice to stop them one on one Sergeant Major, but in massed groups your ancient weapons the grenade and the claymore mine will be necessary.  I have made this known to Production Council, they are being stock piled now.¡± ADAM replied.  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Russell had also been screening early Earth records for ideas and put his forth now, ¡°I believe gas would be our best bet.¡±


    ¡°Mars atmosphere is thin as it is Russell, dare we poison it?¡± asked Professor Sackett.


    ¡°No, not poison it Professor, just sedate it,¡± Russ replied.  Russell as a space going man knew the colonists on Mars had been heating Mars ice caps and melting ice asteroids for years to create an atmosphere for the red planet.  Most of this work was nearly accomplished.  To date Mars had a twenty percent oxygen, eighty percent nitrogen and carbon dioxide atmosphere, but only about two thirds of a mile thick and pollutants could easily wreck the fragile balance.


    ¡°You wish to try a knock out gas to overwhelm them,¡± asked Hughes.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Russell, ¡°but, mixed with smoke so the Vegans won¡¯t see us removing them,¡±


    ADAM broke in to agree, ¡°To my knowledge and by their own records no gas weapon has ever been used against the Vegans or their slaves before, this attack has a high probability of success Russell.¡±


    The next question came from the newcomer Walter Chambers.  ¡°What was the projectile weapon used on the mass drivers defending Mars, ADAM?¡±


    ¡°Similar to your mass cannon sir but propelled by gas pressure instead of electro magnetic force as yours are,¡± ADAM answered.


    ¡°If we succeed in saving the Denebian slaves, will they be able to become a civilization again?¡± asked Chambers.


    ¡°The genetic alterations are reversible, yes I believe they could return home.¡± ADAM replied.


    ¡°Then ADAM and fellow members I have a proposition for you all,¡± Chambers said.  ¡°If ADAM will release to us all the Vegan¡¯s genetics information and cloning procedures, I believe we will be able to restore and re-educate your creators race, and to safeguard our own without fear of this renegade sphere or any future Shaper invasions.¡±


    ¡°That is a noble speech and sentiment Doctor Chambers, but doesn¡¯t it promise a little too much,¡± Linette Hughes spat.  ¡°Our race hasn¡¯t fought anything in sixteen hundred years, our weapons are few and our enemy is not only warlike but bred to it for twenty five thousand years, we must be cautious and realistic doctor.¡±


    ¡°And defeated and enslaved Madam Chairman?¡± asked Chambers quickly.  ¡°If I am right about what ADAM knows, and am allowed to use it, we may be able to defeat all the Shapers in time and free all the conquered races, and I am not boasting Madam Chairman.¡±

 Chapter 28

    Chairman Hughes looked hotly at this man, not sure whether to hear his idea or have him arrested.  She looked from him to Russ Carlin to Jeff to Dr. Hopewell.  They all seemed interested in hearing him.  Finally she looked at Sackett ¡°you asked my permission to have Dr. Chambers here Professor, have you heard this plan?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t,¡± said Sackett, ¡°but Walt Chambers is no crank, I suggest you let him speak, if you still feel he¡¯s insane later that¡¯s your prerogative.  I vouched for him earlier and I¡¯d do it again,¡± said Sackett.


    ¡°Very well Dr. Chambers, we will hear your plan.  Let¡¯s hope it merits the respect Professor Sackett affords you,¡± said Hughes.


    ¡°Thank you, Madam Chairman,¡± Chambers began, ¡°I would not have called upon my old mentor if it did not merit his respect.  Through the last three days, our computers have been picking over ADAM¡¯s brain, literally.  All of Deneb¡¯s science has been made available to us and much of the Shapers technology as well.  What ADAM has not revealed however is how the Shapers clone their warriors so quickly and how their skills are attained with such great speed.  If we knew those things Madam Chairman, humanity could do exactly as you yourself suggested here today.  We could, using the time displacement, travel back in time and collect genetic material that the Shapers have no access to, grow our own armies and obliterate the Shaper Empire.  At the same time we can spread varieties of the humans throughout the worlds we liberated, their reward for serving us in this desperate war.  Also this would prevent another warrior race from filling the vacuum once Shaper power is crushed.  Madam, our race will become the most numerous and prosperous in the universe committed to peace always but ready and able to fight when needs be,¡± Chambers concluded.


    ¡°What specifically do you mean Chambers, What genetic material from our past?¡± Hopewell asked.


    ¡°The best and bravest of course, our ancient heroes, generals, kings, soldiers, knights, and nobles from races of man long since extinct.  We have almost twelve million men on Mars too many to evacuate in time and none have fought before, even against humans much less these monsters.  A few ships firing rays and bombs from orbit will kill many but the first to die would be the Deneb slaves, hardly a good idea since we need them as allies.  No, I favor the gas attack Captain Carlin suggested, but I need the information I ask of ADAM also.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°What you are suggesting is little better than the enemies own methods, Chambers, but if you can convince ADAM it is worth doing I will do what I can to help you get started.¡± Hughes replied.  Chambers turned to ADAM, the machine rested on the table before Doctor Hopewell.


    ¡°ADAM, you have been aboard their vessel for four hundred years now, you¡¯ve seen them murder, kidnap, and vivisect your creators people, you have witnessed by recordings all of Shaper history, if they can be destroyed, do you believe this plan could do it?¡± asked Chambers.


    ADAM waited almost a full minute before answering, then said, ¡°After reviewing all of Earths historic record available and realizing how cunning, vicious, and tenacious your predecessors were in warfare, I agree with Doctor Chambers, his plan can work.¡±


    ¡°Then,¡± said Chairman Hughes ¡°What should we call your project Doctor?¡±


    Chambers looked at Sackett then back to Hughes ¡°I call it The RACE Alternative Chairman, it stands for Resurrected Ancestral Clones Enhanced.¡±


    ¡°How enhanced Doctor?¡± Hughes inquired.


    ¡°Anything we can give them to help defeat the Shapers, Madam Chairman, anything, but no monsters I assure you.¡±


    Linnette Hughes rose from the conference table and added ¡°I had wondered why Professor Sackett authorized the large number of new specialists now in the old Sac-Norad Base.¡± Hughes said.  ¡°Now I don¡¯t need to ask, Emmet always was a maverick anyway.  Until further notice, ADAM will work with you Chambers, and lets hope you¡¯re both right.  Commander Calan and Captain Carlin you and your ships will also be at Chambers assistance until the attack of course, hopefully with your time jump system his job will go quickly.  This meeting is adjourned gentlemen, ADAM.¡±  As she walked down the corridor to her own quarters she felt as if maybe she would be written into history as the most immoral of Earth leaders for this one decision.  But if history survived past her time, that would be her triumph and her justification.

 Chapter 29

    Berthed in the hanger bay of the old Sac-Norad Base (Now the RACE programs headquarters) Russ Carlin¡¯s Avenger and Jeff Calan¡¯s Defender were being loaded for travel, time travel that is, with stops all along humanities history from the first organized conflict up to the last war of chemical explosives (combat after World War three being deemed too much a push button affair).  First to give tham all the time they needed to accomplish their task Jeff and Russell¡¯s ships had transported ADAM and the metallurgists to clothe the mountain itself in a metal time net so that when they arrived with their cargo Chambers would be able to grow his army in an accelerated time field.  This was ADAM¡¯s suggestion, the Shapers jumped backward in time, stashed their embryos in the past then jumped forward again to recover the adults.  Chambers could have done this but with unlimited fusion power to command ADAM was sure a sustainable time field would enable maturation in a matter of days at most, Chambers agreed.  With ADAM¡¯s help, all the systems to support the embryos were automated to the greatest practical degree.  Workers inside the field wore regressor suits, which countered the acceleration of their aging process exactly, without the suit a person entering the field would die in a matter of hours.  The Acceleration was set at a constant one minute inside equalled one day outside thus in five days and ten minutes an embryo reached adulthood and emerged from the Mountain into Chambers training compound twenty years of age and ravenously curious.  Chambers began on another of ADAM¡¯s suggestions the day Jeff, Russell and two hundred volunteer operatives prepared to leave.  ADAM accompanied Russ¡¯s ship on its journey.  Dr. Hopewell boarded Jeff¡¯s Defender with a device ADAM had provided the blueprints for, a dimensional communicator, by this device the two ships could communicate with each other or Chambers while still in the past.  While his was still the only ship outfitted with the time net Russ had transported Chamber, historians, and archeologists three months into the past hidden in the Norad mountain they researched and compiled a list of targets for Chambers operatives.  Before taking the long hop back Jeff and Russ made a short shift back one week in time to get the list and pick up the research party itself.  Now with each ship at one hundred eighty souls, they were fully manned and ready to go ¡®hunting¡¯.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

 Chapter 30

    Throughout the ¡®tissue raid¡¯ on the past, Adam and the metallurgists had been working on a ¡®blanket¡¯ to cover the sphere and cut off all energy absorption.  Finally they settled on a powder of salts of mercury and silver, if introduced onto the spheres surface no matter how furiously it smelted itself to smother the salts they would remain on the outside reflecting large amounts of energy away.  As the two ships landed at Luna Base ADAM announced the ¡®blanket¡¯ was ready.  On the flight from Chambers compound to Luna Russ had been contacted by Luna Tactical Supply, his knockout gas was ready and waiting to be loaded on the arrival of Avenger and Defender.  The canisters were high pressure impact bombs of gray plastic composition sized to be delivered by his and Jeff¡¯s ¡®mass cannons¡¯.  They would cover as area forty miles square in dense yellow smoke and diffuse chloroform vapor.  The stuff was thick and in Mars thin windless atmosphere could be expected to linger for several days.  Most of Hughes ¡®fleet of green¡¯ was already completed, Professor Sackett having copied ADAM¡¯s time net on RACE mountain and automated the ship works on Luna and Earth.  Only two million men remained on Mars.  Time hopping ships had made hundreds of evacuation runs and often before departing.


    The ¡®time shift¡¯ technology seemed to Jeff to have lifted every human spirit.  People who spoke to him now sounded sure the battle would be won.  Even ever pessimistic Chairman Hughes sounded upbeat as she greeted them.  ¡°If only we¡¯d had more time,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯d have brought your wives along, but they are on the holophone for you instead.¡±  Jeff and Russell were each shown to private holobooths on the base and spent several minutes speaking to their wives.  Jamie and Jeff celebrated her news of a son on the way, and Russell and Debra confirmed their intentions to start a family.  Both conversations ended on a strained note but both spouses were the stronger for having the contact.  As Jeff and Russell were led up to the Chairman¡¯s office, Russ asked how long she was visiting Luna.  Their guide said ¡°Chairman Hughes has relocated herself and UW Headquarters permanently.¡±  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    When they reached the office she explained the move herself.  ¡°We were stagnating on Earth and didn¡¯t even know it, the government there was old, comfortable and lazy.  I brought the government out here to get a new perspective, space for mankind to expand, not just support Mother Earth.  Chambers saw more than I did before he opened my eyes, our place is out there everywhere we can live and progress.  Life is very uncertain gentlemen, stars die or go nova, dust clouds like the cole sack invade, it is in our race¡¯s best interest to spread out into the universe, as far and as fast as we can.  If your attack succeeds commanders, our race will get that chance.¡± explained Hughes.  Both Jeff and Russell agreed with the Chairman whole heartedly.  They entertained her with tales from their latest mission (some of the operatives had some very close shaves getting their samples).  They dined without speaking and had coffee after.


    Jeff was first to speak as the coffee was served, ¡°Russell, ADAM and I have conferred on the reward the R.A.C.E.¡¯s should be given.  Madam Chairman, Chamber¡¯s idea is fine but lets do something different than repeat Earth history on a thousand other worlds lets give each variety of race its own world to rule.  Without any competition all should benefit enormously.  Every race we found has its vision of a (promised land) lets give it to them, a whole planet with one species on it of mankind, with one nationality and one creed.  Think of the races lost forever on Earth because of thoughtless violence.¡±


    ¡°How would they communicate with us or each other?¡± asked Hughes.


    ¡°We can teach them one language to use with (outsiders), and keep it going through some form of religious order.  All of the warring peoples we saw were fighting over the same things Madam Chairman, food, shelter, and living space.  In educating them we can teach them to take care of the first two needs and the planet we give them solves the third.¡± explained Russell.


    ¡°Your point, as usual Russell is well made, your RACE troops will be given a home for each creed until all are rewarded equally,¡± said Chairman Hughes.  ¡°Now you gentlemen must return to your ships and win this fight, to save all the children of civilization, alien and human as well.¡±

 Chapter 31

    ¡°By your leave Madam,¡± Jeff and Russell said together and returned to their ships.  Russell¡¯s sleep gas was loaded on both craft, fuel and armament racks were full and the crews were well fed and rested.  Russell and Jeff¡¯s vessels lifted from their pads, hovered a moment above the base and faded like smoke from view.


    Everything was ready at the RACE compound.  Chambers met them and ADAM and loading got underway immediately.  The races marched onto the ships ten abreast each unit separated by a five meter long space there were The Hausa, The Nubians, Mandingo and Masai, The Assyrians, The Hittites, The Hebrews and Philistines, The Egyptians and Persians, The Thracians, Greeks and Spartans, The Romans and Goths, The Huns and Vandals, The Britons and Celts, Danes and Swedes, Germans and Franks, The Spaniards and Turks, The Carthaginians and Scythian, The Poles and Cossacks, The Indian Nations all one hundred twenty of them from Apache to Seminole.  The Polynesians and Hindi, Sihks and Tibetans, Maori and Australian Aborigines, Samoans and Hawaiians, Japanese and Thais, Cham and Chinese, Mongols and Kemer.  Beside each man walked his races living totem, his companion in war.  The Indian Tribes marched with their wolf, eagle, cougar, bear, wolverine or buffalo beside them.  The Mediterranean races were accompanied by lions, horses, dogs, hawks, jackals, panthers, and elephants.  The African Tribes walked cheetah, rhino, wildebeest, tiger, hyena, baboon, and gorilla.  The South East Asians and Islanders with komodo dragons, monitor lizards, orangutans, sloths, pandas, bats, and brahmas.  Altogether two hundred groups of one hundred men each with twenty animals in escort of each group the divided evenly and marched into the two ships.  Ten thousand men in each hold and four thousand animals packed the ships to their limits.


    Chambers force was formidable all right but would they get along until the battle started, Chambers said yes.  ¡°I took the long view from the start,¡± he said, ¡°if we told them up front what was happening and what we¡¯d give them for helping in the war, they¡¯d see reason and cooperate.  Also I strengthened their paternal instincts and race preservation drives.  They¡¯ll fight the devil himself if you point him out.  Every one of them has a wife and child here Russell ready to join them on the world they win when the war is over.  That¡¯s right, Jeff every RACE in your command is a dedicated loving father with the highest motivation to win and return home alive.  Now they all are armed with their traditional weapons but also carry gas masks, water canteens and nets for capturing the Denebians.  They¡¯ve been instructed to collect and return Denebians to their camps as prisoners, but kill any Panit, Panor, or Panome they see.  The animals have the same training but reinforced by Hypno-Learning.  Those creatures have dreamed themselves being beaten and tortured by Shapers for years.  The self destructive device is automatic if the RACE or ACE brain, heart or lung activity stops a cellular poison is released into the blood stream within minutes no living tissue will remain. *ACE=Animal Clone EnhancedThe genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Did you tell them about that too, Walter?¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°Yes Russell, I did and I told them why.  They also agreed after viewing ADAM¡¯s pictures of Hathlon¡¯s people (before and after) Alteration.  This death was more preferable than that.  So you have two days before the Sphere will send its troops out to meet you.  Help them stay motivated both of you, camp them together for camaraderie and strength in numbers, plug up the enemy¡¯s projective tubes quickly, and wait until all the Deneb slaves are outside before you use gas.  Our RACE¡¯s will mask themselves at the first sight of your canisters popping.  The cargo (time hop) ships will collect the Denebs from the camps.  If you breach the Sphere the ACE¡¯s will go in and clear it out before any RACE enters.  Be sure ADAM¡¯s ¡®blanket¡¯ is deployed.  If they transport away your troops will be confused and easily defeated while trying to figure out what¡¯s going on.  Time travel was the one concept none of their minds could grasp.  Not from a lack of intelligence either just that most of them don¡¯t grasp the concept of time let alone traveling within it.¡±

 Chapter 32

    ¡°So their as ready as possible to fight, eh Chambers?¡± Jeff said.


    ¡°Yes and by the Chairman¡¯s order they all have been taught English-Asian as a command language to obey you and to communicate between units also.  Very well then if your troops are aboard, I send you with the Spartan wish (come back with your shield or on it).  Your army has adopted the Spartan wish as its motto.  Since they¡¯ll all be in stasis during transport, use the time to give them your battle plan.¡±  At his last remark Chambers fished out a small black dice with a grill on one side, ¡°It¡¯s a Hypno-microphone and transmitter, you talk into it, they hear your words in their subconscious.¡±


    ¡°Works even in stasis?¡± Jeff asked.


    ¡°Yes, the subconscious is always working commander.¡± Chambers added.


    ¡°Were the animals the suggestion ADAM made before we left Walter?¡± Russell asked.


    ¡°Why yes, Russ, don¡¯t you approve?  They have several advantages you know.  First the heavy types rhino, elephant, and buffalo can split up the Deneb slaves frontline and scatter them so the net squads can get at them.  If your beams work as well as before, the rest will enter the Sphere and tear into anything they meet.  This should cause enough havoc for ADAM and his special unit to enter and kill the ships brain, without that the Panuits and their masters are stranded and immobile.  The Shapers have never lost a war before against fellow hominids, but the insect race on Fomalhaut stopped them, so it is possible.  ADAM stressed that the problem of humanoids fighting altered humanoids was mercy, trying to be merciful to the Shapers genetic zoo has always proved very deadly.¡±  ADAM floated toward Russell¡¯s Avenger, followed by twenty very tall, broad shouldered men in long cloaks with hoods drawn over their faces.  Russell half expected what ADAM¡¯s troops looked like but said nothing of it.  He and Jeff shook hands with Walt Chambers and returned to their ships.  Each now wore one of the hypno-mics on the right lapel of his uniform.


    ADAM and his giant escorts entered the Avenger and marched down the corridor to the last storage bay and entered quickly.  As the door closed behind them ships lights changed from white to green.  ¡°Within minutes,¡± ADAM said to them, ¡°you will be in stasis, rest well and dream of your victory.¡±  As ADAM exited the room the cowled figures all chanted together (for victory, for Odin).  The black disc attached near ADAM¡¯s speaking diaphragm was shiny and black with a grill one side.  ADAM floated down the corridor toward the command room almost half a mile away, looking at Russell Carlin¡¯s design Adam was even more sure he had found the right allies to defeat the Shapers.  This ship was proof they could think and plan under pressure well, remarkably well.  Russell¡¯s Avenger was basically a zeppelin shape without tail fins or gondola.  Nothing projected from the hull anywhere.  In its camouflage mode a hologram of the stars on the opposite side of Avenger was projected onto the facing hull.  Only at the two ends of the one and a half mile long craft could a star seem the disappear and then reappear.  Three quarters of a mile in diameter at its thickest point, with a smooth rounded nose and a tapered, conical tail.  Avenger looked like a long green teardrop peppered with stars.  The two ships approached Mars from one hundred eighty degrees opposite the plain of Elysium and began a slow advance around the planet one north bound and one south.  They stopped and landed just twenty miles short of the Sphere¡¯s crater and off loaded their troops and supplies.  ADAM and his ¡®mystery men¡¯ remained on Russell¡¯s ship.  Jeff Calan stationed Defender ten miles above the Sphere in geo-synchronous orbit.  Avenger skirted the crater and laid seismic sensors in a circle all around the craters outer edges.  If the Sphere started moving anything the humans were going to know in time to do something about it.  On the morning of the twenty ninth day of its landing on Mars the Sphere opened six portals and the horrors of Kla Na Suleg emerged, the once proud and peaceful Denebians were indeed shaped by their masters, surgery and growth vats.  The things that were exiting the Sphere looked like human dolls built to imitate animals and loving the part.  There were man-snakes, man-wolves, man-cats, man-bears, man-lions and among them Jeff saw a sight he wished to forget but knew he never would, a head and thorax rested on eight burly human arms with eight eyes on its head looking forward, upwards, and sideways, a man-spider.  Slowly from one port a large round ball of flesh emerged rolling on its stomach and two stubby diminutive arms.  This golem had one eye and a mouth with no nose or external ears.  From another portal walked a score of huge Denebians, giants all of eight feet tall.  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

 Chapter 33

    As ADAM saw them he signaled Jeff and Russell, ¡°Now its time to release the animal troops gentlemen.¡±  As Jeff and Russell spoke into their hypno-mics, ADAM uttered two words into his own ¡°make ready¡±.  As the RACE handlers let their charges loose the fray seemed to be going as ADAM had predicted, the elephants, rhinos, and bison broke the mass of fleshy monsters apart at each portal and the cougars, panthers, lions, tigers, wolves, bears, and wolverines entered the Sphere.  Gorillas and orangutans battered the normal sized Denebs and carried them bodily to the nets.  As ADAM watched with his troops below preparing to disembark the first of the Panuits could be seen coming out of the portals trying to rally the slave warriors to regroup and hold.  The only group of Denebs who appeared to be holding their order were the twenty giants who literally threw the ACE¡¯s away from their line.  ADAM told Russell to land just on the outside of the crater lip opposite the giants position.  No sooner had they landed than ADAM sped down the central corridor and joined his troops for the battle.  His outer shell had been coated in a bright, vivid green lacquer to reduce his visibility.  As his troops emerged from the storage bay Russell knew ADAM understood the importance of having an ¡®edge¡¯ a little something extra on your side.  The warriors following him out the gangway were sixteen Panuits and four Panor in full outfit and weaponry.  As the twenty Shaper warriors came over the crater ridge and moved straight for the Denebian giants the other Deneb slaves still battling fled at full run out of the crater only to be trapped, wounded or netted by the RACE warriors entrenched in a continuous double circle around the crater.  The Panuit from the Sphere portal nearest the giants rushed to join them against the other Shapers bearing down on them.  ADAM directed on of his Panor to this Panuit and the great axe whined through the air as the Panuits head shot from his neck.  As the two groups met ADAM¡¯s four Panor held to the rear, only lending a hand when one of the Panuits appeared out numbered.


    Seven minutes later the last Deneb giant fell with three annocks stuck in his body like pins in a cushion.  The Panuits and Panor recovered their weapons and marched onward to the closest portal.  As they approached it ADAM in a never more human gesture called to Russ and Jeff, ¡°wish me luck?!¡± and disappeared from view.  With ADAM and his team inside Russell and Jeff started dusting the crater with the reflective blanket powder of mercury and silver salts.  The portals of the Sphere closed and its surface began shifting under the silvery coating but the silver remained on the surface stubbornly.  The ACE¡¯s were recalled and gas canisters hurtled through the thin air of Mars to burst and fill the Sphere crater with a dense yellow fog.  It was disconcerting to Jeff and Russell who had seen most of Earths races fighting.  To watch Masai tribesmen, Assyrian infantry and Greek Hoplites stop, put on gas masks, and continue fighting.  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    An hour later the crater was quiet, all the prisoners were loaded aboard Defender and Jeff was on his way to Chambers compound no later then three hours after that.  The Sphere wasn¡¯t emitting any sounds, but Russell felt he had waited long enough to try to help ADAM.  Russ aimed his beams on one point of the visible curve of the Sphere and started cutting in.  Within minutes a thirty foot hole was gaping in the Sphere.  Into this Russ burst more gas canisters.  Choking and stumbling Panuits rushed out into the open air.  The Sphere¡¯s surface solid once more, opened its six portals again.  Through them came more Panuits some showing obvious signs of having encountered the ACE¡¯s, many were torn across all their exposed areas.  The feline ACE¡¯s had well earned their keep today.  Several were missing a hand or forearm altogether.  At least thirty of those Russell could see were limping or crawling out of the Sphere with the ACE wolves and hyenas still grappling with them.  A more normal looking group of Panuits formed next to two of the portals and Russ could clearly see the axe of a Panor among them.  He spoke quickly into his mike, ¡°to the west wall, Datis, Miltiades, Lycurgus, Hamilcar, prepare for enemy and hold crater wall, do not, do not chase them back in, just repel and hold, let them stumble around in the smoke.¡±  As Russ finished this order he saw the Panor clearly, stepping off in front of his troops toward the west edge of the crater.  Arrows, spears, and throwing axes rained among them as they advanced on the wall.  The Panuits crouched their annocks and bunched together tighter for protection from these missiles.  This was exactly what ADAM had said they would try to escape the crater

 Chapter 34

    At quick commands into his mike Datis and Lycurgus¡¯s men who had cast their spears, loaded and began firing their slings, hurling three pound iron shot and impact grenades, specially prepared for use by the slingers.  As these began to cost lives in battle the group molds, breaks and Datis advances on the remnant of the Panor¡¯s army.  The median slingers and casters shout with triumph as one of the grenades relieves the Panor of his left arm and head, its impact on his shoulder detonating the fuse.  Several Panuits, close to their leader, were thrown to the side by this piled confusion.  Lycurgus¡¯s casters drew out their swords and met the Panuits one on one, the anocks were too ponderous to block all the attacks and succumbed to the Spartan blades completely.  A single Panuit nearer to one of the portals, evaded the short heavy Spartan swords and ran back into the smoky interior of the Sphere.  The ultra-violet and infrared optic systems aboard Avenger kept watch on the Sphere and its seven openings.  (The hole cut by Russell¡¯s beams had not fused shut).  From this central well now came a loud chanting sound as ADAM floated upward into the smoky air over the Sphere and fifteen of his troops emerged turned toward the closest crater wall and marched straight toward it over dead bodies of Panuits and Deneb slaves.  Before ADAM¡¯s force could reach the wall however, a new scene was taking shape in Russell¡¯s scopes, every portal and hole at the top of the Sphere was pouring Panuits out into the crater.  The axes of several Panor were visible among them as well.  Knowing by this mass attack that ADAM¡¯s raid had achieved its purpose, Russ ordered his RACE troops to stand fast on the outside of the crater wall and kill anything coming out.  As soon as Russell saw Datis¡¯ and Lycurgus¡¯ troops out of the basin, and ADAM¡¯s climbing down the outside of the crater rim, he focused all four beams onto the Sphere and fired his four mass cannons continuously, opening the rent in the Sphere wider and wider yet.


    He heard through his monitors the short, blunt commands of the American Indian Chiefs guarding the south and west walls of the crater.  As the Panuits topped the wall the Indian leaders met their charge blow for blow and man for man.  Of the Panuit and Panor force of thirty five hundred only nineteen hundred remained pushing at every side of the crater but not breaking the lines of the races of men.  The ACE¡¯s were called back to augment their human counterparts at the rim walls.  Hannibal, Hamilcar, Kebbi and Gongo Musa¡¯s elephants and rhino charged over and over, splitting the Panuits ranks into fragments.  Russell¡¯s barrage on the Sphere continued.  The mass of metal was smoking, of itself now the center of the big iron nickle ball was a dull dark cherry red beginning to brighten and melt.  As the metals reached yellow they lost form and fell into themselves faster and faster as Russell¡¯s beams alone now focused wide for heating, and continued to bear down on the huge mass.  Panuits and Panor alike thronged the crater wall trying desperately to escape the hell-heat behind them, being mangled by the men and beasts in front.  When Russell judged the puddle of alloy large enough he shut off his beams.  With the entire exposed side of the Sphere gone, the rest was now like a hollow bowl of metal lava, pocking Mars¡¯s crust like a festering boil.  Russell¡¯s mass cannoneers changed their racks from impact bombs to hydrogen-oxygen ice bombs.  Lacking detonators this time the bombs would detonate as they plunged into the thousands of metric tons of metal ¡®soup¡¯ below them.  Russell gave his RACE warriors and their feral assistants the order to fall back from the crater and continue moving away until he ordered the halt.  The lines of human troops and their totems disengaged and pulled back almost half a mile before Russell ordered ¡®halt¡¯ into his hypno-mike, and fire to his gunners.  To the twelve hundred remaining Shapers the world must have seemed engulfed in fire and blast waves as the ice bombs entered the ¡®broth¡¯ of nickle-iron and exploded great gouts of liquid metal were flung in all directions out of the ¡®pot¡¯ behind them.  Hundreds standing atop the wall as the humans pulled back had been shouting for more to come up and leave the crater edge now were burned, burning, and blasted into seared goblets of flesh and metal as the tide of death enveloped them.  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

 Chapter 35

    As the Shapers burned and twisted bodies lay strewn about the crater of Elysium, Russell continued to fire the crater rim with impact bombs and rock, keeping the very few Panuits and Panor to survive inside the crater and ensure none outside had survived.  He now called on his RACE troops to make prisoners of any remaining Vegans and mercifully kill those terminally wounded as they advanced back to the crater¡¯s edge.  As ADAM kept count only fourteen Panor were captured alive and one hundred and seven Panuits were marched out into the shadow of Avenger as she set down to re-board her troops and their mascots.  Of the RACE army nearly eighteen thousand nine hundred remained battle ready, seven hundred forty five were wounded or maimed, and thirty eight were carried aboard unconscious but breathing.  Of the ACE¡¯s the heaviest toll was of the advance force of big cats, wolves and bears who entered the Sphere early on in the fighting, of the whole retinue three thousand four hundred remained some seven hundred to seven hundred and fifty of which were wounded but still able to return to the ship.  With these losses compared Russell, ADAM and Jeff Calan¡¯s attack had done in some sixteen hours what thirty races on as many planets had never done.  Beaten a Shaper army, taken its slave races prisoner and captured living Panuits and Panors.  The insects of Fomalhaut six had achieved a stand off destroying ships by nuclear explosives and preventing their own capture, but that was a far cry from slugging it out with ground forces and taking Shapers and their slaves in custody.


    As ADAM¡¯s party came aboard Russell saw in the monitor the Panuit false armor and helmets had been discarded.  The strong, heavy thewed men averaging seven feet tall with their long blond hair cinched in a leather head band.  The Vikings filed aboard slowly bearing something on a stretcher in the middle of the group, they returned to the storage bay where ADAM had quartered them on the outward journey and closed the door.  ADAM floated into the command deck behind Russell as he finished watching the ¡®Norse¡¯ procession.  ¡°My opinion of commander Russell Carlin continues to improve,¡± commented ADAM, ¡°the battle was well won sir.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve proved an excellent commander yourself ADAM, everyone of your party is in his berth safe and sound, but what¡¯s on the stretcher?¡± Russell asked.


    ¡°The exalted Panome of Vega, Kla Na Suleg.¡± ADAM replied.  ¡°Four of his Dorams (Vegan hand carried cannon, recoilless.) are locked in the armory as well Russell.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we lost so many of the ACE¡¯s inside ADAM?¡± asked Russell.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Yes, unfortunately he had about sixty of them aboard and was expecting your infantry to enter the Sphere, when the animals came inside, the Shapers killed many but were defeated in the end, thanks to those animals my party was virtually unmolested in the Sphere.  The Panuit disguised Vikings fooled Shapers and slaves alike, we acquired the four Dorams as we went along, I dared not let any of my Panuits carry one but the four may ¡®Panors¡± could carry were quite sufficient.  We went straight to the ¡®computer¡¯ first and destroyed the entire control level room by room.  The gas worked well in the Denebs but only slowed the Shapers down a little.  The computer was addled by it though, it was still requesting instructions when we ignited the vat liquid.¡± ADAM explained.


    Earlier, Russell felt left out of ADAM¡¯s ¡®little mission¡¯, now he was sure he was missing nothing he wanted to see.  ¡°Where did you catch him ADAM?¡± Russell asked referring to the Panome in the Vikings custody.


    ¡°Oddly enough he was in the communications room Russell, and the observation is sobering indeed.¡±  ADAM floated closer to the gunner¡¯s position and asked politely ¡°may I reproduce on your holopad lieutenant?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡± said the gunner.


    As ADAM continued speaking a shape image formed on the pad ¡°I holographed this device on board the Sphere Russell.¡± ADAM said.


    Russell looked and realization was a pitch fork resting on his spine.  ¡°It¡¯s the AV relay from Argus ADAM, the one sealed inside with the hoppers when they blasted her into oblivion.¡±


    ¡°Precisely,¡± said ADAM.  ¡°This was clamped to their communications console Russell, they used it to send a signal before we captured Panome.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible to contact Vega from here ADAM?¡± Russ asked through his whitened lips.


    ¡°Yes Russell, but the signal will take four hundred years to arrive there,¡± ADAM replied, ¡°and when it does this skirmish should be old news as well.¡±


    ¡°But, eventually they will come to attack ADAM.¡± Russell said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said ADAM, ¡°and if one RACE can defeat them two should do just as well.  Chambers can reconstruct all the Denebian DNA patterns, my creators race will always be your allies, Russell, you are awed so much by them.  They will never feel the debt is paid,¡± said ADAM.


    ¡°We will take your people home soon ADAM.¡± Russell attested.


    ¡°The better we must prepare Russell,¡± said the machine before him.  ¡°The better the chances for both our peoples to defeat the Shapers, even to push them back across the universe, and bacterial warfare remains a strong possible weapon.  It highly intrigues me Russell, that your race, however now it is civilized and non-violent in itself, was so inventive in means of destruction and murder in its formative past.  Your race is a paradox in the universe Russell, always thinking and dreaming of forming a lasting peace, and always ultimately having to resort to war.¡± ADAM observed.

 Chapter 36

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say all humans would agree with that ADAM, once humanity had no desire for war or violence, but something in human nature makes certain things worth fighting for.  They aren¡¯t solid or real to the senses, they¡¯re ideas and concepts.  Basically mankind still goes to war, (even against the Shapers) for the same reasons.  The first civilized men warred with each other, for freedom, for living space, for survival, for our progeny.  Originally all men were nomadic and free.  They lived wherever they could, and ate whatever they found or caught.  Later they formed into (agricultural tribes) who grew their own food where they wanted to live.  Those early men who were still nomads preyed on these farmers and so wars began.¡± Russell stated.  ¡°The farmers felt that what they grew belonged to them and defended it.  The nomads considered the farmers lazy and inactive, unable to hunt their food.  When lean times hit the nomads the farmers crops were an assured source of food, so they took it away from them, mostly by theft but sometimes by force.  Eventually both groups of people became food growers out of necessity, but the main thing that developed from those first wars was an idea; the concept of ownership.  All the early human civilizations were founded on that thought, this is mine became extended to the plural this is ours, and you can get your own.  With the concept of ownership several things changed, having enough food, clothing, shelter, land and even females to breed with no longer satisfied those early humans.  They were seized with the desire to own more and more, everything in fact.  In those early times the average ¡®civilized¡¯ tribe valued itself by the land it held, the cities it ruled and the slaves it captured.  Ownership of humans by their conquerors was commonplace and accepted, after all it was better to serve than to die wasn¡¯t it.  You see ADAM humanity has always been at war over concepts and ideas.  The ownership concept was the first and longest lasting war maker.  All the battles of the Asian, African and European continents were about ownership.  Only a few wars have been fought about other ideas, the American Civil war was fought about freedom from slavery, the French Revolution, and the American Revolution about freedom from oppression on religious, military or financial grounds.  The crusades of the middle ages were about conflicting religious ideas.  The ¡®third world¡¯ wars like Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Angola were about the viewpoints of communism versus capitalism, just economic ideas really.  In the late twentieth century the Earth took a big step toward world peace by stopping a tyrant nation in the middle east from annexing its neighbor country.  The ¡®United Nations¡± forces (they called themselves) attacked the tyrants country and drove him out of his neighbor¡¯s land.  Since then mankind has continued to move in this direction, trying to preserve peace for everyone and thus preserve the race itself.  But differences of all types still emerged, but under controlled conditions, we use ¡®laws¡¯ to arbitrate such conflicts, which take place in ¡®court¡¯, instead of fighting each other the case is ¡®debated¡¯ and impartial ¡®jurors¡¯ decide the issue.  On the government level we vote to change leaders or sometimes polices if we feel strongly about it.  Until the Argus was destroyed and we later found you, or you found us ADAM, humanity had not gone to war for sixteen centuries.  We don¡¯t like war and we don¡¯t seek war out.  If we find war is necessary however, we fight to win with everything we have and we don¡¯t give up.  Our own evolution trained us ADAM, we are what our forty thousand years of conflict have made us, in war, court, government and peace, we¡¯re human and we¡¯ll fight anything that threatens our freedom, survival, or our friends.¡± Russell concluded.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°I have never regretted aiding your race against the Shapers Russell, you are complex and simple, proud and humble, ferocious and gentle, strict and fair, all at the same time.  Your amazing duality is unique in the universe.  Your ability to respect and admire even your enemies is unheard of, your concepts of justice and mercy are rare indeed.  If he had been able to meet you I believe my creator would be proud.¡± ADAM affirmed.


    ¡°From all you¡¯ve said of him ADAM, he was a very noble being.¡± Russell said.  ¡°Do you believe he¡¯d have approved of the methods we used today?¡±

 Chapter 37

    ADAM paused a moment as Russell had noticed he did only when in deep thought, then spoke concisely, ¡°He would have accepted the method Russell, but he would not have fought.  The Denebian race were pacifists to the extreme, Russell, he would rather have been killed or captured then to kill any sentient thing.  Unfortunately for Deneb it was seventy thousand years from it¡¯s primitive eras of barbarism, and like innocent children they could not conceive of violence, greed, envy, conquest, or bloodlust.  The Shapers attached them mercilessly, just as they did your race today, but you were ready and Deneb was not.¡± ADAM said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Russell said, ¡°we have had a good run of luck until now, finding the Sphere while it was restoring its energy, Debra¡¯s teams escaping with you along, and defeating this Sphere with few casualties.¡±


    ADAM floated towards the doorway slowly and said, ¡°My captive should be awake soon Russell, perhaps I can learn if the message was complete, and its content from him.¡±


    ¡°You can read his thought ADAM?¡± asked Russell.


    ¡°Yes,¡± ADAM said, ¡°but only if he is conscious.¡±


    ¡°Good luck,¡± Russell said.


    The exalted Panome of Vega; Kla Na Suleg was awake, helpless, and furious with his captors.  The twenty blonde haired giants sat or laid on their g-beds around him, neither listening to his words or looking his way, in fact they ignored him completely.  He recalled being seized by the strange Panuits and Panor which broke into the communication room but didn¡¯t immediately remember the other being who led them.  Just as he was beginning to feel fully awake the door close to his left opened and he looked at ADAM with sudden realization.  ¡°You!¡± shouted the Panome.  ¡°Where have I been taken?  Return me to my ship!  Do you hear?  My Panuits will destroy you all!¡± he raved.  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ADAM settled lightly on the next bed.  ¡°I understand your confusion but cannot answer all your questions,¡± said ADAM.  ¡°Let this be sufficient, your ship is destroyed, you are captive in our vessel, and what does remain of your Panuits are also prisoners.  You will get nothing you demand of the soldiers around you.  You will be paralyzed until such time as I can believe you are helpless to escape.  And if you continue to try to disturb my men I will have you unconscious as well as immobilized,¡± said ADAM.


    Kla Na Suleg glared at the blue Sphere with his narrowed eyes.  ¡°You will not hold me long, no Shaper has ever been imprisoned before, and I won¡¯t be the first,¡± he said.


    ¡°Olaf,¡± hailed ADAM.  A large Viking with a red leather headband approached.  ¡°Give our distinguished guest the red vial, please?¡±  The blonde giant pried Suleg¡¯s mouth open and poured the contents of a slim tube into his throat, he clasped his huge hand over the Panome¡¯s mouth and waited for him to swallow the liquid.  Kla Na Suleg struggled, but with only his neck and jaw muscles responding, could not win the fight, as soon as he swallowed Olaf removed his hand and walked back to his own bed.  As the Panome¡¯s surroundings grew blurred and indistinct he no longer saw the globe machine sitting beside him.


    ADAM waited until the Panome¡¯s brain activity slowed to delta rhythm, and then moved to his troops on the other side of the room.


    ¡°Be your fear of yon enemy great ADAM?¡± one Norse giant asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± ADAM said, ¡°the Shapers are deserving of great fear indeed, but we will keep this one separated and confused, for I can learn much from him.¡±


    ¡°Soon all Shapers will be defeated ADAM?¡± Olaf asked.


    ¡°If we have faith and courage Olaf, they will.¡± ADAM replied.  ¡°If he gives anymore trouble use the vial again Olaf.¡±


    ¡°Aye ADAM,¡± said Olaf.


    ADAM floated back out the door of the bay and back to the command room.

 Chapter 38

    Russell was just preparing to enter his ship¡¯s landing window on Earth.  ADAM came close the Russell and spoke ¡°we were correct to assume they sent a message, while on of my men held Kla Na Suleg to sedate him, his emotions uncovered his thoughts for me Russell.  The transmission was incomplete but Suleg¡¯s confidence he will be rescued or at least avenged is great.  He believes this attack was a fluke, an accident of ill fortune.  He is positive his race will receive the message and come to his aid,¡± said ADAM.


    ¡°Can we do anything to delay them ADAM?¡± Russell asked.


    ¡°Perhaps we could arrange a patrol of your system frontier Russell, give ourselves and early warning system,¡± ADAM said.  ¡°But best of all would be to draw their attention to some other place.  Their closest colony world is only twenty light years away Russell, an attack there would cause much confusion, and since Suleg¡¯s Sphere was in exile for failing against the Fomalhauts, the Shapers would respond to his message sluggishly if at all.  His own position in the Shaper leadership is shaky, he has failed in his mission to Fomalhaut six (as his father did before him) and he has called (home) to Vega for assistance several times.  To the Shapers themselves this is considered less than noble behavior for a war commander,¡± said ADAM.  ¡°Taken along with his family¡¯s decline in popularity and the huge losses in the Fomalhaut campaigns, nearly fifty percent of the fleet of Spheres (twenty in his father¡¯s attacks and sixty in his own force), his confidence may be self delusion at best.  If we lead the attacks away from Earth, we should be able to gain much time and some allies before the main Shaper forces arrive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s commonsense enough for me ADAM,¡± Russell said.  ¡°What do we do with our Vegan prisoners  in the meantime though?¡±


    ¡°Put them in Doctor Chambers care of course and find out what will work against them biologically,¡± answered ADAM.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± said Russell, ¡°but, I have an idea as well, before the main attack comes we need to capture one of the Spheres intact.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°That is quite possible Russell, since we are not helpless during time displacement, we could get one of these ships from the race who built them, before the Shapers destroy their world.  But we need those diversions first, going to the star in Andromeda will take time and Earth and her colonies are only lightly defended as yet.¡± ADAM explained.


    As soon as Avenger landed on the pad next to Chamber¡¯s compound, Russell could see that the genetics expert had been busy, the original buildings had been temporary structures, now replaced by huge metal and concrete dormitories, six more landing pads were in place as well as the two used before by Avenger and Defender.  Defender rested on the pad next to Russell¡¯s craft, a steady stream of RACE troops were boarding her as he watched.  Chambers himself came down to meet them with Jeff Calan and Debra Carlin following, Russell hugged his lovely wife tightly and excused himself to return to their quarters.  ADAM, Chambers and Calan went over the plans Russell and ADAM had sketched out.  Chambers informed ADAM the first cr¨¨che of Deneb juveniles would be emerging that very afternoon.  Chairman Hughes was at Luna Base still but would holophone later to congratulate the troops.  ADAM led Chambers and Jeff to the storage bay where the Panome slept and then to the stasis vault where the other Panuit and Panor prisoners were held.  He pointed out the shortcomings of the sleep gas to Doctor Chambers, who promised to rectify it now that he had genuine Vegans to test it on.  As ADAM and Chambers talked Jeff went around the ship greeting the warriors and getting the names of the casualties.  Every man lost was to be resurrected in the cr¨¨che as soon as possible, this first army was to be ¡®retired¡¯ to the colony world near Alpha Centauri, as soon as Earth forces could take it over.  They would go into an advanced education phase now, learning everything needed to survive on the alien world and to progress rapidly into a productive, self-sustaining economy.  Chairman Hughes was adamant about paying the RACE¡¯s for services rendered and expanding humanity into the universe.  The reward of a new Earth was extended to the ACE troops also, the mascots were welcome to join the immigrants and populate the new planet.  Interestingly enough, one of three of the RACE¡¯s who fought on Mars took another option, they approved a new clone of themselves to live their retired life for them (wife and children included), and enlisted for the duration of the Human-Shaper war.  Chairman Hughes ordered these veteran RACE¡¯s spread throughout the fleet of Avenge class warships.  Their experience in fighting Shaper ground forces was invaluable to their units.

 Chapter 39

    In the course of ten months humanity had been threatened, saved and put on a martial footing again for the first time in sixteen centuries.  If not for the phenomenal luck of the Terra Twin¡¯s discovery, and the help of an orphaned alien machine, humans would have been another subject race of the Vegan¡¯s empire.  Russell Carlin was made Admiral of the UWSS before leaving for Alpha Centauri.  Fourteen new RACE centers were set up six on Earth and eight on colonies of Luna, Mars and Venus.  The human race was reproducing itself at the rate of ten million persons per week above its normal population¡¯s birth rate.  The troops were trained through high speed, direct input with their mentors, ¡®duplicates of ADAM¡¯ without his mind reading abilities.  They emerged functional citizens of the UW government with full rights and privileges.  Millions of conventional humans joined the UWSS and the newly formed UWMC (United Worlds Marine Corp.) to defend the newly liberated colonies from future Shaper attacks.


    Russell Carlin and his tiny fleet of eighteen ships (all that were ready when he left for the first colony world) won victory after victory against the forces on the Shapers outpost worlds.  Only when they encountered a Sphere ship was the battle challenging, and four of Russ¡¯s ships were sent home damaged from such engagements.  The Shaper craft however, were poorly commanded and seven were destroyed by the ¡®green¡¯ fleet before they adopted the tactic of time shifting immediately when fired upon.  This saved some Sphere¡¯s but Russell¡¯s commanders soon learned to follow their quarry and finish them while dormant, thirteen Sphere¡¯s were thus removed.


    The Shaper hierarchy on Vega was incensed, their fleet of once two hundred Sphere¡¯s was now seventy two craft in strength, a dozen and five colony worlds had been lost and attempts to retake three of them were repulsed.  Never before had the Shapers been so hampered by another race.  Panomes and Saromes met in the palace of the Grand Sarome daily and quarreled in private groups at night, several envisioned themselves ruler, and plotted accordingly.  By the twelfth year after Kla Na Suleg¡¯s Sphere was captured, Vega was under a new Grand Sarome, not of Suleg line, and united to stamp out the inroads of humanity¡¯s expansion.  The captive Panome himself died on Luna, three years later, by biting off his intravenous feeding tube (he had been refusing nourishment for several weeks) and blowing air into his blood stream.  After having perfected the sleep gas for the Shapers and several bacterial agents to attack them, Chamber¡¯s Vegan guinea pigs were lined up and executed at the close of the twentieth year since the Mars victory, Russell¡¯s fleet of fourteen finally captured an intact Sphere by blanketing it with the reflective compound and fusing the photon gun and displacement field bars simultaneously.  The ship tried to escape on its drive but Russell¡¯s craft pursued until all power even life support was exhausted.  The beaten Sphere was towed to Earth in triumph.  Nearby, at the original RACE center in the Rocky Mountains the Sphere was cleaned out and refitted under ADAM¡¯s supervision, for a secret mission to Vega Four itself.  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The purpose of ADAM¡¯s ¡®Trojan Sphere¡¯ was critical, only on Vega itself did the Shaper brood females reside, huge, blind, immobile creatures raised for centuries to produce more and larger offspring and do nothing else, they were both the Shaper¡¯s strength and its weakest link.  Their destruction would end the Shaper¡¯s reign of force forever.  The normal sized concubine females could reproduce but no giant Panor or Panuit offspring would be possible.  From the Panome¡¯s captive years, ADAM had learned all he could of Vegan life.  The methods of breeding the warriors for special characteristics were forgotten long since, most of th Panuits and Panor bred now were just the same as ten generations before.  Subject races were no longer experimented on (Kla Na Suleg having been the last able to fathom his ancestor¡¯s work).  So if ADAM¡¯s mission could destroy the brood mothers Earth and every other world should be safe from future Shaper invasion.

 Chapter 40

    The UWSS now boasted a fleet of two hundred eighty warships of Avenger class and twenty special purpose craft, these needle shaped ships mounted the Shaper photon cannon as a propulsion engine, and as weaponry, and flew at point eight of light speed, no ship of any race matched them.  The seventy ships of the Shaper fleet closed in on Sol system in the last month of 3357, sixty years after the Argus was destroyed.  ADAM¡¯s Trojan Sphere and four of the needles left Earth as soon as the patrols sighted the Sphere¡¯s coming out of shift.  They sat immobile just as the first had absorbing energy while resting.  Russell¡¯s ships were ready for them, bombs of blanket salts, peppered their surfaces, beams sliced off photon dishes and field bars alike.  The Sphere¡¯s surfaces smelted furiously and swallowed the blanket powder.  Beams of photon cannon lanced out of recessed dishes in the Sphere¡¯s hulls caught fifty of Russell¡¯s ships unawares.  The Vegans had learned some hard lessons in sixty years.  Russell¡¯s stiletto squadrons moved in for the kill, they pointed their drives at the enemy and blazed one hundred meter holes in the nickle-iron globes, the Avenger fleet began filling those holes with bombs and rock.  Thirty eight of the Spheres succumbed to being pumped full of explosive this way.  Two stiletto¡¯s were lost as they got too close to a working Shaper cannon.  Russell¡¯s fleet had lost eighty large and two small vessels by the time the Shaper¡¯s were down to thirty Spheres.  At this point the Shapers began time hopping to avoid destruction but Russell¡¯s hounds stayed with them.  In and out of time the ships of both winked in and out of sight life fireflies as the bitter slug-fest raged on and on.  Slowly the Spheres all came back into view as their power was used up and displacement was no longer possible.  As Russell¡¯s ships reappeared they reformed in front of the Spheres and began slicing and pounding away at them again.  Russell watched ten of the remaining twenty explode and then ordered the cease-fire.  To his and most of his command¡¯s consternation the remaining Spheres each exploded, apparently a self-destruct system had been used.  During one of its time shifts the flag ship Sphere had escaped and began its fifteen year flight back to Vega, the Grand Sarome Ta Neg Sah vowed to breed one hundred million Panuits and return to avenge his shame, but on reaching home the world was changed.  The great mothers of warriors were dead, slain in their thousands.  The Panuits and Panors left on Vega were maimed and blind, sick and infirm with a host of infections killing them.  Only the aristocratic Panomes, Saromes, worker and concubine females were unaffected by the plagues.  Within days of landing his Panuits and Panors on the Sphere were dying as well.  The ships computer mind succumbed to one of the bacteria and rotted in six hours.  Deprived of all that had made them the Shapers of their own bodies, of their world and even the universe, Ta Neg Sah wept for the fall of his races power, and swore to bring that power back one day, however it was to be done.  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ADAM¡¯s Sphere ship had sown the seeds of destruction on Vega Four, thousands of green bombs were released into its atmosphere, the contents of which were Chamber¡¯s genetically hyped up bacteria designed to attack only the hybrid males and females, the same genes which made them huge were the bacteria¡¯s target.  The stock race of the Shapers was uninjured but in great confusion for more then the plagues attacking the brood mothers and warriors.  Over every major city or fortification a pall of yellow gas brought a days long dreamless sleep to all.  Upon awakening every subject slave was gone and never seen again, all the living computers had been poisoned to death, and every warrior on Vega fell ill.


    ADAM was thorough, but missed two ships even now hidden since their return from Fomalhaut Six.  These Spheres and their recovered crews were kept separate from other Vegans until their own leader came aboard then and infected both unwittingly.  The two Spheres remained hidden, buried in the Great Western Desert, their dead crews and companions sealed within.  The shifting sands covered them even more deeply.  For the whole of the United Worlds of man peace came, welcomed and wanted, but every race kept its weapons and its memory of the battles that saved Earth, Mars, Venus, liberated sixty worlds and populated them with the living legends of histories descendants; Ulysses, Ptolemy¡¯s and Hannibal¡¯s children, Geronimo¡¯s, Kebbi¡¯s, and Charlemagne¡¯s children.  The sons and daughters of Earth were all represented.  In honor of the first ship and crew lost to the Shaper war the exact holomodel of ADAM¡¯s Sphere and the Argus facing each other with a permanent laser beam passing between them.  Chairman Hughes dedicated the image to ADAM, Debra Hilds hopper teams, Jeff Calan, and Russell Carlin.  Humanity, old and new alike rejoiced at their victory and riches gained, not gold or precious gems answered their prayers but sixty whole new planets, to survey, name and divide among two hundred of humankind¡¯s greatest warrior races.  The United World Government made good its word, every RACE warrior and his family was transported to a new home, a new Earth to begin again.  the UW sent Jeff Calan and ADAM as ambassadors to Fomalhaut Six and secured the insect hive mind called the Tornac, as an ally.  Sharing knowledge and weaponry with the Tornac to defend against Shaper attacks, smoothed the path to friendship.  The Shapers two campaigns had cost many millions of Tornac lives.  Even though their reproduction rate was rapid the Tornac were not resigned to losing lives every day.  Much knowledge and experience was gained from them as well.

 Chapter 41 (the end)

    ADAM¡¯s presence was requested by the Security Council, on the thirtieth anniversary of the battle of Elysium Debra and Russell Carlin, Jamie and Jeff Calan, Theodore Harmand, Walter Chambers, Ernet Hopewell and Emmett Sackett were all in attendance as Chairman Lynnette Hughes, now beginning her third term of office, addressed the General Assembly.  ¡°My fellow beings, our existence had been rescued, our heritage and dignity restored, our future insured, and for the one individual who most contributed to these wondrous conditions, we have given; nothing.  Until today my friends¡­ ADAM Logam gave us knowledge, hope and direction in our defense, and in our pursuit of the enemy, his ¡®Final Solution¡¯ had put the Vegan¡¯s back on our terms, instead of slaves they have competitors.  Instead of destroying our worlds they must rebuild their own.  My request of the Security Council is small but not insignificant.  I Chairman Lynnette H. Hughes do recognize the premier scientist of Deneb Five, excuse me, Hathlon, Rath Logam the second.¡±  Each and every man, woman and alien in attendance stood up, passed their left hand across their heart and right shoulder in salute and waited for the clone of ADAM¡¯s father to approach.


    ADAM asked Russell weakly, ¡°Am I being mocked?¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± assured Russell, ¡°you¡¯re being honored.¡±


    ¡°Go on and get introduced old boy.¡± Said Ted Harmand.


    ADAM floated forward, amid glowing shouts and clamor.  ¡°From all of humankind ADAM, accept this body, and agree to remain out best and bravest friend,¡± said Chairman Hughes.


    ¡°Body?¡± said ADAM questioningly.


    ¡°Yes,¡± repeated the Chairman, ¡°this body is for you ADAM Logam, complete with your own living cells, nerve tissue and brain, your consciousness may enter this vessel and live among your fellow Denebians and Humans as one of us, no longer a machine.  ADAM, I have grown to respect and admire you and your creators sacrifice, since you first came to our aid.  Please accept this, the only gift we fell appropriate for someone as human as yourself.¡±


    ADAM floated next to the body now directly in front of Hughes.  ¡°I,¡­have no words to tell¡­how this gift affects me,¡± ADAM began, ¡°but if, to be human¡­, is to feel overwhelming,¡­,joy, then I am human and had best, make the most of all this, emotion.¡±  With this the round blue globe which had for so long contained the mind of ADAM Logam settled slowly to the steps at Hughes¡¯s feet.  The body, dressed in a light blue coverall with the UWSS insignia at its lapel, stepped forward, free of the two RACE troops who had led it into the chamber.  The head turned and regarded the Chairman with a wide startling grin.  Tears flowed from both eyes as Adam¡¯s new self reached, clasped and embraced the Chairman of the eighty United Worlds.  Other than the hair and eye color Adam was in every way human.  All the Denebian¡¯s were similar to Earth men, but this lime green hair and jet black eyes shouted his origin to all.  Turning back to face the Assembly and his friends Adam was handsome and strong, but with the face of a sensitive, caring soul, a heart of immortal love and compassion for all those of the humanoid races.


    In a low calm voice Adam began to speak.  ¡°By necessity, nearly five hundred years ago Rath Logam had created the mind of an artificial human to inhabit an immortal unfeeling machine, burdened by his own outrage at the Shapers for forcing him and his people to such in human methods to fight them, he¡¯d poured his own thoughts, fears, hopes, and dreams into his creation hoping that in ADAM, the spirit of his race would continue and some how crush its oppressors, ADAM watched and gathered information and searched for the race Rath had prophesied, a race of humans who abhorred war but would fight any beings, despite how powerful, who might try to enslave them.  When ADAM observed your two craft in the Sphere, it found that race, cut off from their kind, sealed in a cavern of iron, without hope of escape.  Debra Hilds and her companions planned and strived to do the impossible, even if their own deaths would be the price for freedom they persevered, and won.¡± Adam paused as the thousands cheered him again, ¡°but do not thank ADAM alone for your good fortune.  The knowledge ADAM brought helped you, true, but your race is the true victor of this conflict.  Nowhere else in the universe is there a species so well suited to survive, in peace or war, so able to adapt to any condition quickly and use technology with a tempered judgment, and now that ADAM is one of the human race I feel not only pride in you but comradeship as well.  Your ability to love is boundless Humankind, and that is your greatest gift of all.¡±  Terrans, Denebians, RACE troops and colonists of all three branches of the universal humanities cheered until like Adam their eyes were flowing full.  As Adam stepped down toward his friends he stopped, raised the metallic globe which had been his womb, his home and his armor for so long, and carried it down the steps with him.  When he came abreast with Doctor Chambers Adam handed the globe gently to him and said, ¡°The brain in this case is not dead Walter, only vacant, if you could place this in stasis for me the unit will not decay or abort itself.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Do you mean to keep this around Adam?¡± Chambers Asked.


    ¡°Yes, if a small stasis field can be rigged for it, some of the globe¡¯s abilities are unique and cannot be adapted to my new body.¡±


    ¡°You mean you can go back into the globe at will Adam?¡± Asked Chambers.


    ¡°Yes Walter, but leaving my body could damage it I suppose,¡± said Adam.


    ¡°Not if I build a stasis field for it too Adam.¡± Chambers smiled, ¡°come to my lab tomorrow.¡±


    As Adam reached each of his friends he gave them each a smile and handshake until Debra Carlin put a hand on his shoulder saying, ¡°the problem with young men even at five hundred years is still being over modest,¡± and gave Adam a bone wrenching hug and a kiss on his left cheek, as Jamie Calan leaned and kissed the right one.


    Adam spoke toward Russell and Jeff stoically, ¡°it¡¯s a shame my biggest fans are all married,¡± said Adam.  Jeff and Russell, privy to the view behind Adam didn¡¯t say a word.  ¡°Is that exactly true Adam or did I just misunderstand you?¡±  Adam turned to face Lynnette Hughes, resplendent in a flowing green gown and black pearl necklace and earrings.


    ¡°Adam, my friend,¡± said Ted Harmand, ¡°this campaigns going to be tougher then the Vegans, when a woman goes to the trouble to color coordinate with you, its time to plan your defense!¡±


    This brought a cascade of laughter to the entire group of Adam¡¯s friends.  He looked at Lynnette again squared his shoulders and said simply, ¡°Forgive me for the remark Lynnette, I was just excited by the young ladies and¡­,¡±


    Lynnette placed her hand on Adam¡¯s forearm.  ¡°Yes,¡± she said, ¡°you were, but an older man such as yourself should start with an experienced teacher, Adam.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll make an honest man of me yet Miss Hughes.¡± Adam replied.


    ¡°To say that to her is a direct challenge, Adam,¡± Jeff said.


    ¡°And here¡¯s your last resort,¡± said Russell, squeezing something into Adam¡¯s hand.


    ¡°A handkerchief?¡± Adam asked.


    ¡°Yes, it doubles as a white flag,¡± said Russell.


    Adam turned toward his two brothers in arms.  ¡°I won¡¯t surrender without a fight,¡± he said, ¡°at least a small fight anyhow.¡±


    As Adam and Lynnette strolled away, Russell, Jeff and Ted exchanged a knowing look and low whispers.


    ¡°Facing a superior force,¡± said Jeff.


    ¡°No time to prepare,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Sad to see a man born and married to same week,¡± said Ted.


    Through the crush of members and delegates celebrating Adam¡¯s birthday Debra and Jamie found their way back to their husbands.  Debra button-holed Russell for a moment, ¡°What was the huddle about?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Tactics,¡± said Russ, ¡°Lynn versus Adam.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Debra, ¡°Surrender strategy, you know,¡± she said, ¡°the one who surrenders always feels guilty.¡±


    ¡°Is that so,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Sure, didn¡¯t you know?¡± she jibed.


    ¡°That¡¯s no the same my dear, I was defeated in an ambush,¡± Russell replied.


    ¡°So you were Admiral Carlin, care to fight again?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Russ said, taking Debra¡¯s arm.  They walked from the chambers together.